BBC Select is a brand new streaming channel with critically acclaimed documentaries, many new and exclusive to the US and Canada.
Dr Oxiris Barbot on Covid-19: ‘We had to prepare New Yorkers, emotionally’
54 Days: America and the Pandemic: now streaming on BBC Select via the Apple TV app & Amazon Prime Video Channels
Former New York City health commissioner, Dr Oxiris Barbot on the moment she realised what the pandemic would mean for New York – and why they needed to act quickly.
On January 21st, the first case of COVID-19 is declared on US soil. It will be 54 days until President Trump declares a national emergency. During those critical weeks – where the President downplays “the China virus” as a hoax – the disease takes hold. By mid-2020 150,000 Americans will be dead. This is the inside story of why it took him so long to act. And how when he did, it wasn’t enough.
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Big ideas.
Fresh takes.
BBC Select focuses on the big stories that shape our world as well as the small details that make life so interesting. Immerse yourself in award-winning programs, offering fresh perspectives and ideas from a diverse array of voices across culture, politics and ideas.
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Subscribe to BBC Select for hundreds of hours of thought-provoking programs, award-winning series and critically-acclaimed titles featuring a diverse range of voices from around the world, many available in the US and Canada for the first time.
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The Drop
Each week, The Drop offers fresh perspectives on a culturally-relevant topic and puts it under a magnifying glass. Explore themes such as war, parenthood, beauty and A.I. with leading thinkers from across the globe and brilliant programs from the BBC and beyond.

Start the week as a rookie and end it as an expert with BBC Select’s brilliant voices. We bring together global experts and enlightened thinkers.

Alicia Garza
Principal at Black Futures Lab and Co-founder of The Black Lives Matter Global Network, Alicia empowers communities to be a force for change.

Roxane Gay
Multiple award-winning author and New York Times contributing writer, whose takes on identity and culture traverse literature, journalism and film.

Malcolm Gladwell
Listed in the TIME 100 Most Influential People List and author of five international bestsellers, including global blockbusters Blink and Outliers.