PBS SpecialsSæson 2010
TV-Y
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American non-profit public broadcasting television service with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. However, its operations are largely funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Its headquarters are in Arlington, Virginia.
PBS is the most prominent provider of programming to U.S. public television stations, distributing series such as PBS NewsHour, Masterpiece, and Frontline. Since the mid-2000s, Roper polls commissioned by PBS have consistently placed the service as America's most trusted national institution. However, PBS is not responsible for all programming carried on public TV stations; in fact, stations usually receive a large portion of their content (including most pledge drive specials) from third-party sources, such as American Public Television, NETA, and independent producers.
PBS is the most prominent provider of programming to U.S. public television stations, distributing series such as PBS NewsHour, Masterpiece, and Frontline. Since the mid-2000s, Roper polls commissioned by PBS have consistently placed the service as America's most trusted national institution. However, PBS is not responsible for all programming carried on public TV stations; in fact, stations usually receive a large portion of their content (including most pledge drive specials) from third-party sources, such as American Public Television, NETA, and independent producers.
Hvor man kan se PBS Specials • Sæson 2010
35 episoder
- The Buddha
E7The BuddhaThis documentary for PBS by award-winning filmmaker David Grubin and narrated by Richard Gere, tells the story of the Buddha’s life, a journey especially relevant to our own bewildering times of violent change and spiritual confusion. It features the work of some of the world’s greatest artists and sculptors, who across two millennia, have depicted the Buddha’s life in art rich in beauty and complexity. Hear insights into the ancient narrative by contemporary Buddhists, including Pulitzer Prize winning poet W.S. Merwin and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Join the conversation and learn more about meditation, the history of Buddhism, and how to incorporate the Buddha’s teachings on compassion and mindfulness into daily life. - Chesapeake by AirE8
Chesapeake by AirChesapeake Bay by Air's meandering aerial journey transports us to many of the bay's countless stunning locations and brings the bay into razor-sharp perspective, from well above the din. It's your Chesapeake Bay, and we thought you'd like to see it. Enjoy! -- Mike English, Executive Producer - Unforgivable Blackness: RiseE10
Unforgivable Blackness: RiseJack Johnson — the first African-American Heavyweight Champion of the World, whose dominance over his white opponents spurred furious debates and race riots in the early 20th century — enters the ring once again in January 2005 when PBS airs Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson, a provocative new PBS documentary by acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns. The two-part film airs on PBS Monday-Tuesday January 17-18, 2005, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET (check local listings). Burns, whose past films on PBS (The Civil War, Baseball, JAZZ, etc.) are among the most-watched documentaries ever made, shows the gritty details of Johnson's life through archival footage, still photographs, and the commentary of boxing experts such as Stanley Crouch, Bert Sugar, the late George Plimpton, Jack Newfield, Randy Roberts, Gerald Early and James Earl Jones, who portrayed Johnson in the Broadway play and film based on Johnson's life, "The Great White Hope." "Johnson in many ways is an embodiment of the African-American struggle to be truly free in this country — economically, socially and politically," said Burns. "He absolutely refused to play by the rules set by the white establishment, or even those of the black community. In that sense, he fought for freedom not just as a black man, but as an individual." Johnson, who was born in 1878 in Galveston, Texas, began boxing as a young teenager in the Jim Crow-era South. Boxing was a relatively new sport in America, and was banned in many states. African-Americans were permitted to compete for most titles, but not for the title that whites considered their exclusive domain: Heavyweight Champion of the World. African-Americans were considered unworthy to compete for the title — not for lack of talent, but simply by virtue of not being white. Despite this, Johnson was persistent in challenging James J. Jeffries — the heavyweight champion at the time, who was considered by many to be the greatest heavyweight in history - Unforgivable Blackness: FallE11
