For social studies teachers - or anyone fascinated by the politics and culture of the Americas - the BBC has assembled this compendium of profiles for every nation in North and South America. From Argentina to Venezuela, the material here is sure to provide fuel for lectures, discussions, readings, homework, and other classroom assignments. Comprehensive in scope, the profiles are well written and...

The official website for the BBC Prison Study, that accompanies the groundbreaking 2002 BBC Prison Study broadcast, went online in September 2008. The Prison Study put volunteers in a prison-style setting and then filmed them. The purpose of the experiment, conducted by British researchers, was to see how relationships evolved in places such as prisons, as well as in other institutions where...

Podcast fans who enjoy documentary-style shows like This American Life may want to check out BBC Radio 4's Seriously..., a regular podcast that explores both contemporary and historical topics, ranging from the quotidian to the extraordinary. A few of the topics recently explored by this series include the world of counterfeit wines; the history of Great Britain's 999 emergency telephone number...

The BBC is well-regarded for their laudable efforts to provide high-quality online content that complements their fine radio and television offerings. Devised as part of their general Science and Nature website, this particular corner of the web offers a number of educational resources on prehistoric life. The casual visitor may want to take a look through some of the highlights offered here,...

In 1999, the British Parliament granted Scotland a certain degree of greater autonomy through the process of devolution. A year earlier in 1998, the Parliament passed the Scotland Act 1998, which created both the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Executive. The BBC decided to create this website to serve as a repository of original reporting and commentary on the past ten years, and visitors to the...

As its name suggests, the BBC World Service brings together news from all corners of the world. Visitors can listen to their radio programs online, and they will get a heady sampling of their work just by perusing the special reports, topical updates, and commentaries on the homepage. In the "News Programmes" area, visitors can avail themselves of different World Service shows, including...

William Hogarth, Henry VII, and Richard Pryor all make appearances in the thoughtful BBC4 radio program, Great Lives. Hosted by Matthew Parris, the program was started in 2007, and it continues to grow in popularity. The format is fairly straight-forward: Guests on the program choose someone who has inspired their lives and a conversation ensues. Visitors to the site can sign up for the podcasts...

This website from the BBC and the British Museum takes another important step into moving the museum experience online. People usually go to museums to see historic objects, and that's exactly what A History of the World makes possible, via the web. For example, one week's theme was status symbols, and the object of the day was the David Vases, two Chinese blue-and-white porcelain vessels, named...

It's a fairly difficult endeavor to reconstruct an Iron Age roundhouse, what with all of the archaeology training required and such. Persons with such interests who lack the necessary training need worry no longer, as the BBC has created a rather fine site that lets users take in many facets of archaeology, including the aforementioned roundhouse. The site also includes overviews of various fields...

In this article from the BBC Click Online, Robert Kahn, the Internet's co-inventor, "tells how it all began, when, as an assistant professor of electrical engineering at MIT, he took a leave of absence to brush up on his networking theory." The article gives a sense for the innovative work that went into creating the Internet and also discusses the lack of attention given to security issues early...