Daniel Garber talks with documentarian Leora Eisen about Chef Secrets
Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.
While professional chefs might talk about their signature dishes, they like to keep their recipes a closely guarded secret. Even Colonel Sanders wouldn’t reveal his 11 herbs and spices. But is it simply a matter of flavour …or is there some hard science in the mix? And what are these hidden tricks of the trade?
Chef Secrets is a new documentary that looks at the science behind some everyday dishes, how they are applied, and why they make food taste so delicious. It follows a number of chefs 
and scientists, cooking everyday things like sourdough bread and mashed potatoes. And it proposes some intriguing conundrums like what food is solid, liquid and gas — simultaneously? The documentary is produced, directed and written by award-winning documentary filmmaker Leora Eisen whose work has been seen on CBC, Radio-Canada, History, Bravofactual, Smithsonian, BBC Worldwide and Amazon Prime.
I spoke with Leora Eisen in Toronto via Zoom.
Chef Secrets: The Science of Cooking is now streaming on The Nature of Things on CBC Gem.
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Daniel Garber talks with documentarian Dugald Maudsley about Inside the Great Vaccine Race
Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.
It’s news to nobody that our planet has been ravaged by a pandemic since early 2020, and that more and more people in the developed world are being vaccinated to stop the effects of the Covid-19 corona virus. But where this vaccine came from, how it was developed, and who made it happen is less well known.
Inside the Great Vaccine Race is the name of a new documentary that looks at the corona virus itself, how the vaccines were developed, how they work… and why. It follows 
scientists in China, Brazil, Thailand, Canada, Germany and the UK at a time when many of these countries were already locked down. It’s produced and written by Dugald Maudsley, the multi-award-winning Canadian documentary filmmaker, known for TV series like Myth or Science and Ancestors in the Attic, as well as documentary features like Jumbo: The Life of an Elephant Superstar.
Inside the Great Vaccine Race is the opening episode of The Nature of Things celebrating its 61st season, and is now streaming on CBC Gem.
I spoke to Dugald in Toronto via Zoom.
Daniel Garber talks with director Susan Teskey and David Suzuki about Searching for Cleopatra on The Nature of Things
Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.
You’ve probably heard of Cleopatra. She was a beautiful and sensual temptress who seduced two roman leaders before tragically killing herself in a fit of passion with an asp to her breast. Or… was she a brilliant leader, a skilled tactician, a multilingual scholar, and the most powerful woman of her era? What is the truth and what are the myths about this Ptolomaic 
pharaoh and how can we tell the difference in our search for the real Cleopatra?
Searching for Cleopatra is a new documentary about this Egyptian titan. It talks to historians and scholars and captures recent archaeological finds that cast new light on her story. It’s directed by Susan Teskey, known for her work as a producer for The Fifth Estate. Searching for Cleopatra premiers on the Nature of Things on Jan 8, on CBC and CBC Gem. The Nature of Things is celebrating it’s 60th season, and has been hosted by noted environmentalist David Suzuki since 1979.
I spoke with Susan Teskey in Toronto, and David Suzuki in Vancouver via Zoom.
Daniel Garber talks with Daniel Zuckerbrot about The Science of Magic
Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.
Magic.
The word conjures up visions of magic wands and abracadabra, Harry Houdini and Harry Potter, legerdemain and prestidigitation. It’s mysterious, it’s uncanny, it’s… supernatural. But what if I 
told you there is a scientific basis to magic?
The Science of Magic is a new documentary that looks at just that — the psychology and neuroscience that lurks behind even the simplest card trick. This fascinating documentary goes right to the 
source: the magicians (and magicienne) doing their tricks, with white-coated scientists watching them intently.
It’s written and directed by documentary filmmakers Donna Zuckerbrot and Daniel Zuckerbrot, known for their deft handling of magical themes.
I spoke with Daniel Zuckerbrot in studio at CIUT. He talked about magic, magicians, Julie Eng, change blindness, Deception, filmmaking, eye movement… and more!
