Show cover for American Experience

The Best Episodes of American Experience Season 25

Every episode of American Experience Season 25 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of American Experience Season 25!

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

Genre:Documentary
Network:PBS

Season 25 Ratings Summary

The best episode of "American Experience" season 25 is "The Abolitionists: 1820s-1838", rated 8.1/10 from 160 user votes. It was directed by Rob Rapley and written by N/A. "The Abolitionists: 1820s-1838" aired on 1/8/2013 and is rated 0.2 point(s) higher than the second highest rated, "The Abolitionists: 1838-1854".

  • The Abolitionists: 1820s-1838
    8.1/10 160 votes

    #1 - The Abolitionists: 1820s-1838

    Season 25 Episode 1 - Aired 1/8/2013

    The story of how abolitionist allies William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe, John Brown and Angelina Grimke turned a despised fringe movement against chattel slavery into a force that literally changed the nation.

    Director: Rob Rapley

    Writer: N/A

  • The Abolitionists: 1838-1854
    7.9/10 124 votes

    #2 - The Abolitionists: 1838-1854

    Season 25 Episode 2 - Aired 1/15/2013

    See how the activities of the five principals intersect and affect the anti-slavery movement.

    Director: Rob Rapley

    Writer: N/A

  • The Abolitionists: 1854-Emancipation and Victory
    7.9/10 93 votes

    #3 - The Abolitionists: 1854-Emancipation and Victory

    Season 25 Episode 3 - Aired 1/22/2013

    Examine the forces leading to war and to the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment.

    Director: Rob Rapley

    Writer: N/A

  • Henry Ford
    7.7/10 93 votes

    #4 - Henry Ford

    Season 25 Episode 4 - Aired 1/29/2013

    An absorbing life story of a farm boy who rose from obscurity to become the most influential American innovator of the 20th century, Henry Ford offers an incisive look at the birth of the American auto industry with its long history of struggles between labor and management, and a thought-provoking reminder of how Ford's automobile forever changed the way we work, where we live, and our ideas about individuality, freedom, and possibility.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Silicon Valley
    7.7/10 281 votes

    #5 - Silicon Valley

    Season 25 Episode 5 - Aired 2/5/2013

    Led by physicist Robert Noyce, Fairchild Semiconductor began as a start-up company whose radical innovations would help make the United States a leader in both space exploration and the personal computer revolution, changing the way the world works, plays, and communicates. Noyce's invention of the microchip ultimately re-shaped the future, launching the world into the Information Age.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • War of the Worlds
    7.8/10 206 votes

    #6 - War of the Worlds

    Season 25 Episode 6 - Aired 10/29/2013

    A broadcast that struck fear into an already anxious nation, Orson Welles' War of the Worlds radio broadcast was the most famous alien invasion that never happened.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • JFK (Part 1)
    NaN/10 0 votes

    #7 - JFK (Part 1)

    Season 25 Episode 7 - Aired 11/11/2013

    A two-part profile of John F. Kennedy begins with his early years, detailing the health challenges he faced; his heroism after his PT boat was hit by an enemy destroyer during World War II; his first run for Congress; and the 1960 presidential race, which featured the first televised presidential debates. Among those sharing insights are his sister Jean Kennedy Smith and niece Kathleen Kennedy Townsend; presidential biographers Robert A. Caro and Robert Dallek; and historian David Nasaw.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • JFK (Part 2)
    NaN/10 0 votes

    #8 - JFK (Part 2)

    Season 25 Episode 8 - Aired 11/12/2013

    Conclusion. John F. Kennedy's White House years, including the Bay of Pigs fiasco; Cuban Missile Crisis; handling of civil rights; and decision to travel to Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, to shore up support for the 1964 election. The successes and failures of his tenure in office are also weighed by Kennedy administration officials John Seigenthaler, Thomas Hughes and Harris Wofford; civil-rights leaders Andrew Young and Julian Bond; and journalists Evan Thomas and Richard Reeves.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A