BBC Monthly: April Docs, Specials and Video Selections – March 22, 2023

Coming in April 2023

Featuring voices from across the U.S. and around the globe, connect your audience to the world with these unique stories and perspectives. This month, we learn about how we discovered climate change in The Climate Question, people share stories about King Charles ahead of his coronation in ‘The Day I Met the King’ and then we learn how a hairdresser is fighting oil spills. See below for details and more unique stories.

Visit our website to learn more, and find links to ContentDepot for programs, promos and billboards.

As a BBC affiliate, you have access to rights-cleared videos produced by the BBC. Visit the BBC Media Partner Centre to take advantage of this opportunity and increase your social media presence with consistent, shareable videos centering topics aligned with your audience’s interests.

See below for a curated selection of high-performing videos.

Docs and Specials

*If you would like to request an air window extension, please contact your station representative. Extensions are considered on a case-by-case basis and may be granted subject to rights.

The Climate Question: How did we discover climate change / Does the answer to climate change lie in space?

One hour
April 9 – 29, 2023

An amateur scientist called Eunice Foote discovered the link between CO2 and global warming in America in 1856. That was 167 years ago. If we’ve known about climate change for so long, why haven’t people taken it more seriously? Then, does the answer to our insatiable need for energy have its solution in space-based solar farms?

The hidden caste codes of Silicon Valley

Half hour
April 18 – May 8, 2023

Indian workers are thriving in Silicon Valley, but some say they face caste discrimination.

The Day I Met The King

One hour
April 29 – May 26, 2023

To coincide with his Coronation, people from across the world recall their meetings with King Charles III of the United Kingdom.

Monthly BBC Video Selections:

View the instructional guide and social media best practices resource available on our website. Click the links and images below to preview and download these videos.

People Fixing the World: How eating oysters could help protect the coast

Description: The Louisiana coastal wetlands are being washed away, leaving the region more vulnerable to hurricanes and flooding. Now, restaurants in New Orleans are recycling their oyster shells so they can be used to build sea walls.
Suggested social copy: Restaurants in New Orleans are recycling their oyster shells in an effort to protect the Louisiana coastline.
Duration: 1 minutes 58 seconds

People Fixing the World: Using human hair to fight oil spills

Description: Usually our hair is thrown away after it’s cut. But a hairdresser in Wales has been using her customers’ hair to help save the planet.
Suggested social copy: A hairdresser in Wales is collecting her customers’ hair and turning it into something useful.
Duration: 1 minute 32 seconds

Why is that?: How honeybees self-medicate when they get sick

Description: Just like us, honeybees get sick. But they have a clever way of protecting against parasites… Professor Jaap de Roode from Emory University explains how beekeepers could have unintentionally put honeybees at risk by selecting against this self-medicating behaviour.
Suggested social copy: Honeybees self-medicate against parasites – but are beekeepers putting them at risk?
Duration: 1 minute 17 seconds

Your week at a glance: March 20 – 24, 2023

Below you will find the latest upcoming program updates for the week ahead. PLEASE NOTE: All details are subject to change. Additional details will be shared via ContentDepot as they become available.

Use the links below to visit our dedicated program pages, where you’ll find show logos, digital assets and more.

News

Marketplace

Marketplace (PM)

Week of March 20

Kai and the rest of the Marketplace team will continue their in-depth and far-reaching coverage of the banking industry as it unfolds in real time.
Marketplace was already hearing about banks having liquidity issues before the recent failures. Marketplace’s Justin Ho looks into whether smaller banks are seeing customers flee to bigger rivals — and how things look from the perspective of small banks right now.

Marketplace Tech

March 20: Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino speaks with Garret Johnson, Marketing Professor at Boston University to discuss the potential effects/disruption of integrating AI chatbots into search engines.
March 22: With talks about banning the social media platform Tik Tok and ByteDance’s CEO scheduled to appear in front of a court to testify this week, we’ll look at how everyday TikTok users and users who have built brands and entire livelihoods off the app feel about the concerns lawmakers have. And how will users react if the app were banned.
March 23: Marketplace’s Lily Jamali speaks with Marketplace senior correspondent and host of APM’s Call to Mind Kimberly Adams, about the state of loneliness in this country and the role tech plays in that.

