WATCH ON BBC SELECT: THE FASCISM DROP

The Fascism Drop was live between Thursday 15th April – Wednesday 21st April, check out Select More every other week to be the first to explore the latest Drop.

Every other week, BBC Select brings you a curated collection of three thought-provoking programs and an exclusive Take on a subject that touches us all. We explore a culturally relevant theme and examine it in depth, offering you fresh perspectives on the things that matter in life, from love and war, parenthood and consumerism, to revolution and race.

This week’s Drop takes a closer look at fascism, delving into some of the darkest corners of human history. Novelist and activist Elif Shafak asks: are human beings evil by nature? We head to the most secretive of countries, North Korea, to listen to uncensored voices in North Korea: Voices from the State. Germany’s past is scrutinized in Rise of the Nazis, and we examine the disturbing ascent of fascism in the 20^th century in Germany’s New Nazis; focussing on propaganda tools and right wing extremist ideals.

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Featured in The Fascism Drop on BBC Select:

ELIF SHAFAK ON FASCISM

The Drop on BBC Select brings you the thoughts of writers, filmmakers and more. This week, we dismantle fascism. Award-winning writer, academic and equal rights advocate Elif Shafak wants to know: how can human beings allow atrocities such as the Holocaust to happen? Are humans really evil by nature? She considers that perhaps, the ‘good versus evil’ concept is too simplistic. Arguably, those who have become disconnected and apathetic towards societal issues are more likely to do evil things.

Watch Elif Shafak in Takes, filmed exclusively for BBC Select.

NORTH KOREA: VOICES FROM THE STATE

Stream North Korea: Voices from the Secret State on BBC Select

What’s it really like to live under the unrelenting gaze of an unforgiving dictator? North Korea operates under the singular rule of its self-styled Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un, and typically doesn’t allow western crews to film openly. Filmed in South Korea, this illuminating piece facilitates telephone conversations between North Korean citizens and defectors of the regime who have fled to the South. We learn about what life is like inside the confines of an oppressive regime from army officers, a family considering their escape, and a senior member of the security service. What drives a country to hold such polar-opposite ideals to its beckoning neighbour?

Watch North Korea: Voices from the State and start your free trial on BBC Select. Restrictions apply*.

RISE OF THE NAZIS

What was it that drove Germany, a now vibrant and democratic country, to allow the destructive and disturbing ideas of Nazism to take hold? In the period after World War I, Weimar Germany was synonymous with art and culture, continuing a cultural legacy as the birthplace of world-famous philosophers and thinkers. But the country was also ravaged by hyperinflation and misery. In 1933, Adolf Hitler rose to power under the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, better known as the Nazis, ushering in the death of democracy and ultimately, the annihilation of millions of people in World War II. This powerful series tells the chilling story of why fascism was allowed to flourish through the eyes of those closest to the Nazi propaganda machine, as well as by those desperate to stop it.

Watch Rise of the Nazis and start your free trial on BBC Select. Restrictions apply*.

GERMANY’S NEW NAZIS

Protest of far-right extremists in Germany

In Germany, violent right-wing extremism is surging to its highest level since the downfall of the Third Reich at the end of World War II. The country has seen record numbers of attacks against asylum seekers and those who support them. Feelings of hatred, particularly fuelled by immigration, appears to be on the rise again. How can a nation haunted by the Holocaust witness white supremacists marching on its streets in the 21^st century? Chillingly, fascist attacks in other parts of Europe and in the US, particularly in Charlottesville and Kenosha, indicate that this resurgence of vitriol and extremism isn’t just a German problem. How can we learn from the country’s brutal past, where far-right bigotry flourished?

Watch Germany’s New Nazis and start your free 7-day trial of BBC Select. Restrictions apply*.

Every other 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.