Historians and royal experts share their in-depth exploration of shocking stories about the residences of the British monarchy.

Secrets of the Royal Palaces airs Mondays, July 7-28 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streams live on the WXXI app.

Filled with tales of scandals and intrigue, the eight-part series uncovers some of the many secrets held by these spectacular royal estates. Specialist historians, royal commentators, and ex-royal staff members guide the viewer through art, architecture and recent events, while sharing behind-the-scenes palace stories that have shaped the modern royal family.

Episode titles + air dates:
7/7: Love and Marriage — Includes the “Squidgygate” phone recording of Princess Diana at Sandringham Palace with James Gilbey in 1992, and the ensuing mystery around who was really behind the phone call leak. Also includes Queen Elizabeth II’s 1988 stay at the Palace of Madrid, Queen Victoria’s scandalous statue of Prince Albert, a look at Queen Victoria’s revolutionary white wedding gown at St. James’ Palace, and a glimpse of Charles and Camila’s secret Welsh getaway estate, Llwynywermod.

7/14: Private Life — Recounts the royal family’s desperate race to Balmoral Castle during Queen Elizabeth’s final hours, William I the Conqueror’s odorous burial in St. Stephen’s Abbey in Caen France, an exploration of Prince Edward’s enviable Bagshot Park estate, and the quest to discern the full extent of the 1943 Greville Bequest—a remarkable collection of jewelry and personal items bequeathed by philanthropist Margaret Greville.

7/21: Royal Scandals — Details the art scandal of the forged masterpieces in King Charles’ Dumfries House, and the 1986 Charles and Diana vacation to Marivent Palace in Spain — an effort to not only improve relations between the two countries but also the frosty marriage. The episode also recounts a failed 2023 assassination attempt on Elizabeth II in Windsor Castle, and a 2021 theft of valuable items from Buckingham Palace by a member of staff.

7/28: Royal Duffy — Includes the controversy around Russian spy Anthony Blunt’s long stay at the Palace in the 80s, and the revelation that Blunt had performed a secret mission retrieving incriminating evidence linking Queen Elizabeth’s family with the Nazis. Also recounts the tumultuous history of the Scottish Crown Jewels, Diana’s ascent to fashion icon status with her “Black Sheep” jumper, and Princess Kate’s first international speech and hibiscus Alexander McQueen gown at Istana Negara in Malaysia.

Photo: Architectural Historian Dr. Jonathan Foyle in front of the Osborne House in East Cowes, UK.
Credit: American Public Television.

Kept in the vaults for nearly three decades, the Rolling Stones’ Rock and Roll Circus was one of the most elusive of rock artifacts. This spectacular TV special includes songs like “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” and “Yer Blues.”

Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus premieres Thursday, July 10, 2025 at 10 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streams live on the WXXI app.

In 1968, the Stones headlined “Rock and Roll Circus,” a planned TV special that mated aerialists, fire-eaters, and acrobats with the day’s top rock talent. Serving as both the show’s hosts and featured attraction, the Stones performed a six-song set which climaxed with singer Mick Jagger writhing like a man possessed through “Sympathy For the Devil.” The program also includes performances by The Who, Jethro Tull, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull, Yoko Ono, and The Dirty Mac, a supergroup featuring John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, and Mitch Mitchell of The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Photo: Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones.
Credit: American Public Television.

Biologist and Princeton University professor Shane Campbell-Staton explores the global impact of Earth’s most ingenious, destructive, and adaptive species: Humans.

Human Footprint airs Wednesdays, June 25-July 30 at 8 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streams live on the WXXI app.

Follow Shane as he meets farmers, scientists, journalists and business owners across Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas to give audiences a firsthand look at how humans have transformed the planet and the millions of species around us. This season of Human Footprint explores the origins of our complex and controversial global food chain, the alliances humans have formed with species to control other species, and what exactly is happening with bees. The series also examines how fashion has impacted the planet, the human quest to control water, and the species on the brink of extinction.