On Point

March 20: Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse is the second largest bank failure in U.S. history, and a 2018 rollback on bank regulations helped cause it. On Point examines what happens when so-called midsized banks also get too big to fail.
March 21: Nearly three in five teenage girls felt persistent sadness in 2021, double the rate of boys, according to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And it’s not just because of the pandemic. On Point takes a closer look at the toll of social media on teenagers’ mental health.

BBC World Service

Reminder: The spring interim schedule is now in effect until Saturday March 25. The summer schedule begins Sunday March 26
Happy News, a six-part series that began on March 5, tracks down the people at the center of the happiest stories in the world and hears from listeners with their own happy tales. Episodes air on the WS Sundays 5:30 – 6pm ET through March 20 and then at 4:30 – 5pm ET March 26 through April 10. Current episode is now available on the BBC Media Partner Center.

Arts and Culture

The Splendid Table

March 24 – repeat episode

We love them, we hate them, but we need them! This week we’re looking at the hidden life of an everyday object, the refrigerator. Historian Jonathan Rees, author of Refrigerator Nation joins us with a historical take. Then, we dig into design questions like, what is up with that egg container? And chef Shola Olunloyo of StudioKitchen in Philadelphia brings us some inspiration to turn your fridge into a hot bed of culinary triumph!

Performance Today

March 20: Full performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 by the English Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kenneth Woods

March 21: Leland Ko, one of this season’s PT Young Artists in Residence will be featured, playing music by Florence Price, Fazil Say and Antonin Dvorak

March 22: JoAnn Falletta leads the The Buffalo Philharmonic in a performance of a composition by Wang Jie

March 23: The Imani Winds perform music by Nathalie Joachim at a Chamber Music Northwest concert from Portland, Oregon

March 24: Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival performance of Louise Farrenc’s Sextet for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, and Piano

Timely Selections

Shareable video of the week

All BBC affiliated stations have access to rights-cleared videos produced by the BBC. Use these videos to bolster your social platforms. Set up your account to access the BBC Media Partner Centre and explore the library of videos!

Need some additional assistance to learn how to utilize these videos? Please contact your station relations representative.

How lobsters are helping us see into space

Description: X-ray space telescopes can be used to study big events, like the formation of black holes. But until recently, their field of vision has been relatively narrow – making it difficult to capture this unexpected activity. By mimicking the way lobsters’ eyes work, scientists around the world have designed new telescopes that can survey much larger areas.
Suggested social copy: Learn how lobster eyes are helping scientists design new telescopes.
Duration: 1 minute 32 seconds

Questions? Please contact your Station Representative.

APM Presents special of the week

Witness: Women’s History Month

Broadcast Window: March 1 – 31, 2023

Length: One hour

New for 2023, a special hour-long edition of Witness History from the BBC World Service. Remarkable stories of women’s history, told by the women who were there. Selected from the BBC’s Witness History program, we hear moving, inspiring and even outrageous stories about a few of the most important women in living memory. Questions? Please contact your Station Representative.

Your week at a glance: March 13 – 19, 2023

News

Marketplace

Marketplace (PM)

Week of March 13

Next week we kick off an ongoing series focused on often forgotten economic indicators to show you what’s happening across the economy. Listen to Kai explain the raw industrial index (what goes into your candles) the cardboard index and many more.

Marketplace Tech

Mar 13: Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino speaks with Aniket Bera, a computer science professor at Purdue University, who has a whole lab dedicated to making AI programs and robots more sensitive to human emotions.
Mar 14: Meghan McCarty Carino speaks with Garret Johnson, Marketing Professor at Boston University about the potential effects/disruption of integrating AI chatbots into search engines.
Mar 15: Meghan McCarty Carino speaks with Justin Sherman, a senior fellow at Duke University’s school of public policy, about his research into data brokers and the sale of mental health data.

