Some BBC-style documentaries and lectures I like. They are good resources to get a big picture about different topics, related to Indian and Western art, literature, music and philosophy. Some of these are survey-style documentaries that give a bird’s eye historical picture of the topic. Others are single point-of-view discussions of particular topics. The rest are lectures, delving deep into the subject. All of them were starting points that encouraged me to explore more.

1. Kenneth Clark – Civilisation
2. Robert Hughes – The Shock of the New
3. John Berger – Ways of Seeing
4. Jacob Brownowski – The Ascent of Man
5. Paul H. Fry – The Theory of Literature
6. Howard Goodall – The Story of Music
7. Adam Curtis – The Century of the Self
8. Adam Curtis – Pandora’s Box
9. Arthur Holmes – A History of Philosophy
10. Leonard Bernstein – The Unanswered Question
11. Nitya Chaitanya Yati – Bhagavad Gita
12. Swami Sarvapriyananda – Mandukya Upanishad
13. Benoy K Behl – The Sculpture of India
14. Benoy K Behl – The Paintings of India
15. TM Krishna CMI lectures
16. TM Krishna – Lectures on Manodharma
17. TM Krishna – In the Classroom
18. Jeyamohan – Kural, Sankara , Vyasa, Kurunthokai (videos in Tamil)
19. P A Krishnan – Indian Philosophy

[…evolving list]

(Indebted to AV Manikandan for introducing me to Kenneth Clark, Jacob Brownowski and Adam Curtis)