0:00:36 > 0:00:40This is America's national cemetery at Arlington.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42Today is Veteran's Day.
0:00:45 > 0:00:52To Americans, Arlington is hallowed ground, a symbol of just how united the United States can be.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02But in fact, the cemetery rose out of the appalling carnage
0:01:02 > 0:01:08of America's Civil War when the south fought bitterly to separate from the north.
0:01:08 > 0:01:13Arlington is in the State of Virginia, a southern state.
0:01:20 > 0:01:27For years, I've been intrigued and bewitched by what seems to be America's most characterful region.
0:01:27 > 0:01:32A place of cotton, courtesy, gospel music, mint juleps, divine accents
0:01:32 > 0:01:36and sultry Southern Belles.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42I'm heading south to find out what makes Old Dixie so distinctive.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51But where exactly does the south start?
0:01:51 > 0:01:56Well, nearly 250 years ago, two surveyors named Mason and Dixon
0:01:56 > 0:02:01drew a straight line on the map marking the southern border of Pennsylvania.
0:02:01 > 0:02:07It became known as the Mason/Dixon line and effectively marks where the north ends and the south begins.
0:02:09 > 0:02:14Apparently, it really does physically exist.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19I'm determined to try and find it.
0:02:22 > 0:02:23It definitely should be here.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27That's strange.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30It's definitely the right road.
0:02:32 > 0:02:38I think I'm going to have to break the habit of a lifetime and actually ask someone. Good lord.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48Excuse me, hello.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52- Hello.- Sorry to bother you.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55I'm looking for the Mason/Dixon line.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59As a matter of fact it's out this way on the road.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01You wouldn't mind showing it to me?
0:03:01 > 0:03:04That's really kind, thank you.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10- OK, right here.- Oh, yeah.
0:03:13 > 0:03:20- It's down through here. Where the turkeys like to be.- OK.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25Look here.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27I believe that's it.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31- Oh, is this it here?- It sure is.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34Oh, my.
0:03:34 > 0:03:36Here's the Mason/Dixon marker.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41The south starts here.
0:03:44 > 0:03:45Oh, look.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49There's W...V.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51West Virginia. That's fantastic.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53Yes, it is.
0:03:53 > 0:04:00West Virginia is just at the beginning of the south, a long way from the heart of Dixie.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03The Appalachian Mountains that form the spine of the state
0:04:03 > 0:04:07are as prized for the treasure that lies within them as for their beauty.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11I'm going deep inside to hunt for it.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16So you do all your smoking up here, basically?
0:04:16 > 0:04:19'Coalmining is far from a dying industry in West Virginia.
0:04:19 > 0:04:25'50% of the electricity generated in the United States comes from coal.'
0:04:25 > 0:04:29This is Stephen Fry. A pleasure to introduce him to you.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32BEEPING
0:04:32 > 0:04:35What did that noise mean just now?
0:04:35 > 0:04:38- That's a CO monitor alarm.- Oh, right.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41Just to check that the alarm's working, not that there is...
0:04:41 > 0:04:45- There's some who don't have moustaches.- Some don't.
0:04:45 > 0:04:46But nobody seemed to mind.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49- No.- But it's a bit scary. How do you know they're miners?
0:04:49 > 0:04:56- What's that alarm?- We have a lot of different alarms going off as we're getting ready to start.- Oh, right.
0:04:56 > 0:05:02This seam is about 350 million years old, so every day, we're fighting Mother Nature.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08Hello.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12- Are you ready?- I'm so ready. - All right, guys, let's go.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16- Welcome to our world.- Why, thank you.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19- Oh, my.- No secrets in an elevator I guess, huh?
0:05:19 > 0:05:22No gas in an elevator too!
0:05:22 > 0:05:26- Is this the first time you've been underground?- It sure is, yes.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30Apart from the underground railway in London. Thank you.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38You know, in the main airways you've got all this air obviously...
0:05:38 > 0:05:45- When we get up to the face, just kind of watch what you're doing. - Keep your hands inside the vehicle.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47Keep your glasses on too.
0:05:49 > 0:05:56Well, this is a hell of a commute. I'm guessing you don't have Wi-Fi or cell phone coverage down here.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58No Wi-Fi, no cell phone coverage.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06When we go out of here, everybody turns their lights out.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10- Yeah.- So you can see how dark it is. - That's a good idea, yeah.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13- It's the darkest dark. - It's the darkest of dark.
0:06:13 > 0:06:21'In this vast subterranean city, whose tunnels cover a staggering ten square miles,
0:06:21 > 0:06:29'the exposed coal is sprayed with white limestone to help reduce the coal dust and risk of fire.'
0:06:29 > 0:06:34- This is it. The end of the road for us.- Right.- Things are going to change drastically now.
0:06:34 > 0:06:40- Well, see you again tomorrow, thank you very much. Extremely enjoyable. - Thanks for the ride, right?
0:06:42 > 0:06:47'It's hot, dark and for a man of my height, incredibly uncomfortable.'
0:06:47 > 0:06:50Standing up isn't really an option. is it?
0:06:53 > 0:06:58- That cuts the coal? This? My word. - They call it the beast from the east.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03- You've come to the best mine in West Virginia.- I'm glad to hear that.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09Oh, my.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13- Bless all these men in his holy name, amen.- Amen.- God speed safe.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18ROAR OF MACHINERY
0:07:18 > 0:07:22- That there? That's methane? - That's methane.- Oh, my.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25- You can smell it a tiny bit.- No, you can't smell it. It's odourless.
0:07:25 > 0:07:30- What am I smelling then? - Er, probably sulphur from the water. - Sulphur?- You get used to it.
0:07:30 > 0:07:35Now when we get up right near the face you can see the coal...
0:07:35 > 0:07:37Oh, my goodness.
0:07:37 > 0:07:41- And this you can see, to get a better idea.- So shiny.
0:07:43 > 0:07:48You've probably got about 1,100 foot of mountain on top of you.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51- So when it collapses, you know about it?- Oh, you know about it.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55- You feel it?- You hear it. You see it and you feel it.
0:07:55 > 0:07:59- It's a crumble, a rumble.- You feel it before it even collapses.
0:07:59 > 0:08:04You can feel it breaking, you can hear it above you and then it'll collapse.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11Charming, but best left to the experts, one feels.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15It's at about this point that I find the prospect of continuing
0:08:15 > 0:08:19my journey south into the state of Kentucky strangely appealing.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25"Unbridled spirit" is the State of Kentucky's new motto.
