DONOR UNKNOWN/ALL ABOUT ME

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20 @ 8:00PM & 11:00PM

JoEllen Marsh, 20, wants to know who her biological father is. All she knows of him is the label the California Cryobank gave him in the 1980s: Donor 150.

JoEllen has always known her family wasn’t like other families. She grew up in Pennsylvania with two mothers, and a burning curiosity to know more about her anonymous donor father. When JoEllen discovers a website that connects donor conceived children, she manages to track down a half sister in New York. The New York Times picks up the story, and, over time, 12 more half siblings emerge across the United States.

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RADIOACTIVE WOLVES

SATURDAY, AUGUST 10 @ 10:00PM

What happens to nature after a nuclear accident? And how does wildlife deal with the world it inherits after human inhabitants have fled?

In 1986 a nuclear meltdown at the infamous Chernobyl power plant in present-day Ukraine left miles of land in radioactive ruins. Residents living in areas most contaminated by the disaster were evacuated and relocated by government order, and a no-man’s land of our own making was left to its own devices. In the ensuing 25 years, forests, marshes, fields and rivers reclaimed the land, reversing the effects of hundreds of years of human development. And surprisingly, this exclusion zone, or “dead zone,” has become a kind of post-nuclear Eden, populated by beaver and bison, horses and birds, fish and falcons – and ruled by wolves.

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LOST IN DETENTION

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18 @ 7:00PM & 10:00PM

Last year, the Obama administration set new records for detaining and deporting immigrants who were inside the U.S. illegally. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano recently indicated that the 2011 numbers will be even higher, resulting in the removal of more than 400,000 people. …

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FAMILY

MONDAY, OCTOBER 17 @ 8:00PM & 11:00PM

This episode explores the creative environments and personal dynamics of four families of craft artists and looks at the age-old debate of nature versus nurture.

Is talent inherited? What is it like to live in a household where objects are made by hand?

President Jimmy Carter shares his admiration for Ed Moulthrop, a fellow Georgian who was known as “the father of modern woodturning.” Ed was an architect who found a passion for creating beautiful large-scale turned wood objects. He single handedly raised national awareness of woodturning as an art while inventing tools used by woodcrafters for generations to come.

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CASE HISTORIES

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16 @ 7:00PM & 11:00PM

Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter, The Patriot) stars as private investigator Jackson Brodie, the tough former soldier and policeman with a heart of gold, in this series based on the acclaimed novels by Kate Atkinson. Brodie, haunted by a past family tragedy, struggles to balance his personal and professional life while coming to the rescue of the bereaved, the lost and the dysfunctional in the Scottish city of Edinburgh.
EPISODE 1

While searching for a lost cat, Jackson takes on the cold case of a girl who went missing thirty years earlier. He is also talked into helping a grieving father find the man who murdered his daughter, and tracking down the niece of a mysterious seductress.

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WIDESPREAD PANIC

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15 @ 9:00PM

So far in Season 37 of ACL we’ve pumped your blood with the passionate folk rock of Mumford & Sons and Flogging Molly and twitched your hips with the slinky grooves of Raphael Saadiq and Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears. Now it’s time to blow your minds with the amazing musicianship of Widespread Panic.

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THE POLITICS OF RESENTMENT

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14 @ 6:30PM & 11:30PM

This week, host Jeff Greenfield examines the politics of resentment throughout American history, culminating in the Tea Party movement and the “Occupy Wall Street” protests of today.

Jeff Greenfield explores the “Occupy Wall Street” and Tea Party movements in a report that examines the politics of resentment throughout American history. Included are interviews with Tony Perkins of the conservative Family Research Council and liberal author Thomas Frank, author of works including “What’s The Matter With Kansas.”

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WYNTON AT 50

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13 @ 6:00PM & 9:00PM

Wynton Marsalis turns 50 on October 18 and Live From Lincoln Center, which has featured Wynton and his music on a number of previous programs, will salute his milestone birthday with a special concert celebration, Wynton at 50. Joining him and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra on stage will be other luminaries from the world of music and dance, including tap dancer Jared Grimes, vocalist Gregory Porter, pianist Marcus Roberts, violinist Marc O’Connor, Yacub Addy and Odadaa!, and Damien Sneed and Chorale Le Chateau. During intermission, Wynton will be interviewed by actor Wendell Pierce.

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I CAME TO TESTIFY

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11 @ 8:00PM & 11:00PM

(PART 1 OF 5)

When the Balkans exploded into war in the 1990s, reports that tens of thousands of women were being systematically raped as a tactic of ethnic cleansing captured the international spotlight. I Came to Testify is the moving story of how a group of 16 women who had been imprisoned by Serb-led forces in the Bosnian town of Foca broke history’s great silence – and stepped forward to take the witness stand in an international court of law. Now, as Bosnia is once again in the headlines with the capture of Bosnian Serb wartime general Ratko Mladic, the women agree to speak for the first time since then, on condition that we keep their identities hidden for their protection.

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THE WAR OF 1812

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER @ 7:00PM & 12:00AM

For two and a half years, Americans fought Against the British, Canadian colonists, and native nations.  In the years to come, the War of 1812 would be celebrated in some places and essentially forgotten in others.  But it is a war worth remembering—a struggle that threatened the existence of Canada, then divided the United States so deeply that the nation almost broke apart.  Some of its battles and heroes became legendary, yet its blunders and cowards were just as prominent.  The film shows how the glories of war became enshrined in history – how failures are quickly forgotten – how inconvenient truths are ignored forever.

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