Retro Report on PBS

Not enough babies are being born to support an aging population in some parts of the world. But decades ago, there seemed to be the opposite problem: a prediction about a future with too many people. The concern then was that a population bomb would tip the world into chaos.

Newborns today are tested for genetic and immune disorders that might not be apparent at birth. The tests evolved from the treatment of a patient with a rare diagnosis who became known as the boy in the bubble.

From Reagan’s Star Wars to Trump’s Space Force, New Yorker magazine humorist Andy Borowitz examines why politicians who have no patience for science can’t resist spending billions on science fiction.

Public housing influenced by a 1970s experiment. Newborn tests are a legacy of a boy who spent life in a bubble. Head injuries in pro sports. Too few people (not too many) is a problem.  Andy Borowitz takes on Space Force.

In 1982, boxing fans tuned in for a championship bout between Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini of Ohio and South Korean fighter Duk-Koo Kim. It was a 14-round slugfest -- afterward, medical concerns about the brutality of boxing mounted, and the sport’s foothold in mainstream American culture began to slip. Today, with concerns over concussions in football growing, will football suffer the same fate?

Some major cities are trying to help poor children succeed by helping their families move to middle-income, so-called "opportunity areas." The concept sprang from a little-known public housing program in the 1970s, when thousands of black families were moved from Chicago's high-rise housing projects to mostly white suburbs.

Suicide rates have been rising steadily across the country, with U.S. service members and veterans at particular risk. One simple intervention – “caring letters,”  messages of compassion and empathy – showed promise in the 1960s, but has been overlooked until now.

Scientists are worried that soon, simply reducing carbon emissions won’t be enough to even slow global warming.  A U.N. panel has said the world will likely need to “geo-engineer” the climate. That’s an idea that dates to the Cold War, when a different kind of global challenge gave rise to fears of a “nuclear winter.”

Parenthood through surrogacy is widely accepted in the United States, but it's not closely regulated. It’s an issue that many state legislators won’t touch, because of what happened in the case of Baby M.

New Yorker magazine humorist Andy Borowitz takes a look at America’s history of flammable water – most famously, the incident in 1969 when the polluted Cuyahoga River in Cleveland spontaneously combusted.

Texting could reduce suicides. Surrogate parenthood. Lead is banned but a toxic mess remains. Climate help may come from the Cold War. Long prison sentences based on old fears are being shortened. Andy Borowitz on a river that burst into flames.

The federal government banned lead from gasoline and household products years ago, but a toxic mess remains. About half a million children – disproportionately children of color – have dangerously high lead levels in their blood, mostly from exposure to peeling paint and contaminated dust. The fight over who should clean it up has lasted for decades.