Hedrick Smith

Measuring this country against its major competitors, Smith shows how global competition has radically altered the way people work, what schools need to teach, and the nature of power and people's relationships on the job. With one insightful story after another, he reveals what goes on inside grade school and high school classrooms and inside big corporations and small companies in the three main capitalist economies; how that affects our future; and why today's greatest need is a new mind-set. In revealing portraits, Smith contrasts how American CEOs think at giants such as GM, Boeing, Motorola, compared to CEOs at Germany's Daimler-Benz and Deutsche Bank or at Japan's Toyota or Mitsubishi. He discloses how differently decisions are made and power is wielded in the corporate boardrooms of America, Germany, and Japan. He shows us what workers think and do in these rival economies and how the lives of workers at companies such as Ford and Motorola were transformed once management began rethinking its approach. Education is where the race begins. Smith contrasts what American grade school teachers emphasize, compared with the skills and values taught elsewhere. He shows how businessmen in Germany and Japan cooperate with educators in creating programs to prepare "mid-kids" - average high school students - for solid careers and how innovative American communities are developing similar strategies.

Peter Cutler is a respected Princeton professor living a quiet life when an old college friend offers him the position of foreign policy advisor for Democratic presidential candidate Wayne Kent. Cutler takes the job and jumps into the political fray. When Kent wins the election, Cutler is thrilled to find himself Under-Secretary of State. But he soon discovers that the power politics of Washington are a far cry from the comforts of university life. In order to survive, he must participate in a ruthless tug of war in which everyone struggles to promote his own agenda.

An intimate and personal account of contemporary life in Russia. Author examines the life-styles and aspirations of every level of Russian society.

Companion Web site to the PBS television special. Presented in four segments: The quality gap: medicine's secret killer; The chronically ill: pain and profit and managed care; The idealistic HMO: can good care survive the market; and, The uninsured: 44 million forgotten Americans. Includes video clips and suggested readings.

Provides information on the life and music of Dave Brubeck, jazz composer and pianist, in conjuction with the PBS documentary Rediscovering Dave Brubeck.

Examines Wal-Mart's importation of Chinese goods into the United States. Discusses that while some economists credit Wal-Mart's focus on low costs with helping contain U.S. inflation, others charge that the company is the main force driving the massive overseas shift to China in the production of American consumer goods, resulting in hundreds of thousands of lost jobs and a lower standard of living in the U.S.

In an environment increasingly dominated by network ratings and tabloid-driven stories, the line between journalism and entertainment is blurred. In this program, correspondent Hedrick Smith goes behind the hype and the headlines to show how the media affect the national agenda and the standards of political debate.

Recounts how the American dream has been dismantled over the past forty years by legislative, electoral, and corporate decisions that have compromised the middle class and minimized individual economic and political power.

Recounts how the American dream has been dismantled over the past forty years by legislative, electoral, and corporate decisions that have compromised the middle class and minimized individual economic and political power.

Hedrick Smith leads viewers into the shadows of American government, casting light on the power showdowns between the White House and Congress, and how their colliding agendas often produce gridlock.

Marcus Foster first gained notoriety for his spectacularly successful transformation of two of Philadelphia’s worst schools. He brought new school pride and enthusiasm to the students and faculty, brought parents and local businesses into school activities, and pressured the Board of Education into funding new programs and facilities. Foster was Philadelphia’s Man of the Year for 1968 and received prestigious awards from the NAACP and other organizations. Although Foster was a strict, no-nonsense educator, he was no conservative and no political suckup (patronizer). He criticized the institutional racism of the school system and worked hard to both celebrate ethnic diversity and have it reflected in the positions of power within the educational hierarchy. Faced with a soaring dropout rate, nonexistent school morale, and plummeting proficiency scores, the Oakland, California School District sought out Foster to fill the position of superintendent. Foster took Oakland by storm. His reforms were as effective as they were drastic. He decentralized the 90-school school system into three separate regions and gave each an associate superintendent with a local office. He brought about previously unheard of student, parent, and teacher involvement and reach out across racial lines in the diverse Oakland community. Proficiency scores soared, the dropout rate fell, and morale was boosted radically. “The book you have before you reflects this style of exposition. Basically, it is a book of incidents which, hopefully, get at some of the important problems in education today.” ~ Marcus A. Foster Alex Haley contributed to Making Schools Work: Strategies for Changing Education by writing the foreword.

Companion to the PBS program focusing on the increasing tensions between job and home life, which takes a look at how working parents in various industries across the country are trying to juggle work and family, exploring how companies and unions are seeking to ease the work-family conflict with child care centers, subsidies, and alternative work schedules that include part-time work, job-sharing, and telecommuting.