PBS Programming Highlights SING DEMOCRACY 250, FRONTLINE

PBS has released its programming lineup for the week of Wednesday, September 23, 2026, highlighting new episodes and premieres across broadcast and streaming platforms, including a national broadcast of the SING DEMOCRACY 250 concert and a new FRONTLINE investigation into online scams.

Upcoming Primetime Premieres

AGES OF ICE

Episode 2: Wednesday, Sept. 23, 10:00 p.m. ET on PBS, PBS.org & PBS app

Finale Episode: Wednesday, Sept. 30, 10:00 p.m. ET on PBS, PBS.org & PBS app

Now Streaming: Episode 1, 'The Frozen Heart'

From Antarctica to the Arctic, AGES OF ICE is a high-stakes journey into the heart of our planet's frozen wilderness, following researchers as they push the boundaries of exploration. Each mission is a step toward understanding how glaciers move, how oceans rise, and how the rhythms of the past compare to the quickening tempo of today. As the series moves from intimate wildlife moments to discoveries of global consequence, the series witnesses the race to understand a planet in transition through the extraordinary people who go to the ends of the Earth to uncover what comes next.

NOVA 'Knowledge Keepers'

Premieres: Wednesday, Sept. 23, 9:00 p.m. ET on PBS, PBS.org & PBS app

In a fascinating exploration of human ingenuity, see how indigenous communities in North America have long practiced a distinct version of science and engineering. This journey reveals how deeply held cultural traditions inform remarkable innovations, from ancient sea farming techniques that optimize ecosystems to celestial navigation methods perfectly adapted to extreme environments like the frozen Arctic. See how centuries of observation, experimentation, and adaptation have forged solutions to complex challenges like living in the harsh climate of the desert Southwest.

SING DEMOCRACY 250

Premieres: Friday, Sept. 25, 9:00 p.m. ET on PBS, PBS.org & PBS app

The broadcast celebrates America's 250th birthday with a musical experience that honors the nation's past and inspires its future. Through choral music with nearly 200 singers and a 60-piece orchestra at the Minneapolis Signature Concert, the performance reflects the nation's founding ideals and the enduring promise of democracy. The Minneapolis concert follows the SING DEMOCRACY 250 national tour, which also included a signature concert at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.

Premieres: Tuesday, Sept. 29, 10:00 p.m. ET on PBS, PBS.org & PBS app

The documentary examines how online scams steal billions of dollars and ruin victims' lives. Produced with The Associated Press, it looks at the rise of a global criminal industry, the people and technology enabling it, and the efforts to shut it down.

NOVA 'Stone Age Masterpiece'

Premieres: Wednesday, Sept. 30, 9:00 p.m. ET on PBS, PBS.org & PBS app

Deep in the gorges of southern France lies the Chauvet Cave, an archaeological treasure hidden from the world for millennia. Sealed by a rockfall 20,000 years ago, and rediscovered in 1994, it protects some of the world's oldest and best-preserved Stone Age art, including depictions of lions, mammoths, and rhinos that still vibrate with life. A team of scientists unlocks the secret history of the cave, from giant bears that prowled through it to mysterious large fires that illuminated it, uncovering how early humans created carefully planned compositions on the walls, upending traditional understanding of art history and connecting audiences to the dawn of human creativity.

39th Hispanic Heritage Awards

Premieres: Friday, Oct. 2, 9:00 p.m. ET on PBS, PBS.org & PBS app

For the first time ever, the Hispanic Heritage Foundation (HHF) will move the historic Hispanic Heritage Awards out of Washington, DC, to Minneapolis in order to honor the People of Minnesota with the Humanitarian Award. Taped at Orchestra Hall, the evening includes performances and appearances by some of the country's most celebrated Hispanic artists and visionaries. Created by the White House to commemorate the establishment of Hispanic Heritage Month in America, the program is among the highest honors by Latinos for Latinos and is supported by 40 national Hispanic-serving institutions. This year's honorees include multi-platinum global superstar Eladio Carrión, five-time Latin GRAMMY Award-winning singer-songwriter Mon Laferte, Congressman Joaquin Castro, and singer-songwriter, activist, and actress Ximena Sariñana, among others.

VOCES - 'Asco: Without Permission'

Premieres: Friday, Oct. 2, 10:00 p.m. ET on PBS, PBS.org & PBS app

This documentary tells the story of ASCO, the Chicano art group that merged activism with radical artmaking, challenged the established order of Hollywood, museums, and media, and are now considered among the 20th century's most significant art collectives. ASCO turned 1970s Los Angeles into their defiant canvas, and the group continues to inspire new generations of artist/activists. The documentary is executive produced by Gael García Bernal and Luna/">Diego Luna.

INDEPENDENT LENS 'My Omaha'

Premieres: Monday, Oct. 5, 10:00 p.m. ET on PBS, PBS.org & PBS app

Filmmaker Nick Beaulieu seeks to understand the widening divide between the white suburbs where he grew up and the historically Black neighborhoods of North Omaha, Nebraska. What begins as an investigation into political division becomes an intimate exploration of Beaulieu's relationship with his father and the search for truth in contemporary America.

AMERICAN MASTERS 'American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez'

Premieres: Tuesday, Oct. 6, 9:00 p.m. ET on PBS, PBS.org & PBS app

The documentary follows the legacy of filmmaker and playwright Luis Valdez. Known for his play Zoot Suit, the Ritchie Valens biopic La Bamba and the theatre company El Teatro Campesino, Valdez is a founding figure of the Chicano Movement and continues to inspire many Latino trailblazers. The film is narrated by Edward James Olmos and features Lou Diamond Phillips, Cheech Marin, Linda Ronstadt and more. It is a co-presentation with VOCES.

