American Experience

Kissinger film: History repeats, “Experience” fades

As “Kissinger” sprawls across two nights on PBS, an irony appears.
The documentary (9-10:30 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 27-28) includes Richard Nixon’s unsuccessful efforts to plug leaks and muzzle the press. Agents tapped reporters’ homes, reporting on mundane conversations.
And now, 50-some years later? This film is sort of the last survivor of a successful muzzling.
Bitter about PBS’ occasional news coverage, Donald Trump stripped away all of its federal funding. That left producers scrambling; the acclaimed “American Experience” series was suspended.
Its final shows (for now) were last month’s “Hard Hat Riot” and, now, a profile of Henry Kissinger (shown here). Others in the works — including ones about the national highway system and the GI Bill — are in limbo. Read more…

A time of tumult in 1970 … and in 2025

When “The Hard Hat Riot” arrives — 9 p.m. Tuesday (Sept. 30) on PBS — it will deliver everything we expect from a great documentary.
It has two strong sides, dozens of passionate voices, plenty of conflicting values. In big and small ways, it shows the world transforming.
But the film (shown here) has one other distinction: For now, at least, it’s the second-to-last one aired by the award-winning “American Experience.” Read more…

“Voice of Freedom” launches big PBS week

The world seemed to agree that Marian Anderson (shown here) was a great singer.
Audiences cheered; critics raved. Conductor Arturo Toscanani said this was a voice “one is privileged to hear only once in 100 years.”
What people didn’t agree on, in a segregated time, was where she could perform. That’s at the core of “American Experience: Voice of Freedom” (9 p.m. Monday, Feb. 15), a documentary that launches an exceptionally strong week on PBS.
It’s followed on Tuesday and Wednesday by Henry Louis Gates’ resounding “The Black Church: This Is My Story, This Is My Song.” The week ends Sunday with an emotional, Christmastime season-finale of “All Creatures Great and Small.” Read more…