Thomas Lennon

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

When the Civil War ended in 1865, more than four million slaves were set free. Over 70 years later, the memories of some 2,000 slave-era survivors were transcribed and preserved by the Library of Congress. These first-person anecdotes, ranging from the brutal to the bittersweet, have been brought to vivid life in this unique HBO documentary special, featuring the on-camera voices of over a dozen top African-American actors.

In 1939, boy-wonder Orson Welles leaves New York, where he has succeeded in radio and theater, and, hired by RKO Pictures, moves to Hollywood with the purpose of making his first film.

Documentary about the battle between Orson Welles and William Randolph Hearst over Welles' Citizen Kane (1941). Features interviews with Welles' and Hearst's co-workers also acts as a relatively complete biograph of Hearst's career.

The Irish in America: Long Journey Home is a 6 hour miniseries that chronicles the important role the Irish have played in shaping America. It explores the causes of one of the greatest human migrations in history, and traces the struggles and successes of these millions of immigrants. It has been filmed in Ireland and New York City and distributed by Walt Disney. The soundtrack, by Paddy Moloney of The Chieftains and Elvis Costello won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album in 1999, and features music from some of Ireland’s leading talents, including Elvis Costello, Sinéad O’Connor, Van Morrison, and the Chieftains.

100-years of naval aviation, from wobbly gliders and the first shipboard landing in 1911 to modern supersonic jets and unmanned aerial vehicles. The film deftly interweaves archival footage, interviews with historical and military experts.

Villagers in a remote district of central China take on a chemical company that is poisoning their water and air. For five years they fight to transform their environment and as they do, they find themselves transformed as well.

This extraordinary program follows the nation's first immigrant group on their journey into the American Dream. From war hereo and President Andrew Jackson to union organizer "Mother" Jones, you'll meet the colorful Irish-Americans who fought and worked their way past oppression, and into history. Dramatic re-creations, stirring readings, songs, and interviews with leading historians offer insights into the events that have made the Irish an integral part of the American fabric.

Edwin’s Restaurant is determined to become one of America’s top French restaurants, with a staff unlike any other in the country. Brandon Edwin Chrostowski prepares to open his Cleveland, Ohio fine dining establishment with a staff composed nearly entirely of recently released prisoners in search of an opportunity to get their lives back on track. They sign up for a classical French food boot camp to learn the ins and outs of fine wine, sauces, and more.

Sacred explores cultural and religious ritual as it relates to life’s cycles: birth, adolescence, marriage, aging and other key passages of life.

In this Election ’92 Special Report, Frontline presents political biographies of the two leading candidates for the presidency-Republican George Bush and Democrat Bill Clinton. Correspondent Richard Ben Cramer examines the public careers and private lives of these men, searching for clues to their character and the patterns of behavior that could predict how they might handle the problems confronting the US in the post-Cold War era.

In September of 1938, a great storm rose up on the coast of West Africa and began making its way across the Atlantic Ocean. The National Weather Bureau learned about it from merchant ships at sea and predicted it would blow itself out at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, as such storms usually did. Within 24 hours, the storm ripped into the New England shore with enough fury to set off seismographs in Sitka, Alaska. Traveling at a shocking 60 miles per hour -- three times faster than most tropical storms -- it was astonishingly swift and powerful, with peak wind gusts up to 186 mph. Over 600 people were killed, most by drowning. Another hundred were never found. Property damage was estimated at $400 million -- over 8,000 homes were destroyed, 6,000 boats wrecked or damaged.

Nestled in New Jersey ‘s coastal marshes, a fabled research center has quietly tracked the marine life nearby. Now with water levels rising around them, these scientists face a new and unnerving subject to study: themselves.

The 1989 murder of Yusef Hawkins by white youths in the Bensonhurst section of New York City set off a racial and political fire storm. On the eve of the first verdicts in the murder case, writer Shelby Steele returns to talk to the participants and tries to unravel the forces that propelled this racial crisis.

A survey of the ethnic history of the Irish population in the the United States of America.