100 WVIA Way
Pittston, PA 18640

Phone: 570-826-6144
Fax: 570-655-1180

Copyright © 2025 WVIA, all rights reserved. WVIA is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

An Introduction to the Words and Life of Henry David Thoreau

Season 1 Episode 1 | 8m 20s

Henry David Thoreau was a lecturer, philosopher, pencil-maker, surveyor; a teacher, scientist, and an abolitionist. But, above all, he was a prolific writer who spent was obsessed with answering deep questions like how to live a good life and what it means to be a human being on this planet.

Episodes presented in 4K UHD on supported devices. Major funding for HENRY DAVID THOREAU was provided by The Better Angels Society and its members: The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment and Mark A. Tracy. Major funding was also provided by Jeff Skoll, the Mansueto Foundation, Tyson Foods, Inc., and The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations. Additional funding was provided by the Tyson Family Foundation Inc, The Neil and Anna Rasmussen Foundation, Roxanne Quimby Foundation Inc, Jim and Mona Mylen through The HeartSpace Fund, and Elizabeth Kenny.
Extras
Thoreau participates in the Underground Railroad and gives a speech on what it means to be free.
Henry David Thoreau dies at 44, but his message lives on and encourages us to read.
On an excursion, a Penobscot leader teaches Thoreau about the Penobscot culture and language.
Thoreau is introduced to Ralph Waldo Emerson and the radical ideas of transcendentalism.
While slavery is illegal in Massachusetts, Black communities are forced to the margins of society.
Thoreau moves in with Ralph Waldo Emerson's family, but personal tragedy strikes both families.
Leaving Walden Pond, Thoreau joins his cousin on an excursion to Mount Katahdin in Maine.
On July 4th, 1845, Henry David Thoreau moves into a 10x15-foot house on Walden Pond.
Thoreau's refusal to support what he saw as injustice culminates in his essay "Civil Disobedience."
Filmmakers Erik Ewers and Christopher Loren Ewers discuss the making of 'Henry David Thoreau'.
Latest Episodes
After Walden, Thoreau takes on new roles and adventures as an illness catches up with him.
After young Thoreau fails at a career in writing, he retreats to a cabin in the woods.
Thoreau lives at Walden Pond where he writes, while exploring nature — and himself.