Culture & Society

Urban planners and average citizens around the world are working to improve transportation in congested cities. In Bangkok, an architect fed up with his daily commute studies the combination of traditional boats and modern trains to beat traffic. In Bogota, a professor and his students develop a citywide electric car sharing system to ease congestion in dense urban areas.

Videos by Thai PBS in Thailand and TAL in Colombia. 

Many communities around the world see disease and mental illness not as something to be treated, but as something to be feared. As a result, many suffering from curable conditions are stigmatized within their communities. But through education and organizing, some people are challenging these stigmas and addressing previously taboo health issues.

Four people who have intellectual disabilities live in a commune next to a beautiful forest near Paris. Like countless others, they were labeled 'idiots,' locked away and forgotten in violent asylums, until the 1960s, when the young philosopher Jean Vanier secured their release. Providing a model that has thus far been adapted in 35 nations, the commune offers people with disabilities a place where they needn’t awkwardly fit into mainstream society, instead can comprise a society of their own.

Jazz Singsanong of Jitlada Thai and Louis Tikaram of E.P. & L.P. transport the palate around the world with the complex flavors of Thai cuisine. These chefs work to bring balance to the complexity of flavors that reflect the mixed cultural influences of their own backgrounds and experiences.

Transmale Quinn attempts to find confidence to help other youth deal with the trauma he faced transitioning.

The heart of many large cities lies in their historic neighborhoods but across the world, the cultural vitality of these neighborhoods is threatened by the forces of gentrification and aging infrastructure. Hear from the people of Boyle Heights in Los Angeles and the Old Quarter in Hanoi, Vietnam as they work to improve and preserve their communities.

Aspiring fashion designer Favour challenges herself to design a fashion collection that is both modern and embraces her Congolese heritage.

Los Angeles’ booming food scene is being shaped by a new generation of chefs. Visit almost any kitchen in Los Angeles and it is likely you will find a migrant chef combining ethnic cuisines with new flavors and techniques. And often within the food, is a story of their migration.

“The politics of migration, the labor economy, all that drama plays out in the restaurants that we go to,” says journalist and author Rubén Martínez

Charles Namba and Courtney Kaplan, the couple behind Echo Park's Tsubaki, have always loved the culture of izakaya but found Los Angeles lacking in these Japanese taverns. Sonoko Sakai is a teacher with a passion for buckwheat and the near-sacred art of soba noodles, and Seiichi Yokota knows how to prepare and preserve fresh fish with a traditional Japanese technique never seen before in Los Angeles. Each aims to introduce Angelenos to the unique spirit of Japanese hospitality and the culture's deep culinary customs.

In the name of environmental restoration, the Ugandan government is expanding the country’s forest reserves in order to sell into the global carbon credit market. But this program comes at a high human cost as the state is displacing long established villages, forcing people to relocate, and jailing those opposing the program.

People are rethinking housing arrangements in growing cities across the globe. Many are ditching the confines of traditional apartments and opting for communal living. In Seoul, three families band together to build the home of their dreams and the urban support system they’ve never had. On a larger scale, participants in a housing cooperative in Lyon band together to share space and the responsibilities of homeownership in a Vertical Village.

Featuring segments by KBS and QLM.

Maintaining a sustainable way of life through organic farming is possible — even in big cities. In this episode, a woman in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro shows us how to maximize every last bit of local produce, while urban dwellers and beekeepers in Paris are developing a culture of sharing in rooftop gardens.

Videos produced by TAL in Brazil and QLM in France.

Told through the eyes of a teenage Muslim girl and her refugee family in pursuit of resettlement in Malaysia and Australia, this emotional roller coaster takes us from despair to joy through hope, humor and love - shattering prevailing stereotypes about migrants.

From make up tutorials to finding African identity vloger Chanwyn bravely changes the focus of her online videos.

Two groups strive to reinvigorate public spaces amid blocky apartment structures and rigid urban development. An artist collective from Spain travels the globe to create murals that draw life back into dwindling public centers. In Medellin, Colombia, urban gardeners create green spaces that beautify the community and empower its citizens.

Poet Mohamed uses his creative expression to confront his mental health demons, while bravely opening up to his family.

A collective of culturally connected, distinguished chefs (including Ray Garcia of Broken Spanish, Wes Avila of Guerilla Tacos, Carlos Salgado of Taco Maria, as well as Jorge Gaviria of corn purveyor, Masienda) work to preserve heritage and push forward the “Alta California” Mexican food movement. By celebrating those dishes and ingredients integral to Mexico's cuisine and its economy, a group of accomplished Mexican-American chefs are working to elevate not only the food, but what people of their heritage can achieve in the food business.

Roy explores the power of cooking to rehabilitate those on the margins of society and the organizations taking a chance on those who need it most. He spends time with Father Greg Boyle of Homeboy and Homegirl Industries, the pioneer of socially minded food enterprises focused on transitioning former gang members from lives on the street to lives in kitchens. Roy also visits Mar Diego, a food entrepreneur who has opened Dough Girl, a pizza shop in the San Fernando Valley employing local kids struggling with drug use and homelessness. Additionally, the episode features L.A.

Banh Mi. Spring rolls. Pho. The war and its subsequent refugees. These are things most commonly associated with the Vietnamese culture and its people. But a group of chefs in Los Angeles (including Cassia’s Bryant Ng and Diep Tran of Good Girl Dinette) are hoping to demonstrate that there’s so much more than that. Featured in the episode: Cassia in Santa Monica, Good Girl Dinette in Highland Park, Red Boat Fish Sauce, and Minh Phan of Porridge & Puffs.

