Season 11

In the first episode of Ulysses: The Pleasure of Discovery, Alberto Angela takes viewers on a magnificent journey through one of the most crucial periods in Roman history: the birth of the Empire. Through images from the film "The Destiny of Rome," we learn more about the protagonists of those years, from Brutus and Cassius to Antony and Cleopatra. It is a historical reconstruction—a film, if you will—with real actors, but with computer-generated locations. It is a new, different, and highly evocative solution, the work of French director Fabrice Hourlier. We chose it because it allows viewers to enter the grandiose settings of Ancient Rome and the Mediterranean world of the time, journeying through the great pages of history. It was 44 BC when Julius Caesar was assassinated.

An extraordinary journey through the places, colors and sounds of India's wonders. Together with Alberto Angela, we visit mausoleums, temples and princely residences of Mughals and Maharajahs. We cross an immense country, with more than a billion inhabitants and at least 25 languages. India is the country of the most ancient religions, of strong smells, of penetrating glances, and of fabulous riches but also of poverty. A country with an ancient history that has left us sites, temples and monuments that are among the most spectacular on our planet. In Agra we visit the Taj Mahal, the funeral monument built by the Great Mogul for his beloved bride who died young. We discover that the construction of the symbol of India coincided with a period of extraordinary wealth and tolerance which saw the flourishing of arts and culture, an era comparable, in a certain sense, to our Renaissance. We move to Rajahastan, the land of the maharajas, where we visit the fabulous colorful cities.

What drives the choice of a person to marry? What are the chances of keeping a promise of fidelity? Or of cheating? And what allows a union to last? Starting from a wedding reception, the episode of Ulysses observes the unique relationship that develops between two people. It also explores how sexuality is experienced at different ages, from childhood to old age, following the intimate stories of the guests. Sex has always been a fantastic form of reproduction, because it allows for the creation of ever-new and unique individuals; all different from each other, and from their parents. But as the great physicist and Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman said: "There's no denying that sex has a practical purpose, but that's not why people usually do it." Because, especially among humans, sex is a way to strengthen bonds between two people, and it's also pleasurable.

In this episode Ulisse takes a journey back in time to tell the story of a continent, America. Let's start from New York, the great metropolis of today, and discover its curious origins. We follow the paths of the pioneers to conquer the West and the crazy gold rush. We meet the first settlers, the famous pilgrim fathers who settled on the east coast in the 1600s. We go back through the centuries to the time of the Spanish conquistadors and Christopher Columbus' first encounter with the native Taino people. Let's discover the civilizations and peoples who populated the New World before 1492. Great, well-known cultures such as the Inca in Peru and, in Mexico and Central America, the Maya and Aztec. But we also discover that the cities of the Anasazi and those of the peoples of Mississippi had reached a notable level of development, with clay palaces of hundreds of rooms.

In this episode Ulisse takes viewers on an unusual journey around the earth. This exceptional journey starts from the sky and shows our planet from a unique perspective. We get on board the means of transport that is currently traveling faster than anyone else: think almost 28 thousand kilometers per hour: it is the International Space Station which takes only ninety minutes to orbit the earth. Every six months, a new crew leaves the earth for this sort of orbiting home; a scientific laboratory floating 350 kilometers above the Earth's surface. Let's see how the daily life of astronauts forced to live together in confined spaces for months unfolds. Alberto Angela shows us what the earth looks like seen from space: it looks like an uninhabited planet, without man. With the naked eye you can see the sea, you can see the land... But you cannot perceive the cities, the buildings, the buildings.

Ulisse guides us to discover the history of Greek civilization, the first great European civilization told at the time of its maximum splendor and which, expanding into the Mediterranean basin, gave rise in Italy to what we know today as Magna Graecia. The Greek cities, scattered across the Mediterranean, numbered almost 700. And of these, almost a third are located in Italy. In fact, and we will see it during the episode, Italy is a bit like a second Greece. Alberto Angela guides us on a spectacular visit to some of the most important archaeological sites in our territory: Paestum, Syracuse, Agrigento. Temples, theaters and palaces that still today tell us a lot about the Greeks and also about ourselves. We show you aspects of their daily life, the female figure and love relationships, social and political organization, sporting competitions, wars.

