American Roots Music

Explore the history of a uniquely American art form: country music. From its deep and tangled roots in ballads, blues and hymns performed in small settings, to its worldwide popularity, learn how country music evolved over the course of the 20th century, as it eventually emerged to become America’s music.

In a tumultuous era, 1971 was a year of musical innovation and rebirth fueled by the political and cultural upheaval of the time. Stars reached new heights, fresh talent exploded onto the scene, and boundaries expanded like never before.

TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.

The history of the sport of baseball in America, told through archival photos, film footage, and the words of those who contributed to the game in each era. Writers, historians, players, baseball personnel, and fans review key events and the significance of the game in America's history.

Infographics and archival footage deliver bite-size history lessons on scientific breakthroughs, social movements and world-changing discoveries.

American Masters is a PBS television series which produces biographies on enduring writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists, filmmakers, and others who have left an indelible impression on the cultural landscape of the United States.

Don Wildman unearths relics from the world's greatest institutions to reveal secrets from the past. He examines each artifact to illuminate history's most incredible triumphs, sensational crimes and bizarre encounters.

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.

In this new series, Foo Fighters commemorate their 20th anniversary by documenting the eight-city recording odyssey that produced their latest, and eighth, studio album.

A series of standalone documentaries powered by the unparalleled journalism and insight of The New York Times, bringing viewers close to the essential stories of our time.

Motoring programme featuring reviews of and reports about cars of all types.

The Walking Dead: Origins is a series of specials exploring the journeys of the series' most celebrated characters. Each episode charts the story of the zombie apocalypse from the point of view of a single character and features new interviews and narrations from the actors that portray these iconic characters, interwoven with clips from the most pivotal moments of their journeys so far.

Noted Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has been helping people discover long-lost relatives hidden for generations within the branches of their family trees. Professor Gates utilizes a team of genealogists to reconstruct the paper trail left behind by our ancestors and the world’s leading geneticists to decode our DNA and help us travel thousands of years into the past to discover the origins of our earliest forebears.

An in-depth look at the history and pop cultural significance of horror films.

An insider's look at the engineering and scientific miracles behind the things that form the modern world.

Doctor Who Confidential is a documentary to complement the revival of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Each episode was broadcast on BBC Three on Saturdays, immediately after the broadcast of the weekly television episode on BBC One. The running time of the first two series was 30 minutes, being extended to 45 minutes in the third. BBC Three also broadcast a cut-down edition of the programme, lasting 15 minutes, shown after the repeats on Sundays and Fridays and after the weekday evening repeats of earlier seasons.

Revisit the epic heroes, villains and moments from across the MCU in preparation for the stories still to come. Each dynamic segment feeds directly into the upcoming series — setting the stage for future events. This series weaves together the many threads that constitute the unparalleled Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Hip-Hop today is a global culture that has changed music, dance, fashion, language —and even politics. But where did this worldwide cultural movement begin? We trace hip-hop back to its humble beginnings, when the kids of the Bronx crammed into house parties, rec rooms, and public parks to hear music like they’d never heard it before.

Biography is a documentary television series. It was originally a half-hour filmed series produced for CBS by David Wolper from 1961 to 1964 and hosted by Mike Wallace. The A&E Network later re-ran it and has produced new episodes since 1987. The older version featured historical figures such as Helen Keller and Mark Twain, or long-dead entertainment figures such as Will Rogers or John Barrymore. The A&E series has placed the emphasis on such people as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Plácido Domingo, Freddie Mercury, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Eric Clapton, Pope John Paul II, Gene Tierney, Selena, Diego Rivera, Mao Zedong and Queen Elizabeth II, and fictional characters like The Phantom, Superman, Hamlet, Betty Boop, and Santa Claus. The program ended up profiling enough figures that in 1999, A&E spun it off into an entire network, The Biography Channel.

A British genealogy documentary series in which celebrities trace their ancestry, discovering secrets and surprises from their past.

A musical adventure series emanating from The Caverns in Tennessee's majestic Cumberland Mountains. Celebrating the diversity of America’s musical heritage with artists from the full spectrum of genres: Bluegrass, yes but also Americana, Country, Soul, Blues, Rock N Roll, Gospel, Folk, and everything between.

Folk musicians from both sides of the Atlantic come together in what have been called “the greatest backporch shows ever.” Collaborative live performances by various leading folk and country musicians playing music from Scotland, Ireland, England and North America.

The story of how a fatherless young soldier full of personal ambition becomes a leader of men willing to sacrifice all for the common cause. How a once-loyal British subject rises to battle an empire in a liberty-or-death campaign to forge a new nation. And then how, at the zenith of his power, the victorious general voluntarily steps down, becoming what King George III would call “the greatest man in the world.”

This documentary-series examines Grant's life story using his perspective and experiences to explore a turbulent time in history: the Civil War and Reconstruction.

Three-part documentary series examining the untold history of folk music in Ulster against the social, political and cultural backdrop of the time.

Dramatic documentary about the birth of the American Republic and the struggle of a loosely connected group of states to become a nation.

A concert with Jonas Fjeld and Ole Paus at the ABC Theatre in Oslo, Norway. The show was broadcast in two part on NRK in 1997.

Evolution of various spheres of Ukrainian culture and its modern heroes. A result of 100+ interviews and stories about how whole layers of culture were created in Ukraine. An attempt to capture the outbreak that is happening today and that we are waiting for tomorrow, to understand the strengths and weaknesses, identify trends and find answers to questions that concern. Each episode reveals an important topic: from the phenomenon of Ukrainian pop music and clipmaking to movies, comedy, street art and local clothing brands.

Following Folk takes us on a journey to discover the artists who are redefining folk music today. Featuring in-depth interviews and intimate performances, this series is a treat for all music lovers.

David Holt plays tunes and talks with modern masters of traditional music in Appalachia, showcasing not just the music but also the countryside that gave it life. Shot entirely on location, the program puts its featured performers in the context of the countryside that nurtured their musical traditions.

Travel the country in search of unknown 1920s artists, when the music of ordinary Americans was recorded for the first time, transforming music forever, in a three-part film narrated by Robert Redford, featuring Jack White, Nas, Taj Mahal and others.

The epic history behind the creation of America, exploring how and why our ancestors came to this country. Examine the massive immigration patterns of ethnic groups to the United States through the telling of historical events including the Dutch Fur Trade, the Great Potato Famine, the California Gold Rush and more.

Now the longest-running music series in American television history, ACL showcases popular music legends and innovators from every genre.

Everyone knows the story of Paul Revere and his famous midnight ride to warn colonial forces of the British approach. But history books don't tell of the man who sent Revere on his mission: Joseph Warren, America's least remembered founding father. Uncover the forgotten history of Warren and stories of other unsung heroes in our fight for independence.

Presenter Charles Hazlewood stages a 140-person flashmob clog dance and explores the history of this folk dance that originated in the collieries and pit villages of the north east of England in the 19th century.

This Emmy-award winning series features performances by musical artists in the setting of a Victorian-era concert hall in Norfolk, Connecticut.

Thorough documentary of how the American Colonies rebelled against England and the personalities involved in the creation of a new nation.

Series celebrating the historical and contemporary links between Scottish and Irish Gaelic song by bringing together top exponents of both traditions to sing and play with no audience except themselves, using a house band of their peers.