WNET Up Next Speaks with George Takei

02/01/21 • 23 min

ASIAN AMERICANS is a five-part PBS documentary series produced by WETA that examines the role of Asian Americans in shaping American history and identity, exploring the impact of this group on the country’s past, present, and future.

For a fundraising broadcast of the series, actor, author and activist George Takei was interviewed by series narrator Tamlyn Tamita. Takei, best known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the USS Enterprise in the original television series Star Trek and several sequels, spent his early years in two Japanese internment camps operated by the United States government during World War II.

He shares his history and how his time in the camps came to be a major defining moment for himself and his family. In addition to his acting career he has been a long-time activist in the LGBTQ community, and in fighting racism of all kinds. He is the author of “They Called Us Enemy,” a graphic novel based on his story and was also involved with the Broadway musical production “Allegiance.”

ASIAN AMERICANS will receive an encore broadcast Sunday, May 12, 2022 from 12 to 3:30 p.m. (see full schedule) and is available for streaming on PBS Passport.

Producer/Editor: Terence Taylor

Host/Producer: Tom Stewart

Audio Engineer: Jon Berman

Executive Producer: Daena McBride

WNET UP NEXT is a presentation of the Design, On Air Promotion, Fundraising and Traffic Department of The WNET Group.

The post WNET Up Next Speaks with George Takei appeared first on The WNET Group.

ASIAN AMERICANS will receive an encore broadcast Sunday, May 12, 2022 from 12 to 3:30 p.m. (see full schedule) and is available for streaming on PBS Passport.

Producer/Editor: Terence Taylor

Host/Producer: Tom Stewart

Audio Engineer: Jon Berman

Executive Producer: Daena McBride

WNET UP NEXT is a presentation of the Design, On Air Promotion, Fundraising and Traffic Department of The WNET Group.

The post WNET Up Next Speaks with George Takei appeared first on The WNET Group.

Previous Episode

“WNET Up Next” Sits Down with POV Executive Producer Justine Nagan

“When you tune in you won’t know what it’s going to be about but you’ll know it’ll be worth your time and that you’ll be transformed after watching! It’s a medium that touches people and changes lives.” – Justine Nagan

Now in its 33rd year of production, POV continues to present award-winning documentary films with a “point of view” on PBS. Executive Producer Justine Nagan, who is also the Executive Director of parent organization American Documentary, joins WNET Up Next host Tom Stewart to share a behind the scenes look at the series. She has been in her positions with the organization for five years, following over a decade of experience with Chicago’s Kartemquin Film which she led for six years.

Justine discusses the history of the series and the special position it holds in the world of independent film and PBS. Since 1988, POV has presented more than 500 films to the public television audience, in that time winning 25 Peabody Awards, 38 Emmy Awards, 14 duPont-Columbia Awards, three George Polk Awards, and three Academy Awards, among others.

This season includes the multi-part series, And She Could Be Next, a look at the movement of women of color to transform politics from the ground up; We Are the Radical Monarchs, a group of young girls of color at the front lines of social justice. Also In My Blood It Runs, about an aboriginal boy in Australia, plus many long form and short form films over the course of the current season.

In addition to POV, AMDOC produces America Reframed, a series produced and aired in association with the WORLD Channel in conjunction with WGBH. Interactive efforts are centered on POV Spark which features a new series called Otherly, produced with the National Film Board of Canada and made on Instagram Stories.

For more on POV and AMDOC and America Reframed visit POV.org or AMDOC.org.

Recorded: August 12, 2020

Mixed: September 4, 2020

Editor – Samantha Lobo

Audio Engineering and Mixing – Evan Joseph

Host/Producer – Tom Stewart

Executive Producer – Daena McBride

WNET UP NEXT is a presentation of the Design, On Air Promotion, Fundraising and Traffic Department of The WNET Group.

The post “WNET Up Next” Sits Down with POV Executive Producer Justine Nagan appeared first on The WNET Group.

Next Episode

WNET Up Next: In Conversation with Connie Chung

On the occasion of a recent rebroadcast of the five-part PBS series ASIAN AMERICANS, The WNET Group President & CEO Neal Shapiro engaged in a wide-ranging conversation with award-winning broadcast journalist Connie Chung. Born in Washington, DC to a large Chinese family, Connie shares with Neal memories of her childhood, her influential career and thoughts about her identity as both Chinese and American.

She praises the series and its ability to tell stories about the Asian American experience that have been forgotten or not widely known, and credits PBS for the high quality of its documentary programming. She also shares her thoughts about the resurgence of racism in this country, particularly that directed toward Asian Americans in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic.

ASIAN AME RICANS is available for streaming on THIRTEEN Passport.

Audio Engineer – Josh Broome

Host/Producer – Tom Stewart

Guest Producer – Terence Taylor

Executive Producer – Daena McBride

WNET UP NEXT is a presentation of the Design, On Air Promotion, Fundraising and Traffic Department of The WNET Group.

The post WNET Up Next: In Conversation with Connie Chung appeared first on The WNET Group.