Monday, August 3 at 10 p.m., WLIW21 premieres the new documentary Playing for Change: Peace Through Music, which tells the story of an unparalleled international musical collaboration and its remarkable power of redemption. Filmmakers traveled the world recording local musicians, including collaborations with Keb’ Mo’, Bono and Bob Marley, to inspire peace through music and to connect diverse musicians worldwide–especially those in regions of conflict. Songs include “One Love,” “Stand By Me” and “Love Rescue Me.”

Watch a video of Bob Marley’s “One Love,” performed by Keb’ Mo’ and musicians from India, Israel, Nepal, South Africa and Zimbabwe:

Donate now for the Playing for Change: Songs Around the World CD & DVD!

In today’s excerpt from FROST/NIXON: The Original Watergate Interviews, Nixon discusses the motives. Watch the full interview Monday, August 3 at 8 p.m. on WLIW21.

Donate now for the FROST/NIXON: The Original Watergate Interviews DVD.

In today’s excerpt from FROST/NIXON: The Original Watergate Interviews, Nixon addresses the cover-up. Watch the full interview Monday, August 3 at 8 p.m. on WLIW21.

Donate now for the FROST/NIXON: The Complete Interviews 2-DVD set.

In today’s excerpt from FROST/NIXON: The Original Watergate Interviews, Nixon addresses the hush money. Watch the full interview Monday, August 3 at 8 p.m. on WLIW21.

Donate now for the FROST/NIXON: The Original Watergate Interviews DVD.

In today’s excerpt from FROST/NIXON: The Original Watergate Interviews, Frost reads quotes from the White House tape transcripts about Nixon meeting Hunt and the hush money—until Nixon stops him. Watch the full interview Monday, August 3 at 8 p.m. on WLIW21.

Donate now for the FROST/NIXON: The Complete Interviews 2-DVD set.

On May 4, 1977 the world watched as British journalist Sir David Frost conducted an historic interview with former President Richard Nixon on the Watergate scandal. WLIW21 brings back the most compelling political interview ever Monday, August 3 at 8 p.m. for the 35th anniversary of Nixon’s resignation. Every day this week we’ll be posting video excerpts from FROST/NIXON: The Original Watergate Interviews leading up to WLIW21’s August 3 broadcast.

In today’s excerpt Nixon addresses the 18-minute gap:

In a story today about WLIW21’s rebroadcast of FROST/NIXON: The Original Watergate Interviews, Associated Press Television Writer David Bauder notes, “The broadcast hasn’t lost power with the passage of time. If anything, it’s even more fascinating as a historical document, the experience richer after the movie filled in the back story.” Read his full story, which also features an interview with Sir David Frost, here.

Donate now for the FROST/NIXON: The Original Watergate Interviews DVD.

by Laura Savini
WLIW21 Vice President of Marketing & Communications

This morning WLIW21 debuted our new on-air station IDs featuring the soulful sounds of American jazz trumpeter Chris Botti! The jazz-rock theme music was composed by Juilliard third-year undergraduate student Niccolo Athens and arranged by composer Chuck Lovejoy. When I first heard the arrangement I was inspired by the beautiful trumpet lead and thought, “I want viewers to hear the WLIW21 I.D. music and think, ‘That’s a hip, cool station that I want to be a part of.’” Chris Botti was the style we were looking for—so I called and asked him to play it! Chris and I have worked together on air many times, and he’s partnered with WLIW21 and other stations across the country for three successful PBS specials, including Chris Botti in Boston, so he quickly agreed.

“I wanted to do this for WLIW21 because they’re one of the PBS stations that supported me early in my career. Supporting a New York cultural institution is important and recording this music for WLIW21 is my personal way to say thanks,” said Botti. Chris’ playing is breathtaking, as usual. His interpretation literally brought tears to my eyes, and I couldn’t be happier with the results.

Professionally, this is exciting for WLIW21 and our audience – to have this talent sharing his beautiful playing with us all day long. Personally, Chris is at the very top of my list of favorites as a person and a talent. I am proud to have his music grace our airwaves. And his playing is such a perfect match with the Niccolo Athens composition. Chris and WLIW21 are both strongly committed to supporting the next generation in their endeavors.

Listen for Chris’ playing in WLIW21’s new station IDs during program breaks throughout the day. The IDs also feature footage of New York metro area icons, including Coney Island, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Long Island shoreline. For more information on WLIW21’s new look, read Inside THIRTEEN’s Q&A with Michael Bierut of design studio Pentagram.

Watch WLIW21’s new station IDs right now, and let us know what you think by leaving a comment below.

Listen to the full version of WLIW21’s new theme music featuring Chris Botti.

Thanks for your support,

Laura Savini

WLIW21 Vice President of Marketing & Communications

PBS is providing full coverage of the Senate Confirmation Hearings for Supreme Court Nominee and Bronx native Judge Sonia Sotomayor, which began Monday, July 13, 2009. NewsHour Senior Correspondent Judy Woodruff anchors live coverage from the hearing room in the Hart Senate Office Building, with analysis from Marcia Coyle of the National Law Journal. PBS will provide gavel-to-gavel coverage of the days when Sotomayor is scheduled to testify before the committee.