Unforgivable Blackness: FallIn Unforgivable Blackness, Johnson biographer Randy Roberts observes, "The press reacted [to Johnson's victory] as if Armageddon was here. That this may be the moment when it all starts to fall apart for white society." His victory spurred a search among whites for a "great white hope" who could beat Johnson and win back the title. They finally found him in Johnson's old nemesis, Jim Jeffries, who decided to return from retirement and give Johnson the fight he had always wanted. This fight was especially important to Johnson, because many whites had dismissed his claim to the title as invalid; Burns, it was argued, was never the true champion because he didn't win the title by beating Jeffries. No one had beaten Jeffries, and most thought he was certain to reclaim the title for whites. The Johnson-Jeffries fight, dubbed the "Battle of the Century," took place on July 4, 1910, in Reno, Nevada. Johnson knocked out Jeffries in the 15th round. Johnson's victory sparked a wave of nationwide race riots across in which numerous African-Americans died. Newspaper editorials warned Johnson and the black community not to be too proud. Congress eventually passed an act banning the interstate transport of fight films for fear that the images of Johnson beating his white opponents would provoke further unrest. Perhaps even more troubling for white America than Johnson's dominance over his white opponents in the boxing ring were his romantic entanglements with white women. One of his frequent traveling companions was Hattie McClay, a white prostitute. They were later joined by Belle Schreiber, also a white prostitute whom Johnson met in Chicago. "He wouldn't let anybody define him," says James Earl Jones in Unforgivable Blackness. "He was a self-defined man. And this issue of his being black was not that relevant to him. But the issue of his being free was very relevant." Johnson eventually married a white woman, Etta Duryea. Their relationship was troubled; Johnson dr - Building AlaskaE12
Building AlaskaFrom the Emmy Award® winning Oscar® nominated producers of the four-part PBS series GREAT PROJECTS: THE BUILDNG OF AMERICA, now comes BUILDING ALASKA, a century-long journey with the dedicated and visionary men and women who built Alaska s great engineering projects in the coldest, most remote and forbidding part of the United States. This feature-length documentary tells the stories of the great railroads and highways of the late 19th and early 20th century and how they opened the region up to gold and copper mining and made Alaska habitable; of the invasion of Alaska by the Japanese in World War II; and of the biggest earthquake ever in North America all of which helped shape America s 49th state. - Theodore Roosevelt: A Cowboy's Ride to the White HouseE13
Theodore Roosevelt: A Cowboy's Ride to the White HouseTheodore Roosevelt: A Cowboy’s Ride to the White House is the exciting story of a physically challenged young man from Harvard who came to the western frontier in 1883. Theodore Roosevelt bought a ranch, learned how to ride, shoot, hunt and acquired the skills that would make him a war hero and American President. It was in the Badlands of Dakota where young Roosevelt became a cowboy and learned about democracy and the American West. - Over Alaska
E14Over AlaskaDiscover the stunning views and rich history of Alaska. Take off on a breathtaking journey in Over Alaska as you soar above the vast landscapes of the 49th state. Go face-to-face with Mount McKinley and fly over the craggy crevasses of electric blue glaciers. Join kayakers as they navigate icy waters. Then, feel the wind sting your cheeks as you speed past icebergs and along the Iditarod, the worlds most famous sled race. Touch down and experience Alaska's abundant wildlife from bears to whales through the lens of an accomplished and often daring photographer. Don't forget to stop and sniff the wildflowers! Over Alaska, previously seen on public television, takes you from Anchorage, a modern city in the middle of six enormous mountain ranges, to the abandoned mining camp Kennecott, and gives you an insider's look at the state's history, heritage, and culture. - Mammoth Cave: A Way to Wonder
E15Mammoth Cave: A Way to WonderThis hour-long documentary relates the remarkable history of Mammoth Cave National Park. These are tales of exploration and discovery beginning with pre-historic Native Americans thousands of years ago. Why were these people willing to brave the darkness with only cane reed torches and woven slippers? Why did African-American slave guides stay in the area and continue to lead tours even after they had been set free? These stories and many others are unearthed on this journey into Mammoth Cave National Park. - The Wall: A World DividedE17
The Wall: A World DividedTHE WALL looks inside the revolution that swept across Europe with the November 1989 opening of the Berlin Wall, to understand how this remarkable event helped end the Cold War without a fired shot. The film explores the ordinary people caught up in politics, as well as the political leaders, to reveal the tense moments surrounding the unexpected series of events that resulted in a new Europe in less than a year. - The President's Photographer: 50 Years in the Oval OfficeE19
