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Jim Allison: Breakthrough

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Independent Lens Season 23

Cured

Season 23 Episode 1
54:25
Storm Lake

Storm Lake

Season 23 Episode 3
1:25:48
Missing in Brooks County

Missing in Brooks County

Season 23 Episode 7
1:25:19
Hazing

Hazing

Season 24 Episode 1
1:43:28
TikTok, Boom.

TikTok, Boom.

Season 24 Episode 2
1:24:57
Move Me

Move Me

Season 24 Episode 3
1:22:17
Children of Las Brisas

Children of Las Brisas

Season 24 Episode 4
1:22:50
The Big Payback

The Big Payback

Season 24 Episode 5
1:25:13
No Straight Lines

No Straight Lines

Season 24 Episode 6
1:25:44
The Picture Taker

The Picture Taker

Season 24 Episode 7
1:25:44
Outta the Muck

Outta the Muck

Season 24 Episode 8
1:25:44
Love in the Time of Fentanyl

Love in the Time of Fentanyl

Season 24 Episode 9
1:25:48
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Independent Lens

Jim Allison: Breakthrough

Season 21 Episode 15

The story of one warmhearted, stubborn man’s visionary quest to find a cure for cancer, Jim Allison: Breakthrough is an homage to an unconventional superhero — a pioneering, harmonica-playing scientist from a small town in Texas who triumphed over a doubtful medical establishment to save innumerable lives around the world and win the Nobel Prize.

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