Aug 02 Watch 9:51 4 days before the Olympic Games start, Rio seems far from ready By PBS News Hour With the Rio Olympics only days away, the city remains plagued by problems, including political unrest, infrastructure failures and heavy traffic. Jeff Brown speaks with Paulo Sotero of the Woodrow Wilson Center, “Brazilianaires” author Alex Cuadros and NPR’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro… Continue watching
Jul 18 Watch 8:06 Baton Rouge reels after Sunday’s ambush murders of three police officers By PBS News Hour Another city is mourning the fatal shootings of its police officers — this time three in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which exploded in protest earlier this month when white cops killed Alton Sterling, a black man, outside a convenience store. The… Continue watching
Jul 07 Watch 6:56 ‘Zero Days,’ a detective story about the cyber warfare arms race By PBS News Hour “Zero Days,” a new documentary by Alex Gibney, lays out a sobering view of the rise of cyber warfare and its acceleration since intelligence agencies sabotaged Iran’s nuclear program. Gibney sits down with Jeffrey Brown. Continue watching
Jun 24 Watch 2:39 Remembering Ralph Stanley and his ‘God-given voice’ By PBS News Hour After a long battle with skin cancer, bluegrass pioneer Ralph Stanley died overnight at the age of 89. Since forming his first band in 1946, Stanley’s haunting voice came to epitomize the bluegrass genre’s “High Lonesome” sound, and he won… Continue watching
Jun 21 Watch 4:30 Why Cole Porter’s melodies and lyrics produce musical magic By PBS News Hour The sophisticated rhymes and erudite imagery of Cole Porter’s lyrics made him one of the nation’s preeminent songsmiths. But an overlooked element of Porter’s legacy is the music underlying those lyrics, which Rob Kapilow argues is essential to understanding the… Continue watching
Jun 10 Watch 7:06 ‘Hamilton’ tops the Tonys list during a big year for Broadway By PBS News Hour The 70th annual Tony Awards, celebrating the best in live Broadway theater, air Sunday night. All eyes are on Lin-Manuel Miranda’s acclaimed historical hip-hop musical “Hamilton,” which has received a record 16 nominations. But there are a slew of other… Continue watching
Jun 09 Watch 7:50 New rendition of classic opera ‘Porgy and Bess’ offers a ‘greater truth’ By PBS News Hour Since its first performance in 1935, “Porgy and Bess” has earned acclaim as one of American history’s best pieces of musical theater. But over time, many have come to view the opera’s black characters as stereotypes. Now, a new production… Continue watching
Jun 06 Watch 7:47 A resurgence for the ‘Mother Road’: revitalizing Route 66 By PBS News Hour U.S. Route 66, running 2,400 miles from Chicago to Santa Monica, was once one of the most-traveled highways in the nation; John Steinbeck referred to it as the “Mother Road.” But the rise of the Interstate Highway System led to… Continue watching
May 06 Watch 8:24 Puerto Rican economic disaster leaves residents struggling By PBS News Hour For years, the Puerto Rican economy has been in decline, and the U.S. territory is now on the brink of disaster, with $72 billion of overall debt and an unemployment rate twice that of the mainland. As the island’s government… Continue watching
May 06 Watch 5:04 A contemporary composer considers the musical legacy of Johannes Brahms By PBS News Hour Saturday will mark the 183rd birthday of the celebrated German composer and pianist Johannes Brahms. A complicated and utterly self-guarded man, Brahms liked to claim that his music didn’t flow from his heart, but the soulful and passionate nature of… Continue watching