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8.6

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

American Experience

1988, Show

PBS

8.7

Noted Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has been helping people discover long-lost relatives hidden for generations within the branches of their family trees. Professor Gates utilizes a team of genealogists to reconstruct the paper trail left behind by our ancestors and the world’s leading geneticists to decode our DNA and help us travel thousands of years into the past to discover the origins of our earliest forebears.

Finding Your Roots

2012, Show

PBS

+15

8.8

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood is an American children's television series that was created and hosted by namesake Fred Rogers. The series originated in 1963 as Misterogers on CBC Television, and was later debuted in 1966 as Misterogers' Neighborhood on the regional Eastern Educational Network, followed by its US network debut on February 19, 1968, and it aired on NET and its successor, PBS, until August 31, 2001. The series is aimed primarily at preschool ages 2 to 5, but has been stated by PBS as "appropriate for all ages". Mister Rogers' Neighborhood was produced by Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA public broadcaster WQED and Rogers' non-profit production company Family Communications, Inc.; previously known as Small World Enterprises prior to 1971, the company was renamed The Fred Rogers Company after Rogers' death.

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood

1968, Show

PBS Kids Amazon Channel

7.7

Henry David Thoreau helped define modern environmentalism and nonviolent resistance, yet his life has been obscured by myth. The author of Walden and Civil Disobedience, he was brilliant but flawed, idealistic but opinionated. A writer, scientist and activist, his words resonate urgently with today’s challenges as humanity looks for ways to live in harmony with nature—and each other.

Henry David Thoreau

2026, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

8.7

PBS' premier science series helps viewers of all ages explore the science behind the headlines. Along the way, NOVA demystifies science and technology, and highlights the people involved in scientific pursuits.

NOVA

1974, Show

PBS

7.2

Examining the history of America through iconic symbols, objects and places; host David Rubenstein.

Iconic America

2023, Show

Hoopla

A documentary on the American Civil War narrated by Ken Burns, covering the secession of the Confederacy to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

The Civil War

1990, Show

Hoopla

Christopher Kimball's Milk Street Television

6.6

Let’s stop doing things in the kitchen that made sense in the 19th century but not in the 21st. Milk Street travels the world to bring you the very best ideas and techniques with no lists of hard-to-find ingredients, strange cookware, or all-day methods to slow you down.

Christopher Kimball's Milk Street Television

2017, Show

Amazon Prime Video

+11

7.8

In a quest for world domination, the Nazis built some of the biggest and deadliest pieces of military hardware and malevolent technology in history. This is the stories of the engineers who designed them and how these structures sparked a technological revolution that changed warfare forever.

Nazi Megastructures

2013, Show

fuboTV

+12

9.1

An immersive 360-degree narrative telling the epic story of the Vietnam War as it has never before been told on film. Featuring testimony from nearly 80 witnesses, including many Americans who fought in the war and others who opposed it, as well as Vietnamese combatants and civilians from both the winning and losing sides.

The Vietnam War

2017, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

8.9

One of the first cooking shows on American television, created and hosted by Julia Child on public television to introduce the French way of cooking. It emphasized fresh ingredients, many of which were unfamiliar to Americans. Based on the books she co-authored, entitled Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

The French Chef

1963, Show

Amazon Prime Video

+17

Go inside the minds of some of the world's top chefs. Narrated by Executive Producer Anthony Bourdain, The Mind of a Chef is that rare and beautiful thing: an intelligent show about cooking.

The Mind of a Chef

2012, Show

PBS

+15

7.1

Explore monumental changes in the workplace and the long-term impact on workers, employers, educators and communities. Employment is part of the American Dream. Will the future provide opportunities for jobs that sustain families and the nation?

Future of Work

2021, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

7.6

This documentary for PBS by award-winning filmmaker David Grubin and narrated by Richard Gere, tells the story of the Buddha’s life, a journey especially relevant to our own bewildering times of violent change and spiritual confusion. It features the work of some of the world’s greatest artists and sculptors, who across two millennia, have depicted the Buddha’s life in art rich in beauty and complexity. Hear insights into the ancient narrative by contemporary Buddhists, including Pulitzer Prize winning poet W.S. Merwin and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Join the conversation and learn more about meditation, the history of Buddhism, and how to incorporate the Buddha’s teachings on compassion and mindfulness into daily life.

