The power of forgiveness

Everyone makes some sort of improve-your-life resolution this time of year. Like many of us, I’m grateful for my family and my health and have resolved to strengthen both. While I have yet to kick my workouts into high gear (tomorrow, I promise!), I consciously try to strengthen my relationships with my closest family every day. I cherish and enjoy my moments with these blessed people and I’m mindful of every single day that I have with them—no matter how difficult the day (or person!) may be.

My work on MPT’s Campaign for Love and Forgiveness has magnified the importance and impact of love and forgiveness in my life over the last year. There are many paths to forgiveness, and it’s something that must be practiced every day. The Prayer in America documentary recently broadcast on MPT explored different ways that Americans use prayer, including asking for strength and guidance to forgive others and oneself. A recent Direct Connection episode (available on MPT's YouTube page) highlighted the experiences and perspectives of Dr. Gordon Livingston on this topic. Dr. Livingston is a local author and psychologist who has written books and lectures widely from the perspective of a parent who has lost a child.

This week we’ll be airing the documentary Anyone and Everyone, which illustrates the strong bond of love between parent and child. Through the stories of parents of gay youth from various religions and cultures, we learn important and universal lessons about love and acceptance. During broadcast of this moving film on Friday, January 18 from 9-10:30 p.m., MPT will open our phone lines (800-222-1292) to refer viewer calls to local support services, spiritual resources and related organizations to strengthen families of gay youth.

Turns out that there’s a health benefit to love and forgiveness, too. A recent Baltimore Sun article cites new research that forgiveness may be “medicine for the body.” Other studies have illustrated that “forgiveness interventions…can improve cardiovascular function, diminish chronic pain, and boost overall quality of life.” The upcoming documentary The Power of Forgiveness (airing on MPT March 19) traces some of this research and explores recent notable stories of forgiveness. Apparently, love + forgiveness = stronger bodies. Who knew?

So it turns out I’m killing two resolutions with one love & forgiveness stone. Pretty good deal. Here’s wishing all of you a strong, healthy and love-filled 2008!


Faith E. Michel
Director of Community Outreach Initiatives

From Romania to Brooklyn

The last time I made a point of watching a TV show was probably sometime around 1991, and—while I’m sheepish to admit it—there’s a good chance it was Beverly Hills 90210. Since then, it’s coincidental when I actually remember to sit down and watch something. So when my cell phone alarm started manically buzzing and beeping at 8:45 Wednesday night, it took me a minute to register why I set it in the first place. Aha! I was supposed to watch The Jewish Americans, a new three-part PBS documentary about the history of Jews in the United States. I figured it would be good to watch. Worst case scenario, it’d be less than thrilling and I might absorb a little something I didn’t know before. Best case scenario, I may actually manage to learn about my ancestry.

Two days later, I’m still flabbergasted by how much it helped me understand my heritage. As I watched the show, it was like all these disparate pieces of my life and memory finally came together—all the stories my grandmother told me about growing up in Brooklyn and Bayonne, New Jersey; what my father told me about his mother’s immigration to Philadelphia; the mysterious class trips we had in Hebrew school to Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Everything that didn’t quite gel from my Jewish American history class from college started to make sense.

I’ve always thought there’s a big disconnect between knowing something and truly understanding it. When you truly understand something, you can feel it—it becomes palpable. I knew that, generations ago, my family immigrated to America from Eastern Europe (Ukraine and Lithuania on my father’s side; Romania and Belarus on my mother’s), but I didn’t feel it. There was a disconnect. The show made their experiences a lot more tangible. It finally occurred to me how hard they must have struggled to make it here—living in cramped quarters, desperately trying to feel comfortable in a foreign place while holding onto to their roots, struggling just to get by.

It’s mind-blowing to me that here I am, just two generations later on my father’s side and three generations on my mother’s, as American as can be. Unlike my grandparents and great grandparents, I’ve never struggled to be Jewish. And I’ve been lucky to grow up and live in areas (northern New Jersey outside of New York City, Washington, D.C. and its surrounding suburbs and now Baltimore) where I can feel 100 percent comfortable as a practicing Jew. I wonder if my ancestors could have possibly imagined that not even a hundred years later, all of their sacrifices, their long trip across the ocean to live freely as Jews and embrace an unknown country would result in someone like me—a feisty journalist and public television employee who’s as thoroughly American as she is Jewish.

