PROGRAM LISTINGS May 13 - May 19, 2012
Arts, Drama, Culture
FINDING YOUR ROOTS
John Legend, Wanda Sykes and Margarett Cooper
Sun., May 13, 7:00 pm
Tues., May 15, 11:00 pm
New
This 10-part series, with renowned cultural critic and Harvard scholar Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr., journeys deep into the ancestry of a group of remarkable individuals and provides new understanding of personal identity and American history.
Most African Americans struggle to trace their ancestors beyond Emancipation; slavery erased names and family ties with brutal efficiency. But what about the descendants of the handful of free black people who evaded bondage during that terrible time? Musician John Legend and comedian Wanda Sykes discover the extraordinary stories of the free black ancestors they never knew about, while Professor Gates himself and his 98-year-old friend Margarett Cooper delve into the mysteries shrouding the free people of color in their family trees.
MASTERPIECE MYSTERY!
The Hounds of Baskerville
Sun., May 13, 8:00 pm
New
The struggle goes on in 21st-century London as the updated team of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson battle the worst that modern criminality has to offer, including a computer-savvy arch-villain who wants to rule the world. Benedict Cumberbatch returns as the world's foremost consulting detective, with Martin Freeman as the stalwart, if edgy, Dr. John Watson and Andrew Scott as the unassuming mastermind of evil, Jim Moriarty.
The Hounds of Baskerville: Sherlock and Watson pursue the trail of the Baskerville experiments - top-secret government research on genetically engineered gigantic animals for military use. Or so it is rumored. Whatever the truth, something big is up on the moors.
NA MELE: TRADITIONS IN HAWAIIAN SONG
Ukulele 2002: A Weekend with the Masters
Mon., May 14, 7:30 pm
Encore
This episode of NA MELE is a special 10th anniversary encore of an event recorded in 2002, featuring some of Hawai'i Music Institute's teaching staff, including Melveen Leed, Byron Yasui, Brother Noland and Ku'uipo Kumukahi.
ANTIQUES ROADSHOW
Minneapolis, MN, Part 2 of 3
Mon., May 14, 8:00 pm
New
Host Mark L. Walberg and appraiser Phil Weiss are surrounded by military aviation memorabilia for a discussion of animation propaganda produced by Disney Studios during World War II. Highlights from the Roadshow floor include a 1956 Elvis Presley standee rescued from an attic; a portrait sketched by George Gershwin accompanied with letters from the composer to the owner's mother; and a circa 1885 Franz Roubaud oil painting, valued at $100,000.
AMERICAN MASTERS
Johnny Carson: King of Late Night
Mon., May 14, 9:00 pm
New
Johnny Carson was a fixture of national life, a piece of the cultural furniture, a part of the zeitgeist. AMERICAN MASTERS explores the career, complexities and contradictions of the biggest star television has ever produced. Producers gained unrestricted entrée into his personal archives and perhaps Carson's greatest legacy, all episodes of The Tonight Show from 1970-1992. Clues about his life, stories about his childhood and early days in the business can be found there — as well as in the expansive family albums and memorabilia. Original interviews with friends, colleagues and the many performers who appeared, or began, on The Tonight Show offer additional texture and context: Mel Brooks, Jay Leno, David Letterman, Jerry Seinfeld, Dick Cavett and many more.
One Voice
Mon., May 14, 11:00 pm
Encore
Through the personal stories of student song directors, this music documentary tells the story of the Kamehameha Schools Song Contest. Every year in Hawaii, 2,000 high school students compete in the contest, in which young leaders direct their peers in singing Hawaiian music in four-part harmony. Follow the elected student song directors to see how the tradition creates an indelible experience that builds class unity, instills cultural pride and builds character. Meet their families and learn about their hopes and dreams for the future. Experience Hawaiian culture as it has survived, flourished and grown through the universal power of music and song.
LONG STORY SHORT WITH LESLIE WILCOX
Pono Shim: Through A Child's Eyes
Tues., May 15, 7:30 pm
Encore
Pono Shim is CEO of Oahu's economic development board, Enterprise Honolulu. The son of political visionaries Alvin and Marion Heen Shim, Pono was exposed to many conversations with high-profile figures at a young age. Leslie Wilcox sits down with Pono as he shares some of those conversations that helped shape who he is today.
