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American Experience

American Experience Season 17

Watch 'American Experience' Season 17 Online

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Season 17 Episodes

100

1. RFK (Part 1 & 2)

October 4th, 200455 min

A shy, if driven man, Robert Kennedy "wasn't built for the spotlight, he was built for the wings," says journalist Jack Newfield. While John Kennedy was alive, that's where Bobby stayed -- making certain that JFK remained in the spotlight.

2. The Fight

January 24th, 200555 min

"The Fight" recalls the June 1938 heavyweight title bout between Joe Louis and the German Max Schmeling, and assesses its political and social ramifications. "It was going to pit whole nations and whole ideologies against each other," says narrator Courtney B. Vance. Producer-director Barak Goodman also explores Louis's place in America's racial divide as well as the genial Schmeling's ties to Hitler.

3. Fidel Castro

January 31st, 200555 min

Fidel Castro's march through Cuba and the second half of the 20th century is chronicled by filmmaker Adriana Bosch. Here, Cuban exiles and former Castro confreres, foreign-policy experts, a former Castro brother-in-law and his daughter Alina Fernandez paint a portrait of a dictator, a social reformer -- and a survivor.

4. Building the Alaska Highway

February 7th, 200555 min

Recalls the construction of the 1500-mile "shortcut to Tokyo" through Canada in 1942 by 11,000 U.S. troops (4,000 of them black). It wasn't the Army's greatest World War II triumph, but it was one of the first, and it gave Americans, who feared a Japanese buildup in the Aleutians, a needed morale boost. This hour is light on military and engineering detail, and packed with proud GIs recalling mud, cold and toil.

80

5. Kinsey

February 14th, 200555 min

Profiling Dr. Alfred Kinsey, the Indiana University zoologist whose "revolutionary picture of American sexuality" rocked the country in the late 1940s and early '50s. Filmmakers Barak Goodman and John Maggio interview Kinsey colleagues and biographers, along with people took part in his studies, to paint a portrait of an "unyielding" proponent of sexual freedom who practiced what he preached. Says sexologist Paul Gebhard, a Kinsey assistant: "He was a rebel."

6. Mary Pickford

April 4th, 200555 min

Profiling Mary Pickford, the silent-screen "sweetheart" who blazed the trail to Hollywood and became "America's first superstar." Pickford (1893-1979) was also an astute businesswoman: She founded United Artists with Charlie Chaplin and her husband-to-be Douglas Fairbanks. But, as filmmaker Sue Williams stresses here, there was no glorious sunset. As Pickford biographer Eileen Whitfield puts it, she was "the first has-been created by film."

7. The Great Transatlantic Cable

April 11th, 200555 min

Cyrus Field's struggle to lay telegraph cables across the Atlantic in the 1850s and '60s is chronicled. When Field finally succeeded, in 1866, it marked "the annihilation of space and time," says historian David Czitrom. But the 13-year effort -- recalled here in re-creations and comments from historians and engineers -- included many false starts and one spectacular failure. Still, says Czitrom, "he never let up."

8. The Massie Affair

April 18th, 200555 min

"The Massie Affair" chronicles a 1931 Honolulu rape case involving a young white Navy wife that became even more serious when one of the acquitted Hawaiian defendants was later kidnapped and murdered. Although marital discord and social "honor" play into the story, it's mostly about stark racial injustice that touched even the White House. It uncovers "cold, hard truths about America and the people who ruled it."

9. Victory in the Pacific

May 2nd, 200555 min

10. The Carter Family: Will the Circle Be Unbroken?

May 9th, 200555 min

Recalls "the first family of country music" in interviews with Carter relatives, music writers, and singers Gillian Welch, Joan Baez, Marty Stuart and Rodney Crowell. The tough early lives of A.P. Carter, his sister Maybelle and wife Sara were lightened by music, and their 1927 RCA audition proved to be "the big bang of commercial country music." But A.P. and Sara's marriage couldn't survive the turmoil that followed.

11. Guerilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst

May 23rd, 200555 min

All Seasons

Season 36

Season 36

Jan 23, 2024
Season 35

Season 35

Jan 3, 2023
Season 34

Season 34

Feb 7, 2022
Season 33

Season 33

Jan 11, 2021
Season 32

Season 32

Jan 6, 2020
Season 31

Season 31

Jan 15, 2019
Season 30

Season 30

Jan 9, 2018
Season 29

Season 29

Jan 10, 2017
Season 28

Season 28

Jan 19, 2016
Season 27

Season 27

Jan 6, 2015
Season 26

Season 26

Jan 7, 2014
Season 25

Season 25

Jan 8, 2013
Season 24

Season 24

Jan 10, 2012
Season 23

Season 23

Oct 11, 2010
Season 22

Season 22

Nov 2, 2009
Season 21

Season 21

Jan 26, 2009
Season 20

Season 20

Jan 14, 2008
Season 19

Season 19

Oct 2, 2006
Season 18

Season 18

Oct 17, 2005
Season 17

Season 17

Oct 4, 2004
Season 16

Season 16

Sep 8, 2003
Season 15

Season 15

Nov 11, 2002
Season 14

Season 14

Sep 10, 2001
Season 13

Season 13

Oct 17, 2000
Season 12

Season 12

Nov 14, 1999
Season 11

Season 11

Nov 18, 1998
Season 10

Season 10

Oct 5, 1997
Season 9

Season 9

Oct 6, 1996
Season 8

Season 8

Oct 16, 1995
Season 7

Season 7

Oct 12, 1994
Season 6

Season 6

Oct 27, 1993
Season 5

Season 5

Sep 20, 1992
Season 4

Season 4

Sep 30, 1991
Season 3

Season 3

Aug 27, 1990
Season 2

Season 2

Oct 3, 1989
Season 1

Season 1

Oct 4, 1988
Specials

Specials

Jan 15, 2003