Around the Nation

Here are four arts and culture videos from public broadcasting partners around the nation.

Off Book looks at retro media and our love of it: “We live in a digital world that gives us all the media we could possibly dream of at the click of a mouse, yet many people miss the old school physical formats from our past. The challenges these retro formats present to capturing and experiencing media actually enhance our appreciation for the sound or image, making the art we love a bit more intimate, and real.”

Watch We ❤ Retro Media: Vinyl, VHS, Tapes & Film | OFF BOOK on PBS. See more from Off Book.

From Independent Lens, an early look at “Beauty is Embarrassing,” which premiers in January 2013: “Take a ride through the life and current times of one of America’s most important artists, Wayne White. Raised in the mountains of Tennessee, Wayne White started his career as a cartoonist in New York City. He quickly found success as one of the creators of the TV show, Pee-wee’s Playhouse, which led to more work designing some of the most arresting and iconic images in pop culture.”

Watch On a Mission to Bring Humor into Fine Art on PBS. See more from Independent Lens.

“Secret Life of Scientists” talks to “microbe hunter” and movie consultant Ian Lipkin: “A professor at Columbia University, he does research on a wide array of infectious diseases. When Ian’s not in the lab, he helps Hollywood put science up on the silver screen. Among his many other contributions to the film ‘Contagion,’ Ian taught Gwyneth Paltrow how to have a seizure.”

Watch Ian Lipkin: Catching the Hollywood Bug on PBS. See more from Secret Life of Scientists.

Oregon Art Beat profiles Karin Richardson, an artist “known for her blown and cast glass work, before a car accident changed her relationship with her art. These days she’s following her muse on the beach near her home in North Bend, collecting objects to create new works.”

Watch Glass Artist and Sculptor Karin Richardson on PBS. See more from Oregon Art Beat.