Carbon: The Unauthorised Biography airs Tues 12 July on ABC TV

In Carbon: The Unauthorised Biography, world-leading scientists tell the surprisingly intimate story of the element that made the Earth and everything in it. In a world-first, the atom itself gets to tell its own story, voiced by distinguished Australian actor Sarah Snook (Succession; Steve Jobs; Pieces of a Woman).

Carbon is part of the air and the ground, the plants and the animals. It makes coal and diamonds. It built the planet and, as its concentration swells in the atmosphere, it is now also cooking it.

This documentary – from Emmy Award-winning Australian company Genepool Productions and Sundance Award-winning Canadian filmmakers Handful of Films – tells the story of carbon, from its unlikely creation in superheated, violent cosmic forges, to its endless cycling through photosynthesis, minerals, plastics – and the very air we breathe.

Carbon’s remarkable history is told by several distinguished researchers, including: American astrophysicist, cosmologist and author Neil deGrasse Tyson, Australian astrophysicist and dark matter expert Tamara Davis, American geologist and author of Symphony in C –
Carbon and the Evolution of (Almost) Everything”, Bob Hazen, British materials scientist, engineer, broadcaster Mark Miodownik, Canadian biologist and animal sexuality expert Carin Bondar, Australian award-winning climate scientist Joelle Gergis, Canadian climate scientist and Chief Scientist of The Nature Conservancy Katherine Hayhoe and Canadian forest ecologist and originator of the “mother tree hypothesis” Suzanne Simard.

The scientists are joined by others whose lives are intimately tied up with carbon, including Australian solar energy entrepreneur Andy McCarthy and Canadian Indigenous language activist and Tla-o-qui-aht Tribal Parks Guardian Gisele Martin.

Production credit: Carbon: the unauthorised biography is produced by Genepool Productions and Handful of Films.

Airdate: Tuesday 12 July 2022 at 8.30pm on ABC TV.