Chris Bath presents six-part ABC series Road to Now, unpacking key events that shaped the modern world and led us into the 21st Century.
Chris Bath will be joined by historians, politicians, writers and reporters as they look back at the fascinating events that have shaped the modern world. Road to Now starts on Tuesdays at 9.30pm on the ABC and iview from 26 May.
Drawing on footage from ABC News plus international current affairs series Foreign Correspondent, Road to Now unpacks modern history in six one-hour episodes: Age of Conflict, Global Shapers, The Fight for Freedom, Return of the Wall, Globalisation and In Harm’s Way.
Each episode features commentary from those who either occupied positions of power or reported on the events at the time, including British historian and author Professor Niall Ferguson, CNN’s Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour, Former Prime Minister of New Zealand and senior UN Official, The Right Honourable Helen Clark, The New York Times Foreign Affairs Columnist and author Tom Friedman, Australia’s former Foreign Minister and International Crisis Group President Gareth Evans, and Former Prime Minister of Australia and author The Honourable John Howard.
The series commences at the end of the Cold War and follows the events that followed leading up to the present day. Road to Now is a roadmap to the 21st Century.
Road to Now episode synopses:
• Age of Conflict – Tuesday 26 May, 9.30pm
How the “peace dividend” from the end of the Cold War vanished in waves of terrorism and war, leaving the Middle East mired in conflict.
• Global Shapers – Tuesday 2 June, 9.30pm
Profiles the national leaders who changed the world during the past 30 years. and shaped international opinion.
• The Fight for Freedom – Tuesday 9 June, 9.30pm
The quest for personal and political freedoms has shaped much of the past 30 years, so why is ‘democracy in retreat’?
• Return of the Wall – Tuesday, 16 June, 9.30pm
Why are walls of steel and razor wire going up along European and the US borders? And what happened to the international commitment to give refugees asylum?
• Globalisation – Tuesday 23 June, 9.30pm
Globalisation, technology and the spread of economic power from West to East have profoundly changed the world of money and transformed the lives of billions.
• In Harm’s Way – Tuesday 30 June, 9.30pm
Natural disasters causing death and destruction are intensifying as the Earth’s climate changes, leaving billions of people in harm’s way.