Media Menu

These listings cover television programs up to Friday, July 18th.

Greetings, TV viewers!

This week's MediaHour will be a Book Hour, focusing on "Yolanda's Genius". Check out this week's column to learn more.

I'm still planning on doing a Writing Workshop for citizens. Y-mail me your writings and we'll meet every week to discuss new techniques and writing styles! We'll be choosing the day soon -- and possibly moving the MediaHour time, as well.

Want some clams? Watch the show-of-the-week, then talk about them with me and other citizens (including other City Workers, if they're available) at the Greek Theater, over in City Hall. You'll find that the Theater makes discussions pretty easy, since City Workers are able to direct people's movement and behavior, when we need to, and keeps everyone's chat bubbles from overlapping too much. We meet for MediaHour on Wednesdays from 6:30pm and 7:30pm Whyville Time (that's the same as Eastern Daylight Time).

Everyone is welcome to write to me what you and your parents think: Y-mail me, the MediaWiz of Whyville!

And now... the Media Menu!

Friday, July 11

"Book Club of the Air for Young Adults" (audio webcast at http://www.scpr.org, 5-5:30pm ET, 2-2:30pm PT) The discussion topic this month will be the novel Yolanda's Genius by Carol Fenner. It's about 11-year-old Yolonda and six-year-old Andrew, kids in an African-American family that moves from the inner city to the suburbs in Michigan. If Yolonda's adjustment is difficult, her schoolwork is still outstanding; her teachers' reactions prompt her to see if she matches the dictionary definition of a genius. This little exercise yields a startling realization-musically gifted Andrew may be having trouble in school, but he could be a real genius. For more info about this on-air book club log on to http://www.scpr.org/programming/talkofthecity/bcota.shtml. Next week on July 16, the Whyville Media Hour will discuss the Fenner novel in the Greek Theatre at 6:30pm Whyville time. Go get the book and read it.

"North America's Wild Mustangs" (Discovery Channel, 8-9pm E/P) This is a documentary about the wild mustangs which have run free across the western plains since they were re-introduced by Spaniards centuries ago. Forty thousand strong, today they embody the surviving spirit of the wild west.

Saturday, July 12

"Mr. Smith Goes To Washington" (TCM Network, 10-12pm ET, 7-9pm PT -- available on video) This classic Oscar-Nominated movie is about trying to stay honest after you win elected office. Dramatic and also funny, it's about an idealist who is drawn into politics by political professionals who underestimate his strength of character. He finds out about the corruption in the U.S. Senate and his efforts to expose it nearly destroy him. The movie pulls no punches when it comes to the frank depiction of government corruption. Nonetheless, you'll come away from the movie feeling that one person can still do good things in elected office.

Sunday July 13

"Geography of Wealth" (National Geographic Channel 8-9pm E/P) Through the eyes of individuals in the United States, Niger, Norway, and India this documentary looks at what wealth means in different countries.. In the U.S., real estate billionaire Donald J. Trump personifies the glitz and glamour of wealth. In Niger, Africa, we visit a Wodaabe nomad camp where material wealth is a burden and the most valuable possession is cattle. In oil-rich Norway, we discover people that look down upon glitz and glamour and lottery winners who are shy about spending money. Finally, near Moombai, India, we meet a man who had a fancy house and a high-paying job, but decided that true wealth was something more than money. (repeats July 17, 8-10pm)

"Prehistoric America" (Discovery Channel, 8-11pm E/P) This is a marathon telecast of 3 documentaries about  North America prior to when people living there began using written language. "The Frozen North" is about Alaska where, preserved in its frozen soil, are clues to an earlier period when herds of muskoxen and caribou roamed alongside woolly mammoths, providing food for the first North American nomads who arrived from Siberia 13,000 years ago. "The Wild West" is about the southwest where spectacular scenery often belies the harsh conditions many animals face. But to the first people to experience the splendors of the Grand Canyon and the surrounding canyonlands, this was a much greener, richer land. "From The Ice Age to Manhattan" shows that while the Ice Age defrosted, alligators hunted in wetlands and water birds nested in noisy colonies in America's Deep South as this sub-tropical region was also a refuge for the earliest humans.

Monday, July 14

"Taboo: Food" (National Geographic Channel, 9-10pm E/P) this is a documentary about food. Every culture has its own tastes, often developed from what's available. To others their choices of sustenance can seem downright horrifying. We look around the globe in search of food taboos, some hilarious, others deadly serious. In Borneo we encounter the durian, the world's only taboo fruit. In Los Angeles we meet an entrepreneur who's trying to convince skeptical Americans to eat more bugs. In Thailand we visit a restaurant where people eat deadly cobras -- and drink their blood. In Japan, we watch as a first-timer takes his first bite of fugu, a poisonous blowfish. And in Africa, we encounter a tribe that is preparing a ceremonial feast -- of dog.

"Hollywood And The Muslim World" (AMC Network, 10-11pm E/P) This is a documentary about how different faiths feel about the effects of mass media. Ever wonder how "Friends" or J-Lo plays in Cairo? Or what a young Muslim mom feels about the portrayal of Muslims in American films? You will see how people feel in Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Qatar and the U.S., where filmmakers interview trendy teens as well as members of Hezbollah. It's an in-depth look at the culture clash as American popular culture meets traditional mores.

Tuesday, July 15

"Of Civil Rights And Wrongs" (PBS, 10-11pm E/P)  This is a documentary about Fred Korematsu, who was probably never more American than when he resisted the forced internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. Born in Oakland, California in 1919, Fred Korematsu is the son of Japanese immigrants. Until December 7, 1941, Korematsu had been a typical American man: a welder in the San Francisco shipyards, he owned a convertible and was very much in love with his girlfriend. On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which ordered the internment of all Japanese-Americans. The Korematsu family was taken to Tanforan, a former racetrack south of San Francisco for processing. Korematsu decided to stay behind because he did not want to be separated from his Italian-American girlfriend. On May 30,1942, Korematsu was arrested and sent to Tanforan. He filed a case on June 12, 1942 on the premise that his constitutional rights had been violated and he had suffered racial discrimination. The court ruled against him, but he responded with: "I'm an American and just as long as I'm in this country I will keep on going and if there is a chance of reopening the case, I will do it." Ultimately documents were uncovered that clearly showed the government concealed evidence in the 1944 case that racism -- not military necessity -- motivated the internment order. More than 39 years after the fact, a federal judge reversed Fred Korematsu's conviction, acknowledging the "great wrong" done to him. In 1998, Fred Korematsu was awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom award, the nation's highest civilian honor. Former President Clinton praised Korematsu at the ceremony, stating that, "In the long history of our country's constant search for justice, some names of ordinary citizens stands for millions of souls -- Plessy, Brown, Parks. To that distinguished list today we add the name of Fred Korematsu."

Wednesday, July 16

"Whyville Book Hour" ( live chat book discussion log on to Whyville.net -- Destination Greek Theatre 6:30-7:30 ET/Whyville Time, 3:30 -4:30pm PT) As described in the Friday, July 11th listing above, the topic of the Book Hour this time is the       novel " Yolanda's Genius" by Carol Fenner. It's about 11-year-old Yolonda and six-year-old Andrew, kids in an African American family that move from the inner city to the suburbs in Michigan. Their adjustment is difficult but they have startling talents. I hope you've read the book and, if so, I know you'll identify with their struggle and want to talk about it.