The Circle
spring 2013
the wgbh leadership circle newsletter
Leadership Circle
Nova’s Australian Adventure The series also travels through time, with computer-generated animations showing how the continent looked millions and billions of years ago, bringing dinosaurs, sea monsters, and prehistoric crustaceans to life.
COURTESY OF RICHARD SMITH
Q Talk about the changes to Nova’s website, which now features science journalism not tied to programs. A Nova is the best of science on television, and we want to be the same on the Web and its emerging platforms, including smartphones and tablets. There are so many issues related to science, technology, engineering, and medicine that affect our lives and are critical for people to understand. We see our site— pbs.org/nova—as a way to promote informed discussion of them.
W
WGBH/RICHARD HOWARD
GBH’s Nova tells the untold story of the Land Down Under in Australia’s First 4 Billion Years with host Richard Smith, premiering Wednesday, April 10, at 9pm on WGBH 2. The four-part series takes us on a journey from the birth of the Earth to the emergence of the world we know today. Such an ambitious undertaking is what viewers have come to expect from Nova, the most-watched science series on American television. At the helm is WGBH senior executive producer Paula Apsell, who has led Nova since 1985. She recently spoke with WGBH’s Matt Roy about Australia’s First 4 Billion Years, Nova’s updated website and iPad app, and what’s in the works for next season. Q Why is Australia such a rich subject for exploration? A Australia is a strange and exotic place. It’s home to animals that exist
nowhere else, and terrain that is unique to the continent. This series serves as both a travelogue that takes viewers across this amazing landscape and as a scientific expedition. The geology featured takes us back billions of years, revealing how this land mass formed and helping us understand the different processes that made our planet. It’s fascinating. Q What does host Richard Smith bring to the program? A Richard is a scientist and filmmaker, and he went out for two years and lived off the land for this project. As an Australian, it was truly a labor of love. He’s high energy, extremely knowledgeable, and obviously passionate about what he sees and what he’s learning. He’s also trustworthy, and scrupulous about scientific accuracy. Americans are going to be very fond of him. Q How is the story told? A What I love about the series is that you see Richard really engaged with the land: he’s climbing mountain ridges, diving under water, and driving his SUV across the wilds of Australia. He’s doing what all of us would like to do, which is looking at the evidence up close.
Q With more than 330,000 downloads, Nova’s first iPad app, Nova Elements, was a huge success. What is the value of companion apps? A It’s another way to bring our shows home to viewers, giving them something to do with their new interest in a topic. Parents can share the app with their children, and teachers can bring it into their classrooms. Nova Elements [based on the program Hunting the Elements] really makes chemistry fun for kids. Q What’s next up on Nova? A This fall, David Pogue hosts Making More Stuff, a follow-up to the popular Making Stuff. Then, on the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, Nova will ask the question, “What do cities have to do to protect themselves against rising sea levels and the impacts of extreme weather?” And coinciding with the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy’s assassination, we’ll look at how that terrible crime would be investigated today, including the differences in forensic techniques. Stay tuned! Tune in Australia’s First 4 Billion Years on consecutive Wednesdays—April 10, April 17, April 24, and May 1— at 9pm on WGBH 2.
wgbh tv: showcasing our region
The Art of Making Art A
The fourth season of WGBH’s award-winning High School Quiz Show is in full swing, heading toward an exciting state final match this May. But this year’s champion has another test to pass: the firstever Governor’s Cup Challenge. This Bay State vs. Granite State showdown pits the High School Quiz Show champion against New Hampshire Public Television’s Granite State Challenge winner. When it’s over, there’ll be only one question left to answer: Who will raise the Cup?
WGBH/MEREDITH NIERMAN
with communities around the nation.” Each episode is an eclectic mix. In addition to highlighting a retrospective of Wilson’s work at Framingham’s Danforth Museum, the February premiere profiled fashion icon Diane von Furstenberg, boundary-pushing harmonica player Joe Powers, and poet Ed Bok Lee, who recited his “Ode to Bruce Lee.” “Our region is home to a vibrant and growing arts community,” Bowen says. “I’m excited to showcase it for viewers every week.” Open Studio airs Fridays at 8:30pm on WGBH 2. Visit wgbh.org/openstudio to watch past episodes.
Follow the Action!