The President's Photographer: 50 Years in the Oval OfficeTo a documentary photographer, like Souza, every presidency has defining stories, and those images are often how we remember a president. For Johnson, it was civil rights and Vietnam. President Reagan is forever tied to the end of the Cold War. President Clinton pursued peace in the Middle East. History has yet to define the Obama administration, but Souza is there to document it, every step of the way. - Deforce: America's Past, America's Future, Detroit's PresentE20
Deforce: America's Past, America's Future, Detroit's PresentDEFORCE is a chronicle of one city’s long struggle with political oppression. Once the engine of America, Detroit remains a proud city - rich with local triumphs and individual achievements, but known best for its overwhelming quality of life challenges. This film reveals that these present challenges are indeed forged of the past. If nothing changes in our cities, they will shape this country’s future in ways that benefit no one. - Breakfast Special
E21Breakfast SpecialRick Sebak has no strict recipe for "Breakfast Special," putting together a program that’s part food show, part travelogue, part portrait of America, celebrating the meal that many folks consider the most important of the day. Sebak chats with committed cooks and sly servers, enthusiastic eaters and entrepreneurs, pancake aficionados, “gritty” Southerners and a few funny food bloggers who serve as guides in different parts of the country. Feasting on buckwheat pancakes in rural New York state, savoring salmon hash in Oregon, tasting the rice porridge called “congee” in San Francisco’s Chinatown, trying grits and gumbo on a Georgia sea island, eating unexpected specialties in unforgettable spots from St. Augustine to Portland — Breakfast Special loves the one-of-a-kind places where diners can find a memorable meal, especially in the morning. - Glacier Parks: Night of the GrizzliesE26
Glacier Parks: Night of the GrizzliesOn the night of August 12, 1967, grizzly bears in Glacier National Park killed two young women and severely mauled one man. For everyone involved, it remains an unforgettable night of crisis, intense fear, bravery and, ultimately, grief. This dramatic and tragic story, and how it eventually influenced the fate of the grizzly bear in the continental United States, takes center stage in the historical documentary. Archival material, photographs, re-creations and gripping on-camera interviews with survivors, witnesses, family members journalists and biologists, provide a complete account of those events. Veteran film and television actor J.K. Simmons (Law and Order, Juno, Up in the Air, The Closer) narrates. - The Lost Ships of RomeE28
The Lost Ships of RomeIn 2009, archaeologists discovered an underwater graveyard of five Roman shipwrecks off the coast of Ventotene, a small Italian island with a notorious past. It was one of the biggest archaeological finds in recent history. The vessels’ well-preserved cargo indicates that these ships did not break up on the island’s rocks, but instead sank to the seabed intact and upright. They were laden with exotic goods including wine, olive oil, and the ancient delicacy garum; a condiment highly prized among ancient Romans. These sunken treasures are providing researchers with insight into the wreck, how the Romans lived, and Ventotene’s intriguing past. The island served as a vacation resort for Rome’s emperor but it became a kind of ancient Alcatraz when the Emperor Augustus imprisoned his own daughter, Julia, there for adultery, or as more recent research suggests, for political intrigue against her father. This past summer, a team of explorers returned to the site to recover some of the ancient artifacts in hopes of shedding new light on these mysteries. - Vietnam War StoriesE30
Vietnam War StoriesNearly 166,000 men and women from the state of Wisconsin served the country in the Vietnam War more than 35 years ago. Here and Now offers of glimpse of "Wisconsin Vietnam War Stories," a three-hour documentary created by Wisconsin Public Television to reflect on the courage and service of these soldiers, many of whom lost their lives. - Make No Little Plans: Daniel Burnham and the American City
E31Make No Little Plans: Daniel Burnham and the American CityFew individuals have had more impact on the American city than architect and planner Daniel Hudson Burnham. In the midst of late nineteenth century urban disorder, Burnham offered a powerful vision of what a civilized American city could look like that provided a compelling framework for Americans to make sense of the world around them. He built some of the first skyscrapers in the world, directed construction of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition that inspired the City Beautiful Movement, and created urban plans for San Francisco, Washington, DC, Chicago, Cleveland and Manila all before the profession of urban planning existed. In fact, some say that he invented it. His work sought to reconcile things often thought opposite: the practical and the ideal, business and art, and capitalism and democracy. At the center of it all was the idea of a vibrant urban community. - War on the Eastern Front: LeningradE32
