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
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Mama Bears
S24 E16 - 1h 25m
They call one another “mama bears” because of the ferocity with which they fight for their children’s rights. Although they grew up as fundamentalist, evangelical Christians praying for the souls of LGBTQ+ people, these mothers are now willing to risk losing friends, family, and faith communities to champion their kids—even if it challenges their belief systems and rips apart their worlds.
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Silent Beauty
S24 E15 - 1h 25m
In this autobiographical exploration of survivorship, New Orleans journalist and filmmaker Jasmin Mara López unabashedly shares her process of healing from childhood sexual abuse. After Jasmin discloses to her family she'd been abused by her grandfather, she liberates others to come forward in a story of confronting a culture of silence over generational trauma.
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Matter of Mind: My ALS
S24 E13 - 54m 42s
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neuromuscular disease with an average survival time of 2-5 years from diagnosis. In this intimate exploration, three people with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, bravely face different paths as they live with this progressively debilitating illness.
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Hidden Letters
S24 E11 - 1h 25m
The bonds of sisterhood, and the parallels of struggles among generations of women in China, are drawn together by the once-secret written language of Nüshu, the only script designed and used exclusively by women.
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Storming Caesars Palace
S24 E10 - 1h 24m
After losing her job as a hotel worker in Las Vegas, Ruby Duncan joined a welfare rights group of mothers who defied notions of the “welfare queen.” In a fight for guaranteed income, Ruby and other equality activists took on the Nevada mob in organizing a massive protest that shut down Caesars Palace.
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Love in the Time of Fentanyl
S24 E9 - 1h 25m
As fentanyl overdose deaths in Vancouver, Canada reach an all-time high, the Overdose Prevention Society opens its doors—a renegade safe injection site that employs current or former drug users. Its staff and volunteers save lives and give hope to a marginalized community, doing whatever it takes to remain open in this intimate documentary that looks beyond the stigma of injection drug users.
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Outta the Muck
S24 E8 - 1h 25m
Wade into the rich soil of Pahokee, Florida, a town on the banks of Lake Okeechobee. Beyond its football legacy, including sending over a dozen players to the NFL (like Anquan Boldin, Fred Taylor, and Rickey Jackson), the fiercely self-determined community tells their stories of Black achievement and resilience in the face of tragic storms and personal trauma.
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The Picture Taker
S24 E7 - 1h 25m
The vibrant life of Ernest Withers—civil rights photographer, and FBI informant—was anything but black and white. From his Memphis studio, Withers' nearly 2 million images were a treasured record of Black history but his legacy was complicated by decades of secret FBI service revealed only after his death. Was he a friend of the civil rights community, or enemy—or both?
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No Straight Lines
S24 E6 - 1h 25m
When Alison Bechdel received a coveted MacArthur Award for her best-selling graphic memoir Fun Home, it heralded the acceptance of LGBTQ+ comics in American culture. From DIY underground comix scene to mainstream acceptance, meet five smart and funny queer comics artists whose uncensored commentary left no topic untouched and explored art as a tool for social change.
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The Big Payback
S24 E5 - 1h 25m
An Evanston, Illinois rookie alderwoman led the passage of the first tax-funded reparations bill for Black Americans. While she and her community struggle with the burden to make restitution for its citizens, a national racial crisis engulfs the country. Will the debt ever be addressed, or is it too late for a reparations movement to finally get the big payback?
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Move Me
S24 E3 - 1h 22m
At 27, Kelsey Peterson dove into Lake Superior as a dancer and emerged paralyzed. But within the Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) community, she found allies in her quest to discover who she is now and to dance with disability. When a cutting-edge trial surfaces, it tests her expectations of a possible cure. She finds herself both scared it might not work—and scared that it might.
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TikTok, Boom.
S24 E2 - 1h 24m
What does it mean to be a digital native? TikTok, Boom. dissects the platform along myriad cross-sections—algorithmic, socio-political, economic, and cultural—to explore the impact of the history-making app. Balancing a genuine interest with healthy skepticism, delve into the security issues, global political challenges, and racial biases behind the platform.
