National Geographic to Premiere “Blood on the Wall,” About the Migrant Crisis in Mexico, in September

National Geographic is shining a spotlight on the migrant crisis in Mexico.

The network will premiere Sebastian Junger and Nick Quested’s new feature documentary Blood on the Wall on September 30.

Blood-on-the-Wall

The project is a deep dive into the migrant crisis in Mexico, looking at the caravans coming through the country en route to the U.S. border, and how it has been exacerbated by drug trafficking and political corruption.

 “The issues Mexico faces right now are layered and complex and ultimately intertwined with how the U.S. has approached foreign policy and immigration since the [Ronald] Reagan era,” Junger said in a statement. “The history and the future of the country and its inhabitants is so bound up in the larger forces at work in the region, it’s vital to look at them holistically. We’re reaching a juncture in this election year when understanding the socio-political landscape of our neighbors is incredibly important for people before going into a voting booth.”

The project follows a caravan of migrants as they travel from Honduras.

Quested said, “Systemic change is top of mind for a lot of people right now and that conversation needs to include U.S. foreign policies that only enhance the inequities across our southern border, allowing ruthless leaders and cartels to take advantage of people for their personal gain.”

Ramirez Among Several Latinos Taking Part in PBS-Sponsored Conversations at This Year’s TED Talks

Sara Ramirez is ready for a revolution

The 39-year-old half-Mexican actress and Grey’s Anatomy star will cohost a PBS-sponsored conversation about the future of teaching at this year’s TED Talks.

Sara Ramirez

TED, the nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, and PBS recently announced a series of live talks, to be filmed at Town Hall this November.

Ramirez’s talks, scheduled for November 1 and 2, will include the participation of former White House chef Sam Kass, educator Sal Khan, How to Raise an Adult author Julie LythcottHaims, The Future Project CEO Andrew Mangino, Punished: Policing the Lives of Black & Latino Boys author Victor Rios, and Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence educator Dena Simmons.

Meanwhile, clinical psychologist Hector Garcia will take part in another PBS-sponsored Ted Talk entitled “War & Peace” on November 3 and 4.

Garcia’s talk will center on soldiers who’ve returned to the United States in the years following the September 11 terrorist attacks.

He’ll be hoined by Girls star and Marine Corps veteran Adam Driver, Oscar nominee Sebastian Junger and ethnographer Simon Sinek.

In another talk, Mexican-American academic, businessman and speaker Juan Enriquez, author of  and Radiolab research director Latif Nasser will discuss the changing world and the future of our planet in a talk entitled “Science & Wonder” on November 5 and 6.

On hand to perform at the events will be Grammy nominees Rufus Wainwright and Angela McCluskey, as well as musicians Paul Cantelon and John “Scarpper” Sneider, and the Brazilian percussion ensemble Harlem Samba.

Each of the programs will be filmed and broadcast as three one-hour specials to premiere on PBS in 2016.