UNC-TV debuted a new channel over the weekend.

UNC-EX is their new Explorer Channel, which features outdoor adventure, science, nature, history, and culture programming. The channel debuted on Sunday.

An example of the programs which will air include  the cooking show "Lidia's Italy" (Lidia Bastianich is shown at left), the adventure show "Globe Trekker," and science programs like "Nova" and "Nature."

The channel will also air UNC-TV original programming such as "Exploring North Carolina" and "North Carolina Weekend," as well as special documentaries like Ken Burns' "National Parks" series.

The channel is offered free of charge to over-the-air viewers as well as to subscribers to digital cable. 

Also on Sunday, the UNC-ED  channel (available only to digital subscribers) was renamed UNC-MX. The "MX" signifies a "mix" of programming for adults, from public affairs shows to how-to and more.

UNC-EX airs locally on channel 4.3 or if you have cable, channel 203.

Raleigh author Alexandra Sokoloff will discuss her new thriller "The Unseen" this afternoon on "NC Bookwatch" on UNC-TV

The heroine of Sokoloff's book is a Duke University psych professor who is shaken by a precognitive dream and becomes obsessed with files from the famous Rhine parapsychology experiments, which took place at Duke and attempted to prove the legitimacy of ESP.

Along with another Duke professor and a pair of Duke students, the protagonist moves into an abandoned mansion to replicate the investigation, unaware that the last group of scientists to do so ended up either insane or dead.

My favorite Frontline producer Ofra Bikel has a new film on tonight at 9 on UNC-TV.

(Extra programming note: on UNC-ED "Endgame" repeats at 9 tonight.)

Bikel lives in New York's Upper East Side, one of the ritziest neighborhoods in the country.

She figures that the recession's impact is not really being felt there.

Until she talks to Deborah Boles, the owner of Deborah Hair Design, Bikel's longtime hair salon.

As my mind goes, I hope one of the memories I keep is of the day Nelson Mandela was released from his South African prison.

It was such a powerful moment in history; a time when an elegant and noble man embodied a nation on the verge of becoming greater.

"Endgame" (UNC-TV, 9 tonight) explores the work that lead to
that moment. It dramatizes the secret talks between ANC leaders and Afrikaners as they moved toward a peaceful resolution to the end of apartheid.

On tomorrow's episode of "This Old House," viewers will get a look inside the Raleigh home of architect and author Sarah Susanka (left), a well-known proponent of "Not So Big" home design.

The featured remodel on the show is a modest 1915 Dutch Colonial Revival in Newton Centre, Mass., and the owners want to update the home but don't want anything extravagant.

So while general contractor Tom Silva and master carpenter Norm Abram stay behind in New Centre to work on the house, the show's host, Kevin O’Connor, travels to Raleigh to get ideas from Susanka.

"This Old House" airs on UNC-TV on Saturdays at 4:30pm. 

If you didn't catch CBS News' focus on Afghanistan last week, here's another chance to get educated.

Frontline presents "Obama's War," a thorough and powerful hour-long
look at the central questions facing the Obama administration and the challenges facing the American military. It airs Tuesday at 9 p.m. on UNC-TV.

The popular PBS series "The Woodwright's Shop with Roy Underhill" returns to UNC-TV today for its 29th season.

This season, Underhill, a traditional woodworker, takes on topics related to sustainable energy. Today's show is called "Dovetailed Grease Pot."

The show airs on Saturdays at 4pm on UNC-TV.

For the first time in its 12-year history, UNC-TV's "NC Bookwatch" show will tape onstage in front of a live audience.

The taping will take place this Friday, October 9, at 7pm at Lenoir Rhyne College's PE Monroe Auditorium in Hickory.

The show's host DG Martin will interview acclaimed author Marisha Pessl about her 2006 novel, "Special Topics in Calamity Physics."

The event is free and open to the public, with general admission seating available on a first-come, first-served basis.

"Special Topics in Calamity Physics" was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and also received the distinction of being an
Editor's Choice.

If you're already a fan of "Our State" the magazine, you'll no doubt love "Our State" the TV show. In fact, lots of people do already.

In collaboration with the 75 year-old magazine, UNC-TV is debuting the fifth season of the Emmy Award-winning show Thursday night (October 8) at 8pm, with an episode on one of North Carolina's most popular tourist attractions: Tweetsie Railroad.

The episode will also feature segments on beachscape painter John Silver and The Brasstown Dancers.

The National Parks: America's Best Idea (8pm, UNC-TV) - The finale of the Ken Burns doc series on America's national parks wraps up with the 1946-1980 era. After WWII, park attendance increases dramatically, leading to a billion-dollar campaign to improve park facilities. Also, President Jimmy Carter sets aside 56 million acres of land in Alaska for preservation.

Medium (9pm, CBS) - Allison thinks a slain revenge-seeking stripper is inhabiting her daughter Ariel's body. That puts a whole new urgency to 'keeping them off the pole.'

Dollhouse (9pm, Fox) - Echo has an intense reaction to Topher's imprint of a new mother.

Rescue Ink Unleashed (10pm, National Geographic Channel) - A great new show about a bunch of inked-out bikers who go around rescuing cats and dogs. This is a real organization, not just a bunch of fools banding together to get on TV. But it is great TV.