0:08:25 > 0:08:32We'll find out about the spirit later on, but "unbridled"? Well, this is prime horse country.
0:08:32 > 0:08:36The Kentucky Derby is of course world renowned.
0:08:36 > 0:08:41Thoroughbreds are big business here and Kentucky's top bloodstock auction house is Keeneland,
0:08:41 > 0:08:44where the most expensive horseflesh in the world is traded.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46Good morning.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52I love the smell of horses, I love the smell of horses.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55And according to breeder Tom Van Meter,
0:08:55 > 0:09:01prime stallions are not allowed so much as a sniff of a mare until their racing career is truly over.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03You can touch him.
0:09:03 > 0:09:10So we're talking about immensely sexually frustrated creatures if for 3 or 4 years of their prime manhood
0:09:10 > 0:09:14they are not being allowed to mate, I would have thought?
0:09:14 > 0:09:19- Yes, but, Stephen, but...- But?
0:09:19 > 0:09:23..if they are successful racehorses then...
0:09:23 > 0:09:26- They really do get...- They get all they want, all they need,
0:09:26 > 0:09:30- 3 or 4 times a day. - But they don't know that.
0:09:30 > 0:09:31- Stephen...- Yes.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33..if you believe in reincarnation,
0:09:33 > 0:09:39you would want to come back as a thoroughbred racehorse, that could run! OK?
0:09:39 > 0:09:43Now if you couldn't run, you know... they're going to get cut off.
0:09:43 > 0:09:48Apparently the services of the most expensive stallion
0:09:48 > 0:09:52can cost as much as 300,000 for one impregnation.
0:09:52 > 0:09:57- This is pimping on a massive scale. - That's exactly what it is.
0:09:57 > 0:10:02Speaking of genetics, the eldest of Tom's five children, Griff Van Meter,
0:10:02 > 0:10:06is a Kentuckian from top to bottom.
0:10:06 > 0:10:13If I say Kentucky to a foreigner, they always say Kentucky Fried Chicken and Kentucky Derby
0:10:13 > 0:10:17but there's more than just those. There's definitely an identity here.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21You get people that stay in Kentucky for life and have been here for life
0:10:21 > 0:10:24and that's what I really enjoy about it because this is where I belong.
0:10:24 > 0:10:29I actually have a tattoo of the State of Kentucky kinda on my ass.
0:10:29 > 0:10:35Well, this is British television and there's nothing we like better than to look at an ass.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37I would love to show you my ass.
0:10:37 > 0:10:39Great.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41- Oh, wow!- And in that...
0:10:41 > 0:10:44- Is that the shape of Kentucky? - That's the shape of Kentucky.
0:10:44 > 0:10:46Very pleasant.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50If lost, return here, er, type situation.
0:10:50 > 0:10:56So that wasn't just one drunken moment you'll regret for the rest of your life but a proud statement
0:10:56 > 0:11:03- of your Kentucky...- Exactly, it's permanent and I'm proud every time I see it and it's always refreshing...
0:11:03 > 0:11:06A refreshing bottom is a fine thing to have!
0:11:06 > 0:11:14Today is the tail end of the 3 week sale but the auctioneers try to keep up the excitement.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16- This is yours?- Yes.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21- Oh, we've got a bid over there. Only one more to sell.- Yah.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23Here we go, we sold it.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26We sold this horse.
0:11:26 > 0:11:31- The way the auctioneer speaks, it's just breathtaking, it's hypnotic. - STEPHEN CHANTS
0:11:31 > 0:11:35AUCTIONEER SPEAKING VERY FAST
0:11:42 > 0:11:45Was that "bidded up here"?
0:11:45 > 0:11:50- Bidded up here. - HE REPEATS VERY QUICKLY
0:11:50 > 0:11:53- Do you tailor it to the kind of product you're selling?- Absolutely.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55So how would you sell chickens?
0:11:55 > 0:12:00Chickens tend to be more country and high pitch and kinda, you know...
0:12:08 > 0:12:14- That's fantastic! Do you know what that is? It's suddenly... that's banjo picking!- Yes. It is.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17It's the same sound as banjo picking. It's Kentucky Blue Grass.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41Welcome to Sunny Kentucky.
0:12:43 > 0:12:48You know what galls me when the weather's like this?
0:12:48 > 0:12:53People always say, "Well, must make you feel right at home!"
0:12:53 > 0:12:58We don't get rain like this, this is preposterous.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02We get a nice steady English drizzle.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04Dear me.
0:13:07 > 0:13:13Of course what you need in weather like this, I always think,
0:13:13 > 0:13:17is sort of internal central heating, you know?
0:13:17 > 0:13:21Not all American industry is high-tech.
0:13:21 > 0:13:26This Kentucky bourbon distillery preserves the style and methods of the distant past.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30We've had the unbridled part of Kentucky, now for the spirit.
0:13:30 > 0:13:35We're the smallest, slowest, oldest distillery in the United States.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41STEPHEN LAUGHING
0:13:41 > 0:13:47Chris Morris has the enviable post of Master Distiller.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49Both my mother and father worked here.
0:13:49 > 0:13:55Every night, I remember Mum cooking dinner and she'd always have a glass of bourbon on the counter.
0:13:55 > 0:14:01I'd come through the kitchen as a small boy and say, "Mum, can I have a sip?" And I'd take a sip and...
0:14:01 > 0:14:06- "I don't like that." Now, of course, my reaction would be very different. - You like it very much.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19- It looks like a Victorian prison. - Those bars date back to Prohibition.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22Of course, I'd completely forgotten.
0:14:22 > 0:14:23- We're in the country...- Yes.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26- ..where for 15 years or so... - Exactly.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30- ..alcohol of any kind was federally prohibited.- Prohibited.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33We do the usual distillery tour thing and charming it is too.
0:14:36 > 0:14:41But the part that really interests me is the little tasting session.
0:14:44 > 0:14:50What it all comes down to is this gorgeous brown liquid.
0:14:50 > 0:14:57Yes, the whiskey has to speak for itself and it speaks in a language that, if you're a wine connoisseur,
0:14:57 > 0:15:04you might be very familiar with it. Vanilla, caramel, a hint of dark chocolate and maple syrup,
0:15:04 > 0:15:10baked apple, black pepper, cinnamon, tobacco leaf, coffee bean and a little bit of pecan in every glass.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14Wow, now to me that's almost a poem.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18But is there any more to it or is it actually just subjective,
0:15:18 > 0:15:22or is there some precision and science in that?
