42: The Answer to Almost Everything — Season 1, Episode 180: How Powerful Are Images?

Episode synopsis

Would Donald Trump have won the US election if not for the now-iconic photo of him with a bloody ear? Would the US have invaded Iraq if not for the fake photos of Colin Powell? Or would the Vietnam War have lasted longer if not for the infamous photo of the burned girl? Images have immense power in politics, but what are the reasons for this? And, how can we protect ourselves from their influence?

About 42: The Answer to Almost Everything

What would we be without mucus? Can we live on water? How much does life weigh? Finding out the answers is the aim of ARTE's new science show. In a nod to Douglas Adams's "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", where the figure 42 is the ultimate answer to all questions, 42 tries to provide the answers.

More episodes from Season 1

• E1Can we dig our way through the Earth?
• E2Could We Live on the Moon?
• E3Should we use lotteries instead of elections?
• E4How Much Does Life Weigh?
• E5Will we move onto the water?
• E6Can Algorithms Make Us Healthy?
• E7What if there were no mucus?
• E8How do we solve the nuclear waste puzzle?
• E9What if Fear Didn't Exist?
• E10What if the ice disappeared?
• E11Do We All hear the Same Thing?
• E12Are we too pessimistic?