As I stared at the television screen, I felt immeasurable gratitude to these ancestors (most of whom, with the exception of my paternal grandmother, I never met) who risked everything to come to America. That they decided to leave the comfort, customs and language of their homelands to travel thousands of miles for freedom and opportunities and a better life for themselves and their families. (If they hadn’t left when they did, there’s a strong possibility they would have been killed by the Nazis and I wouldn’t be here at all.)

This summer, it will be eight years since my grandmother’s passing. She was my mother’s mother, my best friend and confidante. She used to tell me stories of how she spent her youngest years in a cramped two-room tenement in Brooklyn. “I had to share a bed with my grandmother,” she’d recollect as we sipped coffee together in her apartment. Her brothers put wooden chairs together as makeshift beds next to their sister and grandmother. Her mother—my great grandmother who spoke mostly Yiddish—always managed to make something out of nothing, and served steaming hot food—recipes from the old country, I’m sure—from a single bowl in the middle of the family table. Her father was a tailor, and her grandmother was so observant that she fasted every day that the Torah was read aloud in synagogue. The day she graduated college (a big deal for sure), “You know what I did afterwards?” she’d ask me with equal parts laughter and heartbreak. “I came home and scrubbed my mother’s kitchen floor on my hands and knees.” It was only through hard work and a whopping dose of elbow grease that her large family got by. But they did. And after watching The Jewish Americans, I wish more than ever that she was here today to tell me more stories from her youth.

My father’s mother came to America when she was 14 years old. Her family immigrated here to save theirs lives, bringing only what they could carry in their arms. They were fleeing a widespread hatred of the Jews, specifically the Cossacks—skilled militants on horseback—sent by the czar with specific instructions to kill any Jew within sight. (She told my father stories of how she and her sisters would hide under the family table while the Cossacks came through town.) When she arrived here, she was put in the third grade—as a teenager. She studied and studied and skipped ahead, grade after grade. She read aloud from the dictionary before she went to bed and lost her strong Russian accent. Anne, my late grandmother, grew into a beautiful American woman—a seamstress and beautician, a wonderful wife, mother and grandmother.

To my grandmothers and grandfathers, great grandparents and great-great grandparents, I never knew most of you, but thank you. Thank you for struggling for my sake, and the sake of my children and my children’s children. Thank you for making the long and unfamiliar journey here, and having faith in this wonderful country and making it your own. I’m a Jewish American and I couldn’t be more proud.

(The remaining two parts of The Jewish Americans air on MPT Wednesday, Jan. 23 and Jan. 30 at 9 p.m.)


Jessica Leshnoff
Communications Specialist & Blog Administrator

Mother Maybelle and me

Back in early December, I was checking the results of a TiVo “wishlist” search for one of my favorite actors, Robert Duvall. To my surprise, one of the results was for a show that aired on MPT December 19th. The American Experience program’s title was The Carter Family: Will the Circle Be Unbroken. TiVo is great for finding programming like this. After looking at the program description, I saw that Robert Duvall was the narrator! I thought this might be pretty good, so I set it up to record.

Now, I’m just a country boy at heart and even though I was raised on late 60s and 70s heavy metal, through the years I’ve somehow developed an affinity for old-time country music, folk and bluegrass. Sometimes my wife calls me a hick or a hillbilly. Maybe she’s right. But these types of music truly speak of the human condition, running the entire gamut of emotion. They tell stories of sorrow, grief, and depression, but also of hope, prosperity and love. They also tell stories of our history, and people that passed before us. But above all, this music just makes us feel good. I once heard an old bluegrass musician say that you could take the most depressing theme for a song, play it ninety miles-per-hour on a banjo and people would start clapping and tapping their feet.

The Carter family was no exception in that respect. I knew a little bit about their history, but the American Experience program filled in the gaps. Springing from the mountains of southwest Virginia, three brilliant musical talents came together to truly become “The First Family of Country Music.” There was A.P. Carter, whose drive, ambition and ability to find and pull songs out of those mountains (and then arrange them), which laid the solid foundation for the group. His wife, Sara, lent her powerful, haunting voice, and his sister-in-law, Maybelle—with her innovative “scratch” guitar style—became what was perhaps the backbone of the group.

They rose to prominence in the 1920s and continued to record and play through the early 1940s. As the American Experience website says, “The Carter Family sang of love and loss, desperation and joy, and their music captured the attention of a nation entering the darkest days of the depression.” The Carter Family’s music helped people through that depression and gave them hope for the future. They truly became a big part of our musical heritage.

