Smallscreen News
NGC Weekly Program Highlight for June 7 - 13, 2010
By April MacIntyre Jun 8, 2010, 1:17 GMT
Philly skyline, Courtesy of NGC
National Geographic channel has a hot June ahead for viewers.
Of note, the three night-miniseries event "How the Earth Changed History," with host Ian Stewart and on June 30 the "Locked Up Abroad" series premiere with "The Real Midnight Express" where the true story of Billy Hayes is retold; not everything was revealed in Oliver Stone's Academy Award-winning film.
"All people talk about in jail is various ways to [escape]...there was the train line that went through Greece. It took you over the border and you could jump off and that was the Midnight Express...the escape train...that's really all I thought about for years," said Hayes about his ordeal in Turkey.
Please find below some highlights from this week's NGC programs:
EXPLORER: TALIBANISTAN Tuesday, June 8 at 10PM ET/PT
For eight years the Taliban and Al-Qaeda have bogged down US and NATO troops in Afghanistan-all the while seizing territory and creating chaos in nuclear-armed Pakistan.
In mid October, under pressure from the US, Pakistan announced that it would launch a military campaign designed to destroy the Taliban, The Taliban responded with a series of brazen attacks against the Pakistani Army, the police, and civilians, leaving the US in doubt over Pakistans ability to secure its nuclear weapons, and its own ability to fight the agile Taliban in Afghanistan.
National Geographic Explorer was in Pakistan and Afghanistan during these explosive days documenting the fight on the ground and in the skies above this territory controlled by the Taliban, known as "Talibanistan." Explorer asks the question: who is winning this war and is this Obamas Vietnam or will he be the first to pacify Afghanistan? Video “The Taliban’s Secret Weapon” – In the forbidden zone, the Taliban can often disguise themselves as civilians, making the fight against insurgents twice as risky.
Video “Risking Death with Each Step” –
Explorer producers follow the Pakistani army into the barren frontlines, risking life and limb as Taliban snipers fire upon them.
World's Largest Cruise Ship- NEW - WEDNESDAY at 10P et/pt
To build the largest and most revolutionary cruise ship in the world, designers and engineers are put to the ultimate test.
WORLD’S TOUGHEST FIXES: PHILLY MEGA TRANSIT Thursday, June 10 at 9PM ET/PT
“You touch the cable on the far side of that insulator, you’ll get the full voltage through your body.” – Sean Riley All aboard! WTF rides the rails in the City of Brotherly Love. While there, Riley teams up with crews of the nation’s fifth largest public transportation system, Philadelphia’s SEPTA, to find out what it takes to keep 2,200 miles of tracks safely running.
Every day, more than one million people use this system, and a critical malfunction could literally bring the city to a screeching halt. The team must replace a three-mile section of 80-year-old high-voltage wire. It’s a risky operation, with live wires just an arm’s reach away. Then, Riley heads to the garage to work on a train with a malfunctioning automatic control system.
Video “High Voltage Train Repair” – Sean Riley joins a Philly repair crew to tackle a train fix surrounded by 12,000 volt live wires.
Video “High Water Alarm” –
When a train tunnel under the Schuylkill River starts taking on water, the transit authority has to act fast.
Extraordinary Humans: Muscles- NEW - FRIDAY at 8P et/pt
Nat Geo investigates the science of muscle by taking us on a journey inside the bodies of two remarkable humans with startling genetic conditions.