The Buddha

2010, Movie

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

8.6

Jazz is a ten part series that explores the evolution – and the genius – of America’s greatest original art form, focusing on the extraordinary men and women who could do something remarkable – create art on the spot. Jazz celebrates their profoundly enduring, endlessly varied, and infinitely alluring music in the context of the complicated country that gave birth to and influenced it, and was in turn transformed by it.

Jazz

2001, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

8.7

Americans consider themselves a 'nation of immigrants', but as the catastrophe of the Holocaust unfolds in Europe, the U.S. prove unwilling to open its doors to more than a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of desperate refuge seekers. Through riveting firsthand testimony of witnesses and survivors who as children endured persecution, violence and flight as their families tried to escape Hitler, this three-part documentary series delves deeply into the tragic human consequences of public indifference, bureaucratic red tape and restrictive quota laws in America. Did the nation fail to live up to its ideals? This is a history to be reckoned with.

The U.S. and the Holocaust

2022, Show

PBS

8.2

The history of the rise, rule and fall of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and the entire era it encompassed (1920-33). After nearly a century of activism, Prohibition was intended to improve the lives of all citizens by protecting individuals, families and society at large from the devastating effects of alcohol abuse; but paradoxically it made millions of people rethink their definition of morality.

Prohibition

2011, Show

PBS

The story of the Second World War through the personal accounts of a handful of men and women from four American towns. The war touched the lives of every family on every street in every town in America and demonstrated that in extraordinary times, there are no ordinary lives.

The War

2007, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

Heart of the World: Colorado's National Parks

5.5

Heart of the World delves into the true wonder and beauty of nature, taking us through the centuries of some of the most spectacular sights on earth - Colorado's National Parks. With stunning photography of the parks filmed throughout the seasons, these three hour-long episodes explore the geological history of each park, the forces of nature that changed them, and the people they have inspired.

Heart of the World: Colorado's National Parks

2016, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

8.4

The American Revolution was at once a war for independence, a war of conquest, a civil war, and a world war, fought by neighbors on American farms and between global powers an ocean or more away. It impacted millions from Vermont’s Green Mountains to the swamps of South Carolina, from Indian Country to the Iberian Peninsula. In defeating the British Empire and giving birth to a new nation, the American Revolution turned the world upside-down. Thirteen colonies on the Atlantic Coast united in rebellion, won their independence, and established a republic that still endures. The American Revolution will present the story of the men and women of the Revolutionary generation, their humanity in victory and defeat, and the crisis that they lived through.

The American Revolution

2025, Show

PBS

8.6

Filmed over the course of more than six years at some of nature's most spectacular locales – from Acadia to Yosemite, Yellowstone to the Grand Canyon, the Everglades of Florida to the Gates of the Arctic in Alaska - “The National Parks: America's Best Idea” is nonetheless a story of people: people from every conceivable background – rich and poor; famous and unknown; soldiers and scientists; natives and newcomers; idealists, artists and entrepreneurs; people who were willing to devote themselves to saving some precious portion of the land they loved, and in doing so reminded their fellow citizens of the full meaning of democracy.

The National Parks: America's Best Idea

2009, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

6.6

Dig deep into the origin story of Black gospel music, coming out of slavery, blending with the blues tradition, and soaring to new heights during the Great Migration. From Mahalia to Kirk Franklin, in the last century, gospel music has become the dominant form of African American religious expression and provided a soundtrack of healing and uplift to those at the front lines of protest and change.

Gospel

2024, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

7.6

Learn how six dictators, from Mussolini to Saddam Hussein, shaped the 20th century. How did they seize and lose power? What forces were against them? Learn the answers in these six immersive hours, each a revealing portrait of brutality and power.

The Dictator's Playbook

2018, Show

PBS

6.2

Watching animals care for their young is a powerful reminder of the bonds we all share as living species on the planet. Take a heartwarming look at baby animals as they playfully find their way in the world.

Baby Animals

2015, Show

PBS Kids Amazon Channel

+14

8.3

Explore the revolutionary life of one of the 18th century’s most consequential and compelling personalities, whose work and words unlocked the mystery of electricity and helped create the United States.

Benjamin Franklin

2022, Show

PBS

8.8

Chronicles the lives of Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, three members of the most prominent and influential family in American politics. It is the first time in a major documentary television series that their individual stories have been interwoven into a single narrative. This seven-part, fourteen hour film follows the Roosevelts for more than a century, from Theodore’s birth in 1858 to Eleanor’s death in 1962.