WGBH/ PATRICIA ALVARADO NÚÑEZ
fter delivering his second inaugural address, President Barack Obama walked through the US Capitol rotunda, pausing to observe a bronze bust of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. created by Boston native John Wilson. Wilson fashioned the likeness in the mid-1980s, working from a series of photographs. But the artist, now 90, wanted his sculpture to go deeper. “I didn’t want to make a simple photographic copy,” he says. “I wanted to try to get [in] these feelings and ideas that made [King] what he was.” Stories like Wilson’s are being told every week on WGBH’s Open Studio, a new series hosted by Jared Bowen that goes backstage and behind the canvas or camera, venturing inside artists’ creative process. “You meet the creators and the choreographers, the fine artists and fashionistas, the talent and the taste-makers,” says Bowen, an Emmy-winning reporter from WGBH’s Greater Boston. “Open Studio is an exciting new production model allowing us to highlight local artists alongside national talents,” says executive producer Valerie Linson. “At the same time, this model allows us to share WGBH’s arts features
Chasing the Cup
High School Quiz Show with host Billy Costa airs Sundays, at 6:30pm on WGBH 2. Don’t miss the Governor’s Cup Challenge Sunday, May 26, at 6:30pm on WGBH 2. And get the latest updates and find out how to play along in realtime at higschool quizshow.org.
Neighborhood Kitchens’ Second Course L
WGBH/PATRICIA ALVARADO NÚÑEZ
ike a fledgling restaurant serving great food, WGBH’s Neighborhood Kitchens is steadily growing a loyal following. When the production recently filmed in Watertown, excited passersby stopped to pose for pictures with host Margarita
Martínez. “People are learning about us,” says producer Patricia Alvarado Núñez. “It’s really exciting.” The half-hour Neighborhood Kitchens premieres its second season this April on WGBH 2, with new episodes exploring culture through the food of Boston-area restaurants. “It’s cooking mixed with a dash of documentary,” says Alvarado Núñez. Each episode tells the story of a chef and his or her restaurant. The chefs cook three recipes with Martínez and along the way, viewers learn about their backgrounds and the neighborhoods where they’ve settled. In Season Two, the show visits the South End to experience the pan-Asian fare of Myers + Chang, where chef and owner Joanne Chang
teaches Martínez how to prepare dumplings and scallion pancakes. Martínez also takes a trip outside the kitchen, traveling to the Boston Fish Pier for a lesson on sustainability from chef Rich Garcia. And to the delight of fans in Watertown’s Little Armenia neighborhood, Sevan Bakery co-owner Nuran Chavushian makes his family’s signature pistachio baklava. “People have tremendous pride in their community,” Alvarado Núñez says. “Our series is turning the spotlight on their neighborhoods and their culinary treasures.” Watch Neighborhood Kitchens Saturdays at 4pm on WGBH 2. Go to wgbh.org/neighborhoodkitchens to watch past episodes, access recipes from featured chefs, and read a show-related blog.
on radio and online
Jim and Margery Join 89.7 L
WGBH/MATT KALINOWSKI
ocal talk radio listeners know them by their first names, a sign of the rapport and trust hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan built up during more than a decade discussing local news, politics and culture on air.
They brought their trademark banter and engaging insights to 89.7 WGBH this February, when the duo joined the Boston Public Radio team. “Jim and Margery are extremely talented broadcasters who make our strong team even stronger,” says 89.7 WGBH managing director Phil Redo. An Emmy-winning journalist, Braude is a former Cambridge City Councilor who hosts Broadside:
The News with Jim Braude on New England Cable News. Eagan is a Boston Herald columnist who regularly appears on Greater Boston and Beat the Press on WGBH TV. Together they lead two hours of local conversation that combines newsmaker interviews, conversation with experts, and listener call-ins. They’re frequently joined by Callie Crossley and Emily Rooney, award-winning journalists familiar to Boston Public Radio’s audience. Kara Miller, host of Innovation Hub on 89.7, and arts reporters Jared Bowen and Edgar B. Herwick III also contribute. And Braude and Eagan also are welcoming Gov. Deval Patrick into the studio for a monthly Ask the Governor program, which 89.7 WGBH offers to any other Massachusetts station free of charge. “It’s a genuine public service,” Redo says, “and an opportunity for residents of the Commonwealth to engage directly with their governor.” Listen to Boston Public Radio every weekday at noon on 89.7 WGBH.
Together in Song S
COURTESY ANTHONY TRECEK-KING
pring is a season for singing and 99.5 Classical New England is embracing the moment with a new program, Together in Song. “We’re celebrating and investigating what’s been called ‘the first art,’ looking at why people are so devoted to choral music,” says WGBH’s Ben Roe, managing director of Classical New England.
