Highlights Archive

Ken Burns’ The American Revolution Series • WXXI-TV

The American Revolution, a film series by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt, explores the journey of the thirteen American colonies as they unite in rebellion, win an eight-year war to secure their independence, and establish a new form of government that would inspire democratic movements at home and around the globe. What begins as a political clash between colonists and the British government grows into a bloody struggle that will engage more than two dozen nations and forever change the world. Air Dates & On-demand availability

The American Revolution 6-part series is premiering Sunday, November 16-21 on WXXI-TV and Live Stream from 8PM-10PM (and re-airing the same nights 10PM-12-AM) The American Revolution examines how America’s founding turned the world upside-down. Thirteen British colonies on the Atlantic Coast rose in rebellion, won their independence, and established a new form of government that radically reshaped the continent and inspired centuries of democratic movements around the globe. Learn more about the 250th anniversary.

Air dates on WXXI-TV & Live Stream

· Airs nightly 11/16 through 11/21 at 8 p.m.

· Repeats nightly 11/16 through 11/21 at 10 p.m.

· Repeats daily 11/23 through 11/28 at 3 p.m.

· Repeats 11/17 through 11/21 at 1 a.m. Saturday 11/22 at 2 a.m.

Following the airing of the episode it will be available on-demand through December 14th on the PBS Player website and the PBS App.

The American Revolution brings an expansive look at the virtues and contradictions of the war and the birth of the United States of America, the film series follows dozens of figures from a wide variety of backgrounds. Through their individual stories, viewers experience the war through the memories of the men and women who experienced it: the rank-and-file Continental soldiers and American militiamen (some of them teenagers), Patriot political and military leaders, British Army officers, American Loyalists, Native soldiers and civilians, enslaved and free African Americans, German soldiers in the British service, French and Spanish allies, and various civilians living in North America, Loyalist as well as Patriot, including many made refugees by the war.

The Revolution began a movement for people around the world to imagine new and better futures for themselves, their nations, and for humanity. It declared American independence with promises that we continue to strive for. The American Revolution opened the door to advance civil liberties and human rights, and it asked questions that we are still trying to answer today.

Episodes

Episode 1: In Order To Be Free: The American Revolution In Order to Be Free Opposition in colonial North America to British policies over taxes, land, and sovereignty escalates into violent confrontation. Fighting in Massachusetts. Airs November 16.

Episode 2: An Asylum For Mankind: As New Englanders work to force the British Army from Boston, Congress puts George Washington in command of a new Continental Army. In July 1776, Congress declares American independence, insisting on the people’s right to resist tyranny. Airs November 17, 2025.

Episode 3: The Times That Try Men’s Souls: British General Howe soundly defeats General Washington at Long Island and in Manhattan, forcing the Americans to abandon New York City. After fleeing across New Jersey, Washington’s army regroups before attacking an outpost at Trenton. Airs November 18, 2025.

Episode 4: Conquer by a Drawn Game: After beating General Washington in battle, General Howe takes Philadelphia, forcing Congress to flee the city. But the Americans’ surprising victory over General Burgoyne at Saratoga encourages France to openly support the United States. Airs November 19, 2025.

Episode 5: The Soul of All America: After Valley Forge and Monmouth, the French American alliance changes the war and moves it to other theaters. Navies battle off England and in the Caribbean, while armies advance in Indian Country and the South. The British take Charleston. Airs: November 20, 2025.

Episode 6: The Most Sacred Thing: British General Cornwallis struggles to pacify the southern states. Supported by the French, Washington wins the decisive victory at Yorktown. With independence secured, Americans aspire for a more perfect union Airs November 21, 2025.

Interviews about The American Revolution Series

Connections on Friday, November 14th at Noon: Lessons from Ken Burns’ new series, “The American Revolution” Listen to the Podcast or Watch the YouTube Video

A highly anticipated documentary series launches on PBS this weekend. Ken Burns’ “The American Revolution: An Intimate History” is a six-part series about the men and women who fought and lived through the war for America’s independence. This hour, we’re joined by filmmaker David Schmidt and local history professors to preview the series and to discuss what we can learn — and what we get wrong — about the Revolutionary War. Our guests:

(in studio) Michael Jarvis, Ph.D., professor of early American, Atlantic, and digital history and archeology at University of Rochester

(Teams) David Schmidt, co-director of “The American Revolution”

(in studio) Paul B. Moyer, Ph.D., professor of history at SUNY Brockport

NPR Interviews with Ken Burns about The American Revolution Series

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 Monday, November 3 at 10 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streaming live on the WXXI app.

