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These listings cover television programs up to Friday, June
27th.
Greetings, TV viewers!
This week's MediaHour will be a discussion of the Harry Potter books and
movies, leading into a special webcast of an interview with J.K. Rowling. Bigfoot Bill will be leading the discussion, so bring some good, insightful questions!
Want some clams? Watch the show-of-the-week, then talk about them with me and other citizens (including other City Workers, if they're available) at the Greek Theater, over in City Hall. You'll find that the Theater makes discussions pretty easy, since City Workers are able to direct people's movement and behavior, when we need to, and keeps everyone's chat bubbles from overlapping too much. We meet for MediaHour on Wednesdays from 6:30pm and 7:30pm Whyville Time (that's the same as Eastern Daylight Time).
If you see the show, then come and really take part in the meeting, you'll get up to 50 clams from City Hall... you like that?
Everyone is welcome to write to me what you and your parents think:
Y-mail me, the MediaWiz of Whyville!
And now... the Media Menu!
Friday, June 20
"X Factor: Inside Microsoft's Xbox" (Discovery Channel, 8-9pm E/P) Here's a documentary look behind the scenes as three teams race to create the "next great American video game"... and Microsoft battles to take over a $20 billion industry that's bigger than movies and records.
"NOW With Bill Moyers: Changing America's Prisons" (PBS, 9-10pm E/P) This is a documentary about David Lewis, a former convict, first imprisoned as a teenager, whose personal search for dignity lead him to found one of America's nation's most innovative treatment programs aimed at breaking the cycles of addiction and incarceration. In a nation where two out of three people released from prison are re-arrested within three years, a study found that over 60 percent of those who complete Lewis' Free At Last program were clean, sober and off public assistance a year later.
His methods could change the way America treats its prisoners by moving away
from a focus on punishment toward recovery and rehabilitation.
Saturday, June 21
"Harry Potter And the Sorcerer's Stone" (HBO, 1-3:30pm E/P) This is a film adaptation of J.K. Rowling's first Harry Potter novel. It will air again on HBO Wednesday, June 26
at 6pm E/P. Also available on video and DVD. Later this week the author will give her first interview about her new novel,
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The interview can be watched live on the web, June 26 at 11am ET at www.msn.co.uk/harrypotter (For details see listing below for June 26.)
Sunday, June 22
"60 Minutes" (CBS, 7-8pm E/P) This newsmagazine is repeating several science stories I have recommended
before. They're worth pointing out again: "Imported from India" -- The best and brightest engineers from what may be the most competitive school in the world, the India Institute of Technology, would rather work in the U.S.A. than Delhi or Bombay. Lesley Stahl reports (but does not comment on the fact that all the students she's interviewed in India were male... hmmm).
"Pork Power" -- Environmentalists are accusing industrial hog farmers,
whose large-scale operations produce millions of tons of waste, of creating a
health hazard for nearby residents. "Medical Malpractice" -- about the
contentious issue of "wrongful-birth" lawsuits, in which doctors are sued for
malpractice for not foretelling children's birth defects.
Monday, June 23
"Ken Burns American Stories: Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony" (PBS, 9-11pm E/P
-- check local listings) This is Part 1 of a documentary miniseries about two American women who fought the social, cultural and legal inequalities that for centuries held women back, and who ultimately set in motion the movement that won women the right to vote. Part II airs in this time-slot Monday, June 30. There's a website about the history of women's rights at http://pbs.org/stantonanthony. (Did you know that for 35 years girls were banned from playing little league baseball?)
Tuesday, June 24
"Science Times: Outwitting Autism" (National Geographic Channel, 8-9pm E/P) This is a documentary about autism research in laboratories and in the homes of people living with this condition. It affects as many as one in every 500 children.
"This Far by Faith: African-American Spiritual Journeys -- Part I" (PBS, 9pm to 11pm -- check your local listings) This documentary miniseries examines the African-American religious experience through the last three centuries. From the arrival of the early African slaves through the Civil War, reconstruction, Jim Crow, the great depression, the civil rights era, and into the 21st century, it explores the connections between faith and the development of African-American cultural values. Part II airs in this time slot June 25, Part III on June 26. Visit the website, rich in stories and music, at
http://www.pbs.org/thisfarbyfaith.
Wednesday, June 25
"Cincinnati Pops Orchestra: Patriotic Broadway" (PBS, 8-9pm E/P -- check local listings) As a prelude to forthcoming Fourth Of July celebrations, this telecast will feature feature music from Americana-themed Broadway shows like "Strike Up The Band", "1776", "Ragtime", "Shennandoah", "West Side Story" and "Mr. President" The concert performers include soprano Denyce Graves and vocalist John Schneider.
Thursday, June 26
"J.K. Rowling Live" (Webcast at www.msn.co.uk/harrypotter, begins 11am ET, 8am PT) This is a live webcast from Albert Hall in London, England where Rowling will give her first public reading of her new novel,
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. She will also will answer questions for a live audience of 4,500 children and millions more online. To watch the show, you'll need the Windows Media Player installed. If you don't have this player, log onto the website and download the software. The webcast is free and even a dial-up connection at 56k will allow you to see it all.
Friday, June 27
"The Death of the U.S.S. Maine" (Discovery Channel, 8-9pm E/P) Here's another of those documentaries about a tragic event that provoked America to go to war. The program examines photos of the wreckage of the U.S. Navy ship that blew up in Havana in 1898. You will see modern engineers perform a forensic "autopsy" of the U.S.S. Maine. This examination should explain the explosion that coined the phrase "Remember the Maine! To Hell with Spain" and started the Spanish-American War.
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