Season 1 (2012)

Chapter 1 - World War Two
7.2

November 12, 2012 • 58m

The first chapter explores the birth of the American Empire by focusing on Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Sta...Read more

Chapter 2 - Roosevelt, Truman & Wallace
7.5

November 19, 2012 • 58m

Highlights from the historical upset of Harry Truman replacing Henry Wallace as Roosevelt's Vice President. Exploration of the rel...Read more

Chapter 3 - The Bomb
7.4

November 26, 2012 • 58m

The strategies behind the U.S. atomic bombings of Japan are explored as well as the new mythology that emerged from the war. The b...Read more

Chapter 4 - The Cold War - 1945-1950
6.5

December 3, 2012 • 58m

The equation changes: specific month-by-month causes of the Cold War emerge and it is not entirely clear who started it. Highlight...Read more

Chapter 5 - The 50s: Eisenhower, the Bomb & the Third World
7.5

December 10, 2012 • 58m

Eisenhower and John Foster Dulles replace Truman. Stalin dies but relations with the Soviet Union turn colder. The H-bomb and the ...Read more

Chapter 6 - JFK: To the Brink
7.2

December 17, 2012 • 58m

JFK and the Bay of Pigs; on the brink of total war during Cuban Missile Crisis; early Vietnam; JFK's attempts at peace with Khrush...Read more

Chapter 7 - Johnson, Nixon & Vietnam: Reversal of Fortune
8.0

December 24, 2012 • 58m

The war in Vietnam reaches a turning point; President Nixon's involvement in Watergate comes to light.

Chapter 8 - Reagan, Gorbachev & Third World: Rise of the Right
8.5

December 31, 2012 • 58m

Ronald Reagan succeeds Jimmy Carter; Reagan and the Soviet Union's Mikhail Gorbachev powwow; and Reagan's legacy is examined.

Chapter 9 - Bush & Clinton: American Triumphalism - New World Order
7.3

January 7, 2013 • 58m

George W. Bush and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; the U.S. economy; the end of the Cold War; and national security in America.

Chapter 10 - Bush & Obama: Age of Terror
8.0

January 14, 2013 • 58m

In the finale, the war on terrorism and the presidential administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama are examined.