Episode titles + air dates:
6/25 Shelf Life. Shane travels from New York City to rural Thailand to explore a 20th-century innovation, the Supermarket, that transformed our relationship with food.
7/2 The Enemy of My Enemy. In our conquest of planet Earth, we rely on improbable allies from nature to help defeat our adversaries. But in this new world of “biocontrol,” is the enemy of an enemy always a friend?
7/9 Dressed to Kill. From biotech labs to beaver ponds, and New York Fashion Week to Chile’s textile graveyards, Shane unravels how the trends we chase leave a lasting mark on our planet.
7/16 The Honey Trap. Humans have depended on bees—both wild and managed—for millennia. But as bee populations collapse around the world, can we save them before it’s too late?
7/23 Dammed If You Do. Shane travels from ancient aqueducts to modern mega-dams to discover how humanity’s thirst for control has reshaped rivers, ecosystems, and civilization itself.
7/30 Vanishing Act. Shane traces the arc of extinction on an epic global journey, as he meets species at the brink of oblivion and the people who won’t give up on them.

Photo: Host Shane Campbell-Staton at Southern Nevada Water Authority in Las Vegas.
Credit: PBS Publicity.

Created with executive producer Bradley Cooper, this film highlights the challenges and triumphs of caregiving in America.

Caregiving re-airs Sunday, August 3 at 11 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streams live on the WXXI app.

Narrated by Award-winning actress Uzo Aduba, who share her own experience as a caregiver for her mother, this documentary interweaves the broader context of the cultural and economic conditions in the U.S., centered on the personal experiences of caregivers providing for loved ones, and the challenges and triumphs they face each day. Caregiving examines the historical and contemporary efforts to address this often unrecognized and rapidly increasing need, leading to a care system tipping into crisis.

Photo: Caregiver Malcoma Brown-Ekeogu and her husband, Kenneth, dance on their wedding anniversary. Both are featured in Caregiving.
Credit: Ark Media

Celebrate the innovative and catchy electronic dance music that continues to inspire prominent artists today, including Charli XCX, Peggy Gou, Beyoncé, and Fisher.

House Music – A Cultural Revolution: American Stories premieres Monday, June 30  at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streams live on the WXXI app.

Chicago has long been known for its diverse music genres and, infamously, as the city where disco met its demise. But from its ashes rose another groundbreaking musical form: house music. The documentary marks the 40th anniversary of the creation of house music that emerged in the early 1980s in Chicago’s underground Black and gay clubs, where it was played by house music producers and DJs such as Frankie Knuckles, who welcomed marginalized communities into these safe spaces.

Photo: Women of House
Credit: Lori Branch

This powerful new documentary explores the work of acclaimed photographer Titus Brooks Heagins.

Always Looking: Titus Brooks Heagins premieres Friday, June 27, 2025 at 10:30 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streams live on the WXXI app.

Directed by award-winning North Carolina filmmaker Olympia Stone, Always Looking examines the evocative, humanizing yet confrontational photography of Titus Heagins, whose work challenges perceptions of race, poverty, gender, and marginalization. Through his lens, Heagins captures the strength, dignity, and complexity of individuals often overlooked by society, raising profound questions about systemic neglect and the role of the artist in telling others’ stories.

Photo: Titus with his mentee Brittany Taylor.
Credit: American Public Television.

Diving into the story behind Janis Ian’s musical artistry, this documentary charts her beginnings as a precocious teenager who transforms into a groundbreaking voice in folk music and beyond.

American Masters – Janis Ian: Breaking Silence premieres Friday, June 20, 2025 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streams on the WXXI app.

Featuring archival footage, animations, mood shots and new interviews, Janis Ian: Breaking Silence follows the artist’s life, showing how her politically active parents influenced her songwriting, particularly the song “Society’s Child,” which cemented her place as a stalwart in the folk genre. As Ian’s growing fame came with pressures to conform to the music industry’s expectations of young female artists and took an emotional toll on her, Ian continued to hone her craft and stay true to her evolving artistic voice. Her Grammy Award-winning record “At Seventeen” tapped into the pain of isolation, struggles with self-worth, and the angst of a generation, solidifying her as one of the most celebrated female songwriters of the 20th century. 

Along with her musical accomplishments spanning several decades, the film gives an intimate look into Ian’s relationships and her struggles to hide her sexual identity before coming out as a lesbian during the release of her 1993 album “Breaking Silence.” Janis Ian: Breaking Silence made its world premiere at the DOC NYC Festival in November 2024 and has a star-studded lineup of interviews including Lily Tomlin, Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, Jean Smart, Laurie Metcalf and more.

Photo: Janis Ian performing at the piano, 1976
Credit: Peter Cunningham