It is an idea that is ancient, and yet time has not dulled its vitality. It is an idea that echoes throughout history, and has inspired genocide - and selfless service to others. It is alive today in the rhetoric of American politicians trumpeting their country's "special role in the world." But it is also alive in the lives of ordinary people who devote their time helping the marginalized and forgotten. It is the biblical idea of chosenness. In this two-part series Ideas producer Frank Faulk examines this biblical concept's centrality to Western thought and culture, through the lens of religion, politics, and psychology.

From the Curio.ca streaming audio-visual collection.