The Sixties

Dick and Tom Smothers, Carol Burnett and more describe how shows like “The Twilight Zone,” “The Fugitive” and “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In” reflected the times.

Marvin Kalb, Richard Reeves, Robert Dallek, Sergei Khrushchev and more explain how close the Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis brought us to World War III.

The Warren Commission staff traces the events leading up to the assassination of President Kennedy and try to explain why the tragedy remains controversial.

The Vietnam War brought social and political polarization at home; and because it was televised, the more Americans saw, the more unpopular it became.

Eyewitnesses to the Civil Rights Movement reexamine critical points of history, from the March on Washington to sit-ins and Freedom Rides.

Graham Nash, Smokey Robinson and more recall what it was like to make music that ultimately impacted everything from fashion to sexual mores to politics.

Astronauts Charles Bolden, Mike Massimino, Dave Scott and others describe pushing the boundaries of exploration to an unprecedented frontier.

Tom Hayden and others discuss a dramatic year in US history, including a Soviet incursion, wars in Southeast Asia and the election of President Nixon.

Gloria Steinem, Robert Kennedy Jr., Marlo Thomas and others discuss how feminism, civil rights, environmentalism and the gay rights movements were fueled.

American culture changed fundamentally in the 1960s as the tastes, morals and politics of the Baby Boomer generation redefined standards.