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

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?

Could D&D Help Fight Screen Addiction? | Full Report

S1 E2 / 11m 23s / TV-14

Parents worry about the latest video games, like Fortnite. A generation ago, Dungeons and Dragons was the game that seemed like a menace. But in a surprising twist, its role-playing strategies are now seen as a counterbalance to the problem of screen addiction.

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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