More ichannel Documentary Highlights: Week of January 3

Kidfluence: How the Kids Took Over airs Jan. 8

A WAR ON SCIENCE - Wednesday, Jan. 5 at 10 pm ET/PT

In a Pennsylvania courtroom in the fall of 2005, a landmark legal case began – one that, in the eyes of many Americans, would pit God against science. At the heart of the proceeding, one simple question: does the controversial theory of “intelligent design” have a place in the science classroom alongside the theory of evolution? This BBC documentary tells the story behind the latest skirmish in a war that began with the 1859 publication of Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species.

POLIO HUNTERS - Friday, Jan. 7 at 9 pm ET/PT

Though polio has been eradicated throughout the Western world, this crippling disease still thrives in a few parts of the globe. One of its last strongholds is in northern India. This 2005 documentary by Jack Silberman follows a Canadian physician, Dr. Yakub Vaid, as he travels to the site of a recent polio outbreak in Uttar Pradesh to assist the World Health Organization with a daunting mission: to halt the spread of the disease by immunizing close to one million children in a span of just two weeks.

KIDFLUENCE: HOW THE KIDS TOOK OVER - Saturday, Jan. 8 at 9 pm ET/PT

Here’s a thought for parents to ponder as they contemplate the horror that is the post-Christmas credit card bill: according to marketers, children 12 and under today are the most powerful consumer demographic in Western history, influencing an estimated $600 billion in spending every year. Over the last decade, corporations have doubled their investment in marketing to kids. This 2006 Canadian documentary by Ann-Marie Redmond and Nathalie Bibeau takes an eye-opening look at how the world’s biggest advertisers are battling it out for the hearts and minds of your children.