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StoryCorps Military Voices Initiative On-Demand

 

How did you come to serve in the military? What is your proudest moment? During your service, can you recall times when you were afraid? What are your strongest memories from your time in the military? What lessons did you learn from this time in your life?

The Military Voices Initiative provides a platform for veterans, service members, and military families to share their stories. In doing so we honor their voices, amplify their experiences, and let them know that we—as a nation—are listening.

For more than a decade, 2.4 million men and women have served in Iraq and Afghanistan while millions of families have stood behind them at home. The military community knows well the challenges of multiple deployments, combat-injuries, and long-awaited homecomings. Yet few civilians truly understand the complex realities of our troops’ service and sacrifice.

Learn More & Listen On-Demand to Featured Stories

They Were Our Fathers On-Demand

 

Over 20,000 American children lost their fathers during the Vietnam War. Their stories serve as powerful testimonies about the true cost of war. 

They Were Our Fathers shares their stories, as told by members of Sons and Daughters in Touch—a group formed in 1990 to locate, unite and support Gold Star children who lost their fathers in service during the Vietnam War. They gather in the nation’s capital on Father’s Day to honor their fathers, reflect on their common grief and support one another, like no one else can. Produced by WSRE. 

This program is part of WXXI’s Veterans Connections initiative that is designed to help bridge military and veteran needs with community support and awareness.  Through special TV, radio and online programming, documentary films, group discussions, news features, and web features.  Veterans Connections works to create a community platform to raise awareness and connect veterans with valuable resources.

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On Two Fronts: Latinos & Vietnam On-Demand

 

This film captures a complex aspect of the Vietnam War: the legacy of Latino veterans and their families during the conflict. Watch On-Demand

Through rare archival footage and candid interviews, On Two Fronts: Latinos & Vietnam, conveys the rich heritage of military service, a deeply rooted part of Latino cultural identity in the U.S., and looks at the contributions made by Latino veterans and their families during the Vietnam era. The film also explores the controversy and changing attitudes amid the growing Chicano anti-war movement and within a community reeling over disproportionate losses and divided over participation in the war.

Examine the Latino experience during a war that placed its heaviest burden on working-class youth and their communities. Framing the documentary are memoirs of two siblings, Everett and Delia Alvarez, who stood on opposite sides of the Vietnam War, one as a POW and the other protesting at home.

On Two Fronts: Latinos & Vietnam is part of WXXI’s Veterans Connections initiative that is designed to help bridge military and veteran needs with community support and awareness.  Through special TV, radio and online programming, documentary films, group discussions, news features, and web features. Veterans Connections works to create a community platform to raise awareness and connect veterans with valuable resources.

Watch On-Demand

Norm & Company: Dr. Bill Valenti On-Demand

Dr. Bill Valenti, co-founder of Trillium Health, continues his efforts to end the HIV epidemic in New York State by 2020.

Dr. Valenti has devoted his career and life’s work to ending the Aids epidemic. As co-founder of Trillium Health, formerly known as the Community Health Network, Dr. Valenti has been a pioneer in the fight against HIV and AIDS, helping to advance treatment and save countless lives. Dr. Valenti joins WXXI President & CEO Norm Silverstein to reflect on his work as a physician, advocate and community trailblazer.

Dr. Valenti has published a memoir titled Aids: A Matter of Urgency describing his experiences as a medical maverick facing the frontlines of the epidemic. Born and raised in Rochester, Dr. Valenti has dedicated his life to improving public health and increasing access to healthcare for individuals in need, particularly from LGBTQ and low-income communities.

Norm & Company is hosted by WXXI President & CEO Norm Silverstein, who speaks with long-time Rochesterians as they recount fascinating stories about their lives in the community. 

The full episode can be viewed here:

Nature Cat: Songs, Videos & Activities

Play games and watch full episodes of Nature Cat on https://pbskids.org/naturecat

“Nature Cat,” a series for children ages 3 to 7, follows Fred, a house cat who dreams of exploring the great outdoors. Once his family leaves for the day, Fred transforms into Nature Cat: “backyard explorer extraordinaire!” He can’t wait to get outside for a day of nature adventures and bravery! There’s just one problem: he’s still a house cat with no instincts for nature! With the help of his animal friends, Nature Cat goes on action-packed adventures full of nature investigation and humor, all while inspiring children to go outside and experience nature.

