1) “Independent Lens,” 10 p.m., PBS. Phil Sharp (shown here) grew up in rural Kentucky, where only 10 percent of classmates went to college. He stuttered and was dyslexic; he was, an educator says, “off-kilter, undaunted, unapologetic.” With homespun optimism, this compelling film says, he led science breakthroughs that have saved 20 million lives on Covid alone. Read more…
At 10, Jane Goodall loved the “Tarzan of the Apes” book, with one exception:
“He married the wrong Jane,” she said recently. “His Jane was a wimp.”
Most fictional women were, when Goodall read the book (1944) and when Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote it (1912). But this Jane (Goodall) didn’t fit any such stereotypes.
Mostly, Goodall (shown here) was known for her perpetual calmness. “I think it’s because of all the months and months I spent in the Rain Forest,” she said.
Now — after her death Wednesday (Oct. 1) at 91 — we can look back at an amazing life of working face-to-face with jungle primates. We can catch her new “Famous Last Words” on Netflix … And National Geographic documentaries, led by the 2017 “Jane” and the 2020 “Jane Goodall: The Hope,” both on Disney+ … And PBS documentaries … And her books. Read more…
