Media Menu for May 9, 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, May 9,  2012,
8-9 p.m. E/P
Science
Science
Elementary, Middle and High School

Wonders of the Solar System :Order Out of Chaos

Saturn's iconic rings are one of the most recognizable features of our Solar System. As discussed in this documentary scientists now believe the delicate bands of ice may hold the key to understanding our own humble origins. Did our universe really rise out of a cloud of swirling dust?
Log on http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rkksg

Thursday,  May 10,  2012,
9-10 p.m. EP
National Geographic Channel
U.S. History
 Middle and High School

 Extreme Civil War Re-enactors

The producers of this documentary embedded a camera crew with a handful of the most hard-core Civil War re-enactors, who eat, sleep and breathe the gun smoke of history. From the firing on Fort Sumter to the iconic battlefields of Manassas/Bull Run and Gettysburg, the mecca of reenacting, find out how far they’re willing to go to relive history.
Log on http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/national-geographic-channel/shows/explorer-1/ngc-bull-run-campaign/?source=email_channel

Friday May 11,  2012,
9-11  p.m. E/P
History Channel
World History and Science
Middle and High School

History of the World in Two Hours

This documentary is a rapid-fire history of our world, from the beginning of geologic  time as we know it to present day. This two-hour CGI-driven special delves into the key turning points: the formation of earth, emergence of life forms, the geographic  spread of the human species and the growth of civilizations --and reveals their surprising connections to our world today. TV-PG
Log on http://tv.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/arts/television/history-of-the-world-in-two-hours-review.html

Saturday, May 12,  2012,
6-8  p.m. E/P
KLCS (PBS)
U.S. History
Middle and High School

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: CLINTON

This is the first part of a two episode documentary which  follows former President 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 as he 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. This is a biography of a 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. From draft dodging to the Dayton Accords, from Monica Lewinsky to a balanced budget, the presidency of William Jefferson Clinton veered between sordid scandal and grand achievement. Clinton had 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. Part 2 airs in this time slot May 19.
Log on http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/clinton/

Sunday, May 13,  2012,
7-10 p.m. ET, 4-7  p.m. PT
National Geographic Channel
U.S. and World History
Middle and High School

Inside the Vietnam War

This is a broadcast of all 3 episodes of a documentary  mini-series covering the Vietnam War. It features first-hand accounts of U.S. Veterans' experiences  matched with in-country archival film footage, audio recordings and personal photos. Using innovative tactics like helicopter warfare, this film recounts the experience of U.S. soldiers as they fought bloody battles in Ia Drang River Valley, Dak To and the Iron Triangle and undertook large-scale operations such as Cedar Falls and Junction City.
Log on http://www.1channel.ch/watch-2723469-National-Geographic-Inside-the-Vietnam-War

Monday, May 14,  2012,
9-10  p.m. E/P
KLCS (PBS)
U.S. and World History
Middle and High School

FINDING YOUR ROOTS WITH HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR.

In this genealogical documentary Margaret Cho, Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Martha Stewart learn their family histories share a similarity despite distinct differences: each is a child of first- or second-generation immigrants to America –from India, Korea and Poland.
Log on http://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots//

Tuesday, May 15,  2012,
8-9  p.m. E/P
KLCS (PBS)
Science
Middle and High School

NOVA: The Hunt for the Supertwister

This documentary  follows University of Oklahoma scientists as they crisscross the Great Plains looking for reasons why tornadoes form so they can predict them more accurately. They're seen getting up close and personal with twisters. On May 3, 1999, one of the most powerful tornadoes ever recorded carved a path of complete destruction near Oklahoma City. To scientists, the supertwister held sobering lessons about the future for rapidly expanding cities in tornado-threatened areas. Most tornadoes form suddenly and with little warning. But now meteorologists are on the verge of a breakthrough that may solve the puzzle of how these killer storms spawn and where they are likely to strike
Log on http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/earth/hunt-for-the-supertwister.html

Wednesday, May 16,  2012,
5-6  p.m. E/P
History Channel
Science and Technology
Middle and High School

Modern Marvels: Inside Your Walls

As shown in this documentary,  there's a lot more to your walls than you'd ever imagine. The program takes a penetrating look inside something we consider utterly mundane, and uncover a surprising and sometimes shocking world. A computer-managed home in Colorado showcases the high tech gadgetry destined to inhabit every wall in the future. At the headquarters of Orkin in Atlanta, a network of walls with cutouts and Plexiglas windows reveal how pests and creepy crawlies of all kinds can congregate in huge numbers inside our homes. In Washington, scientists at Underwriters Labs play with fire in the name of research, investigating how our walls can keep us safe--or expose us to a fiery death. And in Los Angeles, a security company demonstrates innovative new technology that can "see" through walls--detecting motion, heat, breathing, even heartbeats.  TV-PG
Log on http://www.ul.com/global/eng/pages/offerings/perspectives/consumer/homesafety/

Book TV Schedule

Saturday, May 12th

8am (ET)
Approx. 52 min.
"Dangerous Ambition, Rebecca West and Dorothy Thompson: New Women in Search of Love and Power"
Susan Hertog

9am (ET)
Approx. 2 hr. 59 min.
In Depth: Tom Brokaw

12pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr.
"The Death of Liberalism"
R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.

1pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 14 min.
"The Gardens of Democracy: A New American Story of Citizenship, the Economy, and the Role of Government"
Eric Liu

2:15pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 34 min.
"James Madison and the Making of America"
Kevin Gutzman

4pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 15 min.
"Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power"
Rachel Maddow

5pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 4 min.
"The Hunt for KSM: Inside the Pursuit and Takedown of the Real 9/11 Mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed"
Josh Meyer

6pm (ET)
Approx. 58 min.
Encore Booknotes: Stephanie Gutmann, "The Kinder, Gentler Military: Can America's Gender-Neutral Fighting Force Still Win Wars?"
Stephanie Gutmann

7pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 18 min.
"Indomitable Will: LBJ in the Presidency"
Mark Updegrove

8:30pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 7 min.
"Permanent Emergency: Inside the TSA and the Fight for the Future of American Security"
Kip Hawley

10pm (ET)
Approx. 56 min.
After Words: Van Jones, "Rebuild the Dream," hosted by Jackie Kucinich, USA Today

11pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 54 min.
A Tribute to Christopher Hitchens
Multiple Speakers

Sunday, May 13th

1am (ET)
Approx. 25 min.
2012 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books: Interview with Elizabeth Price Foley, "The Tea Party: Three Principles"
Elizabeth Price Foley

1:30am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 2 min.
"The Social Conquest of Earth"
E.O. Wilson

2:45am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 39 min.
"Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics"
Ross Douthat

4:30am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 18 min.
"The Riot Within: My Journey From Rebellion to Redemption"
Rodney King

6am (ET)
Approx. 54 min.
"Covering America: A Narrative History of a Nation's Journalism"
Christopher Daly

7am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 18 min.
"Indomitable Will: LBJ in the Presidency"
Mark Updegrove

8:15am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 34 min.
Panel discussion of Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God"
Ruby Dee; Sonia Sanchez; Alice Walker

10am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 4 min.
"The Hunt for KSM: Inside the Pursuit and Takedown of the Real 9/11 Mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed"
Josh Meyer

11:15am (ET)
Approx. 45 min.
"The Information Diet: A Case for Conscious Consumption"
Clay Johnson

12pm (ET)
Approx. 59 min.
After Words: Seth Jones, "Hunting in the Shadows: The Pursuit of Al Qa'ida Since 9/11," hosted by Kimberly Dozier, Associated Press Intelligence Reporter

1pm (ET)
Approx. 27 min.
Book TV at University of Virginia: Brian Balogh, "A Government Out of Sight: The Mystery of National Authority in Nineteenth-Century America"
Brian Balogh

1:30pm (ET)
Approx. 33 min.
Book TV at University of Virginia: Larry Sabato, "Pendulum Swing"
Larry Sabato

2pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 54 min.
A Tribute to Christopher Hitchens
Multiple Speakers

4pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 9 min.
"Island of Vice: Theodore Roosevelt's Doomed Quest To Clean Up Sin-Loving New York"
Richard Zacks

5:15pm (ET)
Approx. 36 min.
"Richard G. Lugar: Statesman of the Senate: Crafting Foreign Policy From Capitol Hill"
John Shaw

6pm (ET)
Approx. 48 min.
Invading Mexico: America's Continental Dream And The Mexican War, 1846-1848
Joseph Wheelan

7pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 2 min.
"The Social Conquest of Earth"
E.O. Wilson

8pm (ET)
Approx. 58 min.
"Power and Constraint: The Accountable Presidency after 9/11"
Jack Goldsmith

9pm (ET)
Approx. 56 min.
After Words: Van Jones, "Rebuild the Dream," hosted by Jackie Kucinich, USA Today

10pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 15 min.
"Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power"
Rachel Maddow

11pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr.
"The Death of Liberalism"
R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.

Monday, May 14th

12am (ET)
Approx. 56 min.
After Words: Van Jones, "Rebuild the Dream," hosted by Jackie Kucinich, USA Today

1am (ET)
Approx. 27 min.
Book TV at University of Virginia: Brian Balogh, "A Government Out of Sight: The Mystery of National Authority in Nineteenth-Century America"
Brian Balogh

1:30am (ET)
Approx. 33 min.
Book TV at University of Virginia: Larry Sabato, "Pendulum Swing"
Larry Sabato

2am (ET)
Approx. 52 min.
"Dangerous Ambition, Rebecca West and Dorothy Thompson: New Women in Search of Love and Power"
Susan Hertog

3am (ET)
Approx. 56 min.
After Words: Van Jones, "Rebuild the Dream," hosted by Jackie Kucinich, USA Today

4am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 7 min.
"Permanent Emergency: Inside the TSA and the Fight for the Future of American Security"
Kip Hawley

5:15am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 34 min.
"James Madison and the Making of America"
Kevin Gutzman

7am (ET)
Approx. 58 min.
2012 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books: Panel on The American Century
John Farrell; Jim Newton; Richard Reeves