Top Picks

"Take no prisoners. Fight to the bitter end." Those were everyday words to combat troops on both sides at the end of World War II in the Pacific. And they led to an unprecedented orgy of slaughter. In this provocative, thorough examination of the final months of the war, this film looks at the escalation of bloodletting from the vantage point of both the Japanese and the Americans.

On June 22, 1938, 70,000 fans crammed into Yankee stadium to watch what some observers have since called "the most important sporting event in history." Millions more tuned in to hear a blow-by-blow description on the radio. The rematch between the African American heavyweight Joe Louis and his German opponent Max Schmeling was riveting -"one hundred and twenty-four seconds of murder," as one newspaper put it.

Meet Katy and Moge, two Californians about to make their first journey to Tibet. Follow in their footsteps - from the moment they figure out their backpacks are a little too small to their final farewells from the beautiful city of Lhasa. Armed with cameras and a sense of humor, Katy and Moge brave bumpy roads and oxygen- deprivation to visit several of Tibet's most breathtaking monasteries, temples, and palaces - while encountering a colorful cast of characters, from playful Buddhist monks and beer-drinking folk dancers to the friendly hosts of an afternoon tea. For these two travelers, each day sheds new light on Tibetan society and culture in a way that challenges their assumptions, and may raise more questions than they can answer in the pages of... Tibet Diary.

WNED continues the exploration of the restoration of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Darwin Martin House complex with the second of three programs on the efforts. In this installment, Lynda Waggoner, the Executive Director of Fallingwater, discusses what a Frank Lloyd Wright restoration project can do for a community with host Drew Kahn and John Courtin, Executive Director of the Martin House Restoration Corporation . With her long association with Wright’s masterpiece in Mill Run, Pennsylvania , Waggoner has a unique insight on the Martin House’s economic potential .

A family from the Planet Matzah Ball finds out it is Jewish and rockets down to Cleveland, Ohio, to find out all about Chanukah. The music-driven video takes the family tumbling through space to learn the 2,000-year-old story of Judah Maccabbee recapturing the Temple in Jerusalem and lighting the one-day supply of oil that miraculously burned for eight days. Jewish children celebrate the holiday by spinning dreidels, eating latkes, singing Chanukah songs and lighting one candle each night in the menorah until on the final night there are eight candles burning to commemorate the event.

AN INDIGO CHRISTMAS WITH THE NATHANIEL DETT CHORALE captures the spirit of the season for viewers of every cultural background in a truly inspiring holiday music special. Before a live audience in an intimate church setting, the internationally renowned Toronto-based chorale performs a blend of music from traditional carols to African and Caribbean spirituals to jazz.

FACES OF A CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL, narrated by actress and children's author Jamie Lee Curtis, reveals the traumas and triumphs of emergency and exam rooms across the country. This heartwarming and often heartbreaking program documents the surgeries, chemotherapy treatments and transplant recoveries at five noted children's care facilities in Massachusetts, Texas, Wisconsin, California and New York. The documentary illuminates the unique challenges of children' s health care. Operating on a strawberry-sized heart requires both the specialized equipment and skills of a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon. Child-sized walkers, blood pressure cuffs, oxygen masks and surgical tools also allow doctors and nurses to aid even the tiniest body.