Media Menu for February 15, 2012

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. 

Wednesday,  February 15, 2012,
4-6  p.m.
History Channel
U.S. History
Middle and High  School

America The Story of Us: Metropolis

This documentary explores a  new frontier: the modern city, with Andrew Carnegie's empire of steel as its backbone. Skyscrapers and the Statue of Liberty are symbols of the American Dream for millions of immigrants. The discovery of oil is a boom to industry; Henry Ford puts America on the road. Urban life introduces a new breed of social ills. Prohibition fuels the growth of organized crime.  TV-PG
Log on http://www.history.com/shows/america-the-story-of-us

Thursday,  February 16, 2012,
9-10  p.m.
PBS
Science and Economics
Middle and High  School

U.S. Health Care: The Good News

One small community in the Colorado oil patch near the Utah border delivers the highest value-for-the-money health care in the United States, and they cover nearly everyone in town in the process. How do they do it? Could other communities do it, too?  In this documentary correspondent T.R. Reid interviews health policy experts at the Dartmouth Institute before heading to Colorado and other places in the U.S. where doctors and hospitals are working hard to provide excellent health care at reasonable cost, and sometimes to nearly everyone in town.  TV-PG
Log on http://www.healthpolicysolutions.org/2012/02/10/movie-review-good-news-in-u-s-health-care

Friday,  February 17, 2012,
8-10:30 p.m. ET, 5-7:30 p.m.
TCM –Turner Classic Movie Channel
U.S. History
High  School

Glory

The story of this movie is based on real events, and deals with the plight of African-American troops during the War Between the States, a topic that, quite shamefully, is barely touched upon in this country's history books. For that reason, the film is more challenging than your average Civil War picture. Actor Matthew  Broderick  plays Union Gen. Robert Gould Shaw, a baby-faced Bostonian who's assigned to lead the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Army, the first Black fighting regiment in the war. The men of the 54th are a collection of former and escaped slaves. We follow the men - including a rebellious, deeply embittered escaped slave named Trip (Denzel Washington), and a wise, emotionally-measured gravedigger named Rawlins (Morgan Freeman) as they're turned into soldiers.  TV-MA
Log on http://www.54thmass.org/

Saturday,  February 18, 2012,
4-6 p.m.
History Channel
World History
Middle and High School

Third Reich: The Fall

How did the Germans experience the Allied victory in WWII?  In this documentary rRarely-and never-before-seen amateur films recount the catastrophic downfall of the Third Reich through the eyes of the people who lived it: the Germans themselves.  TV-PG
Log on http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/books/1999/9910.levine.reich.html Third Reich: The Fall

Sunday,  February 19, 2012,
6-7 p.m.
History Channel
Economics and Geography
Middle and High School

Modern Marvels: The Lumberyard

At the center of the American Dream is the home--and at the center of its creation or renovation is the lumberyard.  This documentary explores the options lumberyards provide for builders and renovators--from natural to engineered woods. We'll show how plywood and pressed woods are made, trace exotic woods to jungle and desert, visit a special lumberyard that deals in recycled and antique woods, and go on an underwater expedition as divers locate ancient logs buried in the Great Lakes and New Zealand. We'll see how 50,000-year-old ancient Kauri wood is "mined" from a bog and is now all the rage among those who live in mansions and travel on yachts. From the lowly 2-by-4 used to build a tract home, to a reclaimed set of historic planks used to make a million-dollar bar in a 5-star hotel, this eye-opening program hits the nail right on the head. TV-PG
Log on  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1051599/

