Tag Archives: David Suzuki

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The Nature of Things explores the lives of “Pompeii’s People”

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I’ve been fascinated with the story of Pompeii from a young age. A town full of people and animals who were overrun by the ash from an erupting volcano? It set my imaginative mind reeling. It still does, so I was jazzed to learn it was the focus of The Nature of Things‘ season return on Thursday.

“Pompeii’s People” follows host David Suzuki—who first visited the site 43 years ago on his honeymoon—as he is given unprecedented access to the Roman town, exploring the importance of the location to the Empire and the lives of its people buried under volcanic ash in 79 AD after Mount Vesuvius erupted.

Technology plays a huge part in the project, as aerial photography,  dramatic recreations, CGI and other scientific applications peel back the layers of volcanic matter to reveal a stunning, and surprisingly relatable way of life. Handel Productions and Twofour Group do an incredible job not just recreating the story behind the demise of the 12,000 residents located in the coastal town near Naples, but focusing on the well-off and working class folks walking the cobbles. No stone is unexplored, as footage includes an analysis of roadways and a warren of one-way streets and homes are digitally reconstructed to show warmly painted walls, frescoes and skylights in ceilings. Suzuki is welcomed into the former home of a fish sauce merchant, who adorned his property with mosaics of his product, showing a knack for advertising more than 1,500 years before Mad Men.

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Next up on Suzuki’s walk is the forum, where public areas offered citizens a place to converse, play games, buy goods from the open-air market or worship at the Temple of Jupiter.

The most interesting part of Thursday’s return for me was the recreation of Pompeii’s people. I think everyone has seen pictures of the plaster casts of the dog, woman and child, and man, all frozen in time and contorted after being buried in ash. Now computers are digitally removing the plaster and x-rays reveal the bones to understand what Pompeians looked like, what they ate and how they lived. It’s particularly stunning to see how the vaguely human form of a dead soldier is transformed by technology into a young man.

Also analyzed: the rearing of animals and livestock, what garbage says about what Pompeians ate and the role of sex in their society. Informative, educational and entertaining, “Pompeii’s People” is well worth checking out.

The Nature of Things airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on CBC.

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Featured, The Nature of Things

The Nature of Things celebrates David Suzuki’s 80th birthday

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I can’t believe it’s been over five years since I spoke to David Suzuki. Back in 2010, we chatted about Force of Nature, Sturla Gunnarson’s documentary about the things that shaped Suzuki’s career. Force of Nature marked the longtime Nature of Things host’s 75th birthday; now here we are ringing in Suzuki’s 80th on March 24 with another peek behind the curtain at his life.

Co-written and directed by Daniel and Donna Zuckerbrot of Reel Times Images, “Suzuki @ 80″—airing Thursday during The Nature of Things—not only spotlights the man and his exploits but talks to those who know him intimately.

Rather than re-trace old ground covered in Force of Nature—Suzuki’s childhood, education and lab work—”Suzuki @ 80″ spends the bulk of its time aiming the lens at his family, including daughters Sarika, Severn, Tamiko, Laura, son Troy and wife Tara, who discuss how he inspired them and also poke fun at the man also known as “Suzuk.” There’s a sweet story about how Suzuki spotted Tara in a packed university hall, were married soon after and are celebrating 42 years together. You can’t help but smile watching Suzuki gamely following his pint-sized grandkids along the B.C. shoreline, picking up shells and inspecting small, scuttling crabs. He’s like the cool uncle (or grandfather) you can’t wait to visit because he’s smart, funny and cool.

But the man who has morphed from scientist to geneticist, TV host, author and environmentalist isn’t perfect. One old colleague discusses Suzuki’s strong personality, and his daughter bemoans the fact a 2/3-full coffee cup set down for a moment will be scooped up and cleaned.

It’s ironic that, at one point during the broadcast, Suzuki states memories are his most treasured possession. As viewers, we have decades of them thanks to Suzuki and The Nature of Things.

The Nature of Things airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on CBC.

Help celebrate Suzuki’s birthday by tweeting well-wishes with the tag #SuzukiAt80 on Twitter.

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The Nature of Things

Link: Wasted: A Must-See NOT Documentary

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From Jim Bawden:

Wasted: A Must-See NOT Documentary
Wasted is a top Nature Of Things documentary that puts a face on the compelling subject of alcohol addiction. You can catch it Thursday night at 8 on CBC-TV. Got that?

The hour begins with film maker Maureen Palmer’s profile of her partner Mike Pond who was a psychotherapist helping people with addiction in Penticton, British Columbia. And then he succumbed to alcoholism himself –living smack dab in wine country didn’t help needless to say. Continue reading.

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Featured, The Nature of Things

The Nature of Things explores how sound affects our lives for good and bad

Earlier this year, I watched a stunning documentary called Alive Inside. In it, social worker Dan Cohen shows that music seems to combat memory loss and cut through the fog of Alzheimer’s disease. It was a stunning and hopeful documentary about the power of music, something that’s echoed in Thursday’s new instalment of The Nature of Things.

“Sonic Magic: The Wonder of Science and Sound” jets from Canada to Italy, Australia, England and the United States as scientists, engineers, professors and historians uncover how music is being used to destroy cancer, halt brain disorders like the aforementioned Alzheimer’s disease and even change what food tastes like. Some of the most interesting footage of sound is presented in the first few minutes, as sand and water twists, jumps and wobbles into complex geometric patterns under the affect of sound waves played by musical instruments. (I used to pop the foam covers off my stereo speakers so I could watch the cones vibrate.)

Meanwhile, Trevor Cox plays a saxophone in the London tube to get a read on how architecture changes the way we hear sounds. A interesting example of a building celebrating sound is in Pisa, Italy where The Baptistery of St. John enables an opera singer’s note to resonate for nine seconds. Some information seems obvious—living in a loud environment like a busy metropolis raises one’s stress levels—but how noise can change the way food tastes is fascinating.

And the story of Daniel Kish, blind since 13 months of age using a technique he calls “flash sonar” to navigate the world on foot and on a bike? Simply incredible. 

The Nature of Things airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on CBC.
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Featured, The Nature of Things

The Nature of Things explores obesity and our guts

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Turns out our gut bugs may be creating oversized guts. That’s one of the suggestions given as to why some suffer from obesity while others don’t. Airing Thursday under CBC’s The Nature of Things banner, “It Takes Guts” posits the 100 trillion microbes living in our digestive system influence obesity in some.

The story begins with Adrianna, who has always battled her weight. Tired of being “the fat girl,” she started an exercise regimen in her 20s and cut fast food from her diet. She didn’t lose any weight. That’s because, according to obesity expert Dr. Arya Sharma of the University of Alberta, some bodies are predisposed to being that way thanks to the microbes inside them.

Geneticist Professor Tim Spector is up next, explaining microbes influence how we eat, what we eat, how we get energy from our food, protect our immune system, help us harvest calories and produce key vitamins and nutrients. These super-small spirals, blobs and other shapes are integral in our lives, and aren’t all bad.

“It Takes Guts” offers a lot of information in an interesting way, mixing expert interviews with colourful graphics while explaining how eating processed foods is like dropping a nuclear bomb on microbes—courtesy of Spector’s son, Tom—and what we can do to cultivate and enrich the critters in our gut on the path to better health. And that artificial poop machine at the University of Guelph? Make sure you tune in for that.

The Nature of Things airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on CBC.

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