Just before the advent of the Great Depression, Henry Ford controlled the most important company in the most important industry in the booming American economy. His offer of high wages in exchange for hard work attracted workers to Detroit, but it began to come apart when Ford hired a private police force to speed up production and spy on employees. After the depression hit in 1929, these workers faced a new, grim reality as unemployment skyrocketed.

The Great Depression: A Job at Ford's

Documentary on water usage, money, politics, the transformation of nature, and the growth of the American west, shown on PBS as a four-part miniseries.

Cadillac Desert: Water and the Transformation of Nature

With its four operas, seventeen-hour running time and months of rehearsal, Wagner's "Ring Cycle" is a daunting undertaking for any opera company. Jon Else goes backstage to show this rare event entirely from the point of view of union stagehands at the San Francisco Opera.

Sing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring Cycle

A fascinating look at the high-speed, high-power trading floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Director Jon Else explores this hectic, noisy, seemingly chaotic workplace with his signature style -- eschewing narration in favor of long, real-time shots that bring the viewer right into the heart-stopping action of the trading floor. He reveals the traders' sudden wealth, sudden disaster, and grace under pressure as they exchange billions of dollars in futures and options contracts - for cattle, Eurodollars and the S&P 500 futures. Also revealed is the endangerment of the open outcry trading system as the digital revolution replaces it at many of the world's financial exchanges. The film exposes nervous young clerks as they learn the open outcry system, its seemingly senseless language and hand signals. Traders ruminate on social values, market volatility and greed. One trader reminds us that commodities trading is not a pursuit for cold-hearted capitalists but, as we see in the film, for people with a gambler's heart and a gambler's nerves of steel: "Remember, when people hear about all the money commodity traders make, for every one guy that's made a fortune, I guarantee you that there are five guys that are driving cabs." Else's film captures the exhilarating, heart-stopping volatility that makes the Merc one of the most fascinating spots on the global financial map.

Open Outcry

Drawing upon recently declassified documents, archival footage and behind-the-scenes interviews, "Wonders Are Many: The Making of 'Doctor Atomic'" chronicles the creation of the monumental opera based on the mysterious and paradoxical “father of the atomic bomb,” Dr. Robert Oppenheimer, as his team prepares to detonate the world’s first atomic weapon.