One With the Whale
Hunting whales is a matter of life or death for the residents of St. Lawrence. When a shy Alaska Native teen becomes the youngest person ever to harpoon a whale for his village, his family is blindsided by thousands of keyboard activists brutally attacking him online—without full perspective on the importance of the hunt to his community's well-being.
Episodes
-
Space: The Longest Goodbye
S25 E16 - 1h 24m
NASA's goal to send astronauts to Mars would require a three-year absence from Earth, during which communication in real time would be impossible due to the immense distance. Meet the psychologists whose job is to keep astronauts mentally stable in outer space, as they are caught between their dream of reaching new frontiers and the basic human need to stay connected to home.
-
One With the Whale
S25 E15 - 1h 18m
Hunting whales is a matter of life or death for the residents of St. Lawrence. When a shy Alaska Native teen becomes the youngest person ever to harpoon a whale for his village, his family is blindsided by thousands of keyboard activists brutally attacking him online—without full perspective on the importance of the hunt to his community's well-being.
-
Matter of Mind: My Parkinson’s
S25 E14 - 54m 41s
In Matter of Mind: My Parkinson's, three people navigate their lives with resourcefulness and determination in the face of a degenerative illness, Parkinson’s disease. An optician pursues deep brain stimulation surgery; a mother raising a pre-teen daughter becomes a boxing coach and an advocate for exercise; and a cartoonist contemplates how he will continue to draw as his motor control declines.
-
A Thousand Pines
S25 E13 - 55m 37s
Over the course of a grueling eight months, a crew of Oaxacan guest workers plant trees throughout the United States. This intimate portrait shows how hard it is to balance the physical demands of reforestation and extreme isolation while staying connected to the family back home.
-
Greener Pastures
S25 E12 - 1h 24m
There is a mental health crisis happening for many American farmers. A combination of climate change and the pandemic have contributed to increasing economic uncertainty and isolation. Following four family farms in the Midwest over several years, the documentary Greener Pastures is a story of perseverance and survival within the farming industry in the heartland.
-
Breaking The News
S25 E11 - 1h 24m
Who decides which stories get told? A scrappy group of women and LGBTQ+ journalists buck the white male-dominated status quo, banding together to launch The 19th*, a digital news startup aiming to combat misinformation. A story of an America in flux, and the voices often left out of the narrative, the documentary Breaking the News shows change doesn’t come easy.
-
Sister Úna Lived a Good Death
S25 E10 - 55m 23s
Following a cancer diagnosis, Sister Úna—a mischievous, rule-breaking Catholic nun dedicated to social justice—chooses to live as she’s dying. In this touching end-of-life documentary, the self-proclaimed “leader of the misfits” plans her funeral in her last nine months to live.
-
Moving soon to WETA Passport
Razing Liberty Square
S25 E9 - 1h 23m
Liberty City, Miami, is home to one of the oldest segregated public housing projects in the U.S. Now with rising sea levels, the neighborhood’s higher ground has become something else: real estate gold. Wealthy property owners push inland to higher ground, creating a speculators’ market in the historically Black neighborhood previously ignored by developers and policy-makers alike.
-
Racist Trees
S25 E8 - 1h 23m
Were trees intentionally planted to exclude and segregate a Black neighborhood?
Racial tensions ignite in this documentary, when a historically Black neighborhood in Palm Springs, California, fights to remove a towering wall of tamarisk trees. The trees form a barrier, believed by some to segregate the community, frustrating residents who regard them as an enduring symbol of racism. -
If Dreams Were Lightning: Rural Healthcare Crisis
S25 E18 - 25m 43s
Rural hospitals around America are closing at alarming rates, leaving communities without care. Oscar and Emmy-nominated director Ramin Bahrani visits Appalachia, where American communities are left with limited or no access to healthcare. Explore the rural healthcare crisis in the South through the eyes of those struggling in it and the dedicated doctors trying to reach them.
-
Beyond Utopia
S25 E7 - 1h 51m
They grew up believing their land was paradise. Now, they risk everything in escaping it. In an unforgettable documentary, follow families on a treacherous journey to defect from their homeland of North Korea, as the threat of severe punishment and possible execution looms over their passage, revealing a world many have never seen.
