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

Episode 2

S1 E2 / 55m 15s / TV-14

Uncover crime evidence pulled from DNA websites. See how drug rules stem from a pill’s side effects. Learn.how a screen addiction cure is rooted in the past and why Americans are ambivalent about robots. Andy Borowitz objects to “no news.”

Where Did The News Go? | Andy Borowitz

S1 E2 / 4m 29s / TV-14

We hear a lot about fake news these days, but New Yorker magazine humorist Andy Borowitz wants to talk about another widespread phenomenon: no news. Every day on TV we’re assaulted with the empty news calories, the Pringles potato chips of news. But who was the evil genius behind this maddening trend?

Athletes vs. Injustice | Full Report

S1 E1 / 11m 51s / TV-14

When N.F.L. players starting with Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem to protest police mistreatment of African-Americans, their actions ignited an uproar over injecting politics onto the playing field. Their protest had surprising ties to the silent black-power salute by two sprinters at the 1968 Olympics.

Online All the Time? Researchers Predicted It. | Full Report

S1 E1 / 10m 39s / TV-14

Social media’s power over consumers is not by chance, it is by design. Theories pioneered decades ago by B.F. Skinner lie at the root of today’s multi-trillion-dollar “attention economy."

Episode 1

S1 E1 / 53m 47s / TV-14

Social media’s addictive power is by design. Colin Kaepernick’s protest has ties to 1968. Women on Wall Street fought harassment decades before #MeToo. Pythons threaten the Everglades. Andy Borowitz wants to treat political ads like cigarettes.

Warning: These Ads Contain Politicians | Andy Borowitz

S1 E1 / 3m 52s / TV-14

Andy Borowitz, the New Yorker magazine humorist, has come up with a simple solution to the political ads that litter our TV landscape. His short comedy videos cap every episode of Retro Report on PBS, a new series that shines a light on today by uncovering the past.

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