Power Trip: The Story of Energy

An excerpt from 'Globalization.' Energy is critical to the Port of Los Angeles.

An excerpt from 'Globalization.' U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and others on the 1970s energy crisis.

Learn how energy enabled rapid globalization, both as both a widely traded product and as a facilitator for moving goods globally. In the ancient world, globalization was always a goal, but modern forms of energy provided the missing link.

Culture and modern energy go hand in hand. Our fashion, music and art all have been impacted by modern energy. Wealthy industrialists with fortunes made from energy funded much of modern culture, using energy systems to spread culture across the globe.

An excerpt from 'Culture.' The energy implications of owning vinyl vs. streaming music.

An excerpt from 'Culture.' Do we owe our enjoyment of art and antiquities to oil fortunes?

An excerpt from 'Culture.' Oil changed the way we moved about -- and the products teenagers wanted.

Entertainment both shapes and reflects our attitudes about energy. Modern energy enabled mass entertainment like popular music, movies, TV shows and video games, which impacted our society. Energy changed sports with climate control and modern lighting, and amusement parks help familiarize customers with energy breakthroughs.

An excerpt from 'Entertainment.' As fans flock to football stadiums, energy is consumed. How much?

Modern energy transformed work over time. From farm to factory to office and the “work from home” revolution, energy is embedded in our systems of employment. What is the future of energy and work?

An excerpt from 'Work.' Do energy transitions have a negative impact on workers?

From oil spills and coal mine explosions to dam failures and nuclear meltdowns, we can learn much from disasters related to energy. At the same time, energy is the key to solving natural disasters and the looming disaster of climate change. In what ways does energy make our lives safer or more dangerous?

An excerpt from 'Disasters.' Wall Street Journal Reporter Katherine Blunt explains the California Wildfires to show how aging power grid failures can lead to disasters

Modern energy takes us on a journey to the final frontier. This episode traces the history of space travel, with a focus on the energy innovations making it possible. Lifting off into space depends on modern energy, and surviving in space also requires energy. Energy is required at every step in space exploration, and new forms of energy must be developed to reach other star systems.

An excerpt from 'Space.' Astronaut Charles Bolden describes his personal experience of launching into space.

Take a journey around the world through the past, present, and future of energy in this 6-part documentary series.

Take a journey around the world through the past, present, and future of energy in this 6-part documentary series.

In most major cities before public lighting, people had to carry torches to go out at night. It was not unusual for con men to offer wayward strangers or visitors their services for a fee to light their path through a dark, unknown city after sunset, only to lead them into an alley where their colleagues would rob them. The rise of city lighting reduced those risks and made the streets safer.

Before modern energy, surgery in hospitals was a nightmare. Doctors would drip hot wax from candles into open wounds. Patients might survive the surgery but would frequently die from infection during recovery. After modern medicine gained electricity, fossil fuels for plastics and pharmaceuticals, running hot water and stainless steel, surviving surgery became more likely.

New York City was a crowded mess: no one could figure out what to do with all the horse manure, urine, and rotting horse carcasses on the streets spreading disease. New York had over 100,000 horses producing over 2.5 million pounds of manure every day. Fossil fuel powered trains, electric streetcars and internal combustion vehicles were seen as the clean-energy alternative.