Celebrate Women's History Month with WKAR-TV!
Check out a variety of Women's History Month specials on WKAR-HD 23.1 and WKAR WORLD 23.2
WKAR-HD 23.1
3 | Sun
8:00 The Mysterious Women of Masterpiece Mystery
Go behind-the-scenes of the popular MASTERPIECE mystery series Miss Scarlet & The Duke, Annika and Magpie Murders. Interviews with the stars and creators offer insights into the joys and challenges of making these shows.
11 | Mon
10:00 Mae West: American Masters: Mae West: Dirty Blonde
Dive into the life and career of groundbreaking writer, performer and subversive star Mae West. Over a career spanning eight decades, she broke boundaries and possessed creative and economic powers unheard of for a female entertainer in the 1930s.
12 | Tue
9:00 American Experience: The Sun Queen
For nearly 50 years, chemical engineer and inventor Maria Telkes applied her prodigious intellect to harnessing the power of the sun. She designed and built the world's first successfully solar-heated modern residence and identified a promising new chemical that, for the first time, could store solar heat like a battery. And yet, along the way, she was undercut and thwarted by her boss and colleagues - all men - at MIT. Despite these obstacles, Telkes persevered and, upon her death in 1995, held more than 20 patents. She is now recognized as a visionary pioneer in the field of sustainable energy. An unexpected and largely forgotten heroine, Telkes was remarkable in her vision and tenacity - a scientist and a woman in every way ahead of her time. Her research and innovations from the 1930s through the '70s continue to shape how we power our lives today.
17 | Sun
8:00 Call The Midwife: Season 13, Episode 1
Nonnatus House kicks off a new pupil midwife training. Dr Turner supervises the delivery of a baby whose mother has cerebral palsy. The "Raise the Roof Campaign" for better pay and conditions creates a divide of opinion among the nurses.
9:00 Nolly On Masterpiece: Episode 1
At the height of her fame, British soap opera star Noele "Nolly" Gordon is suddenly fired from her hit series "Crossroads" without warning - but why?
24 | Sun
8:00 Call The Midwife: Season 13, Episode 2
Shelagh and Joyce assist a heavily pregnant woman dealing with a severe mold infestation in her new flat. Nancy attends a "Raise the Roof Campaign" meeting against some of her peers' wishes. Trixie takes secret driving lessons from Fred.
9:00 Nolly On Masterpiece: Episode 2
Nolly's last day on "Crossroads" is approaching, and she is desperate to know what will happen to her character, but her farewell is so shocking that nobody in the cast could have predicted it.
26 | Tue
9:00 American Experience: The Cancer Detectives
In the 1950's, survival rates from cancer of any kind were low. Damaging surgery and unsophisticated radiotherapy were the main treatments, assuming the disease was detected in time for anything to be done. Cervical cancer was often asymptomatic until it was well advanced, and by that time, it was often a death sentence. This dramatic story of the fight against cervical cancer revolves around three main characters: Dr. Papanicolaou, a Greek immigrant whose single-minded pursuit of the development of a diagnostic test saved hundreds of thousands of women; Hashime Murayama, the exquisitely talented artist who became National Geographic's first inhouse illustrator, but because of his Japanese heritage, was fired, interned in a WWII camp, then released to work on the project; and Helen Dickens, a groundbreaking Black female surgeon, who overcame deep distrust between the Black community and medical professionals to save the lives of thousands of women. The work of these three true life savers slashed death rates of this previously unfightable cancer by more than 60 percent.
31 | Sun
8:00 Call The Midwife: Season 13, Episode 3
Violet and Matthew are worried about Fred's ability to serve as the mayor's consort. Later, Fred falls ill after a minor injury. Meanwhile, the Nonnatus team is thrown into turmoil when a newborn baby is diagnosed with bilateral hip dysplasia.
9:00 Nolly On Masterpiece: Episode 3
Nolly is working in the cut-throat world of theatre, still haunted by the question: why was she fired from "Crossroads"? But when an unexpected answer arrives, can she seize the chance to reprise her role as Meg for one final curtain call?