0:15:22 > 0:15:27Well, it is science. If you say, "I have a hint of cinnamon," that's cinnaldehyde.
0:15:27 > 0:15:31That is the same chemical that makes cinnamon be cinnamon.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35Now, nose that one and it should have some distinctive oak notes.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37Yes, it is woody, definitely.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40- Discernibly woody notes.- Yep. It's a sort of dusty wood, isn't it?
0:15:40 > 0:15:44We have a sample here that is one of my favourite types.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47- It should be creamier, sweeter... - Wooh...
0:15:49 > 0:15:56- Hmm, try that one. Compare it to this one.- Amazing. - Which is still awful smooth.- It is.
0:15:56 > 0:16:03Butterscotch, honey, black pepper, coffee bean, cherry, vanilla kernel...
0:16:08 > 0:16:12Chris, don't think me pretentious.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15This smell is an autumnal walk in the countryside,
0:16:15 > 0:16:21probably about seven miles from Aldershot on the fringe of an old wood, a spinney -
0:16:21 > 0:16:26or a copse possibly, if not a spinney...it's a copse definitely -
0:16:26 > 0:16:32and there's a slightly wet Labrador panting and a little bit of that Labrador's breath is in here...
0:16:32 > 0:16:36I think Stevie should have a little lie down.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04The next morning, I thought I'd drive the taxi to London.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08L-O-N..don.
0:17:08 > 0:17:16No, that wasn't last night's whiskey getting the better of me, London really was calling.
0:17:16 > 0:17:18London City Police.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23I thought the black cab would appreciate a stop in London
0:17:23 > 0:17:27and besides, it was time to tidy up my act.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31Good.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40- Come right in, sir.- Oh, hello. - I'm Jim.- Nice to meet you.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44- Have you ever been to London, England?- I've not been.
0:17:44 > 0:17:48Well, it's a bit bigger than London, Kentucky.
0:17:48 > 0:17:55- Have you had many Londoners come in? - No, sir. To my knowledge, you're the first.- I'm the first Londoner!
0:17:55 > 0:18:01- I do like your accent.- Well, I was going to say the same thing. I think yours is mighty fine too.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04We have this phrase "a short back and sides".
0:18:04 > 0:18:08A short back and sides, no. What we call "burrs",
0:18:08 > 0:18:13- which is about a quarter of an inch all over and we call it burrs.- Burrs.
0:18:13 > 0:18:19- And some people call it "butch". - Butch?- In this locality. - Butch and burrs.
0:18:19 > 0:18:24- Burrs like the animal? - Er, like a chestnut burr.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27Oh, a burr. Not a bear but a burr.
0:18:27 > 0:18:34I tend to think of Kentucky as being quite southern in its ways but you're kind of in the middle.
0:18:34 > 0:18:39- Well, kinda in the middle but I'd say we're more southern really.- Yeah.
0:18:39 > 0:18:44We love it. Did you realise we have the World Chicken Festival?
0:18:44 > 0:18:48- You have the World Chicken Festival? - Sure.- Really?
0:18:48 > 0:18:53- Haven't you fellas heard about that over in England?- I don't know how I came not to have heard of it.
0:18:53 > 0:19:00- I'm ashamed of myself.- They named it after Colonel Sanders.- Of course, Colonel Sanders is a Kentucky man.
0:19:00 > 0:19:04- And the barber I work with cut Colonel Sanders' hair.- Really?
0:19:04 > 0:19:08- He came in, in his big white suit.- He really did look like that and dress like that?- Absolutely.
0:19:08 > 0:19:15- Let me tell you there are lots of Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants in London, England.- Are there?
0:19:15 > 0:19:21Lots and lots. On a Saturday night, the smell of a congealing thrift bucket fills the air. Right.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24And people dress up as chickens, I expect?
0:19:24 > 0:19:27Well, yes, some of them do.
0:19:27 > 0:19:31I know it's a thing Americans like to do - to dress up as a chicken.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35- That's true...- Well, not all Americans obviously.
0:19:35 > 0:19:37THEY LAUGH
0:19:37 > 0:19:42I got the impression that all Americans like to dress as chickens. I may be wrong.
0:20:10 > 0:20:14- OK.- Well, thank you, Jim. That's... - You're welcome.- ..really Wonderful.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17- You cut a fair amount. - You're welcome.
0:20:17 > 0:20:24Oh, terrific. Well, it's, erm...it's quite shocking. I look, er...I don't know what I look like.
0:20:24 > 0:20:29- Do I look younger?- Yes.- Or maybe I look older? But I look different.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52MUSIC PLAYS
0:20:52 > 0:20:56Blue Grass music might be named after Kentucky Blue Grass
0:20:56 > 0:21:03but it's played with enthusiasm just across the state line in Tennessee too.
0:21:03 > 0:21:10And in this former school on Friday evenings, enthusiasts gather for an extended jam session.
0:21:10 > 0:21:16Every corner is filled with the best sort of informal music making.
0:21:40 > 0:21:45I would say that it runs deep in your blood and it becomes a part of you
0:21:45 > 0:21:48and you feel the land, you know, in your heart.
0:21:53 > 0:22:00- Like that, yeah.- It's one of those styles of music that once you've heard it...- It's in your blood.
0:22:00 > 0:22:01Just what I was going to say.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05I'm a descendant, of course, of Scots-Irish, that came over...
0:22:05 > 0:22:07across the ocean, you know.
0:22:07 > 0:22:12- And they brought music with them? - They did.- They brought jigs and reels?- They did.
0:22:12 > 0:22:17I do the three fingered style picking that Earl Scruggs developed, er...
0:22:17 > 0:22:25- He learned a lot from Snuffy Jenkins who was his teacher.- Snuffy Jenkins! - It's a good name, isn't it?
0:22:32 > 0:22:35Oh, yes, wonderful, wonderful!
0:22:35 > 0:22:40- Do you have a name as a band or...? - Mountain Gap.- Mountain...Girl?
0:22:40 > 0:22:43- Mountain...Gap.- Gap! Gap! Sorry.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46Real slow, real slow.