This program is available in high-definition and will be rebroadcast on Wed., May 16 at 11:00 pm and Sun., May 20, at 4:00 pm.
LEAHEY & LEAHEY
Wed., May 16, 7:30 pm
New
Jim and Kanoa Leahey, Hawaii's father and son sports reporting duo, prove that the liveliest discussions happen with family and friends at the kitchen table. Join them as they talk story with special guests about "sports and other living things."
This program is available in high-definition and will be rebroadcast on Wed., May 16, at 11:30 pm and Sun., May 20, at 3:30 pm.
GLOBE TREKKER
Caribbean Islands: St. Lucia, Martinique and Montserrat
Thurs., May 17, 11:00 pm
Encore
Host Zoe Palmer visits the spectacularly beautiful islands of St Lucia, Martinique and Montserrat. Surrounded by stunning rainforests, mountains and volcanoes with a hybrid of English, African and French heritage, these islands deserve their reputation as one of the top vacation spots in the world.
GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET
The Enchanted Island
Fri., May 18, 9:00 pm
New
This extraordinary new work combines some of the world's best singers, the glorious music of the Baroque masters and a story drawn from Shakespeare. In this new production, the lovers from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream are shipwrecked on the otherworldly island of The Tempest. Inspired by the musical pastiches and masques of the 18th century, the work showcases arias and ensembles by Handel, Vivaldi, Rameau and others with a new libretto by Jeremy Sams. Eminent conductor William Christie leads an all-star cast featuring David Daniels, Joyce DiDonato, Danielle de Niese, Luca Pisaroni, Lisette Oropesa and Anthony Roth Costanzo, with special guest star Placido Domingo.
SIMPLY MING
Julio Bermejo and Cooking with Spirits
Sat., May 19, 5:30 pm
New
SIMPLY MING returns for its ninth season with 26 brand-new episodes featuring more mouthwatering recipes, celebrity appearances and road trips to visit some of host Ming Tsai's favorite chefs. Each episode features a technique demonstration, followed by two dishes - one prepared by a guest chef and one by Ming, who must create a meal "on the fly" using cooking staples found in Ming's kitchen and with an unknown secret ingredient.
We all love cooking with wine but how about using spirits? On this episode, Ming shows how as he cooks with tequila. He's joined by longtime friend, Julio Bermejo, the tequila master at Tommy's in San Francisco. Looking for inspiration Julio and Ming explore amazing food stalls at the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market before heading back to Tommy's to cook on the fly.
BURT WOLF: TRAVELS AND TRADITIONS
The Great Rivers of Europe: Melk to Budapest
Sat., May 19, 7:00 pm
Encore
Burt cruises through the Wachau Valley, a major area for Austrian wines. Then he visits Melk Abbey, one of Europe's largest and most impressive monasteries where Burt explains how the Catholic Church used Baroque architecture to undermine the Reformation. Then Burt's on to Vienna for music and pastry, and finally a tour of Budapest.
RUDY MAXA'S WORLD
South Africa: Garden Route and Wine Country
Sat., May 19, 7:30 pm
New
The Garden Route has nothing to do with gardens and everything to do with a wild, rugged, gorgeous coastline. Its name comes from the astounding variety of plant species found here, many indigenous only to the region. Surfers brave enormous waves, while exotic birds watch visitors climb serpentine paths that rise above the coast. Capping this visually stunning episode is a visit to the heart of South Africa's lush wine country, the village of Franschhoek.
PACIFIC HEARTBEAT
Papa Mau: The Wayfinder
Sat., May 19, 8:00 pm
New
Running the gamut from enlightening documentaries to musical showcases, the anthology series PACIFIC HEARTBEAT journeys into the heart, mind and soul of Pacific Island culture. Co-produced by Pacific Islanders in Communications (PIC) and PBS Hawaii, the series presents real stories about real people in the Pacific Region.
