Pati Jinich explores PanAmericana

Premieres Nov. 2, 2026, on PBS! Pati travels south through Colorado into New Mexico, picking up the Rio Grande near its headwaters and following it into the desert. Beginning in Denver’s historic Five Points neighborhood, once known as the “Harlem of the West,” she explores the enduring legacy of jazz and soul food. Near Breckenridge, she ventures deep into a historic gold mine, uncovering the stories, traditions, and folklore that helped shape the American Southwest. In Colorado’s San Luis Valley, where the Rio Grande comes down out of the mountains, Pati meets fourth-generation farmers pioneering a sustainable future through water-conscious agriculture and innovative farm-to-tap brewing. Crossing into New Mexico, she discovers how communities have adapted to life in the desert for centuries. In Taos, she helps a young couple build an adobe home using traditional techniques and learns how historic water-sharing systems continue to sustain local life. In Española, she joins students in a classroom where cooking empowers the next generation through food, culture, and education. The journey culminates in Albuquerque at Casa Sefarad, where Pati connects with descendants of Sephardic Jews whose traditions survived centuries of migration, secrecy, and resilience. Their stories of survival send Pati back to her own family’s history of arriving in Mexico as refugees. Through music, food, architecture, faith, and farming, each stop reveals a different way people have adapted and thrived in a challenging landscape. Together, these stories show that, like the waters of the Rio Grande itself, culture flows across borders, generations, and communities, nourishing everything along the way.