It's Okay To Be Smart: The PBS Renaissance Continues

It would be easy to think that PBS is all about Downton Abbey and Sherlock. Or only think of it when it becomes the unexpected subject of a presidential debate. That is far from it. For over a year now PBS Digital Studios, the online branch of PBS, has been producing extraordinary, thoughtful, funny and educational work continuing what PBS does on television. 

Earlier I shared their work with their Inventors series, by meeting the man that acquired the very first patent for software. I also shared Off Book, and their more recent episodes on graphic design and creative coding. And then there is the Idea Channel, clever, funny, and underneath it all really interesting, most recently talking about their suggestions for the top five most artful video games. 

That is not all. 

This week they have introduced It's Okay To Be Smart. This is a show about science. But it's probably not about science the way you're used to it. Hosted and written by Joe Hanson, known from his blog of the same name, this is a look at the world around us that encourages a deeper inquisitiveness into science. The first episode, above, is all about life by the numbers. 

There are now more than 7 billion human beings on Earth, and that got Hanson wondering: How successful are we compared to other species? He takes a look at how our numbers stack up to some other domains of life. It turns out that biomass, or what things weigh, can be more important than how many of something there are. Find out how our numbers stack up against everything from bugs to bacteria, and get ready for some mind-blowing numbers! (Check out his blog for additional content, an episode extra if you will.) 

It is indeed okay to be smart. It is more than okay to be curious and interested. PBS is helping us stay that way.