Monday, April 22, 2013

"Constitution USA: It's a Free Country, Right?" at Rhode Island College


On Tuesday, April 30, at 5:30 p.m., a group of legal pioneers with Rhode Island ties takes center stage in Rhode Island College’s Alger Hall 110 to share their perspectives about the constitutional issues with which they will forever be associated.

The American Democracy Project at Rhode Island College, in association with Rhode Island PBS, is sponsoring the panel discussion “Constitution USA: It’s a Free Country, Right?” The event coincides with the local premiere of the four-part national PBS series, Constitution USA, beginning May 9 on Rhode Island PBS. The Constitution USA series, hosted by NPR’s Peter Sagal, airs on Rhode Island PBS on consecutive Thursdays at 9 p.m. The second episode, “It’s a Free Country,” includes a segment about the Cranston “prayer banner.” Each episode of Constitution USA repeats the following Saturday at 1:00 p.m. on WSBE Rhode Island PBS (digital 36.1), and on the following Tuesday at 10:00 p.m. on WSBE Learn (digital 36.2).

The April 30 event at Rhode Island College is open to the public and will include a short preview screening of Constitution USA. The panel discussion will follow and will be moderated by Marc Levitt, writer, educator, and host of the award-winning Action Speaks. Panelists are:

Jim Taricani, award-wining I-team investigative reporter for WJAR-TV, NBC 10, who was sentenced by a federal judge to six months of home confinement for refusing to disclose a confidential source;

Jared A. Goldstein, professor of law at Roger Williams University School of Law, and a national expert on the applicability of habeas corpus to the Guantanamo Bay detainees in conjunction with his representation of several families of Kuwaiti detainees;

Dr. Ellery Schempp, Brown graduate and accomplished physicist, who was the primary student involved in the landmark 1963 United States Supreme Court case, Abington School District v. Schempp, which challenged mandatory Bible reading in public schools;

Debbie Weisman Clasie, party to the United States Supreme Court case Lee v. Weisman, which challenged the Providence School Committee and Superintendent of Schools policy to permit religious authority figures to give invocations and benedictions at public school graduation ceremonies;

Jessica Ahlquist (invited, not confirmed) the Cranston High School West student who successfully petitioned to remove a prayer mural painted on the school’s auditorium wall as party to Ahlquist v. Cranston;

Jennifer Magaw, now a public defender in New Bedford, MA, who, in 2005 as a Rhode Island College freshman and part of the campus Woman’s Studies Organization (WSO), filed suit against Rhode Island College, citing violation of free speech rights, after campus authorities removed WSO signs about women’s reproductive rights.


Breathing new life into the traditional civics lesson, Peter Sagal (host of NPR’s “Wait, Wait … Don’t Tell Me”) travels across the country on a Harley Davidson to find out where the U.S. Constitution lives, how it works and how it doesn’t; how it unites us as a nation and how it has nearly torn us apart. Sagal introduces some major constitutional debates today and talks with ordinary Americans and leading constitutional experts about what the Constitution actually says and what it means, the dramatic historical events and crises that have defined it, and why all this matters. For more information about the series, visit pbs.org/tpt/constitution-usa-peter-sagal/home/

Episode I - A More Perfect Union (May 9)
Episode II - It’s A Free Country (May 16)
Episode III - Created Equal (May 23)
Episode IV - Built to Last? (May 30)

WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) programming over the air on digital 36.1 and on subscription TV services: Cox 08 / 1008HD, Verizon FiOS 08 / 508HD(in RI), Full Channel 08, Comcast 819HD, Verizon FiOS 18 / 518HD(in MA), DirecTV 36 / 3128HD, Dish Network 7776.

WSBE Learn transmits over the air on digital 36.2 and on subscription TV services: Cox 808, Verizon FiOS 478, Full Channel 89, Comcast 294 or 312.

Friday, April 19, 2013

Boston Marathon Bombing and More on This Week's A Lively Experiment


Panel
Dyana Koelsch – moderator
Dr. Marc Genest  Newport Naval War College
Ted Nesi – wpri.com political and economics reporter
Ian Donnis – Rhode Island Public Radio political reporter

Topics
  • The Boston Marathon Bombing
  • The General Assembly and the budget 
  • Same sex marriage 
  • Gun control 
  • 38 Studios
-  -  -  -
A Lively Experiment airs on WSBE Rhode Island PBS (36.1) Fridays at 8:30 p.m., with rebroadcasts on Saturdays at 7 P.M. on WSBE Learn (36.2), and Sundays at noon on WSBE Rhode Island PBS.

WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) programming over the air on digital 36.1; on Rhode Island cable: Cox 08 / 1008HD, Verizon FiOS 08 / 508HD, and Full Channel 08; on Massachusetts cable: Comcast 819HD and Verizon FiOS 18 / 518HD; on satellite: DirecTV 36 / 3128HD, Dish Network 7776.

WSBE Learn transmits over the air on digital 36.2; in Rhode Island on Cox 808; Verizon FiOS 478; Full Channel 109; and in Massachusetts on Comcast 294 or 312.

Can't get to the TV? Watch the episode online anytime and anywhere on our YouTube channel. Episodes of A Lively Experiment are generally available to watch on the next business day. Subscribe to our YouTube channel, and YouTube will notify you when a new episode is uploaded.

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Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Attention: Foodies!

Saturday, April 27, presents a "shouldn't miss" event for foodies to sample succulent gourmet dishes prepared by chefs from some of New England's finest restaurants. To sweeten the deal and tingle the palette, the dishes - created just for this event - are paired with wines from international and domestic vineyards - all under one roof, and all at one reasonable donation

The event is An Evening Uncorked! and will be held at the Pawtucket Armory, 172 Exchange Street in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The Champagne and raw bar reception at 6 p.m. is sold out, sorry, but the epicurean tour begins at 7 p.m. (Better get your tickets now!)

The 11 participating restaurants are Blaze East Side RestaurantThe Capital GrilleCinderella RestaurantDavid Burke Prime SteakhouseEleven Forty Nine RestaurantFleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, Just Ellen's, Inc., LaSalle BakeryPane e Vino RistorantePot Au Feu, and Trafford Restaurant. The wines will be poured by MS WalkerRhode Island Distributing Company, LLC, and provided by private donors; craft beer is courtesy of McLaughlin & Moran, Inc. Is your mouth watering yet?

The video below uses footage taken at last year's An Evening Uncorked! event. What a great time it was. We're looking forward to another great event this year. Richard Carbotti of Perfect Surroundings is decorating the Armory, so you know everything will look and feel glorious. 

Great food, fine wine, enchanted setting... Bring your friends and come make new ones - and part of the proceeds of your $100 ticket helps support the quality local and national programming on WSBE Rhode Island PBS. What's not to love about this?

The only thing that could be missing is you, if you don't get your ticket in time. So, what are you waiting for? 




An Evening Uncorked! is under-written by Platinum Sponsor CVS | Caremark, and Gold Sponsors Gencorp Insurance Group, and Chafee Communications. Benefactors are Centreville Savings Bank, Dimeo Construction Company, and Whole Person Health. Patron Sponsors are Arden Building Companies, LLC; Citizens Bank; Cox Communications; Endurance Wealth Management; J&J Diamond Jewelers; Navigant Credit Union; Piccerelli, Gilstein & Company, LLP; Rustigian Rugs; Tatutina; and Whelan, Kinder & Siket, LLP.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Paper Bag Players - 50-Year Tradition of Theater for Kids

There is nothing like an old-fashioned “Western Welcome” to get a show off to a rousing start! When The Paper Bag Players cowboys and cowgirls gallop onto the stage, singing and wishing a great big “Howdy!”in the all-new show, The Paper Bag Players Saddles and Sunshine,  audiences will be up on their  feet, clapping and singing along!

The Paper Bag Players are a company of adults who create and perform original musical theater based on a child's everyday experiences, dreams, and fantasies. Paper bags, bits of cardboard, and objects found in the attic or garage are transformed into the most fantastic sets, props, and costumes. The troupe, founded in 1958 by Judith Martin, performs in their native New York, and takes the show on the road for several months in a year. Targeting children 3 - 8 years old, the performances are usually on weekday mornings and, in large part, mostly for school children as a class trip.


The Paper Bag Players Saddles and Sunshine will tour for eight months throughout the Northeast with stops including Middleton, Hempstead, East Hampton and Port Washington, NY; all five boroughs of New York City; Englewood, NJ; Newark, DE; Rahway, NJ; Towanda and Lewisburg PA; Mamaroneck, NY; Annapolis, MD; Baltimore, MD; Morristown and West Long Branch, NJ; Tarrytown, NY; Trenton, NJ, Glenside, PA; Boston, Springfield, and Worcester MA; and Providence, RI. The Paper Bag Players perform three shows at Roberts Auditorium at Rhode Island College: 10 a.m. and noon on May 14, and 10 a.m. on May 15.


