The Guarded Gate: Bigotry, Eugenics, and the Immigration Act of 1924 with Daniel Okrent
Rebroadcast Dates: March 29-April 4, 2021 Air Dates: October 28-November 3, 2019 This episode of “Story in the Public Square” received the Silver award for Best Political/Commentary in Television in the 41st-Annual Telly Awards. In 1924, a new American law ended the wave of immigration to this country that had begun in the 19th century. Hundreds of thousands of southern- and eastern-European immigrants had entered the United States each year … Read More
Untangling News-Media Bias with Vanessa Otero
Air Dates: March 21-29, 2021 Anybody on social media has seen it: dueling posts, arguing over a hot political issue. The protagonists in these online debates are generally sincere in their convictions, but Vanessa Otero says that too many of us remain unaware of the media biases that shape our understanding of the world. Otero is the creator of the Media Bias Chart®, the viral image that rates news organizations … Read More
The Intersection of Incarceration and Mental Health with Christine Montross
Air Dates: March 15-21, 2021 The intersection of America’s criminal justice system and mental health is long and, often, misunderstood. Christine Montross tells us that America’s largest mental health institution isn’t a psychiatric hospital, it’s Cook County Jail in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Christine Montross is a 2015 Guggenheim Fellow in Nonfiction and Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. She is … Read More
A Fresh Take on a New Day in American Politics with S.E. Cupp
Air Dates: March 8-14, 2021 In the first months of the Biden administration, we’ve seen an intentional effort by the new president to return the country’s politics to some sense of “normal.” S.E. Cupp is a conservative voice who yearns for a return to substance in American politics. Cupp is a CNN political commentator and practical conservative who brings her distinct outlook to CNN programming and special political coverage. She … Read More
The Pandemic Behind the Headlines with Dan Barry
Air Dates: March 1-7, 2021 It’s been one year since the coronavirus pandemic upended life across the globe. Dan Barry reminds us that behind the headlines and the previously unimaginable counts of cases and deaths, there are stories of individual lives interrupted and, all too often, cut short by the pandemic. Barry is a longtime reporter and columnist for The New York Times, having written both the “This Land” and … Read More
‘MLK/FBI’ with Sam Pollard and Benjamin Hedin
Air Dates: February 22-28, 2021 This episode was made possible with the gracious collaboration of Newport Film and the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities’ “Culture is Key” Project. In the 1960s, the Federal Bureau of Investigation spied on civil rights leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Sam Pollard and Benjamin Hedin tell that story in a powerful documentary that shines a light on race, power, and the politics … Read More
Life with the Afterlife with Amy Bruni
Air Dates: February 15-21, 2021 Everyone has a ghost story—a personal family experience, something that happened to a friend, an uncle, or even ourselves. Amy Bruni tells us that sometimes these stories are comforting and sometimes they are not, but there is a lot we can learn from them. Bruni is a paranormal investigator and co-star of the Travel Channel’s hit show, “Kindred Spirits,” and previously appeared on “Ghost Hunters.” … Read More
First Principles with Tom Ricks
Air Dates: February 8-14, 2021 Political divisions are as old as the republic, itself. But Tom Ricks says that if we’re serious about preserving the union, there is much we can learn from the founders study of the ancient republics in Rome and Greece. Ricks is an adviser on national security at the New America Foundation, where he participates in its “Future of War” project. He was previously a fellow at the … Read More
Rhode Island PBS Revisits Four Hard-Hitting Selections from “Story in the Public Square”
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND – Now in its ninth season, the three-time Telly Award-winning “Story in the Public Square” will be featured in a mini-marathon of four powerful episodes on Thursday, February 4, beginning at 9 p.m. Hosted by Jim Ludes, Executive Director of the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy at Salve Regina University, and G. Wayne Miller, senior staff writer at The Providence Journal, and produced in … Read More
Exploring a Future Tech Dystopia with Kashmir Hill
Air Dates: February 1-7, 2021 We live in an age increasingly defined by the intrusion of technology in our lives. Kashmir Hill is a technology journalist whose work explores the looming tech-dystopia—and how we can avoid it. Kashmir Hill is a New York-based technology reporter who writes about the unexpected and sometimes ominous ways technology is changing our lives, particularly when it comes to our privacy. She joined The New … Read More