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 Sep 3, 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
Though their exploits were romanticized, the Barrow gang was believed responsible for at least 23 murders, including two policemen, as well as numerous robberies and kidnappings. Discover the true story of the most famous outlaw couple in U.S. history -- Bonnie and Clyde.
Where to watch American Experience
Episode 2
The story of small people going up against very big forces for a better nation. In the first two decades of the 20th century, coal miners and coal companies in West Virginia clashed in a series of brutal conflicts over labor conditions and unionization.
Where to watch American Experience
Episode 3
The story of James Garfield, one of the most extraordinary men ever elected president, and his assassination by a deluded madman named Charles Guiteau. The story follows Garfield's unprecedented rise to power, his shooting only four months into his presidency, and its bizarre and heartbreaking aftermath.
Where to watch American Experience
Episode 4
The shocking story of Richard Leopold and Nathan Loeb, two wealthy college students who murdered a 14-year-old boy in 1924 to prove they were smart enough to get away with it.
Where to watch American Experience
Episode 5
In the 1950s and early '60s, a small band of high-altitude pioneers exposed themselves to the extreme forces of the space age long before NASA's acclaimed Mercury 7 would make headlines. Though largely forgotten today, balloonists were the first to venture into the frozen near-vacuum on the edge of our world, exploring the very limits of human physiology and human ingenuity in this lethal realm.
Directed by Amanda PollakWritten by Amanda PollakGuest stars Michael Murphy, Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Ken Hollings, Alan Shepard, Deke Slayton
Episode 6
The story of nine working-class young men from the University of Washington who took the rowing world and America by storm when they captured the gold medal at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. Their unexpected victory, against not only the Ivy League teams of the East Coast but Adolf Hitler's elite German rowers, gave hope to a nation struggling to emerge from the depths of the Great Depression.
Directed by Margaret GrossiWritten by Aaron R. CohenGuest stars Oliver Platt
Episode 7
Meet Nikola Tesla, the genius engineer and tireless inventor whose technology revolutionized the electrical age of the 20th century. Although eclipsed in fame by Edison and Marconi, it was Tesla's vision that paved the way for today's wireless world.
Written by David GrubinGuest stars Michael Murphy, Marc Seifer, Jane Alcorn, Harold Clark, Peter Fisher, Samantha Hunt, Jill Jonnes, John M. Staudenmaier
Episode 8
View the intense battle in intimate detail in this vivid narrative of combat and survival in the first major military clash of the Cold War.
Where to watch American ExperienceEpisode information updated Sep 15, 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 AuberjonoisAlexander Hamilton (voice)
PBSUnited States
GBHUnited StatesMore shows like American Experience.