Papa Mau: The Wayfinder: In 1974, Hawaiians sailed the traditional voyaging canoe Hōkūle‘a from Hawaii to Tahiti and proved to the world that their ancestors had explored the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean by navigating with the stars. This film tells the story of the critical role that master navigator Mau Piailug played in that voyage, and the rebirth of Polynesian unity and pride that followed. The Hōkūle‘a was built by members of the newly-formed Polynesian Voyaging Society, who dreamed of sailing in the way of their ancestors. Shortly thereafter, a search began for someone who could teach them the art of non-instrument navigation, which had been all but lost until they met Micronesian-born Mau, who agreed to share his knowledge. Follow the remarkable journey of an iconic voyaging canoe and a new generation of Hawaiian navigators who, under the guidance of Papa Mau, revitalized and reclaimed Polynesia's voyaging tradition.
Every Day is a Holiday
Sat., May 19, 9:00 pm
New
While growing up in suburban New Jersey, Chinese American filmmaker Theresa Loong knew little about her father's past. Then, one day she discovered his secret diary, written when he was a teenager and POW in a Japanese work camp during World War II. In it, he vowed to make "every day a holiday" if he ever survived. Told through her eyes, the film recounts the painful but life-affirming story of her father's unlikely journey, from Chinese Malay teenager and Japanese POW, to merchant seaman, Veterans Affairs doctor and naturalized citizen of the country that liberated him: the United States. Using intimate conversations, rare archival footage and his wartime diary, the film traces how, through sheer strength of will, Paul Loong overcomes the horrors of war and obstacles as an immigrant, making "every day a holiday."
Searching for Roots in Canton
Sat., May 19, 10:00 pm
New
This documentary follows a Chinese American, Nathan, and a Chinese-African American, Alana, with their mentor, Al Cheng from San Francisco, CA to Canton (Guangdong Province), China to search for their ancestral homes. Before going to their ancestral villages, they get to know the culture and environment of Guangzhou City (the province capital) by touring the local sites and get a taste of authentic Cantonese cuisine. After meeting family members and paying worship to their ancestors, both travelers open themselves emotionally to the viewers as they find healing and catharsis upon realizations of why they are driven to search for their roots. Nathan finds peace and closure over the loss of his grandfather who passed away suddenly when he was a young boy. Alana releases feelings of guilt and shame about her racial identity which had been repressed since childhood. They both gain a clearer perspective of what it means to be Chinese as well as American.
AUSTIN CITY LIMITS
The Decemberists/Gillian Welch
Sat., May 19, 11:00 pm
Encore
The Decemberists and Gillian Welch showcase the best in contemporary songwriting. The Decemberists highlight songs from their release The King Is Dead. Welch and her partner David Rawlings perform cuts from The Harrow & the Harvest.
Public Affairs
Erasing ED
Sun., May 13, 9:30 pm
New
In this program, five brave and determined people tell their stories of how they managed to erase ED (eating disorders) from their lives.
Matt, Hana, Marta, Robyn and Kristi expose the ugly and depraved aspects of ED that permeated their lives for years. They explore their recoveries from ED and the specific therapeutic tools they have used to create a life free from pain and isolation.
DESIGNING HEALTHY COMMUNITIES
Rebuilding Places of the Heart
Sun., May 13, 10:00 pm
New
In this four-part series, Host/Narrator Richard Jackson, MD, MPH, looks at the impact our manmade environment has on key public health indices - obesity, diabetes, heart disease, asthma, cancer and depression. Dr. Jackson connects bad community design with burgeoning health costs, then analyzes and illustrates what citizens are doing about this urgent crisis by looking upstream for innovative solutions.
Rebuilding Places of the Heart: When U.S. industry and manufacturing collapsed or went elsewhere, cities like Elgin, IL, and Syracuse, NY, (like many communities in the United States) were left with the task of redefining themselves for a new paradigm. Leading the way to a greener, more sustainable Elgin is a group of high school students. Despite many innovative programs to get Syracuse back on its feet, the city struggles with the larger problem of Lake Onondaga, the most polluted lake in our nation. Local Native American Onondaga tribal leader, Oren Lyons, serves as conscience in the movement to restore Lake Onondaga for "Seven Generations to come." And in Riverside, CA, 16-year old science prodigy, Otana Jakpor, has a personal reason for her war against air pollution. She takes her battle all the way to the White House.
MOYERS & COMPANY
Sun., May 13, 5:00 pm
New
Bill Moyers returns to public television with MOYERS & COMPANY, a weekly hour of compelling and vital conversation about life and the state of American democracy, featuring some of the best thinkers of our time. A range of scholars, artists, activists, scientists, philosophers and newsmakers bring context, insight and meaning to important topics. The series also occasionally includes Moyers' own timely and penetrating essays on society and government.
