IS THAT SKUNK?

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5 @ 6:00PM & 11:00PM

We find them in the evening digging through our garbage, hiding under our houses, or walking through our yards, streets, and parks. Skunks seem perfectly adapted to life around us. But we are less comfortable around them, for fear of their potent spray. As we expand our urban areas, many skunks find themselves increasingly unwelcome neighbors. It seems everyone has their own skunk story. But what do we really know about these infamous black and white creatures?

Watch as a California town overrun with skunks deals with their furry problem, and see what life is like for an evolutionary biologist in New Mexico who runs one of the few sanctuaries for skunks. Meet a researcher on the sandy shores of Martha’s Vineyard who stalks her striped specimens at night, and a woman in Ohio who runs a shelter and adoption agency for abandoned pet skunks. Is That Skunk? paints a complete portrait of the misunderstood skunk family, Mephitidae, and the people who love them.

Find out more»

WILLIE NELSON

SATURDAY, JULY 3 @ 4:00PM & 8:00PM

Over the last 50 years, legendary icon Willie Nelson has continued to be an enduring and compelling presence in music. The troubadour mixes up elements of folk, blues, classic country, western swing and a little gospel during his versatile Soundstage set.

Displaying a close connection with the audience, Willie and his-eight piece band (featuring a banjo, mandolin, fiddle, steel guitar and more) gather round the stage to highlight songs from his first-ever bluegrass album, produced in collaboration with T-Bone Burnett.
Find out more»

BEHIND TALIBAN LINES

Tuesday, February 23 @ 7:00pm & 10:00pm

Late last summer, while reporting a story for FRONTLINE, veteran Afghan journalist Najibullah Quraishi through channels put out word that he would like to interview one of the new Taliban commanders leading a growing insurgency in the country’s northern provinces.

It would be the first in a series of contacts that would yield one of the more extraordinary pieces of video journalism in recent memory: Quraishi’s 10-day journey among the members of an insurgent cell in northern Afghanistan as they attempt to plant roadside bombs along a highway through northern Afghanistan, which in recent months has become a vital supply route for the United States and NATO.
Find out more »

AMELIA EARHART

TUESDAY, MAY 5 @ 7:00PM & 11:00PM

Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic and the first to cross the North American continent alone. Her exploits as an aviator, her beauty and intelligence, her independence and charm made her a national heroine. Seemingly invincible, Earhart tirelessly traveled and lectured, a champion of aviation and equal opportunity for women. But her cheering public didn’t know the cost of her courage

Find out more

Persuasion

Sunday, February 21 @ 7:00pm & 11:00pm

Unhappily unmarried at age 27, and dealing with family financial peril, hope is fading from Anne Elliot’s (Sally Hawkins, Little Britain) life. Circumstances bring Captain Frederick Wentworth (Rupert Penry-Jones, Casanova), a dashing naval officer she once deeply loved, back into her life eight years after Anne was persuaded by her family to reject his marriage proposal. Having returned from sea with a new fortune, Wentworth is surrounded by swooning women while Anne broods at the periphery, longing to be in Wentworth’s favor. Now Anne comes face-to-face with the deep regret of her old decision, and her abiding love for Wentworth, as she wonders if a long ago love can be rekindled.

Find out more »

PROCESS

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26 @ 8:00PM & 11:00PM

Looking forward while keeping one foot firmly planted in the past characterizes the North Bennet Street School. Founded in 1885, its original mission was to train people for employment in the crafts. Under Pauline Agassiz Shaw, the idea was to enable Boston’s immigrants to adjust to a new country through the skills needed to obtain gainful employment. And while helping new arrivals to America is no longer its criteria for admission, developing craft skills for employment is. Learning and perfecting the processes of cabinetry, violin making, bookbinding, and jewelry making, are just some that have taken their place in the craft catalog.
Find out more »

Lynyrd Skynyrd

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20 @ 8:00PM

With a backbone of Southern rock and country, passionate VanZant vocals, and trademark layered guitars, Lynyrd Skynyrd deliver renditions of their iconic classics “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Gimme Three Steps,” “That Smell” and “Simple Man” that will blow you away. This episode is littered with hits, rousing guitar solos, and songs from their new album, God & Guns. Don’t miss an epic “Freebird” finale that does justice to the 35-year legacy of this all-star rock and roll group.
Find out more »

KNOW THYSELF

FRIDAY, JULY 16 @ 7:30PM & 10:30PM

What made America? What makes us? These two questions are at the heart of the new PBS series Faces of America with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. The Harvard scholar turns to the latest tools of genealogy and genetics to explore the family histories of 12 renowned Americans” professor and poet Elizabeth Alexander, chef Mario Batali, comedian Stephen Colbert, novelist Louise Erdrich, journalist Malcolm Gladwell, actress Eva Longoria, musician Yo-Yo Ma, director Mike Nichols, Her Majesty Queen Noor, television host/heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz, actress Meryl Streep, and figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi.

Find out more»

THE KENNEDYS

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15 @ 7:00pm & 11:00pm

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE presents The Kennedys, a dramatic portrait of America’s most famous political family and their repeated pursuit of the presidency. “Ought to keep viewers riveted to their seats, even those who think they know everything about the bloodstained Camelot dynasty. Shapely and implacably revealing. American Experience has outdone itself again.” — The Wall Street Journal

“There are few dates in recent American memory with the same magnitude on the Richter scale as November 22, 1963 — the day John F. Kennedy was killed,” says Elizabeth Deane, executive producer of The Kennedys. “Especially for those who are too young to remember the events of that day, our film shows how the Kennedy family became both legend and lightning rod for several generations of Americans.”

The founding father, Joseph Kennedy, rose to wealth and power by way of Boston, Wall Street, Hollywood and Washington. Then, moving on to London as Franklin Roosevelt’s ambassador to the Court of St. James — his popularity greatly enhanced by his large, photogenic family — Joe Kennedy seemed poised for the pinnacle, the presidency, his lifelong goal.
Find out more »

with Gwen Ifell and National Journal

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12 @ 6:00PM

The snow has stopped and the sun finally came out in Washington DC where more than two feet of snow has blanketed the area after back-to-back storms hit the region. While federal agencies were shutdown and the House and Senate canceled all votes and hearings, politics continued to make headlines.

A just-released Washington Post/ABC Poll reveals a majority of Americans are dissatisfied or angry about the way the federal government is working. President Obama’s job approval rating is holding steady, but support for Democrats has slipped and Republicans are gaining some political ground. And while the “tea party” has attracted lots of attention– especially after former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin addressed the group’s gathering last week–few Americans know much about the movement. We’ll get analysis from Dan Balz of The Washington Post about an electorate that appears restless.
Find out more »