Media Menu for July 12, 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. 

Thursday, July 12,  2012,
8-9 p.m. E/P
CNBC Channel
Government and
Economics
High School

Billions Behind Bars: Inside America's Prison Industry

 With more than 2.3 million people locked up, the U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world. One out of 100 American adults is behind bars – while one out of 32 is on probation, parole or in prison. This reliance on mass incarceration has created a thriving prison economy. The states and the federal government spend about $74 billion a year on corrections, and nearly 800,000 people work in the industry.
From some of the poorest towns in America to some of the wealthiest investment firms on Wall Street, this documentary takes viewers inside the big and controversial business of prisons It looks at one of the fastest growing sectors of the industry, immigration detention, and tell the story of what happens when a hard hit town in Montana accepts an enticing sales pitch from private prison developers. In Colorado, we profile a little-known but profitable workforce behind bars, and discover that products created by prison labor have seeped into our everyday lives — even some of the food we eat.
Log on http://www.cnbc.com/id/44762286/

Friday, July 13,  2012,
7-8 p.m. E/P
Discovery Channel
World History
Elementary, Middle and High School

Unearthing Ancient Secrets: The Sphinx Unmasked

 New forensic techniques are radically altering our understanding of the past, and helping to resolve mysteries about the lives of some of the greatest figures in history. In this documentary a  leading expert applies modern forensic techniques to re-examine the myths and mysteries that have fascinated us for centuries. Dr Vassil Dobrev sets out to discover the truth about the Sphinx. Does it really represent the pharaoh Khafre? Using scientific techniques, Vassil finds a different explanation. That the Sphinx was created by a by a pharaoh that history forgot: Djedefre. TV-PG
Log on http://stagevu.com/video/knapacvxexem

Saturday, July 14,  2012,
8-10 p.m. E/P
NBC
Social Science
Elementary, Middle High School

An American Girl: McKenna Shoots for the Stars

This is a movie about a young girl struggles to maintain her school grades while competing as a gymnast.  McKenna Brooks is a determined and confident young gymnast is on track to make the regional competitive gymnastics team, but off track in school, where she's suddenly struggling to keep up.  When her teacher suggests a tutor, she's embarrassed and desperate to keep it a secret from her friends. Then a bad fall at the gym sidetracks her from her favorite sport. Will she recover in time to make the team? Can she succeed in school, too?
Log on http://www.americangirl.com/play/girl-of-the-year/mckenna/#page=movie

Sunday, July 15,  2012,
8-9 p.m. E/P
CNN
Science and U.S. History
High School

CNN Presents: Human Guinea Pigs

This documentary explores the stories of the  hundreds of thousands of United States military personnel who were used as human guinea pigs to test chemical & biological weapons.  Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports.
Log on http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2012/03/05/gupta-soldier-guinea-pigs-1.cnn

Sunday,  July 15,  2012,
8- 10 p.m. E/P
National Geographic Channel
Science
Elementary, Middle and High School

Down to the Earth's Core

This documentary takes viewers from the sidewalk to the centre of the planet in one epic unbroken shot. Using  computer generated imagery; the camera smashes through almost 9 000 kilometres of solid rock to explore the hidden world beneath our feet. Experience an earthquake inside the San Andreas Fault, blast out of a volcano, encounter bizarre cave-dwelling creatures and enter caves full of giant crystals – all inside planet Earth. As the camera lowers into Earth's bosom, the planet’s  story, is laid bare layer by layer, showing how prehistoric forests became modern-day fuel, witnessing the dinosaur’s cataclysmic death, and watching as stalactites form and gold grows before our eyes. Deeper, beyond the reach of any mine, any drill, we find wonders beyond imagination: towering molten metal tornadoes, forests of solid iron crystals, until we reach the strangest, least understood place on the planet – the core.
Log on http://natgeotv.com/za/down-to-the-earth-s-core/about

Monday, July 16,  2012,
7-8 p.m. E/P
PBS
Science and U.S. History
High School

Time Team America: New Philadelphia, Illinois

Buried beneath farmlands in Western Illinois, lie the remains of the first American town founded by a free African American — decades before the Civil War. Airing on KLCS, this documentary tells the story of New Philadelphia,  a little-known episode from our frontier past and a dramatic testament to victory over enslavement. Born into slavery, "Free Frank" McWorter bought freedom for himself and his family from a Kentucky plantation owner, beginning with his wife Lucy in 1817. In 1830, Frank, Lucy and four of their children headed North to Illinois. After they arrived, he planted roots, started a town, and sold enough property to purchase the rest of his family out of slavery. Eventually, New Philadelphia became a thriving, multi-racial community which endured until well after the Civil War. The local landowners, descendants of the town's residents and the McWorter family want to uncover what remains of New Philadelphia to commemorate its place in history. Time Team America was invited to join the research already in progress and to help search for the schoolhouse where New Philadelphia's African American children learned to read and write in freedom.
Log on http://www.pbs.org/opb/timeteam/sites/newphilly

