“Story in the Public Square” will Debut Fourth National Season on Public Television January 6, 2020
Newport, R.I. – The two-time Telly Award-winning series Story in the Public Square will continue to be broadcast across the United States with the debut of its fourth national season beginning January 6, 2020, the series announced on Tuesday. The show has been in production since January 2017 on SiriusXM Satellite Radio and in southeastern New England from its flagship TV station, Rhode Island PBS. Story in the Public Square … Read More
Exploring the Meaning of Justice with Christopher Brown
Air Dates: September 2-8, 2019 The concept of justice is central to the American experience. We celebrate it in our monuments and in our history. But who gets justice, and who defines it are seldom considered questions. Christopher Brown is a practicing attorney and dystopian novelist who combines his talents in a new novel exploring these concepts in a different America. Brown is a writer and lawyer whose 2017 debut … Read More
Golden Years: Social Inequalities in Later Life with Deborah Carr
Air Times: August 26-September 1, 2019 Some Americans will be able to enjoy their golden years. Others will not. Deborah Carr argues that the biggest factor determining which side of that equation you fall on is your socioeconomic status—that combination of education, income, and occupation that determines your social standing. Carr is Professor and Chair in the Sociology department at Boston University. Her research focuses on aging and the life … Read More
The Fourth Reich: Nazism from World War II to Today with Gavriel Rosenfeld
Air Dates: August 12-18, 2019 Students of history are taught to see events through the eyes of people living in the era they are studying. From that perspective, history becomes less predictable, decisions seem less certain, and understanding becomes, in fact, more complete. Gavriel Rosenfeld brings that discipline to the history of “the Fourth Reich,” a fear that has mobilized and motivated Europe and the world since 1945. Rosenfeld is … Read More
White Identity Politics with Ashley Jardina
Air Dates: August 5-11, 2019 Identity politics are typically associated with marginalized groups—communities that have been defined as “other” by the dominant group in a political culture. Ashley Jardina argues that there is an emerging white-identity politics in American society today. Jardina is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Duke University. Her book White Identity Politics explores the nature of racial attitudes, the development of group identities, and the … Read More
The Power of Story with Danny Strong
Air Dates: July 29-August 4, 2019 “Story in the Public Square” began as an annual, academic conference at Salve Regina University. When we honored Danny Strong with the 2014 Pell Center Prize for Story in the Public Square, his acceptance speech was so moving, so incisive, and so eloquent about the power of story that a public television executive in the audience asked if she could broadcast it. She did, … Read More
The Power of Poetry with Maggie Smith
Air Dates: July 22-28, 2019 Poems provide readers with frames of reference, a lens through which to see the world. Maggie Smith shares the inspiration, personal experience, and context behind her award-winning poems, including her most-recent collection, Good Bones, which was published to critical acclaim. Smith is the author of three books of poetry: Good Bones (Tupelo Press, 2017); The Well Speaks of Its Own Poison (2015); and Lamp of … Read More
Living with Neurological Disease with Lisa Genova
Air Dates: July 8-14, 2019 An estimated 5.6 million Americans live with Alzheimer’s today. Another 100,000 are living with ALS—or Lou Gehrig’s disease. Lisa Genova is a brain scientist whose best-selling novels describe not what it’s like to die from these diseases, but what it means to live with them. Dr. Genova is a Harvard trained neuroscientist who broke into the public’s consciousness with her novel, Still Alice. Likened to … Read More
The Impact of Technology on Modern Relationships with Helen Schulman
Air Dates: June 24-30, 2019 It is almost taken for granted that technology is changing America. Whether we’re talking about job losses, election meddling, or the role of big-data in healthcare, technology is everywhere. Helen Schulman, through her remarkable fiction, warns that technology is changing our personal relationships and our families, too. Schulman, a novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and non-fiction author, is the chair of Fiction for the MFA Creative … Read More
Environmental Justice with Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha
In April 2014, officials in Flint, Michigan, switched the source of the city’s water from the Detroit water supply to the Flint, River. It was a cost-saving move, but it touched the lives of citizens across that city. Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha helped blow the story open. With science and determination, she proved the decision was poisoning the children of Flint. An associate professor of pediatrics and human development at Michigan … Read More