0:22:46 > 0:22:48I've got it now. Mountain Gap.
0:22:48 > 0:22:53- No, not Mountain! Moun'ain... - Moun'ain...- Ga-ap!- Ga-ap!
0:22:53 > 0:22:57- I got it, I got it, thank you very much, thank you. - APPLAUSE
0:22:57 > 0:23:02- You talk funny over there, don't you? - Do you think?- Oh, yeah, yeah.
0:23:15 > 0:23:20Wonderful. ..But Tennessee isn't all plucking, picking and slapping.
0:23:20 > 0:23:28There is a world renowned university in the town of Knoxville and I have an assignation there.
0:23:33 > 0:23:40Now, I'm supposed to meet a woman called Rebecca, that could be her code-name of course, in a car park.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44Now...where?
0:23:52 > 0:23:55Ah, Rebecca! Stephen. How do you do?
0:23:55 > 0:23:58- Nice to meet you, Stephen. - How nice to meet you.
0:23:58 > 0:24:03- Oh, my.- We try to avoid advertising our location.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07- That's deliberate?- Yes. - Away from prying eyes?
0:24:12 > 0:24:15Razor wire!
0:24:17 > 0:24:20I just need to shut the gates behind us.
0:24:20 > 0:24:25I can see black... what we would call bin liners.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32Every black plastic you see is actually an individual.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36- A human cadaver?- Yes. - A dead body in fact?- Yes.
0:24:36 > 0:24:38Goodness me.
0:24:42 > 0:24:49There's over 180 individuals, er, cadavers out here.
0:24:49 > 0:24:54Our title is the Anthropological Research Facility.
0:24:54 > 0:25:00- Most people know of us as the Body Farm.- The Body Farm?- Yes.- Yep.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04What would you say is the main purpose?
0:25:04 > 0:25:09To do time since death - that's how long someone's been dead - research,
0:25:09 > 0:25:13- in a scientific way.- Right.
0:25:13 > 0:25:21- So are we going to see a few maggots and things?- We don't...- Because, as long as I'm prepared, I don't mind.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24I have to tell you something now, which is that,
0:25:24 > 0:25:29in all my 50 years on this planet, I have never seen a dead body.
0:25:33 > 0:25:39- So I don't know how I'll respond. I'm sure I'll be grown up about it. - Just watch your step.
0:25:39 > 0:25:47- That's an electric fence that we keep on at night, it keeps out the larger critters.- I understand.- Yes.
0:25:47 > 0:25:52Because animals obviously feast on... Well, there's a dead body.
0:25:52 > 0:25:56- Yes, yes.- Oh, my goodness.
0:25:56 > 0:26:03This is, what we call late stage decomposition where all, almost the skeleton's left.
0:26:03 > 0:26:11It's, erm, yeah. It's a sight that, you know, artists and poets and writers have written about
0:26:11 > 0:26:15since humans could write, that of the oddity of a human skull,
0:26:15 > 0:26:19knowing that what I'm speaking out of now is no more than that
0:26:19 > 0:26:25and that's what we all are, we're all a composition of bones and flesh
0:26:25 > 0:26:30- but, to look at it, you wonder where the human is in a way, don't you? - Oh, yeah.
0:26:32 > 0:26:37- Do you see a skull through my skin? - Unfortunately, I should say yes.
0:26:37 > 0:26:44I have a really bad habit now when I do see people, especially new people,
0:26:44 > 0:26:50I will sit there and I kind of imagine what they look like underneath, particularly the skull.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54So my noble macrocephalus frontal regions, for example,
0:26:54 > 0:27:00you would instantly see bespoke a man of immense sensitivity and grace?
0:27:00 > 0:27:04No, you wouldn't! You'd just see a particular category of skull.
0:27:08 > 0:27:10Oh! Oh, my goodness.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12What have you got in there?
0:27:12 > 0:27:19Right now there is an individual in the bin. They've been here since July so they've been here a few months.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23So they're over the worst of smell and insects, are they? Or not?
0:27:23 > 0:27:27- They're over the worst insects. - You're warning me that there's going to be a bad smell?
0:27:27 > 0:27:32- Yes. I would not stick your head over until it's open.- OK. ..Ah!
0:27:32 > 0:27:35Oh, my... Oh, good gracious...
0:27:37 > 0:27:39Oh, Lord.
0:27:39 > 0:27:44- You can see the maggots.- I can see the maggots, yes, thank you.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46Oh, gracious.
0:27:48 > 0:27:55It's...a great seething, living... appalling-smelling thing.
0:28:00 > 0:28:06It's as if it's clawing inside you to try and scoop out every living part of you and turn it into death.
0:28:06 > 0:28:11It's just unspeakably horrible, I can't... You've...
0:28:11 > 0:28:16- I have a really bad sense of smell. - Oh, do you?- Yes. That's something...
0:28:16 > 0:28:22- That's a lucky thing, you're better off in this job than wine tasting. - Exactly!
0:28:22 > 0:28:26You see, in some ways, the worst of what it is to be human.
0:28:26 > 0:28:31Terrible things like murdered children, and murdered anybody,
0:28:31 > 0:28:35plus you see the human body in its most dreadful state.
0:28:35 > 0:28:42The goal is to help grieving families and help put a name to an unknown skeleton and get that closure
0:28:42 > 0:28:48but part of you has to realise that this is a research object and you can't get emotionally attached to it.
0:28:51 > 0:28:56- One thing on this foot you'll see is ants.- Yes, yes, I can.
0:28:57 > 0:29:01Well, ants are common to find on a fresh individual,
0:29:01 > 0:29:07especially in someone's home, and doing entomology, which is the study of all the insects,
0:29:07 > 0:29:10is one of the best indicators of time since death.
0:29:10 > 0:29:15- Because different insects hatch and thrive in bodies at different times. - Exactly.
0:29:15 > 0:29:20In some of our more basic studies you can look at the soil around the body
0:29:20 > 0:29:28because things are leeched from your body into the soil so, if there is something in question,
0:29:28 > 0:29:35you can test that and say, "No, there is a body that decomposed here, you need to tell us the truth now."
0:29:35 > 0:29:42This garden of earthly remains might at first glance seem rather a grizzly and morbid place to be
0:29:42 > 0:29:46but actually I think it should fill one with a kind of optimism
0:29:46 > 0:29:50because it's being used for extraordinarily good purposes
0:29:50 > 0:29:56to catch wicked people and to ease the burden of suffering from grieving people and, er...
