PBS, Arizona PBS announce ‘Resolve to Solve with Miles O’Brien,’ new series spotlighting people taking on world’s toughest problems

Five-part documentary series premiering Wednesday, August 19 at 9 p.m.

PBS and Arizona PBS today announced “Resolve to Solve with Miles O’Brien,” a new five-part documentary series following Emmy® Award-winning journalist Miles O’Brien across the globe as he meets the scientists, innovators and determined problem-solvers working to address some of the world’s most urgent challenges. Premiering Wednesday, August 19, 2026, at 9 p.m. on Arizona PBS (check local listings), with new one-hour programs airing weekly, the series will also be available to stream in half-hour episodes on PBS.org, the PBS app and PBS YouTube channel. The series is produced by Arizona PBS.

At a time when current global issues can feel increasingly complex and overwhelming, “Resolve to Solve with Miles O’Brien” shifts the focus from problems to the people working to solve them. O’Brien speaks with a wide variety of experts, including scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, conservationists, researchers, farmers and public officials, who are developing practical and often unexpected solutions to problems affecting communities and ecosystems around the world.

Across five episodes, O’Brien explores how science and human ingenuity are tackling some of the defining challenges of our time. He follows researchers reducing methane emissions from cattle, ecologists restoring landscapes with beavers, engineers reinventing cities for extreme heat, communities navigating the promise and tradeoffs of offshore wind, farmers adapting to a shrinking Colorado River, neuroscientists transforming the treatment of brain disorders and energy pioneers unlocking the potential of geothermal energy.

“Over the past 30 years, I’ve traveled to every corner of the globe covering science, from the depths of the ocean to the frontiers of space,” said Miles O’Brien, host of “Resolve to Solve with Miles O’Brien.” “One thing has become clear: behind every breakthrough are passionate people who refuse to accept that our biggest problems are unsolvable. ‘Resolve to Solve’ is my attempt to tell those stories, to introduce viewers to the scientists and innovators who are transforming curiosity into solutions and to show that the future is still ours to shape.”

Surprising, hopeful and deeply human, “Resolve to Solve with Miles O’Brien” is ultimately a series about the power of ingenuity and the quiet, stubborn conviction that even the hardest problems are worth solving.

“Public media plays an essential role in helping audiences engage with complex issues through storytelling that inspires and builds understanding,” said Scott Woelfel, General Manager of Arizona PBS. “In ‘Resolve to Solve with Miles O’Brien,’ viewers come face-to-face with the scientists, innovators and changemakers whose work reminds us of what is possible. Arizona PBS is honored to have worked with Miles to bring this important series to audiences across the country.”

Episode Descriptions:

Episode One: “Wild Climate Fixes from Cows and Beavers”
Premieres Wednesday, Aug. 19 at 9 p.m.
Miles O’Brien meets innovators tackling climate change in surprising ways. Methane from livestock is one of the planet’s most urgent warming threats, and Joan Salwen believes she has found the answer in a red seaweed that can reduce cattle methane emissions by more than 90%. In the American West, eco-hydrologist Emily Fairfax demonstrates how beavers are nature’s most powerful weapons against drought and wildfire.

Episode Two: “Weathering Change Through Wind and Heat”
Premieres Wednesday, Aug. 26 at 9 p.m.
From Phoenix to Sydney, researchers are developing new ways to protect people from increasingly dangerous extreme heat. Miles O’Brien then travels to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where a former whaling port is reinventing itself as an offshore wind hub while confronting political opposition, regulatory headwinds and tension with the fishing community.

Episode Three: “Preserving Nature in Argentina and Antarctica”
Premieres Wednesday, Sept. 2 at 9 p.m.
In Argentina’s Iberá Wetlands, conservationist Kris Tompkins has dedicated her life and fortune to rewilding a landscape where jaguars, giant river otters and other keystone species were hunted to extinction. Miles O’Brien then joins an international expedition to Antarctica’s rapidly collapsing Thwaites Glacier, where scientists are gathering critical data and exploring one of the most controversial proposals in climate science: building a massive underwater sea curtain to hold back the warm ocean currents eating away at the ice.

Episode Four: “Mindshift: Rewiring the Human Brain”
Premieres Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 9 p.m.
The brain is medicine’s final frontier. In a deeply personal exploration, Miles O’Brien travels to West Virginia and California to meet the researchers pushing into that unknown territory with tools that would have seemed unthinkable a generation ago. In Morgantown, neurosurgeons examine technologies to help address addiction, and in California, neuroscientists explore the power of psychedelic compounds in potentially unlocking new treatments for PTSD, depression, stroke recovery and chronic pain.

Episode Five: “River Runs Dry, Geothermal Goes Deep”
Premieres Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 10 p.m.
Miles O’Brien travels to California’s Imperial Valley, where farmers, water managers and negotiators are confronting the shrinking Colorado River and difficult decisions about how its remaining water should be shared. In Texas, he meets energy innovators who are applying oil and gas drilling expertise to make geothermal energy a viable way to green the grid.

“Resolve to Solve with Miles O’Brien” premieres nationally on PBS on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, and will stream simultaneously with broadcast on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS app, available on iOS, Apple TV, Android mobile and tablets, Android/GoogleTV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV and tablets, Comcast Xfinity, Chromecast, Samsung Smart TV, VIZIO and LG Smart TVs. PBS station members can view many series, documentaries and specials via PBS Passport. For more information about PBS Passport, visit the PBS Passport FAQ website or contact your local station.

Major funding for “Resolve to Solve with Miles O’Brien” was provided by Sue Hart-Wadley and Searle Wadley. Additional funding was provided by Jerry Cox.

“Resolve to Solve with Miles O’Brien” is an Arizona PBS and MOBIAS Media, Inc. production in association with PBS. Miles O’Brien is executive producer, series writer and director. Will Toubman, Kate Tobin, Stephanie Mills and Caleb Hellerman are producers. Executive producers for Arizona PBS are Scott Woelfel and Carol Yancho.

For images and additional up-to-date information on this and other PBS programs, visit PBS PressRoom at pbs.org/pressroom.