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TV series

American Experience

1988TV-PG37 seasons6.5 / 10

TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.

Streaming, rental and purchase options

Where to watch in United States

Checked Jul 22, 2026

American Experience is available to stream on DirecTV On Demand, Hoopla, and YouTube TV in United States. You can also rent or buy it from Google Play, Amazon, Apple TV, and Fandango at Home. Use the direct links below to open the provider.

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Synopsis

TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.

Season 37 episodes

Choose an episode, then use the watch options above for the show.

← Season 36

Episode 1

Forgotten Hero: Walter White and The NAACP

1h 53m2.0 / 10

While many consider the birth of the civil rights movement to be 1955, when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on an Alabama bus, the stage had been set decades before by activists of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Some of the NAACP leaders are familiar, including W.E.B. Du Bois and Thurgood Marshall, but Walter White, head of the NAACP from 1929 to 1955, has been all but forgotten. With his blond hair and blue eyes, Walter White looked white; he described himself as “an enigma, a Black man occupying a white body.” Like virtually all light-skinned African Americans of his day, White was descended from enslaved Black women and powerful white men. But he was Black — by law, identity, and conviction and spent his entire life fighting for Black civil rights. Forgotten Hero: Walter White and the NAACP traces the life of this neglected civil rights hero and seeks to explain his disappearance from our history.

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Episode 2

Change, Not Charity: The Americans with Disabilities Act

53m2.0 / 10

The emotional and dramatic story of the decades-long push for equality and accessibility that culminated in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990. A story of courage and perseverance, the film highlights the determined people who literally put their bodies on the line to achieve their goal and change the lives of all Americans.

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Episode 3

Mr. Polaroid

52m5.0 / 10

Before the iPhone, the Polaroid camera let people instantly chronicle their lives. Along with instant photo mania, its company culture became the model for Silicon Valley. Mr. Polaroid is the story of Edwin Land, the man behind the camera.

Episode credits

Directed by Gene TempestWritten by Gene Tempest

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Episode 4

Clearing the Air: The War on Smog

53m2.4 / 10

A chronicle of how Los Angeles' devastating smog problem in the 1940s and 50s led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Clean Air Act.

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Episode 5

Hard Hat Riot

1h 21m2.1 / 10

Hard Hat Riot tells the story of a struggling metropolis, a flailing president, a divided people, and a bloody juncture when the nation violently diverged ― culminating in a new political and cultural landscape that radically redefined American politics and foreshadowed the future.

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Episode 6

Kissinger (1): The Necessity of Power

1h 23m2.1 / 10

The story of Henry Kissinger, the enigmatic powerbroker who served in the topmost echelons of U.S. diplomacy. Celebrated or reviled, his contradictions reflect those central to late 20th century U.S. foreign policy. With interviews from proteges and colleagues, Kissinger endeavors to understand his relentless drive for power, and how his policies shaped today’s world.

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Episode 7

Kissinger (2): The Opportunist

1h 23m2.0 / 10

Discover how Henry Kissinger's anti-Communist zeal would shape U.S. foreign policy in Vietnam, China, Chile, and the Soviet Union in the second half of the 20th century, through the voices of historians and colleagues.

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Episode 8

Bombshell

1h 23m1.0 / 10

The efforts of a group of intrepid reporters to let the world know the truth about the bombings of Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.

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Episode information updated Jul 24, 2026

More about American Experience

Cast

Liev SchreiberNarrator (voice)
Linda HuntSelf - Narrator (voice)
Jason RobardsNarrator (voice)
Peter CoyoteNarrator (voice)
Alfre WoodardNarrator (voice)
Dion GrahamSelf - Narrator (voice)
Joe MortonNarrator (voice)
René AuberjonoisWoodrow Wilson (voice)

Production details

Status
Returning Series
Series type
Documentary
Episodes
396
Original language
English

Networks & production

  • PBSUnited States
  • GBHUnited States

Themes

biographycurrent affairsmedia coverageusa history