Goes behind-the-scenes of your favorite public television programs featuring conversations with the people who make them.
The Open Mind is a thoughtful excursion into the world of ideas across media, politics, technology, the arts and all realms of civic life.
Travel back in time with one brave family and a group of intrepid would-be cowboys as they find out what it took to make it on the western frontier in 1867. How well will these modern-day individuals do as they experience real life on the range? Tune in to PBS's Texas Ranch House May 1-4, from 8-10 pm EST and go to pbs.org/ranchhouse to find out!
Journey deep into the heart of the world’s most remote jungles, savannas, tundras, mountains, and deserts with wildlife biologist Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant as she studies wild animals in their natural habitats. Rae and her teams spend years studying these animals – in order to protect their futures. Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant takes you inside their hidden worlds – and the action-packed, suspense-filled adventures of the wildlife conservationists who track them. Hear what it takes to find an ...
A Tale of Two Teachers is a WLIW-FM special program and a part of Chasing the Dream: Poverty, Justice and Opportunity in America, a public media initiative from PBS flagship station, WNET in New York. Bob McKinnon, host of the podcast Attribution, talks with two married Long Island teachers. They share their extraordinary experiences teaching in different Long Island schools over the course of this challenging year.
Before CNN and Fox News, before shock jocks and powerful pundits, there was Father Charles Coughlin, an ambitious priest who invented political talk radio as we know it, brought down one president and crowned another, and was at one point considered the most powerful man in America. He was also a rabid antisemite who wrote fan mail to Mussolini and cheered on Hitler, and who used his enormous platform to spread hate. In this 8-part podcast, Detroit journalist Andrew Lapin weaves together arc ...
Peril and Promise: The Challenge of Climate Change is a special WLIW-FM half-hour program focusing on the unique challenges and choices confronting eastern Long Island. A reporting initiative from the WNET Group, the program is hosted by veteran journalist and Planet Forward creator, Frank Sesno. Together with a panel of experts and local officials, he explores the effects climate change is already having on eastern Long Island, what communities are doing about it now, the challenges ahead, ...
Exploring Hate on Eastern Long Island is a special WLIW-FM 30 minute program and part of “Exploring Hate,” a reporting initiative from The WNET Group on antisemitism, racism and extremism. Host Julian Phillips moderates a panel of experts who have devoted their careers to addressing the issues of hate on Long Island and their on-going efforts to eradicate this multi-faceted dilemma. This special broadcast will examine some of the deep-seated roots of hate which exist on Eastern Long Island—b ...
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WNET UP Next


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WNET UP NEXT: WNET PBS DIGITAL INNOVATORS – Kids Media & Education Department
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WNET Digital Innovators meeting. In observation of National Teacher Appreciation Week, WNET UP NEXT celebrates our local teachers with an in-depth look the WNET PBS Digital Innovators Program, which for the past two years has provided a unique online gathering place for 14 outstanding teachers from the tri-state New York City metropolitan region. T…
Tulane Law scholar Amy Gajda discusses her new book "Seek and Hide: The Tangled History of the Right to Privacy."By The Open Mind on PBS
Nuclear Choices for the Twenty-First Century coauthors and scientists Richard Wolfson and Ferenc Dalnoki discuss the potential for nuclear annihilation.By The Open Mind on PBS
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The Open Mind, Hosted by Alexander Heffner


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Is Voter Suppression Recreating Segregation?
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North Carolina State historian Blair Kelley discusses the present and historical conditions of segregation in the United States.By The Open Mind on PBS
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WNET UP Next


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WNET UP NEXT: GRACE UNDER PRESSURE – Brian Tate & Jasmine Wilson
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How do we maintain a sense of possibility and moral purpose in age of unbearable loss? What lessons of history or visions of tomorrow can help us today in contending with hate and injustice, the Covid-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, the attacks on democracy, and the lethal march of war? When facing personal or professional troubles, where do we tu…
Author Virginia Postrel discusses the history of fabric and contemporary mask-wearing practices to protect public health.By The Open Mind on PBS
Columbia University president Lee Bollinger and University of Chicago scholar Geoffrey Stone discuss their book “Social Media, Freedom of Speech, and the Future of Our Democracy."By The Open Mind on PBS
Author Azar Nafisi discusses her new book “Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times.”By The Open Mind on PBS
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WNET UP Next


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WNET UP NEXT: BENJAMIN FRANKLIN: A Ken Burns Film – Walter Isaacson
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Benjamin Franklin. In conjunction with the upcoming PBS premiere of Ken Burns’ four-hour biographical film BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, (Monday, April 4 and Tuesday, April 5, 2022 at 8 p.m.), WNET UP NEXT welcomes Walter Isaacson, creative consultant for the film and author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life. “Just being interested in everything made him…
"In Silico” documentarian Noah Hutton discusses the project to simulate the human brain on a supercomputer.By The Open Mind on PBS
University of Minnesota sociologist Michael Walker discusses his new book "Indefinite: Doing Time in Jail."By The Open Mind on PBS
UC San Diego political scientist Barbara Walter discusses American political tribalism and civil unrest.By The Open Mind on PBS
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WNET UP Next


