Media Menu September 11, 2010

Here are home viewing suggestions for the week, selected from online advanced TV program listings and aligned with the state and national K-12 academic standards available online. Please consult local listings also, since actual broadcast times may vary. The Websites cited in the “Log on“  box  below the tv listing provide further details about the show’s  topic and may contain links to video clips from the show or a complete streaming video version of the show.  

Saturday, September 11, 2010, 10-11 p.m. E/P
History Channel
U.S. History
Middle and High  School

“9/11 Attacks - 102 Minutes That Changed America”

This program contains rarely seen and heard archival material that document the 102 minutes between the first attack on the World Trade Center to the collapse of the second tower. This commercial-free special uses unique material from sources ranging from amateur photography and video to FDNY, NYPD, Port Authority and emergency dispatch radio recordings, photography and video. Also seen is footage broadcast outside the US, electronic messages and voicemails and "outtakes" culled from raw network footage.   TV- 14

Log on http://www.history.com/interactives/witness-to-911

Sunday, September 12, 2010, 2-3 p.m. E/P
Mun2 Channel
World History and Arts
Middle and High  School

“Reventon: 200 Años de Mexico y Musica”

The bi-lingual channel, Mun2, this week celebrates Mexico’s 200th anniversary of Independence with a one-hour bicentennial special “Reventon: 200 Años de Mexico y Musica.”  Mun2 host Yarel Ramos sits down with some of Mexico’s biggest names to remember the greatest moments in Mexican music history.  Catch exclusive interviews with Larry Hernandez, Chuy Lizarraga, Los Recoditos and many more as they chat about the hip, influential sounds south of the border – from the contagious rhythms of Banda and Norteña to the hottest sounds of regional urban.

Monday, September 13, 2010, 7-8 p.m. ET, 4-5 p.m. PT
National Geographic Channel
World History
Middle and High  School

“Explorer: 24 Hours After Hiroshima”

This documentary tells the second-by-second story of a moment that changed the world forever: the dropping of the atomic bomb on August 6, 1945. Through the eyes of those in the air and on the ground, including the last interview with the weapons test officer who armed the bomb, viewers will experience the events as they unfolded that tragic day.

Log on http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/explorer/4826/Overview#ixzz0yyjJeua0

Monday, September 13, 2010, 10-11 p.m. E/P
PBS
U.S. and World History
Middle and High  School

“Lafayette:  The Lost Hero”

This documentary relates the life and legend of the Marquis de Lafayette — an intriguing, neglected and controversial figure from both the American and French Revolutions. The film is part adventure, part romance and part historical journey, with dramatizations and evocative location footage. Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette — at one time was the most famous man in the world. The film examines why this wealthy young French aristocrat would leave the comforts of the court to help a fledgling nation on another continent fight for independence, the nature of the daring path he then set upon, and how the concept of liberty steered so many choices in his life. Lafayette’s life and quest to bring democracy to America and France is shared, in part, as recorded in the extensive letters and memoirs of Lafayette; his wife, Adrienne de Noailles; and his close friend, George Washington. The documentary’s narrative is also driven by a present-day search by Lafayette’s descendant, Sabine Renault-Sabloniere, to find out more about her ancestor, uncovering the largely untold story of Lafayette’s wife, Adrienne, second daughter of the Duke de Noailles, and the arranged marriage that turned into a great romance and a partnership in revolution.  TV-PG

Log on http://www.pbs.org/lafayette

Tuesday, September 14, 2010, 8-9 p.m. E/P
National Geographic Channel
World History
Middle and High  School

“NOVA: Becoming Human - Last Human Standing”

This final program of the three-part series "Becoming Human," examines the fate of the Neanderthals, our European cousins who died out as modern humans spread from Africa into Europe during the Ice Age. Did modern humans interbreed with Neanderthals or exterminate them? The program explores crucial evidence from the recent decoding of the Neanderthal genome. How did modern humans take over the world? New evidence suggests that they left Africa and colonized the rest of the globe far earlier, and for different reasons, than previously thought. As for Homo sapiens, we have planet Earth to ourselves today, but that's a very recent and unusual situation. For millions of years, many kinds of hominids co-existed. At one time Homo sapiens shared the planet with Neanderthals, Homo erectus, and the mysterious "Hobbits"–three-foot-high humans who thrived on the Indonesian island of Flores until as recently as 12,000 years ago."Last Human Standing" examines why "we" survived while those other ancestral cousins died out. And it explores the provocative question: In what ways are we  still evolving today TV-PG

