Dr. Marian Diamond ("My Love Affair with the Brain") (Courtesy of Luna Productions)
In March, KQED proudly celebrates the diversity of our community with a special Women's History Month programming lineup on KQED Public Television.
Premiere dates are listed below. Please click on each program for additional airdates and information.
KQED 9
Saturday, 3/4 6pm Patsy Cline: American Masters (NEW) Celebrate the life and legacy of the groundbreaking "Crazy" singer who defined modern country music.
Tuesday, 3/7 7pm Shine: Making “A Light in the Dark” (NEW) This documentary is a portrait of the creativity and choreographic process that gave rise to Thodos Dance Chicago’s story ballet A Light in the Dark: The Story of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan.
9:30pm Janis Joplin: American Masters Observe Janis Joplin's life through intimate letters and rare footage in the first in-depth celebration of the iconic rock singer.
Sponsored
Sunday, 3/12 8pm Maya Angelou: American Masters
This new film journeys through the prolific life of the I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings author and activist, who inspired generations with lyrical modern African American thought.
Wednesday, 3/15 7pm Klocked: Women With Horsepower (NEW)
This documentary takes us into the lives of Laura Klock and her two daughters, Erika and Karlee Cobb, who have been named some of the most influential women in land speed racing.
Tuesday, 3/21 8pm Changing Face of … The Queen (NEW)
Examine the way the queen's royal image and wardrobe have changed over the course of her life, and hear the story of the royal family — and Great Britain itself — in the modern era.
8:50pm In Their Own Words “Queen Elizabeth II” Follow Queen Elizabeth II's remarkable life, from her youth and her father's coronation as King George VI to her sudden ascension to the throne and her eventful reign of more than 60 years.
Friday, 3/24 11pm Film School Shorts “Mean Streets” This episode features two shorts by women filmmakers. In Share, Taissa Farmiga stars as a 15-year-old girl facing her return to school after someone shared an explicit video of her online. Then, watch as racial tensions explode between young people waiting in line to buy the hottest new sneakers on the market in Hypebeasts.
Sunday, 3/26
Picture Shows (from left to right): Ann Bronte (CHARLIE MURPHY), Emily Bronte (CHLOE PIRRIE), and Charlotte Bronte (FINN ATKINS) ("To Walk Invisible: The Bronte Sisters") (Courtesy of Gary Moyes/BBC and MASTERPIECE)
9pm To Walk Invisible: The Bronte Sisters on Masterpiece (NEW)
This program chronicles the Bronte sisters' battle to overcome obstacles and publish their novels, which would become some of the greatest in the English language.
10:30pm Independent Lens “A Ballerina’s Tale” Explore the rise of Misty Copeland, who made history as the first African American female principal dancer with the prestigious American Ballet Theater.
Monday, 3/27 10pm Independent Lens “Ovarian Psycos” (NEW)
Meet the Ovarian Psycos Cycle Brigade, group of young women of color who cycle through the boulevards of Los Angeles’s Eastside confronting racism and violence, and demanding and creating safe spaces for women.
11pm Beyond the Powder: The Legacy of the First Women’s Cross-Country Air Race This documentary follows the female pilots of the 2014 Air Race Classic racers as they make their way across the country, while telling the story of the first women's cross-country air race of 1929, also known as the Powder Puff Derby.
11pm Film School Shorts “Behind Closed Doors” From a young girl convincing her estranged father to attend her 18th birthday celebration to sentient fridge foods, this episode showcases two shorts by women filmmakers.
KQED Plus
Thursday, 3/2 3pm Makers “Women in Space” Trace the history of women pioneers in the U.S. space program.
Friday, 3/3 3pm Makers “Women in Politics” View profiles of women in public office who were "firsts" in their fields and explore the challenges confronting American women in politics.
7pm Beatrix Potter With Patricia Routledge (NEW)
This charming documentary recounts the life story of internationally beloved children's author Beatrix Potter.
11pm Mary Tyler Moore: A Celebration Celebrate the woman who "turned the world on with her smile" and inspired millions as TV’s first independent career woman.