WKAR WORLD 23.2
1 | Fri
8:00 American Experience: Fly with Me
Fly With Me is a story about new frontiers for working women and the constraints of traditional notions of femininity. It's about both exploitation and activism, and pitched battles within the courtrooms of the United States. Maligned as feminist sellouts and sluts, stewardesses, as they were called, knew different: They were on the frontlines of a battle to assert gender equality and transform the workplace. Fly With Me will rely on firsthand witness accounts, personal stories, and a rich and extensive archive to tell a lively, fun and important but neglected history of the women who, while flying the world, changed it.
3 | Sun
10:00 Groundbreakers
Executive Produced by tennis champion and activist Billie Jean King, GROUNDBREAKERS features sports icons from different generations as they interview one another, sharing personal powerful stories of the perseverance, pain, and progress they've experienced in their remarkable careers. Athletes include Naomi Osaka and Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Chloe Kim and Nancy Lieberman, Suni Lee and Julie Foudy, and Diana Flores and Billie Jean King. GROUNDBREAKERS celebrates the advancements of women in sports and society, while also revealing the generational mentorship and community building that has fueled the progress that has been made and the ongoing pursuit of equality for women everywhere.
6 | Wed
8:30 American Masters: Becoming Helen Keller
Revisit Helen Keller's rich career and explore how she perpetually put her celebrity to use to advocate for human rights in the pursuit of social justice for all, particularly women, the poor and people with disabilities.
7 | Thu
10:00 Pacific Heartbeat: Daughters of the Waves
A film by: Sebastien Daguerressar and Lisa Monin. Although only 20, Vahine Fierro is undaunted by the Teahupoo wave, considered the most dangerous in the world. Vahine surfs as no other Polynesian girl has ever surfed. In Tahitian culture, riding the waves is an ancestral activity from which women had been gradually eliminated, but now surfing is open to women, just in time for the Olympics. Coming from an entire family of surfers, Vahine and her two sisters hope to make a living with their passion and travel the world.
9 | Sat
8:00 Agatha Christie: Lucy Worsley on the Mystery Queen: Cat Among The Pigeons
Lucy Worsley explores Agatha Christie's haunted, unconventional early life to discover the origins of her talent for murder - and uncovers some carefully concealed secrets.
10 | Sun
9:00 Fanny: The Right to Rock
Sometime in the 1960s, in sunny Sacramento, two Filipina American sisters got together with other teenage girls to play music. Little did they know their garage band would evolve into the legendary rock group Fanny, the first all-women band to release an LP with a major record label. Despite releasing five critically-acclaimed albums over five years, touring with famed bands from Slade to Chicago and amassing a dedicated fan base of music legends including David Bowie, Fanny's groundbreaking impact in music was written out of history... until bandmates reunite 50 years later with a new rock record deal. With incredible archival footage of the band's rocking past intercut with its next chapter releasing a new LP today, the film includes interviews with a large cadre of music icons, including Def Leppard's Joe Elliott, Bonnie Raitt, The Go-Go's Kathy Valentine, Todd Rundgren, The Runaways' Cherie Currie, Lovin' Spoonful's John Sebastian, The B52's Kate Pierson, Charles Neville and David Bowie guitarist and bassist Earl Slick and Gail Ann Dorsey. Fighting early barriers of race, gender and sexuality in the music industry, and now ageism, the incredible women of Fanny are ready to claim their hallowed place in the halls of rock 'n' roll fame
10:30 Facing The Laughter: Minnie Pearl
Small-town girl Sarah Cannon dreamed of becoming a Shakespearean actress; instead, she became famous as the class-act comedian Minnie Pearl. With her "Howdee" greeting and price tag dangling from her straw hat, this simple character became an icon of country music through radio, live stage performances, and television. The educated, serious Cannon and her playful, uncomplicated alter ego created a legacy of compassion, empowerment and humor. FACING THE LAUGHTER: MINNIE PEARL is a 90-minute documentary that explores how this beloved character impacted American culture and how it's still relevant today.
