KLRU chooses three programs each month for your family to enjoy and view together. In April 2014, we will have some thought provoking family viewing opportunities beginning with NATURE “My Bionic Pet,” exploring innovative animal interventions. In the middle of the month is The Address: A Film by Ken Burns seeing history through the eyes of students, and at the end of the month, observe family dynamics in NATURE “Snow Monkeys”.

PBS has announced the launch of its new “Think Wednesday” primetime line-up: television’s best nature, science and technology programming, including new episodes of acclaimed series NATURE and NOVA in the 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. hours respectively, and new specials debuting at 10 p.m. The “Think Wednesday” lineup premieres Wednesday, April 9, with new episodes of NOVA and NATURE and the premiere of YOUR INNER FISH at 10 p.m.

NATURE “My Bionic Pet”
Wednesday, April 9 at 7pm
The animals of the world may increasingly need our help with big issues like preserving habitat or species conservation. But sometimes individual animals need our help as well. Left disabled without fins, flippers, beaks or tails because of disease, accidents or even human cruelty, these unfortunate creatures need what amounts to a miracle if they are to survive. Luckily for them, sometimes miracles do happen. Amazing prosthetics made possible by the latest engineering and technology are able to provide just what they need. And scientists are finding that innovations created in the process are benefitting both animals and humans.

THE ADDRESS: A Film by Ken Burns
Tuesday, April 15 at 8pm
Ken Burns’s THE ADDRESS tells the story of a tiny school in Putney, Vermont, the Greenwood School, where each year the students are encouraged to memorize, practice and recite the Gettysburg Address. In its exploration of Greenwood, whose students, boys ages 11-17, all face a range of complex learning differences, the film also unlocks the history, context and importance of President Lincoln’s most powerful address.

NATURE “Snow Monkeys”
Wednesday, April 23 at 7pm
In the frigid valleys of Japan’s Shiga Highlands, a troop of snow monkeys make their way and raise their families in a complex society of rank and privilege where each knows their place. Their leader is still new to the job and something of a solitary grouch. But one little monkey, innocently unaware of his own lowly social rank, reaches out to this lonely leader, forming a bond with him that manages over time to warm his less than sunny disposition. It is a rare and remarkable gesture that alters both their lives. Changing seasons bring new babies to care for, a profusion of insects and blossoms to eat, family disagreements to squabble over and tragedies to overcome. Mating season brings competition for females as the days grow shorter and colder in a rush toward winter. But with their now confident leader to guide them and their families to shelter and care for them, this troop of snow monkeys is ready to face the world.