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American Experience Season 26 Episodes
Season 26 Episode Guide
9 Episodes 2013 - 2014
Episode 1
War of the Worlds
Tue, Oct 29, 201353 mins
An account of Orson Welles' 1938 radio drama broadcast that inadvertently started a mass panic.
Episode 2
JFK: Part 1
Mon, Nov 11, 2013113 mins
JFK's campaign for president is the first to be waged on television, a distinct advantage for the telegenic candidate. Despite his lack of legislative achievements and his Catholicism -- which many Americans see as a negative -- Kennedy wins the election on the promise that he will stand up to the Soviets and protect American preeminence in the world.
Episode 3
JFK: Part 2
Tue, Nov 12, 2013111 mins
This episode follows Kennedy into the White House, offering fresh assessments of the successes and failures of his tenure. In 1961, the most challenging issue facing the new administration is the spread of communism and continuing Cold War fears. Only a few months into his first term, Kennedy launches the Bay of Pigs invasion, an unmitigated disaster that teaches him a powerful lesson. Nikita Khrushchev proves a stubborn foe, and Kennedy takes a stand against the spread of communism in a country few Americans had ever heard of--Vietnam. On the domestic front, civil rights prove tricky for the administration, as they rely heavily on the support of Southern Democrats. Forced to intervene when Freedom Riders take direct action in Southern states, the administration sends in federal marshals to ensure their safety. Health issues continue to plague the president and pain is a constant companion. Glamorous first lady Jackie captivates the world on her travels, while rumors of the president's womanizing continue in Washington.
Episode 4
The Poisoner's Handbook
Tue, Jan 7, 2014113 mins
From PBS and AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: In the early 20th century, the average American medicine cabinet was a would-be poisoner's treasure chest, with radioactive radium, thallium, and morphine in everyday products. The pace of industrial innovation increased, but the scientific knowledge to detect and prevent crimes committed with these materials lagged behind until 1918. New York City's first scientifically trained medical examiner, Charles Norris, and his chief toxicologist, Alexander Gettler, turned forensic chemistry into a formidable science and set the standards for the rest of the country.
Episode 5
1964
Tue, Jan 14, 2014114 mins
From PBS - 1964 was the year the Beatles came to America, Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali, and three civil rights workers were murdered in Mississippi. It was the year when Berkeley students rose up in protest, African Americans fought back against injustice in Harlem, and Barry Goldwater's conservative revolution took over the Republican Party. Based in part on The Last Innocent Year: America in 1964 by Jon Margolis, 1964 follows some of the most influential figures of the time -- Lyndon B. Johnson, Barry Goldwater, Betty Friedan -- but also brings out from the shadows the stories of ordinary Americans whose principled stands would set the country onto a new and different course.
Episode 6
The Amish: Shunned
Tue, Feb 4, 2014113 mins
From pbs.org What is it like to be cut off from your faith and your family? The Amish: Shunned follows seven people who have chosen to leave their closed and tightly-knit communities for the outside world, knowing they can never return. Each has paid deeply for their decision. Estranged from loved ones, these former Amish find themselves struggling to make their way in modern America.
Episode 7
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Tue, Feb 11, 201457 mins
The true story of outlaws Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, whose turn of the last century exploits made headlines, led them to be pursued by Pinkerton detectives hired by the railroads, and inspired the hit 1969 film starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford.
Episode 8
The Rise and Fall of Penn Station
Tue, Feb 18, 201455 mins
In 1910, the Pennsylvania Railroad successfully accomplished an enormous engineering feat: knitting together the entire eastern half of the United States by building tunnels under New York City's Hudson and East Rivers, connecting the railroad to New York and, eventually, to New England. The tunnels terminated in what was one of the greatest architectural achievements of its time, Pennsylvania Station. Designed by renowned architect Charles McKim, and inspired by the Roman baths of Caracalla, Pennsylvania Station covered nearly eight acres, extended two city blocks, and housed one of the largest public spaces in the world. But just 53 years after the station's opening, the unthinkable happened. What was supposed to herald and represent the American Empire was slated to be destroyed. The financially strapped Pennsylvania Railroad announced it would tear down what had once been its crowning jewel to build Madison Square Garden. It took three years to dismantle Alexander Cassatt's monumental station. In the wake of the destruction, New York City established the Landmarks Preservation Commission, sparing Grand Central Terminal a similar fate.
Episode 9
Freedom Summer
Tue, Jun 24, 2014
This documentary recalls the confrontational, violent summer of 1964 in Mississippi, when student volunteers from around the country joined with local activists in an effort to register to vote as many African-Americans as possible.