PBS Productions

Twenty years ago, a young American hiker named Chris McCandless, the accomplished son of successful middle class parents, was found dead in an abandoned bus in the Alaskan wilderness and became the subject of the best-selling book and movie “Into the Wild.” Now, PBS retraces Chris McCandless’ steps to try to piece together why he severed all ties with his past, burnt or gave away all his money, changed his name and headed into the Denali Wilderness. McCandless' own letters, released for the first time, as well as new and surprising interviews, probe the mystery that still lies at the heart of a story that has become part of the American literary canon and compels so many to this day.

Celebrate the legendary rock band’s 50th anniversary in a 2015 concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London, where they tear through their greatest hits including “My Generation,” “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” “Baba O’Riley,” “You Better You Bet” and “Who Are You,” as well as sections from groundbreaking albums Tommy and Quadrophenia.

Henry VIII is the most iconic king of English history. Part medieval tyrant, part renaissance prince, he ruled over his people as no king of England had ever done before. He took a country salvaged by his father from the wreck of civil war and set over it a single, sovereign ruler. By the end of his reign the power of the Tudor.

In 1995, Emmylou Harris released "Wrecking Ball", which is considered to be her most experimental album. It featured songs by Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, and Neil Young. Harris and producer Daniel Lanois offer an inside look at the making of Emmylou's Grammy-winning album on this promotional VHS tape of the TV special, "Building the Wrecking Ball", which originally aired on PBS in December 1996.

Historian Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s quest to piece together Lincoln's complex life takes him from Illinois to Gettysburg to Washington, D.C. and face-to-face with people who live with Lincoln every day -- relic hunters, re-enactors and others for whom the study of Lincoln is a passion.

Arguably one of the most fateful and resonant events of the last half millennium, the Pilgrims journey west across the Atlantic in the early 17th century is a seminal, if often misunderstood episode of American and world history. The Pilgrims explores the forces, circumstances, personalities and events that converged to exile the English group in Holland and eventually propel their crossing to the New World; a story universally familiar in broad outline, but almost entirely unfamiliar to a general audience in its rich and compelling historical actuality. Includes the real history of the "first thanksgiving".

The series explores the transformative years following the American Civil War, when the nation struggled to rebuild itself in the face of profound loss, massive destruction, and revolutionary social change. The twelve years that composed the post-war Reconstruction era (1865-77) witnessed a seismic shift in the meaning and makeup of our democracy, with millions of former slaves and free black people seeking out their rightful place as equal citizens under the law. Though tragically short-lived, this bold democratic experiment was, in the words of W. E. B. Du Bois, a ‘brief moment in the sun’ for African Americans, when they could advance, and achieve, education, exercise their right to vote, and run for and win public office.

A multi-generational portrait of pioneering Punjabi-Mexican families who settled, a century ago, in Southern California's Imperial Valley. Through the use of found footage, archival and family photographs, personal and public documents, Jayasri Majumdar Hart tells the touching and inspirational story of a community that grew out of a struggle for economic survival in the face of prejudice.

Nicknamed the "Harlem Hellfighters", these African-Americans wanted to become ordinary citizens like everyone else. They saw fighting heroically in the trenches as their chance to achieve this. In 1918, the 15th New York National Guard Regiment became the most highly decorated unit of the First World War.

When Worlds Collide is a highly imaginative exploration of one of the most intriguing epochs in human history: when the "Old World" first encountered the "New World." Travel from Granada in Spain to Machu Picchu in Peru; and from Mexico to Madrid in Spain. When Worlds Collide explores how the collision of these two sophisticated but different worlds led to the birth of an entirely new Latino culture.

There are few monsters more recognizable or popular than the zombie. The reanimated corpse has been a staple of folklore, film, literature and popular culture for nearly 200 years. Join Dr. Emily Zarka, who studies literature and film through the lens of monsters, as she deconstructs some of the most significant moments in zombie popular culture over the last two centuries to reveal what these creatures say about us. In New Orleans, Dr. Zarka explores how zombie folklore arose before it became mainstream and discovers more about the spiritual and historical roots of zombie lore.

From PBS - Italy's Mystery Mountains explores the fascinating geologic story of Italy, the land known for its fabulous art, fantastic food, opera, the dolce vita, and so much more. What's less known about Italy is the diversity and turbulence of the geology behind all of this abundance: the continuously erupting volcanoes, the violent earthquakes, the clash of mighty tectonic plates, and the rising of the mountains from which Michelangelo sourced his famous marbles.

Amid record police shootings in Utah, an investigation into the use of deadly force in the state with Frontline's local journalism partner The Salt Lake Tribune.