September Highlights and Happenings

The September on-air fundraising campaign continues on PBS 6 with something for everyone, from the cliffhanging season finale of MASTERPIECE: Hotel Portofino at 7 p.m. Sunday, September 1, to Broadway and big band programs, pop, rock, and soul concerts, and specials from Ken Burns, Rick Steves, and others throughout the week. Notable specials include Sherlock on MASTERPIECE: The Abominable Bride at 8:30 p.m. Sunday, September 1; Ken Burns: One Nation, Many Stories at 8 p.m. Tuesday, September 3 followed by Great Scenic Railway Journeys 30th Anniversary Special at 10 p.m.; and The Mustangs: America’s Wild Horses at 8 p.m. Wednesday, September 4 followed at 10 p.m. by NOVA The Planets: Inner World. The fundraising drive ends September 8 with a special behind-the-scenes preview of Season Four of the beloved All Creatures Great and Small at 7 p.m. followed by The Four Phantoms in Concert at 8:30 p.m..

This election season AZPM remains your go-to source for coverage of national, state, and local races, offering in-depth reporting, fact-checking, and expert analysis. A brand-new AZPM original production, The Press Room, makes its debut at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, September 6 airing simultaneously on PBS 6, NPR 89.1, and online at azpm.org. Tune in to the platform of your choice to experience local journalists assembled in AZPM’s radio studios discussing the news of the week and offering insight and analysis of the candidates, issues, and events that shape our community.

AZPM, along with AZ Clean Elections and the Arizona Media Association, is planning to present a series of 14 debates featuring most of Arizona’s congressional districts and several statewide ballot issues beginning September 3 and running through early October. And don’t miss AZPM’s live coverage of the presidential debate, airing on PBS 6 starting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, September 10, with commentary and analysis by the PBS News Hour. National election coverage continues with FRONTLINE: THE CHOICE at 9 p.m. Tuesday, September 24, followed at 11 p.m. by Crossroads: A Conversation with America, hosted by former PBS News Hour anchor Judy Woodruff, who examines the many divisions fracturing the United States. Finally, get your local news when you want it, how you want it with AZPM’s podcasts: AZPM News Daily, The Buzz, Tapped, Arizona Science, and Arizona Spotlight. Find them online, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app, or wherever you listen.

AZPM’s flagship original television series, Arizona Illustrated with host Tom McNamara, launches its 11th season on Sunday, September 15 at 6:30 p.m. The first episode of the new season features stories on Atascosa Borderlands, a long-term visual storytelling project and living archive dedicated to a remote 42-mile stretch of the US-Mexico border; Cinema Tucsón, which profiles Mexican movies screened at the Fox Theater; Books Save Lives, an organization that believes the right book at the right time can transform the mind; and Femme Photo Club, a monthly women/trans/femme photography club. Upcoming fall highlights include the second-ever episode entirely in Spanish airing on September 29 in conjunction with National Hispanic Heritage Month, a series airing in October on civic engagement and creative expression, and a heartbreaking story about deaths in the Pima County Jail. As one of our Community Advisory Board members said recently, “I was astonished at what I learned about my own community by watching Arizona Illustrated.” Don’t miss it!

PBS’s fall dramas also launch on September 15 starting at 7 p.m. with the Season 2 premiere of Ridley. In Season One, retired detective Alex Ridley was lured back into service to help his former protégé solve a complex murder case. Now at the helm of investigations, the former protégé seeks Ridley’s assistance again to crack a series of baffling cases. Adrian Dunbar returns as the consulting detective. Stay with PBS 6 at 8 p.m. for the premiere of Moonflower Murders, a six-part follow-up to the popular Magpie Murders. Lesley Manville (World on Fire, Phantom Thread, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris) and Tim McMullan (Patrick Melrose, Foyle's War) return as editor turned amateur sleuth Susan Ryeland (Manville) and world-famous fictional detective Atticus Pünd (McMullan). Moonflower Murders alternates between the worlds of reality and fiction, where answers to questions in one world may lie in the other. The night of drama rounds out at 9 p.m. with Season 4 of Van der Valk, in which a gritty Dutch detective combines his astute powers of observation with street smarts to solve crimes in the enigmatic city of Amsterdam.

Classical 90.5 celebrates the significant anniversaries of three renowned composers this month. On Wednesday, September 4th, Classical 90.5 salutes Austrian romantic composer Anton Bruckner on the 200th anniversary of his birth. Symphonies, choral works, and other works will be featured throughout the day. The 150th anniversary of the Austrian/American composer Arnold Schoenberg is marked on Friday, September 13, with a judicious selection of his works. Schoenberg created new methods of musical composition involving atonality, serialism, and the 12-tone row. But not all of his compositions are atonal; tune in on September 13 to hear some of his more accessible works. September 21 is the 150th anniversary of the birth of English-born composer Gustav Holst. Hear his most famous work, The Planets, along with lesser-known works throughout the day. Finally, Classical 90.5 celebrates the first day of autumn on September 23, with autumn-themed music throughout the day.

And finally, construction on our new home, the Paul and Alice Baker Center for Public Media, located at the UA Tech Park at The Bridges, is progressing on time and on budget. If you haven’t yet made your contribution, I hope you take the opportunity to lend your support to this important project that will help to ensure AZPM’s future. Please visit the capital campaign page on azpm.org to make a secure donation, get the latest updates, or view a live feed of the construction.

AZPM exists for you and because of you. Thank you for your ongoing generous support.

Sincerely,

Jack Gibson
AZPM Chief Executive Officer