American Experience poster
7.9/10 (93 votes)
#1

The Great San Francisco Earthquake

S1:E1

From Enrico Caruso to the ordinary San Franciscan, this film presents vivid memories of those trapped in the terrifying event of 1906. Four hundred eighty square blocks were reduced to rubble; thousands were killed, tens of thousands left homeless. Then the heroic struggle to rebuild a city from the ashes began.

Jermay David Spicer Jan 22, 2025

Holy cow, this episode was intense! They really brought the 1906 earthquake to life. I mean, the ol...

7.7/10 (25 votes)
#2

Indians, Outlaws and Angie Debo

S1:E3

As a child in 1899, Angie Debo was taken to Oklahoma in a covered wagon. She would become her state's most controversial historian -- her career threatened when she uncovered a cache of documents which proved a widespread conspiracy to cheat Native Americans out of oil-rich lands.

7.5/10 (687 votes)
#3

Radio Bikini

S1:E2

While the U.N. debated strategies for control of atomic energy, the U.S. Navy was preparing two highly-publicized nuclear tests. Seven hundred fifty cameras were shipped to Bikini to be used for a major propaganda film. Bikinians had no say about turning their idyllic island into an atomic test site. Forty years later, their home would still be too contaminated to support human life.

7.5/10 (23 votes)
#4

The Radio Priest

S1:E11

Father Charles Coughlin, a Roman Catholic priest from Michigan, uses the new power of radio to become one of the first media stars; every Sunday he would broadcast his message railing against the nation's economic and social system to millions of listeners caught in the grip of the Depression.

7.3/10 (22 votes)
#5

The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter

S1:E5

An original look through newsreels, war department films, posters and interviews with five, real-life "Rosies" about the reality of working in the defense plants during WWII, and their reactions to having to give up those jobs for returning GIs.

7.3/10 (29 votes)
#6

That Rhythm, Those Blues

S1:E10

The evolution of rhythm and blues through the careers of singers Ruth Brown and Charles Brown, from the 1940s into the 50s, with contemporary performances by both.

7.3/10 (33 votes)
#7

Sins of Our Mothers

S1:E16

A Gothic tale of sin and redemption in 19th century New England. A small town in Maine reacts to the unconventional behavior of one of its young residents, a woman named Emeline Gurney. A fascinating examination of small town mores.

6.9/10 (17 votes)
#8

Kennedy vs. Wallace: A Crisis Up Close

S1:E7

An intimate portrait of the Kennedy brothers and their confrontation with Alabama Governor George Wallace when he defied the courts by refusing to integrate the University in 1963. The film offers unprecedented access to the Oval Office as well as to strategy meetings held by Attorney General Robert Kennedy.

6.9/10 (11 votes)
#9

Views of a Vanishing Frontier

S1:E13

The journey of Prince Maximilian, German naturalist, and artist Karl Bodmer, who explored the Mississippi River area from 1832-34, meticulously documenting in paintings and journals the landscape, plants and life of Native Americans.

6.8/10 (14 votes)
#10

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men: Revisited

S1:E9

An updated look at the Alabama tenant families that Walker Evans and James Agee documented in their 1936 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, an American classic.

6.8/10 (16 votes)
#11

The World That Moses Built

S1:E15

From the late 1920s through the 1960s, Robert Moses held almost total power over the landscape of New York. He built bridges, highways, Jones Beach, Lincoln Center and the United Nations, some of the most ambitious public works ever conceived, and some of the most controversial.

6.7/10 (40 votes)
#12

Geronimo and the Apache Resistance

S1:E8

The story of a tragic collision of two civilizations, each with startlingly different views of one another. In 1886, 5,000 U.S. troops mobilized to capture this one man and his band of followers, who by refusing to move onto a reservation, defied and eluded federal authorities.

6.5/10 (14 votes)
#13

Eric Sevareid's Not So Wild A Dream

S1:E4

A touching memoir beginning with life in a small Minnesota town and taking us through a young man's early days as pacifist. Reporting on the rise of fascism in Europe, Sevareid, as a young CBS reporter, would change his belief. Based on Sevareid's best-selling book of the same title.

6.4/10 (23 votes)
#14

Do You Mean There Are Still Real Cowboys?

