• July 2008 •

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July

WIDE ANGLE
Heart of Darfur
Tuesday, July 1 at 9:00 PM
Granted access to the capital city of North Darfur in Sudan, WIDE ANGLE reports from Al Fasher, once a sleepy desert town of 30,000, but today home to 100,000 refugees and 10,000 U.N. personnel. The program captures the desperation of daily life in Al Fasher's sprawling Abu Shouk refugee camp and travels beyond Al Fasher into the volatile rebel-held areas of Sudan to portray the lives of villagers who get up every morning to face yet another day filled with threats of looting, murder and rape by Sudan's pro-government Arab militias, known as the Janjaweed. After five years of fighting in Sudan, an estimated two-and-a-half million people have fled their homes, more than 200,000 have been killed, and two thirds of all Darfuris - some 4.3 million people - need humanitarian assistance of some kind.

GREAT LODGES OF THE NATIONAL PARKS
Roughing It in Style in Alaska & the Rockies
Wednesday, July 2 at 7:00 PM (simulcast on LPB HD)
Rocky Mountain National Park is just outside the back door of the grand and graceful Stanley Hotel, which may look familiar to fans of Stephen King’s The Shining. At Jackson Lake Lodge, the magnificent views were personally selected by John D. and Laurence Rockefeller when they built this modern masterpiece at the foot of Grand Teton. Visitors can breakfast like a cowboy on an early morning mountain trail ride. Then it’s on to Alaska, where rivers of ice march into the ocean and bears fish from the water’s edge at Glacier Bay Lodge; North America’s highest peak greets visitors each day in their cozy cabin at the wild and remote Camp Denali.

NOVA scienceNOW
Wednesday, July 2 at 9:00 PM
Personal Genome -- Several companies now offer a personal genetic profile that will predict a person’s chances of contracting one of several serious diseases. How do such tests work and how valid are they? Digital Art Authentication -- Vincent van Gogh has inspired several talented artists to turn their hands to forgery. Can computers be used to identify which works are really his? Carbon Sequestration -- Can an eighth grader’s science fair project show the way to dealing with rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere? Pardis Sabeti Profile -- By day, Pardis Sabeti is an assistant professor at Harvard University and a researcher on the genetics of malaria. By night, she and her band Thousand Days play the clubs around greater Boston.

SOUNDSTAGE
REO Speedwagon
Thursday, July 3 at 10:00 PM
In 1971, REO Speedwagon released their first record, jump-started a tour in a rented Chevy van and went on to produce 17 critically acclaimed albums, with 13 top 40 singles (including two Billboard #1s) and sell over 40 million records. Thirty-six years and the band is still going strong. The set list speaks for itself, with classic after classic, including “Keep on Loving You,” “Take It on the Run,” “Roll With the Changes,” “Can’t Fight This Feeling,” “Ridin’ the Storm Out” and many more.

A CAPITOL FOURTH 2008
Friday, July 4 at 8:00 PM (simulcast on LPB HD)
Live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, A CAPITOL FOURTH kicks off a musical and patriotic extravaganza topped by a dazzling display of fireworks over the Washington Monument. America’s biggest birthday celebration will feature some of the country’s best known and award-winning musical artists in performance with the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of top pops conductor Erich Kunzel. The line-up includes Grammy winning music legends Huey Lewis & the News, “American Idol” winner Taylor Hicks, Broadway star Brian Stokes Mitchell, classical superstars Hayley Westenra and Vittorio Grigolo, and soprano Harolyn Blackwell. The nation’s premiere Independence Day celebration will conclude with a rousing rendition of Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture,” complete with live cannon fire provided by the United States Army Presidential Salute Battery.

MASTERPIECE MYSTERY!
Inspector Lewis, Series I: Expiation
Sundays, July 6 at 8:00 PM (simulcast on LPB HD)
Kevin Whately returns as Detective Inspector Robbie Lewis in the spin-off to the popular “Inspector Morse” series. Lewis, back in Oxford following the tragic death of his wife, is cracking cases with his sharp young sidekick, DS Hathaway (Laurence Fox, Becoming Jane). When an Oxford housewife is found hanged in her home, Lewis and Hathaway unearth a far darker murder case than the initial suicide verdict suggests.

HISTORY DETECTIVES
Mondays at 8:00 PM
America’s top gumshoes are back for a sixth season to prove once again that an object found in an attic or backyard might be anything but ordinary. Wesley Cowan, independent appraiser and auctioneer; Gwendolyn Wright, professor of architecture, Columbia University; Elyse Luray, independent appraiser and expert in art history; and Tukufu Zuberi, professor of sociology and the director of the Center for Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania leave no stone unturned as they travel around the country to explore the stories behind local folklore, prominent figures and family legends.

