News & Current Events

On April 30, PBS will be re-airing an episode of its news program Frontline called “Top Secret America — 9/11 to the Boston Bombings.” This episode originally aired in September 2011 (without the Boston reference) and is a look at the question of whether the hundreds of billions of dollars spent since 9/11 on counterterrorism efforts in America have made us safer. This question has come to the forefront again in the wake of the Boston bombings on April 15, with Americans wondering why the nation’s intelligence agencies failed to prevent the devastating attack. Reports indicate that even though the […]

One of Discovery Channel’s biggest programming events of the year is its annual Shark Week, which recognizes the combination of fear and fascination many viewers have with sharks. Likewise, The Weather Channel has realized that there is a similar mix of dread and compelling interest that people have with another force of nature — tornadoes — and the network has tapped into that with what has become its own most popular programming event, Tornado Week, which will return in 2013 starting Monday, April 29. Tornado Week 2013 on The Weather Channel will include three new specials; new special episodes of […]

Famed filmmaker Ken Burns may be most known for his documentary productions focused on various historical periods of America, but they often also touch on elements and themes that run throughout our nation’s history, including the present day. This ability to find the common issues that America has dealt — and continues to deal — with is one of the things that makes Burns’ films so compelling. So while his latest effort, The Central Park Five, may seem a departure for him — and it is, at least technically, not relying heavily on black-and-white photos from long-ago eras, or narration, […]