Herbal Insights Debuts on PBS TV Series

The American Botanical Council (ABC) has teamed up with the producers of a popular public television series to create “Herbal Insights,” a new segment on popular herbs and herb issues. Mark Blumenthal, ABC founder and executive director, has co-created and recorded “Herbal Insights” segments for Healing Quest, a public television show co-hosted by entertainment icon Olivia Newton-John and co-producers Judy Brooks and Roy Walkenhorst of Lightbridge Productions in Sonoma, CA. The new season’s shows with the “Herbal Insights” segments began airing in select markets in January and are scheduled to run throughout the year. The first seven “Herbal Insights” provide brief profiles on the following popular herbs: chamomile (Matricaria recutita), peppermint (Mentha x piperita), ginger (Zingiber officinale), licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra), marshmallow (Althaea officinalis), senna (Senna alexandrina) and slippery elm (Ulma rubra) bark. “We are deeply grateful for the opportunity to work with the producers of Healing Quest to distribute these short two-minute segments to public television audiences,” said Mr. Blumenthal. “Being on public TV helps enhance ABC’s nonprofit educational mission to educate the public about the traditional uses and modern research on herbs and medicinal plants.”