First Monday: Coming up in May

— -- Monday: United and Delta airlines are among the major carriers that begin charging passengers $25 to check a second bag. Other big airlines will start charging in coming weeks.

Tuesday: Mortgage financing giant Fannie Mae releases its first-quarter financial report.

Through Wednesday: The Food Marketing Institute has its four-day show in Las Vegas.

May 16: The government releases its report on April housing starts.

May 20: Fresh insights into consumer spending habits could come when Home Depot, Staples, Target and Saks release earnings.

May 27: The government's report on April new-home sales comes out.

WATCH, LISTEN & READ

On TV

Burning the Future: Coal in America

Sundance Channel, May 13, 9:35 p.m. (ET/PT); May 16, 10:35 p.m. (ET/PT); May 18, 3:35 p.m. (ET/PT) DVD available mid-May at www.burningthefuture.org.

For coal companies, mountaintop-removal mining represents a cost-effective, efficient system of extracting coal: Explosives blast away the rocky top of deforested mountains, then machines scoop out the coal.

For government, it's providing a domestic source of energy for a country where more than half the electricity produced comes from coal.

But for a group of residents living in the coal fields of southern West Virginia, it's meant brown tap water, health problems, flying rocks containing sulfur, increased flooding and the destruction of the natural resources that help sustain them.

Documentary filmmaker David Novack ably highlights the plight of these often overlooked communities by following a grass-roots effort to halt mountaintop removal led by unlikely activists.

"In many regards, we treat Appalachia as a Third-World country where the nation goes in, extracts their resources and really leaves very little money behind," Novack says.

Interviews with government officials and coal-company representatives are interspersed with devastating, eye-opening stories: the unemployed man who has little choice but to drink and bathe in his brown tap water, children so afraid of flooding they can't sleep when it rains. These images will stick with viewers as they blithely recharge their laptops and go on about their daily business.

Tougher in Alaska

History Channel, premieres Thursday at 10 p.m. ET/PT

How hot is Alaska on the small screen? Let us count the ways: The Alaska Experiment, Deadliest Catch, Ice Road Truckers, Men in Trees, and now Tougher in Alaska. Yep, tougher to get a hotel room thanks to all the TV crews.

History's new series showcases the occupational hazards of making a buck (or several) in the wilds of the beautifully remote state. Longtime Alaska resident and journalist Geo Beach, a growling bear of a fellow, gamely tackles rugged tasks ranging from stringing electric lines by hand to logging by helicopter.

To distinguish itself among a sea of similar shows, Tougher in Alaska edits in fascinating historical footage of the same work being performed long ago, when men — not machines — gutted fish and when gold prospectors trekked long distances to their claims burdened with equipment without the benefit of bush planes.

Podcast

Small Biz Tech Girl

Quick and Dirty Tips for Growing Your Business with Digital Tools, hosted by Aliza Sherman; available free at www.quickanddirtytips.com and on iTunes