FLYING CHEAP

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28 @ 7:00PM & 10:00PM

Last February, Continental Flight 3407 crashed outside of Buffalo, N.Y., killing 49 people onboard and one on the ground. Although 3407 was painted in the colors of Continental Connection, it was actually operated by Colgan Air, a regional airline that flies routes under contract for US Airways, United and Continental. The crash and subsequent investigation revealed a little-known trend in the airline industry: Major airlines have outsourced more and more of their flights to obscure regional carriers.

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Riding the Rails

SATURDAY, MAY 29 @ 4:00PM

Some left to escape poverty or troubled families, others because it seemed a great adventure. At the height of the Great Depression, more than 250,000 teenagers were living on the road in America. Many criss-crossed the country by hopping freight trains, although it was both dangerous and illegal.

Riding the Rails presents the poignant and little-known story of teen hobos during the 1930s, a time of desperation and bitter hardship. These young itinerant Americans were all searching for a better life; what they found was a mixture of freedom, camaraderie, misery, and loneliness.

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Miss Marple, Series V

A Pocket Full of Rye

Sunday, June 6 @ 7:00pm & 11:00pm

Businessman Rex Fortescue drops dead after breakfast, apparently poisoned. The only clue is incomprehensible — grain found in his suit pocket. It’s obvious that Fortescue isn’t exactly missed. Between his estranged and angry children and a wife who seems to not be at a loss for comfort, the Fortescue house is full of secrets.

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NEED TO KNOW

MEDICAL MARIJUANA

FRIDAY, MAY 21 @ 6:30PM & 11:30PM

A growing number of California doctors are prescribing marijuana — to just about anybody. Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez takes us from doctor’s office to dispensary to find out just how easy it is to get a prescription in Los Angeles, where medical-marijuana dispensaries now outnumber Starbucks franchises. It’s part of a series of reports on the state of marijuana legalization by our partners at SoCal Connected at KCET-TV Los Angeles.

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Episode 3 – Firepower

Wednesday, May 27 @ 6:00pm & 10:00pm

Episode 4 – Command and Control

Wednesday, May 19 @ 7:00pm & 11:00pm

Episode 3 tracks the development of artillery from the ancient Greeks, through the invention of gunpowder in China, to the very latest generation of big guns and directed-energy weapons.

Episode 4 considers the ways in which armies have used or modified the terrain of the battlefield to their advantage for both defense and attack.

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WASHINGTON WEEK

FRIDAY, MAY 14 @ 6:00PM, 8:30PM & 12:30AM

After weeks of speculation, President Obama has nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. The former Harvard Law School dean would replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens, who is considered one of the court’s leading liberals. If confirmed she would be the youngest member, and third woman on the current court. Pete Williams of NBC News will report on Kagan’s credentials and explain why some Republicans are wary that she has never served as a judge and most of her professional life has been in academia.

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The Doors: When You’re Strange

TUESDAY, MAY 12 @ 7:00PM & 10:00PM

“The story of The Doors is one of the most compelling in the history of American rock music; three hugely talented musicians and a lead singer whose commitment to artistic freedom was so intense he rocketed them to a success that always hovered on the edge of chaos. As an independent filmmaker this sensibility affected me greatly.”
– Tom DiCillo, director and writer, When You’re Strange
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Hunt for the Supertwister

WEDNESDAY, MAY 22 @ 7:00pPM 12:00AM

On May 3, 1999, one of the most powerful tornadoes ever recorded carved a path of complete destruction near Oklahoma City. To scientists, the supertwister held sobering lessons about the future for rapidly expanding cities in tornado-threatened areas. Most tornadoes form suddenly and with little warning. But now meteorologists are on the verge of a breakthrough that may solve the puzzle of how these killer storms spawn and where they are likely to strike. NOVA follows stormchasers as they probe the tornado’s deadly secrets.

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INTO THE DEEP: AMERICA, WHALING & THE WORLD

SATURDAY, MARCH 24 @ 6:00PM

Into the Deep: America, Whaling & the World examines the history of the American whaling industry from its 17th-century origins in drift and shore whaling off the coast of New England and Cape Cod, through the golden age of deep ocean whaling, and on to its demise in the decades following the American Civil War. Taking place over three centuries, the film binds the story of American capitalism on the rise with a case study in maritime culture. The fate of the whaleship Essex — which set sail from Nantucket in the summer of 1819 — is interwoven with the story of a young Herman Melville, whose own imaginative voyage into the deep would give rise to one of the greatest works of American literature, Moby Dick.
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American Stamps

SATURDAY, MAY 8 @ 8:30PM

There is a story behind every postage stamp. Each of the iconic images on all those little bits of paper captures a unique angle of the American experience. Collectively, they represent the greatness in us. And while stamps are closely related to currency, the wide range of subjects they represent makes choosing them a personal decision.

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