3pm Women’s List: American Masters Meet 15 women who define contemporary American culture in Timothy Greenfield-Sanders' new "List" film featuring Margaret Cho, Betsey Johnson, Alicia Keys, Nancy Pelosi and others.
11:30pm Yours, Willa Cather In this documentary, inspired by the 2013 book Selected Letters of Willa Cather, We hear a very different voice from that of polished and controlled Willa Cather the novelist. Instead, we meet a person who is vulnerable, funny and, at times, ruthless.
Thursday, 3/16 3pm POV “Tea Time” Meet five Chilean women who gather monthly for a ritual that has sustained them through 60 years of personal and societal change.
Friday, 3/17 3pm Penny: Champion of the Marginalized (NEW) This documentary presents a multidimensional portrait of Penny Cooper, a celebrated criminal defense attorney, art collector, supporter of female artists and protector of the underdog.
Friday, 3/24 10am Soldier On: Life After Deployment Three women — Natasha Young, Amanda Tejada and Lyndsey Lyons — confront the challenges of readjusting to civilian life after their post-9/11 military service.
KQED Life
Wednesday, 3/1 9pm Women of ’69, Unboxed As they turn 65, a group of women, college classmates, who were both electrified and pummeled by the turbulent 1960s, look back, then ahead.
Thursday, 3/2 7pm Makers “Women in Comedy” Track the rise of women in the world of comedy, from the “dangerous” comedy of 1970s sitcoms such as Maude to the 1980s American comedy club boom to today’s multifaceted landscape.
8pm Carol Burnett: The Mark Twain Prize Carol Burnett is the guest of honor when the comedy world convenes in Washington, DC, to toast the 2013 recipient of the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
Wednesday, 3/22 8pm A Girl’s Life This program explores what it means to be a girl in America today.
9pm POV “Girl Model” This film strips away the facade of the modeling industry by following two people whose lives intersect because of it.
10:30pm ImageMakers “Boy Meets Girl” This episode includes a Dutch film about a busy mother who decides to seize the day.
KQED World
Thursday, 3/2 1:30pm Erma Bombeck: Legacy of Laughter This program examines the extraordinary life and career of the beloved American humorist (1927–1996), whose honest tales of domestic life gave voice to millions of homemakers.
Saturday, 3/4 2pm American Masters: Althea Discover the story of Althea Gibson, who emerged as the unlikely queen of the segregated tennis world of the 1950s.
Billie Jean King bends down low to send the ball back over the net during the match with Bobby Riggs in the Astrodome in Houston, Texas on Sept. 20, 1973. ("American Masters: Billie Jean King") ( Courtesy of AP/Press Association Images)
3:30pm American Masters: Billie Jean King Billie Jean King was the first sports figure ever featured by American Masters: a very deliberate choice about a very deliberate woman who has, indeed, been a major force in changing and democratizing our cultural landscape.
Sunday, 3/5 2:30am Storied Life of Millie Benson Discover the story of Mildred Wirt Benson, who began her career as a ghostwriter in the late 1920s, authoring 23 of the first 30 Nancy Drew novels, and was responsible for the development of the famous young character as an independent, bold, risk-taking female sleuth.
9pm Powder and the Glory This film tells a story of women's entrepreneurship through the lens of the creation and development of the rival business empires of Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein.
Tuesday, 3/7 6am Makers “Women in Hollywood” Follow the women of showbiz, from the earliest pioneers to present-day power players, as they influence the creation of one of the country's biggest commodities: entertainment.
Thursday, 3/9 5am Carole King: American Masters Delve into the hit singer-songwriter's life and career from 1960s New York to the music mecca of ’70s Los Angeles to the present.
Sunday, 3/12 2pm FarmHer: The Documentary (NEW)
After seeing a Super Bowl commercial about American farmers, and feeling like something was missing, Marji Gulyer-Alaniz devoted her life to photographing women farmers.
10pm Richmond Rosies This documentary tells the story of the women who stepped out of the kitchen and into the shipyard.
