January 29th, 2010

Thick forests, vast wetlands, deep chasms - this is a wild, inaccessible place that belongs more to myth than reality. Explore the untouched Balkan landscape Sunday at 7 p.m. on Nature and see its wild animals that have all but vanished from the rest of Europe.

A fiercely funny adaptation of Jane Austen’s delightful love story of a young woman whose attempts to play Cupid go disastrously awry on part two of “Emma” at 8 p.m. Sunday on Masterpiece Classic.

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January 22nd, 2010

Unique to North America, the bald eagle is the continent’s most recognizable aerial predator, yet Nature shows that even in the best of times it’s a surprisingly tough struggle to maintain a home and raise chicks until they can hunt on their own. See it Sunday at 7 p.m.

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January 21st, 2010

KLRU will be taping several episodes of Texas Monthly Talks in February. Come be part of the live studio audience for this award winning statewide series. Each taping features an interview with the guest and then a short audience q&a. Please RSVP for each taping you’d like to attend. All tapings take place in KLRU’s Austin City Limits Studio 6A.

Newsweek editor Jon Meacham 2/8 at 2:45 p.m. RSVP Here
Meacham’s interests and expertise reach across a broad range of American culture: political history, foreign affairs, the Civil Rights movement and the role of religion in American history and contemporary society. Meacham is in Austin as part of The University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs Center for Politics and Governance Perspectives Series. Taping starts promptly at 2:45 p.m. Doors open at 2 p.m. RSVP Here

David Brancaccio 2/16 at 10:30 a.m. RSVP Here
Brancaccio is host and senior editor of NOW on PBS, public television’s award-winning newsmagazine of investigative reporting and in-depth interviews. Among his beats: politics, human rights, national security, the environment, health care, and science policy. Taping starts promptly at 10:30 a.m. Doors open at 10 a.m. RSVP Here

San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro 2/17 at 10:15 a.m. RSVP here
Castro took office just eight months ago after taking 56 percent of the vote in a nine-way race. At 35 years old, he’s the youngest mayor in any of the 50 largest U.S. cities but he’s already nine years into a political career that to many seemed almost inevitable. Taping starts promptly at 10:15 a.m. Doors open at 9:30 a.m. RSVP here

January 21st, 2010

Washington Week, Now on PBS and Bill Moyers Journal will not be shown on Friday, Jan. 22, as PBS presents the Hope For Haiti Now telethon.

January 20th, 2010

Join Evan Smith and KLRU’s Texas Monthly Talks for a conversation with Augie Garrido, head baseball coach for The University of Texas at Austin on Monday, January 25. RSVP here

The Longhorns start their season on February 19 with a number one pre-season ranking and high hopes for the year. Garrido’s record gives fans good reason for big expectations. He has more wins than any other baseball coach in NCAA history, taking teams to the College World Series twelve times and leading five national championship teams.

Taping starts promptly at 11:15 a.m. Doors open at 10:30 a.m.

RSVP here

January 18th, 2010

Please note the following changes in tonight’s lineup for KLRU (18-1)

ANTIQUES ROADSHOW at 7 p.m.
ANTIQUES ROADSHOW visits North Carolina’s Museum of the Cape Fear in Fayetteville, once the site of a U.S. arsenal seized by the Confederacy, to look at some of the weapons made in North Carolina during the Civil War. Highlights include an archive of items related to Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1966 visit to St. Mark’s AME Zion Church in Durham; a circa 1800 heirloom Virginia-made table, purported to have ties to Thomas Jefferson; and a pair of circa 1725 chairs, made by New England furniture maker John Gaines, whose value - much diminished because the pieces are refinished - is estimated to be $30,000 to $50,000

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: INFLUENZA 1918 at 8 p.m.
As the nation mobilized for war in the spring of 1918, ailing Private Albert Gitchell reported to an army hospital in Kansas. He was diagnosed with influenza, a disease about which doctors knew little. Before the year was out, America would be ravaged by a flu epidemic that killed 600,000 people — more than died in all the wars of this century combined — before disappearing as mysteriously as it began.

BENJAMIN LATROBE: AMERICA’S FIRST ARCHITECT at 9 p.m.
Noted architecture critic Paul Goldberger hosts this documentary biography of Benjamin Latrobe, the creator of the first uniquely “American” architecture. Latrobe’s tumultuous life was a series of creative triumphs, personal tragedies and constant re-invention. The film features computer-generated animation, interviews with architects and historians and location shooting as Goldberger explores Latrobe’s life, from his early years in England to his immigration to the young republic and his work on such iconic buildings as the U.S. Capitol, the White House and the Baltimore Basilica.

WASHINGTON NATIONAL CATHEDRAL: A NEW CENTURY, A NEW CALLING at 10 p.m.
This documentary film explores the history and contemporary life of America’s great gothic masterpiece and “House of Prayer for All People.” It was conceived by George Washington’s own architect to sit atop the highest hill in the nation’s capital as a moral reminder to civic leaders. Today, as the Cathedral marks its 100th anniversary, it has also become a spiritual crossroads, a center for prayer and dynamic worship for the most religiously diverse nation on earth.

