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A quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture. Factory farming and extreme use of fertilizers and pesticides pollute our air, pollute our water and destroy our soil. Every year, 24 billion tons of fertile soil are lost worldwide. In Spain, two-thirds of the country is affected by desertification. But there are also soils further north that are similarly desolate. In this episode of Roots, science journalist Pierre Girard meets Remedios Arres in Andalusia and Johanna Häger in Brandenburg, the sandbox of Europe.

Fighting Desertification

Roots

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Der Mond und wir

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The Moon and Us (4/5)

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Z Księżycem na Ty

<p>Lunar eclipses, super moons or pink moons, our lunar satellite offers us an array of surprising spectacles.</p>

Admiring the Moon

Lunar eclipses, super moons or pink moons, our lunar satellite offers us an array of surprising spectacles.

What should Europe do about its damaged and depleted soil?

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Fire in the Sky reveals how researchers have gained new insight into the impact of the Northern Lights on infrastructure and animal behavior. The documentary explains why solar storms can be a danger to humanity with the power to damage satellites, stop air traffic, and paralyze power grids and telecommunications networks.

Northern Lights have fascinated and disturbed our ancestors for centuries. But they could also endanger our future

Fire in the Sky

Climate change is making the weather increasingly unpredictable and volatile. Extreme weather events are on the increase: In a matter of minutes, hailstorms can destroy an entire year's harvests and flash floods can take lives and destroy homes. What are the causes of these extreme phenomena? And how bad could they become in future?

Thunderstorms, Hail and Heavy Rain

Hail, thunderstorms, flash floods: Why are these extreme weather events happening?

Extreme Weather Events

In France, in the Massif Central, Sarah Singla practices conservation agriculture based on three principles: minimal soil disturbance, permanent land cover and crop rotation. In Périgord, Benoît Le Baube also protects his fields by no longer plowing them. He also uses organic waste to fertilize the soil.

Sustainable Agriculture to the Rescue

In France, in the Massif Central, Sarah Singla practices conservation agriculture.

Biodiversity is good for the environment but also for our taste buds. In Alsace, a winegrower practices "complantation", the mixing of several grape varieties on the same plot to avoid pesticides. In southern Italy, Mario relies on the coexistence of plants and livestock to enrich the biodiversity of his fields and produce a mozzarella with a unique taste.

Resilient Biodiversity

Biodiversity is good for the environment but also for our taste buds.

The largest store of carbon besides the oceans is the soil. If only 0.4 percent more carbon could be put into the earth every year, the increase in greenhouse gas emissions would stop immediately. This is called carbon farming. But whether carbon goes into the soil or not is decided by agriculture. In this episode of Roots, science journalist Pierre Girard meets Félix Noblia in the Basque Country and Fabrice Desjours in Burgundy.Félix uses a special grazing system that actively stores carbon in the soil. Fabrice Desjours from Burgundy combines forgotten herbs, trees and plants to transform meadows into forest gardens where everything is edible.

Carbon Farming

If only 0.4 percent more carbon could be put into the earth every year, the increase in greenhouse gas emissions would stop immediately.

In this episode, we discover with the journalist Pierre Girard how cows can make the activity of a farm more respectful of nature and how sheep can improve cereal harvests. These unusual methods could offer a solution to agriculture's carbon emissions problem.

Climate-Killer Cows

In this episode, we discover with the journalist Pierre Girard how cows can make the activity of a farm more respectful of nature.

The biosphere experiment set out to survive in the desert for 120 days using low-tech solutions. For food they learnt how to live off a diet of mushrooms, crickets, and to grow an ancient super food, Spirulina.

Having Enough Food (1/5)

How can you feed yourself self-sufficiently in the desert? An ancient superfood could hold the answer.

The Biosphere Experiment - Making of

Making chocolate for one euro, eco-friendly jeans at rock-bottom prices, fair-trade, organic, and cheap coffee - discounters and fashion chains are suddenly offering customers the opportunity to save the world. Is it all just greenwashing and deception?

The Privilege of Sustainable Shopping

Sustainable consumption: is it all just greenwashing and deception?

