Independent Lens

Season 24 Episode 6: No Straight Lines

Jan 23, 2023 TV-14 1h 26m 8.2

When Alison Bechdel received a coveted MacArthur Award for her best-selling graphic memoir Fun Home, it heralded the acceptance of LGBTQ+ comics in American culture. From DIY underground comix scene to mainstream acceptance, meet five smart and funny queer comics artists whose uncensored commentary left no topic untouched and explored art as a tool for social change.

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Season 24 Episodes:

Episode 1 Hazing

1. Hazing

Aired: Sep 12, 2022

The practice of hazing and why it continues to be seen as a legitimate rite o...

Episode 2 TikTok, Boom.

2. TikTok, Boom.

Aired: Oct 24, 2022

Dissecting TikTok, one of the most influential platforms of the social media ...

Episode 3 Move Me

3. Move Me

Aired: Nov 7, 2022

At 27, Kelsey Peterson dove into Lake Superior as a dancer and emerged paraly...

Episode 5 The Big Payback

5. The Big Payback

Aired: Jan 16, 2023

The passage of the first-ever tax-funded reparations bill for Black Americans...

Episode 6 No Straight Lines

6. No Straight Lines

Aired: Jan 23, 2023

When Alison Bechdel received a coveted MacArthur Award for her best-selling g...

Episode 7 The Picture Taker

7. The Picture Taker

Aired: Jan 30, 2023

The vibrant life of Ernest Withers-civil rights photographer, and FBI informa...

Episode 8 Outta the Muck

8. Outta the Muck

Aired: Feb 6, 2023

Wade into the rich soil of Pahokee, Florida, a town on the banks of Lake Okee...

Episode 11 Hidden Letters

11. Hidden Letters

Aired: Mar 27, 2023

The bonds of sisterhood, and the parallels of struggles among generations of ...

Episode 12 Free Chol Soo Lee

12. Free Chol Soo Lee

Aired: Apr 24, 2023

Sentenced to life for a 1973 San Francisco murder, Korean immigrant Chol Soo ...

Episode 14 Sam Now

14. Sam Now

Aired: May 8, 2023

In this coming-of-age documentary about generational trauma, follow Sam Harkn...

Episode 15 Silent Beauty

15. Silent Beauty

Aired: May 15, 2023

In this autobiographical exploration of survivorship, New Orleans journalist ...

Episode 16 Mama Bears

16. Mama Bears

Aired: Jun 20, 2023

They call one another “mama bears” because of the ferocity with which they fi...

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Info about Independent Lens

Current Status: Returning Series

Network: PBS

Genres: Documentary