FRONTLINE
The Meth Epidemic
Tues., May 15, 10:00 pm
Encore
Methamphetamine started as a fad among West Coast motorcycle gangs in the 1970s and gradually spread across the United States over the next two decades. Despite calls to regulate its key ingredient, pseudoephedrine, which is found in over-the-counter cold remedies, people still manage to stockpile enough of the drug to fuel thousands of small meth labs nationwide. FRONTLINE investigates the ongoing meth problem in America, its devastating impact on individuals, families and communities and the state-by-state battles to make pseudoephedrine a prescription drug.
HIKI NŌ: The Nation's First Statewide Student News Network
Thurs., May 17, 7:30 pm
New
Students from Halau Ku Mana Charter School in Honolulu host this edition of HIKI NŌ. In this episode, Iolani School students visit some of the budding poets at The ARTS at Mark's Garage. Over on the Valley Isle, Maui High School correspondents profile a woman whose mother is living with Alzheimer's.
Other schools featured in this episode: Kealakehe High School (Hawaii Island); Island School (Kauai); Maui Waena Intermediate School (Maui); Ewa Makai Middle School, Kainalu Elementary School and Leilehua High School (Oahu).
This HIKI NŌ newscast encores Saturday, May 19, at 12:30 pm and Sunday, May 20, at 3:00 pm. You may also view this newscast and past episodes on our website, www.pbshawaii.org/hikino
INSIGHTS ON PBS HAWAII
Micronesians in Hawaii
Thurs., May 17, 8:00 pm
New
Thousands of Micronesians live in Hawaii under the Compact of Free Association with the United States. They come here for job opportunities, education and medical care not available back home. Once here, however, the reality for too many is poverty, homelessness and limited access to health care. Guests will discuss the Micronesian community's most pressing issues, including racial discrimination and access to medical care and social services.
Joining moderator Dan Boylan are scheduled guests: Patricia McManaman, Director of the State Department of Human Services; Neal Palafox, MD, Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health, UH John A. Burns School of Medicine; and Innocenta Sound-Kikku, Vice Chair, Micronesian Health Advisory Coalition.
INSIGHTS is also available online via live streaming. We want to hear from you! Your questions and comments are welcome via phone, email, Twitter or live blogging. You may also email your questions ahead of time to insights@pbshawaii.org
INDEPENDENT LENS
Precious Knowledge
Thurs., May 17, 10:00
New
Tucson High School's Mexican American Studies Program has become a national model of educational success, with 100 percent of enrolled students graduating from high school and 85 percent going on to college. Filmmakers spent an entire year in the classroom chronicling this innovative social-justice curriculum, documenting the transformative impact on students who become engaged, informed and active in their communities. Arizona lawmakers recently passed a bill giving unilateral power to the state superintendent to abolish ethnic studies classes. This documentary provides an insider's perspective as student leaders fight to save their classes, mobilizing rapidly with texts, Facebook, optimism and a megaphone. Lawmakers and politicians mount a public relations campaign to discredit the passionate students, claiming that Paulo Freire's textbook The Pedagogy of the Oppressed teaches victimization and sedition.
WASHINGTON WEEK
Fri., May 18, 7:30 pm
New
For 40 years, WASHINGTON WEEK has delivered the most interesting conversation of the week. The program, hosted by Gwen Ifill, is the longest-running public affairs program on PBS and features a group of journalists participating in roundtable discussion of major news events.
NEED TO KNOW
Fri., May 18, 8:00 pm
New
This weekly current affairs series covers the issues being considered by candidates and voters - from immigration to education to health care, environment, jobs and the economy - from Main Street's point of view.
The program also profiles up-and-coming political leaders and will report regularly from the road, hosting the program from key states whose issues are important to the national election. Essays, many from Jon Meacham and from a diverse group of other journalists and big thinkers, are a weekly feature.
Respected and experienced media professionals anchor the program and report from the field. They include: Jeff Greenfield, a seasoned political, media and culture reporter and commentator who has worked for CNN, CBS and NBC; Maria Hinojosa, host and managing editor of NPR's Latino USA and former senior correspondent of NOW On PBS; Scott Simon, longtime host of NPR's Weekend Edition; and Ray Suarez, co-anchor of the PBS NEWSHOUR.