Hosted by Anthony Trecek-King, artistic director of Boston Children’s Chorus, Together in Song premiered on Easter Sunday. The versatility of TrecekKing’s repertoire made him the right choice to bring choral music to a broad
audience, Roe says. “I was very impressed with how Anthony reaches out to different constituencies through his programming with the BCC.” The hour-long program profiles a particular choir or genre with a mix of studio and live recordings. Its “Choral Stories” segment features firstperson accounts from singers about their lives in a chorus. “We’ll look at the phenomenon of college a cappella groups, for example,” Roe says. “Every college now seems to have half-a-dozen of them. That wasn’t the case when I was in school.” Choral groups’ popularity on campuses has spread to popular culture, including television shows such as Glee. “Knowing that there’s intense interest in choral music,” Roe says, “it’s been a dream of mine to create a program that reflects and explores it.” Together in Song can be heard Sundays at noon on 99.5 Classical New England.
Coming in Clear on the Cape
B
eyond the beach days and sunsets, there’s now more to look forward to on this summer’s trip to Cape Cod. That’s because there’s a better chance you’ll be able to enjoy listening to WCAI, the Cape and Islands NPR Station, and a service of WGBH. Thanks to the installation of a more powerful and reliable transmitter, WCAI’s award-winning, local programming will reach 200,000 new listeners on Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, the South Coast and parts of coastal Rhode Island. More listeners than ever will be able to tune in Mindy Todd’s popular public affairs program The Point, while birders can check out Vern Laux’s Bird News, and foodies can recipe hunt with locavore Elspeth Hay’s Local Food Report. These programs and more, including your NPR favorites, can be found on three frequencies:
• 90.1 FM: Martha’s Vineyard
and western parts of Cape Cod
• 91.1 FM (WNAN): Nantucket • 94.3 FM (WZAI): Mid-and outer Cape Cod
“We’ve been working on getting full, strong coverage of our area since the very beginning in 2000,” says WCAI founder Jay Allison. “We used to send out advice on how to adjust your radio antenna to get better reception. No more!”
Find WCAI online at capeandislands.org.
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The Circle spring 2013
Leadership Circle
the wgbh leadership circle newsletter
2012–2013 ANNUAL REPORT Experience the impact of your generous support with the video-rich, digital edition of our annual report, available on your computer or iPad at wgbh.org/annualreport.
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Fans of WGBH’s Masterpiece Mystery! have a lot to look forward to this summer. Inspector Lewis is back with new cases to solve, as is the Inspector Morse prequel Endeavour. And Foyle’s War starring Michael Kitchen is returning with three new episodes. Preview these series and much more in the digital edition of WGBH’s Explore! Member Guide, available for your computer or iPad at wgbh.org/Explore. This interactive version of our popular print guide features video previews, exclusive interviews, and up-to-theminute TV listings.
The Craftboston Spring and Holiday exhibitions are can’t-miss events for craft enthusiasts looking to meet emerging artists and peruse their collections of everything from jewelry to furniture. We offer Leadership Circle members free and discounted tickets, but only via email. Don’t miss out! Call 617-300-3505 or email leadershipcircle@wgbh.org and give us your email address.
Introducing WGBH PerksConnect
Nova: MathWorks, Inc. High School Quiz Show: Major sponsorship for High School Quiz Show is provided by Safety Insurance and the Bank of America Charitable Foundation. Additional funding is provided by Massachusetts Teachers Association, XFINITY from Comcast, Harvard Summer School Secondary School Program, Bentley University, Subaru of New England, and the Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts.
We’ve combined all of your favorite local WGBH MemberCard discounts with the national savings power of PerksConnect to build our most valuable member discount program ever! Learn more at wgbhperksconnect.com.
Our Thanks WGBH salutes our local sponsors for their support:
Save the Date! The Boston Globe | WGBH Summer Arts Weekend MICHAEL THORNSNES & CORINA RADUCANU/GLOBAL PRO PHOTO
Mystery! Guide
...is coming to Copley Square in the Back Bay, July 26-28! Presented by Citizens Bank, the weekend will showcase Boston’s thriving arts community with a variety of free and ticketed events, including music, theater and dance performances, with live music ranging from classical and jazz to Latin, bluegrass and soul. Visit bostonsummerarts.com for details.
The Circle is a publication of WGBH One Guest Street, Boston, MA 02135 Writer: Matthew Roy Designers: Kat Hornstein, Danielle Pierce Leadership Circle staff: Daren Winckel, Stacy Kasdin Constituent Communications: Cynthia Broner, Susan Reed © 2013 WGBH Educational Foundation 13029