Monday,  February 20, 2012,
9-11 p.m.
PBS
U.S. History
Middle and High School

CLINTON: AMERICAN EXPERIENCE – Part 1

This documentary recounts the story  of an American president who rose from a broken childhood in Arkansas to become one of the most successful politicians in modern American history and one of the most complex and conflicted characters to ever stride across the public stage. It recounts a career full of accomplishment and rife with scandal, a marriage that would make history and create controversy and a presidency that would define the crucial and transformative period between the fall of the Berlin Wall and 9/11.  It follows Clinton across his two terms as he confronted some of the key forces that would shape the future, including partisan political warfare and domestic and international terrorism, and struggled, with uneven success, to define the role of American power in a post-Cold War world.  Most memorably, it explores how Clinton’s conflicted character made history, even as it enraged his enemies and confounded his friends. The program features unprecedented access to scores of Clinton insiders including White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers, White House Counsel Bernard Nussbaum, White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta and Deputy Chief of Staff Harold Ickes, as well as interviews with foreign leaders, members of the Republican opposition, childhood friends, staffers from Clinton’s years as governor of Arkansas, biographers and journalists.  TV-PG
Log on  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/introduction/clinton/

Tuesday,  February 21, 2012,
9-11 p.m.
PBS
U.S. History
Middle and High School

CLINTON: AMERICAN EXPERIENCE – Part 2

This is PART 2 off a documentary  which recounts the story  of an American president who rose from a broken childhood in Arkansas to become one of the most successful politicians in modern American history and one of the most complex and conflicted characters to ever stride across the public stage. It recounts a career full of accomplishment and rife with scandal, a marriage that would make history and create controversy and a presidency that would define the crucial and transformative period between the fall of the Berlin Wall and 9/11.  It follows Clinton across his two terms as he confronted some of the key forces that would shape the future, including partisan political warfare and domestic and international terrorism, and struggled, with uneven success, to define the role of American power in a post-Cold War world.  Most memorably, it explores how Clinton’s conflicted character made history, even as it enraged his enemies and confounded his friends. The program features unprecedented access to scores of Clinton insiders including White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers, White House Counsel Bernard Nussbaum, White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta and Deputy Chief of Staff Harold Ickes, as well as interviews with foreign leaders, members of the Republican opposition, childhood friends, staffers from Clinton’s years as governor of Arkansas, biographers and journalists.  TV-PG
Log on  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/introduction/clinton/

Wednesday,  February 22, 2012,
8-11 p.m.
PBS
Science
Middle and High School

NATURE: Ocean Giants – 3 Part miniseries

Whales and dolphins conjure a deep sense of wonder in us that’s hard to explain. From the Arctic to the Amazon, this groundbreaking three-part series goes on a global expedition with world-renowned underwater cameramen, Doug Allen (Planet Earth) and Didier Noirot (Jacques Cousteau’s cameraman), as they capture spellbinding footage of these marine mammals. Ocean Giants looks at how cetaceans hunt, mate, and communicate, and follows scientists as they strive to uncover new insights about these animals. The first hour, Giant Lives, enters the world of the great whales. In the Arctic, giant bowhead whales survive the freezing cold wrapped in fifty tons of insulating blubber two-feet thick, making them the fattest animals on the planet. But the biggest animal on the planet is the blue whale. Measuring a hundred feet long, and weighing in at 200 tons, it is double the size of the largest dinosaur. The second hour, Deep Thinkers, explores the cognitive and emotional lives of dolphins and whales. Like us, cetaceans have special brain cells, spindle cells, that are associated with communication, emotion, and heightened social sensitivity. These cells were once thought to be unique to us, but research is now showing that whales and dolphins may have up to three times more spindle cells than humans. Marine mammals’ extrasensory perceptions and communication skills are the focus of Voices of the Sea, the final hour of the series. Whales and dolphins depend on sound to function in their ocean home. They use ultrasound to see inside other creatures, clicks and whistles to speak, and echolocation to navigate and hunt in the pitch-black depths.  (“Giant Lives” 8:00-9:00 p.m., "Deep Thinkers" 9:00-10:00 p.m. ,“Voices of the Sea” 10:00-11:00 p.m.) TV-PG
Log on  http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/ocean-giants/

Book TV Schedule

Saturday, February 18th

8am (ET)
Approx. 49 min.
"The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Presidents from Wilson to Obama"
Steven Hayward

