The BEST episodes of Explorer
Every episode of Explorer ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Explorer!
Now in its third decade, National Geographic Explorer travels around the world exploring topical news stories. Hosted by Lisa Ling, Explorer visits locations with unique events and fascinating stories.
#1 - Ultimate Shark
Season 2007 - Episode 2 - Aired 2/19/2007
The world's first MRI scan of a great white shark reveals the extreme engineering and hunting abilities of one of nature's most perfect predators.
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#2 - The Man Who Can Fly
Season 2012 - Episode 3 - Aired 2/12/2012
BASE jumper Dean Potter has set his sights on Mount Bute - a 9,000-foot granite launch pad along the British Columbia coastline.. But first, he has to prepare his body and develop a new wing suit.
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#3 - Inside Death Row
Season 2009 - Episode 10 - Aired 6/12/2009
In most places death has no schedule, but in Huntsville, Texas, an average of 16 people per year are scheduled to be executed by lethal injection. Inside Death Row interviews three inmates as their dates of execution draw near, and follows the stories of their families and loved ones as they deal with death firsthand. This story is not one of guilt or innocence; it is about how the State of Texas carries out the death penalty as well as the men and women whom, by choice or circumstance, become players in the act of executing another human being. Lastly, it explores how the residents of Huntsville feel towards living in a town that is ground zero for capital punishment in the United States.
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#4 - 24 Hours After Hiroshima
Season 2010 - Episode 10 - Aired 8/17/2010
Explorer tells the second-by-second story of a moment that changed the world forever: the dropping of the atomic bomb on August 6, 1945. Through the eyes of those in the air and on the ground, including the last interview with the weapons test officer who armed the bomb, we'll experience the events as they unfolded that tragic day.
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#5 - Solitary Confinement
Season 2010 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/11/2010
Today, more than 80,000 Americans are in solitary confinement. Explorer looks at the science of solitary and discovers what it means to be absolutely alone. We go inside Colorado State Penitentiary (CSP) and witness prisoners on the edge and the guards who watch over them. Then, we look at experiments on whether isolation dramatically alters behavior and ongoing new research on how solitary actually could cause long-term mental problems like paranoia, disorientation and delirium.
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#6 - Science of Babies
Season 2007 - Episode 11 - Aired 9/19/2007
Did you know babies can learn languages and even grasp math? Explore the remarkable plasticity of a baby's brain and see how early experiences influence human development.
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#7 - World's Most Dangerous Gang
Season 2006 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/31/2006
You've seen the graffiti, the tattoos, the headlines documenting their brutality. What is driving the rapid spread of the ultra-violent gang MS-13? NGC takes you inside this burgeoning criminal enterprise now terrorizing 33 states and six countries.
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#8 - Ghost Ships of the Great Lakes
Season 2011 - Episode 8 - Aired 5/10/2011
The discovery of a human skull in the depths of Lake Superior begins a story that will take historian and author Brendon Baillod across two Great Lakes and a century of history. It takes him and a team of elite technical divers more than 20 miles off Milwaukee where they discover the wreck of one of Lake Michigan's lost queens. It takes them to the remote waters of Lake Superior where they risk their lives to determine the identity of yet another lost ship. And it takes us into the forgotten life of a brave and stubborn woman who lived, and died, on these wild waters. Whether her presence cursed these lost ships, or a more earthly explanation can be found, the Great Lakes reputation as a graveyard for mariners stands firm.
Watch Now:Amazon#9 - The Battle for Midway
Season 1999 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/14/1999
National Geographic follows underwater explorer Bob Ballard as he searches for the aircraft carrier sunk during the Battle of Midway.
#10 - Lions of Zambia
Season 2019 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/28/2019
Phil Keoghan tags lions in Zambia. Correspondents explore manmade earthquakes, chocolate, designer dogs and Cory Booker.
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#11 - Yellowstone Wolves
Season 2019 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/28/2019
This episode explores an invasive species, rehab facilities, tracking whales, and wolves.
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#12 - Easter Island Underworld
Season 2009 - Episode 9 - Aired 6/9/2009
An exploration team and scientists make an attempt to map out a large cave system which runs beneath the South Pacific's Easter Island.
Watch Now:Amazon#13 - Swimming with Sharks
Season 2019 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/14/2019
Phil Keoghan helps tag whale sharks. Correspondents investigate super recognizers, life in Fukushima and heart disease in mummies.
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#14 - World's Most Dangerous Drug
Season 2006 - Episode 15 - Aired 10/18/2006
Methamphetamine is one of the hardest drugs to quit. Its abuse is ravaging rural communities and cities alike. NGC correspondent Lisa Ling goes inside this global epidemic to find out what makes meth so addictive and destructive.
Watch Now:Amazon#15 - Human Towers
Season 2019 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/7/2019
Castellers, also known as human towers; grizzly bears; security for marijuana businesses; the color blue.
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#16 - Inside LSD
Season 2009 - Episode 15 - Aired 11/3/2009
Could LSD be the next drug in your doctor's arsenal? New experiments have a few researchers believing that this "trippy" drug could become a pharmaceutical of the future. Outlawed in 1970, the street drug developed a reputation as the dangerous toy of the counterculture, capable of inspiring either moments of genius or a descent into madness. Now science is taking a fresh look into this psychedelic world, including the first human LSD trials in more than 35 years
#17 - Inside North Korea
Season 2007 - Episode 3 - Aired 2/27/2007
Cross into North Korea, one of the world's most secretive nations, for a rare glimpse of the country and its leader, Marshal Kim Jong II.
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Season 2018 - Episode 1 - Aired 11/12/2018
Phil Keoghan visits a volcano, light changes lives in Tanzania, horse cloning impacts disease and Americans prep for a nuclear attack.
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#19 - Inside the Bear's Den
Season 2019 - Episode 7 - Aired 2/11/2019
Phil Keoghan helps tag bears in Maine. Correspondents investigate the Nasca lines in Peru, Viking giants in Iceland and the future of farming.
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#20 - Race Car Science
Season 2019 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/11/2019
Phil Keoghan goes inside Nascar. Correspondents investigate a human sacrifice site, DNA testing and new probiotics.
Watch Now:Amazon#21 - The Boiling River
Season 2018 - Episode 6 - Aired 12/17/2018
Phil Keoghan explores a mysterious river in Peru. Our correspondents investigate a sonic attack, sensory substitution and the secrets of snowflakes.
Watch Now:Amazon#22 - Border Battle
Season 2018 - Episode 4 - Aired 12/3/2018
Phil Keoghan experiences a unique border ceremony. Correspondents investigate deadly crocodiles, Red Notices and communication amongst trees.
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#23 - In the Eagle's Nest
Season 2018 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/26/2018
Hawaiians living off the food grid. Research into acute peanut allergies. Cultural significance of samurai swords. The bald eagle’s story of survival.
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#24 - Digging Up Dinosaurs
Season 2018 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/19/2018
Host Phil Keoghan digs for dinosaurs. Correspondents examine a global drop in male fertility, embed with a smuggler in Gaza and dig into miracle dirt.
Watch Now:Amazon#25 - The New Face of Crime
Season 2017 - Episode 16 - Aired 6/19/2017
A study of why some Afghan parents are dressing their girls as boys; and a profile of snowboarder Shaun White.
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