11 | Mon
8:30 Marguerite: from the Bauhaus to Pond Farm
MARGUERITE: FROM THE BAUHAUS TO POND FARM tells the story of one of America's most talented mid-century ceramicists. Marguerite Wildenhain was trained at the famed Bauhaus art school in Germany, becoming the first woman to receive "Master Potter" designation in pre-World War II Europe. During the war, Marguerite fled to America and helped create an experimental artists colony at an isolated ranch in Northern California. She later established Pond Farm Pottery on the same site and ran an annual summer workshop that trained American artists for three decades. It was among the most influential pottery schools in the U.S.
9:00 Cara Romero: Following The Light
Contemporary fine art photographer Cara Romero's work captures Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultural memory, collective history, and lived experiences from a Native American female perspective.
12 | Tue
8:00 Nova: Picture A Scientist
Women make up less than a quarter of STEM professionals in the United States, and numbers are even lower for women of color. But a growing group of researchers is exposing longstanding discrimination and making science more inclusive.
13 | Wed
8:30 POV: Midwives
Meet two women running a makeshift clinic in western Myanmar torn apart by ethnic violence. The Buddhist owner helps her apprentice part of a Muslim minority group denied their basic rights become a steady health care provider for her people.
15 | Fri
8:30 American Masters: Twyla Moves
Explore legendary choreographer Twyla Tharp's career and famously rigorous creative process, with original interviews, first-hand glimpses of her at work and rare archival footage of select performances from her more than 160 choreographed works.
16 | Sat
8:00 American Masters: Roberta
Follow the music icon from a piano lounge through her rise to stardom. From "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" to "Killing Me Softly," Flack's virtuosity was inseparable from her commitment to civil rights. Detailing her story in her own words, the film features exclusive access to Flack's archives and interviews with Rev. Jesse Jackson, Peabo Bryson and more.
17 | Sun
10:00 Mae West: American Masters: Mae West: Dirty Blonde
Dive into the life and career of groundbreaking writer, performer and subversive star Mae West. Over a career spanning eight decades, she broke boundaries and possessed creative and economic powers unheard of for a female entertainer in the 1930s.
11:30 Odessa's Reign
Odessa Madre, nicknamed Queen of the Underworld, was a prosperous numbers runner and a key figure in a lucrative gambling ring in Washington, D.C. in the 1950s. Leading the paper chase gave her prestige within the mob, power in her neighborhood, and control over the men charged with enforcing the law - all while being an African American woman.
18 | Mon
8:00 Without Precedent: The Supreme Life of Rosalie Abella
WITHOUT PRECEDENT: THE SUPREME LIFE OF ROSALIE ABELLA is a 90-minute documentary that explores the life and legacy of the legal icon. The child of Holocaust survivors, Justice Abella was born in 1946 in Stuttgart, Germany, in a displaced persons camp. Her family came to Canada in 1950 as refugees. The perspective gained from her personal history shaped her legal career and in public speeches, she often intertwines her personal story with a discussion of human rights, morality and constitutional law.
19 | Tue
8:00 Bonnie Boswell Presents: Saving Moms
Reporter Bonnie Boswell's latest conversation with leading experts examines why groups of women disproportionately experience higher mortality rates related to pregnancy and childbirth in the country. Boswell addresses disparities and contributing factors that result in poor health outcomes for mothers and babies as well as ways local public health professionals are combatting the national crisis.
9:00 Below The Belt: The Last Health Taboo
Through the lens of endometriosis, examine the widespread problems in our healthcare systems that disproportionately affect women. This film reveals how millions are silenced and how, by fighting back, they can improve healthcare for all women.
21 | Thu
8:00 Fannie Lou Hamer's America: An America Reframed Special
Explore and celebrate the life of a fearless Mississippi sharecropper-turned-human-rights-activist and the injustices in America that made her work essential.
22 | Fri
8:00 American Experience: Sandra Day O'connor: The First
When Ronald Reagan nominated Sandra Day O'Connor as the Supreme Court's first female justice in 1981, the announcement dominated the news. Time Magazine's cover proclaimed "Justice At Last," and she received unanimous Senate approval. Born in 1930 in El Paso, Texas, O'Connor grew up on a cattle ranch in Arizona in an era when women were expected to become homemakers. After graduating near the top of her class at Stanford Law School, she could not convince a single law firm to interview her, so she turned to volunteer work and public service. A Republican, she served two terms in the Arizona state senate, then became a judge on the state court of appeals. During her 25 years on the Supreme Court, O'Connor was the critical swing vote on cases involving some of the 20th century's most controversial issues, including abortion, affirmative action - and she was the tiebreaker on Bush v. Gore. Forty years after her confirmation, this biography recounts the life of a pioneering woman who both reflected and shaped an era.
