Emmy Award-winning Host Jim CotterConverses with Artists, Scholars and Creative Thinkers About Navigating A Complex World
Three-Part Series Debuts Friday, May 5, 9 p.m. ET on PBS
Screener and Images Available on PBS PressRoom
ARLINGTON, VA. – April 19, 2023 – THE ARTICULATE HOUR, a three-part miniseries produced by Articulate Studios for The Articulate Foundation and co-produced and presented by PBS39, Lehigh Valley Public Television, brings together artists, scholars, and other great creative thinkers to explore the big ideas that shape us. Each episode examines a single topic through a lens of arts, culture, and science, showing not only the different perspectives that each angle provides, but also the overlap where our lives actually take place. Join Emmy Award-winning host Jim Cotter as he talks with poets, musicians, neuroscientists, dancers, historians, playwrights, and others about how we live our lives and navigate our complex world. THE ARTICULATE HOUR premieres Friday, May 5 at 9 p.m. ET (check local listings) on PBS, PBS.org, the PBS App and PBS Passport.
We had a hunch when we started making the show that the difference between how scientists and artists think are not as different as conventional wisdom would suggest,” said Cotter, who serves as host and managing editor of THE ARTICULATE HOUR. “We were fascinated to discover that they have more in common than not – a comprehensive knowledge of craft, finely-honed technique, and a desire to discover something new and unique."
Conversations with the show’s diverse guests lead to unexpected insights into our common humanity from evolutionary adaptations in our brains and the way we make music, to how we think about our past. These inclusive discussions surprise and delight as they reveal the broad ties that unite us in an often-fractious world. Notable guests include: Mahzarin Banaji, Harvard professor and psychologist; Lee Child, best-selling author; Simone Dinnerstein, pianist; Ben Folds, American singer-songwriter; Lisa Genova, neuroscientist and novelist; Sebastian Junger, filmmaker and journalist; Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Prize-winning psychologist; Gregory Pardlo, poet and Pulitzer Prize-winner; Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi, folk musicians; Valerie June, singer-songwriter; Lera Boroditsky, cognitive scientist; Akram Khan, dancer and choreographer; David Henkin, historian; and more.
In the first episode, “Partial Recall,” artists and scholars discuss the reliability of our recollections and the surprising ways our memories fuel creativity. In the second installment, “Together/Alone,” THE ARTICULATE HOUR examines the contrast between our need to be a part of a community and our desire to pursue our individual interests. In the finale, “Marking Time,” the series looks at the relationship between measured and perceived time and how each play into our daily lives and the physical world we inhabit.
A brief overview of each episode, including premiere dates is below:
Episode 1: “Partial Recall” Premieres: Friday, May 5, 9-10 p.m. ET
Description: Memory is the amazing ability of our brains to store and access skills, information, and emotions. Artists and scholars discuss the reliability of our recall and the surprising ways our memories fuel creativity. Notable guests include Simone Dinnerstein, pianist; Ben Folds, singer-songwriter; Lisa Genova, neuroscientist and novelist; Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Prize-winning psychologist; and Gregory Pardlo, poet and Pulitzer Prize-winner.
Episode 2: “Together/Alone” Premieres: Friday, May 5, 10-11 p.m. ET
Description: As modern humans, we crave both connection to others and our own solitude. Artists, scholars, and other great creative thinkers explore these contrasting impulses. In the second episode, Mahzarin Banaji, Harvard professor and psychologist; Lee Child, best-selling author; Sebastian Junger, filmmaker and journalist; and Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi, folk musicians, join host Jim Cotter.
Episode 3: “Marking Time” Premieres: Friday, June 30, 10-11 p.m. ET
Description: So much of human behavior is governed by our sense of time, yet questions about time’s fundamental nature remain unanswered. Artists and experts — Valerie June, singer-songwriter; Lera Boroditsky, cognitive scientist; Akram Khan, dancer and choreographer; David Henkin, historian; Hélène Grimaud, pianist; Rasheedah Phillips, interdisciplinary artist; Satchin Panda, biologist; Christopher Deviney, percussionist; Angela Zator Nelson, percussionist; and Dean Buonomano, neuroscientist — discuss the tension between scientifically measured, socially constructed, and individually perceived time.
THE ARTICULATE HOUR is an Articulate Studios Production for The Articulate Foundation and co-produced and presented by PBS39, Lehigh Valley Public Television. Jim Cotter serves as host and managing editor, Eva Roben as executive producer, Tom Contarino as senior producer, Christine Walden as producer and Mark Miller as senior editor.
THE ARTICULATE HOUR was made possible, in part, by The Neubauer Family Foundation and The Rosalind P. Walter Foundation.
About Host Jim Cotter
Jim Cotter is an Irish-born American broadcast journalist and producer of film, TV, and radio. He began his career in local radio in Ireland before moving to the U.K., where he worked for BBC Wales and The BBC World Service. After coming to the U.S., Cotter served as arts editor at WRTI radio for over a decade, where he created and hosted the award-winning weekly culture show, “Creatively Speaking.” In 2014, he created “Articulate,” which aired nationally for nine seasons, garnering millions of annual TV viewers and hundreds of thousands of followers on social media. The program has received six Daytime Emmy Award nominations, winning one in 2020.
About Lehigh Valley Public Media
Lehigh Valley Public Media is a community-owned public media organization serving Eastern Pennsylvania and Western New Jersey. Headquartered at the Univest Public Media Center on the SteelStacks campus in Bethlehem, Pa., Lehigh Valley Public Media is home to PBS39 – the Lehigh Valley’s public television station and 91.3 WLVR – the Lehigh Valley’s all day everyday NPR news station. In October 2022, Lehigh Valley Public Media launched LehighValleyNews.com, the region’s only nonprofit and locally-operated digital news platform providing coverage across more than a dozen editorial beats.
About PBS
PBS, with more than 330 member stations, offers all Americans the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and digital content. Each month, PBS reaches over 120 million people through television and 26 million people online, inviting them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature, and public affairs; to hear diverse viewpoints, and to take front-row seats to world-class drama and performances. PBS’s broad array of programs has been consistently honored by the industry’s most coveted award competitions. Teachers of children from pre-K through 12th grade turn to PBS for digital content and services that help bring classroom lessons to life. Decades of research confirm that PBS’s premier children’s media service, PBS KIDS, helps children build critical literacy, math, and social-emotional skills, enabling them to find success in school and life. Delivered through member stations, PBS KIDS offers high-quality educational content on TV – including a 24/7 channel, online at pbskids.org, via an array of mobile apps, and in communities across America. More information about PBS is available at pbs.org, one of the leading dot-org websites on the internet, Facebook, or through our apps for mobile and connected devices. Specific program information and updates for press are available at pbs.org/pressroom or by following PBS Communications on Twitter.
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