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Each
week, LIFE
360 explores a theme of American life through documentary
film, interactive storytelling online, music, personal perspectives
and comedy.
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LIFE
360: a one-hour weekly series airing on WQED 13 on Fridays at 9pm.
It
defies traditional programming labels. It's not a conventional magazine
show. It's not a documentary show. It's not a news show. And it
definitely doesn't have a
traditional website.
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| Says LIFE
360 Host Michel
Martin:
"Great
stories, well told, are what bring us together. LIFE 360 will
explore issues and ironies, challenges and comforts, dilemmas
and desires that we can all relate to from the multiple perspectives
of different stories. Life is always surprising, and that's
what we want to capture in LIFE 360." |
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PROGRAM
1:
SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION (October 5)
How
are we connected to each other? In "Six Degrees of Separation,"
Anna Deavere Smith and Jake Johannsen look at how closely we
are all connected; the documentary "The Ripple Effect" probes
the impact of the lives of four men who were all saved by the
same hero in Vietnam; Pulitzer Prize winning writer Ron Suskind
takes us back to 1969 when the nation shared in one, great human
experience: the first moon landing and Robert Krulwich takes
an animated look at Julius Caesar's last breath. Music from
the band Train. Michel Martin hosts. |
PROGRAM
2:
FOOD
(October 12)
The
stuff of life, and much more. In "New York Kitchens," commentator
Robert Krulwich takes viewers behind the scenes at some of New
York's most exclusive restaurants; Cuban-American performer
Carmen Pelaez leads us into the Cuban food culture of Miami's
Little Havana; a short film, "Dumpster Diving" invites us to
dine with young eco-radicals who salvage their meals from the
trash, and Margaret Cho reflects on a lifetime spent loving
food and battling weight. Music from singer Dianne Reeves. Michel
Martin hosts while on location in Miami. |
PROGRAM
3:
A PLACE IN TIME
(October 19) Random
events and chance meetings can change lives. "Forever Fourteen,"
a documentary film by Kelly St. John, tells a story of criminal
assault, survival, and coming to terms. In "Meet Me Under the
Clock," writer Ron Suskind shares tales of romance that began
with encounters under a famous New York clock. Margaret Cho
muses on the circle being unbroken - whether the circle represents
religion or pizza. Music from Mary Chapin Carpenter. Michel
Martin hosts. |
PROGRAM
4:
VOICE
(October 26)
Our
voices are as distinctive as our faces. Peter Nicks' film "Stutter
Step" profiles the great college running back Adrian Peterson,
whose stutter can make his speech as halting as his feet are
swift. The 19th-century show business phenomenon "Blind Tom,"
an illiterate slave, wrote and performed lush romantic piano
music; John Davis plays Blind Tom's compositions in this sequence
from producer Jill Rosenbaum. Host Michel Martin interviews
ventriloquist Spencer Horsman, and filmmaker Alix Lambert contributes
a portrait of her "Uncle Stanley," 95 year-old poet Stanley
Kunitz. Music from John Hiatt. Michel Martin hosts. |
PROGRAM
5:
ROOTS
(November 2)
We
all came from somewhere else, and we all carry a legacy from
our ancestors. "Journey to Africa/Journey Home" follows a group
of African-Americans on an emotional pilgrimage to Senegal,
Ghana, and Benin - the tragic terminals of the slave trade.
"Waters That Separate" profiles Gwendolyn Midlo-Hall, who has
created a database that traces the roots of hundreds of thousands
of Africans who were sold into New World slavery. In "One Drop
of Blood," an Alaskan woman exploring her family tree discovers
ancestors of color in New Orleans. Margaret Cho reflects on
her Korean roots. Music from the up and coming cabaret singer
Darius de Haas. Michel Martin hosts. |
PROGRAM
6:
JUNK
(November 9)
One person's junk is another's treasure. "E-Bay," a film by
Nancy Roach looks at the community of one of the most successful
of all Web sites and, some would argue, the world's biggest
swap meet. "Savers & Throwers" profiles those who save everything
and those who throw everything away - and who occasionally marry
each other. "Upscale Junk" visits the Nantucket town dump, where
usable junk is available to all. Margaret Cho relates a shocking
discovery in a junk shop. Music from Jude. Michel Martin hosts.
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PROGRAM
7:
LEAVING HOME
(November 16)
Leaving home is both a beginning and an end. "Seeds of Growth"
takes viewers to a unique inner-city boarding school that provides
a challenging environment for students without making them leave
their neighborhoods. In "Return to St. Paul's," Michel Martin
recalls her first time away from home, in a school which had
previously had few female and African-American students. "From
Minsk to Nashville" introduces Bering Strait, a country-western
band from Russia on the road for their first U.S. tour; Margaret
Cho describes the freedom of living on her own as a teenager.
