TV series
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
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.
TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.
Choose an episode, then use the watch options above for the show.
Episode 1
A brilliant scientist, Oppenheimer was tasked with the development of the atomic bomb in the top-secret Manhattan Project at Los Alamos, New Mexico during World War II.
Guest stars Campbell Scott
Episode 2
The story of the polio crusade pays tribute to a time when Americans banded together to conquer a terrible disease. The medical breakthrough saved countless lives and had a pervasive impact on American philanthropy that continues to be felt today.
Guest stars Linda Hunt
Episode 3
On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. Over the next twelve days, as a fractured nation mourned, the largest manhunt ever attempted closed in on his assassin, the renowned 26-year-old actor John Wilkes Booth. The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln recounts this great American drama: two tumultuous months when the joy of peace was shattered by the heartache of Lincoln’s death. Featuring Will Patton (Numb3rs, A Mighty Heart) as the voice of the assassin and narrated by Academy Award-winning actor Chris Cooper (Seabiscuit, Adaptation), the film includes interviews with the nation’s foremost Lincoln scholars, who recount a great American drama: two tumultuous months when the joy of peace was shattered by the heartache of Lincoln’s death.
Where to watch American Experience
Episode 4
From a small-town Texas murder emerged a landmark civil rights case. The little-known story of the Mexican American lawyers who took Hernandez v. Texas to the Supreme Court, challenging Jim Crow-style discrimination.
Where to watch American Experience
Episode 5
In March of 1621, in what is now southeastern Massachusetts, Massasoit, the leading sachem of the Wampanoag, sat down to negotiate with a ragged group of English colonists. Hungry, dirty, and sick, the pale-skinned foreigners were struggling to stay alive; they were in desperate need of Native help.
Directed by Chris EyreWritten by Sharon GrimbergGuest stars Marcos Akiaten, William Belleau, Benjamin Bratt, Tonantzin Carmelo, Mark S. Cartier, William Joseph Elk III, Nicholas Irons, Jill Lepore
Episode 6
In the spring of 1805, Tenskwatawa (actor Billy Merasty, Cree First Nation), a Shawnee, fell into a trance so deep that those around him believed he had died. When he finally stirred, the young prophet claimed to have met the Master of Life. He told those who crowded around to listen that the Indians were in dire straits because they had adopted white culture and rejected traditional spiritual ways.
Directed by Chris Eyre, Ric BurnsWritten by Mark Zwonitzer, Ric BurnsGuest stars Benjamin Bratt, Michael Greyeyes, Dwier Brown, Alex Meraz, Billy Merasty, Thosh Collins, Chevez Ezaneh, Lawrence Santiago
Episode 7
The Cherokee would call it Nu-No-Du-Na-Tlo-Hi-Lu, “The Trail Where They Cried.” On May 26, 1838, federal troops forced thousands of Cherokee from their homes in the Southeastern United States, driving them toward Indian Territory in Eastern Oklahoma. More than 4,000 died of disease and starvation along the way.
Directed by Chris EyreWritten by Mark ZwonitzerGuest stars Jackson Walker, Josh Blaylock, Benjamin Bratt, Carla-Rae, Kelly Finley, William J. Finley, Wesley French, Robert Hatch
Episode 8
In February of 1909, the indomitable Chiricahua Apache medicine man Geronimo lay on his deathbed. He summoned his nephew to his side, whispering, “I should never have surrendered. I should have fought until I was the last man alive.” It was an admission of regret from a man whose insistent pursuit of military resistance in the face of overwhelming odds confounded not only his Mexican and American enemies, but many of his fellow Apaches as well.
Where to watch American Experience
Episode 9
On the night of February 27, 1973, fifty-four cars rolled, horns blaring, into a small hamlet on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Within hours, some 200 Oglala Lakota and American Indian Movement (AIM) activists had seized the few major buildings in town and police had cordoned off the area. The occupation of Wounded Knee had begun. Demanding redress for grievances—some going back more than 100 years—the protesters captured the world's attention for 71 gripping days.
Where to watch American ExperienceEpisode information updated Jul 25, 2026
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)
PBSUnited States
GBHUnited StatesMore shows like American Experience.
