PBS embraces live edutainment on Twitch

PBS has already made its mark on platforms like YouTube and TikTok, and it’s now setting its sights on Twitch. The public broadcaster has arrived on the Amazon-owned hub with Building Stuff with NOVA, an account that brings PBS’ 50-year-old science series into the streaming world.

Since originating on the PBS-affiliated station GBH in 1974, NOVA has broadcast nearly a thousand episodes, covering a half-century of scientific discoveries and innovations. The Building Stuff channel evolves that approach by adding gamified elements that appeal to Twitch viewers. The host of the Building Stuff stream is former NASA researcher Dr. Nehemiah Mabry, who leads a packed weekly schedule that includes play sessions and interviews with scientists and engineers.

Twitch streamers like to wow their fans by performing impressive feats in games like Fortnite and Call of Duty, and for an engineer like “Dr. Nee,” the easiest way to show off is with a few hours of Kerbal Space Program. One of the first Building Stuff streams features guest star Elio Morillo, an engineer who works at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. As you might imagine, when two aerospace engineers attempt to simulate spaceflight, they end up killing fewer Kerbals

As Dr. Nee takes his viewers on scientific journeys, he’ll answer all of their questions and bring them into the gameplay process. For example, fans will get to help Dr. Nee design an escape room live on stream.

“Engineering is such a natural part of how we think and act,” Dr. Nee said in a statement. “It’s driven by our desire to create things and improve the world around us. This channel is all about embracing and nurturing that drive in a really fun and engaging way.”

Building Stuff is produced by STEMedia Incorporated for GBH. The channel will host streams each weekday until October, when GBH employees and Twitch viewers will solve the aforementioned escape room live on air. Beyond that point, the account’s impact remains to be seen, though I would be surprised if its gamified experiments rub off on the engineers at NASA.