News

Narrated by Martin Sheen, this program celebrates the promise of increased longevity while addressing crucial and unprecedented public policy challenges. Using Dr. Robert Butler’s Pulitzer Prize winning book "Why Survive?" as a guide, the film explores critical topics such as ageism, healthcare, economic insecurity, and Alzheimer’s disease. Distributed by PBS Distribution.

One of the largest challenges facing India is finding a way to sustain food production for 1.4 billion people amid deteriorating soil quality, diminishing water supplies, and climate change. This NewsHour report with Fred de Sam Lazaro looks at how some artificial intelligence startup companies are taking on this challenge.

It may sound like the stuff of sci-fi movies, but diverting food waste from the landfill and converting it into electricity has become a real thing. In this NewsHour program, William Brangham visits Ben & Jerry’s Vermont ice cream factory and the operations next door to find out how it works.

According to the CDC, 1 in 5 American adults is living with obesity. In recent years, many have turned to weight loss drugs containing GLP-1, a hormone that slows digestion and helps with sustained weight loss. In this NewsHour production, Ali Rogin speaks with former FDA head Dr. David Kessler, who advocates for their use, but says they shouldn’t be seen as a quick and easy fix.

This program follows the LGBTQ+ history of Orlando, Florida from the 1960s through the Pulse nightclub mass shooting to the present day, through the eyes and stories of some of Queer Orlando's prominent trailblazers, presenting a picture of the development of a community and its fight for rights.

Discover Hannah Arendt, one of the most influential political writers of the 20th century. She transformed her time as a political prisoner and refugee during World War II into daring insights about the human condition, the refugee crisis, and totalitarianism. Her warnings about a crisis in American democracy during McCarthyism and Watergate continue to resonate today. From American Masters. Distributed by PBS Distribution.

The election of Pope Leo XIV as the head of the Catholic Church in May 2025 reignited a long-simmering debate among Catholics: Should women be ordained as deacons? People who are deacons can preach, baptize, and officiate weddings and funerals, but not consecrate the Eucharist. Under Francis, Leo's predecessor who served as pope from 2013 to 2025, the Catholic Church launched commissions to study the issue and appointed women to senior positions—moves seen as laying the groundwork for potential change. Supporters of ordaining women as deacons argue that it would restore, rather than break with, an early Catholic tradition. Elevating women to such a position would strike a blow at sexism, they contend, and make the Church more inclusive and responsive to modern society. Opponents of ordaining women as deacons argue that it would violate longstanding Catholic doctrine. Women already hold influential, non-ordained leadership roles, they contend, and such a move could blur theological lines, sow confusion about the priesthood, and open the door to demands for female priests—something the Church has firmly rejected. Is it time for the Catholic Church to ordain women as deacons?

What’s next on your checklist? We live in a world that celebrates productivity—where getting more done in less time is often seen as the ultimate goal. Supporters of this "productivity culture" argue that it fuels ambition, drives innovation, builds careers, and creates a sense of progress and control. Productivity culture generates wealth and opportunity, they contend, and inspires people to achieve their dreams. Opponents of productivity culture argue that it puts excessive and needless pressure on people and can lead to burnout, anxiety, depression, and disconnection. Measuring success by producing more and more is misguided, they contend, and substitutes well-being for performance. Is our productivity culture toxic?

President Trump's big budget law is expected to make the largest cuts ever to Medicaid, a program that currently provides health insurance for some 70 million Americans. In this NewsHour report, Lisa Desjardins reports on how those impacts will be felt in House Speaker Mike Johnson’s home state of Louisiana, which has one of the highest rates of enrollment in the country.

The manosphere is a growing network of online sites and communities that promote masculinity and misogyny and counter feminism. There are growing concerns around the proliferation of misogyny online and its migration into real-world interactions, especially those involving young men. This NewsHour report with John Yang reports on a Detroit teenager’s experience and the broader implications of this trend.

The benefits of music education for children are well-documented. Music can boost mental health, enhance creativity, and improve cognitive functioning. This NewsHour program with Megan Thompson looks at a summer camp program in South Dakota and Minnesota that aims to bring all that and more to Indigenous girls and gender-diverse kids — with a little rock star treatment thrown in.

What if the United States abandoned its democratic system of government—where leaders are chosen by the people and are accountable to them—and replaced it with an entrepreneurial dictator, who would run the country autocratically and rule it like a high-performing company? Supporters of abandoning democracy argue that it is a failed system of governance that moves too slow to meet today’s challenges. American history provides examples of unfettered executive power at work, they contend, and a chief executive officer (CEO) dictator could cut through red tape, challenge existing institutions, and deliver a more efficient government. Opponents of abandoning democracy argue that this system of government has made the United States the richest and freest country on earth. Dictators throughout history, they contend, have led nations to ruin and trampled on people's basic rights and freedoms. Democracy might be slow and messy, they concede, but it is far better for voters, rather than autocrats or monarchs, to run the country. Should the United States be ruled by a CEO dictator?

After the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Correspondent Martin Smith travels through Syria tracing Ahmed al-Sharaa’s rise to power, and the emerging threats to the country’s stability. Distributed by PBS Distribution.

In July 2025, the shocking 2022 murder of four college students that gripped a small Idaho town and made headlines across the nation finally reached a conclusion when a court sentenced the killer to life in prison without parole. Yet, several questions still remain unanswered: Did new genealogy technology used in the investigation add further complications? What can this case teach law enforcement for the future? How can justice be pursued in an era of oversaturated media exposure and speculation? Open to Debate moderator John Donvan examines this case with journalist Vicky Ward, who co-authored "The Idaho Four: An American Tragedy" with novelist James Patterson. Donvan and Ward discuss what drew her to the case, how collaborating with Patterson changed her writing process, and how this case challenges us to reconsider elements of the criminal justice system.

Does TikTok belong in the classroom? According to Education Week, 94 percent of teachers are using the social media platform to find ideas related to education, from which they create lesson plans, show science experiments, and use it to reach students in novel ways. Is this new wave of digital engagement the future of classroom innovation or a distraction that undermines the integrity of the teaching profession? Supporters of using TikTok in the classroom argue that it is important for educators to meet students where they are. Using the platform, they contend, can help make whatever subjects they teach more digestible and adaptable to different types of learners. From science tutorials to historical explainers, they assert, TikTok can become an informal classroom of its own. Opponents of using TikTok in the classroom argue that it is designed to entertain and keep eyes glued to the screen, not to educate users or nurture critical thought. No one vets TikTok, they contend, and the information it conveys may be biased, inaccurate, and misleading. Social media can be addictive, they assert, and data show that TikTok and other platforms can harm children’s mental health and development. Does bringing TikTok into the classroom enhance or erode the teaching profession?

This series with neuroscientist Dr. Guy Sutton examines the complexities of the human brain.

This Emmy-nominated, groundbreaking public affairs series is designed to encourage civil dialogue at a time when conversation is so polarized. Moderator Aaron Tang guides a panel of prominent voices through complex hypothetical scenarios where they’re pushed to grapple with questions of community, accountability, and personal responsibility.

This series introduces the concepts and methodologies of research, explaining why it is important.