Family

On Set: “Brain Games” Wants To Give You A Mindgasm

I’m at a castle outside of London, and I’m watching King Henry VIII (and his suspiciously large, but historically accurate, codpiece) counsel three people in matching sweaters. One of the three is a genius. And celebrity smartie Jason Silva is there. But this isn’t a dream — this is Brain Games, and I’ve been invited along as the NGC series shoots Season 5, and further explores the 3 pounds of gray stuff that resides inside our skulls. Our adventure for today is Hever Castle, the childhood home of Henry VIII’s second wife Anne Boleyn and also home to an impressive […]

PBS Jackie Robinson
Documentary

#TCA16: PBS partners with NPR on Election 2016, gears up for Post-Downton Era

PBS announced new programming initiatives for 2016 at the TCA Winter Press Tour: PBS has entered into a strategic partnership with NPR to share news content between the two organizations as part of its PBS Election 2016 news, public affairs, documentary and digital programming surrounding the year’s politics. PBS and NPR team up to integrate content on PBS.org (beginning in February) and on the Politics section of NPR.org. PBS announced 16 for ’16 (working title), a 16-week documentary series that spotlights unforgettable presidential and vice-presidential candidates whose campaigns weren’t successful but earned them a significant place in the history books. Subjects […]

Secret Space Escapes
Documentary

ABORT MISSION! “Secret Space Escapes” documents close calls above Earth

Recounting space missions as recent as 2013, Science Channel’s new series Secret Space Escapes, premiering Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 10pm ET/PT, tells of the terrifying accidents, fights for survival and stories of close calls and near misses by the astronauts who survived them, and the people in mission control who helped each team avert disaster. Video preview: Press release from Science Channel: SCIENCE CHANNEL PREMIERES SECRET SPACE ESCAPES ON NOVEMBER 10 AT 10PM All-new Series Reveals Inspiring Accounts of Survival and Resourcefulness in the Space Age What’s it like to leave earth to explore the unknown? How does it feel to be […]

brealthrough-ngc-more-than-human
Documentary

Breakthrough — Famous folks celebrate scientific minds in NGC’s inspiring new series (video)

The six-episode, science-meets-storytelling series Breakthrough airs Sundays beginning Nov. 1 on National Geographic Channel. With multitasking cellphones in our pockets, artificial knees and hips a normal part of the aging process, and instant access to lifesaving vaccines, Americans are easily inured to the daily wonders of science. Breakthrough, a stirring, six-episode series from National Geographic Channel — in partnership with GE, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment, Asylum Entertainment and eager celebrity guest directors — aims to change that, one awe-inspiring innovator at a time. Each hour of Breakthrough takes viewers into the workspaces of today’s most diverse and […]

Brain Surgery Live
Science

TV: It’s Not Brain Surgery (Except, Sometimes It IS!)

This Sunday, National Geographic Channel and Mental Floss are partnering for the 2-hour live event Brain Surgery Live With Mental Floss that gives viewers a fascinating look at an awake deep brain stimulation surgery. For the first time on U.S. television, we’ll see live coverage from an operating room (at UH Case Medical Center in Cleveland) as 49-year-old veteran Greg Grindley, who suffers from early-onset Parkinson’s Disease, undergoes this surgery. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a procedure used to treat debilitating neurological symptoms, including Parkinson’s disease, by implanting electrodes that block electrical signals from specific areas in the brain. During awake DBS, patients are […]

No Picture
Documentary

Live From Space: Nat Geo takes you aboard the ISS

National Geographic Channel’s Live From Space two-hour event takes viewers 250 miles above Earth for a live broadcast from the International Space Station on Friday, March 14, at 8pm ET. National Geographic Channel’s groundbreaking Live From Space two-hour event takes viewers 250 miles above Earth for a live broadcast from the International Space Station on Friday, March 14, at 8pm ET. Traveling 4.9 miles per second, the ISS orbits Earth every 90 minutes, so viewers will see sunrise and sunset, and spectacular views of Earth in both day and night. Astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Koichi Wakata give viewers a guided […]