S1:E6

A year in the life of Wyoming cowboys and the ranching families who have lived in Big Piney for six generations. Although very much the same as it was one hundred years ago -- tough, lonely, but still romantic -- ranching is now a threatened way of life.

6.4/10 (13 votes)
#15

Hearts and Hands

S1:E12

The design and art of quilting yields intimate clues about the lives of 19th century women, who stitched their personal and political stories into these artifacts of history.

5.9/10 (12 votes)
#16

Eudora Welty: One Writer's Beginnings

S1:E14

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Eudora Welty narrates the story of her own Southern childhood and early artistic development in Jackson, Mississippi. Based on her best-selling book of the same title.

5.9/10 (12 votes)
#1

Eudora Welty: One Writer's Beginnings

S1:E14

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Eudora Welty narrates the story of her own Southern childhood and early artistic development in Jackson, Mississippi. Based on her best-selling book of the same title.

6.4/10 (23 votes)
#2

Do You Mean There Are Still Real Cowboys?

S1:E6

A year in the life of Wyoming cowboys and the ranching families who have lived in Big Piney for six generations. Although very much the same as it was one hundred years ago -- tough, lonely, but still romantic -- ranching is now a threatened way of life.

6.4/10 (13 votes)
#3

Hearts and Hands

S1:E12

The design and art of quilting yields intimate clues about the lives of 19th century women, who stitched their personal and political stories into these artifacts of history.

6.5/10 (14 votes)
#4

Eric Sevareid's Not So Wild A Dream

S1:E4

A touching memoir beginning with life in a small Minnesota town and taking us through a young man's early days as pacifist. Reporting on the rise of fascism in Europe, Sevareid, as a young CBS reporter, would change his belief. Based on Sevareid's best-selling book of the same title.

6.7/10 (40 votes)
#5

Geronimo and the Apache Resistance

S1:E8

The story of a tragic collision of two civilizations, each with startlingly different views of one another. In 1886, 5,000 U.S. troops mobilized to capture this one man and his band of followers, who by refusing to move onto a reservation, defied and eluded federal authorities.

6.8/10 (14 votes)
#6

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men: Revisited

S1:E9

An updated look at the Alabama tenant families that Walker Evans and James Agee documented in their 1936 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, an American classic.

6.8/10 (16 votes)
#7

The World That Moses Built

S1:E15

From the late 1920s through the 1960s, Robert Moses held almost total power over the landscape of New York. He built bridges, highways, Jones Beach, Lincoln Center and the United Nations, some of the most ambitious public works ever conceived, and some of the most controversial.

6.9/10 (17 votes)
#8

Kennedy vs. Wallace: A Crisis Up Close

S1:E7

An intimate portrait of the Kennedy brothers and their confrontation with Alabama Governor George Wallace when he defied the courts by refusing to integrate the University in 1963. The film offers unprecedented access to the Oval Office as well as to strategy meetings held by Attorney General Robert Kennedy.

6.9/10 (11 votes)
#9

Views of a Vanishing Frontier

S1:E13

The journey of Prince Maximilian, German naturalist, and artist Karl Bodmer, who explored the Mississippi River area from 1832-34, meticulously documenting in paintings and journals the landscape, plants and life of Native Americans.

7.3/10 (22 votes)
#10

The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter

S1:E5

An original look through newsreels, war department films, posters and interviews with five, real-life "Rosies" about the reality of working in the defense plants during WWII, and their reactions to having to give up those jobs for returning GIs.

7.3/10 (29 votes)
#11

That Rhythm, Those Blues

S1:E10

The evolution of rhythm and blues through the careers of singers Ruth Brown and Charles Brown, from the 1940s into the 50s, with contemporary performances by both.

7.3/10 (33 votes)
#12

Sins of Our Mothers

S1:E16

A Gothic tale of sin and redemption in 19th century New England. A small town in Maine reacts to the unconventional behavior of one of its young residents, a woman named Emeline Gurney. A fascinating examination of small town mores.

7.5/10 (687 votes)
#13

Radio Bikini

S1:E2

While the U.N. debated strategies for control of atomic energy, the U.S. Navy was preparing two highly-publicized nuclear tests. Seven hundred fifty cameras were shipped to Bikini to be used for a major propaganda film. Bikinians had no say about turning their idyllic island into an atomic test site. Forty years later, their home would still be too contaminated to support human life.