0:29:56 > 0:30:00I might genuinely consider leaving my body to such an institution.
0:30:00 > 0:30:05It might as well do some good, it's done so little good on this earth,
0:30:05 > 0:30:10it might at least do good when my spirit has flown away.
0:30:10 > 0:30:17Whisking my offended nostrils as far from Knoxville's Department of Forensic Anthropology as possible,
0:30:17 > 0:30:24I revel in the pure air of the Smoky Mountain National Park as I head for the North Carolina state Line.
0:30:24 > 0:30:29These colours are amazing. I feel a photo opportunity coming on.
0:30:29 > 0:30:31Hello, who's this?
0:30:46 > 0:30:54He seems to be chewing at the base of a branch at the end of which is a luscious supply of berries.
0:30:54 > 0:31:00So I assume the idea is to chew right through, the branch will fall to the ground,
0:31:00 > 0:31:04he'll scramble after it, hopefully take a bow
0:31:04 > 0:31:09and then carry home his prize of a whole basket of fruit for the day.
0:31:11 > 0:31:13And he's done it! He's bitten through!
0:31:13 > 0:31:17Now he's just got to make sure, what an achievement, yes!
0:31:17 > 0:31:21Give it a rock, don't fall off, old thing.
0:31:22 > 0:31:29Now, he's rather disappointed that it hasn't simply fallen to the ground but it's a bit tangled up.
0:31:29 > 0:31:33If there's one thing animals can do, it's persevere.
0:31:42 > 0:31:47Still in the Smoky Mountains, it seems to me there's only one way
0:31:47 > 0:31:52to see this beautiful part of North Carolina at its absolute best. I've never done this before.
0:31:53 > 0:31:54Oh, lord!
0:31:54 > 0:31:58- Shall I just climb in, yes?- Yes, yes.
0:31:58 > 0:32:02'I shall throw caution, and myself, to the winds.'
0:32:11 > 0:32:13Bye.
0:32:20 > 0:32:24I'm not sure how much I like looking down over the edge.
0:32:27 > 0:32:28Whoa.
0:32:29 > 0:32:31I'm happy to hold onto things.
0:32:41 > 0:32:43It's quite scary.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00- You guys are over a mile high. - Really! Are we?- Over a mile high.
0:33:00 > 0:33:07The thing to me about America is you only have to rise up a little in any part, even a densely populated part,
0:33:07 > 0:33:13and you see how much is wilderness and how much of it is unoccupied mountains
0:33:13 > 0:33:16and extraordinary geographical and geological systems.
0:33:22 > 0:33:28I was a bit nervous as we were ascending but, we're now so high, it's pointless to be nervous.
0:33:28 > 0:33:30GAS JETS ROAR SUDDENLY
0:33:35 > 0:33:41- We were descending at a very, very, very fast rate.- Good lord! My ears are popping, I'll give you that.
0:33:41 > 0:33:47- All right, Stephen, we're going to try to get down to treetop level here.- Treetop level?
0:33:47 > 0:33:51It's a great place to just look in the canopy.
0:33:51 > 0:33:57We're moving at 34 miles an hour, which is extremely fast in a hot air balloon. Too fast.
0:33:57 > 0:34:01- I take it you know about those power lines?- Yes, I see those and thanks for warning me!
0:34:03 > 0:34:07I have had a squirrel jump in before. He did about 200 circles.
0:34:07 > 0:34:09I don't know who was more alarmed!
0:34:09 > 0:34:14I bet in his family they still tell that story of the day Nutkin had that adventure.
0:34:16 > 0:34:21It's that silence apart from when you're pressing the burner.
0:34:21 > 0:34:24- It's absolutely amazing. - It's beautiful.- Peaceful, graceful.
0:34:24 > 0:34:29I'm going to try to get close enough to this tree so you can pick one of those little...
0:34:31 > 0:34:33Here we go.
0:34:34 > 0:34:39I might get one of these...fruits.
0:34:39 > 0:34:43- Don't lean out too far. - Don't tell me that now!
0:34:43 > 0:34:47- Ah, there you go. - That's going in my souvenir bag.
0:34:54 > 0:34:57- A little pine tree. - How cool was that?
0:35:06 > 0:35:09From the foothills of the Appalachians in North Carolina
0:35:09 > 0:35:16to the lowland coast of South Carolina, the vegetation changes radically.
0:35:17 > 0:35:19Gullah can be found here I'm told.
0:35:19 > 0:35:26Gullah is a language, a culture, preserved where the freed African slaves lived on
0:35:26 > 0:35:30in these isolated swampy, inhospitable islands.
0:35:35 > 0:35:42This is the landscape that the unwilling visitors from Africa would have first seen all those years ago.
0:35:51 > 0:35:57Anita Prather is a descendant of slaves brought to this coast and revels in Gullah culture.
0:35:59 > 0:36:03Most of us came from rice producing countries in Africa.
0:36:03 > 0:36:08Because of those specialised skills, we cost more
0:36:08 > 0:36:11and, er, we were requested.
0:36:11 > 0:36:14Because of that system we were able to maintain more of our Africanisms
0:36:14 > 0:36:17than a lot of other Africans that were brought here.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21So that's why Gullah is still so prevalent in this area.
0:36:21 > 0:36:25SINGING AND CLAPPING
0:36:25 > 0:36:28Now you've used this word "Gullah", what does that mean?
0:36:28 > 0:36:34It is the blending of different cultures of the West Africans that were brought here
0:36:34 > 0:36:37with that of the Europeans that became the masters of the plantation
0:36:37 > 0:36:42with that of the native Americans that were the original owners of the property of the plantations
0:36:42 > 0:36:45so you have the blending of all those different cultures.
0:36:48 > 0:36:52SPEAKS GULLAH
0:36:54 > 0:36:57Good gracious, what does that mean?
0:36:57 > 0:36:59When you are here, the deer is not here.
0:36:59 > 0:37:04But when you are not here, the deer is here. D-E-E-R as in Bambi.
0:37:04 > 0:37:09It's a fact about the south, it seems closer in history down here than it does up in the north.
0:37:09 > 0:37:14Does it offend you when you see a Confederate flag on the hood of a car or...?
0:37:14 > 0:37:20Not at all. I had a lot of students who wore Confederate items, but I was their favourite teacher.