Agree to Disagree!

Bonuses and Extracts

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Lyubov, which means love in Russian, is 80 years old and lives alone on the shores of Lake Baikal. She bears witness to this wonder of nature and possesses an unbreakable bond with the world’s deepest lake in Siberia. Her life here is hard, especially in winter, but she would not live anywhere else.

On the shores of Lake Baikal, an old woman lives alone in a beautiful place that is dear to her heart.

The Old Woman and the Lake

Nickel, gold, iron, zinc, uranium... Beneath the pastures of Southern Greenland lies a host of natural resources. With global warming making them more easily accessible will Greenland choose to mine them? Or alternatively take advantage of a milder climate to develop the agricultural sector?

Greenland: Agriculture or Mining?

A crucial dilemma for Greenland: Mine their rich natural resources or concentrate on agriculture?

ARTE Reportage

As wildfires in California become more widespread and fierce every year, the state fire department is adapting its strategy: deliberately setting fire to sections of bush as they fight fire with fire.

California: Fighting Fire with Fire

Entire generations have learned about sex through mainstream porn, blurring the lines between personal desires and platform-driven fantasies. But if our sexuality is shaped by algorithms, can’t we take back some control? The post-porn movement is doing exactly that. Aimed at creating pornography that reflects honest, consensual sex – its creators are making waves online.

Can Post-porn Awaken Our True Desires?

What if porn reflected our true desires? Post-porn aims to be more ethical, more honest and more revolutionary.

Tracks

Diwa is only 11 years old. She is one of the thousands of victims of a crime that is hardly reported on in Europe but which is causing havoc in the Philippines. She was raped by her parents, live on the internet, to satisfy the desires of foreign paedophiles who paid for the spectacle of her rape, giving instructions from a distance.

Philippines: Child Rape Online

Thousands of children in the Philippines have been abused, live on the internet. Report on a shocking crime.

Chinese men are suffering. There are simply not enough women to go around since China implemented its one-child policy in 1979.  This means that 1 in 5 Chinese men will not be able to find a partner in five years’ time.

Chinese men are suffering. There are simply not enough women to go around since China implemented its one-child policy in 1979. 

China: Men without Women

A Christmas classic revisited in dance form at the Finnish National Opera: Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. It's the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a grumpy, miserly old man who, on Christmas Eve, is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. A magical tale popular with all ages, adapted into a ballet by an all-British artistic team including composer Sally Beamish and choreographer David Bintley.

A Ballet based on Charles Dickens' Novella

Charles Dickens’ classic Christmas story adapted into an enchanting ballet for all the family.

A Christmas Carol

A year after ousting right-wing populists from power, Donald Tusk has mended Poland’s strained ties with the EU and vowed to restore the rule of law. His pro-European stance has earned him the moniker 'Mr. Europe' as his government assumes the EU Council presidency for the next six months. But progress on his ambitious domestic reform agenda has been sluggish, leaving some to question if Tusk can deliver on his pledges. Observers warn that his leadership’s fate hinges on the presidential election in May. 

Poland's Transformation: Black Sheep to Mr. Europe?

As Poland assumes the presidency of the EU Council, the nation braces for a decisive presidential election that could shape its future.

ARTE Europe Weekly

The Philharmonie de Paris celebrates its tenth anniversary and invites Klaus Mäkelä and Gustavo Dudamel to perform a concert of changing colours, from modernism to impressionism, with works by Boulez, Beethoven, Poulenc, Moussorgski and Ravel.

10 year anniversary of the Philharmonie de Paris

Two conductors of international renown celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Philharmonie de Paris with pieces by Boulez, Beethoven and Ravel.

Klaus Mäkelä and Gustavo Dudamel

The Bering Strait is the closest point of contact between Russia and the United States. It separates Chukotka, an autonomous Russian district, from Alaska by just 85 km. Since 1945, the Bering Strait has been the barometer of relations between the two great powers. 

Russian Ambitions in the Bering Strait

Since 1945, the Bering Strait has been a point of tension between Russia and America.