Monday, 3/13 7am POV “The World Before Her” This is a tale of two Indias. Moving between two divergent realities, the film creates a lively, provocative portrait of the world's largest democracy at a critical transitional moment — and of two women who hope to shape its future.
Tuesday, 3/14 2am No Evidence of Disease This program follows a unique rock band made up of six gynecologic oncology surgeons from across the country that are taking healing and the arts to a new level.
Friday, 3/17 6am Julia Robinson and Hilbert's Tenth Problem Narrated by actress Danica McKellar, this documentary presents the inspiring life story of the pioneering American mathematician Julia Robinson.
7am Secrets of the Dead “Cleopatra’s Lost Tomb” Learn about the legendary queen Cleopatra, who ruled the Egyptian empire. Will an amateur archaeologist's theory reveal where the queen's lost tomb is hidden?
Saturday, 3/18 2pmClosing the Gap: 50 Years Seeking Equal Pay This program explores the factors contributing to the wage gap and strategizes ways to attain equal pay for women.
3pm Perfect 36: When Women Won the Vote (NEW)
This documentary chronicles the dramatic vote to ratify the 19th Amendment, and the years of debate about women's suffrage that preceded it.
4pm Raising Ms. President Filmmaker Kiley Lane explores why more women don't run for office and investigates where political ambition begins, and why society should encourage more women to lead.
9pm Pioneers of Television “Funny Ladies” This episode features the first stand-up comediennes to appear on television — legends such as Phyllis Diller and Joan Rivers.
Sunday, 3/19 7pm Vel Phillips: Dream Big Dreams Discover how Vel Phillips, Milwaukee's first African American and first female alderman, rose to prominence as one of Wisconsin's great civil rights activists.
Monday, 3/20 7:30am Independent Lens “No Mas Bebes (No More Babies)” Explore the case of Mexican American women who claim they were coercively sterilized at a Los Angeles hospital in the late 1960s and 1970s.
Tuesday, 3/21 5am Makers “Women in Business” Hear about the exceptional women — past and present —who have taken the world of business by storm.
6am Makers “Women in War” This episode looks at American women's increasing participation in war — from Vietnam to the present — as nurses, soldiers, journalists, diplomats and spies.
Friday, 3/24 7am Medicine Woman This documentary interweaves the lives of Native American women healers of today with the story of America's first Native doctor, Susan La Flesche Picotte (1865–1915).
Monday, 3/27 1am What Love Is – The Duke Pathfinders 50 Fifty women from North Carolina with incurable breast cancer heroically endure an experimental medical protocol to prove that there is a better way of life — and death — for cancer patients and their families everywhere.
Tuesday, 3/28 5amIndependent Lens “T-Rex: Her Fight for Gold” Meet Claressa "T-Rex" Shields, who rose from the streets of Flint, Michigan, and at 17 won the first Olympic gold medal for women's boxing in 2012.
Wednesday, 3/29 6:30am Portraits for the Home Front: The Story of Elizabeth Black Elizabeth Black left a promising Pittsburgh art career to join American Red Cross efforts during World War II. She proposed a unique project to sketch hundreds of soldiers, sailors and airmen throughout Europe and send the treasured portraits to worried families back home — all across America.
KQED 9 is available over the air on DT9.1, 54.2 and 25.1 and via most cable systems on Channel 9. It is on XFINITY cable from Comcast (Channels 9 SD and 709 HD) and on Wave (Channels 9 SD and 164 HD). It can also be found on DIRECTV and DISH satellite systems (Channels 9 SD and HD).
KQED Plus is available over the air on Channels 54, DT54.1, 9.2 and 25.2, and via many cable and satellite systems on either channel 10 or 54. It is on XFINITY cable from Comcast (Channels 10 SD, and 710 HD) and on DIRECTV (Channel 54 SD and HD) and DISH (Channel 54, SD only) satellite systems.
This schedule also lists programs airing on KQED Life (XFINITY 189, Channel 54.3) and KQED World (XFINITY 190, Channel 9.3 & 54.5).