Log on http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolution/becoming-human-part-3.html

Wednesday, September 15, 2010. 8-9 p.m. ET, 5-6p.m. PT
CNBC Channel
U.S. History and Economics
Middle and High  School

“Meeting of the Minds: The Future of Leadership,”

Leadership is crucial to ensuring the success of our nation during this important time in American history. At stake are issues of financial regulation, health care reform, rising unemployment, and changes to our tax and energy policies. The challenge ahead of us: How can we produce strategic, thoughtful, and brilliant leaders who will guide us in the 21st century? And can we as a nation unite and overcome myriad challenges to preserve our status as a great global power? This news-panel special, hosted by CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo.  is being broadcast from the United States Military Academy at West Point. It will   probe the questions “What makes an extraordinary leader? How do we honor the ideals that have made this country great? And how do we keep America thriving, no matter what lies ahead? Panelists include decision makers, business influencers, policy makers and visionaries : Henry “Hank” Paulson, Former Treasury Secretary and Former CEO and Chairman of Goldman Sachs; Jim Owens, Chairman, Caterpillar Inc; General Wesley K. Clark, U.S. Army (Ret.), Former NATO Supreme Commander and Co-Chairman, Growth Energy; Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger III, Captain, US Airways; and Anne M. Mulcahy, Former Chairman and CEO, Xerox Corporation; to discuss leadership in America and chart a path forward.

Log on http://www.cnbc.com/id/38690591

Thursday, September 16, 2010, 8-9 p.m. E/T , HBO
U.S. History
Middle and High  School

“The Fence (La Barda)”

In October 2006, the United States government decided to build a fence along its troubled Mexican border. Three years, 19 construction companies, 350 engineers, thousands of construction workers, tens of thousands of tons of metal and $3 billion later – was it all worth it? Documentarian Rory Kennedy investigates the impact of the project, revealing how the fence’s stated goals have given way to unforeseen consequences. TV-14

Log on  http://www.hbo.com/#/documentaries/the-fence

Thursday, September 16, 2010, 9:45 p.m. –midnight ET, 6:45-9 p.m. PT
TCM – Turner  Classic Movie Channel
English Literature
Middle and High  School

“Hamlet”

This is a 4-Oscar-winning movie based on Shakespeare’s greatest play about the Prince of Denmark who must avenge his father's murder. He swears to his father's ghost that he will wreak revenge by killing Claudius, his uncle and now King. He fakes madness, and in the process of completing his delayed revenge, loses Ophelia to madness and suicide, but finally restores a new order in Denmark.  Cast: Laurence Olivier,. Jean Simmons. Director: Laurence Olivier. TV-14

Log on  http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article.jsp?cid=111398&mainArticleId=337125

Friday, September 17, 2010,
9-10 p.m. E/P
National Geographic Channel
Science
Middle and High  School

“American  Beaver”

In this documentary about triumph over adversity — viewers follow a tireless engineer as she struggles to survive while facing the challenges of predators and the fury of the elements. Using a custom-designed camera system, National Geographic tracked this American beaver for one year to see how her constant need to build not only changes the terrain but also affect the species surrounding her.                    

Log on http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/nature-untamed/4042/Overview

Saturday, September 18, 2010, 8-10 p.m.  E/P
National Geographic Channel
Science
Middle and High  School

“Collapse: Based on the Book by Jared Diamond”

How could a civilization that mastered the planet suddenly Collapse? Inspired by the New York Times best-selling book "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed", this documentary time-travels 200 years into the future to see what the world would look like after civilization as we know it collapsed. Guided by author Jared Diamond, it pieces together the  story of what on earth triggered our decline. Diamond and other scientists juxtapose the fall of history's great societies — including the Roman Empire and Mayan civilization — and our potential collapse, urging us all to leverage innovation and technology to chart a "more sustainable course."

Log on http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/collapse-based-on-the-book-by-jared-diamond-4436/Overview