We hear about important programs being released on DVD by PBS Distribution, and we must share the news.
Rise of the Rockets (NOVA)
An explosion of private companies is sparking the development of new technologies and lowering costs to bring space closer than ever. And at the same time, NASA is returning to crewed spaceflight with gusto, building a rocket more powerful even than the storied Saturn V to take us far beyond Earth.
Will today’s optimism prove prescient, or nothing more than hype and wishful thinking? As costs come down and rockets with new capabilities come online, a new generation is reaching for the cosmos, daring to dream big and yearning to go farther, in greater numbers than ever before.
Watch for it May 7.
In The Next Pompeii, NOVA joins investigators as they hunt for clues hidden beneath the surface of Italy’s lesser-known volcano Campi Flegrei, and assesses the risk of a new and potentially devastating eruption. The program also follows historians and geologists as they discover the latest evidence of Pompeii’s fiery destruction, unpacking the chain of events that led to the ancient world’s most notorious disaster.
https://youtu.be/tzjUV0RiOJ8
What lessons does the tragedy of Pompeii hold for Naples’ citizens, who may face a mounting threat from the unseen forces beneath their feet?
Watch for it May 14.
The Roman emperor Nero is considered one of history’s greatest criminals, a cruel, insane and brutal ruler. His name has become synonymous with evil, and he stands accused of killing his step-brother, his wife, and his mother, as well as burning Rome to the ground for his own artistic inspiration. But are these stories true? Can they be proven?
Recent research, modern interpretations of historical sources, and new discoveries cast a different light on the accusations levelled at the Roman emperor. The Nero Files investigates Nero’s reign with the help of criminal psychologist Thomas Müller, using “cold case” methodology. Did history get it wrong? Was Nero a far better ruler than he’s ever been given credit for?
Watch for it May 14.
In the aftermath of the brutal wars that decimated Yugoslavia in the early 1990’s, former Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic was accused of genocide and other war crimes—including the massacre of more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys in the town of Srebrenica in July 1995—considered the worst crime perpetrated on European soil since World War II.
The Trial of Ratko Mladic (Frontline) chronicles the horror.
After 16 years on the run, Mladic was apprehended and brought to The Hague to stand trial before the UN’s International Criminal Tribunal, the biggest and only truly international war crimes tribunal since Nuremburg.
In the two-hour special Frontline goes inside the historic five-year trial, with unprecedented, behind-the-scenes access to the prosecution and defense teams, as well as to witnesses from both sides who came to present evidence.
The Trial of Ratko Mladic provides haunting insights into a war criminal’s motives, and the genocide he commanded his troops to carry out—as well as an intimate look at the victims left behind, who remain haunted by what their families endured. It tells an epic story of justice, accountability and a country trying to escape its bloody past.
Watch for it May 28.