Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood has become one of our central gospels of child-rearing.
PBS
Television Review: “Beecham House” — A Steamy Passage to India
As a potentially thoughtful drama (hey, this is PBS) set during a revolutionary and colonialist era, Beecham House falls as flat as papadum.
WATCH CLOSELY: “Blood Sugar Rising” — Sweet Sorrow
Blood Sugar Rising deals with difficult subject matter, but steel yourself to view this engaging and educational look at a growing public health crisis.
Music Commentary: Ken Burns’ “Country Music” — Superb Cinematic Storytelling
Country Music digs into the rich, deep dirt of a music with a complicated past, a hybrid genre soaked in soulful suffering, twangy glory, and times both high and tough.
WATCH CLOSELY: PBS’ “Jamestown” — Glossy Heritage TV
Jamestown is a vividly timely reminder that anyone who calls themselves an “American” is actually descended from immigrants.
Dance Preview: “Black Ballerina” — Sparking Conversations about Dance and Race
“Tokenism also plays into this issue. Some companies are hiring one dancer of color and they think they’ve done diversity.”
Film Interview: Rory Kennedy defends “Last Days in Vietnam”
Not everybody loves the documentary Last Days in Vietnam. Director Rory Kennedy responds to some of the criticism.
Short Fuse News: “The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross” — A PBS Series Not to be Missed
In the first episode, Henry Louis Gates Jr. takes viewers back to Africa to talk, not as has been done before, with Africans whose forebears were lost to slavery but with descendants of Africans who grew rich on slave trade.
Book News: Forget the Insufferable “Mr. Selfridge” — Turn to Zola’s “The Ladies’ Paradise” Instead
Mr. Selfridge drives me nuts because the storyline, the rise of a mercantile empire, calls for edgy Darwinian conflict rather than paternal benevolence sprinkled with layers of powered soap opera.
Coming Attractions in Classical Music: October 2009
By Caldwell Titcomb Oct 4: Celebrated mezzo-soprano Frederika von Stade gives her farewell Boston performance to inaugurate the Celebrity Series’ new season. Also sharing the spotlight will be the famed soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. Symphony Hall, 3:00 p.m.