I must admit that I’m a very frustrated guitarist. A few days after the show aired, I did some web searches for the “Carter scratch guitar style.” One link took me to a website selling a CD for learning the “Maybelle Carter Guitar Style.” I figured that for $17.50 it might be worth it. It arrived the other day, and I think I can learn some things from it. So maybe if I practice everyday until my fingers bleed, six months from now I might be able to play “Wildwood Flower” and sound somewhat like “Mother Maybelle”! That would be quite an accomplishment for me—and I could thank MPT, PBS, TiVo and Robert Duvall!


Mike Shriver
Computer Network Systems Administrator

Roadshow in the house!

The day has finally arrived! Season 12 of PBS smash hit Antiques Roadshow kicks off with three episodes filmed right here in our own Baltimore!

For a sneak peak, check out the Baltimore Sun preview in today’s paper—there’s even some video to watch. Big finds include a World Championship jacket worn by Colts legend Johnny Unitas and four rare American Indian artifacts valued at $130,000 to $200,000!

We’re so excited, we’re just bursting at the seams here at MPT. (Many of us volunteered over the summer when Antiques Roadshow rolled into town—we’ll have some personal stories for you soon all about that.) So throw some popcorn into the microwave, sit back and join MPT tonight at 8 p.m.! The Baltimore episodes continue Monday, Jan. 14 and Monday, Jan. 21 at 8 p.m.

What would Jane do?

(adapted from MPT’s January Tea Times newsletter)

My wife is 55 years old. She loves many things “Jane.” (That would be the late British novelist Jane Austen.) Most of these things are in print (the Jane books, biographies and so on) or on video (the Jane British TV mini-series and, of course, the Jane movies). She calls them “bonnet movies.” But she doesn’t know about the Republic of Pemberley yet.

Two of the hottest things these days are social networking and online video. I’m thinking Jane might be a fan of both. But I might be wrong. On the one hand, Jane wouldn't have to venture too far into the world to experience these things (seems fitting). She could do so with a great degree of discretion (also in line with her style). And she could observe, synthesize and comment as she saw fit (right on the money). On the other hand, she might simply shun the Internet all together. In the happy circumstance that Jane would venture online, I’d direct her first to Republic of Pemberley, an entire world dedicated to all things Jane (and done so with a great deal of taste).

The site began sometime around July 1996 as a spin-off of AUSTEN-L, an email discussion list, and evolved into a message board for fans nutty about the Pride and Prejudice BBC television mini-series. While “the Republic,” as its known to its devotees, does not claim to be the site for all Jane information and discussion, it does claim to be the destination for true Jane “obsessives.”

A tight-knit, intimate community, the Republic aspires to exude a bit of attitude what they characterize as “polite with a bite”—a delicious and wholly appropriate tagline. Its creators maintain the Republic is one of the most civil places on the Internet, a distinction the community prizes and cultivates through emulation of Jane’s own honest, moral and forthright ways. When you resonate with its tone, visiting the site is all the more fun. But beware: part of the attitude involves frankly matriarchal governance. But when you get down to it, it’s all about gushing over Jane.

So stop by the Republic of Pemberley as you sit back and prepare to watch fourteen hours of great Jane adaptations coming to MPT beginning Sunday, January 13 at 9 p.m. I know my wife will!

Eric Eggleton
Senior Vice President and Chief Content Officer

The times, they are a changin'

I had the distinct pleasure a couple months ago to witness my eight-year-old grandson, Ethan, at his first Bob Dylan concert. I know, there must be some of you asking, “What are these people thinking taking an eight-year-old to a Dylan concert?”

First and foremost, you need to know Ethan to understand. He’s the coolest eight-year-old you could ever know, and he’s been a huge Dylan fan since he was four. I’m willing to bet no one out there knows a four-year-old who has or had a Dylan poster in his bedroom, or a six-year-old as transfixed as he was by PBS’ No Direction Home (under the watchful eye of his parents, of course).

Ethan’s birthday was the week of the concert, and his parents decided it was finally ok for him to go to a concert. So off he went with his dad, grandfather and two uncles—a real guys’ night out. His family made certain he had the entire experience including tailgating with his favorite food, a game of football, and, of course, the required purchase of a Dylan t-shirt.

When I met them inside the concert gates, Ethan was leaning on the rail, binoculars up, looking at the opening act and ready to burst from excitement to see “the man” himself. It was a sobering experience for me to see my grandson at a concert, realizing he was old enough to be there. Where has the time gone?

I hear Ethan was somewhat disappointed because he didn’t hear his favorite song, Hurricane, and he couldn’t tell what was being played because Dylan changes his music so dramatically in concert. The favorites are there, just with music that’s not what you’re used to hearing. If you catch the words, you know; if you don’t catch the words, you don’t know. Regardless, it was a night I’m sure Ethan will never forget, nor will I.

