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Examine a single topic through a lens of arts, culture, and science on THE ARTICULATE HOUR – starting May 5
< < Back toTHE ARTICULATE HOUR Explores Big Ideas Through A Lens of The Arts, Culture and Science
Emmy Award-winning Host Jim Cotter Converses with Artists, Scholars and Creative Thinkers About Navigating A Complex World
Three-Part Series Debuts Friday, May 5, 9 p.m. on PBS
THE ARTICULATE HOUR, a three-part miniseries, brings together artists, scholars, and other great creative thinkers to explore the big ideas that shape us. Each episode examines a single topic through a lens of arts, culture, and science, showing not only the different perspectives that each angle provides, but also the overlap where our lives actually take place. Join Emmy Award-winning host Jim Cotter as he talks with poets, musicians, neuroscientists, dancers, historians, playwrights, and others about how we live our lives and navigate our complex world. THE ARTICULATE HOUR premieres Friday, May 5 at 9 p.m. on PBS, PBS.org, the PBS App and PBS Passport.
“We had a hunch when we started making the show that the difference between how scientists and artists think are not as different as conventional wisdom would suggest, said Cotter, who serves as host and managing editor of THE ARTICULATE HOUR. “We were fascinated to discover that they have more in common than not – a comprehensive knowledge of craft, finely-honed technique, and a desire to discover something new and unique.”
Conversations with the show’s diverse guests lead to unexpected insights into our common humanity from evolutionary adaptations in our brains and the way we make music, to how we think about our past. These inclusive discussions surprise and delight as they reveal the broad ties that unite us in an often-fractious world. Notable guests include: Mahzarin Banaji, Harvard professor and psychologist; Lee Child, best-selling author; Simone Dinnerstein, pianist; Ben Folds, American singer-songwriter; Lisa Genova, neuroscientist and novelist; Sebastian Junger, filmmaker and journalist; Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Prize-winning psychologist; Gregory Pardlo, poet and Pulitzer Prize-winner; Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi, folk musicians; Valerie June, singer-songwriter; Lera Boroditsky, cognitive scientist; Akram Khan, dancer and choreographer; David Henkin, historian; and more.
In the first episode, “Partial Recall,” artists and scholars discuss the reliability of our recollections and the surprising ways our memories fuel creativity. In the second installment, “Together/Alone,” THE ARTICULATE HOUR examines the contrast between our need to be a part of a community and our desire to pursue our individual interests. In the finale, “Marking Time,” the series looks at the relationship between measured and perceived time and how each play into our daily lives and the physical world we inhabit.
Episode 1: “Partial Recall”
Premieres: Friday, May 5, 9-10 p.m.
Description: Memory is the amazing ability of our brains to store and access skills, information, and emotions. Artists and scholars discuss the reliability of our recall and the surprising ways our memories fuel creativity. Notable guests include Simone Dinnerstein, pianist; Ben Folds, singer-songwriter; Lisa Genova, neuroscientist and novelist; Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Prize-winning psychologist; and Gregory Pardlo, poet and Pulitzer Prize-winner.
Episode 2: “Together/Alone”
Premieres: Friday, May 5, 10-11 p.m.
Description: As modern humans, we crave both connection to others and our own solitude. Artists, scholars, and other great creative thinkers explore these contrasting impulses. In the second episode, Mahzarin Banaji, Harvard professor and psychologist; Lee Child, best-selling author; Sebastian Junger, filmmaker and journalist; and Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi, folk musicians, join host Jim Cotter.
Episode 3: “Marking Time”
Premieres: Friday, June 30, 10-11 p.m.
Description: So much of human behavior is governed by our sense of time, yet questions about time’s fundamental nature remain unanswered. Artists and experts — Valerie June, singer-songwriter; Lera Boroditsky, cognitive scientist; Akram Khan, dancer and choreographer; David Henkin, historian; Hélène Grimaud, pianist; Rasheedah Phillips, interdisciplinary artist; Satchin Panda, biologist; Christopher Deviney, percussionist; Angela Zator Nelson, percussionist; and Dean Buonomano, neuroscientist — discuss the tension between scientifically measured, socially constructed, and individually perceived time.