News and Public Affairs

Retro Report on PBS

Retro Report makes sense of the present by revealing the past. Join journalists Celeste Headlee and Masud Olufani as they connect the present to the past through four distinct and varied stories, and New Yorker humorist Andy Borowitz adds his signature wit.

The Controversy Over Teaching Teens About Sex

13m 22s

A decades-old battle is re-emerging over how sex is presented in the classroom, as the Trump administration gives support to “sexual risk avoidance” programs that promote abstinence.

Episodes

  • Correcting the Myth of the Superpredator: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Correcting the Myth of the Superpredator

    S1 E8 - 10m 27s

    States are reconsidering life prison sentences of people who were given mandatory life terms as juveniles – a practice since ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. At the time, in the 1990s, a handful of researchers inspired panic with a dire but flawed prediction: the imminent arrival of  a new breed of remorseless teen killers, so-called superpredators.

  • The Bullying Industry | Andy Borowitz: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Bullying Industry | Andy Borowitz

    S1 E8 - 4m 37s

    Prominent Americans are eager to declare their opposition to bullying. There’s only one problem, New Yorker magazine humorist Andy Borowitz asserts: we live in an enthusiastically pro-bullying culture. He traces the history of bullying on television and beyond.

  • Episode 8: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Episode 8

    S1 E8 - 53m 22s

    Sex ed programs in schools are informed by the past; busting a crime myth; AIDS hot spots; the legacy of napster; Andy Borowitz tackles bullying.

  • The Forgotten History of AIDS: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Forgotten History of AIDS

    S1 E8 - 11m 55s

    Rates of H.I.V. infection have fallen in many places, but the AIDS crisis persists in some parts of the country. What can be learned from history – and specifically the story of Ryan White?

  • The Controversy Over Teaching Teens About Sex: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Controversy Over Teaching Teens About Sex

    S1 E8 - 13m 22s

    A decades-old battle is re-emerging over how sex is presented in the classroom, as the Trump administration gives support to “sexual risk avoidance” programs that promote abstinence.

  • How Napster Stirred Up Entertainment: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    How Napster Stirred Up Entertainment

    S1 E8 - 10m 6s

    Napster, created by an 18-year-old developer, exploded across college campuses across the country in 1999. With a mouse click, music lovers gained free access to their favorite tunes. The record industry took to the courts to shut down the upstart company. But a generation of consumers had tasted instant entertainment on demand, and there was no turning back.

  • The Truth About the Lawsuit Over Hot McDonald’s Coffee: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Truth About the Lawsuit Over Hot McDonald’s Coffee

    S1 E7 - 11m 18s

    The long-running debate over frivolous lawsuits took shape years ago after McDonald’s coffee spilled into a woman’s lap and she was awarded millions in damages. Her complaint sounded frivolous. But the facts told another story.

  • Anita Bryant, Gay Rights Icon | Andy Borowitz: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Anita Bryant, Gay Rights Icon | Andy Borowitz

    S1 E7 - 3m 58s

    New Yorker magazine humorist Andy Borowitz examines how Anita Bryant, ubiquitous in the 1960s and 70s for commercials promoting Florida orange juice, inadvertently energized the gay rights movement.

  • Episode 7: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Episode 7

    S1 E7 - 55m 9s

    Immigration controversies echo past anti-immigration backlash. Why a lawsuit over scalding coffee is misunderstood. The origin of Special Ops forces.  Risks after Challenger. Andy Borowitz examines Anita Bryant’s unintended influence.

  • How the U.S. Came to Rely on Special Ops Forces: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    How the U.S. Came to Rely on Special Ops Forces

    S1 E7 - 7m 46s

    The rise of special operations units today can be traced to a failed attempt to rescue Americans held hostage in Iran in 1980, and the successful Israeli raid at Uganda’s Entebbe Airport.

Extras + Features

  • Episode 8 Preview: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Episode 8 Preview

    S1 E8 - 30s

    Sex ed programs in schools are informed by the past; busting a crime myth; AIDS hot spots; the legacy of napster; Andy Borowitz tackles bullying.

  • Episode 7 Preview: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Episode 7 Preview

    S1 E7 - 30s

    Immigration controversies echo past anti-immigration backlash. Why a lawsuit over scalding coffee is misunderstood. The origin of Special Ops forces.  Risks after Challenger. Andy Borowitz examines Anita Bryant’s unintended influence.

  • The Theory of Normalization of Deviance: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Theory of Normalization of Deviance

    S1 E7 - 39s

    Hosts Celeste Headlee and Masud Olufani introduce the theory of normalization of deviance, an understanding that came from study of the Challenger disaster.

  • The Danger of Falling Back on Routine: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Danger of Falling Back on Routine

    S1 E7 - 43s

    Diane Vaughan, author of "The Challenger Launch Decision," discusses the danger of falling back on routine under uncertain circumstances.

  • What Moving Meant For One Family: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    What Moving Meant For One Family

    S1 E6 - 59s

    In this scene from episode 6, Valencia Morris describes what happened when her family became eligible to move from public housing to a new neighborhood. "I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was, how quiet it was."

  • Episode 6 Preview: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Episode 6 Preview

    S1 E6 - 30s

    Public housing influenced by a 1970s experiment. Newborn tests are a legacy of a boy who spent life in a bubble. Head injuries in pro sports. Too few people (not too many) is a problem.  Andy Borowitz takes on Space Force.

  • When a Change of Address Changes Everything: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    When a Change of Address Changes Everything

    S1 E6 - 28s

    In this clip from Episode 6, host Masud Olufani says that Congress recently approved funding for a program to help poor families move to new neighborhoods. That’s because of new research showing that moving to a new address - sometimes just a mile or two away - can alter the course of a child’s life.

  • Episode 5 Preview: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Episode 5 Preview

    S1 E5 - 30s

    Texting could reduce suicides. Surrogate parenthood. Lead is banned but a toxic mess remains. Climate help may come from the Cold War. Long prison sentences based on old fears are being shortened. Andy Borowitz on a river that burst into flames.

Schedule

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