e² is a critically acclaimed, multipart PBS series about the innovators and pioneers who envision a better quality of life on earth: socially, culturally, economically and ecologically.

Based on the economic principle of demand management, London's congestion charge challenges the 20th-century notion that cities should be designed around cars and asks drivers to pay for access to public roads and parking spaces. Thanks to visionary municipal leaders like Deputy Mayor Nicky Gavron, this plan is the core of a sweeping push to transform London.

Paris' ambitious public-private "Vélib" bike initiative encourages residents to forgo cars for bikes and public transportation. In the process, the program has fostered a unique popular culture, complete with its own language, jokes and pick-up lines. Its success has inspired cities like São Paulo, Venice and London to begin adopting similar programs.

This episode looks at new technologies and policies that could offset the aviation industry's substantial greenhouse gas emissions, such as Amyris Biotechnologies' new synthetic jet fuels and Hybrid Air Vehicles' second generation of dirigible airship. To reduce fuel emissions, industry leaders like Boeing are also advocating towing planes on runways and implementing smarter air traffic control systems.

In the 21st-century global food economy, by the time it's been grown, processed and distributed, most food has traveled an average of 1,500 miles before reaching the plate. As renowned author Michael Pollan elaborates, the effects of this fossil fuel-driven system are detrimental to the environment, to health and to social well-being. Writer Michael Shuman argues for investing in local food system.

In 2003, the city of Seoul took a rare step "back in time," demolishing a major downtown freeway to uncover and restore the ancient Chonggyecheon stream that once flowed beneath it. An impressive feat of engineering, the project re-purposed nearly 75 percent of the dismantled highway material for reconstruction and rehabilitation of the stream's banks and commercial corridor.

Portland has become a global model of transit-oriented development (TOD). For more than 40 years, city planners have integrated transport decisions into urban growth and development efforts. The result: Portland is consistently ranked as one of the country's most livable cities, boasting a healthy two percent population growth annually.

From vaccines to antibiotics, clean water to nutrition, bio-terror threats to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the six-part series Rx for Survival: A Global Health Challenge tells the compelling stories of global health challenges and successes. Employing both historical dramatic sequences and poignant current documentary stories, the series showcases key milestones in public health history, such as the eradication of smallpox, alongside modern and future challenges, including SARS, a potential global flu pandemic and recovery from the Asian tsunami catastrophe. Brad Pitt narrates, and experts including Jeffrey Sachs, the Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University; author Laurie Garrett; Harvey Fineberg, President of the National Academies of Sciences Institute of Medicine; Nils Daulaire, President of the Global Health Council; and Donald Hopkins, the Associate Executive Director of the Carter Center, will guide viewers through the ins and outs of this complex but fascinating story.

Based on the true story of four outsiders (Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt) who saw what the big banks, media and government refused to: the global collapse of the economy. A bold investment leads them into the dark underbelly of banking, where everyone and everything is in question. Winner of an **Academy Award** and a **BAFTA Award** for Best Adapted Screenplay and nominated for Best Film. Nominated for four **Golden Globes** including Best Picture. *"A true crime story and a madcap comedy, a heist movie and a scalding polemic, "The Big Short" will affirm your deepest cynicism about Wall Street while simultaneously restoring your faith in Hollywood." - A.O. Scott, **The New York Times***

At the dawn of the 21st century, we can prevent, treat or cure most of the deadliest diseases known to humankind - and yet millions die needlessly every year because the benefits of modern medicine and public health fail to reach them. What are the obstacles to providing care to populations in need? From the villages of the Gambia to the cities and towns of Thailand, from the sun-scorched refugee camps of Chad to the teeming streets of Bangladesh - this episode chronicles innovative health programs and charismatic leaders who, against all odds, are Delivering the Goods to millions of individuals - and inspiring a new vision for the future of global health.

Before there was an understanding of infectious disease, few weapons were available to fight it. Disease Warriors chronicles the groundbreaking work of early researchers, such as the famed scientist Louis Pasteur, who unmasked germs as the source of illness. Pasteur went on to develop a rabies vaccine - a great scientific triumph. Today, vaccines have made huge strides against epidemics, conquering smallpox and bringing the global eradication of polio within reach. But the world still faces major challenges in getting basic vaccines to those who still need them, and in creating new ones to combat modern nemeses, like AIDS.

It's difficult to imagine a world without medicines - and yet, before the twentieth century there weren't any. The discovery of the very first antibiotic, penicillin, and the subsequent development of more "wonder drugs" transformed the face of modern medicine. Rise of the Superbugs chronicles these historic successes, as well as the growing threat posed by new strains of germs, such as tuberculosis and staph, that are resistant to our best antibiotics. Are our strongest medicines becoming obsolete, and can we develop new drugs in time to replace them?