LIVE 9:30am (ET)
Approx. 9 hr.
2012 Savannah Book Festival
Event Coverage

6:30pm (ET)
Approx. 56 min.
Encore Booknotes: Karen Armstrong, "Islam: A Short History"
Karen Armstrong

7:30pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 14 min.
"Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010"
Charles Murray

8:45pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 14 min.
"Uprising: How Wisconsin Renewed the Politics of Protest, from Madison to Wall Street"
John Nichols

10pm (ET)
Approx. 58 min.
After Words: Ira Shapiro, "The Last Great Senate: Courage and Statesmanship in Times of Crisis," hosted by Senator Bernie Sanders, I-VT

11pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 1 min.
"What the U.S. Can Learn from China: An Open-Minded Guide to Treating Our Greatest Competitor as Our Greatest Teacher"
Ann Lee

Sunday, February 19th

12am (ET)
Approx. 9 hr.
2012 Savannah Book Festival
Event Coverage

9:30am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 14 min.
"Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010"
Charles Murray

10:45am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 14 min.
"Uprising: How Wisconsin Renewed the Politics of Protest, from Madison to Wall Street"
John Nichols

12pm (ET)
Approx. 55 min.
After Words: Eric Klinenberg, "Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone," hosted by Kim Blankenship, American University

1pm (ET)
Approx. 28 min.
Book TV at Georgetown University: Nancy Sherman, "The Untold War: Inside the Hearts, Minds, and Souls of Our Soldiers"
Nancy Sherman

1:30pm (ET)
Approx. 22 min.
Book TV at Georgetown University: Maurice Jackson, "Let This Voice Be Heard: Anthony Benezet, Father of Atlantic Abolitionism"
Maurice Jackson

2pm (ET)
Approx. 58 min.
"We're With Nobody: Two Insiders Reveal the Dark Side of American Politics"
Alan Huffman; Michael Rejebian

3:30pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 22 min.
"Greedy Bastards!: How We Can Stop Corporate Communists, Banksters, and Other Vampires from Sucking America Dry"
Dylan Ratigan

5pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 1 min.
"What the U.S. Can Learn from China: An Open-Minded Guide to Treating Our Greatest Competitor as Our Greatest Teacher"
Ann Lee

6pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 20 min.
"By Order of The President: FDR and the Internment of Japanese Americans"
Greg Robinson

7:30pm (ET)
Approx. 28 min.
Book TV at Georgetown University: Nancy Sherman, "The Untold War: Inside the Hearts, Minds, and Souls of Our Soldiers"
Nancy Sherman

8pm (ET)
Approx. 49 min.
"The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Presidents from Wilson to Obama"
Steven Hayward

9pm (ET)
Approx. 58 min.
After Words: Ira Shapiro, "The Last Great Senate: Courage and Statesmanship in Times of Crisis," hosted by Senator Bernie Sanders, I-VT

10pm (ET)
Approx. 53 min.
"A Slave in the White House: Paul Jennings and the Madisons"
Elizabeth Dowling Taylor

11pm (ET)
Approx. 58 min.
"We're With Nobody: Two Insiders Reveal the Dark Side of American Politics"
Alan Huffman; Michael Rejebian

Monday, February 20th

12am (ET)
Approx. 58 min.
After Words: Ira Shapiro, "The Last Great Senate: Courage and Statesmanship in Times of Crisis," hosted by Senator Bernie Sanders, I-VT

1am (ET)
Approx. 28 min.
Book TV at Georgetown University: Nancy Sherman, "The Untold War: Inside the Hearts, Minds, and Souls of Our Soldiers"
Nancy Sherman

1:30am (ET)
Approx. 22 min.
Book TV at Georgetown University: Maurice Jackson, "Let This Voice Be Heard: Anthony Benezet, Father of Atlantic Abolitionism"
Maurice Jackson

2am (ET)
Approx. 58 min.
"1948: Harry Truman's Improbable Victory and the Year That Transformed America"
David Pietrusza

3am (ET)
Approx. 58 min.
After Words: Ira Shapiro, "The Last Great Senate: Courage and Statesmanship in Times of Crisis," hosted by Senator Bernie Sanders, I-VT