0:37:20 > 0:37:25A lot of it didn't have to do with, "I'm wearing it because I hate black people,"
0:37:25 > 0:37:29but, "I'm wearing it because I feel this is part of my heritage."
0:37:29 > 0:37:34- I think sometimes we get offended without really understanding what people are really feeling.- Mm.
0:37:34 > 0:37:41Gullah is the one culture that brings us altogether because it connects us all. So, cousin, how're you doing?
0:37:41 > 0:37:43- STEPHEN LAUGHS - I'm doing very well.
0:37:43 > 0:37:47And so to Georgia.
0:37:47 > 0:37:53Georgia in my mind... is the heart of the south.
0:38:09 > 0:38:13Today is the third Thursday in November, a date every American knows.
0:38:18 > 0:38:25Thanksgiving Day, when thanks are given for the safe landing of the Pilgrim Fathers.
0:38:25 > 0:38:30The thanks take the form of a feast of turkey, cranberry and pumpkin pie.
0:38:30 > 0:38:35Americans will cross the country to be with their families.
0:38:35 > 0:38:40I've been invited to celebrate it at an old plantation house in southern Georgia.
0:38:42 > 0:38:45- Well, hello there.- You're here.
0:38:45 > 0:38:49'Jeannie and Swannie, two of the daughters of the house home for the holidays,
0:38:49 > 0:38:55'are full of plans for exciting activities.'
0:38:55 > 0:39:00- Stephen, while you are here, we're going to put you to work.- Yeah.
0:39:00 > 0:39:05- We're going to put you on a horse and then you can just go out and round up cows.- Oh, my...
0:39:05 > 0:39:08I've a horrible feeling that the getting on alone is going to be...
0:39:08 > 0:39:11Oh, it'll be a piece of cake.
0:39:11 > 0:39:15'Let's be clear, horses don't get on with me. I don't get on with horses.
0:39:15 > 0:39:22'Never mind the "with", I don't get "on" horses, but these dear people seem so keen and confident
0:39:22 > 0:39:27'that, even against my instincts, it seems churlish to refuse.'
0:39:27 > 0:39:31And we have a very special breed here called the Tennessee walking horse.
0:39:31 > 0:39:36I like the sound of that - not a galloping horse, not a throwing-rider-off horse...
0:39:36 > 0:39:39They're very smooth.
0:39:39 > 0:39:44This is Shadow. Shadow is the one horse if we could clone, we would.
0:39:44 > 0:39:46Really? Because he's nice and gentle?
0:39:46 > 0:39:52- He's very, very smooth and they can put people who don't know how to ride on him.- People like me for example?
0:39:52 > 0:39:55They smell your fear, you know.
0:39:57 > 0:40:02- Oh, he's wonderful. - I think I believe you.
0:40:02 > 0:40:06He's dirty! Why didn't you wash him off?
0:40:08 > 0:40:12- Stephen, I personally guarantee this horse.- That's very nice to hear.
0:40:12 > 0:40:17- OK, put your left foot there.- That makes sense.- And then just grab...
0:40:17 > 0:40:22- Where am I putting my hand?- Grab a hold of his mane. There you go.- Ooh.
0:40:23 > 0:40:25Sorry. Shadow's the name, yes?
0:40:25 > 0:40:27Excuse me, Shadow, I'm sorry.
0:40:27 > 0:40:31- Good boy. No, don't do that to me. - You're on your own, have fun.
0:40:31 > 0:40:37He's not going to jump over the fence, is he? Good boy.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42No, no, whoa. Calm down. Whoa!
0:40:42 > 0:40:45Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
0:40:45 > 0:40:48Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.
0:40:48 > 0:40:51Whoa. Whoa.
0:40:51 > 0:40:55So much for the walking. You call that walking?
0:40:55 > 0:41:01Stephen, I don't know what to tell you. I apologise. That's never happened before.
0:41:01 > 0:41:07Whenever I've been on a horse, the horse's owner goes, "That's strange, he's never done that before."
0:41:07 > 0:41:11I love horses from a distance. They make very good watercolour paintings.
0:41:11 > 0:41:17When they run against each other to see who's fastest, I'm happy to watch it on television.
0:41:17 > 0:41:22I know they mean well, but they're also rather stupid.
0:41:22 > 0:41:27That's it. Now, I get my foot down there, don't I?
0:41:27 > 0:41:29Thank you so much.
0:41:29 > 0:41:30LAUGHTER
0:41:30 > 0:41:32Oh, well, we got it.
0:41:32 > 0:41:36Never, ever again. Never, do you understand?
0:41:36 > 0:41:43You can tell all your brothers and sisters they won't have to put up with me, ever, on a horse!
0:41:43 > 0:41:49Somebody said the word "bloody" and the word "Mary" quite soon after it, which I like the sound of.
0:42:03 > 0:42:08It's... Oh, yeah, it's what you call like hot tub...
0:42:08 > 0:42:11Cheers. To your American thanksgiving.
0:42:11 > 0:42:16Well, thank you and thanks for your hospitality, your famous southern hospitality, which is no lie.
0:42:16 > 0:42:19You're in the south, you're drinking and frying.
0:42:19 > 0:42:23What else does the world have to offer?
0:42:27 > 0:42:31Ah. Miss Schmoe, how do you do? I'm Stephen.
0:42:31 > 0:42:36'Miss Schmoe is the matriarch here and a mere 91 years old.
0:42:36 > 0:42:41'Her visiting older sister, Aunt Sneed, is a remarkable 98.'
0:42:41 > 0:42:45Your grandfather might have been old enough to have known the Civil War.
0:42:45 > 0:42:50Oh, yes, I have an ancestor, a grandfather who fought in the Civil War.
0:42:50 > 0:42:56So if I touch you now, I can say I'm touching someone, who touched someone who fought in the Civil War?
0:42:56 > 0:42:58- Yeah, that's right. - You see, to me, that's amazing.
0:42:58 > 0:43:05- We still have a hangover of that war, if you want to know the truth of it.- Is that right?- Yeah.
0:43:05 > 0:43:06There's no animosity here.
0:43:06 > 0:43:13We get along good with our black people and they get along good with us and we work together
0:43:13 > 0:43:16and they've contributed a lot to our civilisation.
0:43:16 > 0:43:23Grandfather Williams had over 100 slaves and when they were freed, he didn't lose the one.
