Inside PBS Blog

PBS always encourages you to “be more,” and this week, we explore who we’ve become, highlighting the science of humanity itself both in our broadcasts and on the Web.

• What makes us, as a species, so different from all the rest? The ability to reason? To innovate? What makes us special? In a Web-exclusive special this week, PBS asks you to “share your spark” – that is, tell us what being human means to you. Submit your own text, photos and even video to the multimedia forum, see what others submit, and then watch for the answers we found. The Human Spark, the forum’s broadcast companion, is hosted by Alan Alda, and airs on PBS this fall.

• Music can affect the way you feel, think and act -- but why? “The Music Instinct” is a star-filled special on how music affects humans through our language, thoughts, emotions and more. Yo-Yo Ma, Jarvis Cocker, Bobby McFerrin and others also add their talents to the program premiering June 24 at 9pm ET (check local listings).

• There’s long been a link between apes and humans, and this week’s NOVA-National Geographic special explores the strength of that connection. “Ape Genius” takes viewers inside labs and into the field all over the world, following the surprising results of numerous experiments. Think apes hate the water? Think again. For more, view the program when it airs on June 23rd at 8pm ET (check local listings).

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