klru blog

Join KLRU in the studio for a Texas Monthly Talks taping with 60 Minutes correspondent Morley Safer. Evan Smith talks with the legendary newsman about his career and journalism today. Taping starts at 11:15 a.m. on Friday, November 13. Doors open at 10:30 a.m. RSVP here

As your PBS station, it is KLRU’s mission to bring people together around important issues. KLRU does this through various educational and outreach initiatives. This fall, KLRU will present 2nd Half of Life, a six-part series airing weekly on Thursday nights at 8 p.m. beginning October 8 and running til November 12. Created for one of the best-educated, healthiest, and most privileged generations in American history — the Boomers — the series aims to help people reinvent life after the age of 50. Additional resources at KLRU’s 2nd Half of Life Web site at klru.org/2ndhalfoflife

2nd Half of Life is made possible thanks to our sponsor Seton Family of Hospitals and in cooperation with the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services.

This week:
Back-to-back episodes of Life (Part 2) at 8 p.m.

Life (Part 2) – “Encore Careers”
Playing gold all day might sound like a good idea…until you actually try it. That’s why Baby Boomers are busy re-inventing retirement with rewarding “encore careers.” Chris Farrell, Richard Leider (The Power of Purpose: Creating Meaning in Your Life and Work) and J. Walker Smith, president of Yankelovich, explain how increasing numbers of Americans are finding fulfilling work later in life.
Life (Part 2) – “Should I Stay or Should I Go”
If you decide to retire — or turn to part-time work — should you “stay or go”… that is, should you move or stay in the community where you’ve lived your whole life? Dr. Robert Kane (It Shouldn’t Be This Way: The Failure of Long-Term Care,) David Savageau (Retirement Places Rated: What You Need to Know to Plan the Retirement You Deserve) and Temple University professor Nancy Henkin discuss how Baby Boomers are finding new ways — and places — to retire.

KLRU’s Community Screenings presents the Independent Lens documentary “Power Paths” and a panel discussion on energy issues on Tuesday, November 17, at 7 pm. RSVP here

It’s time to cut our dependence on fossil fuel and pursue renewable energy. But how can it be done? Native American tribes turn to solar and wind sources to provide clean sustainable energy for cities across the West. Their traditional values toward conservation and the earth offer real solutions to America’s energy crisis. A panel discussion on energy issues will immediately follow this screening.

The free screening starts at 7 p.m., doors open at 6 p.m. A panel discussion and audience Q&A will immediately follow the screening. RSVP for the event here

KLRU Community Screenings made possible with support from Austin Community College

NOVA  Becoming Human: Unearthing Our Earliest Ancestors
7 p.m. Tuesday, November 3, 2009 (Part 1)
7 p.m. Tuesday, November 10, 2009 (Part 2)
7 p.m. Tuesday, November 17, 2009 (Part 3)

NOVA presents a comprehensive three-part, three-hour special — investigating explosive new discoveries that are transforming the picture of how we became human. The first program explores fresh clues about our earliest ancestors in Africa, including the stunningly complete fossil nicknamed “Lucy’s Child.” These three-million-year-old bones from Ethiopia reveal humanity’s oldest and most telltale trait — upright walking, rather than a big brain. The second program tackles the mysteries of how our ancestors managed to survive in a savannah teeming with vicious predators, and when and why we first left our African cradle to colonize every corner of the earth. In the final program, NOVA probes a wave of dramatic new evidence, based partly on cutting-edge DNA analysis, that reveals new insights into how we became today’s creative and “behaviorally modern” humans and what really happened to the enigmatic Neanderthals who faded into extinction. Shot “in the trenches” as discoveries were unearthed throughout Africa and Europe, each hour of “Becoming Human” unfolds with a forensic investigation into the life and death of a specific hominid ancestor, such as Lucy’s Child. Dry bones spring back to vivid life with stunning animation, the product of a unique NOVA collaboration between

When I first started to watch clips of Tattooed under Fire by Nancy Schiesari, I started to see an outline of a unique story that needed to be brought to public television.  I saw young men and women just out of high school who were preparing to go to war in Iraq as they as visited a local tattoo parlor near their base.  There they revealed their American pride, their concerns and their fears about going over to fight.  Then the film provides more revelations upon their return from Iraq.  Each soldier gives their own personal perspective giving us the sense of the human and cultural cost of war.  Tattooed under Fire gives a perspective and an experience that very few of us will ever experience in our lifetime.