Tuesday, July 17,  2012,
7-8 p.m. E/P
PBS
Science
Elementary, Middle and High School

NOVA: Lizard Kings

In this documentary,  airing on KLCS, the  world of the elusive, intelligent monitor lizard is explored through the efforts of lizard expert Eric Pianka, who tracks them in Australia's heartland via "lizard-cam" technology. They look like dragons and inspire visions of fire-spitting monsters. But these creatures with their long claws, razor-sharp teeth, and muscular, whip-like tails are actually monitors, the largest lizards now walking the planet. With their acute intelligence, monitors—including the largest of all, the Komodo dragon—are a very different kind of reptile, blurring the line between reptiles and mammals. Thriving on Earth essentially unchanged since the time of the dinosaurs, they are a very successful species, versatile at adapting to all kinds of settings. This program looks at what makes these long-tongued reptiles so similar to mammals and what has allowed them to become such unique survivors.
Log on http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/search/results/?q=lizard+king&x=0&y=0

Wednesday, July 18,  2012,
9-10 p.m. E/P
National Geographic Channel
U.S. History and Geography
Elementary, Middle and High School

America’s Lost Treasures: Los Angeles

This is an episode in a documentary series which travels to  U.S. cities, inviting locals to bring in their artifacts to find out what they’re really worth. Working with top museum curators, appraisers, and other experts, Curt and Kinga each trace the history of three chosen artifacts. When the investigation is complete, owners and their families learn the true story—and value—of their treasured objects. At the end of each one-hour episode, it’s down to two finalists, and a winner is awarded $10,000 as special recognition for the importance of the artifact in American history, which will be featured in a special exhibit at the National Geographic Museum in Washington, D.C., coming in 2013.  This episode is set in Los Angeles. With ancient dinosaur fossils, 1920s C-melody saxophones and antique rifles, Curt Doussett and Kinga Philipps have their hands full at the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History. It all comes down to a light bulb from the late 1800s, brought by the great-grandson of Thomas Edisons protge; or a 34-star American flag, made before West Virginia became the 35th state in 1863. Though much of the material in the flag is missing, is it enough to be chosen to be exhibited at National Geographic.
Log on http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/americas-lost-treasures

Book TV Schedule

Saturday, July 14th

8am (ET)
Approx. 59 min.
"Harvesting Gold: Thomas Edison's Experiment to Re-Invent American Money" 
David Hammes

9:15am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 34 min.
"Jim and Jap Crow: A Cultural History of 1940s Interracial America" 
Matthew Briones

11am (ET)
Approx. 51 min.
"Why Catholicism Matters: How Catholic Virtues Can Reshape Society in the 21st Century" 
Bill Donohue

12pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 38 min.
"Barack Obama: The Story" - No Phones 
David Maraniss

1:45pm (ET)
Approx. 34 min.
"They Eat Puppies, Don't They? 
Christopher Buckley

2:30pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 4 min.
"The New Leviathan: How the Left-Wing Money Machine Shapes American Politics and Threatens America's Future" 
David Horowitz

3:45pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 16 min.
"Winner Take All: China's Race for Resources and What It Means for the World" 
Dambisa Moyo

5pm (ET)
Approx. 53 min.
"Hotels, Hospitals, and Jails: A Memoir" 
Anthony Swofford

6pm (ET)
Approx. 56 min.
Encore Booknotes: "Preferential Policies: An International Perspective" 
Thomas Sowell

7pm (ET)
Approx. 57 min.
"Full Body Burden: Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats" 
Kristen Iversen

8pm (ET)
Approx. 52 min.
"Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet" 
Andrew Blum

9pm (ET)
Approx. 54 min.
"A Nation of Wusses: How America's Lost the Guts to Make Us Great" 
Ed Rendell

10pm (ET)
Approx. 58 min.
After Words: Peter Collier, "Political Woman: The Big Little Life of Jeane Kirkpatrick," hosted by Angela Stent, Georgetown University

11pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 7 min.
"Our Divided Political Heart: The Battle for the American Idea in an Age of Discontent" 
E.J. Dionne Jr.

