This week's pick is the amusing yet frustrating first half of John Prescott's discourse on the class sytem in the UK.
On more serious notes, the economic crisis is examined from the perspective of a hedge fund manager, religious significance in the US presidential elections is explored, as is the changing role in the definition of what an American is in terms of racial identity, and ethnic cleansing in a little-known province of Georgia is reported.
Monday 27 October - 8 - 9pm - Channel 4 - Dispatches: Don't Bank on the Bailout
This week's edition is presented by a prominent hedge fund manager who reports that further ramifications of the economic downturn are to come. He interviews other financiers in London and Wall Street about the rescue packages that have been put in place by various governments and questions the sufficiency of these measures.
Pick of the Week :rb:
Monday 27 - October - 9 - 10pm - BBC2 - Prescott: the Class System and Me - 1/2
In this long-awaited documentary, ex-deputy prime minister John Prescott examines the current state of the class system and compares it to his earlier experiences when working his way up from the position of ship's steward. Despite the dizzying heights he was fortunate enough to reach, Prescott, both amusingly and frustratingly, reveals himself to be a man still with enormous resentments about his origins.
Tuesday 28 October - 10pm - 12 Midnight - More4 - Jesus Politics - the Bible and the Ballot
As part of the highly acclaimed "True Stories" documentary series, Israeli film-maker Ilan Zav examines the role of religious faith in influencing the 2008 US presidential race, touring the primaries to probe the link between church and state.
Friday 31 October - 7.35 - 8pm - Channel 4 - Unreported World - 3/10
Abkhazia: Valley of the Lost
Recently, the Georgian clash with Russia in the breakaway republic of South Ossetia made headline news. Now, reporter Aidan Hartley explores another Moscow-backed province bidding to break away from Georgia, Azkhadia, where he follows up reports of fierce fighting in the remote Kodori Gorge, high in the Caucasus mountains. Haunting images of abandoned homes and destruction and devastation illustrate all too clearly the human cost of policies of so-called "ethnic cleansing".
Friday 31 October - 9 - 10pm - BBC2 - The American Future:a History - 4/4
What is an American?
In the final edition of Simon Schama's series, the key issue of the role of race in the US' past is examined. The early settlers were, of course, themselves immigrants, but, hypocritically, their vision of America was of a white and a Protestant country. Schama traces the steps that led from this narrow vision of nationality to more recent recognition of the US being "a nation of immigrants". En route, some harrowing stories of abuses meted out to, in particular, Hispanic and Chinese immigrants in the 19th century, are told.
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