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Sometimes history repeats itself. And sometimes it doesn't.
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I have always been fascinated by the way music can completely change the way you watch film - and how you feel as you watch the images.
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Politicians used to have the confidence to tell us stories that made sense of the chaos of world events. But now there are no big stories, and politicians react randomly to every new crisis - leaving us bewildered and disorientated.
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One of the main functions of politicians - and journalists - is to simplify the world for us.
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Things come and go in the news cycle like waves of fever.
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There are two - parallel - universes of science. One is the actual day-to-day work of scientists, patiently researching into all parts of the world and sometimes making amazing discoveries. The other is the role science plays in the public imagination - the powerful effect it has in shaping how millions of ordinary people see the world.
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Both individuals and societies tell themselves stories to simplify and make sense of the messy chaos of reality.
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We live in a time when all elites, whether on the left or the right, believe in rigid rules that say there is no alternative to the present political and economic system.
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The problem with wonks is that they can't deal with emotion and feeling, and they don't like stories. It means that they cannot connect at all with the feelings and imaginations of the voters.
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Documentaries shouldn't just reflect the world: they should try and explain why reality is like it is.