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American Icons

9 episodes 97%4KCC

Meet the figures who shaped America, and the myths around them.

Go beyond familiar names to uncover the lesser-known stories of the men and women who defined America and its place in the world. From the rise of modern celebrity to leadership, invention, and liberty, each episode reveals how public lives helped shape national identity. Sign up to see these icons with fresh context and sharper meaning.

Episode guide

9 episodes
1
1Babe Ruth
A century after he transformed baseball, celebrity culture, and the American experience, the Babe remains. Known as the Sultan of Swat and the Bambino, Babe Ruth was something completely new. During the 1920s in the United States, the Babe was everywhere.
12 min
2
2FDR
Franklin Delano Roosevelt is remembered for overcoming the toughest possible challenges. Staring down the Depression, staring down the Nazis, saving democracy. He would remake the world and at the same time conquer his own personal limitations.
13 min
3
3Abe Lincoln
A man who had no education, no money, came from no background of anything meaningful, and yet he would rise to become the President of the United States. And while president, he would hold a broken nation together and lead it through the most destructive conflict America had ever seen.
13 min
4
4Eleanor Roosevelt
Known as the First Lady of the World, Eleanor Roosevelt was a leader in her own right and involved in numerous humanitarian causes throughout her life. She was one of the most active first ladies in history and worked for political, racial and social justice.
14 min
5
5George Washington
He wasn't always the greatest strategist and tactician, and he actually made a lot of mistakes early on. But George Washington was a leader unlike any other. In an age of small men who liked to talk, he towered over them with his quiet strength.
13 min
6
6Tom Edison
Thomas Edison had no small ego and liked to promote himself as a lone inventor. But you can't take out 1100 patents in your lifetime by yourself. Instead, he built the first research and development laboratory, decades before anyone else in America understood the value of such a collaboration.
13 min
7
7Mark Twain
The secret of Twain's success was that he echoed and reflected a longing of all sorts of people. By evoking an earlier America, Mark Twain became the most popular voice in America.
11 min
8
8Thomas Jefferson
Colonial America had no freedom of religion, and the men who signed the Declaration of Independence hated each other. The reason you don’t know those facts? Thomas Jefferson.
10 min
9
9Walt Disney
Walt Disney’s memory has long been overshadowed by the corporate powerhouse that bears his name. Explore the personal side of the man who brought animated characters to life, revolutionized entertainment, and saw the future as a magical place filled with possibilities.
11 min
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