This month on "Story in the Public Square" - February 2026
"Story in the Public Square" is a national broadcast that unpacks narratives with outside impact on public understanding and public policy. Hosted by Jim Ludes, the show can be seen each week on public television stations across the United States and seeks to study, celebrate and tell stories that matter.
Explore upcoming episodes of "Story in the Public Square" below!
Edward Fishman: Feburary 2-8, 2026
Anyone who pays even passing attention to world news has heard the term “sanctions” every time a foreign crisis threatens a larger conflict. But few understand the power of these weapons to wage economic warfare with devastating effect. Global energy policy researcher Edward Fishman explains that power with skill and insight.
Megha Majumdar: February 9-15, 2026
Literature’s power comes from its ability to see not just from the eyes of the hero, but the villain, too. Author Megha Majumdar brings us into that literary world with a tale of scarcity and desperation set in the not-too-distant future of her native Kolkata, India.
Pam Breaux and Todd Trebour: February 16-22, 2026
Democratic societies can choose to either let the arts remain the domain of elite society—or a shared expression of community accessible to all. Pam Breaux and Todd Trebour are champions of the arts, on a mission to make them accessible to the largest number of Americans.
Wil Haygood: February 23-March 1, 2026
The war in Vietnam was the first war in U.S. history fought by a fully-integrated military. But award-winning author and journalist Wil Haygood says that the challenge beyond the battlefield was that American society was not as fully integrated as the fighting force that served it—and that difference had impacts in Vietnam and at home.
In Rhode Island and southeastern New England, the show is broadcast on Rhode Island PBS on Sundays at 11:00 a.m. and is rebroadcast on Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. Check your local public television listings for air times near you!
An audio version of the program airs Saturdays at 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. ET, Sundays at 2:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. and Mondays at 4:30 a.m. ET on SiriusXM’s popular P.O.T.U.S. (Politics of the United States), channel 124.