Inside PBS Blog

Freedom is a common concept, but the application of freedom is anything but simple. PBS explores the nuances of freedom this week with stories of song, success and struggle.

• PBS celebrates America’s day of Independence with our 28th annual broadcast of A Capitol Fourth, live from the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. The blockbuster concert and fireworks display is hosted by Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning film, theater and television actor Jimmy Smits, and features Barry Manilow, Aretha Franklin and the Tony and Grammy Award winning cast of Jersey Boys. Live cannon fire accompanies audience favorite Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" to end the evening. The show begins at 8 pm ET on July 4th (check local listings).

• The freedom of speech is one that Americans hold dear. On July 1st at 8 p.m. ET (check local listings) celebrate the spoken word with a profile of radio legend Garrison Keillor. American Masters presents “The Man on the Radio in the Red Shoes,” an intimate look into the life of the Prairie Home Companion host and prolific author, both in and out of the spotlight.

• Perhaps freedom’s impact is greatest felt when it’s absent. The season premiere of Wide Angle, “Crossing Heaven’s Border,” follows just a few of the over 100,000 people who have defected to China in the past decade from North Korea, the world’s last closed communist state. South Korean journalists risked their lives for ten months to cover these stories, and you can view their work on July 1st (check local listings for broadcast times).

  How do you define freedom? What is the greatest struggle for freedom in the US, or around the world?

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"Five Good Answers" from Brigid Sullivan

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