The Roosevelts: An Intimate History

2014, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

7.1

A celebration of California’s wildlife and wild places, and their coexistence with the 40 million people who call it home. Famous for its beaches and Hollywood, California is also a wellspring of biodiversity. Bounded by mountains, deserts and the Pacific Ocean, here are iconic wild places like Yosemite National Park and Death Valley, as well as Baja California’s lesser-known wild beauty.

Planet California

2022, Show

PBS

8.1

This five-part series traces the story of Asian Americans, spanning 150 years of immigration, racial politics, international relations, and cultural innovation. It is a timely, clear-eyed look at the vital role that Asian Americans have played in defining who we are as a nation. Their stories are a celebration of the grit and resilience of a people that reflects the experience of all Americans.

Asian Americans

2020, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

7.1

According to recent science the Neanderthals are not the knuckle-dragging apemen of popular imagination. In fact they are our distant ancestors. About 2% of the DNA of most people is of Neanderthal origin—and it continues to affect us today. Ella Al-Shamahi enlists the skills of Andy Serkis, the master of performance capture, and a group of experts to investigate Neanderthals.

Neanderthals - Meet Your Ancestors

2018, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

9.1

Now Hear This is a primetime PBS miniseries now filming its 5th season that brings the greatest music ever written to millions of viewers, with modern storytelling that captivates. Now Hear This opens the world of classical music to new audiences, while giving existing fans new ways to love their music. Now Hear This is presented by Great Performances, celebrating its 50th season on PBS, and this year begins international distribution.

Now Hear This

2019, Show

Amazon Prime Video

8.4

The West, sometimes marketed as Ken Burns Presents: The West, is a documentary film about the American Old West. It was directed by Stephen Ives and the executive producer was Ken Burns. The film originally aired on PBS in September 1996.

The West

1996, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

7.2

A landmark, three-part series that tells the human story through our relationship to water. We find out how our success is intimately connected to our control of the molecule, but that the growth of our civilizations has also created a dangerous dependence on a precious resource. One that may be about to run out.

H2O: The Molecule that Made Us

2020, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

8.9

Explore the history of a uniquely American art form: country music. From its deep and tangled roots in ballads, blues and hymns performed in small settings, to its worldwide popularity, learn how country music evolved over the course of the 20th century, as it eventually emerged to become America’s music.

Country Music

2019, Show

PBS

7.4

Dolly Parton leads a moving, musical journey in this documentary that details the people and places who have helped shape her iconic career.

Dolly Parton: Here I Am

2019, Movie

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

8.6

Muhammad Ali brings to life the iconic heavyweight boxing champion who became an inspiration to people everywhere.

Muhammad Ali

2021, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

7.8

Witness the epic nature of Wild Scandinavia: orca, puffins and eagles rule the fjords; wolves and lynx patrol magical forests; polar bears and musk ox survive arctic extremes. Basejumpers and reindeer herders also embrace the wilderness.

Wild Scandinavia

2023, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

8.1

An epic yarn spanning most of the 18th century, the series follows Franklin's career from humble beginnings in Boston to international superstardom: first as a scientist and revolutionary, and then as a founding father and America's first diplomat to France.

Benjamin Franklin

2002, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

7.3

From wildfires to hurricanes to tornadoes, Weathered will teach you about natural disasters from the people who have survived them, as well as what you can do to prepare.

Weathered

2020, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

7.3

Traveling to the far corners of the world, we discover the extraordinary ways animals are adapting to our rapidly changing planet. We witness nature’s remarkable resilience, as our perception of evolution and its potential is forever transformed.

Evolution Earth

2023, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

7.7

This two-part, four-hour documentary delves into the world of a 15th-century art titan and unravels his journey while shedding light on his lasting impact on future generations.

Leonardo da Vinci

2024, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

8.3

The dramatic story of America's national mammal, which sustained the lives of Native people for untold generations, being driven to the brink of extinction, before an unlikely collection of people rescues it from disappearing forever. Ken Burns recounts the tragic collision of two opposing views of the natural world—and the unforgettable characters who pointed the nation in a different direction.

The American Buffalo

2023, Show

PBS

Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History

6.5

Four-part docuseries that explores the complex relationship between Black Americans and Jewish Americans - forged in shared struggle, tested by division, and representing a uniquely American experience.

Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History

2026, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise

7.6

A look at the last five decades of African American history since the major civil rights victories through the eyes of Henry Louis Gates, Jr., exploring the tremendous gains and persistent challenges of these years.

Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise

2016, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

5.5

Modern day participants attempt a recreation of daily life as it would have been in Plymouth Colony in 1628.

Colonial House

2004, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

9.1

The definitive story of the Civil Rights era from the point of view of the ordinary men and women whose extraordinary actions launched a movement that changed the fabric of American life, and embodied a struggle whose reverberation continue to be felt today.

Eyes on the Prize

1987, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

8.3

A stunning new documentary series exploring the incredible story of uranium, from its creation in an exploding star to its deployment in nuclear weapons, nuclear power, and nuclear medicine. It’s a journey across nine countries and more than a century of stories, to discover the rock that made the modern world. It’s part science, part history, and all epic adventure. Join physicist and YouTube phenomenon Dr. Derek Muller as he reveals the untold story of the most wondrous and terrifying rock on Earth.

Uranium: Twisting the Dragon's Tail

2015, Show

PBS

8.2

Plunge into the Pacific with researchers and cinematographers and see the ocean’s rare and dazzling creatures in a way never before seen on television. The show examines an ocean that covers a third of the Earth’s surface.

Big Pacific

2017, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

8.1

The visionary work and the turbulent life of Ernest Hemingway, one of the greatest and most influential writers America has ever produced. Interweaving his eventful biography with carefully selected excerpts from his iconic short stories, novels, and non-fiction, the series reveals the brilliant, ambitious, charismatic, and complicated man behind the myth, and the art he created.

Hemingway

2021, Show

PBS

In the frigid valleys of Japan's Shiga Highlands, a troop of snow monkeys make their way and raise their families in a complex society of rank and privilege where each knows their place. Their leader is still new to the job and something of a solitary grouch. But one little monkey, innocently unaware of his own lowly social rank, reaches out to this lonely leader, forming a bond with him that manages over time to warm his less than sunny disposition. It is a rare and remarkable gesture that alters both their lives. Changing seasons bring new babies to care for, a profusion of insects and blossoms to eat, family disagreements to squabble over and tragedies to overcome. Mating season brings competition for females, as the days grow shorter and colder in a rush toward winter. But with their now confident leader to guide them and their families to shelter and care for them, this troop of snow monkeys is ready to face the world.

Wild Japan: Snow Monkeys

2014, Movie

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

One hundred years after the passage of the 19th Amendment, The Vote tells the dramatic culmination story of the hard-fought campaign waged by American women for the right to vote — a transformative cultural and political movement that resulted in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history.

The Vote

2020, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

7.1

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. His fertile but undisciplined imagination was the source of his genius but also his downfall, as the image of Tesla as a mad scientist came to overshadow his reputation as a brilliant innovator.

Tesla

2016, Movie

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

7.2

When he was executed outside a Havana prison on March 11, 1961, the strange story of William Morgan seemed to vanish from the popular imagination as quickly as it had appeared. William Alexander Morgan was one of only a couple dozen US citizens who joined Cuban rebel forces, fighting for Fidel Castro in 1957. With government documents recently declassified, new information has come to light and Morgan’s story has come back into the public eye. American Comandante has the makings of a Cold War thriller— with adventure, spies and historical figures such as J. Edgar Hoover and Chè Guevera. Eyewitness accounts from Morgan’s widow and several Cubans who fought alongside him, as well as commentary from journalists and biographers, tell the story of a man who transformed from a failure to a hero and celebrity. American Comandante is a quintessential American story of a man who reinvented himself.

American Comandante

2015, Movie

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

8.6

Vivian Howard takes viewers on a quest for a broader understanding of dishes that bind and define the modern American South.

Somewhere South

2020, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

7.3

Explore the world created by America’s First Peoples. This four part series reaches back 15,000 years to reveal massive cities aligned to the stars, unique systems of science and spirituality, and 100 million people connected by social networks spanning two continents.

Native America

2019, Show

PBS

7.5

Follow a growing number of inspiring people, fighting to save nature. Understand the impact of carbon on our planet and how nature is helping to mitigate its effects.

The Future of Nature

2024, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

8.1

A character-driven documentary and cooking series that takes viewers inside the life of Chef Vivian Howard, who, with her husband Ben Knight, left the big city to open a fine dining restaurant in small-town Eastern North Carolina.