0:43:23 > 0:43:29- He had to just start paying them. - And they all wanted to stay?- They wanted to. What else could they do?
0:43:29 > 0:43:32DISTANT SINGING
0:43:40 > 0:43:46# ..Above the fruited plain America, America
0:43:46 > 0:43:51# God shed his grace on thee
0:43:51 > 0:43:57# And crown they good with brotherhood
0:43:57 > 0:44:02# From sea to shining sea. #
0:44:02 > 0:44:06Ha ha, congratulations, boys.
0:44:06 > 0:44:11Look at those turkeys. Head straight to the kitchen with those turkeys.
0:44:11 > 0:44:13Into the house.
0:44:16 > 0:44:19Isn't it gorgeous?
0:44:19 > 0:44:24Marshmallows that have melted into the sweet potato. Oh, my!
0:44:29 > 0:44:34I'd like to raise a toast on behalf of my country.
0:44:34 > 0:44:37We were very sad naturally to lose you in 1776 over a...
0:44:37 > 0:44:40Are you sure?
0:44:40 > 0:44:44..a trifling misunderstanding. Something to do with tea, I believe.
0:44:44 > 0:44:48But, obviously, in another way we're very grateful to have lost you
0:44:48 > 0:44:52because if we hadn't, you wouldn't be the Americans that you are
0:44:52 > 0:44:56and I wouldn't have this extraordinary experience of coming
0:44:56 > 0:45:01to what is a very warm and friendly welcoming country. Thank you.
0:45:15 > 0:45:22Here's a confusing thought. I'm now going further south, as south as you can go in America,
0:45:22 > 0:45:26and yet I'm leaving the true south behind me.
0:45:49 > 0:45:56This is my first visit to Miami and I have to say, the word "hole" is certainly close to my lips.
0:45:56 > 0:45:58It's not my kind of city.
0:46:00 > 0:46:02It's hot, it's got palm trees.
0:46:02 > 0:46:05I'm sure it must have a heart and a soul
0:46:05 > 0:46:13and a meaning and a kind of delightful centre or something, but I'm yet to find it,
0:46:13 > 0:46:16it's just horrible, horrible concrete buildings.
0:46:22 > 0:46:27There is another city which is not Miami but Miami Beach.
0:46:27 > 0:46:32It's a strip of glamorous beach and maybe it's not quite as revolting.
0:46:38 > 0:46:44The thing is all seaside places are the same, because there's beach on one side and then there's a strip
0:46:44 > 0:46:47of places with seafood restaurants and bars.
0:46:47 > 0:46:52These are Deco, and Deco is a style I like very much.
0:46:52 > 0:46:56This part of Miami Beach is a Neapolitan ice cream, really.
0:46:56 > 0:47:00It has that feeling of being designed
0:47:00 > 0:47:02as a holiday paradise,
0:47:02 > 0:47:06and indeed all the dreary things that go with the word "paradise",
0:47:06 > 0:47:09like palm trees and huge cut-out parrots
0:47:09 > 0:47:14that promise so much and deliver so staggeringly little...
0:47:15 > 0:47:17And attractive people.
0:47:17 > 0:47:22Attractive people who are very fit and beautiful and instantly therefore look
0:47:22 > 0:47:28quite staggeringly ugly as a result, which is one of the great jokes that nature plays on the beautiful.
0:47:28 > 0:47:31I would rather be curled up in a snowy cabin
0:47:31 > 0:47:33sipping a warm whisky
0:47:33 > 0:47:36or frankly a mug of Horlicks
0:47:36 > 0:47:41than I would spend half an hour in this...rotting place.
0:47:43 > 0:47:49It's like the north, less friendly, so although we're further south
0:47:49 > 0:47:55than Georgia, we're a lot further north culturally and spiritually.
0:47:55 > 0:47:59# It's a long, long while... #
0:47:59 > 0:48:04They're called the "snowbirds" -
0:48:04 > 0:48:09mainly Jewish retired people who migrate down from the cold north for winter.
0:48:09 > 0:48:12# ..But the days grow short... #
0:48:12 > 0:48:18On party nights, professional male dancers come into these gated communities
0:48:18 > 0:48:22and these dashing young men are welcomed with open arms.
0:48:22 > 0:48:26MUSIC PLAYS
0:48:32 > 0:48:36Ladies, we have a lot of gentlemen here tonight.
0:48:36 > 0:48:38# Her name was Lola
0:48:38 > 0:48:41# She was a showgirl... #
0:48:41 > 0:48:46- Dave, Si, John, Russ. - APPLAUSE
0:48:50 > 0:48:55Guys wouldn't go up to ask them to dance, because they want to dance with the younger ladies.
0:48:55 > 0:48:59A lot of them are looking for a date for Saturday nights,
0:48:59 > 0:49:02so they're willing to pay you to take them out dancing on a Saturday.
0:49:09 > 0:49:12Sometimes we go home with torn jackets and pants with holes in them.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15Yeah, ripped up, ties comes off, everything.
0:49:15 > 0:49:18- Really! That desperate for a dance? - Yeah, they go after you big.
0:49:18 > 0:49:21The ratio down here is 10 women to every man, so..
0:49:29 > 0:49:34- Why do you think there are so many more women?- The women outlive their husbands. Divorced or...
0:49:34 > 0:49:37Their husbands have passed away, divorced or whatever.
0:49:41 > 0:49:43I hate dancing,
0:49:43 > 0:49:49so this to me is a living embodiment of hell.
0:49:49 > 0:49:54But I have to say the people are very sweet - it's just what they're gathered
0:49:54 > 0:49:59together to do that I find so ineffably, horrifically repellent.
0:49:59 > 0:50:04# And these few precious days
0:50:07 > 0:50:14# I'll spend with you... #
0:50:20 > 0:50:22All right, I admit it.
0:50:22 > 0:50:25Some aspects of South Florida have their charms.
0:50:38 > 0:50:41But as I leave,
0:50:41 > 0:50:43by way of the glorious Everglades,
0:50:43 > 0:50:46I can't but feel that heading north
0:50:46 > 0:50:49to the State of Alabama
0:50:49 > 0:50:51is really heading south again.
0:50:51 > 0:50:55My first stop is the state capital, Montgomery.
0:50:57 > 0:50:59Martin Luther King was a pastor here
0:50:59 > 0:51:03and led the bus boycott out of which the Civil Rights Movement was born.