On Point

Mar 13: Parasites cause human disease and are big on the yuck-factor. It’s easy to think of parasites doing no good, but researchers say that’s the wrong way to think about these essential creatures. What makes parasites so important in our ecosystems and why they’re worth saving.
Mar 15: Many parts of the natural world depend on nighttime to thrive and survive. Light pollution threatens not just the night sky but the well-being of many species. We talk about darkness and what’s at risk for plants, animals and humans when there’s too much light.

BBC World Service

A new six-part special, Happy News, premiered Sunday March 5. This is a collection of happy stories, from across the world, with inspiring audio, uplifting interviews and joyous reflection. Happy News tracks down the people at the center of the happiest stories in the world and hears from listeners with their own happy tales.

The release schedule is as follows:

Happy News

Program duration: 26 minutes 30 seconds

WS Broadcast Release Dates:

BBC News | World Service broadcast times (5 March – 20 March):

APM | Sun 5:30 – 6 p.m. ET

BBC News | World Service broadcast times (26 March – 10 April):

APM | Sun 4:30 – 5 p.m. ET

Media Partner Centre Release Dates:

March 6, 13, & 20 at 02:30 GMT for 7 days.

March 27, April 3, and April 10 at 01:30 GMT for 7 days.

Link to Happy News on the Media Partner Centre

Arts and Culture

The Splendid Table

March 17

This week we’re taking your cooking questions with James Beard Award winning chef chef Robynne Mai‘i of Fête in Honolulu and Nick Sharma author of The Flavor Equation brings us a guide to cooking with crispy things!

Performance Today

Ruth Reinhardt conducts the National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic in a performance of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s “Ballade for Orchestra”

The Nashville Symphony performs Jennifer Higden’s “blue cathedral”

Inna Faliks performs Billy Child’s “Pursuit”

Michelle Rofrano conducts the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra in a performance of Fanny Mendelssohn’s “Overture in C major”

Leila Josefowicz performs Igor Stravinsky’s “Violin Concerto in D Major” with the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles

Timely Selections

Shareable video of the week

People Fixing The World: The ‘life-changing’ electric suit

Description: A special body suit for people with cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and strokes has had some remarkable results. It sends electrical stimulation to muscles which can reduce pain and make movement easier. Reporter: Myra Anubi Produced by William Kremer and Richard Kenny
Suggested social copy: See how a body suit can help those with cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and strokes.
Duration: 2 minutes 27 seconds

Questions? Please contact your Station Representative.

APM Presents special of the week

Becoming Muslim

Broadcast Window: Mar 15 – Apr 30, 2023

Length: One hour

For Ramadan, join host Hana Baba for more stories of Americans who chose Islam. Baba also discusses the history of Islam in America with Dr. Edward E. Curtis IV. Uncover a religious history rarely taught and the people who make up the diverse Muslim community in the United States. Questions? Please contact your Station Representative.

Your week at a glance: March 6 – 12, 2023

News

Marketplace

Marketplace (PM)

Week of March 6

Kai attempts to balance the U.S. federal budget by playing the “fiscal ship” game with Louise Sheiner at Brookings. (Federal Budget is out on March 9th)

Marketplace Tech

Mar 6: We have a story about how Amazon and Walmart’s influencer programs opens the door to many content creators on TikTok to highlight their products through video, especially when retail giants can’t upscale their presence on the platform themselves.
Mar 9: Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino speaks with Aniket Bera, a computer science professor at Purdue University, who has a whole lab dedicated to making AI programs and robots more sensitive to human emotions.
Mar 10: Ahead of Oscars weekend, Meghan McCarty Carino speaks with Joshua Glick, visiting associate professor of film and electronic arts at Bard College, about how AI is used in films and how it can make cinema more collaborative.

On Point

Mar 6: A major new study out of the UK shows that a four-day work week can work both for the employees and the employers. But could it work in the U.S. and, if so, how?
Mar 7: The medical journal, The Lancet, has released a study that finds that natural immunity from a COVID infection provides as much protection against severe infection as two doses of vaccine, for about a year. What are we now the role of natural immunity in the evolution of the pandemic?
Mar 10: Barbara Brandon-Croft joins Meghna for a conversation about her pioneering career “pushing against history,” as the first African American woman with a mainstream syndicated comic strip.

