The BEST episodes directed by Lynn Novick
#1 - The Homeless, The Tempest-Tossed (1942–)
The U.S. and the Holocaust - Season 1 - Episode 3
A group of government officials supports rescue operations; the public sees for the first time the scale of the Holocaust as Allies liberate German camps.
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#2 - The Weight of Memory (March 1973-Onward)
The Vietnam War (2017) - Season 1 - Episode 10
Saigon falls and the war ends. Americans and Vietnamese from all sides search for reconciliation.
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#3 - College Behind Bars (1)
Storyville - Season 2020 - Episode 8
A two-part Storyville documentary that tells the inspiring story of a group of men and women in the USA struggling to earn college degrees while in prison for serious crimes. The Bard Prison Initiative is one of the most rigorous and effective prison education programmes in the United States. Shot over four years in maximum and medium security prisons in New York State, the films tackles a pressing issue - the failure to provide meaningful rehabilitation for over two million Americans living behind bars. Through the stories of the students and their families, we discover many dropped out of high school before being incarcerated and never imagined they would go to college. During four years of study, however, they become accomplished scholars, beat the Harvard debating team, reckon with their pasts and discover how truly transformative education can be.
#4 - College Behind Bars (2)
Storyville - Season 2020 - Episode 9
The debate team faces West Point and Harvard. Seniors complete their 100-paged thesis projects. Giovannie is sent to the Special Housing Unit and might not finish his project. Students at Taconic and Eastern receive their degrees at graduation.
#5 - Yearning to Breathe Free (1938–1942)
The U.S. and the Holocaust - Season 1 - Episode 2
As World War II begins, Americans unite in their disapproval of Nazi brutality and work to help refugees escape; Germany invades the Soviet Union and secretly begins the mass murder of European Jews.
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#6 - The Golden Door (Beginnings–1938)
The U.S. and the Holocaust - Season 1 - Episode 1
Congress reverses open borders; Hitler and the Nazis begin their persecution of German Jews, causing many to seek refuge; President Franklin D. Roosevelt is concerned but unable to coordinate a response to the crisis.
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#7 - A Disrespectful Loyalty (May 1970-March 1973)
The Vietnam War (2017) - Season 1 - Episode 9
South Vietnam fights on its own as Nixon and Kissinger find a way out for America. The POWs return.
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#8 - A Nation of Hypocrites
Prohibition - Season 1 - Episode 3
Conclusion. The factors that led to the end of prohibition are detailed, as the criminalization of alcohol feeds large profits into the coffers of criminal organizations and turns such gangsters as Al Capone into celebrities. Wealthy Pauline Sabin encourages the repeal of the 18th Amendment; and brings together women from all classes who support her position. The 21st Amendment, which repeals the 18th, is adopted after FDR's 1932 election and by late 1933 people can again legally buy drinks.
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#9 - The History of the World (April 1969-May 1970)
The Vietnam War (2017) - Season 1 - Episode 8
Nixon withdraws troops but when he sends forces into Cambodia the antiwar movement reignites.
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#10 - Things Fall Apart (January 1968-July 1968)
The Vietnam War (2017) - Season 1 - Episode 6
Shaken by the Tet Offensive, assassinations and unrest, America seems to be coming apart.
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#11 - The Veneer of Civilization (June 1968-May 1969)
The Vietnam War (2017) - Season 1 - Episode 7
After chaos roils the Democratic Convention, Nixon, promising peace, narrowly wins the presidency.
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#12 - The River Styx (January 1964 – December 1965)
The Vietnam War (2017) - Season 1 - Episode 3
With South Vietnam in chaos, hardliners in Hanoi seize the initiative and send combat troops to the South, accelerating the insurgency. Fearing Saigon's collapse, President Johnson escalates America's military commitment, authorizing sustained bombing of the North and deploying ground troops in the South.
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#13 - Resolve (January 1966-June 1967)
The Vietnam War (2017) - Season 1 - Episode 4
US soldiers discover Vietnam is unlike their fathers’ war, while the antiwar movement grows.
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#14 - A Nation of Drunkards
Prohibition - Season 1 - Episode 1
The start of the temperance movement in the 19th century under the stewardship of such leaders as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Frances Willard and Carry Nation; and the Anti-Saloon League, which pushed for a constitutional amendment that would ban the sale and manufacture of alcohol.
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#15 - A Nation of Scofflaws
Prohibition - Season 1 - Episode 2
Part 2 of 3 examines the problems that the Volstead Act and prohibition caused, including a possible increase in alcoholism due to women frequenting the illicit speakeasies that replaced male-only saloons; adulterated liquor that poisons some drinkers; and civil-rights violations by overzealous federal agents anxious to make arrests. Despite the public's growing opposition to the ban, few politicians dare to speak against it due to the political might of the Anti-Saloon League.
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#16 - Riding the Tiger (1961-1963)
The Vietnam War (2017) - Season 1 - Episode 2
As a communist insurgency gains strength, JFK wrestles with American involvement in South Vietnam.
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#17 - Déjà Vu (1858-1961)
The Vietnam War (2017) - Season 1 - Episode 1
After nearly a century of French colonial rule, Vietnam emerges independent, but divided.