Pbs Mesopotamia

On the eve of his election, Ronald Reagan was asked, "What is it, governor, that people see in you?" He responded, "Would you laugh if I told you that they look at me and they see themselves?"

Acclaimed presenter of historic documentaries, Bettany Hughes, embarks on a journey across the eastern Mediterranean to discover the truth about HELEN OF TROY, the woman blamed for causing the Trojan War, a conflict that resulted in countless deaths. Following weapons experts, the two-hour film shows how the conflict in Helens name would have been fought, unraveling the reality from the myths and putting flesh on the "face that launched a thousand ships", exploring the ways the Greeks made love and war circa 1300 B.C.

The extraordinary spy plane that defused a Cold War arms race and ignited the "U-2 affair." Cold War. New weapons. The threat of World War III. In this high stakes game, how would the U.S. president play his hand? Despite Russian claims of nuclear superiority, the question remained, what do they really have? If Russia's boasts were true, their Bison bombers put the U.S. within nuclear range for the first time. In 1955, President Dwight Eisenhower launched an espionage mission like no other — requiring a spy plane that could fly without detection.

ATTLA tells the gripping story of George Attla, a charismatic Alaska Native dogsled racer who, with one good leg and fierce determination, became a legendary sports hero in Northern communities around the world. Part dog whisperer, part canny businessman and part heartthrob, Attla rose to international fame during a unique period of history when Western education, economies, and culture penetrated the Alaskan village lifestyle and forever changed the state with the discovery of oil in the late 1960s.

Vanished South Dakota visits remnants of once-thriving towns to discover what led to the birth, boom, and demise of formerly prosperous communities throughout the state. Host Stephanie Rissler brings together historians, former residents and amateur ghost town hunters to find and tell the stories of South Dakota towns gone, but not forgotten.

In the Florida Panhandle lies the provincial town of Marianna, Florida, where one native resident runs a particular marathon in hopes of lifting the veil of racial terror caused by the town’s buried history.