THANH TAN
multimedia journalist
seattle times editorial writer/columnist
nw life/food/music
film/politics/play
"you live by desire, then manage life’s constraints."
Tags
-
loading tags
THANH TAN
multimedia journalist
seattle times editorial writer/columnist
nw life/food/music
film/politics/play
"you live by desire, then manage life’s constraints."
Mr. Rogers, Autotuned: PBS Digital Studios recruited John D. Boswell (you may know him from his “Symphony of Science” series) to remix clips from “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.” The result is “Garden of Your Mind,” above, and PBS says more remixes of its well-known shows will follow.
Hell yeah I waited 20 minutes in line for this moment! #cookiemonster (Taken with instagram)
This is exactly how I’d react if I ever met the most famous monster in the world.
Just saw “Being Elmo” on Independent Lens. Delightful.
Truth! I heart @PBS. #sxsw #mykindofflair (Taken with Instagram at The Parish Underground)
Radiohead’s Austin City Limits debut: MINDBLOWING. (Taken with Instagram at Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater)
Former Washington Post Managing/Foreign Editor Phil Bennett on Anthony Shadid:
(H)is impact came not just from what he wrote – “poetry on deadline,” one said — but how he reported. He simply spent more time listening, learning, watching and struggling to understand.
FRONTLINE Remembers Anthony Shadid
FRONTLINE’s managing editor Philip Bennett remembers Anthony Shadid. The award-winning New York Times journalist Anthony Shadid was featured in the film ”Syria Undercover” last fall.
Photo: AP Photo/Ed Ou for The New York Times
The Houston Arts Alliance is bringing Chinese artist/dissident/provocateur Ai Weiwei’s “Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads” exhibit to Hermann Park. The twelve giant animal heads (800 pounds each) will be on display between March 3 and June 3.
Awesome. Why? Just watch this Frontline doc on the artist. You’ll see.
@BillMoyers explores the downfall of #civildiscourse in #American #politics with moral psychologist @JonHaidt, author of The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion.
“We’re all born to be hypocrites,” says Haidt.
A timely and though-provoking discussion that helps to explain the serious divide we see today between liberals and conservatives.
Nova team previews/talks #TheFabricOfTheCosmos! Amazing. Coming Nov. 2 to #PBS! #producersacademy (Taken with Instagram at WGBH)
"In the pursuit of truthful information, the producer must be sensitive to issues of fairness if the program is to have credibility. Truth is an elusive combination of fact and opinion, of reason and experience. We ask for the viewer’s trust. In turn, we promise that the subject matter and the people in the program will be treated fairly."
UPDATE (9/27/11): Gah! I just watched this doc. Heartbreaking in so many ways. A factory-working couple’s best intentions are completely misinterpreted by their daughter. The family ends up estranged. And for what? The reality is China thrives on cheap labor. And for whom? They’re not even the beneficiaries of their own work. No health care. No time off. Low wages. Is the American desire for cheap clothes and products justifiable when it perpetuates such a low standard of life for Chinese workers? It’s easy to get all preachy, but an actual solution seems hard to come by. When factories close in China (as they apparently did after the ‘08 financial crisis), I imagine migrant workers suffer even more. What a sad cycle…
Just buy consciously, people. Know where your shit comes from. Recognize a product for what’s it’s really worth, even if it costs a bit more. Maybe that’s all we can do… for now, anyway.
****
‘Last Train Home’ is airing on PBS’ POV next Tuesday, Sept. 27.
PBS NewsHour interviewed Lixin Fan, the film’s director, here.
“When I started to work for television, as I see all the different aspects of this changing China, I more and more felt that the migrant workers are really the backbone of this country. They — I mean, we all know that China is so heavily dependent on its export. The Chinese economy is so heavily dependent on its export.
And behind the — all the made-in-China goods that every one of us consume here in the world are really the migrant workers. And you see how they sacrifice in all those different ways. They are — they have to leave their homeland and they have to leave behind their loved ones to toil in a factory that it’s probably of the worst condition, and get very low wage and no benefit, no welfare.
And they — they — they don’t get much payback. And that’s, to me, just not right. So, I think that’s essentially what — why I wanted to make this film.”
