As the country comes together to grieve the loss of life in Newtown, a national conversation has begun about how to better protect and serve communities in the face of catastrophe. Continuing PBS’ participation in this vital discussion, “After Newtown,” an hour-long special from WNET, will air on the Arkansas Educational Television Network (AETN) Friday, Dec. 21, at 7 p.m.

This special brings together news and public affairs teams from across PBS in a joint effort to analyze and illuminate the issues surrounding these events. The question of how to respond to these tragedies are imperative for government at all levels, educators, mental health professionals, the media, and individual Americans.

“After Newtown,” anchored by Gwen Ifill, addresses such issues as access to guns and the politics of gun laws; mental illness in young adults; the science of detecting violent impulses; and how communities react to unspeakable tragedy. The program features in-studio interviews and conversations with regular contributors to “Washington Week.” Contributions from other PBS hallmark news programming – including “PBS NewsHour, “FRONTLINE,” “Need to Know” and “NOVA” – provide insight and analysis to “After Newtown” by pooling resources for the special.

The program will be streamed to national audiences at PBS.org/afternewtown and will be available after broadcast. On the site, viewers can also learn more about the issues discussed and are also encouraged to join the national conversation by using the Twitter hashtag #afternewtown.