Tag Archives: U.S. History

Nazi Town USA Makes Timely Debut on PBS

“It looked like any summer camp in America.  It looked normal.  But it wasn’t normal.  It was Nazi camp.” If you’ve ever gone to summer camp as a kid, you probably joined your Girl or Boy Scout pals… or devout … Continue reading

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The U.S. and the Holocaust Reexamined on PBS

“I feel a sense of urgency. We’re not trying to equate anything with The Holocaust. That would be a horrible, horrible thing to do.  We’re just saying: ‘Let’s not get there again as human beings, please, let’s not get there … Continue reading

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Ken Burns Celebrates Patriot Benjamin Franklin on PBS

Writer, printer, newspaper publisher, humorist, pundit, educator, scientist, inventor, postmaster, politician, diplomat, abolitionist, patriot. The list of Benjamin Franklin’s accomplishments and aphorisms is long, storied and impossible to condense effectively in one short film, book or review. But Award-winning filmmaker … Continue reading

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New PBS Doc Profiles 7 Young Adults Who Lost Dads on 9/11

“My father was a firefighter on 9/11.  I never met him.”— Megan Fehling, born October 2001. September 11, 2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  Sadly, the number of casualties continues to grow.  9/11 First Responders have … Continue reading

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In the Shadow of the Towers: Stuyvesant High on 9/11

“This felt personal. This is New York. This is home.” The documentary may be only 35 minutes long, but I challenge you to find a more powerful film about 9/11 than In the Shadow of the Towers: Stuyvesant High on … Continue reading

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The Hatfields and McCoys Face Off in The Feud on PBS

“Bloody war in Pike County.  The McCoys and Hatfields Doing Their Utmost to Exterminate Each Other.”—The New York Times, January 8, 1888. The Hatfield-McCoy feud has been called “the most famous family conflict in American history.” Yet most of what … Continue reading

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1920 Bombing of Wall Street Revisited on American Experience

The parallels are unsettling.  Immigrant profiling and deportation.  American workers embittered by a profiteering moneyed class. Homegrown terrorists schooled in bomb-making and rhetoric by foreign-born anarchists. Russia vs. the F.B.I. As revisited in the fascinating new documentary, The Bombing of … Continue reading

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Watch and Remember The Words That Built America

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. “— from The unanimous Declaration … Continue reading

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John Lewis Inspires Us to Get in the Way

“I don’t see this President-elect as a legitimate President,” said Civil Rights icon and longtime U.S. Congressman John Lewis. “I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.” After … Continue reading

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Gun Control and the War at Home

Today is Pearl Harbor Day  It’s hard to believe that 74 years have passed since a stealth attack by Japanese air and naval forces decimated our U.S. naval base at Oahu Island’s Pearl Harbor.  It was a day–December 7, 1941–that would forever be stained … Continue reading

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