Watch American Experience Season 14 Episode 12: A Brilliant Madness

This much-honored PBS documentary series explores American history, one topic or person at a time. Its Peabody Award winners include profiles of FDR and Malcolm X, and such diverse topics as Nixon's 1972 trip to China, the controversy surrounding `Citizen Kane' when it was released, and the Battle of the Bulge. In addition, its Scottsboro Boys film won an...

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Season 14, Episode 12 A Brilliant Madness

First Aired: April 28, 2002

Mathematics genius John Nash recalls his bout with schizophrenia (the subject dramatized in the Oscar-winning film “A Beautiful Mind”). Nash is joined by his wife, Alicia; son John Stier; colleagues; and author Sylvia Nasar, who wrote the book from which the movie was adapted. They (and narrator Liev Schreiber) recall Nash's prodigious intellect, arrogant demeanor and odd behavior. He developed his “equilibrium point” theory as a student, but then lost his own equilibrium. It would take 30 years, but the theory would come to revolutionize economics and win him the Nobel Prize. And Nash would regain his mind.

Guest Cast

Liev Schreiber

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Premiered: October 4, 1988
Rating: TV-PG
Premise: This much-honored PBS documentary series explores American history, one topic or person at a time. Its Peabody Award winners include profiles of FDR and Malcolm X, and such diverse topics as Nixon's 1972 trip to China, the controversy surrounding `Citizen… (more)

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