I don’t know a single person that shares the level of my love and appreciation for PBS, specifically their long-running series, “American Experience.” These documentaries combine dramatic reenactments and historical commentary in a uniquely entertaining way. Almost every episode will have you completely invested and wishing for the story to continue just a bit longer.
To think that I never would have known about these historical events if not for PBS, and that we are now considering robbing future generations of this national treasure, simply breaks my heart.
I don’t watch reality television. I’ve never seen an episode of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” or Desperate Housewives of This-or-That City. Perhaps that means what I find entertaining does not align with that of most other people. But I’m willing to bet there are many who love history as I do, and who have no idea PBS airs anything other than “Sesame Street.” Through streaming services such as YouTube, you can now access various PBS programs such as “Frontline,” which focuses on significant political events, and “Nova,” which explores the inner workings of our solar system and the latest advancements in science and technology.
But the magic of American Experience is that you never know where you’re going next. The possibilities are endless. One week you’ll be heading into the Amazon with Teddy Roosevelt, learning of just how closely that trip brought him to death; and the next week you’ll be taken back to 1920 to investigate the still unsolved bombing of Wall Street. Other favorites include an episode titled “” which explores the long-hidden story about a day in 1980 when we accidentally almost detonated a nuclear missile in Little Rock, Arkansas; and an episode called “War of the Worlds,” in reference to the events which led a significant portion of the American public to confuse a radio play with a news broadcast, leaving them convinced that aliens had just landed in New Jersey.
These stories are our stories, the stories of how we came to be the country we are today. We all remember when the movie “Oppenheimer” was released in 2023. As I watched in the theater for the first time, I remember thinking of how familiar the story seemed, as if I had seen it already. Then I realized that this was because of an “American Experience” episode. PBS released “The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer” in 2008, with a plot progression strikingly similar to the version that would be released 15 years later. Then there was George Clooney’s “The Boys in the Boat.” Once again, PBS did it first with their incredible American Experience episode titled “The Boys of ‘36,” which included interviews with the surviving children of the Olympic rowing team that took gold in 1936.
Since the American Experience series began in 1988, PBS has released 380 episodes. Each one diving deep into a topic or event from our past, offering us a unique opportunity to feel connected to the world we find ourselves living in. For better or worse, the history of this nation is far more strange and unbelievable than most works of fiction. There have been episodes that made me laugh, episodes that made me cry, and episodes that made me reconsider everything I thought I knew. I feel very fortunate to have found PBS and the “American Experience” series, for it has taught me more about our past than I ever intended to learn.
I never enjoyed learning about history until after college. I think this is because the history we all learn in school feels so disconnected from our lives, as if they were events that took place on a different planet. “American Experience” taught me that history isn’t something that happened in some far-off time, to some unknown people, but rather, it is a continuous succession of moments taking place right now, and each one of us are a part of it. “American Experience” did something I never thought possible — it made me excited to learn.
I’d like to thank PBS for bringing to life stories that allow us to better understand how we got here, and perhaps more importantly, for empowering us to re-imagine what is possible going forward.
This is a contributed opinion column. Kaitlyn Wise is a Coplay resident. The views expressed in this piece are those of its individual author, and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of this publication. Do you have a perspective to share? Learn more about how we handle guest opinion submissions at themorningcall.com/opinions.