7.5/10 (23 votes)
#14

The Radio Priest

S1:E11

Father Charles Coughlin, a Roman Catholic priest from Michigan, uses the new power of radio to become one of the first media stars; every Sunday he would broadcast his message railing against the nation's economic and social system to millions of listeners caught in the grip of the Depression.

7.7/10 (25 votes)
#15

Indians, Outlaws and Angie Debo

S1:E3

As a child in 1899, Angie Debo was taken to Oklahoma in a covered wagon. She would become her state's most controversial historian -- her career threatened when she uncovered a cache of documents which proved a widespread conspiracy to cheat Native Americans out of oil-rich lands.

7.9/10 (93 votes)
#16

The Great San Francisco Earthquake

S1:E1

From Enrico Caruso to the ordinary San Franciscan, this film presents vivid memories of those trapped in the terrifying event of 1906. Four hundred eighty square blocks were reduced to rubble; thousands were killed, tens of thousands left homeless. Then the heroic struggle to rebuild a city from the ashes began.

Jermay David Spicer Jan 22, 2025

Holy cow, this episode was intense! They really brought the 1906 earthquake to life. I mean, the ol...

7.9/10 (93 votes)

The Great San Francisco Earthquake

S1:E1

From Enrico Caruso to the ordinary San Franciscan, this film presents vivid memories of those trapped in the terrifying event of 1906. Four hundred eighty square blocks were reduced to rubble; thousands were killed, tens of thousands left homeless. Then the heroic struggle to rebuild a city from the ashes began.

Jermay David Spicer Jan 22, 2025

Holy cow, this episode was intense! They really brought the 1906 earthquake to life. I mean, the ol...

7.5/10 (687 votes)

Radio Bikini

S1:E2

While the U.N. debated strategies for control of atomic energy, the U.S. Navy was preparing two highly-publicized nuclear tests. Seven hundred fifty cameras were shipped to Bikini to be used for a major propaganda film. Bikinians had no say about turning their idyllic island into an atomic test site. Forty years later, their home would still be too contaminated to support human life.

7.7/10 (25 votes)

Indians, Outlaws and Angie Debo

S1:E3

As a child in 1899, Angie Debo was taken to Oklahoma in a covered wagon. She would become her state's most controversial historian -- her career threatened when she uncovered a cache of documents which proved a widespread conspiracy to cheat Native Americans out of oil-rich lands.

6.5/10 (14 votes)

Eric Sevareid's Not So Wild A Dream

S1:E4

A touching memoir beginning with life in a small Minnesota town and taking us through a young man's early days as pacifist. Reporting on the rise of fascism in Europe, Sevareid, as a young CBS reporter, would change his belief. Based on Sevareid's best-selling book of the same title.

7.3/10 (22 votes)

The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter

S1:E5

An original look through newsreels, war department films, posters and interviews with five, real-life "Rosies" about the reality of working in the defense plants during WWII, and their reactions to having to give up those jobs for returning GIs.

6.4/10 (23 votes)

Do You Mean There Are Still Real Cowboys?

S1:E6

A year in the life of Wyoming cowboys and the ranching families who have lived in Big Piney for six generations. Although very much the same as it was one hundred years ago -- tough, lonely, but still romantic -- ranching is now a threatened way of life.

6.9/10 (17 votes)

Kennedy vs. Wallace: A Crisis Up Close

S1:E7

An intimate portrait of the Kennedy brothers and their confrontation with Alabama Governor George Wallace when he defied the courts by refusing to integrate the University in 1963. The film offers unprecedented access to the Oval Office as well as to strategy meetings held by Attorney General Robert Kennedy.

6.7/10 (40 votes)

Geronimo and the Apache Resistance

S1:E8

The story of a tragic collision of two civilizations, each with startlingly different views of one another. In 1886, 5,000 U.S. troops mobilized to capture this one man and his band of followers, who by refusing to move onto a reservation, defied and eluded federal authorities.

6.8/10 (14 votes)

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men: Revisited

S1:E9

An updated look at the Alabama tenant families that Walker Evans and James Agee documented in their 1936 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, an American classic.

