Explore how the United States expanded from a fragile experiment along the Atlantic coast into a nation spanning an entire continent, revealing extraordinary sacrifices and untold personal accounts that dramatically reframe the story.
Social & External
The people behind it
The history of mankind is a never-ending story of change, revolution, and evolution, but surely no span of a hundred years can claim to have changed the world so dramatically as the Twentieth Century. In this series we examine the 101 Events which, in the judgment of experts, including those who contribute to the series, most influentially shaped the century, our world, and our way of life.
An unprecedented look at the decade-long odyssey to land a man on the moon. This documentary pulls back the curtain on the familiar narrative of the moonshot, revealing a fascinating stew of scientific innovation, political calculation, media spectacle, visionary impulses and personal drama.
An enigmatic conservative Christian group known as the Family wields enormous influence in Washington, D.C., in pursuit of its global ambitions.
Michael Palin undertakes an epic journey of 23,000 miles, traveling from the North to the South Pole across 17 countries with a minimum of air travel, all on a tight deadline.
Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure is a 1999 BBC television documentary presented by Michael Palin. It records Palin's travels as he visited many sites where Ernest Hemingway had been. The sites include Spain, Chicago, Paris, Italy, Africa, Key West, Cuba, and Idaho. After the trip was over Michael Palin wrote a book about the journey and his experiences. This book contains both Palin's text and many pictures by Basil Pao, the stills photographer who was on the team.
The series covers the life and work of leading science fiction authors of the last couple of centuries. It depicts how they predicted and, accordingly, influenced the development of scientific advancements by inspiring many readers to assist in transforming those futuristic visions into everyday reality.
Three hour-long programs about the history of the Royal Canadian Navy. Filmed archives from Ottawa, the CBC and newsreels provide the bulk of the visuals.
Michael Palin attempts to copy the exploits of fictional character Phileas Fogg, by trying to travel around the world (without flying) in 80 days.
Marcia Lucas, Oscar-winning film editor and ex-wife of George Lucas, sits down for her first-ever on-camera interview and provides unique insight into the rise of LucasFilm — including her 14-year marriage to and eventual divorce from George Lucas — the editing of the original Star Wars trilogy, the origin of the idea that Darth Vader would be Luke’s father and if there were really originally plans for nine movies.
The five-part docu-series investigates the unsolved murders of eight women whose bodies were discovered between 2005 and 2009 in drainage canals and on desolate back roads in and around the town of Jennings, Louisiana in rural Jefferson Davis Parish.
David Attenborough celebrates the amazing variety of the natural world in this epic documentary series, filmed over four years across 64 different countries.
A behind-the-scenes docuseries event chronicling the development, impact, and inner workings that created the phenomenon that was Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour, as well as providing an intimate look at Taylor's life as her tour made headlines and thrilled fans around the world. The series also spotlights performers, family members, and friends — including Gracie Abrams, Sabrina Carpenter, Ed Sheeran, and Florence Welch — offering never-before-seen insight into what it took to create a phenomenon.
The untold true story behind the Cold War race to put man into space.
This darkly satirical how-to guide explores the rise and fall of history's most notorious mob bosses and their tactics for success.
Follow the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit as they conduct high-stakes combat exercises in the Pacific.
From the pinnacle of athletic success to the depths of scandal, Alex Rodriguez saw his prolific baseball career marred by a high-profile suspension for performance-enhancing drug use. Told through a series of intimate interviews with Rodriguez, explore the dualities of one of the most polarizing figures in sports.
TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.
Spectacular crimes in German criminal history: Investigators and experts explain the possibilities and limitations of investigative work at that time – and why the cases still amaze today.
A range of National Geographic storytellers and photographers highlight unique places and events from around the United States, offering surprising and inspiring stories that explore what makes America special.
The pulse-pounding true story of charismatic vigilante Faye Yager, who built a vast underground network that hid hundreds of mothers and children, saving them from the alleged abuse of husbands and fathers when a broken court system would not.
Influential builders, dreamers and believers whose feats transformed the United States, a nation decaying from the inside after the Civil War, into the greatest economic and technological superpower the world had ever seen. The Men Who Built America is the story of a nation at the crossroads and of the people who catapulted it to prosperity.
A documentary on the American Civil War narrated by Ken Burns, covering the secession of the Confederacy to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
This docuseries takes an unprecedented look at the enduring and influential legacy of DC, allowing fans to rediscover the universe of characters, as well as the iconic comic book company’s origins, its evolution and its nearly nine-decade cultural impact across every artistic medium.
This intimate docuseries follows Arnold Schwarzenegger's multifaceted life and career, from bodybuilding champ to Hollywood icon to politician.
Mark Gatiss examines the history of the horror film, from classic Hollywood monsters to Hammer's glory days and beyond.
The series heads to the very frontiers of space and science to produce the definitive television history of science fiction, told through its impact on cinema, television and literature, with the help of filmmakers, writers, actors, and graphic artists. Each episode will explore one of the enduring themes of science fiction: time travel; the exploration of space; robots and artificial intelligence; and aliens.
Infographics and archival footage deliver bite-size history lessons on scientific breakthroughs, social movements and world-changing discoveries.
Over two extraordinary years, National Geographic Explorer Bertie Gregory discovered never-before-filmed secret traditions, surprising intelligence and close-knit societies of penguins. This astonishing series reveals they are more like us than we ever dreamed, from their powerful friendships to the courageous risk-takers using ingenuity and innovation in some of the world's most extreme places.
Best friends Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman gear up for their fourth Long Way series—this time going from Ewan's home in Scotland to Charley's in England. They'll take the scenic route, of course, through 17 European countries on cranky old bikes.
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.
A kaleidoscopic portrait told in two parts tracing the life of the imaginative artist.
An insider's look at the engineering and scientific miracles behind the things that form the modern world.
Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before.
Chris is on a mission to live better for longer. With the help of top scientists, he takes on six epic challenges to test mind and body to the max.
30 for 30 is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online highlighting interesting people and events in sports history. This currently includes four "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series under the ESPN Films Presents title in 2011–2012, and a series of 30 for 30 Shorts shown through the ESPN.com website. The series has also expanded to include Soccer Stories, which aired in advance of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and audio podcasts. This entry refers to the main Volumes of the series presented by ESPN
Explores WWII from Germany's invasion of Poland through the atomic age, examining pivotal battles, wartime leaders like Churchill and Roosevelt, and the human cost of total war.
The right to vote is at the foundation of America's democracy. But not every vote is created equal. How does the system work, and can it be fixed?
Featuring rare footage and interviews with CIA insiders, this edge-of-your-seat documentary series traces the epic hunt for Osama bin Laden.
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.