NOVA 'Space Wars'

Premieres: Wednesday, Oct. 7, 9:00 p.m. ET on PBS, PBS.org & PBS app

A high-stakes war is silently escalating above our heads. Once purely a realm of scientific wonder, space is now a critical battleground, as global military powers race to weaponize it. Satellites, vital to daily life and economies, are vulnerable to attack both from adversaries and the debris that's filling increasingly crowded orbits. The film explores the technology and strategy of a rapidly developing arms race and hears from experts wrestling with the implications of this looming conflict.

PBS Digital Studios

New series PLOTLINES debuts on PBS Storied. Plotlines is an educational video series that explores storytelling trends and tropes in literature and beyond. Each episode breaks down literary traditions and classic works to show how they impact modern culture, and examines how different types of storytelling media influence thought processes and shape the world. The series is hosted by Jananie K. Velu. Episode 1, 'Why Are Villains All Sympathetic Now?' is available now.

THE DRAWING ROOM WITH MO WELCH continues with new episodes. In the series, comedian and illustrator Mo Welch invites notable guests to join her at the easel, turning conversations into creative collaborations, blending humor, vulnerability, and artistry as she and her guest draw each other out. Episode 8, featuring Jon Gabrus, premieres October 2 on the PBS YouTube channel. Gabrus arrives convinced he can't draw, but quickly proves he's got plenty of stories, and he and Welch talk Long Island, men's league rugby, why 'lifeguarding is super important to me,' and debate whether Welch deserves a Tooth Fairy payout. Recent episodes include Demi Adejuyigbe on Villain Energy and Goatees, Why Margaret Cho Never Had a Coloring Book as a Kid, Adam Ruins Everything (Except This Painting), Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne Draw (and Roast) Each Other, Vijay Gupta on Being a Child Prodigy, Sarah Silverman's Best Advice, and Brett Goldstein was NOT Ready for this Audition.

EONS: LIFE AND DEATH ON PANGEA, a longform spinoff based on the popular PBS Digital Studios series Eons, which has more than 750 million views and 3 million subscribers, tells the story of life on the supercontinent of Pangea. From a landscape ruled by strange mammal-relatives, through the relentless hellscape of the Great Dying itself and its aftermath, the series sheds light on the world of the Permian, how it ended, and how life recovered. All episodes are now streaming, including How The Formation of Pangea Changed the World, How Eating Plants Shaped Life on Land, The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Reef, A Tale of Tusks and Saber Teeth, That Time Almost Everything Died, and Who Survived the Great Dying – and Why.

OVERVIEW on PBS Terra is hosted by Joe Hanson. Recent episodes include How This Dying Rainforest Is a Sign of Things to Come, This Ancient Swamp Is Hiding a Carbon Time Bomb, We Saw What AI Data Centers Don't Want You to See, Toxic Lake, and The Hidden Danger of the Northern Lights.

WEATHERED on PBS Terra is hosted by Maiya May. Recent episodes include EXTREME HEAT Is Getting Worse, and It Will Reshape Earth FOREVER; A SUPER El Niño Triggered History's DEADLIEST Disaster. THIS One Might Be Worse.; America's Most TOXIC Site Could Be Worse Than CHERNOBYL; Why America's Deadliest Disaster is Essentially Invisible; Tornado Alley Is MOVING and That's a HUGE Problem; and Deadliest River.

IN THE MARGINS on PBS Origins recently released America's White Slavery Crisis They Don't Teach You About, George Washington's Obsession They Don't Teach You About, The Black Deportation Scheme They Don't Teach You About, The Other American Colonies They Don't Teach You About, The Forgotten War They Don't Teach You About, and The Hidden Black Society They Don't Teach You About.

ROGUE HISTORY on PBS Origins is hosted by Joel Cook. Recent episodes include Is Everything You Learned About Him a Lie?, George Washington's Secret Weapon was Queer, Why The Founding Fathers Were Obsessed with This Muslim Ruler, The (Literal) Fight for Free Speech They Don't Teach You, The Working Class Uprising They Don't Teach You About, The Thanksgiving Story They Don't Teach You About, and The Founding Father They Don't Teach You About.

OTHERWORDS on PBS Storied is hosted by Erica Brozovsky. Recent episodes include These Words Don't Mean What They Used To, This Speech Quirk Is Nearly Universal, The People Trying to Control Language, The English Language Has a Smelly Problem, The Problem with Judges Acting Like Linguists, Why Time Moves Differently In Different Languages, Why Every Generation Uses This One Slang Word, and Why Linguists Love What's Happening with K-Pop.

PBS Streaming

PBS programming is available for streaming concurrent with broadcast on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS app, available on iOS, Android, Roku streaming devices, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO. PBS station members can view many series, documentaries and specials via PBS Passport. More information about PBS Passport is available at the PBS Passport FAQ website or through local stations.

About PBS

PBS, with more than 330 member stations, offers Americans the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and digital content. Each month, PBS reaches over 36 million adults on linear primetime television, 16 million users on PBS-owned streaming platforms, 56 million viewers on YouTube, and 10 million followers on social media. As the number one educational media brand, PBS KIDS helps children 2-8 build critical skills, enabling them to find success in school and life. Delivered through member stations, PBS KIDS offers high-quality content on TV — including a PBS KIDS channel — and streaming free on pbskids.org and the PBS KIDS Video app, games on the PBS KIDS Games app, and in communities across America. Teachers of children from pre-K through 12th grade turn to PBS LearningMedia for digital content and services that help bring classroom lessons to life. More information about PBS is available at PBS.org.