Hjernevask

Hjernevask
Title card
Genre	Documentary
Created by	Harald Eia
Country of origin	Norway
Original language	Norwegian
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	7
Production
Running time	40 minutes
Original release
Network	NRK1
Release	March 1 (2010-03-01) – April 19, 2010 (2010-04-19)

Hjernevask (Brainwash) is a Norwegian popular science documentary series that aired on Norwegian television in 2010. The series was produced by the comedian Harald Eia and Ole Martin Ihle, and was completed in seven episodes consisting of interviews with Norwegian and foreign researchers who have different views on the nature versus nurture debate.

Goals and awards

Ihle has stated that the pair initially planned to make a television programme about the biology associated with Darwin year, but Steven Pinker's controversial bestseller The Blank Slate convinced them to "go a little deeper into the biological basis for the difference between people". 2010, Eia received the Fritt Ord Honorary Award "for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times."

Aftermath

The Nordic Council of Ministers closed the Nordic Gender Institute following the broadcast of Hjernevask. The question of whether the series influenced that decision is disputed.

Episodes

A producer has explicitly made the series available online. Episodes linked here have English subtitles:

#	#	Title	Participants	Air Date
1	1	The Gender Equality Paradox	Anniken Huitfeldt, Jørgen Lorentzen, Cathrine Egeland, Camilla Schreiner, Simon Baron-Cohen, Richard Lippa, Anne Campbell, Trond Diseth	March 1, 2010
Why do girls tend to go into empathizing professions and boys into systemizing professions? Why does the labor market become more gender segregated the more economic prosperity a country has?
2	2	The Parental Effect	Gudmund Hernes, Willy Pedersen, Judith Rich Harris, Hans Olav Tungesvik, Robert Plomin	March 8, 2010
How much influence do parents really have on their children? To what degree is intelligence inherited?
3	3	Gay/Straight	Sturla Berg Johansen, Thomas Folkestad, Jørgen Lorentzen, Agnes Bolsø, Nils Axel Nissen, Gerulf Rieger, Ricard Lippa, Simon LeVay, Arve Sørum, Glenn Wilson	March 15, 2010
To what extent is sexual preference innate? Are there differences between heterosexuals and homosexuals? Is homosexuality a result of a choice or is it innate?
4	4	Violence	Hedda Giertsen, Richard Nisbett, Erling Sandmo, Ingvild Forbord, Marit Clementz, Steven Pinker, Ragnhild Bjørnebekk, Inger Lise Lien, David Buss	March 22, 2010
Are people from some cultures more aggressive than others?
5	5	Sex	Willy Pedersen, Jørgen Lorentzen, Leif Edward Kennair, Anne Campbell, Gro Isachsen, Martine Aurdal, Richard Lippa, David Buss	April 5, 2010
Are there biological reasons men have a greater tendency than women to want sex without obligation?
6	6	Race	Trond Thorbjørnsen, Knut Olav Åmås, Cathrine Sandnes, Charles Murray, Richard Nisbett, Richard Lynn.	April 12, 2010
Are there significant genetic differences between different peoples?
7	7	Nature or Nurture	Jørgen Lorentzen, Knut Olav Åmås, Agnes Bolsø, Trond H. Diseth, Nils Axel Nissen, Martine Aurdal, Hedda Giertsen, Cathrine Egeland, Tom Colbjørnsen, Simon Baron-Cohen, Steven Pinker, Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair, Philip Skau, Vigdis Bunkholdt, Simon LeVay.	April 19, 2010
Is personality acquired or inherited?

External links

• Hjernevask at IMDb
• A playlist of all 7 episodes with English subtitles
• A playlist of the series on YouTube