Paul Murray

"The Barnes family is in trouble. Dickie's once-lucrative car business is going under--but Dickie is spending his days in the woods, building an apocalypse-proof bunker with a renegade handyman. His wife, Imelda, is selling off her jewelry on eBay and half-heartedly dodging the attention of fast-talking cattle farmer Big Mike, while their teenage daughter, Cass, formerly top of her class, seems determined to binge drink her way through her final exams....

Why does Skippy, a student at Dublin's venerable Seabrook College, end up dead on the floor of the local doughnut shop? Could it have something to do with his friend Ruprecht Van Doren, who is determined to open a portal into a parallel universe using ten-dimensional string theory? Or Carl, the teenage drug dealer who is Skippy's rival in love?

Childhood friends Brian and Paulie do whatever it takes to survive in the dog-eat-dog neighborhood they live in. As they grow up they find themselves involved in organized crime and jail becomes part of doing business on the streets they call home. Brian uses his time in jail to get clean while Paulie makes plans for one last job that requires Brian's help. Brian must decide if he should stand by his friend or salvage his family.

Building upwards has long been a means for people to show off their wealth or power. In this episode, we explore the ambitions and limitations of the engineers of skyscrapers. Scott Steedman visits a medieval Manhattan in Italy, the first true European skyscraper, and Europe's tallest building in Germany.