$250,000 Grant to Finance Website Tied to PBS Series

The coming PBS series “How We Got to Now,” based loosely on Steven Johnson’s book “Where Good Ideas Come From,” will be a history program, examining innovation and its role in creating social change, including such topics as how 18th century English coffeehouses spurred the age of enlightenment. The producers also plan to bring the project into the present by using a $250,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to create an interactive site aimed at encouraging conversation and idea-sharing among civic leaders, urban planners, designers, economic development officials and others.