A disastrous oil spill off the coast of Alaska and massive explosion of a rig in the Gulf of Mexico revealed a pattern of unsettled standards and inconsistent oversight that cast doubt on the oil industry’s preparedness for future accidents.
U.S. History
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Whites-Only Suburbs: How the New Deal Shut Out Black Homebuyers
Race-based federal lending rules from New Deal programs in the 1930s kept Black families locked out of suburban neighborhoods, a policy that continues to slow their economic mobility.
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Extremism in America (full film)
This 28-minute special looks at the roots and rise of hate groups in America. It is released in collaboration with WORLD Channel and The WNET Group’s reporting initiative Exploring Hate.
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How a 1944 Supreme Court Ruling on Internment Camps Led to a Reckoning
The U.S. government ordered 120,000 people of Japanese descent, most American citizens, imprisoned during World War II. An admission of wrongdoing and reparations payments came decades later, but a Supreme Court ruling had lasting impact.
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A New Housing Program to Fight Poverty Has an Unexpected History
Some cities are trying to help poor children succeed by having their families move to middle-income, so-called “opportunity areas” – an idea that was once politically impossible.
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Midterm Elections: 1966 Midterms Signal a Realignment, Shaping Today’s Parties
Southern voters, once loyal to the Democratic Party, elected Republican candidates in 1966 as the two parties began to sort themselves into distinctly partisan camps.
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Midterm Elections: How 1994 Midterms Set Off an Era of Divisive Politics
Midterm elections, often a referendum on the sitting president’s agenda, can set the stage for future policy debates. Economic and social issues with roots in the 1994 midterms are still being debated today.
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Hitting Home
To stave off a nationwide housing crisis during the coronavirus pandemic, officials implemented new housing policies, including a nationwide ban on evictions. In cities across the nation, Retro Report and Frontline PBS captured this unprecedented period. Facing Eviction Since the summer of 2020, we’ve documented the impact of the pandemic on housing and evictions. We […]
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How Watergate and Citizens United Shaped Campaign Finance Law
The Watergate campaign finance scandals led to a landmark law designed to limit the influence of money in politics. Decades later, some say the scandal isn’t what’s illegal, it’s what’s legal.
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How the U.S. Has Treated Wartime Refugees
What obligation does the United States have toward people who are uprooted by war?