The Longest Hatred: From the Cross to the Swastika

American Experience: The Pilgrims

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: The Pilgrims
November 24, 2015

The converging forces, circumstances, personalities and events that propelled a group of English men and women west across the Atlantic in 1620. The challenges they faced in making new lives for themselves still resonate almost 400 years later: the tensions of faith and freedom in American society, the separation of Church and State, and cultural encounters resulting from immigration.

NOVA: Cyberwar Threat

PBS NOVA: Cyberwar Threat
Oct 14, 2015

"NOVA examines the science and technology behind cyber warfare and asks if we are already in the midst of a deadly new arms race."

PBS In Their Own Words: Muhammed Ali

The film follows Ali’s rise from the Columbia Gym in Louisville to international fame, as he transcended his great athletic achievements to become one of the most influential Americans of his time: how this once polarizing figure ultimately became a beloved and honored national hero.

Key events include Ali’s stunning Islamic conversion and name change, his dramatic stand against the Vietnam-era draft, his 3-year exile from the ring, his legendary comeback fights, his battle with Parkinson’s disease, and his inspirational reemergence on the world stage at the Atlanta Olympics.

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TED Radio Hour - Screen Time

Screen Time

TED Radio Hour

Part 1

September 11, 2015

It's normal for us to always be glued to our screens. So how are they changing us, and how will they shape our future? This hour, TED speakers explore our ambivalent relationships with our screens.

How Are Our Screens Changing Us Now?

Amber Case: Are Our Devices Turning Us Into A New Kind Of Human?

Rana El Kaliouby: Will Our Screens Soon Be Able To Read Our Emotions?

Dimitri Christakis: When It Comes To Kids, Is All Screen Time Equal?

P.W. Singer: How Are Screens Changing The Face Of War?

Chris Milk: What Happens When We Step Inside The Screen?

Part 2

September 18, 2015

When we go online, we present a digital version of ourselves. How do we transform when we interact inside our screens? In this episode, TED speakers explore the expanding role of our "second selves."

Jon Ronson: How Can Our Real Lives Be Ruined By Our Digital Ones?

Philip Rosedale: Why Build A Virtual World?

Jennifer Golbeck: What Can Companies Predict From Your Digital Trail?

Adam Ostrow: After You Die, What Happens To The Digital You?

Abha Dawesar: How Do Our Screens Distort Our Sense of Time?

American Masters - Althea Gibson

The story of Althea Gibson (1927-2003), a truant from the rough streets of Harlem, who emerged as the unlikely queen of the highly segregated tennis world in the 1950s. She was the first African American to play and win at Wimbledon and the U.S. Nationals (precursor of the U.S. Open) — a decade before Arthur Ashe.

NOVA: Dawn of Humanity

Program Description
PBS.org

NOVA and National Geographic present exclusive access to a unique discovery of ancient remains. Located in an almost inaccessible chamber deep in a South African cave, the site required recruiting a special team of experts slender enough to wriggle down a vertical, pitch-dark, seven-inch-wide passage. Most fossil discoveries of human relatives consist of just a handful of bones. But down in this hidden chamber, the team uncovered an unprecedented trove—so far, over 1,500 bones—with the potential to rewrite the story of our origins. They may help fill in a crucial gap in the fossil record and tell us how Homo, the first member of the human family, emerged from ape-like ancestors like the famous Lucy. But how did hundreds of bones end up in the remote chamber? The experts are considering every mind-boggling possibility. Join NOVA on the treacherous descent into this cave of spectacular and enigmatic finds, and discover their startling implications for the saga of what made us human.

Alex Gibney: Steve Jobs, The Man In the Machine

New Film Asks: Were Steve Jobs' Flaws Uploaded To His Machines?
NPR All Tech Considered
Sep 4, 2015

Official Trailer

The Faith Instinct - Nicolas Wade

The Faith Instinct by Nicolas Wade

NPR book summary: "Draws on a broad range of scientific evidence to theorize an evolutionary basis for religion, considering how religion may have served as an essential component of early society survival and that the brain may be inherently inclined toward religious behavior."

American Experience: Blackout

American Experience: Blackout
Premiered July 14, 2015

Humanity from Space

PBS Humanity from Space
Premiered July 21, 2015
2 hours

Frontline: Drug Lord - The Legend of Shorty

Two filmmakers set out to interview El Chapo Guzmán, leader of one of the biggest drug cartels.