7/7: Red Hand Flag – A Desert Storm veteran from South Carolina would like to know if her flag was carried into battle by one of the few African-American infantry regiments that fought in WWI under the command of the French. Seth Eastman Painting – An Illinois man purchased a painting that depicts a scene of traditional Native-American life. Could this painting be an authentic work of artist and military officer Seth Eastman? Isleton Tong – The president of the historical society in Isleton, California, has inherited a two-story wooden building with tin sides that she believes once housed a Chinese Tong.

7/14: Japanese Balloon Bomb – The granddaughter of a World War II veteran from Texas has a wartime memento with a note claiming it’s a piece of Japanese balloon that floated across the Pacific Ocean in 1945. Society Circus Program – In her school’s drama closet, a young girl from Oregon finds a curious, yellowed circus program that reads “Official Program of Cobina Wright’s Society Circus for the benefit of the Boy Scout Foundation, Hon. Franklin D. Roosevelt, President, Season 1933.” Camp David Letter – Maryland’s Camp David has served as a presidential retreat for more than 60 years and is possibly best known for the Camp David Accords, the famous Egyptian-Israeli peace agreements signed there in 1978. A self-styled dumpster diver in San Francisco has recovered a windfall of memorabilia that reveals a story of Camp David’s beginnings.

7/21: China Marine Jacket – A California man received an embroidered jacket as a gift from his son. He is intrigued by the jacket’s stitched inscriptions, which read: “4th Marines,” “Shanghai,” “China,” “1937-1939” and “MWD.” Airstream Caravan – A couple in Southern California owns a classic Airstream trailer that may lay claim to an illustrious past. Lincoln Forgery – An Oregon woman owns a bound volume of 19th-century sheet music. The book contains several “Abraham Lincoln” signatures on random pages.

7/28: Hindenburg Artifact – A New Jersey man has a palm-sized, army-green metal box that looks like an instrument panel. Might this instrument have been recovered from the crash site of the Hindenburg in Lakehurst, New Jersey? Bonus Army Stamp – A collector in Hawaii has a postage-sized stamp with an illustration of a World War I “doughboy” solider and the words “PAY THE BONUS.” Dempsey Fight Bell – On July 4, 1919, Jack Dempsey became the world’s first boxing superstar, and he did it with the clang of a bell. Now, a contributor in Nevada, wants to know: Is the bell he’s toasted many a night on the wall of his favorite bar the one that was ringside at Dempsey’s legendary world heavyweight championship match?

THE WAR OF THE WORLD
Mondays at 9:00 PM (simulcast on LPB HD)
World War II, we’ve been told all our lives, was our greatest triumph, the moment when the forces of light — the Western democracies — prevailed over the forces of darkness — the Nazis and the other Axis powers. It was a conflict that began in Europe in September 1939, but became global only with the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. It ended with the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan in August 1945. Or did it? In this series, Harvard historian Niall Ferguson challenges nearly all our enduring assumptions about what was, without question, the most destructive conflict the planet has ever seen.

7/7: A Tainted Victory -- Ferguson examines the horrors of the Second World War and shows how, in order to win, the allies had to act with the same savagery as their enemies. It was, in his words, “a tainted victory” — and the true, ultimate winners were not those who were victorious in 1945. 
7/14: The Icebox -- Ferguson shows how the Cold War was not a time of peace but a continuation of the war of the world; millions died in proxy wars. And the end of the Cold War did not bring about the end of history: It led to great new dangers and challenges, and presaged the rise of the East.

WIDE ANGLE
Japan’s About-Face
Tuesday, July 8 at 9:00 PM
With exclusive access to Japan's "West Point" - the National Defense Academy - Wide Angle captures a remarkable window into the shifting role of the military in post-war Japanese society. Ever since World War II, Japan's American-authored, pacifist constitution has mandated a strictly defensive military force. But the line between defense and offense has blurred in recent years, as Japan looks over its shoulder at North Korea's nuclear ballistic missiles and China's growing military and economic strength. Today, Japan's $40 billion military budget is the fifth largest in the world.

SOUNDSTAGE
Bon Jovi: Lost Highway, The Concert
Thursday, July 10 at 10:00 PM
After three impressive decades, Bon Jovi tirelessly continues to rock and roll. In this intimate studio setting, they deliver a high-energy, rousing performance of their new album, Lost Highway, in its entirety. Debuting at #1 on the Billboard charts, Lost Highway is packed with songs featuring sing-along choruses and Richie Sambora’s signature big guitar sound. From a specially built set resembling an old roadhouse, Bon Jovi presents “(You Want To) Make a Memory,” “Till We Ain’t Strangers Anymore” and “Lost Highway.”

MASTERPIECE MYSTERY!
Foyle’s War, Series V
The popular World War II whodunit called “a triumph from start to finish” by the Wall Street Journal returns with three new episodes. Far away from the glory of the front, Inspector Christopher Foyle (Michael Kitchen, “Reckless,” “Oliver Twist”) fights his own battle against murder, mystery and betrayal on the south coast of England.

