“The big story,” historian Niall Ferguson argues, is that after 500 years of Western domination, “the world is tilting to the East.” In this absorbing two-part documentary, the Harvard professor travels to Beijing, London, Turkey, and Peru to elucidate his theory that the West long benefited from its embrace of “six killer apps”: competition, science, democracy, medicine, consumerism, and a strong work ethic. The history he traces and the future he predicts add up to a fascinating cautionary tale. Tuesdays, May 22 and 29, at 8 p.m., PBS; check local listings
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