Highlights Archive

America 250 Series • WXXI News

WXXI News presents a series of stories that looks at America 250 through a complete lens.

Check them out here:

Aired 7/1: What’s fact and fiction in the area’s most legendary tale of Revolutionary valor. Click here to read or listen to the piece.

Aired 6/30: One of Mount Hope’s most interesting Revolutionary War vets is not who you think he is. Click here to read or listen to the piece.

Aired 6/29: Restored 1813 portrait of George Washington is back where it belongs at Capitol. Click here to read or listen to the piece.

Connect250, a Nationwide Storytelling Project

What happens when strangers sit down and truly listen to one another?

America’s story is made up of millions of individual stories. Through Connect250, StoryCorps, NPR’s Morning Edition, and WXXI are inviting people across the country to connect across differences and share meaningful conversations in honor of America’s 250th birthday. Record a conversation with someone from another community and contribute to a historic collection that will be preserved at the Library of Congress for future generations. To learn more and pre-register, visit connect250.org. Conversations start July 7.

Learn more.

Disability Pride Month Collection • On-Demand

Take time to honor Disability Pride Month observe the landmark anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26 and consider its wider impact and implications across culture and society.

Each year we honor Disability Pride Month which offers a time to observe the landmark anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26 and consider its wider impact and implications across culture and society. Our collection is grounded in this year’s theme, “The World Works Better With Us”, which promotes self-advocacy, support, education and advocacy for rights and inclusion across public spaces for all people living and thriving with disabilities. In this six-film suite, we share compelling stories that center intimate perspectives of lived experiences where self-love and acceptance are paramount, where fears and anxieties lead to profound moments of change, where community uplifts and finds power in collective action and shows how creativity provides pathways for communication.

In All Riders, a group of disabled NYC commuters rally together in their fight for accessibility on the MTA. Co-director Sam Habib documents his transition into adulthood in The Ride Ahead as he navigates his private and public life while living with a rare genetic disorder. I Didn’t See You There provides a personal and political perspective on the legacy of the spectacle of the Freak Show and the paradoxical nature of visibility and visibility for people with disabilities. Two stories foreground the isolating experience of disability; the director and protagonist in Is There Anybody Out There? searches for others who are like her while Pedro battles mental health issues as a young, blind undocumented immigrant in the award-winning film unseen. Finally, the communicative power of creative expression lights up the screen in The Beautiful Colors of Jeremy Sicile-Kira.

WXXI is proud to be a co-presenter of this collection as part of our Move to Include^TM initiative, which promotes disability inclusion, representation, and accessibility in public media. Built on the principle of “Nothing About Us Without Us”, Move to Include spotlights the lived experience of people with disabilities and highlights important issues around disability, including education, healthcare, housing, employment, and more – through television, radio, news, education, community events, and digital media.

Click here to access the Community Network!

Once Upon A Time In Space • WXXI-TV

At the dawn of a new space race, this four-part series tells the human story of our quest to explore the cosmos.

Once Upon A Time In Space Airs Tuesdays, July 14th- July 28th at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streaming live on the WXXI and PBS apps.

Drawing on intimate, unseen archive and powerful first-hand testimony, this landmark 4-part series tells the human stories behind our quest to explore space, offering a unique perspective on our changing world and where we are headed.

Episodes:

“America First” airs July 14th. A pioneering class of astronauts is recruited by NASA to fly aboard its new Space Shuttle.

“The Russian Thing” airs July 21st. When the Soviet Union falls, Russia welcomes US astronauts to their space station Mir.

“Politics Always Wins” airs July 28th. The arrival of the International Space Station promises a new era of cooperation in space.

“Friends Forever” airs August 4th. Relationships aboard the ISS are tested when war breaks out on Earth.

Credit: Nasa

Independent Lens “Flood” • WXXI-TV

A filmmaker revisits her evangelical roots to find connection with her estranged father.

Independent Lens “Flood” airsMonday, July 13th at 10 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streaming live on the WXXI and PBS apps.

Returning home to California’s Inland Empire, filmmaker Katy Scoggin seeks to reconnect with her estranged father, who works as an elementary science teacher. He is the only evangelical left in the family, and as they face their differences on faith, family, and belonging, their journey becomes a portrait of empathy and resilience. Together, they find new ways to listen and bridge divides.

Credit: Spencer Worthley

Independent Lens “True North: Canadian Myths and Black Power” • WXXI-TV

How 1960s Montreal helped shape the global movement for Black liberation.

Independent Lens “True North: Canadian Myths and Black Power” airs Monday, July 6th at 10 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streaming live on the WXXI and PBS apps.

Through rare archival footage and firsthand accounts, True North revisits 1968 Montreal, where Black liberation movements converged at the Congress of Black Writers. As student protests ignited the Sir George Williams Affair, Black youth faced violent repression, unfolding a powerful chapter of the global Black Power era.

Credit: La Presse

Robert Duvall: Star of the Silver Screen • WXXI-TV

This documentary looks back at the remarkable career of Oscar-winning actor Robert Duvall (1931-2026).

Robert Duvall: Star of the Silver Screen airs Thursday, July 9th at 8pm on WXXI-TV and streaming live on the WXXI and PBS apps.

Clips are shown from his most well-known productions, including the films The Godfather, The Great Santini, Tender Mercies, and the television miniseries Lonesome Dove.

Photo Credit: APT

Nature “Niagara Falls” • WXXI-TV

Embark to Niagara Falls and witness its stunning beauty and a wide variety of wildlife—mammals, birds, and reptiles— that call it home.

Nature “Niagara Falls” airs Wednesday July 8th at 8pm on WXXI-TV and streaming live on the WXXI and PBS apps.

Witness the story of an extraordinary ecosystem – larger than the state of Texas, and more precious than oil. The heartbeat of this remarkable water world is Niagara Falls. Through the eyes of passionate scientists and naturalists, uncover a complex world forged by stone and powered by water. In this realm, tiny shrews hunt in freezing cold rivers, spectacular shorebird migration unfolds over thundering falls, snowy owls stalk their prey from ice flows, and prehistoric snapping turtles brave a perilous overland journey. All these creatures and many more are part of a remarkable narrative unfolding in one of the most unique ecosystems in North America – Niagara.

Photo credit: Nature