NOVA: Chasing Pluto

PBS NOVA New Horizons journey to Pluto

Chasing Pluto: Watch as the New Horizons spacecraft captures our first clear view of Pluto’s icy surface.

Aired July 15, 2015 on PBS

President Obama: South Carolina, Eulogy of Clementa Pinckney

President Obama delivered the eulogy of Clementa Pinckney, pastor of the African Methodist Episcopal church Charleston, South Carolina June 26, 2015. Pastor Pinckney was a victim of an act of white terrorism when a young racist shot and killed him and 8 others during a prayer service June 17, 2015.

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African Methodist Episcopalian church Boston

What Happened Miss Simone?

Using never-before-heard recordings, rare archival footage and her best-known songs, this is the story of legendary singer and activist Nina Simone.

Release June 26, 2015 (Netflix)

W.E.B. Du Bois - The Souls of Black Folk

The Souls of Black Folk is a classic work of American literature by W. E. B. Du Bois.

Ex Machina 2015

NOVA: Invisible Universe Revealed

NOVA: The Great Math Mystery

The Great Math Mystery:
Is math invented by humans, or is it the language of the universe?
Aired April 15, 2015 on PBS

Yokohama History Museum

Yokohama History Museum
Tsuzuki-Ku, Yokohama City

The museum has relics from pre-historical Jomon, Yayoi and Sekijidai leading up to current times. Adjacent to the museum and opened as the external grounds is an actual Yayoi archaeological dig along with the building rebuilt on the same spots where ancient ones from 2000 years ago once stood. The Yayoi period (弥生時代, Yayoi jidai) is the Iron Age era of early Japan.

PCAST: DARPA Director on DARPA's Mission(s)

DARPA Director Dr. Arati Prabhakar to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) about DARPA's mission and priorities.
Washington, DC
November 14, 2014

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DARPA’s Airborne Launch Assist Space Access program (ALASA)

Launches 100-pound satellites into low Earth orbit within 24 hours of call-up, for less than $1 million per launch.

American Experience - Last Days in Vietnam

Last Days in Vietnam

Directed and Produced by Rory Kennedy

American Experience Films/PBS

2015 Academy Award Nominee Best Documentary Feature

"During the chaotic final days of the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese Army closes in on Saigon as South Vietnamese resistance crumbles. The United States has only a skeleton crew of diplomats and military operatives still in the country. As Communist victory becomes inevitable and the U.S. readies to withdraw, some Americans begin to consider the certain imprisonment and possible death of their South Vietnamese allies, co-workers, and friends. Meanwhile, the prospect of an official evacuation of South Vietnamese becomes terminally delayed by Congressional gridlock and the inexplicably optimistic U.S. Ambassador. With the clock ticking and the city under fire, a number of heroic Americans take matters into their own hands, engaging in unsanctioned and often makeshift operations in a desperate effort to save as many South Vietnamese lives as possible."

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NOVA - First Man On The Moon

First Man on the Moon

"He risked his life for the nation and became a world icon, but who was Neil Armstrong?

Aired December 3, 2014"

pbs.org

"Everyone knows Neil Armstrong was the first to set foot on the moon. But this modest and unassuming man was determined to stay out of the spotlight. Now, for the first time, NOVA presents an intimate portrait of Armstrong through interviews with his family and friends, many of whom have never spoken publicly before. Discover and relive Armstrong's achievements before and after Apollo, from his time as a Navy combat veteran and later as a pioneer of high-speed flight to his leading role in the inquiry into the Challenger disaster and his efforts to encourage young people to take to the skies. Along the way, we learn how Armstrong's life became the inspiring story of heroic risk-taking and humble dedication that ultimately advanced humanity's adventure in space."

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This American Life #544: Batman

This American Life
544: Batman
January 9, 2015

"Can other people's expectations of you alter what you can do physically? Alix Spiegel and Lulu Miller of NPR's new radio show and podcast Invisibilia investigate that question – specifically, they look into something that sounds impossible: if people’s expectations can change whether a blind man can see."

I found this show extremely fascinating. I believe people's expectations affect those with sight too. I couldn't help think of how common expectations and people treat each other might affect how well they cope with life, whether that be family, romance, or discrimination in general. Listen to this and it may be true for us all, treat people in a way that leads them in the direction of self confidence, not false dependency.