Arts and Culture

The Splendid Table

March 10

We’re taking your questions this week with help from Food Network’s Chopped judge and award-winning author of Chaat: Recipes From the Kitchens, Markets and Railways of India, Maneet Chauhan. Then, we get back to some basic cooking strategies with Dawn Perry author of Ready, Set, Cook: How To Make Good Food With What’s On Hand and we introduce you to our newest baby podcast, The One Recipe hosted by Jesse Sparks. (Rebroadcast)

Timely Selections

Shareable video of the week

Health: Will humans keep growing taller?

Description: Human height has increased by 10cm since the days of early man, is the sky the limit? Photo: Two Lego figures Credit: BBC
Suggested social copy: Human height has increased by 10cm since the days of early man, is the sky the limit?
Duration: 2 minutes 42 seconds

Questions? Please contact your Station Representative.

APM Presents special of the week

Seeking Connection

Broadcast Window: Mar 1 – Apr 30, 2023

Length: One hour

What does loneliness do to the brain? How does loneliness associate, or possibly cause, mental health issues like anxiety, depression and suicide ideation? Join Call to Mind host Kimberly Adams for Seeking Connection, a special exploring the relationship between loneliness and mental health issues, and the power of social connections. Questions? Please contact your Station Representative.

A word from Jonathan Dyer, EP of On Point: March 2, 2023

Hello again,

I’m delighted to start this newsletter with the news that On Point’s series Smarter Health: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of American Health Care has won first place in the American Health Care Journalists Association’s 2022 Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism, specifically in the audio reporting (large division) category. As you know, On Point covers a diverse array of topics, so to have the nation’s most knowledgeable healthcare journalists — experts in their field — single out On Point feels especially rewarding. It’s also quite flattering to be in some pretty esteemed company as ProPublica, The New Yorker, the San Francisco Chronicle, and yes public radio stations WWNO and WRKF, who jointly won in the small division. Congrats to you!

This is the fifth journalism award that On Point has received since adopting its one-hour format two years ago. And I think that speaks volumes about the editorial ambition of On Point and the value we bring to our listeners’ understanding of the complex world we live in.

To bring the series to fruition, the entire On Point team stepped up so that senior editor Dorey Scheimer could be relieved of her day-to-day, and week-to-week duties. She spent three months researching and building contacts, persuading reluctant contributors the value of telling their important story. Working closely with our host Meghna Chakrabarti and sound designer Tim Skoog, Dorey put together this remarkable four-part series into how artificial intelligence and machine learning are revolutionizing the healthcare industry. And as is our signature, the voices of those with lived experience, and you the patient, were placed front and center.

One of the things that always strikes people who know anything about how daily shows like On Point are put together, is that each of our producers has a week, more-or-less, to produce each show. This means they get the opportunity to approach their show topic like a reporter, to do original reporting, and engage deeply with their subject. That is true not just for On Point’s series but for every episode.

Looking ahead, the On Point team is already hard at work on our next ambitious series which will explore what some regard as the defining political current in the world today: populism. Over the course of a week, our journey will take us from Oshkosh to Amazonia, from the turn-of-the 20th century’s William Jennings Bryan, to Donald Trump in the 21st century. You can be assured of some highly relevant, nuanced conversations as we explore populism’s global reach, its authoritarian risk, and its democratic promise. Look out for it starting Monday April 10.

Let’s keep making sense of the world …. Together.

Jonathan Dyer
Executive Producer, On Point

Your week at a glance: February 27 – March 5, 2023

News

Marketplace

Marketplace (PM)

Week of February 27

Kai talks to New York Times’ reporter Jeanna Smialek about her book Limitless: The Federal Reserve Takes on a New Age of Crisis.

Marketplace Tech

Feb 27: Meghan McCarty Carino talks with Mohar Chatterjee, journalist at Politico, about the use of AI and machines when drafting laws.
Mar 3: We’ll have a story on how Amazon and Walmart turn to its influencer programs so that content creators on TikTok can highlight their products, as a way for these retail giants to upscale their presence on social platforms.