A Chef's Life

2013, Show

PBS

+12

Breakthrough: The Ideas That Changed the World

8.2

Take a mind-blowing journey through human history, told through six iconic objects that modern people take for granted, and see how science, invention and technology built on one another to change everything.

Breakthrough: The Ideas That Changed the World

2019, Show

Disney Plus

7.7

Following the biggest archaeological excavation in Pompeii for a generation. Exciting discoveries and fresco-inspired animations tell the story of life in Pompeii AD 79.

Pompeii: The New Dig

2024, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

7.7

Historian Dan Jones explores the millennium of history behind six of Great Britain's most famous castles: Warwick, Dover, Caernarfon, the Tower of London, Carrickfergus, and Stirling.

Secrets of Great British Castles

2015, Show

Netflix

Horatio's Drive: America's First Road Trip

7.9

In the spring of 1903, on a whim and a fifty-dollar bet, Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson set off from San Francisco in a 20-horsepower Winton touring car hoping to become the first person to cross the United States in the new-fangled "horseless carriage." Most people doubted that the automobile had much of a future. Jackson's trip would prove them wrong.

Horatio's Drive: America's First Road Trip

2003, Movie

PBS Masterpiece Amazon Channel

Revealing the extraordinary animals, astonishing landscapes and remarkable people who live alongside the Zambezi, Danube and Yukon.

Earth's Great Rivers II

2022, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

7.8

Richard Hammond travels the globe to discover the unexplained and the unexpected, the unbelievable and the just plain unlikely, in an attempt to reveal the hidden world of weather.

Wild Weather with Richard Hammond

2014, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

America Outdoors with Baratunde Thurston

8.2

Follow Baratunde Thurston, bestselling author and podcaster, as he explores the country’s diverse landscapes to see how they shape the way we work, play and interact with the outdoors. From coal miners turned beekeepers in Appalachia to Black surfers catching waves in L.A., uncover a deeper understanding of our passionate and complex relationship with the natural world.

America Outdoors with Baratunde Thurston

2022, Show

PBS

In this four-part documentary series, leading Hollywood actors undertake a fascinating journey into their family's past by re-tracing the footsteps of their grandparents during World War Two. We follow the moving, personal stories of Helena Bonham Carter, Mark Rylance, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Carey Mulligan as they travel to historic locations, from the beaches of Dunkirk to prisoner of war camps in Asia, to learn about the war their grandparents experienced. All of the actors have unanswered questions about the scars war left on their grandparents, and in each episode one of the actors explore how six years changed the lives of their family and the world forever while learning about the life and death decisions that their grandparents faced.

My Grandparents' War

2019, Show

PBS

7.8

A five-part series that features the latest research exploring how early humans evolved. See how the mixing of prehistoric human genes led the way for our species to survive and thrive around the globe. Archaeology, genetics and anthropology cast new light on 200,000 years of history, detailing how early humans became dominant.

First Peoples

2015, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

8.8

The Power of Myth is a television series originally broadcast on PBS in 1988 as Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth. The documentary comprises six one-hour conversations between mythologist Joseph Campbell and journalist Bill Moyers.

The Power of Myth

1988, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

2.7

A chronicle of the vast social networks and organizations created by and for Black people—beyond the reach of the “White gaze.” Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. sits with noted scholars, politicians, cultural leaders, and old friends to discuss this world behind the color line and what it looks like today.

Making Black America

2022, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

8.1

Revealing the extraordinary animals, astonishing landscapes and remarkable people who live alongside the Amazon, Mississippi and Nile.

Earth's Great Rivers

2019, Show

Amazon Prime Video

8.1

Lucy Worsley re-investigates some of the most dramatic chapters in British history. She uncovers forgotten witnesses, re-examines old evidence and follows new clues.

Lucy Worsley Investigates

2022, Show

PBS

8.2

The four-part series takes an awe-inspiring look at the world around us, shot with ultra-high-definition cameras that capture sweeping panoramas and extraordinary close-ups of Canada’s majestic terrain and diverse species.

Wild Canada

2014, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

6.7

A Brief History of the Future is a unique six-part documentary series about our futures and how we can reimagine them. Hosted by renowned futurist Ari Wallach, the show invites viewers on a journey around the world that is filled with discovery, hope, and possibility about where we find ourselves today and what could come next.

A Brief History of the Future

2024, Show

PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel

7.6

A journey through America that introduces our list of the 100 best-loved books and explores the many ways in which these novels affect, reflect and connect us all.

The Great American Read

2018, Show

PBS

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