Engineering Ground Zero

Host Padma Lakshmi takes audiences on a journey across America, exploring the rich and diverse food culture of various immigrant groups, seeking out the people who have so heavily shaped what American food is today.

PBS' premier science series helps viewers of all ages explore the science behind the headlines. Along the way, NOVA demystifies science and technology, and highlights the people involved in scientific pursuits.

Examine the dark side of influencer culture through some of the biggest social media scandals of our time. From sweeping cons to viral cancellation campaigns, watch as these taste-makers become caught in the controversial crosshairs of their own curated online worlds.

Lisa Ling travels from the bayous of Louisiana to Orange County’s Little Saigon, exploring the foods we love while shining a long overdue spotlight on the contributions Asian Americans have been making to the United States since before the United States was even the United States.

A deep dive into one of America’s most radical media experiments, this documentary uncovers how New York’s underground public access television turned everyday people into boundary-pushing creators. Using rare archival footage, it reveals a chaotic free-speech arena where rules were shattered, censors challenged, and anyone could seize the screen. Long before influencers existed, public access channels like Manhattan Cable Television gave New Yorkers total creative freedom — spawning interactive oddities, anarchic art shows, and pioneering LGBTQ+ programming. As sexually explicit content pushed limits and ignited public outrage, major First Amendment battles ensued. The result is an unfiltered look at a transformative moment in media history that anticipated today’s creator-driven digital world, warning viewers to “brace yourself” for the wildness that defined it.

Accomplished adventurer and author Jon Bowermaster discovers a new Vietnam - from the sea - and guides an intimate tour of this intriguing country. More than a travelogue, Descending the Dragon is a personal look into the heart of this sea-loving nation, its hopeful spirit and unique culture. Driven by his intense curiosity about post-1975 Vietnam and eager to replace the old war images burned in his mind with new ones of today, Bowermaster overcame daunting bureaucratic obstacles and pushed ahead with his expedition. Joining the expedition is Ngan Nguyen, whose family escaped Saigon by helicopter when she was three, on the last day of the war. She grew up in New Orleans speaking Vietnamese and has traveled back to her homeland many times. What she learned about her home country will change her forever.

A look back at what Americans have considered “cool” throughout the decades examining the people, places, and things that define this ubiquitous, amorphous word.