Bob, if you see this, know that one of your biggest fans is just a kid and you still have what it takes to enthrall. For my part, there’s truly no direction home after experiencing a Dylan concert. Life just feels a little different and a little better for having been there.

Sue Vanskiver
Senior Administrative Assistant

PBS video extravaganza: online and FREE!

Sit at your computer more than your couch these days? Join the club.

Whether you’re prone to watching on-demand videos at 3 a.m. or just an overcaffeinated multitasker, PBS has got you covered with an online video hub full of favorites. The site (pbs.org/video) features everything from Frontline and the NewsHour to NOVA, classic Julia Child, Wide Angle, History Dectectives and Independent Lens. Definitely worth checking out.

Cheese glorious cheese!

As a wine lover (though my friends prefer to call me a “wine snob”) and former pasta addict, I’m right at home in Lidia’s Italy. Airing on MPT Saturdays at 3 p.m., Lidia Bastianich brings hearty Italian cuisine to the screen with ease.

Why do I love Lidia’s Italy? Let me count the ways. She is real, she is comfortable and she is extremely likeable. Watching her show is like coming home to a warm hug and a plate of love.

So on Saturday afternoons while folding laundry and snacking on another insipid rice cake, I let Lidia take me away to a magical place overflowing with wine, cheese and pasta. As a health nut with food intolerances and celiac disease, my food indulgence is limited, so I let Lidia tantalize (and torment) my taste buds as often as I can.

Back to cheese and pasta! These two ingredients make a command performance in so many of Lidia’s dreamy dishes. Some chefs sprinkle a pinch or two of parmesan over a pasta dish like a well-choreographed ballet, but Lidia conducts an orchestra of cheese, a bursting symphony for your senses. She does not hold back—and why should she? This is living! Sure, she makes plenty of lighter style fish and chicken dishes, but I like to focus on the cheese. Glorious cheese!

A pro at blending ingredients, Lidia also has an instinctive way of blending her family into the show. On any given Saturday you might get to know her adorable granddaughter Olivia who helps her make sweet treats and tortellini, or meet her son, Joseph, the wine connoisseur who comes in at just the right time to share a rich bottle of Barolo or Chianti with his mom. I am hooked! Is it the wine, the cheese or the pasta? Not sure. I think it’s a combination of all three, and a place to call home for a little while.


Leslie Adler
Marketing Manager, Education Projects

Ken Burns on success, failure and perseverance

If you dream of being the next Ken Burns, you're not alone. We recently spoke to the legendary documentary filmmaker and co-founder of Florentine Films about his path to success, what it takes to make it in the business and the three-ring binder of rejection letters he kept way back when.

The interview is the first of MPT's new podcast series, where we talk to inspiring people in public television and find out how they got where they are today.

To listen to the mp3 podcast, click here.

(The file can be listened to on your personal computer, iPod or other portable mp3 player. It may take a moment to load, and can be listened to via Windows Media Player, available for free download here.)

Blue Men, Bert and Ernie?

Now that the WGA writers strike is in full swing, I’m forced to watch TV on DVD whenever I want a helping of some of my favorite TV shows, like the doctor-comedy Scrubs. I had on the previous season of Scrubs while studying for a test last week, and would look up from time to time. At one point, I noticed a rather comedic scene where the main character JD was running away from a group of men, goes through a door in an alley and lands on stage at a Blue Man Group concert. The Blue Men spray JD with blue paint from one of their crazy inventions and then coat him in pink glitter. Naturally, (and to the amusement of the audience at the Blue Man Group show), police officers escort him off stage. (Check out the clip below. It'll have you in stitches.)

When I came in this Tuesday, my first task was to update our myspace page. I read through MPT's December program guide, and tried to find the most interesting shows to display on our page. Low and behold, we have a Blue Man Group special coming up on December 9 at 7:30 p.m. This got me thinking about how popular comedies on other stations often make references to PBS characters or programs.

There’s a famous scene from FOX’s Family Guy where Bert and Ernie have a controversial verbal exchange in one of Peter’s flashbacks. Peter, if you don’t know, is the brazen, yet lethargic main character of the animated comedy. For a brief moment during that scene, viewers may think about favorite PBS childhood characters they hadn’t thought about in years.

Who knows, this free publicity could be great for PBS, especially as the strike continues. People are going to start craving new programming. Maybe they’ll tune in to get a dose of Blue Men, Bert and Ernie?

Melissa Dockman
Communications Intern