Geography

Fighting Drought With an Ancient Practice: Harvesting the Rain

Ancient methods of collecting and storing rainwater are being used to address severe drought today. 

11:12

3 lesson plans

Amazon Rainforest Defenders Confront Violence, Encroachment and Politics

Debates over development in the world’s largest rainforest have led to deadly conflicts, threats to its indigenous people and harm to the global atmosphere. 

08:28

2 lesson plans

Our Appetite for Beef Is Growing. So Are Climate Worries.

Scientists warn that to slow climate change, we need to change how we farm and what we eat. 

03:59

Meatless Burgers Are on Trend. Eating to Save the World Has a Long History.

Plant-based meats may be high tech, but the ideas behind them have been around for decades. 

13:38

1 lesson plan

Horses: Wild, But Not Free

There are now so many wild horses on public land – nearly 100,000 – that they have become caught in a battle between the government, ranchers and environmentalists. 

08:40

1 lesson plan

A Barge Full of Garbage Helped to Fuel a Recycling Movement

In the 1980s, rising public awareness about waste was fueled by a bizarre news story about a meandering New York City garbage barge. 

10:56

1 lesson plan

This Snake Is Eating the Everglades

Burmese pythons released into the wild by well-meaning pet owners have created a reptilian nightmare in the Everglades. 

10:34

1 lesson plan

Future of Water

The increasing scarcity of drinking water is beginning to capture the world’s attention – but surprisingly, an innovative solution might just be found in one of the Earth’s driest places. 

10:11

2 lesson plans

Biosphere 2: A Faulty Mars Survival Test Gets a Second Act

NASA isn’t the first organization to experiment with living on Mars – in 1991 eight people sealed themselves inside a giant glass biosphere to practice space living. By the time they emerged two years later, they had “suffocated, starved and went mad.” 

09:13

Blazes That Damaged Yellowstone Changed Wildfire Strategy

A rapidly growing California wildfire is threatening a grove of giant Sequoia trees in Yosemite National Park, some nearly 3,000 years old. For context, we examine the 1988 fires in Yellowstone National Park that ignited a debate over firefighting tactics and sustainable forestry. 

10:44

2 lesson plans

Isolated Tribes

Today, there are approximately 100 tribes in the Amazon rainforest that have not interacted with the modern world. A hundred years ago, there were many more. Co-produced with PBS, American Experience, we look at the delicate situation these tribes find themselves in. 

03:18

Future of Home

Guatemalan homesteaders and a Michigan contractor are riding a wave that could change how our lives are wired. 

08:56

How Geography Drove MLK’s Fight for a Ferry in Alabama

Weeks before Selma’s Bloody Sunday in 1965, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. urged residents of Gee’s Bend, Ala., to vote, and fed a continuing fight over a small ferry that would last for decades. 

08:16

2 lesson plans

Reintroducing Wolves to Yellowstone was a Success. That’s When Trouble ​Began.

In the 1990s, the federal government reintroduced the gray wolf to Yellowstone National Park. It was considered a big success. And that’s when the real fight began. 

11:25

1 lesson plan

Earthquake Readiness: How the San Franciso 1989 Quake Shook Awareness

The 1989 earthquake that shook San Francisco sent out a wake up call that continues to echo across the country. 

11:04

2 lesson plans

Toxic Waste in the Neighborhood: The Love Canal Disaster

In 1978, toxic chemicals leaking from an old landfill thrust an upstate New York community called “Love Canal” into the national headlines, and made it synonymous with “environmental disaster.” 

11:01

1 lesson plan

Blackout: Understanding the US Power Grid’s Vulnerability from the 2003 Failure

In 2003, a blackout crippled areas of the U.S. and Canada, leaving some 50 million people in the dark. Years later, we are still grappling with concerns over the vulnerability of our power grid. 

09:21

Hurricane Katrina’s Aftermath and Lessons in Dealing with Disaster

Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005, and Louisiana’s troubled housing recovery has shaped the response to every major disaster since, including Hurricane Sandy. 

11:15

2 lesson plans

How Nixon’s 1972 China Visit Set the Stage for Today’s Tensions Over Taiwan

President Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit to China, an unexpected pivot in U.S. foreign policy, helped end the Cold War. But it left Taiwan’s fate uncertain.  

