Culture

What to Watch in December

December is holiday season, and we've got a Mary Berry-palooza of festive specials to help you celebrate, along with a slate of Chicago-related documentaries on a Nobel Prize winner, education and gentrification, and an architect, plus more.

William and Eliza in Miss Scarlet and the Duke season 2

'Miss Scarlet and the Duke' Recap: Season 2 Episode 6

Eliza and William confront an imminent major change in their relationship while Eliza tries to find out who tried to kill her rival detective, Patrick Nash, and ends up in danger herself.

Meet the New Co-Anchors of 'PBS NewsHour' Replacing Judy Woodruff

Judy Woodruff is stepping down as anchor of PBS NewsHour on December 30, 2022, and she will be replaced by chief correspondent Amna Nawaz and PBS News Weekend anchor Geoff Bennett on January 2, 2023.

A memorial commemorating 12 fallen Vietnam soldiers sits across the street from Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in South Chicago. Image: Miguel Zuno, Zuno Photography / WTTW

Things to Watch and Read on Veterans Day

November 11 is Veterans Day. WTTW and PBS have covered veterans, their lives, issues, and the wars they fought in extensively, but we have pulled together a small selection of those stories for you to watch and read today.

The exterior of Orchestra Hall in 1920 and its stage in 1966 during a recording session with Benny Goodman and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Photos: Chicago History Museum, ICHi-032364; Kaufmann & Fabry Company, photographer (L); ST-19070395-0015, Chicago Sun-Times collection, Chicago History Museum (R)

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Home and the Prominent Chicago Architects Who Shaped It

Take a look at Orchestra Hall's more than 100-year history and the prominent Chicago architects who have shaped and renovated the home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, at a time when the New York Philharmonic's newly redesigned hall is receiving all the attention.

Native American Heritage Month 2022 on WTTW

Among WTTW's Native American Heritage Month programming is a new documentary of the Indigenous musician, artist, and activist Buffy Sainte-Marie, plus films that explore the varied experience, present, and past of Native Americans.

Are You Caught Up With October’s Chicago Headlines? Take Our October News Quiz.

Jimmy Carter meets with Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, 1979

What to Watch in November

Documentaries examine Russian critics of the war in Ukraine and the hostage crisis in Iran while favorite dramas and mysteries wrap up their seasons just in time for the holidays.

A New 'Frontline' Examines the Effort to Document and Prosecute War Crimes in Ukraine

Even as the war brought about by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, journalists from Frontline and the Associated Press, among others, have begun gathering evidence of war crimes. The director of a Frontline about those efforts spoke to us about the new documentary.

TikTok Influencer Feroza Aziz taking selfie with her friends in an arcade. Image: Shane Sigler

New Documentary Explores the Complicated and Controversial Power of TikTok

TikTok, Boom, which premieres on WTTW and PBS as part of Independent Lens on October 24, explores some of the controversy surrounding the popular social media app, including privacy issues, mental health ramifications, and lack of transparency around content moderation.

Cloud Gate, otherwise known as The Bean, in Chicago's Millennium Park

A Conversation with Architecture Critics Blair Kamin and Lee Bey on Their Upcoming Book

The Pulitzer Prize-winning former Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin has a new book out featuring photography by his one-time competitor Lee Bey, architecture critic of the Chicago Sun-Times. They discussed the book and equity in urban design and architecture.