The Science of Magic premiers on Sunday, March 18th on CBC’s The Nature of Things.
Daniel Garber talks with anthropologist/filmmaker Niobe Thompson about his three-part documentary The Great Human Odyssey on CBC TV
Humans are a strange species. We stand up, we cook our food, we talk and we remember.
Our bodies aren’t covered in thick fur, and we don’t have sharp teeth or claws. And yet we aren’t extinct. We live on every continent.
How come we’re alive when stronger hominids aren’t? How did a tropical species come to dominate cold climates? What kept us alive for 200,000 years in this Great Human Odyssey?
The Great Human Odyssey is also the name of a spectacular new three-part series from Clearwater Documentary that explores our species Homo sapiens and what sets us apart.
The series was written, directed and narrated by Canadian anthropologist-turned-filmmaker 
Niobe Thompson. Thompson grew up in Wabasca, northern Alberta, where he worked fighting forest fires. Later, he travelled the world, getting his PhD in social anthropology at Cambridge. He went on to make Gemini Award-wining documentaries, and The Great Human Odyssey is the most recent. It premiered on CBC’s the Nature of Things.
I spoke to Niobe by telephone from Edmonton, Alberta about hominids, disease, reindeer, Neanderthal sex, evolution, coexistence, Papua New Guinea, Siberia, the Kalahari desert, genetic legacies… and more!
Daniel Garber talks with Leora Eisen about Two of a Kind, her new documentary on identical twins, on CBC TV’s The Nature of Things and Discovery Channel
Identical twins are formed when a single zygote splits in two… resulting in two foetus with the same DNA. Twins are said to have a special kinship, and that they are closer even than best friends, brothers and sisters, married couples or soul mates. Though separate individuals, they
could be seen as two of a kind.
Two of a Kind is also the name of a new documentary about the truth and myths surrounding identical twins. It explores their similarities… and differences: their genetics, psychology, sociology, and personalities.
Directed by documentary filmmaker Leora Eisen (upper left)the film looks at a series of fascinating twins: two sisters adopted by separate families, a pair of women who have never left each others’ side, even as adults; trapeze artists who perform with Cirque du Soleil (right), and the filmmaker herself and her sister (lower left). The documentary is airing on CBC’s the Nature of Things on Thursday, November 27th at 8PM and on the Documentary Channel on Sunday, November 30th at 9PM. I spoke to Leora Eisen, in studio at CIUT 89.5 FM.
Daniel Garber talks to Andrew Gregg about his documentary THE NORSE: AN ARCTIC MYSTERY
Hi, This is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM
I grew up thinking in fourteen hundred and ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and that he was the first European to make contact with people in the Americas. But evidence uncovered by archaeologist Pat Sutherland suggests that contact began 
much, much earlier. A new documentary shows that first contact was not by the Spanish in the Caribean but between Northern Europeans and the indegenous people dwelling in Canada’s North. THE NORSE: An Arctic Mystery is playing on CBC’s The Nature of Things on November 22.
In this interview the director, writer and producer ANDREW GREGG tells me 
about the unknown history of the Norse in Canada, where they came from, what they did, how long they stayed, and what is the evidence that proves this. He also talks about the politics likely behind the strange dismissal of the noted archaeologist from Canada’s Museum of Civilization.
Daniel Garber talks to writer/director Eileen Thalenberg about her new doc BABIES: BORN TO BE GOOD
Hi, This is Daniel Garber at the Movies for Cultural Mining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.
A baby’s mind is a tabula rasa, a blank slate waiting to learn what’s right and what’s wrong, what actions are good or bad… at least that’s what we thought.
But a new documentary called Babies: Born to be Good, (to be broadcast on CBC’s The Nature of Things on October 25, 2012), says that’s not necessarily so: humans are born with an innate sense of good and bad, fair play, honesty, and right and wrong, and it takes years of learned
behaviour to change these thoughts. Here to explain more about this interesting topic is writer/director Eileen Thalenberg.
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