Category Archives: Program Highlights

STEVE JOBS

ONE LAST THING

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2 @ 8:00PM & 11:00PM

Few men have changed our everyday world of work, leisure and human communication in the way that Steve Jobs, Apple’s former CEO, has done. The scope of his impact was evident in the outpouring of tributes from around the world — voiced on Twitter as well as through makeshift memorials in front of Apple stores — following his death, from complications of pancreatic cancer, on October 5, 2011. Steve Jobs – One Last Thing not only examines how his talent, style and imagination have shaped all of our lives, but the influences that shaped and molded the man himself.


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WOMEN, WAR & PEACE

THE WAR WE ARE LIVING

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1 @ 8:00PM & 11:00PM

If you ask Colombia’s city dwellers and governing political class, they’ll tell you the country’s 40-year-old civil war is over. But The War We Are Living reveals the “other” Colombia, in rural areas far away from the capital, where the war is all too real – and now the battle is over gold. In Cauca, a mountainous region in Colombia’s Pacific southwest, two extraordinary Afro-Colombian women are fighting to hold onto the gold-rich land that has sustained their community through small-scale mining for centuries.


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THE MARK TWAIN PRIZE

WILL FERRELL

MONDAY, OCTOBER 31 @ 7:00PM & 10:00PM

Taped at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on October 23, the 90-minute special featured a star-studded cast of Ferrell’s friends and colleagues including top entertainers Ed Asner, Jack Black, Matthew Broderick, Adam McKay, Conan O’Brien, John C. Reilly, Paul Rudd, Molly Shannon and more. The evening paid tribute to the humor and accomplishments of the popular writer, actor and producer.


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MASTERPIECE MYSTERY!

CASE HISTORIES

EPISODE 3

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30 @ 7:00PM & 11:00PM

Private investigator Jackson Brodie is on a stakeout. Not exactly high stakes, but for Gary Moore, the photographs provided by Brodie will offer proof of his wife Michelle’s infidelity. Returning home through the Scottish countryside, Brodie’s car stalls, leaving him to be sideswiped by an old woman he must soon protect from an oncoming train — but not in time to save himself.


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PBS ARTS FROM MIAMI

MIAMI CITY BALLET DANCES BALANCHINE & THARP

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29 @ 6:00PM

From their home base in Miami Beach (and utilizing four performing venues in South Florida), Miami City Ballet – under the leadership of Artistic Director Edward Villella, celebrated its 25th Anniversary Season in 2010-11. More than 88 ballets are featured in its repertory, works created by a roster of world-class choreographers including George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp, Frederick Ashton, Anthony Tudor and John Cranko as well as such 19th century classics as “Giselle,” “Coppelia” and “Don Quixote.”


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INDEPENDENT LENS

LIVES WORTH LIVING

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27 @ 8:00PM & 11:00PM

People with disabilities are one of the largest minorities in the United States. But for most of American history, they occupied a sub-class of millions without access to everyday things most citizens take for granted: schools, apartment buildings, public transportation, and more. Some were forcibly sterilized under state laws. Others were committed to horrifying institutions where they were left and forgotten.


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WOMEN, WAR & PEACE

PEACE UNVEILED

TUESDAY. OCTOBER 25 @ 8:00PM & 11:00PM

When the U.S. troop surge was announced in late 2009, women in Afghanistan knew that the ground was being laid for peace talks with the Taliban. Peace Unveiled follows three women who immediately began to organize to make sure that women’s rights don’t get traded away in the deal. One is a savvy parliamentarian who participated in writing the Afghan constitution that guarantees equality for women; another, a former midwife who is one of the last women’s rights advocates alive in Kandahar; and the third, a young activist who lives in a traditional family in Kabul. Convinced that the Taliban will have demands that jeopardize women’s hard-earned gains, they maneuver against formidable odds to have their voices heard in a peace jirga and high peace council. We go behind Kabul’s closed doors as the women’s case is made to U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer, General David Petraeus and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who promises the women that “peace and justice can’t come at the cost of women and women’s lives.” But will this promise be kept? Narrated by Tilda Swinton.


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HISTORY DETECTIVES

HISTORY DETECTIVES

MONDAY, OCTOBER 24 @ 8:00PM & 11:00PM

The Case:

Our contributor found an unusual 1950’s comic book at an auction, titled Negro Romance.

This was the Golden Age of comic books, when Americans voraciously consumed stories about superheroes, determined detectives and thrilling romances – yet very few featured African American characters.

Did black artists create this comic book?

And who was the intended audience?

History Detectives investigates.


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MASTERPIECE MYSTERY!

CASE HISTORIES

EPISODE 2

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23 @ 7:00PM & 11:00PM

While jogging along a beach, Edinburgh private investigator Jackson Brodie spots a lifeless woman in the water surrounded by pink cards. Brodie thrashes through the waves towards her as childhood memories of his own sister’s water tragedy overtake him. As he turns the woman over, her distinctly Eastern Orthodox earrings dangling in the water, Brodie has unexpectedly waded into his next case.


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PBS ARTS FROM SEATTLE

AMERICAN MASTERS PEARL JAM TWENTY

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22 @ 7:00PM &12:00AM

American Masters continues its 25th anniversary season with Pearl Jam Twenty, premiering nationally Academy Award®-winning director and music journalist Cameron Crowe creates a definitive portrait of the seminal band carved from over 1,200 hours of rarely and never-before-seen footage, plus over 24 hours of recent band interviews and concert footage. The captivating, two-hour documentary gives viewers and fans an intimate first glimpse into Pearl Jam’s journey in honor of the band’s 20th anniversary. American Masters Pearl Jam Twenty is part of the first PBS Arts Fall Festival, a multi-platform event anchored by nine films that highlight artists and performances from around the country.


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