Documenting ‘American Voices 2024’

More than four years ago, in the spring of 2020, we began filming more than a dozen Americans in states spread across the country as they navigated a year of extraordinary tumult.

Led by filmmaker Mike Shum, a team of more than 20 cinematographers chronicled the diverse views and experiences of these Americans — from a doctor to a pastor to a barber, to a construction company owner to a retiree — as they dealt with COVID-19 in their communities that spring, responded to George Floyd’s killing that summer, and then participated in the divisive election and its aftermath that fall.

We released the resulting documentary, American Voices: A Nation in Turmoil, in November 2020.

Four years later, amid another polarizing and turbulent election season, tonight’s 90-minute documentary updates the same Americans’ stories, exploring how their lives, hopes and fears have changed since 2020 in a nation that remains deeply divided.

American Voices 2024 premieres tonight, Oct. 29, one week before Election Day, at 7/6c in the PBS App and at pbs.org/frontline, and at 10/9c on PBS stations (check local listings) and on YouTube.

Filmed everywhere from Round Rock, Texas, to Hayward, California; from Beaverdam, Virginia, to Minneapolis, Minnesota; and from Sioux City, Iowa, to Portland, Oregon, the documentary follows Americans as they reflect on the past four tumultuous years, navigate health and economic challenges, and share their perspectives on politics today.

I hope you will find American Voices 2024 to be a meaningful look at what unites us and what divides us as the presidential election approaches.

If you haven’t yet had a chance, I also encourage you to watch The Choice 2024: Harris vs. Trump and The VP Choice: Vance vs. Walz, our documentaries investigating what shaped the lives and worldviews of the major-party presidential and vice presidential candidates.

Thank you for your support of our journalism, this election season and always.