‘American Experience’ explores a 1920s Wall Street bombing and more

Delve into U.S. history and the “American Experience” on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. through Jan. 16. Episodes continue Tuesdays at 8 p.m. Feb. 6 and Feb. 13.

Jan. 2

Forgotten Plague: American Experience
7 p.m.
Tuberculosis is the deadliest killer in human history, responsible for one in four deaths for almost two centuries. While it shaped medical pursuits, social habits, economic development and public policy, TB and its impact are poorly understood. Watch clips from this episode.

Influenza 1918: American Experience
8 p.m.
Examine the social ramifications of the 1918 flu epidemic that killed 675,000 — more than those killed in all the major wars of the 20th century — and how it affected those who lived through it. Watch online.

Jan. 9

Grand Coulee Dam: American Experience
7 p.m.
The ultimate expression of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, the Grand Coulee Dam played a central role in transforming the Northwest: It was the largest hydroelectric power producing facility in the world when it was completed in March 1941. Explore how the tension between technological achievement and environmental impact hangs over the project’s legacy. Watch via Passport.

Into the Amazon: American Experience New
8 p.m.
Discover the remarkable journey taken by Theodore Roosevelt and Brazilian explorer Candido Rondon into the heart of the South American rainforest in 1913. For eight weeks, the ill-equipped expedition navigated the Amazon in crude dugout canoes. Hunger and exhaustion were compounded by the rainforest’s unforgiving topography. Before it was all over, one member of the expedition had drowned and another had committed murder. Experience a dramatic adventure story that also shines a light on two of the western hemisphere’s most formidable men, and the culture and politics of their two formidable nations. Watch via Passport.

Jan. 16

Tesla: American Experience
7 p.m.
Meet Nikola Tesla, the genius engineer and tireless inventor whose technology revolutionized the electrical age of the 20th century. Although eclipsed in fame by Edison and Marconi, it was Tesla’s vision that paved the way for today’s wireless world. Watch online.

The Secret of Tuxedo Park: American Experience New
8 p.m.
Society figure Alfred Lee Loomis gathered the most visionary scientific minds of the twentieth century — Albert Einstein, Werner Heisenberg, Niels Bohr, Enrico Fermi and others — at his state-of-the-art laboratory in Tuxedo Park, New York, in the late 1930s. There he established a top-secret defense laboratory and personally bankrolled research into new, high-powered radar detection systems that helped defeat the German Air Force and U-boats. Watch via Passport.

Feb. 6

The Gilded Age: American Experience New
8 p.m.
Meet the titans and barons of the glittering late 19th century, whose materialistic extravagance contrasted harshly with the poverty of the struggling workers who challenged them. The vast disparities between them sparked debates still raging today. Watch online.

Feb. 13

The Bombing of Wall Street: American Experience New
8 p.m.
Explore the story behind the mostly-forgotten 1920 bombing in the nation’s financial center, which left 38 dead — a crime that launched the career of J. Edgar Hoover, yet remains unsolved today. Watch online.