A man with polio has been building a home-made helicopter for over 50 years
Afflicted by polio in a time before Jonas Salk’s world-changing vaccine, Agustin has spent much of his life struggling against disability and poverty. Unable to walk and worn down from ‘the fight of life’, he has, nevertheless, found a remarkable reserve of inspiration and energy for over 50 years. The thing that drives him is tucked into a corner of his small house, where he toils over gnarled metal scraps from junkyards, perfecting his life’s work: a home-made ‘helicopter’.
Director: Tyler Bastian, Trevor Hill
Producer: Isaac Strack

videoMedicine
Drinking wine from toxic cups was the 17th century’s own dubious ‘detox’ treatment
11 minutes

videoIllness and disease
Humanity eradicated smallpox 45 years ago. It’s a story worth remembering
25 minutes

videoCognition and intelligence
A father forgets his child’s name for the first time in this poetic reflection on memory
4 minutes

videoDesign and fashion
A ceramicist puts her own bawdy spin on the folk language of pottery
14 minutes

videoHome
How an artist transformed a dilapidated hunting lodge into a house made of dreams
8 minutes

videoInformation and communication
An animation built from road signs is a whirlwind study of flash communication
2 minutes

videoMaking
Trek to a remote Himalayan village where artisans craft teapots fit for kings
11 minutes

videoEngineering
A close-up look at electronic paper reveals its exquisite patterns – and limitations
9 minutes

videoDesign and fashion
The ornate, the aromatic, the cruel – Valentine’s cards before the age of Hallmark
16 minutes