On-Demand

AfroPoP, Liberated Lives & Our Climate-Changing World: What to Watch in April • WXXI-WORLD

Premiering this month, AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange takes on a new genre of storytelling for the first time in the series’ 16-year history – two narrative films join two documentaries to make up a dynamic season of Black stories, fiction and nonfiction.

One of those documentaries, Commuted, is a part of our new thematic collection, Liberated Lives – Danielle Metz, who spent 23 years in prison before her triple-life sentence was commuted by President Barack Obama, shares how she and her two children navigated her return home and continue even today to rebuild their relationships. Watch more Liberated Lives films with What These Walls Won’t Hold and Hundreds of Thousands on America ReFramed, plus several stories on Stories from the Stage.

And this Earth Day, we present a Local, USA climate double feature with Freedom Hill, a co-presentation of AfroPoP, and Fire Tender, a presentation of Vision Maker Media – first, a historically-Black community in North Carolina seeks reform as floods continually threaten their homes. Then, Yurok tribe member Margo Robbins advocates for the return of fire practices to ancestral lands in California.

Uniting themes of justice, redemption and forward progress, WORLD mirrors the spring season with films representing hope and renewal.

-From WorldChannel

Features & Films On-Demand

World On-Demand Offerings

Climate and Our Planet PBS LearningMedia Collection

This collection of supplementary digital media resources offers a range of options for engaging middle and high school students with key questions in climate science:

How do the interconnected systems of Earth drive its climate?
What are people around the world learning about how Earth’s climate is changing?
Who are the helpers creating a healthier future for our planet, and how can we join in designing and achieving climate change solutions?

These resources align with NGSS Earth and life science disciplinary core ideas and many offer opportunities for students to exercise STEM practices and place-based civic engagement skills.

In this collection:

Connect to the Collection & Resources

Elinor Wonders Why: Ms. Mole’s Glasses On-Demand

Elinor and her friends set out to return Ms. Mole’s glasses to her after she forgets them at school. Ms. Mole can’t see anything without her glasses! When Ms. Mole forgets her glasses at school, Elinor and her friends follow her to return them. Ms. Mole can’t see anything without her glasses! The kids travel throughout Animal Town, just missing Ms. Mole at every turn. During their travels, the kids realize Ms. Mole has been shopping and getting around using different senses. By the time they finally reach Ms. Mole and return her glasses, she’s got all her shopping done without them. Cool!

Education Resources for Video Story

Then in the second half of the episode, in Elinor Stops the Squish, Elinor and her friends want to bring Ms. Mole a cupcake for her birthday, but they’re worried it will get squished on the way to school. The kids find inspiration in nature when they observe how different animals/creatures stay safe using their shells as a defense mechanism. Elinor, Ari and Olive use this idea as inspiration to make a shell around the cupcake using a hard coconut. Because of the kids’ hard work and ingenuity, the cupcake makes it all the way to school without being squished, just in time for Ms. Mole to enjoy her present. Yum!

Caring Forward: Roadtrip Nation On-Demand

Meet Alma, Samuel, and Ryan—three young people eager to transform the healthcare landscape and find work worth doing—and follow them as they travel across their home state in search of fulfilling and inspiring career paths. See how they and other inspiring people are meeting the moment to provide holistic health care in new ways to those who need it most.

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More Roadtrip Nation Specials

Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands On-Demand

Discover an international singer who captivated royalty in Europe and defied the conscience of 1939 America.

American Masters: Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands is available on-demand through 9/1/2024

The film explores the life, career, art and legacy of the African American contralto and civil rights pioneer in her own words using archival interview recordings. Marian Anderson’s singing and speaking voice are heard throughout the documentary, providing new understanding of the woman behind the music.

Spotlighting Anderson’s voice and point of view, the documentary draws from 34 cassette tapes of interviews recorded in the 1950s, when she was preparing to write her memoir, “My Lord, What a Morning,” and other archival interviews. Anchored by key performances in her career, American Masters – Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands shows how her quiet genius and breathtaking voice set the stage for Black performers in classical music, and a louder voice for civil rights. Additionally, with unprecedented access to the Marian Anderson Estate, the documentary draws on rare audio recordings, photographs and personal correspondence to and from family and friends, including Martin Luther King, Jr., Josephine Baker and Langston Hughes.

Sesame Street Celebrates Women’s History On-Demand

WXXI celebrates Women’s History Month by honoring the inspiring and powerful women and girls who’ve helped support Sesame Street’s mission of helping kids grow Smarter, Stronger and Kinder!

Article: 6 Empowering Female Muppets from Sesame Workshop

Roadtrip Nation: Being You On-Demand

Watch the Trailer of Being You above. 1 in 5 individuals in the U.S. struggles with math, writing, focus, and organization—but many people with learning and attention issues feel alone. They don’t have to. Follow three young people with learning and attention issues as they travel the country to seek advice from TV host Howie Mandel, ice sculptor John Rodrigues, and many more who have harnessed their differences for success.

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About the Episode: Being You follows the transformative journey of three young people—Stephanie, Noah, and Nicole—as they travel cross-country to find others who, like them, learn differently and have used that difference to build lives doing what they love.

Stephanie, 22, is fresh out of college in San Francisco, a feat people told her she’d never accomplish. Diagnosed with nonverbal processing disorder as a child, she felt isolated from her peers; it wasn’t until college that she realized there are other people like her, and discovered the power of her unique perspective. Eighteen-year-old Noah just graduated from high school in Baltimore, and heads to college next year, where he wants to major in computer science. He’s never been very vocal about his dyslexia and ADHD, and he’s looking for mentors who can help him see that the world beyond high school is big and full of possibilities. Nicole, a 23-year-old from Pittsburgh who loves video games and eSports, has been hard at work in an office job since getting her degree in business, marketing and digital media. She recently quit her 9-to-5 job and wonders whether it’s possible to work in a field that truly interests her.

Diagnosed with dyspraxia and dyslexia, she wants to get past labels and be free to be herself. Along their journey, they meet with diverse individuals living with LAIs, including entertainer Howie Mandel, Eye to Eye co-founder and chief empowerment officer David Flink, and Attention Deficit Disorder Association president Evelyn Polk Green, and discover that these individuals are not only coping, but thriving. Also watch on the PBS App.