Follow the 50-year career of First Amendment lawyer and legal expert Floyd Abrams.
Known as the “first First Amendment lawyer,” see how his landmark cases—from the Pentagon Papers to Citizens United to Clearview AI—helped define free speech as it is known today. Join Dan Abrams, Ari Melber, Nina Totenberg and more as they unpack the ways in which Abrams’ career has shaped major changes in law, public discourse and civic action since the 1960s.
Floyd Abrams: Speaking Freely premieres Friday, September 22 at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings), pbs.org/americanmasters and the PBS App.
American Masters shares the stories of political “Thought Leaders” with new documentaries on PBS.
As the U.S. enters a new election cycle, examine the lives and legacies of political changemakers.
Political discourse in the United States is shaped by audacious ideas of what a society should be. But who are the influencers and disrupters of American political thought that have paved the way for the systems that we currently have—and those still to come? Beginning in September 2023, American Masters seeks to answer this question with Thought Leaders, a collection of documentaries spotlighting key figures in American politics, law and music.
Films under the Thought Leaders banner include Jerry Brown: The Disrupter, Floyd Abrams: Speaking Freely, A Song for Cesar, Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes, Moynihan, The Incomparable Mr. Buckley and others to be announced. The documentaries will premiere on PBS (check local listings), pbs.org/americanmasters, and the PBS App.
“’How did we get here?’ is a question we are all asking ourselves these days, and it is a complicated one,” said Michael Kantor, Executive Producer of American Masters. “By examining the origins and accomplishments of these thought leaders who share such different perspectives, American Masters aims to add crucial context and nuance to what we’re seeing in today’s political arena.”
