Jul 08 Watch Why ‘Doctor Zhivago’ was dangerous By PBS News Hour When Boris Pasternak finished his novel “Dr. Zhivago” in 1956, Soviet authorities refused to publish the tale of an individual’s struggle amid the Russian Revolution. A new book, “The Zhivago Affair,” tells the story of how Pasternak’s novel came to… Continue watching
Jul 07 The historical novel celebrates 200 years, thanks to Sir Walter Scott By Lorna Baldwin The author of one of the world's first bestsellers carved out a distinctive identity for Scotland through his writing, an image that persists 200 years later. Continue reading
Jul 02 Watch How the Civil Rights Act changed America By PBS News Hour Wednesday marks 50 years since President Lyndon Johnson signed the landmark Civil Rights Act, outlawing discrimination based on race, ethnicity and sex. Gwen Ifill is joined by Todd Purdum to discuss his new book, "An Idea Whose Time Has Come,"… Continue watching
Jun 17 Watch 40 years after the fall, revisiting Nixon in ‘Washington Journal’ By PBS News Hour In the 1975 book “Washington Journal: Reporting Watergate and Richard Nixon’s Downfall,” author Elizabeth Drew examined the players and the political upheaval behind Nixon’s fall from power. Now nearing the 40th anniversary of Nixon’s resignation, this classic piece of political… Continue watching
Jun 16 Watch In ‘The True American,’ victim of attempted murder tries to save attacker By PBS News Hour If you could face the man who tried to kill you, what would you do? A new book, “The True American: Murder and Mercy in Texas,” tells the story of Raisuddin Bhuiyan, a U.S. immigrant from Bangladesh, who was shot… Continue watching
Jun 05 Is American popular culture swaying public opinion abroad? By artsdesk According to Martha Bayles, a professor of humanities at Boston College and author of the new book "Through a Screen Darkly: Popular Culture, Public Diplomacy, and America's Image Abroad," public diplomacy disappeared. Continue reading
May 29 How an unlikely group changed the face of the FBI, retold in ‘The Burglary’ By Victoria Fleischer “There was a sense in the anti-war movement that it was being infiltrated by spies, by informers, but there was no evidence,” said Betty Medsger, author of "The Burglary." In 1971, a small group of unlikely individuals -- including a… Continue reading
May 23 Watch What would Plato ask a neuroscientist? By PBS News Hour Can we reconcile the advancements of our modern world with Plato’s philosophical questions of free will? In “Plato at the Googleplex,” author Rebecca Goldstein imagines how Plato would approach neuroscience, the Internet and other technologies that make philosophy obsolete to… Continue watching
May 19 Watch Sen. Warren takes on Washington to give working class Americans ‘A Fighting Chance’ By PBS News Hour Sen. Elizabeth Warren joins Judy Woodruff to discuss her new memoir, “A Fighting Chance,” in which she criticizes the big banks and Washington politicians for weakening America’s middle class. Warren advocates for a hike in the minimum wage to ensure… Continue watching
May 14 Lost and found identities in Dinaw Mengestu’s ‘All Our Names’ By Victoria Fleischer Life in post-colonial Africa and the civil rights era in the United States aren’t typically compared, but Dinaw Mengestu, author of the new novel “All Our Names,” saw those moments in history as an echo of each other. Continue reading