THE MCLAUGHLIN GROUP
Fri., May 18, 8:30 pm
New
THE MCLAUGHLIN GROUP is an unscripted forum featuring some of the greatest political analysts in the nation.
Science and Nature
NATURE
Cracking the Koala Code
Wed., May 16, 8:00 pm
New
Follow individual koalas from a small social group on an Australian island to learn just how a koala manages to survive and thrive on a diet poisonous to almost all other herbivorous mammals. From the miracle of marsupial birth to tender moments of discovery between mother and newborn joey, encounters with threatening forest creatures, battles between rival males and the complex chorus of bellows and grunts that have become so important to science - join leading scientists as they unravel just what a forest needs to support a healthy population of koalas by listening to these marsupials themselves and cracking the koala code.
NOVA
The Great Inca Rebellion
Wed., May 16, 9:00 pm
Encore
They have been hastily buried and disfigured by multiple, appalling wounds and fractures. Forensic experts help to determine that these remains are victims of a battle that pitted club-wielding Inca warriors against Spanish cavalry. The forensic evidence may be a decisive clue that helps explain a long-standing mystery about the Spanish conquest of Peru. How, in 1532, did a tiny band of Spanish soldiers crush the mighty Inca Empire, then the most powerful civilization in the Americas? Were the conquistadors' obvious advantages - steel arms, gunpowder and horses - the key to their success, as is generally supposed? Or were disease and civil war more significant factors that were downplayed by the invaders? By uncovering new evidence from the Lima cemetery, NOVA and National Geographic reveal the untold final chapter of the conquest: not the Spanish walkover familiar from well-known accounts, but rather a protracted and complex war of astonishing brutality that almost led to the Spanish losing their precarious foothold in the Andes.
Bones of Turkana
Wed., May 16, 10:00 pm
New
Follow famed paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey and his wife, Meave, daughter Louise and their colleagues as they work in the arid northern regions of Kenya's Turkana Basin to unravel the mysteries of human evolution. While one of the Leakeys' goals is to demonstrate the complexity and truth of human evolution, they also seek to show how the qualities that we proudly call human were all born in Africa.
History
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
Clinton, Part 2 of 2
Tues., May 15, 8:00 pm
Encore
From draft dodging to the Dayton Accords, from Monica Lewinsky to a balanced budget, the presidency of William Jefferson Clinton veered between sordid scandal and grand achievement. In the latest installment in the critically acclaimed and successful series of presidential biographies, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE explores the fascinating story of an American president who rose from a broken childhood in Arkansas to become one of the most successful politicians in modern American history and one of the most complex and conflicted characters to ever stride across the public stage. It recounts a career full of accomplishment and rife with scandal, a marriage that would make history and create controversy and a presidency that would define the crucial and transformative period between the fall of the Berlin Wall and 9/11. It follows Clinton across his two terms as he confronted some of the key forces that would shape the future, including partisan political warfare and domestic and international terrorism, and struggled, with uneven success, to define the role of American power in a post-Cold War world. Most memorably, it explores how Clinton's conflicted character made history, even as it enraged his enemies and confounded his friends. The program features unprecedented access to scores of Clinton insiders including White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers, White House Counsel Bernard Nussbaum, White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta and Deputy Chief of Staff Harold Ickes, as well as interviews with foreign leaders, members of the Republican opposition, childhood friends, staffers from Clinton's years as governor of Arkansas, biographers and journalists.
PBS HAWAII PRESENTS
Biography Hawaii: Harriet Bouslog
Thurs., May 17, 9:00 pm
Encore
One of a handful of women lawyers practicing in Hawaii in the 1940's and 50's, Harriet Bouslog became a champion for the working class. With her partner Myer Symonds, she represented the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), fighting for fair labor laws and wages for the people of Hawaii. She was instrumental in ending the death penalty in the Territory of Hawaii and her efforts and public comments during the Hawaii Seven trial of alleged Communists led to her disbarment and subsequent reinstatement after a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court. Brilliant, vivacious, and controversial, Bouslog was one of Hawaii's great defenders of human rights and dignity. This inspiring documentary combines interviews with family and friends, commentary by legal historians and photographs and film that recorded the life and times of this extraordinary woman.