The name Ken Burns has become synonymous with some of public television’s biggest blockbuster documentaries.
The Civil War. Baseball. Jazz. The National Parks. This Sunday night on KCPT and PBS stations around the country, watch Ken Burn’s latest documentary epic, The Dust Bowl, a morality tale about our relationship to the land that sustains us–a lesson we ignore at our peril.
You can watch the first installment of Ken Burns’ The Dust Bowl this Sunday night at 7 p.m. here on KCPT. One of our metro’s most knowledgeable experts on that slice of our nation’s history, Professor Jay Antle, who is executive director of the sustainability center at Johnson County Community College, sat down with Randy Mason to give a local perspective on The Dust Bowl and to talk about what it means for us today.
Survey the causes of the worst man-made ecological disaster in American history, when the frenzied wheat boom of the “Great Plow-Up,” followed by a decade-long drought during the 1930s, nearly swept away the breadbasket of the nation. See vivid interviews with 26 survivors of those hard times, combined with dramatic photographs and seldom-seen movie footage, that bring to life stories of incredible human suffering and equally incredible perseverance. The documentary is also a morality tale about our relationship to the land that sustains us — a lesson we ignore at our peril.
Ken Burns will be on:
• The Colbert Report: November 12, 2012
• FOX Business Network TV: Ken will do a live, in-studio segment on November 13, 2012
• Morning Joe: interview scheduled for November 16, 2012
The Great Plow Up – Part One, Sunday, November 18 @ 7 & 9pm
In the first episode of Ken Burns’s THE DUST BOWL, feel the full force of the worst manmade environmental disaster in America’s history as survivors recall the terror of the dust storms, the desperation of hungry families and how they managed to find hope even as the earth and heavens seemed to turn against them.
Reaping the Whirlwind – Part Two, Monday, November 19 @ 7 & 9pm
In the second episode of Ken Burns’s DUST BOWL, experience the gradual relief as the families of the plains seek new lives in California and government conservation efforts — and a break in the drought in 1939 — eventually stabilize the soil and bring the farms back to life, but with dangers of another Dust Bowl facing future generations.
This Sunday night at 5:30, KCPT airs the documentary Veterans Day 11-11-11. A nationwide “day in the life” exploration of what it means to be a military veteran in this country.
More than 40 accomplished video storytellers volunteered their time and talent to produce a series of profiles about the service shared by veterans and the sacrifices that they have made.
Every story in the movie was shot on Veterans Day 2011 thus the title 11.11.11.
One of those stories was made by local filmmaker Jason Rhodes who profiles the service of area veteran, retired Colonel Robert Dudley. His story will be seen by the nation Sunday.
There’s also another regional tie-in in this national documentary. Did you know that Emporia, Kansas actually lays claim to being the birthplace of Veterans Day?
That story is also told in Sunday’s film. Producer Pat Holloway, a photojournalist at Fox4 news, journeyed to Emporia to chronicle the town’s Veteran’s Day celebrations.
We celebrate Kansas Citians who are willing to put service above self. We delve into the hearts and souls of local notables who have put the community above their own selfish interests in order to make this city a better place to live. They are chronicled in a new book called the Kansas City Spirit: Stories of Service Above Self.
The added bonus when you purchase the book is that a portion of the proceeds, in keeping with The Kansas City Spirit, will go to benefit local charities: Operation Breakthrough, Elmwood Cemetery, The Kansas City Museum – Minority Heritage Project, the Community Cadet Corps and Gillis.
