WATCH ON BBC SELECT: THE BODY DROP

The Drop on BBC Select brings you the thoughts of writers, filmmakers and more. This week, Padma Lakshmi discusses why our anatomy is wrapped up in politics.

It’s not easy to get up in a room full of people and talk about your vagina.  But that’s what former model and Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi had to do to raise awareness of endometriosis.  Reflecting on her own experiences, she sets out a bold vision for the future of women’s healthcare.

Watch Padma Lakshmi in Takes, filmed exclusively for BBC Select.

America is hooked on cosmetic surgery – and nowhere more so than Beverly Hills. In this eyebrow-raising program, the British filmmaker meets the plastic-surgery patients that crowd the city’s clinics, joining them for consultations and operations as they seek everlasting youth. What motivates them to irrevocably alter themselves – as Louis wonders if he himself could do with a nip and tuck?

Watch Louis Theroux: Under the Knife and start your free trial on BBC Select. Restrictions apply*.

When people think of beauty, they usually think of women. But with teen boys spending 30% more time in the bathroom and taking twice as many selfies as girls, it’s time we gave this assumption a wash, tuck and pluck. For some, it’s about confidence, transformation, and freedom of expression. But with male eating disorders on the rise, what’s the price of the growing pressure on men to look perfect?

Watch Obsessed with My Body  and start your free trial on BBC Select. Restrictions apply*.

We wipe our internet browsing histories to spare our blushes yet admire a nude in an art gallery without the blink of an eye. But, asks classicist Mary Beard, is it really the ennobling effects of great art that sees us queuing up for famous nudes from Aphrodite to Michaelangelo’s David? Gleefully, Beard strips away our lofty claims to reveal the truth behind our obsession with the body in art.

Watch Shock of The Nude and start your free 30-day trial on BBC Select. Restrictions apply*.

How has what’s inside us been depicted on canvas over the centuries? In this series, Dr Adam Rutherford examines the close relationships between discoveries in anatomy and the works of art that illustrate them. In this passionate and informed program, he meets artists, art critics and art historians, as well as collectors and anatomists, to help him uncover the meaning and power of these pieces.

Watch The Beauty of Anatomy and start your free trial on BBC Select. Restrictions apply*.

They proliferate in porn, so why are vulvas still a mystery? What does it feel like to have one? What do they look like outside of porn’s plastic perfection? Laura Dodsworth’s project to photograph 100 vaginas (or vulvas to be exact) prompts women from 19 to 77 to bear their souls as they bare their bits, revealing stories that range from funny to traumatic, questioning how bodies become taboo.

Watch 100 Vaginas and start your free trial on BBC Select. Restrictions apply*.

Each week, we will be exploring new topics and issues with thought-provoking takes from global thinkers. Be sure to stay up to date with the latest Takes and Drops on Select More.