The performance group's latest show, The Paper Bag Players Saddles and Sunshine combines funny stories, charming characters, lively music, dancing, and lots of opportunities for the audience to be a part of the fun. Created especially for children ages 3 through 8 there is enough fun in this show to entertain the entire family.

Ted Brackett (who also directs), Laura Canty-Samuel, Amy Walsh, Kevin Richard Woodall, John Stone at the electric piano, and scenic artist Jon Peck all guarantee every moment is full of theatrical magic.

The Paper Bag Players touring has taken them to 37 states and to Canada, England, Scotland, Wales, Israel, Iran, Egypt, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan. This year’s show will be seen by over 66,000 children in performances for the general public and for school children at 40 locations.

The Paper Bag Players have received The Award for Excellence in Theater and Education from The Broadway Theater Institute, and American Theater Wing Award, The New York State Artists Award, and The American Alliance for Theater and Education Award for meritorious achievement in the field of theater for young people.

For more information, visit their Web site at  thepaperbagplayers.org

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Uniquely Satisfying Experience: It's "An Evening Uncorked!"

Reserve Saturday, April 27 for a different and uniquely satisfying experience to benefit Rhode Island PBS. An Evening Uncorked! will be held at the historic Pawtucket Armory, 172 Exchange Street in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. 



Chefs from Southern New England's top restaurants will prepare tasting-sized portions of succulent dishes and desserts paired with complementary wines. The participating restaurants are Blaze RestaurantThe Capital GrilleCinderella RestaurantDavid Burke Prime SteakhouseEleven Forty Nine RestaurantFleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, Just Ellen's, Inc., LaSalle BakeryPane e Vino RistorantePot Au Feu, and Trafford Restaurant. A wide selection of fine international and domestic wines will be provided by MS Walker,Rhode Island Distributing Company, LLC, and private donors; craft beer courtesy of McLaughlin & Moran, Inc.

In addition to the silent and live auctions of classic and cult wines, exclusive dining, entertaining, and travel experiences, there will be a special raffle. "The Taste of Napa" includes a private VIP tasting and tour for two at Chateau Montelena and Stags' Leap Wineries - an adventure not available to the public!
Stag's Leap Winery
Chateau MontelenaYou and your guest will also be treated like royalty during your two-night stay at the Westin Verasa Napa. Fair market value of this experience is $1,200, and is compliments of Chateau Montelena Winery, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, The Westin Verasa Napa. 



An Evening Uncorked! is under-written by Platinum Sponsor CVS | Caremark, and Gold Sponsors Gencorp Insurance Group, and Chafee Communications.  Benefactors are Centreville Savings Bank, Dimeo Construction Company, and Whole Person Health. Patron Sponsors are Arden Building Companies, LLC; Citizens Bank; Cox Communications; Endurance Wealth Management; J&J Diamond Jewelers; Navigant Credit Union; Piccerelli, Gilstein & Company, LLP; Rustigian Rugs; Tatutina; and Whelan, Kinder & Siket, LLP. 

For information and tickets, please visit our Web site.

Friday, April 12, 2013

The Central Park Five Author/CoDirector Sarah Burns at Salve Regina

In partnership with Salve Regina University in Newport, we are pleased to announce author and filmmaker Sarah Burns (daughter of the award-winning director, Ken Burns) will speak at the University on Thursday, April 25, about "Documenting Injustice: The Story Behind The Central Park Five and One of New York's Most Infamous Crimes."

The presentation - the Salve Regina Atwood Lecture for spring - will include a screening of parts of The Central Park Five, as well as a question and answer period after Ms. Burns's speaking presentation.

Details of this free event are:

Date of Event:  Thursday April 25, 2013
Time:               6:30 p.m.
Location:          Bazarsky Lecture Hall 
                        O’Hare Academic Center 
                        Salve Regina University


The Central Park Five tells the story of five minority teenagers from Harlem who were wrongly convicted of beating and raping a white woman in New York City's Central Park in 1989. They were later exonerated in 2002.

The film chronicles "The Central Park Jogger Case" (as it came to be known) from the perspective of these five teenagers, whose lives were upended by this miscarriage of justice.