This Independent Lens film, presented as part of WXXI’s Move to IncludeTM initiative, premieres Monday, November 3, 2025 at 10 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streams on the WXXI app and PBS app, 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.

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

Local, USA “Firelighters: Fire Is Medicine” • WXXI-WORLD

Indigenous people have deep knowledge of the art of using fire. Follow the work of women leaders from the Yurok and Karuk Tribes who are building resources to share indigenous practices and create policies to take back indigenous burning rights

Local, USA Firelighters: Fire Is Medicine airs Monday, November 17 at 8 p.m. on WXXI-WORLD and streaming live on the WXXI app.

For centuries, most landscapes in North America were shaped by fire between lightning strikes and Indigenous burns. Indigenous people had deep knowledge of the art of using fire, and still do today. Follow the work of women leaders from the Yurok and Karuk Tribes who are building resources to share indigenous practices and create policies to take back indigenous burning rights.

POV EMERGENT CITY Screening & Panel Discussion • The Little Theatre

Join WXXI for a special FREE screening of EMERGENT CITY, a film by by Kelly Anderson and Jay Arthur Sterrenberg and Brenda Ávila-Hanna. that looks at a new “innovation district” that tests local democracy in a divided Brooklyn community. The screening is captioned and will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by Brian Sharp, WXXI News Investigations and enterprise editor. Panelists and community members will discuss issues in the Rochester area involving development, neighborhood representation in planning and local issues raised in the film. ASL Interpreting will be provided for the opening remarks and the panel discussion. The film will be screened with open captioning.

The event is free but we encourage registration for event planning.

This event is a collaboration with POV, PBS’ award-winning nonfiction film series.” POV website: https://www.pbs.org/pov/ This program is made possible by a grant from American Documentary | POV, with funding provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Details:
Tuesday, November 18, 2025
The Little Theatre, L1, 240 East Avenue
The event begins at 6:30 p.m. (Doors open at 6:00pm)

Panelists include:
Moderator: Brian Sharp is WXXI’s investigations and enterprise editor. He also reports on business and development in the area. He has been covering Rochester since 2005. His journalism career spans nearly three decades.

Panelists:

Gladys Pedraza Burgos, Non-profit strategist and neighborhood/community member

Melissa Suchodolski, President, USC Builds (Local Development Example: Bull’s Head Revitalization Opportunity Site Map, Water Color of Street View Concept, Maps of Community Mixed Use Concepts PDFs)

Kevin Kelley is the Manager of City Planning for the City of Rochester. In that role, he serves on the Mayor’s Senior Management Team. He has worked on a variety of city-wide and neighborhood plans and initiatives including the Rochester 2034 Comprehensive Plan, ROC the Riverway Vision Plan, Percent for the Arts Program, and the redevelopment of the Inner Loop corridor.

More about the film:
Residents of Sunset Park, Brooklyn face rising rents, a legacy of environmental racism and the loss of the industrial jobs that once sustained their community. When a global developer purchases a massive industrial complex on the waterfront and lays plans for an “innovation district,” a battle erupts over the future of the neighborhood and of New York City itself. Co-produced with ITVS.

Credits:

Director(s): Kelly Anderson, Jay Arthur Sterrenberg
Producer(s): Kelly Anderson, Brenda Ávila-Hanna
Co-produced with ITVS

ASL interpretation will be provided for opening remarks and post-screening panel discussion. This film is presented with open captions. For more information on parking and accessibility, please visit https://thelittle.org/accessibility/. Additional accommodations may be requested during the registration process. Please contact Sarah Murphy Abbamonte, Project Manager for Move to Include, at sabbamonte@wxxi.org with any questions.

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

Air dates on WXXI-TV & Live Stream

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