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WNET UP NEXT: “Call the Midwife” – Stephen McGann
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Shelagh Turner (LAURA MAIN), Dr. Turner (STEPHEN McGANN) discuss what he has learned about sickle cell in Call the Midwife Season 8. The acclaimed British series “Call the Midwife” comes back to PBS for its eleventh season on the evening of Sunday March 20th. To celebrate its return, WNET UP NEXT welcomes actor and author Stephen McGann, who portra…
"Punishment Without Trial" author Carissa Byrne Hessick discusses a culture of plea bargaining in the U.S. legal system.By The Open Mind on PBS
Author Steve Olson discusses the Manhattan Project and the future of nuclear weapons, and their relevance to the pandemic.By The Open Mind on PBS
Digital ethicist Carissa Véliz discusses corporate invasion of personal data and the continued U.S. failure to regulate Big Tech.By The Open Mind on PBS
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The Open Mind, Hosted by Alexander Heffner


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Foreign Debacles and the Biden War Philosophy
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U.S Army Colonel (Ret.) Robert Cassidy discusses the Biden Administration’s foreign policy challenges and national morale.By The Open Mind on PBS
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The Open Mind, Hosted by Alexander Heffner


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When Arabs Embrace Israel and Jews Do Not
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Israeli politician Einat Wilf discusses contemporary Western anti-Zionism, the advent of Arab Zionism, and the future of anti-Semitism.By The Open Mind on PBS
Keene State Holocaust and Genocide Studies scholar Jim Waller discusses the rise of identity-driven violence in the United States.By The Open Mind on PBS
Science author and historian Brandy Schillace discusses coping with a generation of death.By The Open Mind on PBS
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The Open Mind, Hosted by Alexander Heffner


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Has the Pandemic Changed American Health Care?
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ER physician Jeremy Faust discusses the state of the pandemic and disparities between vaccinations and testing.By The Open Mind on PBS
Emory University medical ethnobotanist Cassandra Quave discusses potential coronavirus cures and her new book “The Plant Hunter: A Scientist’s Quest for Nature's Next Medicines.”
Louisville Association for Community Economics president Cassia Herron discusses grassroots organizing for food security and innovation.By The Open Mind on PBS
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WNET UP NEXT: “20 Years of Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir” – Brian Stokes Mitchell
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20 Years of Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir celebrates the many years of televised Christmas concerts with the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra from The Conference Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. Boston’s GBH and PBS are presenting this two hour long retrospective hosted and narr…
Breaking glass ceilings, breaking down barriers, breaking molds: it’s exhilarating. And exhausting. This episode is about what it’s really, truly like to be a Black, female scientist in America. Since this is the last episode of the season. I want to say, thanks to you. Hosting the show and sharing my stories has been an incredible experience and q…
Center for Rural Strategies national programs director Whitney Kimball Coe discusses the diversity of American rural communities and the aspirations of women.By The Open Mind on PBS
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Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant


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Encore: Not Your Average Field Trip: Meet Rae
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If you’re new to “Going Wild”, welcome. You’ve found us at the perfect time. Right now, we’re rebroadcasting the very first episode of the season. It’s all about how I went from an asthmatic teenager, who had never even been on a hike, to the person I am today: a scientist who studies wild animals and practically lives outdoors. I want to give you …
In the final chapter of this series, Father Coughlin disappears from the public eye, but his legacy lives on. When Coughlin stages a high-profile protest episode, and the church finally gives him an ultimatum: his radio career or the priesthood. The FBI closes in on Coughlin, but an unlikely figure steps in to save him from prosecution. Coughlin fi…
Johns Hopkins University Information Security Institute executive director Anton Dahbura and senior security engineer Joseph Carrigan discuss hacking, ransomware, and vulnerabilities to critical infrastructure.By The Open Mind on PBS
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Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant


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Misunderstandings with The Maasai: Part Two
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When I was living in Kenya, I learned a lot about animals and conservation, and I also learned about people and culture, sometimes through my own horribly embarrassing mistakes. I told you about one of those moments last week. This week I'm bringing you another story. If you want to go back and listen to part one, it's here: https://www.pbs.org/wne…
Faced with political defeat, Father Coughlin drops all pretense of diplomacy. He plagiarizes Joseph Goebbels in his Social Justice magazine and writes fan letters to Mussolini. His Kristallnacht broadcast gets him kicked off major radio stations. He incites his followers in a paramilitary organization known as the Christian Front to undertake viole…
Economic advisor to Gov. Newsom (D-CA) and former Mayor of Stockton Michael Tubbs discusses how to restore economic fairness.By The Open Mind on PBS
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Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant


