- Uncommon Knowledge
"Uncommon Knowledge" was a weekly 30-minute current affairs show hosted by Peter Robinson and co-produced and presented by
San Jose, California ,PBS member stationKTEH from 1997 to 2005. It was distributed first byAmerican Public Television and later byPBS topublic television stations throughout theUnited States and internationally byNPR Worldwide.The show was funded by various foundations and organizations, including the conservative
John M. Olin Foundation and produced by theHoover Institution (where Peter Robinson is afellow ). However, its format and involvement with public television helped ensure a fair hearing from both sides of the issue.Revival
In 2006 and 2007, the
Hoover Institution produced a sporadic series of for-web interviews involving Peter Robinson called "Directors' Forum Video". In July 2007, these "Directors' Forum Video" webcasts were rebranded under the old "Uncommon Knowledge" moniker, starting with the newly produced episode "Land of Lincoln."Starting in 2008, each of these new webcasts premiered on "
National Review Online " in five parts through the week before being published on the Hoover Institution web site. New episodes are published every few weeks.Format
Typically, the show invites up to three expert guests with opposing points of view on controversial issues and/or matters of international/public policy to debate each other on the air. Robinson moderates and posits
devil's advocate -type arguments, recites quotations to elicit the perspectives of his guests, and questions his guests in order to generate thought-provoking, in-depth discussion. After several segments the show concludes with Robinson asking the guests to predict what the future held for the issue in question.Archives of streaming video, transcripts, and
mp3 audio are available from the website for most episodes after 2000. For previous years, transcripts are available, though over time some videotapes of these episodes have been recovered and are being posted onYouTube under the account name [http://www.youtube.com/user/UKHoover "UKHoover"] .External links
* [http://www.hoover.org/multimedia/uk/ "Uncommon Knowledge"]
* [http://www.hoover.org/bios/robinson.html Peter Robinson's Hoover Institution biography]
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