A really nice idea, and thing to do from HBO: they are making three documentary-ish films, then running them for a month for their paid subscribers, then letting them air on PBS.

The three films are on biological warfare, genocide and AIDS.

They say they are doing this to make sure a wider audience gets to see them.

PBS will be adding a group panel commentary to the films as well, when they air on PBS.

Forgive the link to the New York Times article – they require you to create an account to view many of their articles – but here is the link.