Read the rest of this entry »

The most important and most dangerous moments of an animal’s life is its birth. Nature at 7 p.m. Sunday follows the birth and first day of various animals ranging from marmoset to moose, to elephant and gorilla.

More than 40 years after the disappearance of a 13-year-old girl, the hunt for the killer resurfaces on Masterpiece Contemporary at 8 p.m. Sunday when high-profile TV journalist, Catherine Heathcote begins to unravel the mystery.

Charles Mitchell, President of the National City Bank (now Citibank), and a small group of bankers, brokers, and speculators manipulated the stock market, grew wealthy, and helped create the economic boom of the Twenties. Monday at 8 p.m., American Experience: The Crash of 1929 captures the unbounded optimism of an age, at a time when the stock market promised permanent prosperity.
Read the rest of this entry »

Halloween on KLRU-Q is a night of chilling history and supernatural tales. Throughout the night, we’ll also be showing previews of a new series coming in 2010, Haunted Texas. Tune in from 7 p.m. to midnight.

The evening begins at 7 with the Ghosts of Elitch Theater. Will the renovation of a world renowned playhouse reveal the secrets of those who haunt the halls?

Ghosts of the Underground descends deep below London’s streets to prowl the tunnels and secrets of the oldest public transportation system.

Secret Life of Ghosts and Werewolves seeks to offer scientific explanations behind the myths and legends of the weird and the creepy.

Masterpiece Theater takes on Dracula in this modern adaptation of the classic Bram Stoker novel.

The History of the Devil shows how cultures worldwide have used the symbol of evil to their advantage.

And finally, Ghost Town: 24 Hours in Terlingua meet the real-life offbeat citizens of Texas’ Terlingual Ghost Town.

And KLRU-Q always features programming so good it’s scary:

As your PBS station, it is KLRU’s mission to bring people together around important issues. KLRU does this through various educational and outreach initiatives. This fall, KLRU will present 2nd Half of Life, a six-part series airing weekly on Thursday nights at 8 p.m. beginning October 8 and running til November 12. Created for one of the best-educated, healthiest, and most privileged generations in American history — the Boomers — the series aims to help people reinvent life after the age of 50. Additional resources at KLRU’s 2nd Half of Life Web site at klru.org/2ndhalfoflife 2nd Half of Life is made possible thanks to our sponsor Seton Family of Hospitals and in cooperation with the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services.

This week:
Retirement Revolution
The months since Spring 2008 have not been kind to the American economy or to the retirement accounts of millions of Americans. This program has undertaken a new mission, to help older citizens do better with a bit less and to navigate tougher financial waters with determination and good cheer. It features personal stories as well as expert commentaries. From light-hearted stories on self-defense and second careers to solid advice about money, health and Medicare, “The New Reality” talks to experts who analyze the financial problems of retirement and demonstrate ways to richer, healthier retirement years.

Join KLRU in the studio for a Texas Monthly Talks taping with Director Richard Linklater. Evan Smith talks with the Texas filmmaker about his career and his  next project, Me and Orson Welles, which hits theaters November 25. Taping starts at 11:45 a.m. on Wednesday, November 4. Doors open at 11 a.m. RSVP here

Taping date: Monday, November 2
Taping time: starts at 7 p.m.; doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Taping location: KLRU’s Austin City Limits Studio 6A
RSVP ONLINE for you and your guests by noon, Monday, November 2nd

Join KLRU’s InContext.tv for a special performance by Austin musician James Polk. RSVP here

James Polk has been a part of Austin’s jazz scene since the ’60s when he attended Huston-Tillotson College. In the late ’70s, Polk was an organist for the Ray Charles Orchestra and was arranger for two of Charles’ Grammy-nominated songs “Ain’t It So” and “I Wish You Were Here Tonight.” He returned to Austin in the ’80s to pursue his education and to teach others. He retired from teaching in 2006 and he received his Professor Emeritus status of Jazz Studies in the School of Music at Texas State University in San Marcos. Polk has been inducted into the Austin Chronicle Music Poll Hall of Fame.

InContext.tv reflects the arts culture in Austin’s community and explores the creative people and unique things which make our lives more interesting. It provides a glimpse into the lives of people who follow their dreams, the poets of form and function, the obscure, the inspiring, the strange and the beautiful