Retro Report on PBS

News and Public Affairs Series / 1 Season

Retro Report makes sense of the present by revealing the past. Join journalists Celeste Headlee and Masud Olufani as they connect the present to the past through four distinct and varied stories, and New Yorker humorist Andy Borowitz adds his signature wit.

Watch Latest: S1 E8

10m 27s / TV-14

The Bullying Industry | Andy Borowitz

S1 E8 / 4m 37s / TV-14

Prominent Americans are eager to declare their opposition to bullying. There’s only one problem, New Yorker magazine humorist Andy Borowitz asserts: we live in an enthusiastically pro-bullying culture. He traces the history of bullying on television and beyond.

The Controversy Over Teaching Teens About Sex

S1 E8 / 13m 22s / TV-14

A decades-old battle is re-emerging over how sex is presented in the classroom, as the Trump administration gives support to “sexual risk avoidance” programs that promote abstinence.

Correcting the Myth of the Superpredator

S1 E8 / 10m 27s / TV-14

States are reconsidering life prison sentences of people who were given mandatory life terms as juveniles – a practice since ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. At the time, in the 1990s, a handful of researchers inspired panic with a dire but flawed prediction: the imminent arrival of a new breed of remorseless teen killers, so-called superpredators.

How Napster Stirred Up Entertainment

S1 E8 / 10m 6s / TV-PG

Napster, created by an 18-year-old developer, exploded across college campuses across the country in 1999. With a mouse click, music lovers gained free access to their favorite tunes. The record industry took to the courts to shut down the upstart company. But a generation of consumers had tasted instant entertainment on demand, and there was no turning back.

The Forgotten History of AIDS

S1 E8 / 11m 55s / TV-14

Rates of H.I.V. infection have fallen in many places, but the AIDS crisis persists in some parts of the country. What can be learned from history – and specifically the story of Ryan White?

Lessons From the Space Shuttle Challenger Tragedy

S1 E7 / 18m 31s / TV-14

Normalization of deviance, the process of becoming inured to risky actions, is a useful concept for today that was developed to explain how the Challenger disaster happened.

Anita Bryant, Gay Rights Icon | Andy Borowitz

S1 E7 / 3m 58s / TV-14

New Yorker magazine humorist Andy Borowitz examines how Anita Bryant, ubiquitous in the 1960s and 70s for commercials promoting Florida orange juice, inadvertently energized the gay rights movement.

The Truth About the Lawsuit Over Hot McDonald’s Coffee

S1 E7 / 11m 18s / TV-14

The long-running debate over frivolous lawsuits took shape years ago after McDonald’s coffee spilled into a woman’s lap and she was awarded millions in damages. Her complaint sounded frivolous. But the facts told another story.

How the U.S. Came to Rely on Special Ops Forces

S1 E7 / 7m 46s

The rise of special operations units today can be traced to a failed attempt to rescue Americans held hostage in Iran in 1980, and the successful Israeli raid at Uganda’s Entebbe Airport.

Exploring the Recent History of U.S. Immigration Backlashes

S1 E7 / 9m 54s / TV-14

Immigration policy has exposed the sharp divisions of the Trump era more clearly than any other issue. The controversies echo an anti-immigration movement 25 years ago in California.

Episode 7

S1 E7 / 55m 9s / TV-PG

Immigration controversies echo past anti-immigration backlash. Why a lawsuit over scalding coffee is misunderstood. The origin of Special Ops forces. Risks after Challenger. Andy Borowitz examines Anita Bryant’s unintended influence.

Episode 6

S1 E6 / 55m 3s / TV-14

Public housing influenced by a 1970s experiment. Newborn tests are a legacy of a boy who spent life in a bubble. Head injuries in pro sports. Too few people (not too many) is a problem. Andy Borowitz takes on Space Force.

The ZIP Code Advantage

S1 E6 / 12m 58s / TV-14

Some major cities are trying to help poor children succeed by helping their families move to middle-income, so-called "opportunity areas." The concept sprang from a little-known public housing program in the 1970s, when thousands of black families were moved from Chicago's high-rise housing projects to mostly white suburbs.

A Life in a Bubble

S1 E6 / 11m 39s / TV-14

Newborns today are tested for genetic and immune disorders that might not be apparent at birth. The tests evolved from the treatment of a patient with a rare diagnosis who became known as the boy in the bubble.

May The Space Force Be With You | Andy Borowitz

S1 E6 / 4m 37s / TV-14

From Reagan’s Star Wars to Trump’s Space Force, New Yorker magazine humorist Andy Borowitz examines why politicians who have no patience for science can’t resist spending billions on science fiction.

What Happened to the Population Bomb?

S1 E6 / 10m 18s / TV-PG

Not enough babies are being born to support an aging population in some parts of the world. But decades ago, there seemed to be the opposite problem: a prediction about a future with too many people. The concern then was that a population bomb would tip the world into chaos.

Hard Risks for Athletes

S1 E6 / 11m 51s / TV-14

In 1982, boxing fans tuned in for a championship bout between Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini of Ohio and South Korean fighter Duk-Koo Kim. It was a 14-round slugfest -- afterward, medical concerns about the brutality of boxing mounted, and the sport’s foothold in mainstream American culture began to slip. Today, with concerns over concussions in football growing, will football suffer the same fate?

Episode 5

S1 E5 / 55m 10s / TV-PG

Texting could reduce suicides. Surrogate parenthood. Lead is banned but a toxic mess remains. Climate help may come from the Cold War. Long prison sentences based on old fears are being shortened. Andy Borowitz on a river that burst into flames.

Lingering Peril From Paint

S1 E5 / 14m 58s / TV-14

The federal government banned lead from gasoline and household products years ago, but a toxic mess remains. About half a million children – disproportionately children of color – have dangerously high lead levels in their blood, mostly from exposure to peeling paint and contaminated dust. The fight over who should clean it up has lasted for decades.

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