WXXI TV

Independent Lens “Life After” • WXXI-TV

A gripping investigative documentary, “Life After,” coalesces the missing voices of the disability community in the contemporary debate around assisted dying.

Independent Lens “Life After” airs Saturday, January 17 at 4 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streaming live on the WXXI app.

This Independent Lens film is an essential and thought-provoking film that uncovers abuses of power while amplifying the voices of the disability community fighting for justice and dignity in an unfolding matter of life and death.

Award-winning disabled filmmaker Reid Davenport (“I Didn’t See You There”) trenchantly probes the legacy of Elizabeth Bouvia—a disabled California woman who, at the age of 26, sought “the right to die.” Her 1983 case provoked a national debate about the value of disabled lives, and Davenport sees echoes in chilling contemporary cases of disabled people dying prematurely—at their own hands and from a broken health care system. Through moving and modern interviews and rich archival material, “Life After” looks critically at where progressive values of bodily autonomy collide with the devaluing and fear of disabled lives. “Reid challenges our assumptions about disability.

Disabled people continue to face premature death—whether through the case of Michael Hickson, who was left to die by a Texas hospital, or the choice of Jerika Bolen, a Wisconsin teen who received support from her community to end her life.

Davenport’s exploration takes him to Canada, where regulations surrounding medical aid in dying (MAID) have been expanded to allow disabled individuals unprecedented access—even when their deaths are not reasonably foreseeable. In Ontario, Canada, Davenport meets Michal Kaliszan, a disabled computer programmer who once considered MAID as his only option to avoid entering an institution. In a society where ableism and inadequate healthcare often limit true choices, “Life After” exposes the tangled web of moral dilemmas and profit motives surrounding assisted dying. The film challenges the notion that assisted dying always represents a free choice, revealing how it can sometimes be perceived as the only option.

This program is presented as part of Dialogue on Disability, a partnership between WXXI and Al Sigl Community of Agencies – in conjunction with the Herman and Margaret Schwartz Community Series. Dialogue on Disability is supported by the Fred L. Emerson Foundation with additional support from The Golisano Foundation. The weeklong initiative runs January 12-18, 2026.

WXXI and Al Sigl have been hosting Dialogue on Disability since 2005. In 2014, with the support of businessman and philanthropist Tom Golisano and the Golisano Foundation, Move to Include™ was formed. This initiative enables WXXI to present and develop programming that promotes inclusion year round.

Photo: Jeffrey McElfresh rides through the industrial area along the Ohio River
Credit: Provided by APT

Indigenize The Plate • WXXI-TV

Extraction, water displacement, and climate change have impacted food sustainability in Indigenous communities, and the combination of these challenges has also affected cultural sustainability. A Diné woman travels from the Navajo Nation to a Quechuan community in Peru to see how they address these issues in their region.

Indigenize The Plate airs Saturday, November 15 at 3p.m. on WXXI-TV and streaming live on the WXXI app.

Indigenize The Plate tells the stories of Indigenous people across the world and shows viewers how their communities are working together to address some of the many challenges that the world faces collectively.

Photo: Two members of Oliver Alvarez’s family preparing cuy, a traditional dish of the region.

Rematriated Voices with Michelle Schenandoah • WXXI-TV

Binge on all five episodes of this groundbreaking talk show to empower truth, reclaim democracy, and live in balance with Mother Earth.

Rematriated Voices with Michelle Schenandoah airs Sunday, November 16 at 1 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streams live on the PBS app and the WXXI app.

Grounded in Haudenosaunee principles, Rematriated Voices invites viewers and listeners to consider their answer to one of the most common Haudenosaunee greetings, “Are you at peace?”

Bring Them Home • WXXI-TV

Witness the Blackfoot tribe’s restoration of buffalo, culture, and land in BRING THEM HOME.

Bring Them Home airs Monday, November 24 at 10 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streams live on the PBS app and the WXXI app.