On Point

Feb 27: Since the 1950s, the number of workers in the US who need a state license to do their job has quadrupled. Additionally, most states won’t recognize a license from a different state, though a couple of states have slowly started to push back on that. We explore what’s behind America’s burgeoning state licensing system and ask who benefits, who loses?
Feb 28: The American blood market is booming. US blood sales overseas are worth more than $24 billion. Blood plasma is being touted as a wonder drug for everything from wrinkles to COVID-19. But the plasma collection industry is also rife with exploitation and risk — often targeting our nation’s most vulnerable. Meghna speaks with journalist Kathleen McLaughlin about what she found researching her forthcoming book, Blood Money: the Story of Life, Death, and Profit Inside America’s Blood industry.
Mar 1: In 1993, then-Deputy Defense Sec. William Perry invited defense company executives to dinner and urged them to join forces to survive. Since then, the number of defense prime contractors shrank from 51 to five. We hear the story of the 1993 “last supper” and what that means for our current defense budget.
Mar 3: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has pushed for major changes in the state’s public schools. We take a close look at how legislation is impacting classrooms and teachers, plus the politicization of Florida’s K-12 education. Meghna traveled to Florida to report this episode, where she spoke at length with a Florida school superintendent who has some revealing insight into public education in Florida today.

Arts and Culture

The Splendid Table

March 3

This week we’re learning about tea with East Asian tea authority Theresa Wong of NYC’s T Shop. Theresa leads Francis through a tasting from black, thru oolong all the way to green Then we talk about the surprising history of chai with food and culture writer Leena Trevedi- Grenier who also shares an uber personalized masala chai recipe.

Performance Today

Members of the Minnesota Orchestra perform Joel Thompson’s In Response to the Madness for string quartet
Colorado Music Festival Orchestra performs a new work by Wang Jie: Flying on the Scaly Backs of Our Mountains
Fred co-hosts a special hour with pianist and Classical Woman of the Year Lara Downes
Alice K. Dade performs Mozart’s Flute Quintet with an all-star group of string players at Festival Mozaic
Gabriela Montero performs Prokofiev’s Sarcasms at Prager Family Center for the Arts in Easton, MD

Timely Selections

Shareable video of the week

People Fixing The World: Meet the unsung heroes of the ocean

Description: Sea cucumbers are being farmed in Madagascar. This is improving lives in coastal communities and also helping to keep the seas healthy. For more solutions, download the People Fixing the World podcast. Video by Richard Kenny.
Suggested social copy: Sea cucumber farming, and how it’s helping coastal communities in Madagascar.
Duration: 2 minutes 27 seconds

Questions? Please contact your Station Representative.

APM Presents special of the week

La Mujer en la Música

Broadcast Window: Mar 1 – 31, 2023

Length: One hour

Teresa Carreño was a Venezuelan composer and pianist who was nicknamed the “The Valkyrie of the Piano,” due to her formidable and impactful playing. But Teresa’s legacy extends beyond the amazing works and recordings she left behind and she is not the only Latin American woman to have done so. Listen as we explore the music and lives of select women composers and performers from Latin America who have re-shaped music history and continue to do so to this day. The program will feature Latin American performers and composers such as Gabriela Montero, Gabriela Lena Frank, and Clara Rodriguez. Questions? Please contact your Station Representative.

BBC WSE Spring Changes 2023: February 22, 2023

BBC World Service carried out a strategic review, looking at how to serve our audiences
around the world in an even better way and meet our financial challenges.

The wider BBC World Service strategy sees a greater emphasis on building impact and
delivering long-term audience engagement bringing benefit to our partners and the BBC.
It will support the digital transformation ambitions of the BBC with an increased focus on
BBC platforms. World Service English continues to recognise the value of partnerships and
we look forward our continued collaboration.

Whilst there will be changes, World Service English will continue to offer:

High-quality international content that transcends borders and cultural divides to facilitate a global conversation
A multi-genre 24/7 schedule rich mix of programming
News and Current Affairs still at its core, with some additional live news and sport and feature programmes being introduced
A clear focus on development of our digital and podcast offer to reach new audiences, especially younger audiences

The changes are driven by a focus on content offering:

Explanation, context and analysis
First class storytelling – investigations, documentaries, and human interest
Engagement and involvement of the audience

Whilst there are some programme closures there is investment in new initiatives which bring benefit to the BBC and our partners across the world.