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Misunderstandings with The Maasai: Part One
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In part one of two, I share some embarrassing cross-cultural misunderstandings from my time living in East Africa. Hear about two of the biggest ones– and what they taught me about the country, the people, and myself.By PBS Nature
Huey Long’s folksy populism wins over Louisiana voters and becomes darkly demagogic. Picking up where Long leaves off, Father Coughlin and his National Union for Social Justice energize the anti-FDR base at massive political rallies across the country. The Social Justice party runs a candidate for president in the 1936 election, and Coughlin blatan…
Science journalist Maia Szalavitz discusses substance abuse and her new book “Undoing Drugs: The Untold Story of Harm Reduction in the Future of Addiction."By The Open Mind on PBS
A dead bear shows up in an unlikely place, and the discovery of how it died and how it got there makes me question my life’s work. A warning: This episode contains details of performing a necropsy of the bear in the woods. It contains language that may not be acceptable for young listeners or those with queasy stomachs. Please like and follow us (a…
President Roosevelt embraces radio while distancing himself from Father Coughlin, whose broadcasts are becoming increasingly antisemitic. Coughlin rants about the Rothschilds and singles out Roosevelt’s Jewish secretary of the treasury, Henry Morgenthau Jr., while the Jewish community debates how to respond. Turning on Roosevelt, Coughlin starts hi…
Demand Justice cofounder Christopher Kang discusses how to incorporate democratic representation in the law.By The Open Mind on PBS
Happy Halloween week! There are major risks that come with being a wildlife ecologist– from sleeping with poisonous snakes to provoking hungry bears. Here are a few of my scariest encounters in the field. Please like and follow us (and give us a review!) if you like the show! For more episodes: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/podcasts/going-wild/ N…
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Radioactive


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Episode 4: Driving the Money Changers from the Temple
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Father Coughlin responds to the chaos of the Great Depression by creating a clear villain for his audiences: President Hoover, of course, but also the bankers he claimed controlled politicians and the communists he said were secretly infiltrating the country’s labor leadership. Any shred of subtlety evaporates as he rants on air about the Old Testa…
Stimson Center fellow Jenny Town discusses Kim Jong-un’s aspirations for North Korea and nuclear build up.By The Open Mind on PBS
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WNET UP NEXT: “American Veteran” – Phil Klay
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In association with GBH’s major multi-platform initiative “American Veteran“, WNET Up Next interviews author and Marine Corps veteran Phil Klay who is featured in the broadcast documentary, and is host of the podcast series “American Veteran: Unforgettable Stories” whose nine episodes are now being released on Apple Podcasts and Spotify on Tuesdays…
In the last episode, I told you the story about a giraffe - a dead giraffe, actually - in Tarangire National Park, but I didn't get to share any stories about lions. So, let me take you back to my first day in Tanzania, in the middle of the bush, and introduce you to two very unique lions I still think about to this day. This is a special short epi…
Father Coughlin’s decision to broadcast his sermons over the radio scandalizes the American listening public, with angry letters pouring in to radio stations and politicians. Preaching on the dial next to Amos ’n’ Andy was sacrilegious, inappropriate, crass. But soon listeners were hooked by the radio priest's sonorous voice, and his deliberately t…
Georgetown Law Professor Kristin Henning discusses her new book “The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth.”By The Open Mind on PBS
Poachers kill a giraffe in Tanzania. What happens to the poachers isn’t surprising. But what happens to the giraffe....is.By PBS Nature
Father Coughlin builds his church, with a little help from famous friends. The ambitious priest embraces the airwaves and becomes America’s first talk radio celebrity. Radioactive is hosted by Detroit journalist Andrew Lapin and produced by Tablet Studios, with support from Maimonides Fund, and in association with The WNET Group’s reporting initiat…
Florida State University College of Law historian Mary Ziegler discusses the outlook for reproductive rights in state and federal law.By The Open Mind on PBS
You already heard about my experience tracking lemurs in this mysterious rainforest in Madagascar in episode 2, but what I left out of that story was just how hard camping there for five weeks was on my body -- especially as the only woman in the entire group. And yes, there was some blood involved. This is a special short episode of "Going Wild." …
In the first episode of this eight-part series, we take a look at beginnings. We uncover the humble origins of Father Charles Coughlin and his fellow antisemite, Henry Ford. We also investigate how the dawn of radio combined with world-shattering events to fuel Coughlin’s meteoric rise. Radioactive is hosted by Detroit journalist Andrew Lapin and p…