"Every once in a rare while, there comes along a program that staggers us with the unrealized possibilities of television.... No more important program for making sense of our times has been seen in at least a decade." That's how The Washington Post described WGBH's Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy. Based on the book by Pulitzer Prize winner Daniel Yergin and Joseph Stanislaw, the six-part PBS series and its ambitious Web site tell the history of the world economy in the 20th century, chronicling the struggle between governments and markets, the upheavals of economic reform, and the emergence of a new era of globalization.

"Commanding Heights Online marks the first time WGBH has developed a fully interactive video and information experience," says Web producer Howard Cutler. "The site is creating enormous excitement in the academic community." More than 60 colleges and universities nationwide use it on a daily basis, and that number is growing month by month. "Economics is critical to our understanding the world in which we live," adds Cutler. "The series and the Web site make this important subject accessible to us all."

Next: Fiscal year 2002