The Nod - The Man Who Beat the NCAA

Eric talks with Ed O’Bannon, a former professional basketball player whose landmark lawsuit forced a national conversation on whether the NCAA should pay college athletes. It’s a conversation with massive implications for the thousands of unpaid Black athletes whose work makes millions of dollars for their colleges. Strangely, all this started with a video game.

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This is Capitalism - Nanoseconds and Megabucks

David Grossman with more stories which help explain the world of contemporary capitalism. He enters the strange world of high speed financial trading, where a millionth of a second can make the difference between fortune and failure. He learns about the increasing role of the financial sector, asking about the risks of our reliance on debt. Plus how South America tried to introduce its own brand of socialism and the growing influence and appeal of state-directed capitalism in places like China. Can free-market economies like Britain compete fairly? Producers: Diane Richardson and Matthew Chapman

30 Animals That Made Us Smarter - Spider and rescue robot

Meet the spider-inspired robot that one day might just save your life. Based on how spiders move, it could get to places too difficult for a rescue team to access. Just like our eight-legged friends, it can squeeze around obstacles and through small spaces. With Patrick Aryee. For more information and animations: www.bbcworldservice.com/30animals #30Animals

Crimetown - S2 E11: The Hip Hop Mayor

To his supporters, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is a new breed of politician: young, cool, and in touch with black culture. To his critics, his flashy appearance and taste for nightlife are evidence of his immaturity. Rumors about Kilpatrick begin to swirl: sky-high spending, an out-of-control entourage, and wild parties at the mayoral mansion. Is Kwame Kilpatrick in over his head? Or is he being targeted because of his race? 

For bonus content from this episode, visit crimetownshow.com

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The Nod - Conscious Rap: The Birth and the Backlash

The turbulence and violence of the late 1980s pushed hip-hop away from its party music roots, giving birth to a new subgenre: conscious rap. Groups like and Public Enemy and artists like KRS-One became stars, creating music that emphasized pro-Black political messaging. But just as conscious rap was reaching its height, one song threatened to bring the whole movement crashing down.

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