Elizabeth Streb’s POPACTION pushes her performers to their athletic limits, and it got us wondering: what other forms of extreme performance art are out there? Not surprisingly, the human mind is capable of journeying to some quite intense places. Here are but a few.
This coming Monday, April 20, marks the 5th anniversary of the disastrous Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the oil industry. The Great Invisible, Margaret Brown’s film premiering on Independent Lens on PBS Monday at 10pm (check local listings), makes clear how the record-setting spill’s repercussions reached far beyond the …
Youth homelessness is on the rise in the United States, and the numbers aren’t pretty. One in 30 kids (nearly 2.5 million children) of K-12 school age are now homeless in the U.S. But here’s a look at innovative ways people are using to tackle the issue, and ways you can help, too.
Can we change how time passes with our minds? Inspired by Brakeless, read this exploration of our perception of time and how it is affected by culture, financial power (or lack thereof), stress, and even by music. Is time a social construct?
The story of the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission in Spies of Mississippi is far from the only instance of US government spying on American citizens. From the MI-8 and Operation SHAMROCK to 1971’s FBI files revelation to Edward Snowden and the NSA, read our survey of some of the more startling cases of domestic surveillance.
Can we eat sushi “responsibly?” Inspired by Jiro Dreams of Sushi, here’s a quick introduction to what it means to eat sustainable fish, including links to handy reference charts on fish to avoid and fish to eat, as well as new sustainable sushi restaurants.
In conjunction with the Independent Lens premiere of The Waiting Room on PBS [Monday, October 21 at 10 PM; check local listings], we’ve culled some revealing stats about American health care today. Clearly this is a hot topic, and a hot-button topic for that matter, but regardless of what your personal viewpoint is on the …
In spite of the great dangers, Ai Weiwei has inspired others in China and abroad to take the charge through tweets, viral videos, and Weibo — one of the largest social networks in China. We bring you some examples of their heroic digital activism.
The Powerbroker has its roots deep in filmmaker Bonnie Bowell’s childhood. She talked with Independent Lens about growing up before civil rights, and how her grandparents had a profound influence on her, and on her uncle, Whitney Young, Jr.
Zack Kopplin, a student at Rice University and a science education advocate, learned about the Independent Lens film The Revisionaries and contacted us. Kopplin, a winner of the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award in Education, has done some intensive research with MSNBC that reveals the extent of public school money going to fund education at …