CHARLIE ROSE at 11 p.m.

TAVIS SMILEY at midnight

WORLDFOCUS at 12:30 a.m.

January 15th, 2010

What happens when two great predators come face to face in Yellowstone? Find out on Nature at 7 p.m. Sunday when the grizzly and the wolf face off. In every encounter, the opposition is measured, strengths are tested, and risks are carefully weighed. They key is knowing your own strengths and limitations in the heat of the moment.

Judi Dench returns in the sequel to the Emmy-nominated “Cranford” mini-series, the acclaimed story of everyday life in a small Cheshire market town on Masterpiece Classic at 8 p.m. Sunday.

My Music: Ed Sullivan’s Rock and Roll Classics at 8 p.m. Monday presents classic song performances from 1963-1968. From the Beatles’ American television debut to the Doors’ infamous one-time-only appearance to the Rolling Stones, Sly and the Family Stone, the Mamas and the Papas and more.

Brain Fitness Frontiers at 10 p.m. Monday looks at the impact of virtual reality in changing memories and dealing with pain, the ability of the brain to interface with mechanical and electronic instruments in such a way that the brain can control them without any interface by the human body.

The Great Sphinx is disappearing; the sands of Egypt have buried this wonder of the ancient world. Nova follows the team to find out if they can reverse the destructive forces of man and nature to save this wonder of the ancient world at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

SCHEDULE CHANGE: “Dancing Boys of Afghanistan” has been postponed. Instead Frontline will show “A Death in Tehran” at 8 p.m. Tuesday. At the height of the protests following Iran’s controversial presidential election this summer, a young woman named Neda Soltani was shot and killed on the streets of Tehran. Her death—filmed on a cameraphone, then uploaded to the web—quickly became an international outrage, and Soltani became the face of a powerful movement that threatened the hardline government’s hold on power.

Independent Lens examines the creative and commercial value of musical sampling, including the related debates over artistic expression, copyright law and, of course, money at 9 p.m. Tuesday.

Learn of the essential components of the Human Spark–the attributes that make humans unique at 7 p.m. Wednesday. One of those faculties is the fascinating link between two of humans’ most characteristic abilities - language and the use of tools.

Great Performances at the Met goes behind the scenes 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions, where thousands of hopefuls compete for a cash prize, the chance to sing on the Met stage, and the opportunity to launch a major operatic career.

Hip hop conquers the ACL stage with sets from Somalian native K’naan, performing songs from his acclaimed LP, Troubadour, and alternative rapper/actor Mos Def, supporting his latest record, The Ecstatic, on Wednesday at 10 p.m. and Friday at 9 p.m.

Railroad Commissioner and Senate candidate Michael Williams sits down with Evan Smith to talk politics on Texas Montly Talks at 7 p.m. on Thursday.

Tim McGraw has sold over 40 million albums, dominated the charts with 30 Number One singles, and received three Grammys. The 2009 release of his tenth studio album represents a new level of depth and intensity for the seasoned country artist, showcased on this episode of Soundstage at 9 p.m. Thursday.

Rising roots rock kings the Avett Brothers perform songs from their latest album at 7 p.m. Saturday on Austin City Limits. Ohio-to-Austin transplants Heartless Bastards follow with their classic rock ‘n’ roll.

January 15th, 2010

TV Guide calls Super Why “the greatest TV show to happen to reading.”  Watch SUPER WHY with your kids every morning on KLRU at 9 a.m.

This series focuses on the adventures of four fairytale friends who transform into reading-powered superheroes: Alpha Pig with Alphabet Power, Wonder Red with Word Power, Princess Presto with Spelling Power, Super Why with the Power to Read and Super YOU with the Power to Help. Together, they are the “Super Readers!” The Super Readers jump into books (literally) to find answers to everyday preschool challenges and embark on exciting adventures, where they play interactive reading games to overcome obstacles and save the day. In every episode, young viewers dive directly into a pop-up story to experience a brightly-illustrated children’s tale brought to magical life.

January 14th, 2010

The Austin Film Society Documentary Tour will be screening Tattooed Under Fire on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 8:30pm, at the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz. Filmmaker Nancy Schiesari will be in attendance to talk about making this documentary. Tickets to this screening are $6.

KLRU helped present this documentary to the nation on PBS and first aired on KLRU in 2008. Filmed at Fort Hood, Tattooed Under Fire is a unique, intimate, character-driven portrait of Iraq-bound and returning U.S. soldiers as they go under the tattoo needle: openly professing their pride, sharing their secrets and confessing their fears

Read an interview with Schiesari in the Austin Chronicle

January 13th, 2010

The second special in KLRU’s 5-part arts series, In Context: Jazz in Austin airs on Thursday, January 28, at 8 p.m. We’re giving you a sneak peek at the performance by pianist James Polk. In Context is funded and supported in part by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division.