For nearly 50 years, chemical engineer and inventor Maria Telkes applied her prodigious intellect to harnessing the power of the sun. She designed and built the world's first successfully solar-heated modern residence and identified a promising new chemical that, for the first time, could store solar heat like a battery. And yet, along the way, she was undercut and thwarted by her boss and colleagues - all men - at MIT. Despite these obstacles, Telkes persevered and, upon her death in 1995, held more than 20 patents. She is now recognized as a visionary pioneer in the field of sustainable energy. An unexpected and largely forgotten heroine, Telkes was remarkable in her vision and tenacity - a scientist and a woman in every way ahead of her time. Her research and innovations from the 1930s through the '70s continue to shape how we power our lives today.
Revisit the story of the 1970s Love Canal disaster, one of the most notorious environmental and public health disasters in US history. The battle for justice, led mostly by women, created the basis for the landmark federal Superfund program.
Revisit the story of the 1970s Love Canal disaster, one of the most notorious environmental and public health disasters in US history. The battle for justice, led mostly by women, created the basis for the landmark federal Superfund program.
Revisit the story of the 1970s Love Canal disaster, one of the most notorious environmental and public health disasters in US history. The battle for justice, led mostly by women, created the basis for the landmark federal Superfund program.
Revisit the story of the 1970s Love Canal disaster, one of the most notorious environmental and public health disasters in US history. The battle for justice, led mostly by women, created the basis for the landmark federal Superfund program.
Revisit the story of the 1970s Love Canal disaster, one of the most notorious environmental and public health disasters in US history. The battle for justice, led mostly by women, created the basis for the landmark federal Superfund program.
Revisit the story of the 1970s Love Canal disaster, one of the most notorious environmental and public health disasters in US history. The battle for justice, led mostly by women, created the basis for the landmark federal Superfund program.
Revisit 1967 when inner cities across America erupted in violence. LBJ appointed the Kerner Commission to investigate and the Commission's final report would offer a shockingly unvarnished assessment of race relations that still resonates today.
Revisit 1967 when inner cities across America erupted in violence. LBJ appointed the Kerner Commission to investigate and the Commission's final report would offer a shockingly unvarnished assessment of race relations that still resonates today.
When Black neighborhoods in scores of American cities erupted in violence during the summer of 1967, President Lyndon Johnson appointed the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders - informally known as the Kerner Commission - to answer three questions: What happened? Why did it happen? And what could be done to prevent it from happening again? The commission's final report, issued in March of 1968, would offer a shockingly unvarnished assessment of American race relations - a verdict so politically explosive that Johnson refused to acknowledge it publicly or even thank the commissioners for their service. Featuring interviews with commission staffers and the last surviving commission member, Senator Fred Harris, The Riot Report explores a pivotal moment in our nation's history and the fraught social dynamics that simultaneously spurred the commission's investigation and doomed its findings to political oblivion.
When Black neighborhoods in scores of American cities erupted in violence during the summer of 1967, President Lyndon Johnson appointed the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders - informally known as the Kerner Commission - to answer three questions: What happened? Why did it happen? And what could be done to prevent it from happening again? The commission's final report, issued in March of 1968, would offer a shockingly unvarnished assessment of American race relations - a verdict so politically explosive that Johnson refused to acknowledge it publicly or even thank the commissioners for their service. Featuring interviews with commission staffers and the last surviving commission member, Senator Fred Harris, The Riot Report explores a pivotal moment in our nation's history and the fraught social dynamics that simultaneously spurred the commission's investigation and doomed its findings to political oblivion.
When Black neighborhoods in scores of American cities erupted in violence during the summer of 1967, President Lyndon Johnson appointed the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders - informally known as the Kerner Commission - to answer three questions: What happened? Why did it happen? And what could be done to prevent it from happening again? The commission's final report, issued in March of 1968, would offer a shockingly unvarnished assessment of American race relations - a verdict so politically explosive that Johnson refused to acknowledge it publicly or even thank the commissioners for their service. Featuring interviews with commission staffers and the last surviving commission member, Senator Fred Harris, The Riot Report explores a pivotal moment in our nation's history and the fraught social dynamics that simultaneously spurred the commission's investigation and doomed its findings to political oblivion.
For nearly 50 years, chemical engineer and inventor Maria Telkes applied her prodigious intellect to harnessing the power of the sun. She designed and built the world's first successfully solar-heated modern residence and identified a promising new chemical that, for the first time, could store solar heat like a battery. And yet, along the way, she was undercut and thwarted by her boss and colleagues - all men - at MIT. Despite these obstacles, Telkes persevered and, upon her death in 1995, held more than 20 patents. She is now recognized as a visionary pioneer in the field of sustainable energy. An unexpected and largely forgotten heroine, Telkes was remarkable in her vision and tenacity - a scientist and a woman in every way ahead of her time. Her research and innovations from the 1930s through the '70s continue to shape how we power our lives today.
Discover the fascinating story of this iconic American garment. From their roots in slavery to the Wild West, hippies, high fashion and hip-hop, jeans are the fabric on which the history of American ideology and politics are writ large.
Discover the story of the polygraph, the controversial device that transformed modern police work, seized headlines and was extolled as an infallible crime-fighting tool. A tale of good intentions, twisted morals and unintended consequences.
Discover the fascinating and unexpected history behind America's favorite board game. Part detective story and part pop culture commentary, the film explores what makes this game - a celebration of unbridled capitalism - such an enduring favorite.
In the spring of 1927, after weeks of incessant rains, the Mississippi River went on a rampage from Cairo, Illinois to New Orleans, inundating hundreds of towns, killing as many as a thousand people and leaving a million homeless. In Greenville, Mississippi, efforts to contain the river pitted the majority black population against an aristocratic plantation family, the Percys -- and the Percys against themselves. A story of greed, power and race during one of America's greatest natural disasters.
Explore the 1928 dam collapse, the second deadliest disaster in California history. A colossal engineering failure, the dam was built by William Mulholland to ensure the growth of Los Angeles by bringing water to the city via aqueduct.
In August 1942, the murder of a young Mexican American ignited a firestorm in Los Angeles. The tensions that had been building up for years between Mexican and white Los Angelenos boiled over. The press claimed that Mexican youth -- known as "zoot-suiters" for the clothes they wore -- were terrorizing the city with a wave of crime. Police fanned out across the city arresting 600 Mexican Americans. Seventeen "zoot-suiters" headed to a trial in which prosecutors had little evidence to present. Nonetheless, guilty verdicts were handed down to all. The tensions the trial inflamed sparked riots between servicemen and the Mexican American community that led to "zoot-suiters" being beaten and stripped of their clothes. Despite vigorous denials from city officials, a citizens' committee concluded the riots had been fueled by racial prejudice and encouraged by sensational news reporting and a discriminatory police department.
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