National Geographic Channel “America Inside Out With Katie Couric”
Drawing The Line: Episode One With Katie Couric
Katie Couric, narrator
National Geographic/ Partners LLC (NGP), 21st Century Fox 2017
Each episode is 50 minutes in length
6 Episodes in this series that airs on Wednesday
April 11, 2018
Re-righting History
Television personality Katie Couric is on the move again. In 2017, her documentary “Gender Revolution” was well-received, and now Couric is showing the public other sides of current issues, ranging from Confederate statues to Muslim neighbors to issues of free speech and too much technology? The series begins with the topic of "Re-righting History", although some may claim this is re-writing history. As with all issues, there are two sides to the story, two sides to the coin.
In “Re-writing History,” Katie Couric travels to the southern states of the U.S., and the issue is the taking down of Confederate statues that have been in place for over a hundred years. The questions posed are 1) why were they put up in the first place and 2) what to do with them now? Some go down simply because of aging construction material, while others are a remembrance of a past America, with slavery at the center.
The audience visits the first Memorial to lynching victims, and the number is in the thousands of people. At the time of the filming for this broadcast, the Memorial was near to completion. Why the remembering of the past instead of forgetting the past? One reason could be the continuance of the white supremacy movement throughout the country.
In most states, there are statues to the Confederacy and the decision to restore and keep, or tear down, sometimes comes down to whose relative it is and how you want that person to be remembered. But still, in the background, is slavery and the late Billie Holiday singing “Strange Fruit.” As you look around your city, what is happening there?
Production values are excellent and Couric asks incisive questions.
National Geographic Partners LLC and 21st Century Fox, have joined to produce this series. The series will run on television where millions of people in 172 countries and 43 languages will see and hear it. The first two episodes are “Re-righting History” (April 11, 2018) and “The Muslim Next Door” (April 18, 2018.) Following episodes include “A Woman’s Work,” “PC Nation,” “White Anxiety” and “#addictedtotech,” The organization called (NGP) returns 27 percent of proceeds to the nonprofit National Geographic Society to fund work in the areas of science, exploration, conservation and education. For more information visit www.natgeotv.com or www.nationalgeographic.com. Visit on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn and Pinterest.
Copyright 2018 Marie Asner
