Meredith’s Must-Sees for March 2025

Meredith’s Must-Sees is your guide to the most compelling stories airing on KQED, curated by one of our very own—Meredith Speight, Senior Director of TV Programming at KQED, an insider with a passion for great storytelling. Each month, she highlights standout programs that educate, inspire, and spark conversation.

At KQED, one of the ways we celebrate Women’s History Month is by curating documentaries and programs that tell stories of how women have shaped history. This month, some of my favorite documentaries in KQED Public Television lineup include the story of a larger-than-life trailblazer in politics and women’s rights, a group of young women selected to take a truly life-changing trip across the globe, and stories of sisterhood among icons in the Bay Area wine scene. Other must-see programs include a six-part series following local high school students from Antioch, CA, the long-awaited return of Wolf Hall on Masterpiece, and a look back at the biggest scandal in baseball history. Tune in information for these programs including streaming information is below. Happy Spring viewing!

Shaking It Up: The Life and Times of Liz Carpenter celebrates the life and legacy of one of America’s most influential women. Liz Carpenter was a groundbreaking journalist, key vice-presidential aide to Lyndon Johnson, chief of staff & press secretary to Lady Bird Johnson, and a passionate advocate for women’s rights. Bay Area-based filmmaker Abby Ginzberg and Liz’s daughter Christy Carpenter teamed up to make this film which features interviews with Dan Rather, Gloria Steinem, Bill Moyers, Luci Baines Johnson and Lynda Johnson Robb, and more. The result is a laugh-out-loud funny, inspirational, and eye-opening look at a unique time in politics and women’s history.

Airs on KQED 9 on Mon 3/3 at 9pm and Fri 3/7 at 8pm, and on KQED PLUS on Sun 3/16 at 11pm and Mon 3/31 at 2pm. Also streaming on the PBS App.

I am loving the new series Fresh Glass, with host Cassandra Schaeg taking viewers on adventures to wineries, breweries, restaurants, and businesses created by women and BIPOC trailblazers. In this Bay Area-focused season premiere episode, Cassandra connects with Oakland’s McBride Sisters, one of the largest Black-Owned wine companies in the United States. Their success and dedication to paying it forward inspired women like Fern Stroud, Founder of Black Vines, to lean on her sisters to create an ecosystem of community, culture, and sisterhood. The entire series is a blast, but this episode in particular, along with the following episode focused on Napa, was a joyful celebration of the best of the Bay’s culture and heart, and it made me want to raise a glass (or two) to sisterhood.

Airs on KQED 9 on Tues 3/18 at 7:30pm. Also streaming for free on the PBS App.

In the summer of 1953, 50 girls were chosen from rural communities across Canada to visit London and witness the coronation procession of Queen Elizabeth. Seeing a young woman so close in age to themselves who took on the weight of the Crown inspired and transformed them instantly and forever. Coronation Girls features incredible archive footage and includes interviews with a number of the women who participated in the trip and follows them as they return one last time to Buckingham Palace. This film was incredibly touching, seeing how the women’s lives were changed as they took a leap of faith and had their eyes opened to a world of possibilities they had not considered. They learned about friendship, life, love, and even death, and forged new paths after this life-changing journey.

Airs on KQED PLUS Thurs 3/20 at 8:30pm and Fri 3/21 at 1:30pm. KQED members can also stream with Passport on the PBS App.

During the intense days of the COVID lockdown, in the East Bay community of Antioch, CA the seniors at Deer Valley High School are grappling with a global pandemic, virtual learning, the loss of traditional milestones, postponed sports seasons, social isolation, uncertainty about the future…and they’re also trying to get into college. With exceptional passion and determination, Deer Valley HS’s new college adviser, “Mr. Cam” is fighting to empower the Class of 2021 to overcome the challenges they face while ceaselessly fighting for their dreams of a college degree. Tony- and Grammy-winning Executive Producer Daveed Diggs (Blindspotting, Snowpiercer, Hamilton) and award-winning filmmakers Jaye and Adam Fenderson (First Generation, Unlikely) recorded a live Forum episode at KQED Fest 2024 where they discussed the film and what made them want to build a six-part series around Mr. Cam and the students. Once you see the first episode, you’ll instantly understand why as well. I was hooked!