4 April sees the launch of a new 26 minutes 30 second programme explaining new technology, its impact, and meeting the people behind the innovations reshaping lives in every part of our world.
20 April sees the launch of a new hour-long programme exploring the world through science, looking at the latest developments and how they may change our lives.
From 1 April the 08:06 GMT edition of Weekend on Saturday and Sunday will be extended ending at 08:59 GMT (formally ended at 08:29 GMT)
From 22 April The Forum increases duration to 49 minutes 30 seconds (fromally 40 minutes 30 seconds GMT)
From 1 April a new 49 minutes 30 seconds slot, Discussion and Documentary, brings together four monthly programmes into a weekly* offer to explore the lives, cultures and attitudes of people from around the world: World Book Club, World Questions, The Documentary Weekend and The Forum.
- All four programmes can be taken on an individual basis
- *If there are 5 weeks in a month, there will be a second The Documentary Weekend

From 1 April new 17 minute 30 second slot, Weekend Insights, brings together
Trending (24 episodes annually) / The Explanation (20 episodes annually) /
World of Wisdom (8 episodes annually) into a weekly offer to explain the stories
the world is sharing via social media, unpacks complex news stories and
answers your spiritual questions.
- All three programmes can be taken on an individual basis.
The 25 March sees the last edition of The Cultural Frontline as a weekly offer, as it becomes 6 ad hoc episodes annually.

The following programmes will be coming to an end:

The Compass – the last edition will be on the 22 March 2023
Tech Tent – the last edition will be on the 24 March 2023
The Science Hour – the last edition will be on the 26 March 2023
Digital Planet – the last edition will be on the 28 March 2023

Coming Soon

A new podcast, available Monday to Friday, will look at the news and issues that matter to global 16-24 year-olds. A radio version will be available to our partner stations.

Your week at a glance: February 20 – 26, 2023

News

Marketplace

Marketplace (PM)

Week of February 20

Kai attempts to balance the U.S. federal budget by playing the “fiscal ship” game with Louise Sheiner at Brookings.
The arts economy in Ukraine has been moribund, at best, since Russia’s invasion a year ago. A UK charity is raising money and sending it to Ukrainian artists who’ve stayed home in an effort to keep them performing. Marketplace’s Stephen Beard reports.

Marketplace Tech

Next week’s shows will be hosted by Meghan McCarty-Carino and Kimberly Adams.

Feb 21: New survey results from The Center for Growth and Opportunity at Utah State University show that Americans’ level of trust in Big Tech is rising, but that trust has limitations, especially when it comes to children on social media and data privacy. Kimberly Adams speaks with Taylor Barkley, Technology and Innovation Director for the CGO, about these levels of trust in both big tech and government.
Feb 22: Meghan McCarty Carino speaks to Brian Westfall, Capterra, about how companies are using AI programs and algorithms in their layoff decision making.

On Point

Kimberly Atkins Stohr hosts Monday – Thursday and Anthony Brooks hosts Friday

Feb 20: This week marks one year since Russian invaded Ukraine. Despite the White House promising support for Ukraine for “as long as it takes,” there is anxiety in Washington and European capitals about the burdens of a drawn-out conflict. On Point explores what the US and Europe could or should be doing to bring about an end to the war.
Feb 21: We reconnect with Ukrainians we heard from early in the conflict to find out how their lives and their perspectives have been changed.
Feb 24: More and more Americans are delaying retirement. For many, that is out of financial necessity, but for others it’s because they have found a new calling in life. We meet some Americans who have decided to embark on a career change at an age when they might have traditionally been retiring.

