Big Pacific

Jazz is a ten part series that explores the evolution – and the genius – of America's greatest original art form, focusing on the extraordinary men and women who could do something remarkable – create art on the spot. Jazz celebrates their profoundly enduring, endlessly varied, and infinitely alluring music in the context of the complicated country that gave birth to and influenced it, and was in turn transformed by it.

A collaboration between PBS and Wiland-Bell Productions, with considerable input from a variety of major pro-environmental organizations, the four-part miniseries Edens Lost and Found demonstrated how four major American cities had gone from being major polluters to enviro-friendly within the space of a few short years. The cities in question adopted the common approach of "Sustainable Environment," designed to meet the current needs of the community while still taking into consideration the needs of the future (in other words, no Draconian, all-or-nothing measures here). Working hand in hand with municipal governments, teams of environmentalists came up with practical methods of waste disposal, avoidance of atmospheric congestion, cultivating urban forestry, and developing alternative mass-transit systems. The four episodes were "Chicago: City of the Big Shoulders"; "Philadelphia: The Holy Experiment," "Los Angeles: Dream in a Different City," and "Seattle: The Future Is Now" (each episode was produced with the help of that city's local PBS outlet). Released in conjunction with a companion book series from Chelsea Green Publishing, Edens Lost and Found debuted in most markets on May 18, 2006.

Alan Alda hosts this exploration into what differentiates humans from other species, investigating our ability to think in symbols, write, and imagine the unimaginable.

A look into how Senator Harry Reid set up a deal between unlikely allies to protect the wilderness in the West.

A nine-part 1986 view of Africa through the eyes of a Kenya-born political scientist, who explores the continent's diverse cultural heritage.

A survey of American social issues from Peabody-winning journalist John Merrow. Topics included a look at violence in a Brooklyn neighborhood; the role of educators in shaping the value systems of adolescents; methods to educate children with physical, mental or learning disabilities; and efforts to save public-school arts education, with comments from singer-songwriter Billy Joel, actor Danny Glover and pianist Andre Watts.