American Experience - Season 8
Season 8
Episodes
Murder of the Century
The nation is fascinated by the high-profile murder of a famous architect, apparently because of jealousy over a popular female stage performer.
Edison's Miracle of Light
Inventor Thomas A. Edison experiments with electricity, long-burning filaments, and glass bulbs to give America an alternative to gas lights.
Chicago 1968
The Orphan Trains
The story of orphaned inner-city children shipped to rural locations and new lives as part of a social engineering experiment.
Freedom on My Mind
Daley: The Last Boss
Biography of Chicago mayor Richard Daley, considered one of the last major heads of big city "machine" politics in the United States.
The Battle Over Citizen Kane
Orson Welles' movie stirs the ire of publisher William Randolph Hearst, the man who the film was patterned after.
The Wright Stuff
The story of Wilbur and Orville Wright and the earliest days of aviation.
Spy in the Sky
The Cold War forces the United States to build very high altitude U2 planes to record photographs of opposing nations.
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The Handmaid's Tale
The Handmaid's Tale is the story of life in the dystopia of Gilead, a totalitarian society in what was formerly the United States. Facing environmental disasters and a plunging birthrate, Gilead is ruled by a twisted fundamentalism in its militarized ‘return to traditional values'. As one of the few remaining fertile women, Offred is a Handmaid in the Commander's household, one of the caste of women forced into sexual servitude as a last desperate attempt to repopulate the world. In this terrifying society, Offred must navigate between Commanders, their cruel Wives, domestic Marthas, and her fellow Handmaids – where anyone could be a spy for Gilead – all with one goal: to survive and find the daughter that was taken from her.
Wild Cards
Wild Cards follows the unlikely duo of a gruff, sardonic cop and a spirited, clever con woman. Ellis, a demoted detective, has unfortunately spent the last year on the maritime unit, while Max has been living a transient life elaborately scamming everyone she meets. But when Max gets arrested and ends up helping Ellis solve a local crime, the two are offered the opportunity to redeem themselves, with Ellis going back to detective and Max staying out of jail. The catch? They have to work together, with each using their unique skills to solve crimes. For Ellis, that means hard-boiled shoe leather police work; for Max, it means accents, schemes and generally befriending everyone in sight, while driving Ellis absolutely nuts. Against the backdrop of beautiful Vancouver — with all its unique, charming, and even contradictory neighbourhoods and subcultures — the two will have to learn what it means to trust another person and maybe actually become partners.
Invasion
Earth is visited by an alien species that threatens humanity's existence. Events unfold in real time through the eyes of five ordinary people across the globe as they struggle to make sense of the chaos unraveling around them.
Found
In any given year, more than 600,000 people are reported missing in the U.S. More than half that number are people of color that the country seems to forget about. Public relations specialist Gabi Mosely - who was once herself one of those forgotten ones - and her crisis management team now make sure there is always someone looking out for the forgotten missing people. But unbeknownst to anyone, this everyday hero is hiding a chilling secret of her own.
Abbott Elementary
In this workplace comedy, a group of dedicated, passionate teachers — and a slightly tone-deaf principal — are brought together in a Philadelphia public school where, despite the odds stacked against them, they are determined to help their students succeed in life. Though these incredible public servants may be outnumbered and underfunded, they love what they do — even if they don't love the school district's less-than-stellar attitude toward educating children.