Tag: pbs
Meet George Lee: “Ten Times Better” Asian Pioneer in Ballet and on Broadway
"Ten Times Better" tells the astonishing and heartwarming story of George Lee, a pioneering Asian dancer who originated a featured role in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker 70 years ago as a teenage immigrant from China.
Tyrus Wong: The Chinese American artist behind "Bambi"
People worldwide have seen the Disney animated classic Bambi and been deeply moved by it, but few can tell you the name of the artist behind the film. Even fewer are aware of this pioneering artist’s impact on American art and popular culture.
How Camille A. Brown’s Bold Moves Are Reshaping Broadway
Giant Steps follows the 5-time Tony-nominated director and choreographer of Broadway’s Gypsy and Hell’s Kitchen as she elevates the possible with bold explorations of everyday movement, and African Diasporic dance.
The Art of Perspective: The Annunciation and Ginerva de'Benci
As a young artist, Leonardo da Vinci helped advance the art of single-point linear perspective, which brought the illusion of depth to a two-dimensional work. Two of his first independent works as a professional artist were the Annunciation followed by a...
How a Volcano Froze This Tiny Island in Time
In the 1990s, an entire city in the Caribbean vanished under ash. Plymouth, Montserrat, once vibrant, now lies frozen in time—buried by a volcano still simmering beneath the surface. We explore how this community has endured, and how scientists are racing...
Nixie: The SCARIEST Little Mermaid
The half-human half-fish Nixie may look very familiar at first. But these shape-shifting monsters, with their eerie songs that lure humans to the watery depths, are much older, and much scarier, than the mermaids we know from pop-culture.
Was Púca the Nightmare Bunny That Inspired Donnie Darko?
Existing somewhere between boogeyman, scapegoat, and temperamental fae, the known trickster called Púca is an animal-spirit that was once dreaded across Ireland, the Channel Islands, and England.
Unicorns: Magical Icons or Violent Beasts?
Unicorns are all over the place in popular culture these days - movies, TV shows, toys, clothing and books for children and adults alike. But you might be interested to learn that the majestic, all-white horse with a spiralized horn on its forehead is jus...
Release the Kraken! Origins of the Legendary Sea Monster
This massive tentacled beast of the deep has terrorized sailors and seafarers for hundreds of years. But with real life giant cephalopods found in every ocean on earth, is the Kraken really just a myth? The ocean is a terrifying force of nature, filled w...
Who Killed the Colorado River?
This episode explores the mystery of the vanishing Colorado River Delta. Once a lifeline for the American Southwest, it's now a shadow of its former self. What happened? Outdated water laws? Excessive urban development and agriculture? Is there a possibil...
The Graveyard at the Center of the Earth
Scientists have been trying to solve the mystery of why plate tectonics works the way it does for over a hundred years. And they might have just uncovered a key to cracking it.
Can We Save Mexico City’s Famous Axolotls?
In the southern part of Mexico City lies Xochimilco, a maze of canals filled with boats, music, food and tourists. But Xochimilco is more than that. It’s one of the last remnants of the interconnected lakes that once surrounded Tenochtitlan, the ancient c...
Meet One of the World’s Rarest Lemurs
Deep in the forests of Madagascar, one woman is rewriting the fate of a lemur species once thought to be lost. The greater bamboo lemur was on the brink of extinction — until Maholy Ravaloharimanitra. Through years of relentless dedication, community cons...
What Archeology Reveals About Fast Food in the Roman Empire
Explore the concept of fast food in ancient Rome, focusing on the thermopolia—small bars and eateries that catered to busy city dwellers.
The First Alphabet (2020)
Where would we be without the world’s alphabets? Writing has played a vital role in the development and expansion of cultures throughout history. But researchers are only now uncovering the origin story to our own alphabet. From the shape of the letter A...