Nerd TV, 3/1 – 3/2

A few months ago I caught a Book TV segment with Diane Ackerman discussing her most recent book, The Zookeeper's Wife. It was a fascinating medley of history, poetry and activism. It's being re-broadcast on Saturday, March 1 at 4:30 pm Central.

Also on Book TV this weekend you can watch an extraordinary woman, Ann Wright (whom I've posted about before), along with Daniel Ellsberg, discuss the new book Dissent: Voices of Conscience.

About the Program

Ann Wright, co-author of “Dissent,” talks about the government insiders and military personnel who spoke out against the invasion of Iraq. She is joined by Daniel Ellsberg, who wrote the introduction to the book. This event was hosted by Cody's Books in Berkeley, California.

About the Author

Ann Wright served with the U.S. Army for 13 years and with the Army Reserves for 16 years, eventually retiring as a colonel. Following that, she served with the Foreign Service from 1987 to 2003, including a stint in Afghanistan where she helped reopen the U.S. embassy after the 2001 invasion.

Look for this on Sunday, March 2, at 3:45 AM (aka, Saturday night) and Sunday, March 2, at 3:00 PM.

Other Book TV fare this weekend:

  • The Pentagon: A History – Noon Saturday
  • Douglass and Lincoln: How a Revolutionary Black Leader and a Reluctant Liberator Struggled to End Slavery and Save the Union – 1:15pm, 11 pm Saturday
  • After Words: David Cay Johnston, author of “Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (And Stick You With the Bill),” interviewed by Maya MacGuineas – 9 PM Saturday, 5 pm Sunday, 8 pm Sunday, 2 am Monday
  • Top Secret: When Our Government Keeps Us in the Dark – 12 am Sunday

On the History Channel, explore The Universe on Saturday, March 1, 1 PM – 5 PM, a four-hour block of this excellent series. Episodes entitled Space Travel, Supernovas, Constellations and Unexplained Mysteries.

Speaking of history, but a little closer to home, OETA will rebroadcast its 1989 production Oklahoma Passage on Sunday afternoon.

The series focuses on the fictional Benton family, beginning with Abraham Benton, a mixed-blood Cherokee Indian. His pre-Trail of Tears immigration, to Indian Territory in the mid-1830s begins a saga spanning six generations of Bentons. The family bears witness to more than 150 years of Oklahoma history, including Indian settlements during the Civil War, the Land Run of