Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire

The Great Depression

A 7-part series telling dramatic and diverse stories of struggle and survival during the worst economic crisis in U.S. history. From the producers of Eyes on the Prize, this series was met with critical acclaim and won both an Emmy Award for writing and a duPont-Columbia Award.

Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire

Japan blossomed into its Renaissance at approximately the same time as Europe. Unlike the West, it flourished not through conquest and exploration, but by fierce and defiant isolation. And the man at the heart of this empire was Tokugawa Ieyasu, a warlord who ruled with absolute control. This period is explored through myriad voices-- the Shogun, the Samurai, the Geisha, the poet, the peasant and the Westerner who glimpsed into this secret world.

A Taste of Freedom

Covers six weeks of the lives of Sasha Politkovsky, a prominent TV journalist, and his family. Chronicles the events of 1990 as glasnost and perestroika lift the lid of totalitarianism in the Soviet Union.

With Babies and Banners: Story of the Women's Emergency Brigade

Combining rare archival footage with interviews recorded forty years after the event, this documentary tells the story of the Women’s Emergency Brigade during the 1936–37 General Motors sit-down strike in Flint, Michigan. While national attention focused on the men occupying the factories, women—auto workers and the families of strikers—organized food supplies, picket lines, and public demonstrations that helped sustain the historic labor victory. The film highlights their long-overlooked role in the American labor movement.

The Roman Empire in the First Century

Two thousand years ago, at the dawn of the first century, the ancient world was ruled by Rome. Through the experiences, memories and writings of the people who lived it, this series tells the story of that time - the emperors and slaves, poets and plebeians, who wrested order from chaos, built the most cosmopolitan society the world had ever seen and shaped the Roman empire in the first century A.D.

Eddy's World

EDDY'S WORLD is a fascinating portrait of a 98 year old working toy inventor. Best known for the iconic "chattering teeth" and 800 classic toys, he shares his passion for creativity and his philosophies of life and aging. Eddy lives in a retirement community and we follow him through his daily routine - working on new models in his garage machine shop, writing short stories on his computer, creating translucent lithophane portraits with his new 3D printer., walking and exercising. Eddy began designing toys on the Batfish Submarine during World War II. He is an endearing story teller who believes that optimism and new ideas keep him young and healthy.

The Atomic Bowl: Football at Ground Zero -- And Nuclear Peril Today

The second atomic bomb blast over Nagasaki in August 1945 has become known as "the forgotten bomb." Less than five months later, the U.S. military staged an all-star football game on a killing field in Nagasaki, amid lingering radiation levels.. Why was the game played there? And why does the Nagasaki bombing provide so many lessons and warnings for us today as nuclear dangers proliferate?

Woody Guthrie and the Ghost of Tom Joad Today

Narrated by Rosanne Cash and featuring music from Bruce Springsteen, this timely film connects the paths of two American icons—songwriter Woody Guthrie (who penned "This Land is Your Land") and novelist John Steinbeck (who wrote "The Grapes of Wrath")—as they forged a bond in a campaign to ease the suffering of migrants in California, and their legacy today.

The First Attack Ads: Hollywood vs. Upton Sinclair

In 1934, famed writer and socialist Upton Sinclair swept the Democratic primary for governor of California, leading a mass End Poverty movement. To defeat him that fall, his opponents created one of the dirtiest, and most influential, campaigns in U.S. history, and Hollywood took its first all-out plunge into politics.

The Roman Empire in the First Century

Two thousand years ago, at the dawn of the first century, the world was ruled by Rome. The Roman Empire struggled with problems which are surprisingly familiar: violent coups, assassination, overarching ambition, civil war, clashes between the classes as well as the sexes and questions of personal freedom versus government control. But from the chaos, the Roman Empire would emerge stronger and more dazzling than ever before. Soon, it would stretch from Britain across Europe to the shores of North Africa; and from Spain across Greece and the Middle East to the borders of Asia. It would embrace hundreds of languages and religions and till its many cultures into a rich soil from which Western civilization would grow. Rome would become the world’s first and most enduring superpower.

Shōgun

In Japan in the year 1600, at the dawn of a century-defining civil war, Lord Yoshii Toranaga is fighting for his life as his enemies on the Council of Regents unite against him, when a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village.

Age of Samurai: Battle for Japan

Dynamic reenactments and expert commentaries bring to life the tumultuous history and power struggles of a warring 16th-century feudal Japan.

James May: Our Man in…

James May embarks on a remarkable journey across Japan, from its icy north to its balmy south. He’ll see the sights, meet the locals, and eat the noodles in a bid to truly understand the Land of the Rising Sun.