This film tells the story of a determined group of Blackfoot people striving to re-establish the first wild buffalo herd on ancestral lands since the species near extinction a century ago. The film captures the decades-long efforts to restore buffalo along with the land, re-enliven traditional culture and bring much needed healing to the Blackfeet community. Narrated and executive produced by Oscar nominee and Blackfeet / Nez Perce actor, Lily Gladstone, the film has screened at over 40 film festivals; earning multiple awards and playing as an audience favorite.

Photo credit: Thunderheart Media

American Experience “Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On” • WXXI-TV

Oscar-winning Indigenous artist who rose to prominence in New York’s Greenwich Village folk music scene and has had a six-decade groundbreaking career as a singer-songwriter, social activist, educator and artist.

American Experience “Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On” airs Saturday, November 1 at 4 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streaming live on the WXXI app.

Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On features never-before-seen archival material, new performance footage and interviews with Sainte-Marie, Joni Mitchell, Sonia Manzano, John Kay, Robbie Robertson, Jackson Browne and others. Over a career spanning six decades, Cree musician, artist and activist Buffy Sainte-Marie has used her platform to campaign for Indigenous and women’s rights and inspired multiple generations of musicians, artists and activists.

Photo credit: Tim Ryan/Matt Barnes

The Best of the ’60s • WXXI-TV

The decade of peace, love and happiness is celebrated in this My Music compilation.

The Best of the ‘60s airs Saturday, October 25 at 3 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streams live on the WXXI app.

Legends from Pop, Folk, Rock, The British Beat, Motown, Soul and Great Rock and Roll all perform their biggest 1960s hits, classics and more live on the MY MUSIC stage.

Great Performances: Ann • WXXI-TV

Enjoy a powerful and revealing look at legendary, larger-than-life Texas governor Ann Richards who enriched the lives of her followers, friends and family in this critically acclaimed play written by and starring Emmy Award-winner Holland Taylor.

Great Performances: Ann airs Friday, October 24 at 10 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streams live on the WXXI app.About the Episode

Great Performances: Ann is a no-holds-barred theatrical portrait of Ann Richards, legendary Governor of Texas (1991-95). Written and performed by Emmy Award-winning actor Holland Taylor (“Two and a Half Men,” Broadway’s “The Front Page”), the play is a compelling look at the impassioned, inspiring woman who enriched the lives of her followers, friends and family. Beginning with a commencement address, the play bursts into a blistering day in the life of the governor, with a cascade of task-wrangling and conversations with everyone from Richards’ friend Bill Clinton to her grandbaby Lily. We see the grit, warmth and depth in her colorful, captivating character, bigger than the state from which she hails. Directed for the stage by Benjamin Endsley Klein (Broadway credits include “The Ferryman” and “Carousel”), this production was recorded at the Zach Theater in Austin, Texas, following its national tour and Broadway run at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater in 2013, which earned Taylor a Tony Award nomination for Best Lead Actress in a Play.

Neither partisan nor political, Ann began as Taylor’s quest to understand what it was about this housewife, mother, grandmother, leader and iconic patriot who inspired so many people so deeply. Writing the play became a four-year journey for Taylor, crisscrossing the country, interviewing people who knew Richards, watching countless hours of video coverage and pouring over reams of her personal and public papers at the University of Texas. In the end, Taylor’s greatest resources were the family, friends, staff and colleagues of the governor who allowed Taylor to know Ann Richards.

Secrets of the Dead “Field of Vampires” • WXXI-TV

The 2022 discovery in Eastern Europe of more than 50 errant burials that indicate a perceived threat of vampirism in the 17th century.

Secrets of the Dead “Field of Vampires” airs Friday, October 31 at 5 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streams live on the WXXI app.

In 2022, a terrifying discovery: a female skeleton dating from 1650, buried with a sickle across her neck and giant padlock on her toe — double protection to keep her from rising from the dead. All the evidence points to her being buried as a vampire… and she’s not alone, with more than 50 deviant burials around her. Who was she and what did these burial rituals mean?