09:35

1 lesson plan

Dictators and Civil Wars: The Cold War in Latin America

Driven by fears of the rise of communism, the United States adopted a policy of containment, intervening in the politics of countries across the globe. In Latin America, the consequences of those efforts are still unfolding. 

06:30

1 lesson plan

As Massacre Survivors Seek Justice, El Salvador Grapples With 1,000 Ghosts

“Massacre in El Salvador,” a collaboration with Frontline and ProPublica, tells the story of El Mozote, the worst massacre in recent Latin American history, and why a final reckoning is at risk. 

26:39

2 lesson plans

Gerrymandering Tilts Political Power. Here’s How Redistricting Affects Democracy.

Both parties play the redistricting game, redrawing electoral boundaries to lock down power. 

11:07

2 lesson plans

Israel Survived an Early Challenge With War Planes Smuggled by U.S. Vets

In 1948, World War II aviators risked their lives in a secret operation to smuggle weapons and planes to the Israeli military. 

07:45

1 lesson plan

American Samoa Dodged a Pandemic in 1918. Here’s What We Learned.

Two territories, two wildly different outcomes as a pandemic terrorized the world. 

06:04

Interactive Map: Population Policies Around the World

This interactive map delves into the population policies and population trends of 21 countries. It can be used in Geography classes in conjunction with the lesson plan, Population Policies Around the World. This map was made in consultation with Retro Report Council of Educators members Chuck Taft, who teaches U.S. History in Milwaukee and Clayton […]

What the World War II-Era Bracero Program Reveals About U.S. Immigration Debates

A conflict between labor needs and immigration laws has long shaped families, fears and today’s debates. 

09:50

1 lesson plan

Decades After Displacement, Linnentown Families Seek Recognition

In the 1960s, Athens, Ga., used federal urban renewal funds to demolish Linnentown, a thriving Black neighborhood. Decades later, former residents are demanding recognition and redress.

12:49

1 lesson plan

How Today’s Debates on Immigration Were Shaped by a 1980s Church-Led Refugee Network

Churches once led a refugee rescue effort that shapes U.S. immigration policy today. 

09:45

1 lesson plan

Holocaust Survivors Fleeing Ukraine Find a New Home in Germany

In Ukraine, elderly Jewish citizens threatened by the war with Russia are being evacuated. As children, they escaped the Nazi invasion. Now some are finding refuge in a most unlikely place: Germany. 

1 lesson plan

How the U.S. Has Treated Wartime Refugees

What obligation does the United States have toward people who are uprooted by war? 

10:24

3 lesson plans

Population Bomb: The Overpopulation Theory That Fell Flat

In the 1960s, fears of overpopulation sparked talk of population control. So what happened? 

09:48

1 lesson plan

Future of Aging

Across the globe, more and more people are living longer lives and that’s redefining what it means to be over 65, and what the future might mean for retirement. 

09:49

1 lesson plan

Loneliness Is on the Rise. Are Closer Neighbors a Solution?

Loneliness is on the rise, and it may be as harmful to health as cigarette smoking, medical experts say. Now some Americans are embracing a collaborative living arrangement called cohousing as a solution. 

10:11

1 lesson plan

A New Housing Program to Fight Poverty Has an Unexpected History

Some cities are trying to help poor children succeed by having their families move to middle-income, so-called “opportunity areas” – an idea that was once politically impossible. 

12:45

2 lesson plans

Burden of Richmond Evictions Weighs Heaviest in Black Neighborhoods

An eviction moratorium has slowed filings in cities like Richmond, but it hasn’t stopped them, and Black tenants are at highest risk. 

06:49

Future of Cities

In the latest installment of our “What Happens Next” series examining the future of society, we visit Medellín, Colombia—a city that has reinvented itself over the past few decades, turning its violent past into a sustainable future by transforming its slums. 

10:44

2 lesson plans

Future of Work

A remote Oregon mountainside offers a window into the workplace of the future. 

08:32

1 lesson plan

Future of Food

A small South Dakota farm holds lessons for feeding a crowded and less predictable world. 

07:38

1 lesson plan

Forced Into Federal Boarding Schools as Children, Native Americans Confront the Past

Native Americans demand accountability for a federal policy that aimed to erase Indigenous culture. 

11:00

3 lesson plans

Future of Money

Future of Money, the first in a 5-part series, looks at what ancient stones on a tiny Pacific island can teach us about Bitcoin, blockchains and the future of money. 

11:27

1 lesson plan