This week on NEED TO KNOW: In The Coal; Interview: Thomas Hatch; Working for Change; In Perspective: A Jon Meacham Essay; Interview: Julie Taymor; Just Ask Peter Sagal

NEED TO KNOW for Friday, December 10th on PBS at 8:30 p.m. (check local listings). Episode #132. To find out about developing stories, visit www.pbs.org/needtoknow. NEED TO KNOW is a production of Creative News Group for WNET.ORG. Viewers can visit www.pbs.org/needtoknow for updates on these stories and more. Note: Stories are subject to change due to breaking news.

*In The Coal - John Larson reports about coal mine safety, focusing on Massey Energy, a company involved in the West Virginia mine explosion that the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration calls "the worst mining disaster in almost 40 years." Larson also examines the investigation into its possible causes.

*Interview: Thomas Hatch - With the results of a global education report released this week that ranks the U.S. a disheartening 26 out of 65 countries in combined scores for math, science and reading tests, Jon Meacham speaks with Thomas Hatch, an education reform specialist at Columbia University's Teachers College about why the United States does not perform better, and what changes are needed to improve our educational system and standings.

*Working for Change - Need to Know profiles 28-year-old Leila Janah, the founder and CEO of SamaSource, an organization that brings what she calls microwork - small computing tasks - to some of the world's most marginalized people, including refugees in Kenya, women in Pakistan, and earthquake survivors in Haiti.

*In Perspective: A Jon Meacham Essay - In the wake of Obama’s decision to extend the Bush-era tax cuts, Jon Meacham comments on the similarity between today’s political climate and that of the 1990s.

*Interview: Julie Taymor - Alison Stewart interviews Julie Taymor about her new productions of Broadway's "Spiderman:Turn off the Dark" and new movie, "The Tempest."

*Just Ask Peter Sagal - Peter Sagal gives some advice to a certain down-in-the-dumps Leader of the Free World.