Bryan Johnson in Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever
Netflix
Bryan Johnson is an unusual fellow by anyone’s standards. A millionaire venture capitalist and anti-ageing evangelist, he wants to push his lifespan and “healthspan” to the very limits by taking a daily cocktail of nearly 100 drugs and following a strict fitness regimen. The real miracle of Don’t Die is how it manages to wrench any sympathy for Johnson from the audience. His lifestyle is based on a deeply flawed approach to science, but his mindset is far more interesting than those of his tech bro contemporaries.
Ocean with David Attenborough
Disney+
There is a sequence in Ocean with David Attenborough that is as horrifying as anything I have watched all year: a bottom trawler’s mechanical teeth puncture the seabed, churning through sediment as fish are swept into an enormous net. Attenborough’s most political project to date is a disaster film, warning of the catastrophic environmental consequences of industrial fishing practices. If this is indeed some of the 99-year-old’s final work, as he hints at in the documentary, it will do his lengthy career justice.
Tribe with Bruce Parry
BBC iPlayer
Twenty years ago, Bruce Parry spent months living among Indigenous communities as part of the anthropology series Tribe. Now, the programme returns, but in a very different world. With deforestation and displacement even greater threats now than they were in the early 2000s, Parry must do even more to gain the trust of the groups that host him, none of which has permitted outsiders to visit before. There are so many fascinating scenes in Tribe – from piranha fishing and political meetings to yagé (ayahuasca) rituals – that you only wish we could spend more time observing. The brief access we are granted via Parry feels like a gift.
Bad Influence
Netflix
We have long leveraged the innocence of children for entertainment – child actors of the 1920s and 30s were forced to work long hours, given amphetamines and even pushed into near-death experiences. The 21st-century variant of this horrendous practice is “kidfluencing”, when families build financial empires off the online antics of their precocious children. Bad Influence follows child pageant star and dancer Piper Rockelle, who was allegedly exploited by her “momager” after rising to fame at age 9. Warning: this is a truly grim look at the darkest side of social media.
The Secret Genius of Modern Life
BBC iPlayer
Season three of Hannah Fry’s guide to the everyday technologies we rely on is as enchantingly informative as always. This time round, she investigates rollercoasters, motorways and (inevitably) air fryers. This is highly detailed stuff, and delving into the nitty-gritty of this taken-for-granted tech results in some surprising discoveries. If you’ve ever been tempted to take apart your appliances to learn how they work, let this charmingly small-scale series will save you from violating their warranties.
Walking with Dinosaurs
BBC iPlayer
Back in 1999, Walking with Dinosaurs was a TV sensation, transporting viewers to our prehistoric planet through some cutting-edge-at-the-time visual effects. Those visuals have dated a little since the show first aired, so the time was ripe for a reboot. In each episode of the 2025 series, researchers play detective, uncovering ancient remains and then extrapolating a wealth of information from the bones and the surrounding environment. These imagined stories are charming and moving by turns, whether we’re watching a baby Triceratops chase a dragonfly through the jungle or an Albertosaurus pack cornering their prey. Take it all with a pinch of salt, of course: there is much about dinosaurs’ lives that we do not and cannot know.
