Don’t Miss This Powerful Documentary About Book Banning & School Censorship
Since 2022, Beaufort, South Carolina has been home to a debate about book banning and school curriculum censorship that continues to be one of the biggest censorship stories of 2025. Just last week, the South Carolina State Department of Education was supposed to vote on whether ten more books should be removed from school libraries. (The vote has been tabled until next month.)
As my colleague Kelly Jensen has explained in her diligent ongoing coverage, book bans are about far more than the books in question. They are intentional, coordinated attempts to tear down publicly funded institutions, erode First Amendment rights, and erase the identities, stories, and experiences of LGBTQ+ folks and people of color. A new documentary called Banned Together brings these truths to light, following three student activists from Beaufort as they work to fight a 2022 ban that removed 97 titles from public school libraries. Banned Together also features librarians and educators whose lives and work have been disrupted by book bans and threats from far-right activists, authors whose work has been targeted, and politicians at every level of government who are working to protect intellectual freedom and freedom of expression.
It’s a powerful, painful, inspiring, and infuriating watch, and it’s perfect for sharing with family, friends, and neighbors who are interested or open to learning more about exactly how deep and widespread book banning efforts are and what to do about them. Banned Together is streaming now on Apple TV+.
Hear producer Allyson Rice and producer/director Tom Wiggins discuss the making of the documentary on this episode of the Book Riot Podcast.