War on the Eastern Front: LeningradThis harrowing documentary tells the story of one of the longest and most terrible sieges in the history of human warfare. When Hitler launched the Nazi invasion of Russia in 1941, the capture of the city of Leningrad was one of his primary strategic goals. Leningrad was not only an industrial powerhouse, home to many armaments factories, but also a main naval base for the Russian Baltic fleet, as well as the nation's former capital and the symbolic seat of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. Supported by the Finns, intent on recovering territory they had lost in the Finnish-Soviet Winter war the previous year, Nazi forces rapidly advanced on the city. Instead of entering the city, however, Hitler ordered Leningrad to be bombed and shelled into oblivion and its citizens starved to death. The siege began on September 8, 1941, the day after an air raid destroyed nearly all the city's food supplies. With the daily ration for civilians reduced to two slices of bread, many citizens died from malnutrition. The siege would last 872 days before the blockade was finally lifted, after five unsuccessful attempts, in January 1944. By this time a third of Leningrad's three million population had perished and a quarter of the city's buildings had been destroyed. - It's All Earth and SkyE33
It's All Earth and Sky"It's All Earth and Sky!" was the reaction of one German-Russian immigrant when she arrived on the plains of the Midwest. Like many others who came to the region seeking a land of promise and opportunity, she and her family endured...and prevailed..on this rich, expansive landscape. Immigration implies departure as well as arrival. Transport from one country to another may mean deportation; it inescapably includes exile whether voluntary or forced, and brings disruption to families in the old country and in the new. Immigrants require courage and fortitude, even when they are weak and poor. Like many others who have come here seeking a land of promise and opportunity, Germans from Russia have suffered, and they have prevailed. Since their background and history is as rich in texture as it is in diversity, they serve here as a model of assimilation of other ethnic groups into American society. In this documentary, five representative Germans from Russia, who have attained success and stability, share their insights on the process of becoming American. - Top Secret RosiesE34
Top Secret RosiesIn 1942, when computers were human and women were underestimated, a group of female mathematicians helped win a war and usher in the modern computer age. Sixty-five years later their story has finally been told. In early December 1941, Betty Jean Jennings was a freshman completing her first semester at a rural Missouri college. In Philadelphia, Doris and Shirley Blumberg were seniors at Girl’s High and Marlyn Wescoff was completing a minor in business machines at Temple University. In an era of limited career opportunities for women, these bright students anticipated low paying careers as schoolteachers or bookkeepers. But on Sunday, December 7, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and changed these young women’s lives forever. With Pearl Harbor suddenly drawing the US in to WWII, the Army launched a frantic national search for women mathematicians. - The Lancaster At WarE35
The Lancaster At War‘The Lancaster At War’ is a vivid account of the aircraft that became the mainstay of Britain’s Bomber Command in the struggle to defeat Nazi Germany. The programme tells the operational history of the Lancaster – daring daylight raids deep into the enemy’s homeland, the epic Dambuster’s mission, precision attacks on Hitler’s ‘V’ weapon sites, the paralyzing of German forces prior to D-Day and missions of mercy that will save thousands from starvation in Occupied Territories. And, in a campaign that remains controversial to this day, it plays its part in the destruction of the cities and industrial centres of the Third Reich. Surviving Lancaster aircrew give frank and candid personal accounts of their part in an aerial battle of attrition that will claim the lives of 55,000 aircrew. Archive film, some of it unseen in colour, along with material specially shot for this production, graphically illustrate the capabilities of this remarkable aircraft, its development and its war-time missions. ‘The Lancaster At War’ describes the aircraft that played a major role in the defeat of the Nazi regime and the courage and determination of Bomber Command aircrew that fought a grim battle in hostile skies, a struggle that can only be understood by confronting the reality of total war. - William Kentridge: Anything Is PossibleE36