"A Life Uncloistered" profiles a nun who leaves the convent
that was her home for 70 years. Music from Suzanne Vega. Michel
Martin hosts. |
PROGRAM
8:
BRIDGES
(November 23)
An early engineering triumph and a metaphor for connection.
San Francisco's Bay Bridge is 65 years old, and is literally
being taken apart and put together again in anticipation of
"the big one" while traffic continues to flow across it. The
people behind the transformation are profiled in Peter Nicks'
film "Heavy Lifting." Michel Martin rides across "A Bridge Too
Far," accompanying a state trooper who drives "bridge phobics"
over the Chesapeake Bridge, and Cuban-American performer Carmen
Pelaez takes us to her favorite place to meditate on life: New
York's Brooklyn Bridge. Music from a guest to be announced.
Michel Martin hosts while on location in San Francisco. |
| PROGRAM
9: MILESTONES (January 4, 2002) Life's
big events can be painful or productive, but they'll be memorable.
"On the Verge," a film by Tami Yeager, follows graduating high
school students as they head out into the world. Filmmaker Mary
Beth Kirchner chronicles her mother's difficult adjustment to
widowhood. "Butter Sculptures," by Academy Award-winner Stephen
Okazaki, goes to Minnesota's Dairy Princesses beauty pageant,
in which the entrants are sculpted in butter. "My Adoption"
tells an unusual story of adoptive parents and adopted child.
Music from Five for Fighting. Michel Martin hosts. |
PROGRAM
10: FLYING
(January 11, 2002) Even
today, flying remains magical - the active ingredient in the
shrinking of the world. In "How I Learned to Fly," filmmaker
Alix Lambert takes the controls of a small plane, floats weightless
in NASA free-fall, and boards the Goodyear Blimp. "Fly-O-Rama"
proves that it's physically impossible for a fly to get off
the ground - but nobody seems to have told the fly. Music from
Aimee Mann. Michel Martin hosts while on location in Austin,
TX. |
PROGRAM
11:
TENS
(Date TBA)
Ten-year-olds offer their unique perspective on the world. In
"Being Ten," a film by Ray Telles, host Michel Martin discusses
life with a group of tens from Oakland, California. Pulitzer
Prize-winning writer Ron Suskind examines the way ten-year-old
boys idolize sports heroes in "Sports Forever." Comedian Jake
Johannsen gets answers to questions from a group of ten-year-olds,
and "Ten-Year-Old Dog" presents perspectives on the world from
a tired dog. Music from Alana Davis. |
PROGRAM
12:
OWNING UP
(Date TBA)
Perspectives
from the forgiven, the forgivers, and the unrepentant. "The
Pilot" profiles a former airline pilot who was sent to prison
for flying while intoxicated but who returned to the cockpit
after his release and a battle with his disease. Music from
Shawn Colvin. Michel Martin hosts while on location in Minneapolis.
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PROGRAM
13:
MONUMENTS
(Date TBA)
Why do some monuments have such enduring fascination? Writer
Ron Suskind and Academy Award-winning filmmakers Rob Epstein
and Jeffrey Friedman present "Prairie Dogs," a whimsical trip
across monument-rich South Dakota, from Mount Rushmore to the
Corn Palace. Jake Johannsen wages a campaign to place the current
president on Mount Rushmore as recompense for the country's
failure to deliver him a majority of the popular vote last November.
Music from a guest to be announced. Michel Martin hosts. |
CREDITS
Michel
Martin:
LIFE 360 host Michel Martin has always loved a good story.
As guest anchor and regular contributor for ABC's Nightline,
Martin has mixed the personal with the universal in her reports.
Prior to joining ABC News, Martin covered state and local
politics for The Washington Post and was White House correspondent
at the Wall Street Journal. She has also been a regular panelist
on the PBS show Washington Week in Review. Martin won an Emmy
for a segment she did on the campaign to end land mines, and
her work was cited for excellence by the Columbia University
Graduate School of Journalism. A native of Brooklyn, N.Y.,
Martin is a graduate of Radcliffe College at Harvard University.
Oregon
Public Broadcasting: The OPB Interactive department has
produced major Web sites for PBS.org, as well as enhanced-TV
prototypes, books, and extensive promotion and education/outreach
campaigns for PBS primetime programs.
Hot
Pepper: Hot Pepper has created spicy Web sites and interactive
multimedia applications that have entertained, educated and
engaged audiences since 1991.
ABC
Nightline: For 21 years Nightline has provided viewers
with in-depth reporting from around the globe. Nightline is
considered one of the finest innovations in broadcast news,
known for its probing interviews, coverage of global news
events, and broadcast innovations such as live town meetings.
Anchored by Ted Koppel, the half-hour program airs weeknights
at 11:35 p.m. on the ABC television network.
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