0:51:03 > 0:51:09A lot has changed since the painful and violent times of enforced segregation between white and black,
0:51:09 > 0:51:11but there's still pain and drama on show.
0:51:11 > 0:51:15I'm here to witness the unique institution
0:51:15 > 0:51:18of the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles.
0:51:21 > 0:51:25Where families of inmates can plead the cause of their relatives
0:51:25 > 0:51:30in prison, and families of victims have their say too.
0:51:30 > 0:51:32Will you swear the testimony you are about to give will be the truth,
0:51:32 > 0:51:34the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
0:51:34 > 0:51:41We do hear suffering all day, we do hear cases about murder, rape, robbery,
0:51:41 > 0:51:42I mean incest...
0:51:42 > 0:51:46In the Shawshank Redemption, they go to the prison, don't they?
0:51:46 > 0:51:50- And they have a big stamp that goes "denied".- Exactly.- You don't have a stamp?- No.- There are three of us.
0:51:50 > 0:51:57There are 29,000 inmates plus in this Alabama prison system, and there are only three of us.
0:51:57 > 0:52:03- Presumably your first consideration is the safety of society?- Exactly. Whether they are likely to re-offend.
0:52:05 > 0:52:08Will you swear the testimony that you are about to give
0:52:08 > 0:52:12will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
0:52:12 > 0:52:16- And this is your son?- Yes.
0:52:16 > 0:52:20- Tell us what you want us to know about him.- Well, I know he done wrong...
0:52:20 > 0:52:24Since his incarceration, Gianni has accomplished a lot of things...
0:52:24 > 0:52:28I, as a parent, have seen a change...
0:52:28 > 0:52:31I have never seen a lady change so much...
0:52:31 > 0:52:33There is a difference in him now...
0:52:33 > 0:52:36This man deserves a second chance.
0:52:36 > 0:52:41And that is why I stand before you today and ask that you grant parole at this time to Tim.
0:52:43 > 0:52:49One lady, she got mad enough, I think, to hit me one day, and I said, "Do you realise what he's done?"
0:52:49 > 0:52:53People can change, you know, and she just...she wanted to...
0:52:53 > 0:52:56And the only reason he stopped killing people is he ran out of ammunition.
0:52:56 > 0:53:00He said he was sorry for what he'd done and everything to me also.
0:53:00 > 0:53:04Every day he tries harder to deal with the pains that he's caused everybody...
0:53:04 > 0:53:09I cannot make any guarantees, but from his conversation,
0:53:09 > 0:53:12I feel that he's ready to come back into society.
0:53:12 > 0:53:15We'll now hear from the victim's side.
0:53:15 > 0:53:18I don't think that the time served is enough...
0:53:18 > 0:53:20Please do not let him out...
0:53:20 > 0:53:23We go to the grave side.
0:53:23 > 0:53:26I have children now that are almost...
0:53:26 > 0:53:30- my brother's age...- And I am sure if Keith could choose,
0:53:30 > 0:53:35he would rather be in a prison cell locked away than in a deep dark grave.
0:53:35 > 0:53:40He committed a serious crime to get in prison and since he's been in prison he has not done well.
0:53:40 > 0:53:45The board has voted in this case. We've denied parole today. He'll be set for consideration in four years.
0:53:51 > 0:53:53And he told me he asked the Lord to forgive him.
0:53:53 > 0:53:57All her speech and everything is what she can do for God.
0:53:57 > 0:54:02I'm glad that, you know, she's got religion now and that she's changed her life around,
0:54:02 > 0:54:06but there's also a consequence for all these crimes that she's committed.
0:54:08 > 0:54:13One of the things I should imagine you get a lot, what you might call...
0:54:13 > 0:54:15penitentiary conversion.
0:54:15 > 0:54:21They find Jesus immediately, and I never knew Jesus to be lost, and they've got 33 disciplinaries
0:54:21 > 0:54:25in a 5-year term frame but they've got religion.
0:54:25 > 0:54:27If you know better, you do better.
0:54:27 > 0:54:31I know it's up to y'all to decide, you know, what his fate...
0:54:31 > 0:54:35He's done well and we have every reason expect him to continue,
0:54:35 > 0:54:37so we've voted to release him on parole.
0:54:37 > 0:54:40- Praise the Lord!- OK.
0:54:40 > 0:54:45- Praise the Lord. - I know we have made some decisions that resulted in people being hurt.
0:54:45 > 0:54:51We have paroled people who have gone out and committed new crimes. I hate that and I agonise over it.
0:54:51 > 0:54:58We make the best decision possible with the information that we have in hand and we go from there.
0:55:10 > 0:55:14It's an indication of the size of the US economy and their passion for sport
0:55:14 > 0:55:18that this is the stadium of Auburn, a medium-sized college,
0:55:18 > 0:55:23and this is their annual game against another college within the same state,
0:55:23 > 0:55:28the University of Alabama based in Tuscaloosa, a few hours' drive away.
0:55:32 > 0:55:38This fixture has the scale, intensity and hoopla of a grand national final,
0:55:38 > 0:55:43but is in reality nothing more than a local derby between amateur students. Only in America!
0:55:43 > 0:55:47DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS
0:56:37 > 0:56:40- How do you do? Have you got any spare paint for me?- Yes. Yes.
0:56:40 > 0:56:43Yes!
0:56:47 > 0:56:51Thank you so much.
0:56:54 > 0:56:56Pretty damn good, thank you.
0:57:11 > 0:57:14I really don't know if anything sums up America better.
0:57:14 > 0:57:18It's simultaneously preposterous...
0:57:18 > 0:57:23incredibly laughable, impressive, charming, ridiculous,
0:57:23 > 0:57:25expensive,
0:57:25 > 0:57:28over-populated,
0:57:28 > 0:57:30wonderful...
0:57:30 > 0:57:32American.
0:57:45 > 0:57:49# God bless America... #
0:57:57 > 0:58:00CHEERING
0:58:03 > 0:58:05Oh, dear.
0:58:05 > 0:58:07WHOOSHING
0:58:19 > 0:58:21On the next leg of my journey,
0:58:21 > 0:58:25I'll be following the Mississippi River from steamy New Orleans to icy Minnesota
0:58:25 > 0:58:29by way of parades, prisons, blues, canoes and motor cars.
0:58:36 > 0:58:39Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:39 > 0:58:42E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk