Meredith’s Must-Sees for May 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.

The May television line-up for KQED has something for everyone – sweeping period dramas, inspiring and illuminating history, eye-opening fine and street art, the beauty of the natural world, classic films, local food, and so much more. We celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month this month with a line-up that includes an iconic yet under-the-radar San Francisco artist, the “Ambassador of Aloha”, a rock band co-founded by two Filipina-American sisters from Sacramento, and many more stories of AAPI history and experiences. More California-based programs include a new Nature that made me want to start fostering hummingbirds, the women of the Bay Area during World War II, and the classic film Escape From Alcatraz. Tune-in information and streaming (where available) links are below. Happy watching!

I had heard about the notorious burning of Jane Austen’s letters by her sister Cassandra, but never imagined what may have compelled her to do it. As we mark the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, we get this delicious adaptation of what may have occurred. Miss Austen takes the historic literary mystery and reimagines it as a fascinating, witty, and heart-breaking story of sisterly love, while creating in Cassandra a character as captivating as any Austen heroine. Keeley Hawes (The Durrells in Corfu, Bodyguard, Line of Duty) is fantastic in this new four-part series airing this month based on Gill Hornby’s best-selling novel, and I loved Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey) as family friend Isabella Fowle. It’s a page-turner on the screen.

Airs on KQED 9 Sundays at 9pm starting May 4 (two episodes will air on May 18). Streaming on the PBS App starting May 4 (Passport members can binge the entire series that night).

When Nature comes to California, we can always expect a stunner of an episode. And when “Hummingbirds of Hollywood” started with one of all-time favorite songs playing as Wasabi the hummingbird is driven down the palm tree-lined streets of Southern California, drinking from a dropper while snuggled in a crocheted nest, I was immediately hooked. The film follows Terry Masear, a retired UCLA professor who rescues the hummingbirds that descend on Los Angeles every spring in a seasonal frenzy of breeding. The birds’ lives are brought into sharp focus through breathtaking, beautifully detailed photography, but the real story is the compassion and empathy that Masear brings, showing the delicate beauty in profound acts of kindness.

Airs on KQED 9 on Wednesday, May 7 at 8pm. Streaming on the PBS App starting May 7.

I would have watched this film for the archives alone, but it is so much more than that. Yes, we see the history of the Polaroid image and how people used the technology to document their lives even when (or especially when) they couldn’t be themselves in public. It’s gorgeous. But we also go into the history of how Mr. Polaroid himself, inventor Edwin Land, built a company around his technology and set out to change the world. The product, and the company’s unique culture, would launch not only instant photography mania but also become the model for today’s Silicon Valley tech culture. The similarities with some of today’s most recognizable companies are striking, and you can see how Polaroid left a unique mark on the Bay Area along with the memories and art it has left through a billion photographs a year.

Airs on KQED 9 Monday, May 19 at 9pm and on KQED PLUS Thursday, May 29 at 7pm. Streaming on the PBS App starting May 19.

Independent Lens airs at 10pm, but even if that’s your bedtime, this film will wake you up. Who is Michael Jang? profiles the mischievous San Francisco artist who sat for decades on a hidden treasure of pictures taken in his 20s—both candid celebrity shots and a down-to-earth cross-section of Chinese American family life rarely captured so playfully. Then, during the pandemic, Jang set out to share his work with the world, street guerilla-style. Jang created a love letter to San Francisco, as well as for his family, with his art, and it was so fun watching his creative genius let loose throughout the city. If you didn’t catch this film last year at SF DocFest, don’t miss your chance to watch it now and explore the exciting world of Michael Jang’s art.

Airs on KQED 9 Monday, May 19 at 10pm. Streaming on the PBS App starting May 19.

In Women of World War II: The Untold Stories, we meet the American women who were so vitally important to the war effort – they built the planes and flew them, fought on the warfront and the home front, cracked codes and broke barriers. Featuring newly-rediscovered interviews and rarely seen archival footage, the film prominently features stories from the women of the Bay Area including Richmond (Kaiser) Shipyard workers, incarcerated Japanese American community leaders, local students and more. One of my favorite places in the Bay Area is the Rosie the Riveter / World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, and I was thrilled to see the iconic former Park Ranger Betty Reid Soskin among the interviewees. She and all the inspiring women from this era truly changed the world.

Airs on KQED 9 on Thursday, May 22 at 8pm.  Streaming now on the PBS App with KQED Passport.

The United States has one of the highest healthcare costs in the world, yet more women die in childbirth here than in any other wealthy nation. There is a growing maternal health crisis, especially for women of color, which can overshadow the joys of pregnancy and motherhood. American Delivery is a documentary that brought me to tears and somehow transported me back in time to my own experiences with pregnancy and childbirth. It also inspired hope as it shows women finding their voice and autonomy; nurses listening to women and offering birth choices; and hospital leaders welcoming the community as the patient. This month is especially timely to watch as we mark International Day of the Midwife (5/5), Mother’s Day (5/11), Nurse Appreciation Week (5/6–12), Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month (May) and Women’s Health Month (May).

Airs on KQED 9 on Wed, May 7 at 11pm and on KQED PLUS on Sunday, May 11 at 5pm. Streaming on the PBS App starting May 1.

Follow 110 seniors from around the globe on their journey to the record books! The film features breathtaking aerial photography by Craig O’Brien (Mission Impossible, Charlie’s Angels) and heartfelt accounts from members of the record-breaking SOS team.

Airs on KQED PLUS on Thursday, May 1 at 8:45pm and Tuesday, May 6 at 10:30pm. Streaming on the PBS App starting May 1.

Alcatraz is the most secure prison of its time. It is believed that no one can ever escape from it, until three daring men make a possibly successful attempt at escaping from one of the most infamous prisons in the world. Starring Clint Eastwood as Frank Morris.

Airs on KQED 9 on Saturday, May 3 at 8pm and Saturday, May 31 at 10pm. Not available on the PBS App on-demand, but you can livestream via the KQED App during broadcast.

Narrated by Jason Momoa, discover the inspiring story and considerable impact of five-time Olympic medalist Duke Kahanamoku. He shattered swimming records and globalized surfing while overcoming racism in a lifetime of personal challenges.

Airs on KQED PLUS on Sunday, May 4 at 2:30pm. Streaming rights expire May 9 so watch on the PBS App with KQED Passport before then!

Explore the impressive trajectory of the award-winning British performing legend, who rose from a child entertainer in musical revues to an Oscar-winning actress and continues to delight audiences today.

Airs on KQED PLUS Thursday, May 8 at 8pm and Sunday, May 11 at 8pm. Streaming on the PBS App with KQED Passport starting May 1.

Co-founded by Filipina American and queer teenagers from Sacramento, Fanny is the first all women band to release an album with a major record label (Warner/Reprise, 1970). Revered by David Bowie, meet the most groundbreaking rock group you’ve never heard of… yet.

Airs on KQED 9 on Saturday, May 10 at 10:15pm. Streaming on the PBS App now with KQED Passport.

America’s national night of remembrance live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol brings us together as one family of Americans to honor the service of generations of our men and women in uniform, our military families, and to pay tribute to all those who have given their lives for our country.

Airs on KQED 9 on Sunday, May 25 at 8pm and 9:30pm. Streaming on the PBS App starting May 25.

Looking for more programs to watch? Find past recommendations from Meredith:

April 2025
March 2025