Austin PBS Celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Follow the Austin PBS broadcast and streaming content honoring AAPI Heritage Month to celebrate and recognize the achievements and contributions of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.

Watch Live On-Air Starting May 3

Friday, May 3rd: House in the Garden: Shofuso and Modernism

7:30 pm, Culture

Witness stunning visual explorations of three architecturally significant sites in the Philadelphia region that highlight the influence of traditional Japanese architecture on four masters of modernist design: George Nakashima, Junzo Yoshimura, Antonin and Noemi Raymond

Now Hear This: The Composer is Yoo

8:00 pm, Arts & Music

In this season finale of the Great Performances series, follow host Scott Yoo's journey to compose a piece of music for the first time. Seeking counsel from other composers, Yoo revisits his heritage in search of ideas, performs landmark pieces for inspiration and ultimately tests his work in progress.

Friday, May 10th: America’s First Guru

7:30 pm, History & Culture

Follow as Swami Vivekananda, the charismatic yet almost forgotten Indian monk, brings Yoga, Vedanta, the deeper aspects of Hinduism, and Interfaith understanding to the American forum with the 1893 World's Parliament in Chicago.

Friday, May 17th: Photographic Justice: The Corky Lee Story

8:00 pm, Culture

Using his camera as a "weapon against injustice," photographer Corky Lee's art is his activism. His images of Asian American life empowered generations, and this intimate portrait reveals the triumphs and tragedies of the man behind the lens.

Monday, May 20th: To Be Takei

8:00 pm, Documentary

Over seven decades, actor and activist George Takei boldly journeyed from a WWII internment camp, to the helm of Star Trek's USS Enterprise, to the daily news feeds of five million Facebook fans. Join George and his husband Brad on this star's playful and profound trek for life, liberty, and love.

Tuesday, May 28th: Children of Exile

8:00 pm, Documentary

In this episode of Finding Your Roots, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. retraces the ancestral journeys of David Chang and Raul Esparza, whose families fled their homelands, leading them to find lost parts of themselves along the way.

Watch Anytime on Passport Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir

1hr 40 min, Arts & Music

In this installment of American Masters, follow Amy Tan- author of “The Joy Luck Club” and one of the most prominent and respected American literary voices working today.

Asian Americans

1 hr, History

Told through intimate personal stories, this five part film series casts a new lens on U.S. history and the ongoing role that Asian Americans have played

Asian American Stories of Resilience and Beyond

10 min, Documentary

Across these seven documentary shorts, gain moments of joy, resilience, and hope as Asian American and other BIPOC communities move beyond the pandemic. Watch the entire series here.

FANNY: The Right to Rock

1 hr 30 min, Arts & Music

Rock out with Fanny and hear how this group of Filipina American, queer teenagers became the first all-women band to release an album with a major record label.

FRONTLINE: A Thousand Cuts

1 hr 30 min, Documentary

In this episode of Frontline, journalist Maria Ressa struggles in the escalating war over press freedom in the Philippines.

POV: Liquor Store Dreams

1 hr 20 min, Documentary

In the Liquor Store Dreams episode of POV, two Korean American children reconcile their dreams with those of their immigrant parents, confronting the complex legacies of LA’s racial landscape along the way.

POV: Wisdom Gone Wild

1 hr 20 min, Documentary

Wisdom Gone Wild blends humor and sadness with the 16 year story of a filmmaker and her Nisei mother in the shadows of dementia.

Rising Against Asian Hate: One Day in March

50 min, Documentary

Narrated by Sandra Oh, this film explores the fight against Asian American hate following the March 2021 mass shootings at three spas in Atlanta.

Pacific Heartbeat

1 hr, Arts & Culture

This anthology series provides a glimpse into the Pacific Islander experience with rich and artistically told stories about the indigenous people, cultures and places from Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia and Australia.