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American Experience
Command and Control, Accident Report
Bob Purifoy joined Sandia National Laboratories as an engineer in 1952, and later became its leading advocate for nuclear weapon safety. Bill Stevens was an engineer who served as the first head of Sandia’s nuclear safety department. Both men were shocked when they realized how vulnerable the nation’s nuclear weapons were to accidents.
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1:51:27
The little-known story of the deadly 1898 race massacre and coup d’etat in Wilmington, NC.
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52:36
A look at the US vice presidency, from constitutional afterthought to position of political import.
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1:53:04
When US inner cities erupted in violence in 1967, LBJ created a commission to investigate.
1:52:30
The story of housewives who led a grassroots movement to galvanize the Superfund Bill.
52:54
The untold story of the people who fought tirelessly to save women from cervical cancer.
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1:52:39
The lively but neglected history of the women who changed the world while flying it.
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52:32
The story of the German American Bund, a pro-Nazi group active across the US in the 1930s.
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51:27
Explore the culture war that erupted over the spectacular rise of disco music.
1:47:20
The story of a Mississippi town’s effort to integrate its public schools in 1970.
1:52:38
Revisit 1970s Boston, when court-mandated school integration unleashed racial unrest.
1:36:51
Casa Susanna was a refuge for transgender women and cross-dressing men in the 1950s-60s.
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52:22
Unsung scientist Mária Telkes dedicated her career to harnessing the power of the sun.