PBS News Presents “Tipping Point: The Mighty Mississippi”

Arlington, VA (July 14, 2025)— In a moment of reckoning for America’s great waterway, PBS News presents a special webcast, “Tipping Point: The MightyMississippi,” streaming live on Wednesday, July 16 at 7:00 pm E.T from the historic Saint Anthony Falls Laboratory at the University of Minnesota.

The 90-minute multimedia special examines the uncertain future of the Mississippi River—America’s most iconic and economically vital waterway. Spanning 2,350 miles and draining 40% of the continental U.S., the Mississippi River basin supports over 18 million people, serves as a superhighway for 92% of U.S. agricultural exports, and fuels an economy worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

But this lifeline is under siege.

From intensifying floods and droughts to coastal land loss, the river faces a convergence of environmental, agricultural, and climate pressures that threaten its very function. Tipping Point will explore how new science and nature-based solutions are reshaping restoration plans, how upstream farming practices impact downstream communities, and how climate change is amplifying every challenge. Viewers will also see how local leaders are working to restore balance with nature before it’s too late.

Audience questions may be submitted in advance online, and the program will be available across PBS News digital and social platforms.

Hosted by PBS News Hour science correspondent and executive producer Miles O’Brien, the program features live and recorded interviews with scientists, engineers, tribal leaders, policymakers, and residents whose lives and livelihoods are deeply tied to the Mississippi.

• Betty McCollum, United States Representative from Minnesota
• Maj. Gen. Kimberly Peeples, Commanding General, Mississippi Valley Division, US Army Corps of Engineers
• Chris Paola, Professor at the University of Minnesota
• Emily Fairfax, Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota
• Lisa Schulte Moore, Professor at Iowa State University
• Denise Reed, Professor at the University of New Orleans
• Cassie Glaspie, Assistant Professor at the Louisiana State University Center for River Studies
• Joy Banner, Co-Founder & Co-Director of The Descendants Project
• Boyce Upholt, Author of “The Great River”
• Colin Wellenkamp, Executive Director of the Mississippi Cities and Towns Initiative
• Joey Windham, Mississippi Valley Division, Chief of Watershed Division at US Army Corps of Engineers

“Tipping Point: The Mighty Mississippi” is a Mobias Media production for NewsHour Productions. It is made possible by the generous support of the Walton Family Foundation, with additional support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Park Foundation, and the CO2 Foundation.

Media contact: Ella Richardson, erichardson (at) newshour (dot) org