Between The Pages includes interviews with cast members Anna Madely (Mrs. Hall), Nicholas Ralph (James Herriot), Rachel Shenton (Helen Alderson), Samuel West (Siegfried Farnon) and Callum Woodhouse (Tristan Farnon), as well as the talents behind the series, including executive producers Colin Callender and Melissa Gallant, lead director Brian Percival and lead writer Ben Vanstone. The program looks back at Dame Diana Rigg in her final role as the delightfully eccentric Mrs. Pumphrey, reveals what it’s like to work with the animals, explores the love triangle that provided laughter, tears and romance, and visits the timeless set of this sweeping drama. The special airs Sunday, August 15th at 9:00pm.
WPSU Radio Highlights
BookMark 08/05 & 08/08 – "Wrong Kind of Paper" by Cindy Simmons
On BookMark, the community book review show, WPSU listeners talk about the books they’ve recently enjoyed. This week -- a novel about a small town newspaper reporter who uncovers a BIG story — a debut novel by a Penn State comm professor. Reviewer Helen Dempsey lives in State College.
In Case You Missed It . . .
Petition Submitted To Consolidate Towns
WPSU’s Min Xian reports on letting voters in the city of DuBois and nearby Sandy Township, decide whether to consolidate the two municipalities in November. A petition that will present the choice to voters was submitted to the Clearfield County Elections Office on Tuesday. Plans for a consolidation have been voted down three times since 1989. Listen here.
Take Note: Nyla Holland Discusses Importance Of Local Activism, Maintaining Mental Health
This episode of Take Note features Nyla Holland, an active member of the 3/20 Coalition in State College and the former president of Penn State's Black Caucus. She spent her four years at Penn State as an activist at the university and the local community. In the fall, she will continue her education at Penn State in pursuit of a master's degree in public policy where she'll continue as an activist. Listen here.
State College School Board OKs Plan Allowing Vaccinated To Go Maskless, After Contentious Meeting
WPSU’s Anne Danahy filed a report on the SCAD’s Board decision that starting this fall, students and staff who have been vaccinated for COVID-19 will not have to wear masks inside, while those who have not been vaccinated will. The 7-2 vote followed a lengthy discussion by the board and a contentious public comment period, with some parents booing during the meeting. Other parents spoke in support of the board, with some asking the district to go further and require everyone to wear a mask. Full story here.
WPSU Television Highlights
In Their Own Words “Muhammad Ali” - Tuesday, August 3 at 9:00 pm
Follow Muhammad Ali's path from a gym in Louisville to boxing successes, conversion to Islam, opposition to the draft, exile from the ring, comeback fights, Parkinson's disease and his inspirational re-emergence at the Atlanta Olympics.
Animal Super Senses (3-part series) - Wednesdays at 8:00 pm starting August 4
Our human senses are pretty incredible - but we only experience the tip of the iceberg. Imagine if you could ‘see’ with sound, smell food buried deep underground, or see the world in slow motion. This series explores the hidden world of animal senses. Stories covered include how elephants can hear thunderstorms hundreds of miles away, how bees distinguish between complex pheromones and the bizarre deep-sea arms race that has forced an ocean giant to evolve the largest eye on our planet - the size of a human head!
Secrets of Skin (3-part series) - Wednesdays at 9:00 pm starting August 4
With the help of experts, hands-on experiments and stunning case studies from the natural world, this fascinating series reveals how skin adapts, moves and protects. Learn about frogs that excrete lethal poisons through their skin, animals whose skin has evolved ‘air conditioning’ to keep them cool, and hippos who have their own type of sunscreen. It’s all revealed in this series exploring one of nature’s greatest wonders.
Walking Hadrian’s Wall with Robson Green (3-part series) - Mondays at 9:00 pm starting August 9
Explore the length of one of the largest, and most impressive remnants of the Roman Empire, Hadrian’s Wall. Robson Green will walk the wall, which stretches 80-miles from coast to coast in the north of England, and served as the northerly frontier of the Roman Empire.