4am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 2 min.
"Power Concedes Nothing: One Woman's Quest for Social Justice in America, From the Courtroom to the Kill Zones"
Connie Rice

5am (ET)
Approx. 58 min.
"FDR Goes To War: How Expanded Executive Power, Spiraling National Debt, and Restricted Civil Liberties Shaped Wartime America"
Anita Folsom; Burton Folsom

6am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 2 min.
"Throw Them All Out: How Politicians and Their Friends Get Rich Off Insider Stock Tips, Land Deals, and Cronyism That Would Send the Rest of Us to Prison"
Peter Schweizer

7am (ET)
Approx. 53 min.
"A Slave in the White House: Paul Jennings and the Madisons"
Elizabeth Dowling Taylor

8:30am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 2 min.
Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan
Del Quentin Wilber

9:45am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 17 min.
"The Darwin Economy: Liberty, Competition, and the Common Good"
Robert Frank

11am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 1 min.
"What the U.S. Can Learn from China: An Open-Minded Guide to Treating Our Greatest Competitor as Our Greatest Teacher"
Ann Lee

12pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 22 min.
"Liberation Square: Inside the Egyptian Revolution and the Rebirth of a Nation"
Ashraf Khalil

1:30pm (ET)
Approx. 58 min.
"1948: Harry Truman's Improbable Victory and the Year That Transformed America"
David Pietrusza

2:30pm (ET)
Approx. 44 min.
George Washington University Interview: Alvin Felzenberg, "The Leaders We Deserved (And a Few We Didn't): Rethinking the Presidential Rating Game"
Alvin Felzenberg

3:15pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 2 min.
"Throw Them All Out: How Politicians and Their Friends Get Rich Off Insider Stock Tips, Land Deals, and Cronyism That Would Send the Rest of Us to Prison"
Peter Schweizer

4:30pm (ET)
Approx. 32 min.
"Truth and Consequences: Life Inside the Madoff Family"
Laurie Sandell

5pm (ET)
Approx. 53 min.
"A Slave in the White House: Paul Jennings and the Madisons"
Elizabeth Dowling Taylor

6pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr.
"The Third Industrial Revolution: How Lateral Power is Transforming Energy, the Economy, and the World"
Jeremy Rifkin

7pm (ET)
Approx. 58 min.
"FDR Goes To War: How Expanded Executive Power, Spiraling National Debt, and Restricted Civil Liberties Shaped Wartime America"
Anita Folsom; Burton Folsom

8:30pm (ET)
Approx. 59 min.
Andrew Johnson
Annette Gordon-Reed

9:30pm (ET)
Approx. 49 min.
"The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Presidents from Wilson to Obama"
Steven Hayward

10:45pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 2 min.
Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan
Del Quentin Wilber

11:45pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 22 min.
"Greedy Bastards!: How We Can Stop Corporate Communists, Banksters, and Other Vampires from Sucking America Dry"
Dylan Ratigan

Tuesday, February 21st

1:15am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 22 min.
"Liberation Square: Inside the Egyptian Revolution and the Rebirth of a Nation"
Ashraf Khalil

2:45am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 1 min.
"What the U.S. Can Learn from China: An Open-Minded Guide to Treating Our Greatest Competitor as Our Greatest Teacher"
Ann Lee

3:45am (ET)
Approx. 49 min.
"The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Presidents from Wilson to Obama"
Steven Hayward

5am (ET)
Approx. 59 min.
Andrew Johnson
Annette Gordon-Reed

6am (ET)
Approx. 44 min.
George Washington University Interview: Alvin Felzenberg, "The Leaders We Deserved (And a Few We Didn't): Rethinking the Presidential Rating Game"
Alvin Felzenberg

7am (ET)
Approx. 58 min.
"FDR Goes To War: How Expanded Executive Power, Spiraling National Debt, and Restricted Civil Liberties Shaped Wartime America"
Anita Folsom; Burton Folsom