Ted Koppel

ABC News presents Morrie Schwartz - Lessons on Living
$14.98
This is a great dvd to use as a companion with the book. I taught it in 11th grade and showed part of each interview with the corresponding chapter from the book. I recommend this dvd.

Naqoyqatsi
$19.99
This is the third installment to a 3 part series. Due to advancements in modern technology, this one is more visually stunning. An excellent blend of Cinematography and Editing over a bed of music scored by Phillip Glass. To the discerning eye, here-in lies many of the reasons the world has been in decline for so long. Fabricated by their own hands, mankind is the architect of its own demise. The inclusion of the Hopi Indian prophecy quotes add a thought provoking, and often times stunning, characteristic to the work. I would Suggest watching a DVD called: HOME, by Yann Arthus-Bertrand (20th Century Fox), and then watch this DVD.

Nightline:: History in the Making and the Making of Television
$25.00
The use of statellite technology for live interviews around the globe is so ubiquitous that you almost forget a time without it. NIGHTLINE is the program that pioneered this technology and showed how it could bring newsmakers on all points of the globe together for debate and discussion. The book recounts in well-researched detail the events that led to the birth of the program, its evolution and continued development. Fans of the show will enjoy all the nuggets of information: the circumstances that led to an unknown correspondent to be the permanent host; the selection of the name itself; details of experiments that failed. Though billed as being by Ted Koppel and Kyle Gibson, Koppel makes it clear that the book is largely Gibson's. Gibson was a producer for the program for several years but has moved on to other posts within ABC News. This is another benefit of the book: she brings the perspective of having been an insider while not being too close to the project. You'll enjoy the many excerpts of memorable programs and exchanges, and Koppel's hidden sense of humor shines through.

The People's Republic of Capitalism with Ted Koppel
$39.99
I rarely write reviews, but after watching all four episodes of this series, and reading the glowing review below, I feel the urge to say something. The 4-hour program was produced in 2008, sometime after the Sichuan earthquake and before the August Olympics. It claims to provide objective insight into China-US economic relationship. However, I felt the coverage and interviews were sentimental, even cliched. For example, much of the program dwells on the plight of an employed older American woman, whose factory job was outsourced to China. It dwells on the grievances of poor families who live in "nail houses," who refuse to vacate their homes despite a governmental payout. It dwells on the listlessness of young, uneducated, Chinese women who drift from one low-paying job to another, without a seeming way out of the cycle of poverty. Let me be clear. These tragedies are real. But I found myself reacting negatively to the way that the stories are told by Mr. Kopple, the host: his descriptions are almost Victorian in their emphasis on the hardworking, good nature of the workers, and the greed of the masters. Kopple also quotes briefly from the Bible early in the program. Was that necessary? How do such rhetorical flourishes enhance the viewer's understanding of the issues?

The central argument of the program is that China and US are "joined at the hip" (a direct quotation from the series). But most people understand this already. Thus, for those viewers who already have a sense of the inter-dependency between the two countries, the arguments will seem commonplace, even quaint. Had the program aired ten, or fifteen years ago, it might have been arresting.

Two years ago, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation produced a 4 part series called "China Rises." I recommend that documentary over this one. The investigative scope is larger and the human stories are presented in a more original (not to mention entertaining) way.