Discover the almost unbelievable story of Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, the leader of the largest spy network in France during World War II. She was captured by the Nazis twice and escaped both times, and her agents provided the Allies with some of the most crucial intelligence of the war, including a 55-foot-long map of the beaches and roads used for the landing on D-Day.
The Cold War of the 20th century seems clear cut, in retrospect: a galvanizing competition to rally free and market-oriented societies against a godless communist empire. But the 21st century has brought about new, more complicated conflicts. Historian Stephen Kotkin examines U.S. relations with China, Russia, and Iran from the 1970s to the present.
America’s first female Associate Justice of the Supreme Court was confirmed in 1981, and in the quarter century that followed, her vote helped to reaffirm the core holding of Roe v. Wade and declare victory for the Bush presidential campaign against Al Gore. Join us as we explore the trailblazing career of Sandra Day O’Connor, whose decisions continue to influence us today.
While World War II raged overseas, the city of New York was flooded with refugees, servicemen, and politicians who joined an already rich tapestry of ethnicities, cultures, and ideas spanning the five boroughs. Discover how one of history’s deadliest wars transformed New York and forged the careers of New Yorkers such as Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, Robert Moses, and Langston Hughes.
Award-winning Eleanor Roosevelt biographer Blanche Wiesen Cook, in conversation with Douglas Brinkley, explores the close and sometimes contentious relationship between America’s longest-serving First Lady and one of the nation’s most revered presidents.
Civil War military histories typically treat land and sea battles separately. But Ulysses S. Grant stressed joint army and naval operations aimed at both solid and liquid Confederate “assets.” Using the 1863 Vicksburg Campaign as a starting point, three distinguished historians of the era explore this revolution in military strategy.
As accusations of poisonous partisanship are brought against the Supreme Court, how should we view the motives of the most powerful judge in the land? Explore the career of Chief Justice John Roberts and the war he has fought between his desire to push a conservative agenda and to preserve his legacy as a neutral umpire.
Although Texas has not elected a Democrat to statewide office for more than two decades, it is undergoing dramatic demographic and economic changes. While the state urbanizes and its population diversifies, its government remains steadfastly conservative. Explore the Lone Star State’s history, culture, and politics and the enormous impact it has on the nation as a whole.
For centuries, people from all over the world have made their way to the United States in search of a better life for themselves and their families. How has migration in turn shaped American life and culture? Discover how immigration has transformed the country and why it has become one of the most divisive issues in American politics.
In August 1920, one last state was needed to ratify the 19th Amendment, and it all came down to Tennessee. Elaine Weiss uncovers the climactic fight to make a woman’s right to vote the law of the land, with the help of key figures such as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Frederick Douglass. Join us for the dramatic conclusion of the decades-long fight for women’s suffrage: a story of female activists winning their own freedom in one of the last campaigns forged in the shadow of the Civil War.