Celebrate Independence Day with A Capitol Fourth

Watch A Capitol Fourth & More

This July 4, celebrate Independence Day with PBS NC! Spend your day exploring a variety of enjoyable activities and tasty eateries featured on NC Weekend. Cook up delicious, festive meals with Sheri Castle on The Key Ingredient. Cap off your evening with music and fireworks on A Capitol Fourth, celebrating America’s 249^th birthday. 

Celebrate with films and specials that highlight Independence Day and our nation’s history on PBS NC and the PBS app. 

A Capitol Fourth 

Join us Thursday, 7/4 at 8 PM on PBS NC for A Capitol Fourth, hosted by Alfonso Ribeiro! Featuring: The Beach Boys, The Temptations, Lauren Daigle, Josh Turner, Trombone Shorty, Yolanda Adams, LOCASH, Abi Carter, and Maestro Jack Everly conducting the National Symphony Orchestra.

Watch A Capitol Fourth, Friday, 7/4, 8 PM and 9:30 PM on PBS NC and the PBS app. 

NC Weekend

Deborah Holt Noel shares the best things to see and do across the state, inspiring a full 4th of July agenda. A place to feast, celebrate or unwind, NC Weekend brings our state’s must-see places and events right into your home this Independence Day.  

Watch NC Weekend, Thursdays at 9 PM, on PBS NC. Streaming now on the PBS app. 

The Key Ingredient with Sheri Castle 

Join food writer Sheri Castle as she traces fresh, local ingredients from source to kitchen and shares approachable recipes. Follow along to find show-stopping dishes perfect for your 4th of July celebration.

Watch The Key Ingredient with Sheri Castle, streaming now on the PBS app. 

Rogue History: Rebels & Revolutionaries  

It’s been said that history is written by those in power. But what about the outlaws, outcasts and rogues? What if they had their say? Rogue History, a digital series produced by PBS Digital Studios and PBS North Carolina, shakes the dust off the history books to unravel myths, unearth narratives, and discover fresh perspectives.

Watch Rogue History, streaming now on the PBS app. 

Iconic America

In this eight-episode documentary series, David Rubenstein explores America’s 400-year history through a close examination of iconic national symbols such as the Hollywood Sign, Fenway Park, American cowboys and the Statue of Liberty: indelible artifacts, places, and archetypes. Each episode tells the story of an American symbol to reveal its origins, significance and the arc of its resonance. 

Watch Iconic America, streaming now on the PBS app only with PBS NC Passport.

History in a Nutshell: The Birth of the Constitution

After the American Revolution, the new United States of America needed to form a permanent government of its own. Why did the Articles of Confederation fail and how did the U.S. Constitution come to be?

Watch History in a Nutshell, streaming now on the PBS app. 

History in a Nutshell: Carolina Day

The S.C. centric holiday known as "Carolina Day" commemorates the victorious Battle of Sullivan's Island during the American Revolutionary War. On June 28, 1776, a small band of Patriots stationed at the palmetto log fort miraculously fended off a massive British fleet.

Watch History in a Nutshell, streaming now on the PBS app.

Thomas Jefferson 

Thomas Jefferson is a two-part portrait of our enigmatic and brilliant third president. Thomas Jefferson embodies within his own life the most profound contradictions of American history: as the author of the Declaration of Independence, he gave voice to our fervent desire for freedom, but he also owned more than 150 slaves and never saw fit to free them. 

Watch Ken Burns' Thomas Jefferson, streaming now on the PBS app only with PBS NC Passport.

Benjamin Franklin

Ken Burns’ two-part, four-hour documentary Benjamin Franklin explores the revolutionary life of one of the 18th century’s most consequential and compelling personalities. 

Watch Ken Burns’ Benjamin Franklin, streaming now on the PBS app only with PBS NC Passport.

American Veteran

American Veteran is a four-part documentary series tracing the veteran experience across the arc of American history and exploring the present-day divide between civilian and veteran communities. From the citizen-soldiers returning from the Revolution to today’s warrior class, it is a deeply moving story, illuminating the veteran experience and drawing civilian viewers into an unfamiliar culture. 

Watch American Veteran, streaming now on the PBS app only with PBS NC Passport.

The Future of America’s Past: The Revolutions 

What does freedom mean to those outside the halls of power — and what did it mean during the American Revolution? Host Ed Ayers visits sites in Boston and Philadelphia to put that question to curators, museum educators, a playwright and a tribal preservation officer. He learns about the ways in which women, Native Americans and African Americans made the words of the Revolution come true in their own lives. 

Watch The Future of America’s Past, streaming now on the PBS app.

American Experience: The Vote

One hundred years after the passage of the 19th Amendment, The Vote tells the dramatic culmination story of the hard-fought campaign waged by American women for the right to vote. 

Watch The Vote, streaming now on the PBS app only with PBS NC Passport.

The NC Listening Project: Walls and Bridges 

Eight North Carolinians come together to discuss immigration, bringing refugees into the United States and what word in the Declaration of Independence means the most. 

Watch The NC Listening Project, streaming now on the PBS app.