Extras + Features
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Trailer | Mama Bears
S24 E16 - 30s
They call one another “mama bears” because of the ferocity with which they fight for their children’s rights. Although they grew up as fundamentalist, evangelical Christians praying for the souls of LGBTQ+ people, these mothers are now willing to risk losing friends, family, and faith communities to champion their kids—even if it challenges their belief systems and rips apart their worlds.
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Trailer | Sam Now
S24 E14 - 30s
In this coming-of-age documentary about generational trauma, follow Sam Harkness from age 11 to 36 as his middle-class Seattle family is heartbroken and unsure of what to do after his mother suddenly leaves them. Woven together with home movies lovingly crafted by Sam’s half brother, director Reed Harkness, witness a boy grow up grappling with the ripple effects of a singular traumatic event.
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Trailer | Matter of Mind: My ALS
S24 E13 - 30s
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neuromuscular disease with an average survival time of 2-5 years from diagnosis. In this intimate exploration, three people with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, bravely face different paths as they live with this progressively debilitating illness.
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The Misrepresentation of Chol Soo Lee
S24 E12 - 5m 34s
Remember 1989’s True Believer, starring James Woods and Robert Downey, Jr.? Was it a prime example of Hollywood’s White Savior Complex? Dolly Li examines how the flick centered a white lawyer in a story based on Chol Soo Lee’s arrest. Stream Free Chol Soo Lee now on YouTube or the PBS App.
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The Ballad of Chol Soo Lee
S24 E12 - 4m 49s
Did a song help free an incarcerated man? Dolly Li breaks down how UC Berkeley college students wrote a track about Chol Soo Lee, a wrongfully convicted Korean immigrant sentenced to life in prison. Stream Free Chol Soo Lee now on the PBS App.
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Teaser | Free Chol Soo Lee
S24 E12 - 1m
Through his journey from an inspiring icon to a swing-shift janitor, Chol Soo Lee personifies the ravages of America’s prison industrial complex.
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Trailer | Free Chol Soo Lee
S24 E12 - 30s
Sentenced to life for a 1973 San Francisco murder, Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee was set free after a pan-Asian solidarity movement, which included Korean, Japanese, and Chinese Americans, helped to overturn his conviction. After 10 years of fighting for his life inside California state prisons, Lee found himself in a new fight to rise to the expectations of the people who believed in him.
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A Short History of Korean American Immigration
S24 E12 - 4m 53s
Korean culture has long been a part of the fabric of American culture. But what was that journey like? The three most significant waves all happened in relation to geopolitical tensions and trends in both America and Korea. Dolly Li dives deeper. Stream Free Chol Soo Lee now on YouTube or the PBS App.
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Dinner And a Doc | Free Chol Soo Lee
S24 E12 - 1m 50s
Free Chol Soo Lee co-directors Julie Ha and Eugene Yi share mouthwatering lunch with activists Ranko Yamada and Gail Whang in L.A.'s Koreatown.
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Inside Look | Free Chol Soo Lee
S24 E12 - 1m 30s
Get an inside look at Free Chol Soo Lee from Independent Lens. After 10 years of fighting for his life inside California state prisons, Lee found himself in a new fight to rise to the expectations of the people who believed in him.
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Trailer | Silent Beauty
S24 E15 - 30s
In this autobiographical exploration of survivorship, New Orleans journalist and filmmaker Jasmín Mara López unabashedly shares her process of healing from childhood sexual abuse. After Jasmin discloses to her family she'd been abused by her grandfather, she liberates others to come forward in a story of confronting a culture of silence over generational trauma.
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Trailer | This Spring on Independent Lens
S24 - 1m
This Spring, your go-to destination for documentaries offers a captivating slate of films including Free Chol Soo Lee, Matter of Mind: My ALS, Sam Now, and Mama Bears.
Schedule
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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. -
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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. -
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Independent Lens
Try Harder!
Thursday
May 2
1 Hour 30 Minutes
At San Francisco's Lowell High School, stressed out seniors chase college dreams. -
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Independent Lens
Soul Food Junkies
Sunday
May 5
1 Hour
Soul food's relevance to black cultural identity. -
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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. -
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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. -
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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.
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