Imagine nighttime without electric lights. For ages, people knew darkness and the starlit sky intimately. But since the late 19th century, we have been bathing the nocturnal hours in light, creating whole cities where residents rarely see the stars. In this Emmy-nominated documentary, filmmaker Ian Cheney seeks out the still-dark places on earth and asks what illuminating the world has done to human health and imagination. Did our curiosity atrophy once we started spending less time contemplating the night sky’s grandeur? Monday, Aug. 12, at 10 p.m., PBS; check local listings
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