This episode is dedicated to a very particular theme. With Alberto Angela we take a truly unusual journey around our kitchen: we explore objects that we all have at home, but that ultimately we know very little about. Things that upon closer inspection show us the main stages of the evolution and history of the human species, sometimes the result of very ancient technologies, other times born from modern science. No place in our homes reveals something about our human being more than the kitchen. This anthropological expedition takes us to every corner of the world, and to every period of history. Human beings' need to eat has led to an incredible circulation of animal and plant species across the globe. Exchanges, commerce and migrations of the different populations were accompanied by the spread of their foods. Following the traces of these ancient food imports is very difficult.

Alberto Angela guides us on a fascinating journey into our brain: one hundred billion cells that determine the birth of our thoughts, and also of our passions, pain and joy, as well as naturally governing every movement of the body. We go to the Modena Polyclinic to follow the 'first steps' of a human brain, starting with those signals that infants exchange with their mothers and which are a real dialogue made up of facial expressions, like a smile that recalls another . Let's then try to understand what also happens in the brain of a bonobo, given that our DNA is almost identical to that of monkeys. We show you the curious experiments done with a baby bonobo and a 2-year-old child to discover the similarities. Let's try to understand what creativity is and what it means to be brilliant. What happens in the brain of a creative person?

In this episode we retrace the history of human flight with Alberto Angela. We tell the story of the daredevils who were the first to dare to challenge fate and take flight towards the sky, initially embarked on truly unlikely flying machines, and then on board increasingly daring vehicles, engaged in extremely dangerous undertakings. Through a documentary we will reconstruct the lives of the young pilots of the First World War, in particular the English fighting against the legendary Red Baron. We will understand who the first pioneers of flight were and what it meant to take off when every flight was a gamble with life at stake. As we will see, it took extraordinary courage, and then ambition, the desire for glory, and sometimes even the need to win money. All in the glittering atmosphere of the Belle Epoque.

In this episode we retrace the history of human flight with Alberto Angela. We tell the story of the daredevils who were the first to dare to challenge fate and take flight towards the sky, initially embarked on truly unlikely flying machines, and then on board increasingly daring vehicles, engaged in extremely dangerous undertakings. We would say without a shadow of a doubt, perhaps the best program we have seen on television recently. This evening there will be a great journey into the past to tell how Civilization was born. We will then tell how we went from mammoth hunters to pharaohs. And then again the history of the populations who lived twelve thousand years ago, at the end of prehistory, thanks to which agriculture was invented. Precisely in that period man made another great invention, that of the bow, a very useful weapon for hunting small prey: additional food for those first farmers and another source of energy.

Ten years ago, on September 11, 2001, two airliners hijacked by terrorists crashed into the Twin Towers in New York, causing them to collapse to the ground and causing the death of 2,749 people. At 8.46 that morning the first plane hit the North Tower. 102 minutes later only rubble remains of the World Trade Center. Alberto Angela tells what happened inside the towers in those 102 minutes. There were many people working in the various offices, there were also tourists who, like every day, reached the observation point on the 110th floor. What were the reactions of those inside? Let's listen to some testimonies of those who were saved. Many managed to save themselves, others understood that they were trapped and that there was no way out. The dramatic images of that day, broadcast by television all over the world, have remained forever imprinted in our memories. Among the many images there is a shocking one, which has almost become the symbol of that tragedy.

In this episode Alberto Angela invites you on a small but fascinating journey: the four kilometers of the Grand Canal to discover the many extraordinary buildings that overlook this waterway and make Venice a unique city in the world. Behind every door, under every dome, many stories are hidden. The journey begins from Piazza San Marco: on one side the Basilica, on the other the Doge's Palace, almost symbolizing the balance between religious and political power on which the greatness of the city was based. Another pillar is economic power: Venice has been at the center of maritime trade for centuries. This resulted in wealth, luxury but also the continuous risk of epidemics. By visiting some of the most illustrious palaces, we see how the patrician families lived, how they dressed, why they wore wigs, why they used fans and what meanings the moles that women and men glued to their faces had.