Rio de Janeiro has experienced several waves of development in the past century. For Altair Guimaraes the changes have affected him directly. Brought up in a favela, he has been evicted three times as a result of Rio’s developments. As Brazil tries to gain global recognition and increase tourism, locals like Altair are forced to relocate despite property titles. Now, their struggles are becoming a symbol of a global phenomenon.

Big cities attract dreamers from all over the world. This episode features the people building communities of inclusion for immigrants.

Three residents in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas find their lives upended by plans to build a US-Mexico border wall. Meanwhile a butterfly, la mariposa, fights its own daily battle for survival in a landscape where 95 percent of its habitat is gone, and the rest lies directly in the path of the wall.

Foodie Sam struggles to speak his parents' Cantonese, but does he have enough knowledge to expel the western stigmas about Chinese food?

Indian food has often been associated with stiff restaurants, all-you-can-eat buffets and heavily spiced, cream-based dishes. The Mahendro family (Anu, Pawan, Nakul and Arjun) immigrated to Los Angeles and found that they didn’t recognize any of the so-called Indian food available to them. Like carefully selected spices to a classic Indian dish, each family member contributes something special and significant to their restaurant Badmaash and to the city of L.A. Featured in the episode: Downtown L.A.’s Badmaash.

Roy explores future culinary landscapes looking forward to a world affected by climate change. He spends an evening with chefs Henry Fischer and Anna Rose Hopkins from Hank and Bean who make a surprising plant-forward dinner featuring non-traditional protein sources like crickets and jellyfish. Roy also visits with Ethan Brown of Beyond Meat, a company pioneering the plant-based replacements for our favorite burgers and sausages, and Vegan Hooligans, a pop-up restaurant in eastside LA’s Eagle Rock making classic American diner food out of entirely plant-based ingredients.

Roy meets the individuals bringing healthy and affordable food options into South L.A. communities that lack access to fresh food. Roy also visits with vegan grocer Olympia Auset, whose startup Süprmarkt delivers healthy and affordable food to the doorsteps of her community. Finally, Roy visits Earle’s Hot Dogs, a vegetarian hot dog cart that has grown over its 30-year history into a multi-location brick and mortar shop, now a staple of a community hungry for healthier options.

The Jewish Delis of Los Angeles serve an important role for connecting heritage to food. Factor’s Famous Deli has been a central pillar for the community for 70 years while newcomers like Micah Wexler and Michael Kassar of Wexler’s Deli bring a fresh take to classic deli food traditions.

Women from all over the world are trailblazing through gender barriers in difficult and often dangerous environments. They are defying cultural norms and finding ways to pursue their dreams and change their future. The women featured in this episode are giving a new meaning to the term “women’s work.”

Many people enjoy the anonymity found in city living, but this also creates dangers for more vulnerable people like the homeless and elderly.

In Malaysia, an organization called Rice & Roses feeds the needy, paying particular attention to those living on the streets of Georgetown, Penang. The group of volunteers prepares meals and delivers them, and offers free education to street children.

The untold story of Oliver Tambo, the man behind the release of Nelson Mandela and the end of apartheid in South Africa. Described as one of the world's greatest statesmen, Tambo’s strategy to the international community to isolate and sanction the regime created the most globalized human rights struggle of the 20th century.

Event planner Lily brings famous Iraqi singer Kadim Al Sahir to Auckland, but will it also give her the connection to community she craves?

Roy visits Chris Yang’s Pop Cultivate to explore the emergence of a new culinary landscape since the advent of legalized recreational marijuana. He then tackles the gentrification of cannabis culture by visiting Med Men, the leader in upscale legal weed retailers in Los Angeles. An interview with Virgil Grant, a formerly incarcerated weed dealer now seeking to run a legal distribution business, sheds light on efforts to build cannabis equity for those hit hardest by the War on Drugs. The episode also features interviews with actor/activist Cheech Marin and Shep Gordon.

Jake Myrick and Noriko Kamei have taken their love for namazake and created Sequoia Sake, a small brewery in the heart of San Francisco. Rooted in the traditions of Japanese sake brewing, they work to resurrect an heirloom rice in California and pioneer the young but growing craft sake movement in the US.

The 52-year Colombian civil war is not ending without leaving deep scars. As rebels hand over weapons, an entire generation of Colombians are emerging from the conflict to rebuild their nation. While some are struggling more than others, many citizens are rolling up their sleeves to clear out the ghosts of war.

Looking back to traditional practices can help us find modern solutions to various environmental and social issues of city life.

In Q'ewe, Peru, we follow Victoriano Arizapana, a Native leader nicknamed “The Engineer” as he leads the construction of the Q’eswachaka bridge. Residents from four different communities participate in the three-day construction of a traditional rope bridge using ancestral techniques taught through their Inca heritage.

Filmed in a Palestinian refugee camp south of Beirut, where Mariam has lived her whole life, the film follows her struggle in uniting the female community with a business venture – a food truck and catering service.

Under a dank bridge in Kabul, Afghanistan — the country with the world’s highest rate of opium production and addiction — a squalid group of drug addicts is getting high or fiending for their next fix. Former child bride and self-proclaimed badass Laila offers salvation by inviting these lost souls to the detox clinics she runs with her brother, himself a recovered addict. Fearless and relentless in the face of a corrupt and chaotic society, Laila brings love, hope and the Narcotics Anonymous program to these victims of the global addiction epidemic.

Hip-hop dancer William Rakena puts everything on the line as he sets an epic goal of performing in his first ever krump battle and strives towards smashing it.