White House Chronicle Expands to Local Storytelling in the Public Square

White House Chronicle is a public affairs news program told with a sense of humor. "From our town to your town, we explain politics, making it easy to understand." 

About once a month, the White House Chronicles features a special edition, Story in the Public Square, "where storytelling meets public affairs." Co-hosted by Jim Ludes of the Pell Center at Salve Regina University in Newport, and G. Wayne Miller of The Providence Journal, the show invites storytellers to discuss and examine their works and the impact they are having on public life. 

Story in the Public Square recently featured New York Times writer Dan Barry in a discussion of his upcoming book "Boys in the Bunkhouse."

White House Chronicle airs Sundays at 11:30 a.m. on Rhode Island PBS (digital 36.1) and at 7 p.m. on Learn (digital 36.2). 

From the White House Chronicle Web site:

In 1997, Llewellyn King set out to create a television program that would combine a civilized discussion of news and public affairs with English polymath Noel Coward’s “talent to amuse.”

“With White House Chronicle, I wanted a comfy couch of a television program where viewers could sit back and learn something new, or think about something in a new way,” said King, who is also the program's executive producer and host.

King also wanted viewers to meet new people - particularly the many talented print journalists in Washington who rarely, if ever, appeared on television. Over the years, a few of them talent-scouted by White House Chronicle have gone on to become TV fixtures.

As host of the program, King ventilates the issues of the time. He opens each episode with “a few thoughts of my own.” His un-Telepromptered commentaries range from serious to hilarious -  the big challenges for big engineering in the wake of the Gulf oil spill; running a small business (he ran a publishing firm for 36 years); taking his father’s advice not to become a copper miner in Zambia; and making proper tea. “Unlike politics, tea is very forgiving; just add more boiling water to the pot,” he said.

Viewers look forward to King's commentaries in much the same way viewers looked forward to beloved British broadcaster Alistair Cooke’s commentaries preceding PBS's Masterpiece Theater.

At a time when network television has a deficit of original thinking, “White House Chronicle” has a surfeit. 

White House Chronicle airs nationwide on some 200 PBS and public, educational and governmental access stations; and worldwide on Voice of America Television. 

On WSBE, White House Chronicle airs Sundays at 11:30 a.m. on Rhode Island PBS (digital 36.1) and at 7 p.m. on Learn (digital 36.2).

WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits over the air on 36.1; Rhode Island cable: Cox cable 08/1008HD, Verizon FiOS 08/508HD, Full Channel 08; Massachusetts cable: Comcast 819HD (Comcast SD subscribers check local listings for channel), Verizon FiOS 18/518HD; satellite: Dish 36/7776, DirecTV 36. 

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

"Where They Slept" Visits Slave Quarters in Rhode Island

Dr. Jon Marcoux (far left in photo) and three of his students in the Noreen Stonor Drexel Cultural and Historic Preservation program at Salve Regina University joined historian and preservationist Joseph McGill for an overnight stay at Smith's Castle in North Kingstown, RI. It was no usual sightseeing tour; they did it for a close-up examination of where slaves lived on the site in the 17th and 18th centuries. 

Robert Geake, historian and docent at Smith's Castle, led the small group through a fascinating but little-told recounting of life on the farm, including how items like cheese and cider were produced by enslaved laborers, all of whom slept in the locked attic of the house. 

Joseph McGill, founder of the Slave Dwelling Project, travels around the country to bring attention to preservation of extant slave dwellings and the pubic interpretation of the history of the enslaved. 

Rhode Island PBS presents Where They Slept on Sunday, February 28 at 6 p.m. as part of our ongoing series Rhode Island Stories, a collection of local independent films. 

Rhode Island Stories for March 2013

Gazela
On Rhode Island PBS: March 23 at 7 p.m., March 24 at 11 p.m.
On Learn: March 27 at 10 p.m., March 28 at 5 a.m., March 29 at 2 a.m.

On May 10, 2012, Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee signed legislation designating the soon-to-be-commissioned 196 foot, square-rigged tall ship SSV Oliver Hazard Perry as the state's official "Sailing Education Vessel."

During the summer of 2012, six educators representing Rhode Island's secondary and higher education institutions were selected to develop educational initiatives and programs for the Oliver Hazard Perry.  As part of their training and preparation, these educators joined the crew of the tall ship Gazela, for her 5-day July 2012 voyage from Philadelphia to Newport.  Among them was Dr. Kathy Vespia, chair of the Department of Education at Salve Regina University in Newport, RI.

Gazela is a chronicle of the lessons that Dr. Vespia learned during the voyage. From seamanship and teambuilding to the physical rigors of daily life at sea and self-evaluation, Dr. Vespia's experiences on board the ship left her with a different understanding of what it means to join a crew, how one must rise to the challenge when the educator becomes the learner, and how the "needs of the ship" directly relate to the classroom experience.

Telling Stories
On Rhode Island PBS: March 23 at 7:30 p.m., March 24 at 11:30 p.m.
On Learn: March 27 at 10:30 p.m., March 28 at 5:30 a.m., March 29 at 2:30 a.m.

Telling Stories is a documentary about unearthing history in Rhode Island. The video chronicles an archaeological dig at a John Brown family farm. By questioning and examining the archaeological process, the film discusses the painstaking re-creation of history - one fragment at a time - including the heritage of slavery in New England,and the politics of the historical narrative.

Behind the Ribbon
On Rhode Island PBS: March 30 at 7 p.m., March 31 at 11 p.m.
On Learn: April 3 at 10 p.m., April 4 at 5 a.m., April 5 29 at 2 a.m.

Behind the Ribbon is the title of an original nonfiction television series produced by the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation and Jai Consulting Group. These short documentaries will feature the stories of patients, survivors and those who have lost their lives to breast cancer, an illness that will affect one in six Rhode Island women during her lifetime.

In this first chapter, "Young Survivors" will feature Mandy Zito, the Foundation's new Young Survivor Program coordinator, and some of the women she has gotten to know since joining the Foundation in September 2012.

A Time to Heal
On Rhode Island PBS: March 30 at 7:30 p.m., March 31 at 11:30 p.m.
On Learn: April 3 at 10:30 p.m., April 4 at 5:30 a.m., April 5 at 2:30 a.m.

Refugee Health Week was developed by Dr. Adam Pallant and Dr. Carol Lews of Hasbro Children's Hospital to offer medical residents time for conversations with refugees about their healthcare needs, their past and current struggles, and the importance of their stories as they acclimate to life in the United States.

For pediatric residents, time with patients and time for reflection is a rarity. Refugee Health Week allowed these doctors time and opportunity to reaffirm relation-based care as a foundation for healing...not just for refugees but for all their patients.