Each season acts as a reset. In September, we’re awoken from the lazy days of summer when the school bell rings and the weather turns a little cooler. This month, WORLD brings together more reasons than one to clock back into your usual surroundings.
Silence in Sikeston, a new Local, USA special premiering on September 16, reveals how the deaths of two Black fathers – one a 1942 lynching and the other a 2020 police shooting – have suspended one Missouri community in a decades-long cycle of trauma and silence and what it takes to heal physically, mentally and emotionally.
HBCU Week returns alongside a new film, Segregation Scholarships, exploring a lesser-known piece of desegregation history from the American South, North and back again to the Jim Crow South.
And America ReFramed is back from a short break with encoring films sharing stories of election officials, housing advocates and community organizers at the onset of Hispanic Heritage Month.
Watch along with us this September and share your thoughts on justice, activism and resilience.
WATCH LIVE
No Time to Fail | America ReFramed
September 5 on TV, online, on YouTube & the PBS app | Available now on Apple TV+ & Prime Video
Rhode Island's local election administrators and poll workers work around the clock to secure the vote for their community during the 2020 election -- midst an onslaught of attacks from a sitting President and the deadly threat of a global pandemic. Once invisible to the general public, election administrators are spotlighted as the ground zero of American democracy. Read an interview with filmmakers Sara Archambeault and Margo Guernsey.
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
September 7 and 14 on TV, online & on the PBS app
PBS SoCal and Variety take you inside the biggest biggest TV shows of the past year through candid conversations with today's hottest actors. New episodes bring together pairs of actors like Jennifer Aniston, Jon Hamm, Joey King and more engaging in intimate one-on-one discussions about their craft and work.
Girl Talk: A Local, USA Special
September 11 on TV, online & on the PBS app | Available now on Apple TV+ & Prime Video
Set in the cutthroat, male-dominated world of high school debate, this film tells the compelling story of five girls on the diverse, top-ranked Massachusetts team at Newton South. Often talked over, underrepresented and judged differently than their male counterparts, each girl learns to navigate gender biases, reminding us that equal rights and freedom of expression are worth fighting for.
Name Me Lawand | POV
September 11 on TV, online & on the PBS app
Lawand, deaf from birth, seeks a fresh start with his family in the UK after a traumatic year in a refugee camp. At Derby's Royal School for the Deaf, he learns sign language and discovers a way to communicate with the world. As he thrives, his family faces deportation, challenging their stability. NAME ME LAWAND is a love letter to the power of friendship and community.
A Decent Home | America ReFramed
September 12 on TV, online, on YouTube & the PBS app
When housing on the lowest rung of the American dream is being devoured by the wealthiest of the wealthy, whose dream are we serving? Address urgent issues of class and economic (im)mobility through the lives of mobile home park residents who can’t afford housing anywhere else. Read an interview with filmmaker Sara Terry and listen to a replay of housing experts discussing the film’s themes on X (Twitter) Spaces.
NEW Silence in Sikeston | Local, USA
September 16 on TV, online, on YouTube & the PBS app
The story of how the 1942 lynching of Cleo Wright – and the subsequent failure of the first federal attempt to prosecute a lynching – continues to haunt the small city of Sikeston, Missouri. In 2020, the past reverberates in the present in the police killing of a young Black father. Explore necessary questions about history, trauma, silence and resilience in a community divided over 78 years. Listen to the companion podcast and find more on our watch party page.
NEW Segregation Scholarships | Local, USA
September 16 on TV, online, on YouTube & the PBS app
The untold story of Black Americans in pursuit of higher education in the North when Southern graduate schools were white-only. The academics – teachers, administrators, lawyers, doctors, and other professionals – left the South during the Great Migration, returning to the Jim Crow South to apply their knowledge towards strengthening southern Black communities and to help end segregation in the United States. Get to know these largely unsung trailblazers and civil rights foot soldiers while examining the key role of education in transforming social conditions in the U.S., past and present.
Como Vivimos (How We Live) | America ReFramed
September 19 on TV, online, on YouTube & the PBS app
In California’s Central Valley, hundreds of Latinx youth miss months of school annually, because they live with their families in one of the state’s farmworker housing centers. These subsidized apartments require families to move out each winter and relocate at least 50 miles away before being allowed to return in the spring. These cycles of displacement come at a high cost to families’ futures.
Who's Afraid of Nathan Law? | POV
September 25 on TV, online & on the PBS app
At 21, he was a leader of Hong Kong's Umbrella Revolution. By 23, he became Hong Kong's youngest elected lawmaker. At 26, he was Most Wanted under the National Security Law. Who’s Afraid of Nathan Law? offers a close look at the city's most famous dissident to uncover what happens to freedom when an authoritarian power goes unchecked. Co-presented with Preserving Democracy, a public media initiative from The WNET Group.