7/13 at 8:00 PM: Plan of Attack -- It’s April 1944; Foyle has resigned as Detective Chief Superintendent of Hastings Police and his team is struggling to adjust to life without him. When his new replacement is suddenly and mysteriously killed, the station staff is at wits’ end. Will Foyle come out of retirement and once again track down the guilty perpetrators?
7/20 at 8:00 PM: Broken Souls -- When the colleague of an exiled war refugee is found murdered, Foyle is called upon to investigate. There’s no shortage of suspects as it becomes quickly apparent that the victim was not a well-liked man.
7/28 at 12:00 AM: All Clear -- Victory is at hand for the British, and Hasting is preparing itself for the celebrations. But the mood darkens when a prominent American committee member is murdered. In his quest to solve his final case, Foyle must dig into one of the dirtiest secrets of the war and reveal truths the Allies would rather keep hidden.

WIDE ANGLE
Birth of a Surgeon
Tuesday, July 15 at 9:00 PM
Travel to Mozambique where, for the first time, midwives are being trained in advanced life-saving surgery. Suffering from an acute shortage of doctors, Mozambique launched a bold grassroots initiative that has cut the maternal death rate in half. With more than half a million women dying each year during pregnancy or childbirth, the program is being hailed as a model solution offering new hope to developing countries worldwide.

NOVA scienceNOW
Wednesday, July 16 at 9:00 PM
Finch Brains -- What can the songs of zebra finches tells us about the human evolution of language? A lot more than we once thought. Northern Lights -- The northern lights are glorious, but mysterious: What causes them? Yoky Matsuoka -- Growing up in Japan, Yoky Matsuoka was on her way to becoming a world-class tennis player. She even competed in qualifiers for Wimbledon. But in daily practice it was hard to find a regular partner. So Matsuoka came up with the idea of building her own: a robotic player that would never get tired. Smart Bridges -- Ever since last summer’s sudden collapse of the Minneapolis Interstate 35 bridge, millions are now nervous about crossing long highway spans. In a nation abounding with aging bridges, what can be done to avert the next catastrophe?

SOUNDSTAGE
Stevie Nicks
Thursdays, July 17-24 at 10:00 PM
Part 1: This is Stevie Nicks’ first filmed solo performance since 1987. She boldly jumpstarts the night with “Stand Back,” as she performs songs from her comprehensive career retrospective album, Crystal Visions. Throughout the evening, Nicks elegantly showcases her vocal abilities on “Fall From Grace” and follows a stunning performance of “How Still My Love” with a cover of Dave Matthews Band’s “Crash,” interpreted through the eyes of a woman. She also performs “Sara,” a song rarely performed without Fleetwood Mac, before finishing up the hour with a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll.”
Part 2: During this intimate presentation, Nicks shares poignant personal memories and the origins of her songs. The hour starts off with a riveting version of “Rhiannon” and ends with an epic rendition of “Edge of Seventeen.” In between, she offers favorites like “Landslide” and “Gold Dust Woman.” Vanessa Carlton joins Nicks on stage for a special duet of Bonnie Raitt’s “Circle Dance,” as well as “The One,” a cut from Carlton’s latest album.

LOUISIANA PUBLIC SQUARE
Louisiana’s Children: A Future at Risk (Encore Edition)
Wednesday, July 23 at 7PM & Sunday, July 27 at 4:00 PM
When it comes to the future of a community or a state, nothing is more important than the welfare of the children - they are the future. By many indicators, Louisiana has not done well by its children. Find out why our state ranks 49th overall in child welfare issues.

NOVA scienceNOW
Wednesday, July 23 at 8:00 PM
Leeches -- Leeches, those innocent bloodsuckers, have been bad-mouthed to the point that they’ve become synonymous with obnoxious freeloaders. Even host Neil deGrasse Tyson is creeped out while wading through leech-infested waters with scientist Mark Siddall, who runs the leech lab at the American Museum of Natural History. SETI -- In 1960, a curious astronomer named Frank Drake aimed a radio telescope at a couple of nearby stars and started listening. More than 40 years later, we’re still listening, and SETI — the search for extraterrestrial intelligence — has just expanded big-time to begin the systematic survey of millions of star systems for signs of advanced civilizations. Stem Cells -- Researchers around the world are touting a possible new way of creating embryonic-like stem cells — without the embryo. Edith Widder -- Go for a deep-sea dive with a scientist who is seeing things never before recorded on the ocean floor.

LOUISIANA: THE STATE WE'RE IN
Fridays at 7:00 PM & Sundays at 2:00 PM
Louisiana's weekly statewide news magazine starts its 31st season on the air. Join us for up-to-date coverage of our state and world!

Louisiana Public Broadcasting