William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible"William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible" gives viewers an intimate look into the mind and creative process of William Kentridge, the South African artist whose acclaimed charcoal drawings, animations, video installations, shadow plays, mechanical puppets, tapestries, sculptures, live performance pieces, and operas have made him one of the most dynamic and exciting contemporary artists working today. With its rich historical references and undertones of political and social commentary, Kentridge's work has earned him inclusion in "Time" magazine's 2009 list of the 100 most influential people in the world. This documentary features exclusive interviews with Kentridge as he works in his studio and discusses his artistic philosophy and techniques. In the film, Kentridge talks about how his personal history as a white South African of Jewish heritage has informed recurring themes in his work—including violent oppression, class struggle, and social and political hierarchies. Additionally, Kentridge discusses his experiments with "machines that tell you what it is to look" and how the very mechanism of vision is a metaphor for "the agency we have, whether we like it or not, to make sense of the world." We see Kentridge in his studio as he creates animations, music, video, and projection pieces for his various projects, including "Breathe" (2008); "I am not me, the horse is not mine" (2008); and the opera "The Nose" (2010), which premiered earlier this year at New York's Metropolitan Opera to rave reviews. With its playful bending of reality and observations on hierarchical systems, the world of "The Nose" provides an ideal vehicle for Kentridge. The absurdism, he explains in the documentary's closing, "...is in fact an accurate and a productive way of understanding the world. Why should we be interested in a clearly impossible story? Because, as Gogol says, in fact the impossible is what happens all the time." - We Heard the Bells: The Influenza of 1918E37
We Heard the Bells: The Influenza of 1918We meet individuals from marginalized communities who describe what it was like to live through the 1918 flu pandemic. Their experiences raise questions about the pandemic: why did it kill so many people? Why were so many of the dead young adults? Where did this lethal flu come from? How can we keep a pandemic like that from occurring again? The film follows the search for answers from an expedition to Alaska in 1951 to collect tissue from bodies buried in the permafrost, to the scientists and epidemiologists working on the same questions today. It explains the relevance of research into the 1918 pandemic to the threat of current and future flu pandemics. - Among the Righteous: Lost Stories from the Holocaust in Arab LandsE38
Among the Righteous: Lost Stories from the Holocaust in Arab LandsThousands of people have been honored for saving Jews during the Holocaust—but not a single Arab. Did any Arabs save Jews during the Holocaust? That's the question author and head of a Washington Institute Robert Satloff had in mind when he set out to discover the lost, true stories of survival, courage and betrayal in Arab lands during World War II. Seeking a response to that query, Satloff set off post 9/11 to find an Arab hero whose story would change the way Arabs view Jews, themselves and their own history. He found not only the Arab heroes whom he sought, but a vast, lost history of what happened to the half-million Jews of the Arab lands of North Africa under Nazi, Vichy and Fascist rule. The history of the Holocaust in Europe is well-documented, but the history of what happened to the Jewish people of North Africa has been mostly forgotten, even in the very towns and cities where it occurred. The truth is remarkable: not only did Jews in Arab lands suffer many of same elements of persecution as Jews in Europe -- arrests, deportations, confiscations and forced labor -- but there were also hopeful stories of "righteous" Arabs reaching out to protect them. The story of the Holocaust's long reach into the Arab world is difficult to uncover, covered up by desert sands and desert politics. We follow Satloff over four years, through eleven countries, from the barren wasteland of the Sahara, where thousands of Jews were imprisoned in labor camps; through the archways of the Mosque in Paris, which may once have hidden 1700 Jews; to the living rooms of octogenarians in London, Paris and Tunis. In the story characters are rich and handsome, brave and cowardly; there are heroes and villains. The most surprising story of all is why, more than sixty years after the end of the war, so few people— Arab and Jew—want this story told. - The Brain Fitness ProgramE39
The Brain Fitness ProgramThe Brain Fitness Program is based on the brain's ability to change and adapt, even rewire itself. In the past two years, a team of scientists has developed computer-based stimulus sets that drive beneficial chemical, physical and functional changes in the brain. Dr. Michael Merzenich of the University of California and his colleagues share their scientifically based set of brain exercises in this life-altering program. Peter Coyote narrates. - Uncharted Territory: David Thompson on the Columbia Plateau
E40Uncharted Territory: David Thompson on the Columbia PlateauDavid Thompson is revered as a national hero in Canada, but is less well known to Americans. "Uncharted Territory: David Thompson on the Columbia Plateau" focuses on the years 1807-1812, the time that Thompson spent primarily in the Canadian Rocky Mountains and northwestern United States, and the significant contributions that he made to the history of the American Northwest.