Arts and Culture

The Splendid Table

February 24

We’re talking to journalist Dan Saladino who traveled the world talking to people for his new book, Eating to Extinction: The World’s Rarest Foods and Why We Need to Save Them. The list is an amazing one, from coffee in Bolivia, to pigs in China, to cheese in Albania. It is both a celebration of the world’s biodiversity and a call to action. (Rebroadcast)

Performance Today

Music by Valerie Coleman and The Imani Winds
David Shifrin and the Viano String Quartet performing Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Clarinet Quintet from Kaul Auditorium at Reed College in Portland, Oregon
Clayton Stephenson performs Johannes Brahms’ Sonata No. 1 at the most recent Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Harlem Quartet performs excerpts from William Grant Still’s Lyric Quartet at Maverick Concert Hall in Woodstock, NY
New music from Connor Chee, part of the YCMPR Diversity Recording Project

Timely Selections

Shareable video of the week

People Fixing The World: The birds taking on the illegal fishing industry

Description: Scientists on a remote island in the Indian Ocean have been using the albatross as their eyes in the sky to track down illegal fishing boats. For more solutions, download the People Fixing the World podcast. Video by Richard Kenny.
Suggested social copy: How scientists are using the albatross as their eyes in the sky to track down illegal fishing boats.
Duration: 2 minutes 21 seconds

Questions? Please contact your Station Representative.

APM Presents special of the week

Seeking Connection

BBC Monthly: March Docs, Specials and Video Selections | February 16, 2023

Coming in March 2023

Featuring voices from across the U.S. and around the globe, connect your audience to the world with these unique stories and perspectives. This month, we learn about women in celebration of Women’s History Month, honor ‘The King of Latin Music’, Tito Puente, and evaluate the mechanisms behind yawning. See below for details and more unique stories.

Visit our website to learn more, and find links to ContentDepot for programs, promos and billboards.

Docs and Specials

*If you would like to request an air window extension, please contact your station representative. Extensions are considered on a case-by-case basis and may be granted subject to rights.

Witness History: Women’s History Month

One hour
March 1 – 31, 2023

Stories of remarkable moments and movements in Women’s History. We hear about the sex workers who chose to go on strike against police mistreatment – and found refuge in a Catholic church. Other stories include the fight for women to drive in Saudi Arabia, and a visit to the fist American museum to be designed by a female architect.

World Questions – Iraq

One hour
March 11 – Apr 7, 2023

20 years on from the US-led invasion, we debate the big issues facing today’s Iraq. BBC World Questions is in the northern city of Erbil, the longest continually inhabited city on the planet for a free, open, public debate on the state of civilisation in Iraq.

The Documentary (Weekend): Tito Puento – Mambo Man

One hour
March 25 – Apr 14, 2023

Venezuelan professional dancer Karen Hauer presents a centenary celebration of percussionist and bandleader Tito Puente; the man also known as ‘The King of Latin Music’.

Monthly BBC Video Selections:

View the instructional guide and social media best practices resource available on our website. Click the links and images below to preview and download these videos.

People Fixing the World: The town giving sober teens free beer

Description: Balen in Belgium noticed more young people getting drunk. So they invented ‘sobercoin’. It encourages people to be more sober – by rewarding them with free drinks.
Suggested social copy: How one town is tackling anti-social behaviour by rewarding people who are sober with free drinks.
Duration: 2 minutes 21 seconds

Why is that?: Hologram shows patient’s heart during surgery

Description: Drs Jennifer and Jon Silva, a husband and wife team working at Washington University in St Louis, US, have developed a hologram that visualises a patient’s heart while they are in the operating theatre. It is designed to provide real-time information in 3D and a direct view of internal tools, such as catheters. Initial tests have shown, for the first time, that holograms can improve accuracy when used during minimally invasive surgery to treat arrhythmias (heart rhythm problems). Video by Jennifer Green. Interview by Ania Lichtarowicz. (Image: Doctor looking at heart hologram, Credit: SentiAR.)
Suggested social copy: Drs Jennifer and Jon Silva, working at Washington University in St Louis, US, have developed a hologram that visualises a patient’s heart while they are in the operating theatre.
Duration: 2 minutes 3 seconds

Health: Why do we yawn?

Description: What are the mechanisms behind this everyday behaviour? Are yawns really contagious?
Suggested social copy: What are the mechanisms behind this everyday behaviour?

