PBS (Firm)
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Uniquely adept at art as well as commerce, Walt Disney was a master filmmaker who harnessed the power of technology to tell stories of outsiders struggling for acceptance and belonging, while questioning the conventions of class and authority. As Disney rose to prominence and gained financial security, his work became increasingly celebratory of the American way of life that made his unlikely success possible.. A polarizing figure - though true believers...
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Vividly bringing to life the epic struggles of the men and women who fought to end slavery, THE ABOLITIONISTS tells the intertwined stories of Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Angelina Grimke, Harriet Beecher Stowe and John Brown. Fighting body and soul, they led the most important civil rights crusade in American history. What began as a pacifist movement became a fiery and furious struggle that forever changed the nation. Black and white,...
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Drawing on unpublished diaries, memoirs and letters, THE GREAT WAR tells the rich and complex story of World War I through the voices of nurses, journalists, aviators and the American troops who came to be known as “doughboys.” The series explores the experiences of African-American and Latino soldiers, suffragists, Native American “code talkers” and others whose participation in the war to “make the world safe for democracy” has been...
Formats
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A documentary series on the history of American slavery from its beginnings in the British colonies through the years of post-Civil War Reconstruction. Narrated by **Oscar**-winner Morgan Freeman, SLAVERY AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA examines the integral role slavery played in shaping the new country and challenges the long held notion that it was exclusively a Southern enterprise. The remarkable stories of individual slaves offer fresh perspectives...
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On August 15th, 1914, the Panama Canal opened, connecting the world's two largest oceans and signaling America's emergence as a global superpower. This AMERICAN EXPERIENCE film using an extraordinary archive of photographs and footage, interviews with canal workers and firsthand accounts of life in the Canal Zone, unravels the remarkable story of one of the world's most significant technological achievements..
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In a special developing report, FRONTLINE examines the unfolding chaos in Iraq and how the U.S. is being pulled back into the conflict.. Drawing on interviews with policymakers and military leaders, the investigative team behind The Lost Year in Iraq, The Torture Question, Endgame and Bush's War traces the U.S. role from the 2003 invasion to the current violence -- exploring how Iraq itself is coming undone, how we got here, what went wrong and what...
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How did ancient Egyptians build the Great Pyramid at Giza, joining two million blocks of heavy stone with amazing precision? Who were the leaders who built these enormous structures, and what did these tombs signify?. Host David Macaulay explores the history, mythology, and religions of Egypt's people, combining live footage and animation. Take a rare look at the mummy of Ramses II and buried treasure in the sacred Valley of the Kings..
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The Interrupters presents unforgettable profiles in courage, as three former street criminals in Chicago place themselves in the line of fire to protect their communities. The two-hour film follows the lives of these “Violence Interrupters,” who include the charismatic daughter of one of the city’s most notorious former gang leaders, the son of a murdered father, and a man haunted by a killing he committed as a teenager.. As they intervene in...
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In a special two-part series, acclaimed filmmaker David Sutherland (The Farmer's Wife, Country Boys) creates an unforgettable portrait of Robin Charboneau, a 32-year-old divorced single mother and Oglala Sioux woman living on North Dakota's Spirit Lake Reservation.. Sutherland follows Robin over three years as she struggles to raise her two children, further her education, and heal herself from the wounds of sexual abuse she suffered as a child. Kind...
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A searing, two-hour investigation places America’s heroin crisis in a fresh and provocative light -- telling the stories of individual addicts, but also illuminating the epidemic's years-in-the-making social context, deeply examining shifts in U.S. drug policy, and exploring what happens when addiction is treated like a public health issue, not a crime..
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After four years and three government investigations, Gov. Rick Scott of Florida has assigned a new special prosecutor to re-examine the circumstances surrounding the shooting death of a deputy sheriff’s girlfriend who was in the process of breaking up with him.. The death of Michelle O’Connell, 24, in September 2010 continues to stir strong emotions in northeast Florida and beyond in part because the local sheriff and medical examiner, after...
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The life-sized terracotta warriors of China are known throughout the world. This clay army of 8,000 including infantry, archers, generals and cavalry was discovered by archaeologists in 1974 after farmers digging a well near the Chinese city of Xian unearthed pieces of clay sculpted in human form. An amazing archaeological find, the terracotta warriors date back more than two thousand years. But what was the purpose of this army of clay soldiers?...
14) Evolution Earth
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EVOLUTION EARTH embarks on a global expedition to reveal the animals keeping pace with a planet changing at superspeed. Heading out across the globe to distant wilds and modern urban environments, five episodes track how animals are moving, using ingenuity to adapt their behaviour, and even evolving in unexpected ways.
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In "Last Human Standing," the final program of the three-part series "Becoming Human," NOVA examines the fate of the Neanderthals, our European cousins who died out as modern humans spread from Africa into Europe during the Ice Age. Did modern humans interbreed with Neanderthals or exterminate them? The program explores crucial evidence from the recent decoding of the Neanderthal genome. How did modern humans take over the world? New evidence suggests...
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The Island of Shikoku in Japan is the birthplace of the most revered figure in Japanese Buddhism, the monk and teacher Kobo Daishi, who brought a populist form of Buddhism to Japan from China in the 9th Century. For hundreds of years, a 750-mile pilgrimage route has circled this mountainous island, connecting 88 separate temples and shrines that claim connection to the Great Master – Kobo Daishi. Host Bruce Feiler circles the island, following a...
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When the Super Duper Computer calls Whyatt and the Super Readers to the Book Club, they're surprised to jump into a book about themselves: The Story of the Super Readers. Inside the book, floating letters lead Whyatt to new friends Pig, Red, and Princess Pea. Together they use their shared love of letters and words to foil the Big Bad Wolf's plans to blow EVERYTHING down and find that they're Super Heroes and Super Readers.
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As FRONTLINE reveals in The Trouble with Chicken, many of today’s inspection practices are rooted in laws passed more than a century ago. Inspectors test less than one bird a day, even in plants that process hundreds of thousands daily. That testing doesn’t measure the amount of salmonella found or differentiate between innocuous and dangerous types of the bacteria.. It all adds up to a seeming contradiction: A company can be meeting the government’s...
19) The War on Disco
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Explores the culture war that erupted over the rise of disco music. Originating in underground Black and gay clubs, disco unseated rock as America’s most popular music by the late 1970s. But many diehard rock fans viewed disco as shallow and superficial. The hostility came to a head on July 12, 1979, when a riot broke out at “Disco Demolition Night” at a baseball game in Chicago.