Episodes
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Part 2 |Taken Hostage | American Experience
S34 E6 - 1h 51m
Revisit the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, when 52 Americans were held hostage in Tehran, through stories of those whose ordeal riveted the world.
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Part 1 |Taken Hostage | American Experience
S34 E5 - 1h 52m
Revisit the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, when 52 Americans were held hostage in Tehran, through stories of those whose ordeal riveted the world.
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Plague at the Golden Gate
S34 E4 - 1h 52m
Discover how an outbreak of bubonic plague in 1900 set off fear and anti-Asian sentiment in San Francisco. This new documentary tells the gripping story of the race against time by health officials to save the city from the deadly disease.
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Flood in the Desert
S34 E3 - 52m 45s
Explore the 1928 dam collapse, the second deadliest disaster in California history. A colossal engineering failure, the dam was built by William Mulholland, who had ensured the growth of Los Angeles by bringing water to the city via aqueduct.
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The American Diplomat
S34 E2 - 52m 43s
Discover how three Black diplomats broke racial barriers at the US State
Department during the Cold War. Asked to represent the best of American ideals
abroad while facing discrimination at home, they left a lasting impact on the
Foreign Service. -
Riveted: The History of Jeans
S34 E1 - 52m 39s
Riveted: The History of Jeans reveals the fascinating and surprising story of the iconic American garment. They’re more than just a pair of pants — America’s tangled past is woven deeply into the indigo fabric. From its roots in slavery to the Wild West, youth culture, hippies, high fashion and hip-hop, jeans are the fabric on which the history of American ideology and politics are writ large.
Extras + Features
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William Mulholland
S34 E3 - 52s
In 1922, to meet the growing water needs of Los Angeles, William Mulholland began building the St. Francis Dam to create a reservoir for the Los Angeles–Owens River aqueduct.
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Trailer | The American Diplomat
S34 E2 - 1m 46s
Discover how three Black diplomats broke racial barriers at the US State
Department during the Cold War. Asked to represent the best of American ideals
abroad while facing discrimination at home, they left a lasting impact on the
Foreign Service. -
Chapter 1 | The American Diplomat
S34 E2 - 10m 49s
Discover how three Black diplomats broke racial barriers at the US State Department during the Cold War. Asked to represent the best of American ideals abroad while facing discrimination at home, they left a lasting impact on the
Foreign Service. -
Terence Todman
S34 E2 - 53s
Terence Todman’s diplomatic career spanned four decades: he was a U.S. ambassador to six nations and achieved the prestigious rank of career ambassador.
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Edward Dudley
S34 E2 - 45s
Edward Dudley saw that Black foreign service officers were restricted to the “Negro Circuit,” serving in just a handful of countries while white officers were transferred all over the world.
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Reframing The March on Washington
S34 E2 - 9m 47s
Edward R. Murrow, head of the United States Information Agency began producing a documentary about the upcoming March on Washington. But as the project neared completion, Murrow was losing a battle with cancer. And the film’s political opponents wanted to make sure it would never be seen. President Lyndon B. Johnson tasked a groundbreaking diplomat, Carl Rowan, with seeing the project through.
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Carl Rowan
S34 E2 - 52s
Carl Rowan was one of the highest ranking African American in the history of the State Department during the 20th century. In 1964 Lyndon Johnson appointed Rowan as director of the U.S. Information Agency.
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Trailer | Riveted: The History of Jeans
S34 E1 - 1m 45s
Discover the fascinating story of this iconic American garment. From their roots in slavery to the Wild West, hippies, high fashion and hip-hop, jeans are the fabric on which the history of American ideology and politics is writ large.
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Origins of Denim
S34 E1 - 54s
Denim is the quintessential American fabric. Yet its possible origins are spread across the globe.
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When Blue Jeans Got a Bad Name
S34 E1 - 7m 14s
Over the fourth of July weekend in 1947, 4,000 motorcycle riders, wearing leather jackets and blue jeans roared into Hollister, California for a three-day rally. The small town woke to motorcyclists in an unusual uniform: leather jackets and blue jeans.
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Black Cowboys on the Silver Screen
S34 E1 - 6m 39s
Take a minute and picture the cowboy. He’s got on his hat and boots, maybe a gun on each hip, and, of course, his well-worn blue jeans.
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Chapter 1 | Riveted: The History of Jeans
S34 E1 - 11m 41s
Riveted: The History of Jeans reveals the fascinating and surprising story of the iconic American garment. They’re more than just a pair of pants — America’s tangled past is woven deeply into the indigo fabric. From its roots in slavery to the Wild West, youth culture, hippies, high fashion and hip-hop, jeans are the fabric on which the history of American ideology and politics are writ large.
Schedule
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Image
American Experience
The Vote
Friday
Mar 29
1 Hour
The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history. -
Image
American Experience
The Vote
Friday
Mar 29
1 Hour
The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history. -
Image
American Experience
The Cancer Detectives
Friday
Mar 29
1 Hour
The fight against cervical cancer and three people whose work helped slash death rates from the disease by more than 60 percent. -
Image
American Experience
The Cancer Detectives
Friday
Mar 29
1 Hour
The fight against cervical cancer and three people whose work helped slash death rates from the disease by more than 60 percent. -
Image
American Experience
The Cancer Detectives
Saturday
Mar 30
1 Hour
The fight against cervical cancer and three people whose work helped slash death rates from the disease by more than 60 percent. -
Image
American Experience
The Cancer Detectives
Saturday
Mar 30
1 Hour
The fight against cervical cancer and three people whose work helped slash death rates from the disease by more than 60 percent. -
Image
American Experience
The Vote
Saturday
Mar 30
1 Hour
The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history. -
Image
American Experience
Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space
Saturday
Mar 30
2 Hours
Author Zora Neale Hurston's anthropological work challenges assumptions about race, gender and cultural superiority that had been defined by the field in the 19th century. -
Image
American Experience
The Vote
Saturday
Mar 30
1 Hour
The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history. -
Image
American Experience
The Cancer Detectives
Saturday
Mar 30
1 Hour
The fight against cervical cancer and three people whose work helped slash death rates from the disease by more than 60 percent. -
Image
American Experience
Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space
Sunday
Mar 31
2 Hours
Author Zora Neale Hurston's anthropological work challenges assumptions about race, gender and cultural superiority that had been defined by the field in the 19th century. -
Image
American Experience
The Vote
Sunday
Mar 31
1 Hour
The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history. -
Image
American Experience
The Vote
Sunday
Mar 31
1 Hour
The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history. -
Image
American Experience
The Cancer Detectives
Sunday
Mar 31
1 Hour
The fight against cervical cancer and three people whose work helped slash death rates from the disease by more than 60 percent. -
Image
American Experience
The Cancer Detectives
Sunday
Mar 31
1 Hour
The fight against cervical cancer and three people whose work helped slash death rates from the disease by more than 60 percent. -
Image
American Experience
The Vote
Sunday
Mar 31
1 Hour
The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history. -
Image
American Experience
The Vote
Sunday
Mar 31
1 Hour
The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history. -
Image
American Experience
The Vote
Sunday
Mar 31
1 Hour
The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history. -
Image
American Experience
The Vote
Sunday
Mar 31
1 Hour
The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history. -
Image
American Experience
The Vote
Monday
Apr 1
1 Hour
The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history.
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