April Highlights and Happenings

AZPM welcomes April with special programming celebrating Earth Day on television, radio, and online. In its national television premiere at 9 p.m. Monday, April 22 on PBS 6, Canary profiles a climate scientist who has been referred to as “the closest living thing to Indiana Jones.” Globally recognized as on the front lines of climate change, Dr. Lonnie Thompson hopes through his analysis of ice cores from high-mountain regions across the globe to better understand the Earth’s climate – and save lives. Unlike polar glaciers, the tropical high mountain glaciers Dr. Thompson studies provide water to billions of people; the loss of those glaciers will result in catastrophic consequences. AZPM is proud to present this impactful and thrilling story of an explorer who was willing to go where no scientist had gone before and who transformed our idea of what is possible. Canary repeats Sunday, April 28 at 1:30 p.m. on PBS 6.

Premiering at 8 p.m. on April 24, Changing Planet: Coral Special is the third year of this 7-year project examining the issues facing the planet's most threatened ecosystems. Dr. M. Sanjayan visits the Maldives and Florida to take an in-depth look at coral reefs and the urgent efforts to help them survive climate change. And don’t miss the back-to-back encore presentation of all five episodes of The Green Planet on Sunday, April 21 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on PBS 6, taking viewers on a voyage of discovery through the tropical, water, seasonal, desert, and human worlds that inhabit our planet.

While its Earth Day message is a little less overt, A Brief History of the Future challenges our notions of what the future could be if we make some changes. The six-part series weaves together history, science, and unexpected storytelling to expand our understanding of the impact of our choices today on our tomorrows. Hosted by futurist Ari Wallach, the series challenges the dystopian framework embraced by popular culture by offering a refreshing take on the future, exploring potential solutions to our existential threats, inviting viewers to imagine a world that is full of discovery, hope, and possibility, and inspiring each of us to understand our power to shape the future. Airs at 9 p.m. on six consecutive Wednesdays starting April 3.

PBS 6 serves up a menu of juicy dramas on Sunday evenings throughout the month. MASTERPIECE departs from the familiar period dramas with the April 7 premiere of Mr. Bates vs. The Post Office. Toby Jones stars in this dramatization of the real-life British Post Office Scandal, a miscarriage of justice in which hundreds of post office employees were wrongly prosecuted for theft because of a faulty computer system. The four-part series airs at 8 p.m. April 7 - 28. The darkly comic thriller Guilt returns for its third and final season on Sunday, April 28 at 9 p.m., as the unscrupulous Scottish lawyer Max and his softer-hearted brother Jake each face his own life-defining crisis. Turn on your closed captions if you, like me, have a hard time keeping up with their Scottish accents. Both programs will be available to binge on AZPM Passport starting on the night of their respective premieres.

Classical 90.5 has much to offer every month, but April will feature some special programming for classical music lovers. Concert series starting this month include the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival Series beginning April 3 at 9 p.m. and the Deutsche Welle Festival Concert Series starting April 5 at 8 p.m. On April 15, AZPM marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of conductor and violinist Sir Neville Marriner with an entire day’s playlist devoted to his recordings. Founder of the renowned Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Marriner is one of the world’s most-recorded conductors, second only to Herbert von Karajan. Be sure to join Classical 90.5 for a day-long tribute to an extraordinary musician. Afternoon host Andy Bade’s Extempore Series, available on demand, features an interview with From the Top host Peter Dugan, and on April 22, Classical 90.5 salutes Earth Day with nature-themed music all day long. Tune in to hear music about birds from 6 a.m to 3 p.m. and musical homages to forests from 3 to 7 p.m.

On Monday April 8, a total solar eclipse will cross North and Central America creating a path of totality from Maine to Mazatlán. Although Tucson is not in the path of totality, the eclipse will be about 75% visible from Southern Arizona. NPR 89.1 will offer live, special coverage of the event from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. This will be the last total solar eclipse visible from the contiguous United States until August of 2044. For more, watch Be Smart: Why the 2024 Solar Eclipse is Such a Big Deal, a PBS Digital series available to stream now.

I hope you enjoy all that’s in store this month at AZPM. As always, thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,

Jack Gibson
Chief Executive Officer