Rhode Island PBS will air the full documentary, The Central Park Five, on Thursday, May 2 at 8 p.m., with rebroadcasts Saturday, May 4 at 12:30 a.m. and noon, and on Learn on Tuesday, May 7 at 8 p.m.

More information about the film can be found here.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

This week on A Lively Experiment (April 12)


Panel
Dyana Koelsch – moderator
Jim Taricani  NBC 10 I-Team investigative reporter
Maureen Moakley – URI political science professor
Wendy Schiller – Brown University political science professor
Edward Fitzpatrick The Providence Journal political columnist

Topics
  • The new EDC Executive Director Marcel Valois 
  • Rhode Island gun control legislation 
  • Arming campus police 
  • Should the state default on the 38 Studios bonds 
  • Forbes Magazine blog critical of Gina Raimondo 
  • President Obama’s budget proposal
-  -  -  -
A Lively Experiment airs on WSBE Rhode Island PBS (36.1) Fridays at 8:30 p.m., with rebroadcasts on Saturdays at 7 P.M. on WSBE Learn (36.2), and Sundays at noon on WSBE Rhode Island PBS.

WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) programming over the air on digital 36.1; on Rhode Island cable: Cox 08 / 1008HD, Verizon FiOS 08 / 508HD, and Full Channel 08; on Massachusetts cable: Comcast 819HD and Verizon FiOS 18 / 518HD; on satellite: DirecTV 36 / 3128HD, Dish Network 7776.

WSBE Learn transmits over the air on digital 36.2; in Rhode Island on Cox 808; Verizon FiOS 478; Full Channel 109; and in Massachusetts on Comcast 294 or 312.

Can't get to the TV? Watch the episode online anytime and anywhere on our YouTube channel. Episodes of A Lively Experiment are generally available to watch on the next business day. Subscribe to our YouTube channel, and YouTube will notify you when a new episode is uploaded.

On Facebook? So are we! "Like" A Lively Experiment on Facebook.

TimesTalks about The Central Park Five with Ken Burns, Sarah Burns

Justice and The Central Park Five 
Wednesday, April 17
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Ken Burns
Sarah Burns
Jim Dwyer

TimesTalks 
A conversation about the issues raised by The Central Park Five, the award-winning documentary about the horrific crime that occurred in Central Park in 1989, the rush to judgment and the lives of those wrongly convicted.

Don’t miss the chance to hear from the Emmy Award-winning producer/director/writer Ken Burns, co-director and author Sarah Burns, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Jim Dwyer, who covered the case and is interviewed in the film, and the exonerated, including Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Antron McCray, and Korey Wise, live at The TimesCenter, in collaboration with PBS.

Tune in to nytimes.com/cityroom April 17 at 6:30 PM ET to watch this event live on the Web.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

'RI Taxpayers' President Ken Block on A Lively Experiment (April 5 and 7)


Panel
Dyana Koelsch – moderator
Ken Block  Rhode Island Taxpayers president, and former moderate party gubernatorial candidate
Maureen Moakley – URI political science professor
Scott MacKay – Rhode Island Public Radio political analyst
Dave Layman – corporate communications consultant

Topics
  • Abolishing the master lever 
  • Ken Block’s report on waste and fraud in state social service programs 
  • Payday loans 
  • State tax credits
-  -  -  -
A Lively Experiment airs on WSBE Rhode Island PBS (36.1) Fridays at 8:30 p.m., with rebroadcasts on Saturdays at 7 P.M. on WSBE Learn (36.2), and Sundays at noon on WSBE Rhode Island PBS.

WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) programming over the air on digital 36.1; on Rhode Island cable: Cox 08 / 1008HD, Verizon FiOS 08 / 508HD, and Full Channel 08; on Massachusetts cable: Comcast 819HD and Verizon FiOS 18 / 518HD; on satellite: DirecTV 36 / 3128HD, Dish Network 7776.

WSBE Learn transmits over the air on digital 36.2; in Rhode Island on Cox 808; Verizon FiOS 478; Full Channel 109; and in Massachusetts on Comcast 294 or 312.

Can't get to the TV? Watch the episode online anytime and anywhere on our YouTube channel. Episodes of A Lively Experiment are generally available to watch on the next business day. Subscribe to our YouTube channel, and YouTube will notify you when a new episode is uploaded.

On Facebook? So are we! "Like" A Lively Experiment on Facebook.