Thursday, June 27, 2013

"A woman without a man, is like a fish without a bicycle"

So says Gloria Steinem, the most famous feminist in the world: a pioneering activist and best-selling author who co-founded Ms. magazine 40 years ago and is no less enthusiastic about or energized by the fight for gender equality today. Tonight she finds time to sit down with Evan Smith...I wonder if he'll be up to the challenge? OVERHEARD WITH EVAN SMITH...8pm

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Ford's automobile forever changed the way we work, where we live, and our ideas about individuality, freedom, and possibility.

Henry Ford's car transformed the lives of millions, and redrew the grid of the United States and much of the world. His assembly line changed the character of modern industry, and his Five Dollar Day laid the foundation for the creation of the American middle class. A bundle of contradictions, Ford was at once forward and backward-looking, innovative and close-minded, generous and mean-spirited. The same man who helped liberate millions from social isolation with his Model T also trapped thousands in a workplace prison where they were forbidden to sit or talk. The same Ford who welcomed African Americans and disabled people into his factories was a bigot who broadcast to the world his vitriolic hatred of Jews and exhibited devastating cruelty to his own son. This biography draws upon a rich archival record and recent scholarship to provide a revealing portrait of a complex, pivotal and ultimately flawed figure. HENRY FORD: AMERICAN EXPERIENCE...7pm

Monday, June 24, 2013

POV begins it's 26th season on PBS...


Through the eyes of funeral director Isaiah Owens, the beauty and grace of African American funerals are brought to life. Filmed at Owens Funeral Home in New York City's historic Harlem neighborhood, "Homegoings" takes an up-close look at the rarely seen world of undertaking in the black community, where funeral rites draw on a rich palette of tradition, history and celebration. Combining cinema verite with intimate interviews and archival photographs, the film paints a portrait of the dearly departed, their grieving families and a man who sends loved ones "home." POV: HOMEGOINGS...tonight at 9pm

Thursday, June 20, 2013

From Angels in America to Lincoln...

Tonight Evan Smith sits down with Tony Kushner, an award-winning American playwright and screenwriter,most recently nominated for an Oscar for his work on the screenplay of Steven Spielberg's Lincoln. He and Spielberg have a long history together, having coauthored the screenplay for Spielberg's film Munich.Kushner won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1993 for the play Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. He has also won an Emmy Award, and two Tony Awards. OVERHEARD WITH EVAN SMITH...8pm

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

When you no longer want your baby python...

do not dump it in the Everglades! Florida's Everglades National Park is one of the last great wildlife refuges in the United States, home to numerous unique and endangered mammals, trees, plants, birds and turtles, as well as half a million alligators. Add to the mix tens of thousands of giant pythons... snakes that can grow to 20 feet and weigh nearly 300 pounds, some released into the wild by irresponsible pet owners, some escapees from wildlife facilities destroyed by Hurricane Andrew in 1992. This makes for a dangerous situation, examined closely tonight on NATURE: INVASION OF THE GIANT PYTHONS...7pm








Tuesday, June 18, 2013

FRONTLINE raises troubling questions about how America's financial institutions protect our savings.

Ten trillion dollars in Americans' retirement savings are invested in large and small accounts managed by banks, brokerages, mutual funds, and insurance companies. But whether your IRA or 401K will assure a safe retirement is largely a gamble. Building off reporting from the special "Money, Power and Wall Street," "The Retirement Gamble" reveals how fees, self-dealing, and kickbacks bring great profits to Wall Street while imperiling the prospects of a secure future for individuals. The film questions who has the consumer's best interests in mind and whether there is a better way to manage our retirements. FRONTLINE tonight at 9pm

Monday, June 17, 2013

Children in the slums of Calcutta are starting a revolution...

Filmed over the course of three and a half years, The Revolutionary Optimists follows visionary former attorney Amlan Ganguly and three of the children he works with through adolescence as they  set their sights on bringing clean water to a community that has long been denied it, and enabling the migrant children working in the brick fields on Calcutta’s outskirts to receive an education. You'll have a whole new perspective on optimism. INDEPENDENT LENS: THE REVOLUTIONARY OPTIMISTS...9pm





This just in...CHARLIE ROSE sits with President Obama in an interview that took place yesterday just before the President and First Family were to depart for Belfast for the G-8 Summit...current issues including the outcome of the Iranian elections, the civil war in Syria, China and cyber attacks, the NSA controversy, Guantanamo, and the drone policy were addressed.  Way to go, Charlie...CHARLIE ROSE tonight...10pm

Friday, June 14, 2013

Lake Wobegon - where the women are strong, the men are good looking...

and all the children are above average - has become America's collective hometown, visited weekly for the past 40 years on a fictional radio program that creates bona fide nostalgia. With his "Prairie Home Companion," Keillor became our national philosopher, filling the empty shoes of Will Rogers and Mark Twain, through his running commentary about the human condition and the social politic. With biting wit, a quirky perspective and an uncanny ability to home in on the pulse of America, Keillor's themes and characters are somehow familiar to us all. For more than a year, AMERICAN MASTERS followed this great raconteur - and his motley crew of actors, musicians and technical staff - as he criss-crossed the country, broadcasting, recording and revealing himself. GARRISON KEILLOR: THE MAN ON THE RADIO IN THE RED SHOES...Friday night at 8pm



We've followed Inspector Lewis for 20 years...and the time has come for him to retire. Don't miss the series finale of what many consider the PBS' highest caliber detective drama with the first of five episodes on MASTERPIECE MYSTERY! and INSPECTOR LEWIS SERIES VI: DOWN AMONG THE FEARFUL...Sunday night at 8pm 

Thursday, June 13, 2013

The harder they come, the harder they fall, mon...

Jimmy Cliff, the iconic rock and roll hall of fame member brings his classic reggae music sound to Austin on tonight's AUSTIN CITY LIMITS...7pm

Thursday, June 6, 2013

"My favorite animal is steak..."

Another memorable quote from Fran Lebowitz - author, humorist and social critic. She's the perfect New Yorker whose long-ago collections, Metropolitan Life and Social Studies, continue to be must-reads for aspiring writers of all stripes. More gems include "success didn't spoil me, I've always been insufferable" and "ask your child what he wants for dinner...only if he's buying". See what she says next as Evan Smith sits across from her on OVERHEARD...tonight at 8pm

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Victoria Falls is the largest waterfall in the world.

Cutting across the Zambezi River, bridging the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe,  this awesome force of nature divides two natural worlds -- the tranquil meandering river above the cascade, and the raging abyss of the gorge below. The upper river is idyllic, running shallow through sandstone hills and meandering around islands and reed-beds where elephants, hippos, and crocodiles thrive. Between the two worlds are treacherous cliffs and thick, mossy rainforests fed by river mists, home to baboons whose lives change with the seasons. When the rains fall, the rivers swell and the falls thunder.  Tonight, NATURE takes us to see Victoria Falls...7pm




Monday, June 3, 2013

He wore a bullet proof vest to his consecration...

Gene Robinson is the first openly gay Bishop, and his flock is in the New Hampshire Episcopal Church...A man whose two primary passions are in direct conflict: his love for God and for his partner Mark. His consecration by the Episcopal Church in 2003, to which he wore a bullet-proof vest, caused an international stir. He becomes the focal point as American churches debate whether or not lesbian and gay people are equal to heterosexuals in the eyes of God, while the United States at large struggles with legal equality for gays and lesbians. INDEPENDENT LENS: LOVE FREE OR DIE...9pm