Summary: The United States continues to be the wealthiest country in the world, yet one in eight Americans-approximately 37 million people-live below the poverty line. This program analytically and sympathetically discusses the effects and implications of poverty, examining factors such as illiteracy, insufficient job skills, substance abuse, and crime. The phenomenon of multigenerational poverty is...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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Summary: While poverty has traditionally been a problem only for the unemployed, a new demographic of Americans has emerged-the working poor. This program explores the disturbing realities that many people in low-wage jobs face every day-such as having to decide whether to pay the rent, buy groceries, or see a doctor. Viewers will learn how standards of living are often measured, how suburban areas have...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
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Summary: In 1932, the United States had almost no provision by which the federal government could offer a helping hand to the victims of economic collapse. But with a staggering number of Americans out of work, soup kitchens and private charities were simply overwhelmed. Enter Franklin D. Roosevelt-a leader ready to act, armed with a New Deal for the country. Bill Moyers explores America's...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
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Summary: This program explains how the U.S. subprime market grew from the post-9/11 rise of easy credit, which was then exploited by predatory lenders; subsequent widespread defaults and foreclosures; the attendant market correction; and the resulting threat of recession. Yale University's Robert Schiller; BusinessWeek's Matthew Goldstein; Nouriel Roubini, of the Stern School of Business; JPMorgan's...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: Focusing on the subprime mortgage crisis, this edition of the Journal travels to Cleveland, Ohio-the heart of the nation's mortgage meltdown. Correspondent Rick Karr examines the state of Slavic Village, where more than 1,000 homes stand vacant and decaying in a neighborhood that once thrived with families living the American dream of home ownership. Then, Bill Moyers gets perspective on the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: For many Americans, the threat of sudden poverty has less to do with the nation's overall economy than it does with personal circumstances. This program discusses the hard facts of situational poverty with a focus on the four most common triggers: job loss, the fastest way to become impoverished; health issues, such as severe injury or long-term illness; the loss of a spouse through divorce or...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: The United States, the world’s strongest economic power, is also the world’s largest debtor nation. Will America’s ever-increasing trade imbalance and economic deficit trigger a global economic calamity? This program travels from East Coast to West via the Rust Belt to check the financial pulse of the nation—and to capture in images the reality of an economic system spinning out of control....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: The path Steven Rockefeller has taken on his intellectual and spiritual journey would very likely surprise his great-grandfather, the tycoon John D. Rockefeller, Sr. A convert to Buddhism, Steven Rockefeller has been teaching Religion at Middlebury College in Vermont for almost 20 years. Centering on what he calls "the democratic reconstruction of religion," Rockefeller has steeped himself in...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
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Summary: As the controversy over intelligent design and science education heats up, open-minded discussion about the issue can be in short supply. This ABC News program sorts through arguments on both sides, examines the debate in the context of America's larger political climate, and explores its fundamental questions: Are evolution and I.D. incompatible? Is exposure to both ideas harmful or beneficial...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: Are advocates of the intelligent design theory really creationists in disguise? To what extent has the I.D. argument widened America's cultural divide? And if a clear winner emerges, who loses? This program thoroughly examines those questions, describing the theory's quasi-scientific origins and documenting the Pennsylvania court battle over teaching I.D. in biology classes. A historical...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: Confronting one of the most complex and potentially divisive issues on the American cultural landscape, this ABC News program examines the intellectual and political forces that support the teaching of intelligent design in public schools. The video focuses on the Discovery Institute, a Seattle-based think tank that has generated widespread enthusiasm-and criticism-for making I.D. part of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: The implementation of the 1996 welfare reform act's Charitable Choice provision has proved controversial in the extreme. In this program, supporters and opponents alike give a clear sense of what is at stake as they examine the application of Charitable Choice in Indiana, Massachusetts, and North Carolina-states with distinctly different political cultures and religious landscapes. These...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: In the years since the U.S. Supreme Court's legalization of abortion, the political scene has changed dramatically enough to threaten this landmark decision. On the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, this ABC News program surveys the current landscape of opinion and political alignment, examining the shift of momentum concerning abortion rights. Correspondent Dave Marash reports from Minnesota,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006