From KQED Presents, The Class airs on KQED 9 Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 6pm and Mondays at 9pm starting Fri 3/21. Also streaming on the PBS App starting 3/18.

As the axe drops on Anne Boleyn, Thomas Cromwell emerges from the bloodbath to continue his climb to power and wealth, while Henry VIII settles to short-lived happiness with Queen Jane. But how long can anyone survive under Henry’s capricious gaze? The long-awaited adaptation of the final novel in Hilary Mantel’s award-winning trilogy is finally here, and as Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light begins, it feels like no time has passed at all in the decade since Wolf Hall first aired on KQED. The entire cast is stunning, and Mark Rylance’s performance as Thomas Cromwell is like nothing I’ve ever seen. Reviews have been stellar as well, with The Guardian calling the series “the most intricate television you are ever likely to see.”

Airs on KQED 9 Sundays at 9pm starting 3/23. Also streaming on the PBS App starting 3/23. KQED Passport members can binge all six episodes on the night of the premiere.

It was the most notorious scandal in the history of professional sports: eight Chicago White Sox players were charged with throwing the World Series in 1919. The Black Sox Scandal: American Stories explores how and why these athletes, including “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, worked together to betray their teammates and fans for a risky payout. The film examines how their scheme came to light as well as the events that followed, as well as the scandal’s lingering impact on the modern-day game. As MLB season kicks off and people turn their attention to the baseball field, this was a wild and entertaining look back at a fascinating time in baseball history. Stay tuned after the film for more baseball stories – Graceball: The Story of Bobby Richardson, Golden Game: Baseball in Sacramento, and Major League Cuban Baseball round out the night.

Airs on KQED PLUS on Thurs 3/27 at 8:30pm and Fri 3/28 at 2pm. Streaming on the PBS App starting 3/23.

The story of Faith Petric (1915–2013), a San Francisco-based folk musician and activist who united music and social movements for nearly a century. Over her long and purposeful life, Faith inspired all to take responsibility for social change, women and elders to defy stereotypes, and everyone she met to sing along.

Airs on KQED 9 Fri 3/14 at 8pm, Sat 3/15 at 6pm and Mon 3/31 at 11pm. Streaming on the PBS App starting 3/11.

Discover how Moreno defied her humble upbringing and racism to become one of a select group of Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award winners. Explore her 70-year career with new interviews, clips of her iconic roles and scenes of the star on set today.

Airs on KQED PLUS Sun 3/16 at 8pm. Streaming with KQED Passport on the PBS App.

The destruction from the 2025 LA fires was not inevitable, so why were they so devastating? Weathered‘s host, Maiya May, speaks to fire chiefs, survivors, community responders, and climate scientists to understand the events that led to perhaps the costliest fire in U.S. history.

Airs on KQED 9 on Wed 3/19 at 10pm. Streaming on the PBS App starting 3/19.

Ken Burns’ 2003 film tells the tale of Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson, who set off from San Francisco in the spring of 1903 on a whim and a bet in a 20-horsepower Winton touring car hoping to become the first person to cross the United States in the new-fangled “horseless carriage.”

Airs on KQED 9 on Fri 3/21 at 9pm. Streaming with KQED Passport on the PBS App.

Profiles the life of Mamie Lang Kirkland, who left Mississippi at seven years old to escape racial violence and would not return to the state until a century later.

Airs on KQED PLUS Sun 3/23 at 10:30pm. Streaming with KQED Passport on the PBS App.

Ken Burns and Lynn Novick tell the epic story of the war as it’s never before been told on film. The 10-part series features testimony from nearly 80 witnesses, American and Vietnamese, bringing the war and its chaotic epoch viscerally to life.

Airs on KQED PLUS Sundays at 9pm starting 3/30. Streaming with KQED Passport on the PBS App.