Documentary .

A landmark series based on the book by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide follows six actress-advocates including Diane Lane, America Ferrera, and Olivia Wilde as they travel to six countries and meet inspiring, courageous individuals who are confronting oppression and developing real, meaningful solutions through health care, education, and economic empowerment for women and girls. Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide aims to amplify the central message of the book –- that women are not the problem, but the solution –– and to bolster the broad and growing movement for change.

Watch this inspiring 2-part series Monday, Oct. 1 and Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2012 at 8pm.

Watch Women Are Not the Problem, They Are the Solution on PBS. See more from Independent Lens.

This four-part series showcases Latino artists, athletes and performers who reflect their culture while defying all expectations. From the housing projects of Brooklyn to a Mexican wrestling ring, from the ranches of California to the crumbling beauty of Castro’s Cuba, the programs shine a light on the unexpected.

Tales of Masked Men – Episode One
Explore “lucha libre” and its role in Latino communities in the United States and Mexico. Part circus and part athletic contest, the sport, famous for its masked wrestlers, provides a sense of “home” for new immigrants in the United States. It also continues to expand and build on its unique cultural tradition in countries where it enjoys enduring popularity. Simultaneously, lucha libre is contributing a lasting cultural idiom to America’s pop culture landscape.

Watch Friday September 28, 2012 at 10pm.

For much of the 20th century, Carl Sandburg was synonymous with the American experience, a spokesman on behalf of “the people.” Using his unique life — from impoverished beginnings on the Illinois prairie to the halls of Congress to “The Ed Sullivan Show” — as the basis for free-verse poetry, Sandburg became one of the most successful writers in the English language: a three-time Pulitzer Prize-winner, biographer (most notably of Abraham Lincoln), children’s storyteller, novelist and captivating performer. Yet, after his death in 1967, his literary legacy faded and his poems, once taught in schools across America, were dismissed under the weight of massive critical attack. AMERICAN MASTERS provides a dynamic examination into the life, work and controversy surrounding Sandburg, exposing his radical politics and anarchist writing during WWI as well as the burgeoning resurgence of interest in him and his contributions.

Watch American Masters Monday, September 24, 2012 at 9pm.

Watch The Day Carl Sandburg Died on PBS. See more from American Masters.