WXXI Favorite Activities:

See Games, Activities and Videos from the Nature Cat Series at PBS KIDS

Learn more about the series, articles, activities and games at PBS KIDS for Parents: Nature Cat Show Page

Nature Cat Videos Playlist

Stonewall Uprising On-Demand

When gay bar Stonewall Inn was raided in 1969, gay men and women did something they had not done before: they fought back.

In 1969, homosexual acts were illegal in every state except Illinois and gays frequently found themselves being hauled off to jail, their names splashed in the next day’s newspaper. Even in Greenwich Village, where thousands of gay people moved to escape the constant oppression of their hometowns, patrons of gay bars were accustomed to frequent police harassment. But on June 28, 1969, the gay community experienced what one Village Voice reporter who was on the scene called its “Rosa Parks moment,” when the N.Y.P.D. raided a Mafia-run gay bar, the Stonewall Inn. For the first time ever, patrons refuse to be led into paddy wagons, setting off a violent three-day uprising that launched the gay rights movement. 

Watch on-demand through 6/9/26

Norm & Company: Ted Curtis On-Demand

Edward “Ted” Curtis, founder of Corn Hill Navigation, the non-profit company that operates Sam Patch and Mary Jemison, shares memories of growing up on East Avenue, working as a spy for the CIA, how his grandmother saved Cobs Hill Park with help from her friend George Eastman, and how he started Corn Hill Navigation. 

Mr. Curtis chaired WXXI’s Board of Trustees in 1970, and has a long history of public service, including serving as interim City Manager. He has been instrumental in developing Rochester’s waterways, and in 2011 the City of Rochester named the point of land where the Genesee River and the Erie Canal meet – Curtis Point. 

Norm & Company is hosted by WXXI President Norm Silverstein, who speaks with long-time Rochesterians as they recount fascinating stories about their lives in the community.

Space Education Resources: (K-12)

WXXI Education has pulled together educational support resources related to learning about Space for K-12.

Connect to PBS LearningMedia for Space Resource Collections & Solar Eclipse Resources

Eclipse Explainer: During the eclipse, the moon passes in front of the sun, until it covers the sun's light. This makes a shadow on the earth, and the eclipse can only be seen in the places where the shadow falls.

PBS KIDS Solar Eclipse Digital Kit for PreK-2nd grade (from WXXI Education)

Solar Eclipse Games and Activities from NYS Libraries

NASA Solar Eclipse Site

Bringing the Universe to America's Classrooms

Space Collection: Resources organized by grade levels. (K-2) (3-5) (6-8) & (9-12) Note particularly the Solar Eclipses Lessons & Interactives for 6-8 and 9-12 Bringing the Universe to America’s Classrooms: Engage K–12 students with phenomena and science practices using this collection of supplementary digital media resources created by GBH in collaboration with NASA. The resources align with key NGSS Earth, space, and physical science disciplinary core ideas. To ensure that science content is accessible for all students, supports are included for students with disabilities or who are English learners; many resources have Spanish translations.

Eclipses: CrashCourse

Space Time: A PBS LearningMedia Collection for 6-12

Space Time: A PBS LearningMedia Collection for 6-12

Space Time PBS LearningMedia Collection: Join astrophysicist Matt O’Dowd on a journey through the deepest, darkest, coolest corners of the universe. Math, physics, and astronomy can’t get much bigger than this.

On the acclaimed PBS Digital Studios series Space Time, Matt explores the outer reaches of space, the craziness of astrophysics, the possibilities of sci-fi, and anything else you can think of beyond Planet Earth. Visit the series home on YouTube for new weekly episodes and challenges that prompt your classroom to think differently about physics and push the rules of space and time to the limit.

NOVA: The Great American Eclipse

Scientists prepare new experiments to study the solar eclipse. Length: 60 Minutes

See the Great American Eclipse Video (From 2017)

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