History Detectives explores the years after Lincoln’s death to illuminate the true origins of a bound volume of 19th-century sheet music. Originally aired: Season 6, Episode 4. Watch segment.
This film documents the lives of a group of young Palestinian men working illegally as construction laborers in the Israeli city of Modi’in. Caught between Israeli security laws and a Palestinian Authority they see as having failed them, they work for Israeli contractors by day while hiding from police by night. Israeli filmmaker Ido Haar has crafted a powerful vérité film that illuminates the plight of young men questioning their own culture while struggling to survive in the midst of bitter conflict.
From the Killing Fields of Cambodia to the mean streets of Seattle, this documentary reveals the intimate stories behind Cambodian American families and their struggles in the face of ongoing deportations and unforgiving immigration laws. This 2006 doc aired again recently on Thirteen; you can now watch it online.
History Detectives investigates whether a scrap of fabric is a missing piece of an ingenious secret weapon. Originally aired: Season 6, Episode 3.
Dr. Sanders passed away this week at the age of 82. In 1993, Dr. Sanders’ work in the Mayan ruins of Copan, Honduras (with his associate David Webster) was the focus of an 8-part series for PBS. Called Out of the Past, it examined the processes of archaeology through the lens of basic human nature, comparing several different ancient civilizations.
The 29th Annual Emmy Awards for News & Documentary were announced July 15, 2008. Among the nominees, many productions from WNET/Thirteen and PBS. Watch some of the nominees online.
Running up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics (August 8-24), Thirteen will be airing a number of documentaries about contemporary China (and a few about the Olympics). Some of them are also watchable online. See the listings and links here.
The first atomic bomb was detonated in a test at Alamogordo, New Mexico on the morning of July 16, 1945. Read more about the explosion and it’s implications on the world’s stage from these PBS shows:
A young girl from Oregon finds a curious, yellowed circus program in her school’s drama closet that reads “Official Program of Cobina Wright’s Society Circus for the benefit of the …
On July 15, 1960, John F. Kennedy accepted the Democratic nomination for president. While the Democrats held their convention at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, Kennedy gave his acceptance speech …
