Dec 07 Watch 2:52 Poet reflects on America where ‘an angry man can shoot a teenager’ By PBS News Hour For Major Jackson, poetry is a vehicle of exploration. His poem "Stand Your Ground" responds to Florida's law that was famously invoked in the killing of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old boy. Jackson gives his Brief But Spectacular take on leaving… Continue watching
Dec 04 Thousands are missing in Syria. A new exhibit bears witness to their absence By Jennifer Hijazi When Mansour Omari was released from Syrian prison in 2013, he carried precious cargo in the folds of his shirt. Sewn into his clothes were five worn pieces of cloth containing the names of his 82 cellmates, carefully inscribed using… Continue reading
Dec 04 His wife worked at Sandy Hook. Now this poet is helping start a conversation about gun violence By Alison Thoet The shooting “changed our lives that day, and we became activists.” In a new collection, 54 poems address gun violence in America. Continue reading
Dec 03 Watch 7:23 Documentary gives new glimpse at Jane Goodall’s early research By Christopher Booker, Connie Kargbo The 1965 film “Miss Goodall and the Wild Chimpanzees” documented the early months of Jane Goodall’s groundbreaking research on chimpanzees in Africa. Now, unseen footage from the making of that film will appear in the documentary “Jane,” which revisits Goodall’s… Continue watching
Dec 02 Watch 5:46 This duo plays rock ‘n’ roll using only two cellos By Phil Hirschkorn, Melanie Saltzman Two musicians are using the cello to play contemporary rock music, drawing millions of YouTube views and filling concert halls. Stjepan Hauser, from Croatia, and Luka Sulić, from Slovenia, are both classically trained and form the band 2Cellos, which has… Continue watching
Dec 01 Watch 3:17 Binge-watching can’t be good for you — but is it really that bad? By PBS News Hour To binge or not to binge? Like many of us, with so many TV and streaming options these days, actress Annabelle Gurwitch struggles with falling into the black hole of epic, auto-loading TV and miniseries marathons. How is it different… Continue watching
Nov 30 How giving away free books became a Baltimore institution By Michael Boulter It’s a four-room warehouse where anyone can walk in, take as many books as they want and walk out. There’s no cash register and no clerk, just rows and rows of free books for anyone who wants them. Continue reading
Nov 28 Watch 8:32 Prison-produced podcast ‘Ear Hustle’ lets you listen to real stories of incarcerated life By Jeffrey Brown, Mike Fritz, Jaywon Choe Prisoners inside one of California’s prisons are getting the opportunity to be heard -- behind bars and beyond. “Ear Hustle” is a podcast that offers listeners a rare look at inmate experiences, from race relations to sharing a tiny cell. Continue watching
Nov 28 After years of pop music wins, 2018 Grammy nominations favor hip hop and R&B By Lora Strum The 60th annual Grammy Award nominations offered some surprise snubs, a lack of traditional pop nominees and a strong showing by today’s leading hip-hop artists. Continue reading
Nov 28 This record label is bringing live poetry back to vinyl By Elizabeth Flock Jeff Alessandrelli said the label is looking to bring the same independent sensibility as Octopus to its releases, and plans to release two to three records per year. Continue reading