Frontline “in the Shadow of 9/11” - Tuesday, August 10 at 9:00 pm
How seven men in Miami were indicted for the biggest alleged al-Qaeda plot since 9/11. From the director of Leaving Neverland, the bizarre story of an FBI sting that led to a terror prosecution, though the men had no weapons or connection to al-Qaeda.
All Creatures Great and Small: Between the Pages - Sunday, August 15 at 7:30 pm
Get to know the cast and creators of the hit series based on James Herriot's beloved books. Savor the best moments from the first season, including Dame Diana Rigg in her final role as Mrs. Pumphrey, and look ahead to what might happen in Season 2.
Unforgotten on Masterpiece (Season Finale) - Sunday, August 15 at 9:00 pm
Despite a tragic turn of events, Sunny and the team narrow down the suspects. Will they succeed in bringing Walsh's killer to justice?
Governmental Relations
Last week, the House passed a package of Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 appropriations bills, including the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (Labor-HHS-Education) bill, which fully funded public media’s request.
As a reminder, the levels provided in that bill included:
• $565 million for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) in FY 2024 representing a $90 million increase.
• $20 million for Interconnection — level funding that matches our request.
• $31.78 million for Ready To Learn — a $2.28 million increase.
While two amendments had been filed to the bill to cut public media funding, neither amendment was made in order as the bill advanced onto the floor of the House of Representatives. Having the House fully support and advance our funding requests is an excellent position to be in at this point in the process and America's Public Television Stations (APTS) greatly appreciate all the efforts by the stations and grassroots community that helped get us to this point.
The Senate Appropriations Committee is planning to start moving forward on some of its annual spending bills next week, however no timeline for the consideration of the Senate Labor-HHS-Education bill has been announced.
Industry News
Study Finds Public Tv Outpacing Radio In Donor Growth
Public television stations grew their donor base at a higher rate than public radio stations from fiscal years 2019 to 2020, according to a study presented July 16 during the Public Media Development and Marketing Conference. Results of the donorCentrics Benchmarking Project from Blackbaud‘s Target Analytics showed that the median number of active donors among a cohort of TV stations grew about 5% from FY 2019 to 2020. Donor revenue increased about 6%. The median number of donors to the study’s public radio stations grew by about 1%. Donor revenue growth was level with the public TV stations. The study tracks 63 public broadcasters in a variety of market sizes that collectively have 3.5 million donors and $520 million in donor revenue.
FCC's Rosenworcel: More Than 4 Million Tap Into Broadband Benefit
Acting FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel said that more than four million households have signed up for a new Biden Administration emergency broadband subsidy program. The EBB, which launched May 12, is a $3.2 billion program established by Congress as part of a December COVID-19 aid package. In addition to helping low income residents get and stay connected during the pandemic the EBB includes a one-time $100 toward a computer or tablet. Full story here.
Disney Teams on Latino Producer Incubator Program
The National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) is teaming with Disney, Amblin, Starz and the Motion Picture Association to launch Latino Lens: Producers Pipeline Incubator. "With the Latinx community’s spending power growing towards $2 trillion and an audience reflecting nearly 20% of the box office and 58.9 million of the U.S. population, the industry must include Latinx in the conversation as it relates to the financial growth and future of this business," said NALIP.
It Happened in Florida (No Surprise.)
A man was injured by a jaguar at a Florida zoo after climbing over a barrier and moving too close to the animal’s enclosure, officials said.The attack occurred Wednesday at the Range of the Jaguar display at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, the Florida Times Union reported. The man was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, zoo officials said. The man climbed over a waist-high safety barrier that puts about 4 feet (1.2 meters) of empty space between visitors and the jaguar exhibit’s fence, zoo spokeswoman Kelly Rouillard said. The man began taunting the jaguar and reached his hand through the fence, she said. [AP - 7/31/21]
Quotables
"Summer bachelors like summer breezes, are never as cool as they pretend to be." —Nora Ephron
Resources and Tips
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