Monday’s hearing included statements from each of the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Sotomayor’s opening statement. In Tuesday’s hearing, senators from both sides of the aisle queried Judge Sotomayor about her judicial record, including her controversial decision on racial preference in the promotion of firefighters in New Haven, Connecticut, and whether her personal feelings and her racial background affect her rulings on the bench. In Wednesday’s hearing, senators questioned Judge Sotomayor about her views on abortion, gun control, televising Supreme Court deliberations, and her controversial “wise Latina” comment.

Our live webcast of the Senate confirmation hearings concluded on Thursday, July 16 at approximately 1:30 p.m. ET. For in-depth coverage and analysis of Judge Sotomayor and the Supreme Court, please visit Supreme Court Watch at the online NewsHour.

New York Metro Area Premiere Saturday, July 11 at 3 p.m. on WLIW21

New Documentary Explores Eminent Domain Abuse in Jersey Shore Community

Greetings From Asbury Park spotlights eminent domain abuse in the small resort town of Asbury Park, New Jersey through the story of 91-year-old resident Angie Hampilos. A Greek immigrant and the great aunt of filmmaker Christina Eliopoulos, Hampilos learned that her seaside bungalow home of over 50 years would be taken by eminent domain – the right of the state to take private property for public use – to make way for 3,100 luxury condominiums in 2002. The one-hour documentary chronicles the devastating effects eminent domain and redevelopment can have on established communities through interviews from three generations of Eliopoulos’ family, neighbors, local government officials, prominent historians, and experts in redevelopment and eminent domain. Greetings From Asbury Park premieres Saturday, July 11 at 3 p.m. on WLIW21, as part of our special summer programming to encourage shoreline conservation and appreciation. An encore presentation will air on Wednesday, July 15 at 1 p.m.

Greetings from Asbury Park features intimate recollections, home movies, rare archival footage, emotive cinematography, and a dynamic soundtrack to recreate the postcard playland and boardwalk dreamland that was the resort city of Asbury Park to illustrate the 29 blocks and 56 acres of waterfront homes, apartment buildings, historic boardwalk attractions, and businesses soon to be boarded up and made ready for the wrecking ball. In one poignant scene, we see Angie, the bulldozers in her backyard, wondering what will become of her beloved flower garden. Walking past streets of boarded up homes, she asks, “Where did everyone go?” Angie and her neighbors join a prayer vigil, appeal to the city’s leaders, and ultimately, face the harrowing reality that a court battle is overwhelming, and their homes and business will be taken over so that others can live there.

According to the Castle Coalition, a grassroots project of the Institute for Justice, when it comes to the abuse of eminent domain, New Jersey and New York are among the worst offenders. In 2007, both states received an “F” grade in the coalition’s 50 State Eminent Domain Report Card, and each state remains among the seven states that have yet to pass any legislation reforming their eminent domain laws since the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. City of New London. Asbury Park is an important example of the lengths to which municipalities will go in pursuit of redevelopment, including the elimination of historic landmarks, local identity, ethnic neighborhoods, and older communities.

“Many in our community like my auntie — immigrants, older folks, working class folks — endured three decades of rust, riot and ruin and they never lost hope and they never lost heart,” explains Eliopoulos, “Yet these same families were the first ones who were told that they had to leave.” Eminent domain abuse disproportionately hurts the poor, minority and other historically disenfranchised and comparably powerless communities, according to a 2007 report issued by the Institute for Justice, which analyzed census data from 194 communities, including Asbury Park, Camden, Cherry Hill, Lodi, Long Branch, Maplewood, New York City, Newark, Patchogue, Peekskill, Port Chester, Trenton, Westville, and Yonkers. Recently, eminent domain controversies have made headlines in Brooklyn with the revitalization of Coney Island and the Atlantic Yards Project, as well as in the communities of Willets Point, Queens, Riverhead and Patchogue in Suffolk County, Yonkers and Peekskill.

After receiving the top prize for Best Documentary at the New Jersey International Film Festival in June 2008, Greetings From Asbury Park had a short run on the festival circuit. WLIW21’s July broadcasts bring this important film and its lessons about the price of progress and redevelopment on shoreline and other established communities to the New York metro area. In June WLIW21 highlighted the importance of maintaining the ecology and integrity of Long Island’s south shore with the premiere of Incredible Journey: The Story of West Hampton Dunes, while the May 2009 premiere of WLIW21’s original production Shoreline Sonata: A Long Island Love Story celebrated the region’s beauty, as well as the music and poetry it has inspired.

For additional information and to watch the Greetings From Asbury Park trailer, visit greetingsfromasburyparkmovie.com.

Greetings From Asbury Park is sponsored by Women Make Movies, a national non-profit media arts organization dedicated to the production and promotion of films by women filmmakers. Producer: Kerry Margaret Butch. Director: Christina Eliopoulos