About this season
Need to Know is an American public television news program produced by WNET, and broadcast weekly on all Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) affiliate-stations in the United States. It aired from May 2010 until June 2013. PBS stated that the show was intended to fill the public-affairs and "hard"/investigative news void left by both the one-hour Bill Moyers Journal, and the cancelled, half-hour NOW on PBS. Both departing shows had been long-running, highly rated, and critically acclaimed for their journalistic quality, and focus on issues that deeply impacted regular Americans' lives, yet went largely ignored by commercial TV news outlets. "NTK" branded itself the "TV and Web newsmagazine [that] gives you what you need to know." PBS had described the show as “a multi-platform current affairs news magazine, uniting broadcast and web in an innovative approach to news-gathering and reporting."
Episodes (51)
1. Foster Care, A ‘Lost Boy’ of Sudan
Aired 7 January 2011
On the eve of Sudan’s historic elections, we profile a “lost boy” who returned to aid his hometown. Plus: medicating foster kids, more “fixing America” and advice from Peter Sagal.
2. Gun Control, Haiti, High-Speed Rail
Aired 14 January 2011
In light of the Arizona shooting, we revisit a story on gun rights. Also: Two Haitian children treated in Boston after the earthquake, a look at high speed rail and author Peter Bergen on al Qaeda.
3. Care for Disabled Adults, Michael Vick’s Dogs, China
Aired 21 January 2011
This week, we visit with parents struggling to maintain care for their developmentally disabled adult children in the face of budget cuts. Plus: where are Michael Vick’s dogs now? And: the Amy Chua phenomenon.
4. Aging in the Car-Happy Suburbs, Congo, A New 'New Deal'?
Aired 28 January 2011
Getting older in the car-dependent suburbs, the State of the Union and the state of the Congo. Plus: an animated editorial by Steve Brodner.
5. Egypt, End-of-Life Care, Alzheimer’s
Aired 4 February 2011
Amid the upheaval in Egypt, we turn our attention to the political tension between Egypt and the U.S. Also, the defunct “death panel” provision, a new scan for Alzheimer’s, and “Reagan.”
6. Ahead of the Class
Aired 11 February 2011
As the nation debates how to get the best performance out of students and teachers, Need to Know presents an hour devoted to success stories in teaching.
7. The Universe(s), Egypt’s Future, and Fracking
Aired 18 February 2011
How many universes are there? Author Brian Greene explains. Plus: A fracking update, a look at what’s next in Egypt and an interview author Parag Khanna.
8. Sea level rise, National Guard bonuses, Somali pirates
9. Libya’s uprising, the high cost of college sports, Wisconsin’s unions
10. Public unions and state budgets, blood transfusions
11. Crisis in Japan, stories of academic transformation
12. Wounded in war, Arne Duncan, breast cancer research
13. Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Medicare, Edwidge Danticat
14. The BP oil spill and the Grand Isle one year later, fixing American education
15. Chinese drywall, ‘Capitalism 4.0,’ right-sizing Detroit
16. Joe Nocera on the Charlie Engle story, Tavis Smiley, free music education in Chicago
17. Adoptions in Nepal, Bin Laden economics, the united states of women
18. Detainee abuse, broadband in Europe, crisis mappers
19. Climate change and tropical disease, Upper Big Branch mine disaster, Stuxnet
20. Political storm over tornadoes, Paralympics, shrinking Youngstown
21. Paying for war, medicating foster children, childhood obesity
22. Clinical trials overseas, legacy of nuclear waste, Brian Greene and the multiverse
23. New voter laws, the anti-abortion movement, therapy for Tourette’s syndrome
24. Combating IEDs, the ramifications of the Wal-Mart case, the science of happy marriages
25. Greece’s debt crisis, congressional redistricting, ‘Page One’ and the New York Times
26. Congo’s orchestra, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Sudan, workplace safety
27. California nuclear safety, population control, Gloria Steinem
28. Famine in Somalia, nuclear waste storage, Eric Cantor and the debt ceiling
29. Adult autism, food safety, wealth inequality
30. Breast cancer trials, Rick Perry’s ambitions, cyberweapons
31. The history of debt, detainee abuse, living with Chinese drywall
32. Urban farming in Detroit, consumer finance protection, gold mining in the Amazon
33. Texas textbooks, wild horses, hurricanes and climate change
34. Water contamination at Camp Lejeune, polls and markets, crisis-mapping
35. 9-11, Ten Years Later
Aired 9 September 2011
A special edition on the ten-year anniversary of 9/11. We visit three military families to see how the nation’s longest war effort has affected military children. Also: Six-word memoirs on 9/11, and an “In Perspective” essay from Jon Meacham.