7.3/10 (29 votes)

That Rhythm, Those Blues

S1:E10

The evolution of rhythm and blues through the careers of singers Ruth Brown and Charles Brown, from the 1940s into the 50s, with contemporary performances by both.

7.5/10 (23 votes)

The Radio Priest

S1:E11

Father Charles Coughlin, a Roman Catholic priest from Michigan, uses the new power of radio to become one of the first media stars; every Sunday he would broadcast his message railing against the nation's economic and social system to millions of listeners caught in the grip of the Depression.

6.4/10 (13 votes)

Hearts and Hands

S1:E12

The design and art of quilting yields intimate clues about the lives of 19th century women, who stitched their personal and political stories into these artifacts of history.

6.9/10 (11 votes)

Views of a Vanishing Frontier

S1:E13

The journey of Prince Maximilian, German naturalist, and artist Karl Bodmer, who explored the Mississippi River area from 1832-34, meticulously documenting in paintings and journals the landscape, plants and life of Native Americans.

5.9/10 (12 votes)

Eudora Welty: One Writer's Beginnings

S1:E14

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Eudora Welty narrates the story of her own Southern childhood and early artistic development in Jackson, Mississippi. Based on her best-selling book of the same title.

6.8/10 (16 votes)

The World That Moses Built

S1:E15

From the late 1920s through the 1960s, Robert Moses held almost total power over the landscape of New York. He built bridges, highways, Jones Beach, Lincoln Center and the United Nations, some of the most ambitious public works ever conceived, and some of the most controversial.

7.3/10 (33 votes)

Sins of Our Mothers

S1:E16

A Gothic tale of sin and redemption in 19th century New England. A small town in Maine reacts to the unconventional behavior of one of its young residents, a woman named Emeline Gurney. A fascinating examination of small town mores.

Season Average Rating Episodes Best Episode Worst Episode
31 ★ 7.9 7
★ 8.6 Chasing the Moon - Earthrise
★ 7.1 The Feud
36 ★ 7.9 2
★ 8.0 American Coup: Wilmington 1898
★ 7.8 Nazi Town, USA
25 ★ 7.8 6
★ 8.2 JFK (Part 1)
★ 7.2 War of the Worlds
13 ★ 7.8 1
★ 7.8 Fatal Flood
★ 7.8 Fatal Flood
32 ★ 7.8 8
★ 8.3 The Poison Squad
★ 7.3 George W. Bush (Part 2)
28 ★ 7.7 3
★ 8.0 Murder of a President
★ 7.3 Bonnie & Clyde
29 ★ 7.7 5
★ 8.1 Oklahoma City
★ 7.2 The Race Underground
24 ★ 7.7 8
★ 8.1 Death and the Civil War
★ 7.3 Billy the Kid
33 ★ 7.7 8
★ 8.1 The Blinding of Isaac Woodard
★ 6.6 Billy Graham
14 ★ 7.6 1
★ 7.6 A Brilliant Madness
★ 7.6 A Brilliant Madness
6 ★ 7.5 1
★ 7.5 America and the Holocaust: Deceit and Indifference
★ 7.5 America and the Holocaust: Deceit and Indifference
19 ★ 7.5 1
★ 7.5 Alexander Hamilton
★ 7.5 Alexander Hamilton
23 ★ 7.5 5
★ 8.2 Freedom Riders
★ 7.1 God in America (Parts 5-6)
10 ★ 7.4 1
★ 7.4 Surviving the Dust Bowl
★ 7.4 Surviving the Dust Bowl
30 ★ 7.4 1
★ 7.4 The Secret of Tuxedo Park
★ 7.4 The Secret of Tuxedo Park
26 ★ 7.3 3
★ 7.5 The Poisoner's Handbook
★ 7.1 The Amish: Shunned
35 ★ 7.2 2
★ 7.3 Ruthless: Monopoly's Secret History
★ 7.2 The Lie Detector
1 ★ 7.0 16
★ 7.9 The Great San Francisco Earthquake
★ 5.9 Eudora Welty: One Writer's Beginnings
2 ★ 6.6 13
★ 7.5 Demon Rum
★ 5.3 Battle for Wilderness
5 ★ 6.5 1
★ 6.5 George Washington: The Man Who Wouldn't Be King
★ 6.5 George Washington: The Man Who Wouldn't Be King