La Manplesa: An Uprising Remembered | America ReFramed
September 26 on TV, online, on YouTube & the PBS app | Available now on PBS Passport
On May 5th, 1991, people took to the streets of Washington D.C.’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood to protest the police shooting of a young Salvadoran man, Daniel Gomez. Through testimony, song, poetry, and street theater, experience the collective memory of one of D.C.’s first barrios and dives into the roots of the '91 rebellion. Read an interview with filmmaker Ellie Walton and watch the replay of an Instagram Live event with subjects from the film.
The Choice 2024 | FRONTLINE
September 27 on TV, online & on the PBS app
As American voters face an unprecedented presidential election, Frontline is producing a deep and unflinching examination of the candidates in the newest installment of its landmark series, The Choice. Drawing on extensive interviews with those who know them best, The Choice 2024 will investigate the life experiences, the decisions, and the times that forged the candidates – and shaped how they could lead the country over the next four years.
WATCH ONLINE
A Boston (R)evolution
Available now online & on the PBS app
Examine a racially complicated American city as it confronts both its past and future. Boston’s acting mayor, a Black woman once bussed as a child to hostile neighborhoods, breaks 200 years of white male mayors and ushers in the historic 2021 mayoral race.
HBCU Week: Beyond the Field | Local, USA
September 2 on TV | Available now online, on YouTube & the PBS app
Journey inside the heart of HBCUs. Experience the CIAA in Maryland, a cornerstone of Black athletics history, and feel the electrifying atmosphere of Louisiana's Bayou Classic - an annual showdown between Grambling State and Southern University. The episode offers a unique look beyond sports, highlighting the culture, history, and community spirit that define HBCUs.
Nine-to-Five | Stories from the Stage
September 2 on TV | Available now online & on the PBS app
Work can be simply a way to survive. But sometimes it is a nightmare, and other times a dream come true. A parent's urgent call cuts through the noise of Mary’s ordinary workday; Alexis transforms from struggling student into a guiding mentor; and after a trip to the Caribbean, Anne sails into a life of adventure.
Take these stories on the go with Stories from the Stage: The Podcast!
The Busing Battleground | American Experience
September 7 on TV | Available now online & on the PBS app
This film viscerally captures the class tensions and racial violence that ensued when Black and white students in Boston were bused for the first time between neighborhoods to comply with a federal desegregation order.
HBCU Week: Tradition and Competition | Local, USA
September 9 on TV | Available now online, on YouTube & the PBS app
Dive into HBCU football culture: Witness the rivalry of Hampton & Howard, a testament to tradition and spirit, and appreciate the intensity of an NC A&T vs. NC Central game, a match steeped in proximity and pride. The episode showcases the blend of camaraderie and competition that defines HBCU sports, highlighting their impact on African American communities.
You’re Hired! | Stories from the Stage
September 9 on TV | Available now online & on the PBS app
The twists and turns of professional life can lead to finding a true path. Raised in a restaurant family, Jennifer discovers her expertise lies beyond the dining room; Bobbie learns that aiming high can make the incredible happen; and Harry ditches the world of sports agents for a more compassionate calling.
Take these stories on the go with Stories from the Stage: The Podcast!
Generation 9/11
September 11 on TV | Available now on PBS Passport
"Generation 9/11" is an intimate film driven by the stories and personalities of its protagonists, who were born in the wake of a global tragedy which, for them, was also deeply personal. But it is also the story an entire generation that has been shaped by the attacks and their aftermath.
Flourishing in the Desert | Stories from the Stage
September 16 on TV | Available now online & on the PBS app
The Southwest is hot and dry, but for millions of people, it’s a place to thrive. After her divorce, Lisa, a writer, redefines herself in the great outdoors; Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Daniel struggles with linguistic dualities; and after leaving California, Shareé wonders if she can find home.
Take these stories on the go with Stories from the Stage: The Podcast!
Sacred Circle | Stories from the Stage
September 23 on TV | Available now online & on the PBS app
As a symbol of life’s cyclical nature, the circle is important for Native Americans. Rebekka honors the keeper of the connection between her people and culture; Charlie, who has light skin and hair, works to be accepted by fellow tribe members; and Levelle finds a path to meaning, healing, and helping after prison.
Take these stories on the go with Stories from the Stage: The Podcast!
Suddenly | Stories from the Stage
September 30 on TV | Available now online & on the PBS app
Our lives can change in the blink of an eye: We meet a stranger and make a connection. Or we take a chance - and turn our world upside down. Joy rediscovers a community she had left behind; Lee-Ellen finds kinship in the aftermath of an earthquake; and Gerard receives a diagnosis that immediately alters everything.
Take these stories on the go with Stories from the Stage: The Podcast!
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