Duration: 2 minutes 16 seconds

Your week at a glance: Feb 13 – 19, 2023

News

Marketplace

Marketplace (PM)

Week of February 13

Kai talks to New York Times reporter Rachel Abrams and columnist James Stewart about their book Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy.
Kai talks to Litty Mathew and Melkon Khosrovian, owners of the Greenbar Distillery in downtown Los Angeles. Greenbar makes non-alcoholic drinks.

Marketplace Tech

Next week’s shows will be hosted by Meghan McCarty-Carino, Kimberly Adams and Amy Scott.

Feb 13: As the anniversary to the start of the war in Ukraine approaches, we’ll look at how Ukraine has deployed technology throughout the war this past year, featuring a conversation with Steven Feldstein, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program.
Feb 14: Kimberly will speak with Christie Lindor, a consultant to Fortune 100’s in Bosto about how tech layoffs have hit recruiting and DEI departments particularly hard. It’s an old story that when money gets tight companies pull back on “discretionary” programs that aren’t “mission critical.” There’s also the issue of many of these tech companies calling people back to HQ to some extent, when the spread of tech jobs across the country was shown to be important to more diverse recruiting.
Feb 17: Amy Scott speaks with Heather Vogell, reporter at ProPublica, to discuss the controversy over tech company RealPage’s rent algorithm that was accused of artificially boosting rent prices to exorbitant levels, with a look at what’s happened since Vogell and ProPublica released the initial investigation.

On Point

Feb 13: The federal government asked the seven states that depend on the Colorado River for water to come up with a plan to reduce their water use by January 31st. All came to an agreement, except California, the largest user. That has increased the possibility of the government stepping in and imposing a plan that none of them want. We speak with negotiators and experts to find out what options the West has, as the Colorado River runs dry.
Feb 15: The Biden administration has quietly negotiated a deal with the Netherlands and Japan to restrict exports of chip-making machinery to China. It’s aimed at limiting China’s military developments by cutting access to semiconductors. We look at what’s at stake for China and the US.
Feb 16: On Point asks what tech platforms and lawmakers could and should be doing to combat the increasing amount of child sexual abuse material being found online. One child abuse prosecutor we have spoken with calls it ‘an epidemic’. (Postponed from 2/2)

Arts and Culture

The Splendid Table

February 17

This week it’s a look at inspired home cooking with award-winning chef Gavin Kaysen author of At Home.

Performance Today

Our first PT Young Artist in residence of 2023, saxophonist Salvador Flores, will perform and speak with Fred Child.
Minnesota Orchestra performs music by Jessie Montgomery.
Camille Saint-Saens’ Fantaisie for violin & harp performed by Guillaume Sutre, violin and Kyunghee Kim-Sutre, harp.
George Walker: String Quartet No. 1 performed by Augustin Hadelich, violin; James Ehnes, violin; Yura Lee, viola; Raphael Bell, cello in Seattle.
RA performance of Jean Francaix’ String Trio from two former PT Young Artists in Residence, Jordan Bak and Timotheos Gavriilidis-Petrin, with Elizabeth Fayette on violin.
A performance by Sphinx Virtuosi.

Timely Selections

Shareable video of the week

People Fixing The World: How eating oysters could help protect the coast

Description: The Louisiana coastal wetlands are being washed away, leaving the region more vulnerable to hurricanes and flooding. Now, restaurants in New Orleans are recycling their oyster shells so they can be used to build sea walls. A video for People Fixing the World by Anna Adams and Richard Kenny.
Suggested social copy: With Louisiana’s coastal wetlands washing away, local New Orleans restaurants are using oyster shells to build sea walls.
Duration: 1 minute 58 seconds

Questions? Please contact your Station Representative.

APM Presents special of the week

Witness: Women’s History Month

Broadcast Window: Mar 1 – Mar 31, 2023

Length: One hour

A special hour-long edition of Witness History from the BBC World Service. Remarkable stories of women’s history, told by the women who were there. Selected from the BBC’s Witness History program, we hear moving, inspiring and even outrageous stories about a few of the most important women in living memory. Questions? Please contact your Station Representative.