Mapping the World

How can we live a happy life? And should we be pleased that our lives are short? Ronja von Rönne investigates the philosophy of happiness by meeting Jean-Remy von Matt, a major figure in German advertising and Sister Katharine, who left her job in finance to become a nun.

The Time of Your Life

How can we live a happy life? And should we be pleased that our lives are short? Ronja von Rönne investigates the philosophy of happiness.

Unhappy

It is a David versus Goliath story: Saúl Luciano LLiuya, a farmer in the Andes, is suing the German energy giant RWE for its carbon emissions. When Saúl Luciano LLiuya learned that RWE is said to have emitted more CO2 than Peru since the country was founding, he had to take action.

Peru: Farmers Take On Big Business

It is a David versus Goliath story: a Peruvian farmer is suing the German energy giant RWE for its carbon emissions. 

Not all nipples are the same. On Instagram or Facebook female breasts are censured whereas the bare male torso is allowed. Some artists are challenging this double standard. 

All Nipples are Not Equal

Not all nipples are the same. On Instagram or Facebook female breasts are censured whereas the bare male torso is not. Some artists are challenging this double standard. 

Gymnastics

In 1844, Hans Christian Andersen imagined the story of an evil troll who wanted to drive the goodness out of the hearts of humans. To achieve this, he hangs a huge magic mirror in front of the moon. When it breaks, the people touched by its shards become insensitive to human kindness and see the worst in people.

Based on Hans Christian Andersen's Tale

A multidisciplinary work including ice hockey, figure skating, dance and acrobatics telling Hans Christian Anderson's classic tale. 

The Snow Queen

Across Europe, the far right is embedding itself into the political landscape and daily life. But behind an increasingly smooth and respectable façade lies an ideology that remains fundamentally racist and violent. An in-depth focus into an ecosystem of extreme ideology in France, Germany, and Belgium.

Inside Europe's Far-Right Movement

Across Europe, the far right is embedding itself into politics and daily life, but remains fundamentally violent and racist. 

White Power

When a minor earthquake throws life coach Aaron’s world into turmoil, he tries to find out the cause of this unusual event. A musical short film that plunges into the world of conspiracy theories.

When a minor earthquake throws life coach Aaron’s world into turmoil, he tries to understand why it happened.

I Am the Architect of My Life

Gessler’s hat became a metaphor for enforced submissive behaviour. When William Tell refuses to salute the tyrannical Governor’s hat, his punishment is to put his son’s life in danger. Rossini’s opera, based on Friedrich Schiller’s play, is performed in Lausanne for the first time. With Jean-Sébastien Bou in the title role and Luigi De Donato in that of the Governor.

Opéra de Lausanne

The Swiss national hero must shoot the apple off his son’s head on the stage of the Opéra de Lausanne.

Gioachino Rossini: William Tell

Horses have long played an essential role for the nomadic peoples of Mongolia, but as Mongolians have adopted a sedentary way of life, they now breed horses primarily for their meat. This has had disastrous consequences, including animal abuse, overgrazing and obesity in large swathes of the population.
Naranbadrakh Batkhuu wants to revive the age-old relationship between Mongolians and their horses for the good of the people and the natural world.

Mongolia: The Man Who Loved Horses

Naranbadrakh Batkhuu wants to revive the age-old relationship between Mongolians and their horses.

360° Reportage

Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin, arguably the two leading composers of 20th-century America, set the tone for this festive concert with the Orchestre national de France and young virtuoso pianist Lise de la Salle, conducted by Stéphane Denève. 

Two Americans in Paris

Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin celebrated by the Orchestre national de France and pianist Lise de la Salle.

Bernstein & Gershwin

In 2019, when a pianist was filmed on a jetty in the beautiful lakeside village of Iseltwald for a South Korean Netflix series, locals had no idea what awaited them. Now the hugely successful series has led to fans visiting the location in the Swiss Alps from around the world. Locals are not entirely happy that their peace and quiet has been disturbed by a mass influx of tourists.

Since a romantic piano scene on Netflix became world-famous, a picturesque village has been overrun by visitors.

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