23 | Sat
8:00 American Masters: Rita Moreno: Just A Girl Who Decided to Go for It
Discover how Moreno defied her humble upbringing and racism to become one of a select group of Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award winners. Explore her 70-year career with new interviews, clips of her iconic roles and scenes of the star on set today.
10:00 Fannie Lou Hamer's America: An America Reframed Special
Explore and celebrate the life of a fearless Mississippi sharecropper-turned-human-rights-activist and the injustices in America that made her work essential.
24 | Sun
9:00 Ruth Stone's Vast Library of the Female Mind
RUTH STONE'S VAST LIBRARY OF THE FEMALE MIND is an award-winning documentary about the poetry and life of Ruth Stone, who forged her art out of loss and inspired countless others to create from her hilltop home in the Green Mountains of Vermont. Using an intimate approach, the film combines archival footage of Ruth at different times of her life, capturing her reciting poetry and talking about her writing process. The film also intertwines lively and heartfelt observations from her family, and people who knew her well.
25 | Mon
8:00 Pacific Heartbeat: Island Cowgirls
A film by: Liz Barney and Alison Week. ISLAND COWGIRLS highlights two Hawaiian cowgirls (paniolo) who have dedicated their lives to caring for their family ranches. On the northwest side of Hawai'i island, as La'I Bertlemann prepares to graduate from highschool, she must make a difficult decision whether to stay home in Hawai'i and continue her family tradition of land stewardship or leave. Meanwhile, on the south side, Lani Cran Petrie is at a crossroads as she continues to plan for the future of her ranch while faced with the uncertainty of the state-held lease of the land expiring soon.
26 | Tue
9:00 Secrets of the Surface: The Mathematical Vision Of Maryam Mirzakhani Mirzakhani
SECRETS OF THE SURFACE: THE MATHEMATICAL VISION OF MARYAM MIRZAKHANI examines the life and mathematical work of Maryam Mirzakhani, an Iranian immigrant to the United States who became a superstar in her field. In 2014, prior to her untimely death at age 40, she became both the first woman and the first Iranian to be awarded the Fields Medal, the most prestigious award in mathematics, often equated in stature with the Nobel Prize.
28 | Thu
8:00 America ReFramed: The Woman on the Outside
After watching nearly every man in her life disappear into prison, Kristal Bush channels her struggle into reuniting other Philadelphia families divided by incarceration. But when her father and brother come home after decades behind bars, she confronts the greatest challenge yet - can she unite her own family without losing herself?
9:30 POV Shorts: Sol in the Garden
After 16 years of incarceration, Sol is released from prison, when she discovers that coming into her own freedom can be as challenging as living behind bars. Through a community gardening collective of formerly incarcerated horticulturalists in East Oakland, Sol strives to recover her humanity and sense of self.
29 | Fri
8:30 Independent Lens: Move Me
Who am I now? After an accident left dancer Kelsey Peterson paralyzed, she finds new allies within the Spinal Cord Injury community while testing the limits of her recovery, body, and spirit.
30 | Sat
8:00 American Experience: Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming A Space
Meet the influential author and key figure of the Harlem Renaissance. Also, an anthropologist, Hurston collected folklore throughout the South and Caribbean - reclaiming, honoring and celebrating Black life on its own terms.
10:00 America ReFramed: The Woman on the Outside
After watching nearly every man in her life disappear into prison, Kristal Bush channels her struggle into reuniting other Philadelphia families divided by incarceration. But when her father and brother come home after decades behind bars, she confronts the greatest challenge yet - can she unite her own family without losing herself?
11:30 POV Shorts: Sol in the Garden
After 16 years of incarceration, Sol is released from prison, when she discovers that coming into her own freedom can be as challenging as living behind bars. Through a community gardening collective of formerly incarcerated horticulturalists in East Oakland, Sol strives to recover her humanity and sense of self.