Sunday, July 15th

12:15am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 15 min.
"Good Derivatives: A Story of Financial and Environmental Innovation" 
Richard Sandor

1:30am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 9 min.
A Discussion on Publishing and Censorship in Iran with Author Mahmoud Dowlatabadi 
Mahmoud Dowlatabadi

2:45am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 12 min.
"It Worked For Me: In Life and Leadership" 
Colin Powell

4am (ET)
Approx. 41 min.
2012 Chicago Tribune Printers Row Lit Fest: Lindsey Hilsum, "Sandstorm: Libya in the Time of Revolution" 
Lindsey Hilsum

4:45am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 2 min.
"New York At War: Four Centuries of Combat, Fear, and Intrigue in Gotham" 
Steven Jaffe

6am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 11 min.
"American Tapestry: The Story of the Black, White, and Multiracial Ancestors of Michelle Obama" 
Rachel Swarns

7:15am (ET)
Approx. 47 min.
"Bunch of Amateurs: A Search For the American Character" 
Jack Hitt

8:15am (ET)
Approx. 27 min.
Book Party for Bay Buchanan, "Bay and Her Boys: Unexpected Lessons I Learned as a (Single) Mom" 
Bay Buchanan

8:45am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 7 min.
"Our Divided Political Heart: The Battle for the American Idea in an Age of Discontent" 
E.J. Dionne Jr.

10am (ET)
Approx. 56 min.
"No One's World: The West, the Rising Rest, and the Coming Global Turn" 
Charles Kupchan

11am (ET)
Approx. 52 min.
"Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet" 
Andrew Blum

12pm (ET)
Approx. 58 min.
After Words: Martha Rosenberg, "Born with a Junk Food Deficiency: How Flaks, Quacks, and Hacks Pimp the Public Health," hosted by Stephanie Beasley, FDA Week

1pm (ET)
Approx. 27 min.
Book TV at Columbia University: Todd Gitlin, "Occupy Nation: The Roots, the Spirit, and the Promise of Occupy Wall Street" 
Todd Gitlin

1:30pm (ET)
Approx. 16 min.
Book TV at Columbia University: Evan Haefeli, "New Netherland and the Dutch Origins of American Religious Liberty" 
Evan Haefeli

2pm (ET)
Approx. 44 min.
Book Party for Col. Lee Ellis (Ret., U.S. Air Force), "Leading with Honor: Leadership Lessons from the Hanoi Hotel" 
Col. Lee Ellis (Ret., U.S. Air Force)

2:45pm (ET)
Approx. 54 min.
"A Nation of Wusses: How America's Lost the Guts to Make Us Great" 
Ed Rendell

3:45pm (ET)
Approx. 54 min.
"A Capitalism for the People: Recapturing the Lost Genius of American Prosperity" 
Luigi Zingales

4:45pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 7 min.
"Deadly Monopolies: The Shocking Corporate Takeover of Life Itself - and the Consequences for Your Health and Our Medical Future" 
Harriet Washington

6pm (ET)
Approx. 56 min.
To Hell on a Fast Horse: Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, and the Epic Chase to Justice in the Old West
Mark Lee Gardner

7pm (ET)
Approx. 45 min.
2012 Chicago Tribune Printers Row Lit Fest: Wenguang Huang, "The Little Red Guard: A Family Memoir" 
Wenguang Huang

7:45pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 14 min.
"Inequality and Instability: A Study of the World Economy Just Before the Great Crisis" 
James Galbraith

9pm (ET)
Approx. 58 min.
After Words: Peter Collier, "Political Woman: The Big Little Life of Jeane Kirkpatrick," hosted by Angela Stent, Georgetown University

10pm (ET)
Approx. 53 min.
"Hotels, Hospitals, and Jails: A Memoir" 
Anthony Swofford

11pm (ET)
Approx. 55 min.
"Ayn Rand Nation: The Hidden Struggle for America's Soul" 
Gary Weiss

Monday, July 16th

12am (ET)
Approx. 58 min.
After Words: Peter Collier, "Political Woman: The Big Little Life of Jeane Kirkpatrick," hosted by Angela Stent, Georgetown University

1am (ET)
Approx. 27 min.
Book TV at Columbia University: Todd Gitlin, "Occupy Nation: The Roots, the Spirit, and the Promise of Occupy Wall Street" 
Todd Gitlin

1:30am (ET)
Approx. 16 min.
Book TV at Columbia University: Evan Haefeli, "New Netherland and the Dutch Origins of American Religious Liberty" 
Evan Haefeli

2am (ET)
Approx. 57 min.
"Full Body Burden: Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats" 
Kristen Iversen

3am (ET)
Approx. 58 min.
After Words: Peter Collier, "Political Woman: The Big Little Life of Jeane Kirkpatrick," hosted by Angela Stent, Georgetown University

4am (ET)
Approx. 54 min.
"The Obamians: The Struggle Inside the White House to Redefine American Power" 
James Mann

5am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 14 min.
"Inequality and Instability: A Study of the World Economy Just Before the Great Crisis" 
James Galbraith

6:15am (ET)
Approx. 27 min.
2012 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books: Interview with Hipolito Acosta, "The Shadow Catcher: A U.S. Agent Infiltrates Mexico's Deadly Crime Cartels" 
Hipolito Acosta

6:45am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 11 min.
"Atlantic Fever: Lindbergh, His Competitors, and the Race to Cross the Atlantic" 
Joe Jackson