The Big Dig | 1. We Were Wrong

Part 2: In the early 1970s a radical idea took shape: tearing down Boston’s elevated downtown highway, and rebuilding it underground. But making it happen will require a grand bargain between two competing tunnel projects, and between bitter enemies.Credits:Host and scriptwriter: ...  Show more

Part 3: The Big Dig needs federal funding. House Speaker Tip O’Neill is determined to get it; President Ronald Reagan is determined to stop it – setting up a final showdown in one of the great political rivalries of the 20th century.Credits:Host and scriptwriter: Ian CossExecutiv ...  Show more

A 50-mile man-made waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the creation of the Panama Canal was arguably the greatest infrastructure project the world had ever seen. But its journey from concept to completion was anything but simple, as it failed repeatedly, and pass ...  Show more

There are three American myths that define "Americanness." The frontier, the melting pot and the "self-made man." They're concepts that define how we are to think about transformation, progress and possibility in America. They also rarely hold up. Heike Paul, author of The Myths ...  Show more

The 1896 election of William McKinley has been noted as an inflection point in American politics. But, historians are often conflicted about what story they want to tell. It could be seen as moment when Americans rejected a populist firebrand, critical of the wealthy and appea ...

In May 1607, over 100 English settlers arrived at Chesapeake Bay on the East Coast of North America. Traveling 50 miles inland along the James River, they established what would become the first permanent English settlement: Jamestown. But what motivated their journey? Why was ...