-
A Town Called Victoria | Episode 3
S25 E6 - 54m 42s
The prosecution presents shocking evidence. As the trial concludes, the engaged citizens of Victoria seek a way to build a more inclusive community.
Extras + Features
-
Trailer | Sansón and Me
S25 E1 - 30s
Filmmaker Rodrigo Reyes wants to document Sansón's story, an immigrant serving life in prison. Unable to film Sansón, the documentary creatively shares his narrative through reenactments of his letters, featuring his own family as actors.
-
Fall Season Trailer | Coming to Independent Lens
S25 - 1m
Independent Lens, America’s home for documentaries, returns Monday, September 19, starting with Sansón and Me, followed by El Equipo, Three Chaplains and the three part series A Town Called Victoria. Watch these powerful, acclaimed new films on the PBS App.
-
Trailer | Beyond Utopia
S25 E7 - 30s
They grew up believing their land was paradise. Now, they risk everything in escaping it. In an unforgettable documentary, follow families on a treacherous journey to defect from their homeland of North Korea, as the threat of severe punishment and possible execution looms over their passage, revealing a world many have never seen.
Schedule
-
Image
Independent Lens
One With the Whale
Thursday
Apr 25
1 Hour 30 Minutes
An Alaska native family is blindsided when their son, the youngest ever to harpoon a whale for his village, is targeted by animal activists. -
Image
Independent Lens
One With the Whale
Thursday
Apr 25
1 Hour 30 Minutes
An Alaska native family is blindsided when their son, the youngest ever to harpoon a whale for his village, is targeted by animal activists. -
Image
Independent Lens
One With the Whale
Saturday
Apr 27
1 Hour 30 Minutes
An Alaska native family is blindsided when their son, the youngest ever to harpoon a whale for his village, is targeted by animal activists. -
Image
Independent Lens
One With the Whale
Saturday
Apr 27
1 Hour 30 Minutes
An Alaska native family is blindsided when their son, the youngest ever to harpoon a whale for his village, is targeted by animal activists. -
Image
Independent Lens
Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary
Sunday
Apr 28
1 Hour 30 Minutes
Events, passions and experiences that impacted the life and music of jazz artist John Coltrane. -
Image
Independent Lens
Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary
Tuesday
Apr 30
1 Hour 30 Minutes
Events, passions and experiences that impacted the life and music of jazz artist John Coltrane. -
Image
Independent Lens
Try Harder!
Thursday
May 2
1 Hour 30 Minutes
At San Francisco's Lowell High School, stressed out seniors chase college dreams. -
Image
Independent Lens
Soul Food Junkies
Sunday
May 5
1 Hour
Soul food's relevance to black cultural identity. -
Image
Independent Lens
Space: The Longest Goodbye
Monday
May 6
1 Hour 30 Minutes
NASA psychologists prepare astronauts for the extreme isolation required by a Mars mission. -
Image
Independent Lens
Space: The Longest Goodbye
Tuesday
May 7
1 Hour 30 Minutes
NASA psychologists prepare astronauts for the extreme isolation required by a Mars mission. -
Image
Independent Lens
Space: The Longest Goodbye
Wednesday
May 8
1 Hour 30 Minutes
NASA psychologists prepare astronauts for the extreme isolation required by a Mars mission. -
Image
Independent Lens
Space: The Longest Goodbye
Thursday
May 9
1 Hour 30 Minutes
NASA psychologists prepare astronauts for the extreme isolation required by a Mars mission. -
Image
Independent Lens
Space: The Longest Goodbye
Thursday
May 9
1 Hour 30 Minutes
NASA psychologists prepare astronauts for the extreme isolation required by a Mars mission.
WETA Passport
Stream tens of thousands of hours of your PBS and local favorites with WETA Passport whenever and wherever you want. Catch up on a single episode or binge-watch full seasons before they air on TV.
Similar Shows
PBS Indies
Indie Films
Out of Exile: The Photography of Fred Stein
Indie Films
Petit Rat
Indie Films
Muslim Youth Voices
Indie Films
2021 duPont-Columbia Awards
Indie Films
PBS Short Film Festival
Indie Films
Asian American Stories of Resilience and Beyond
Indie Films
POV
Indie Films
Homegrown: Future Visions
Indie Films