Barak Goodman

My Lai

Barak Goodman

What drove a company of American soldiers – ordinary young men from around the country – to commit the worst atrocity in American military history? Were they “just following orders” as some later declared? Or, did they break under the pressure of a vicious war in which the line between enemy soldier and civilian had been intentionally blurred? American Experience focuses on the 1968 My Lai massacre, its subsequent cover-up, and the heroic efforts of the soldiers who broke ranks to try to halt the atrocities, and then bring them to light.

The Merchants of Cool

Barak Goodman

Douglas Rushkoff, Christina Aguilera

A documentary on the marketing of pop culture to Teenagers.

The Persuaders

Barak Goodman, Rachel Dretzin

Douglas Atkins, Scott Donaton

PBS Frontline takes an in-depth look at the multibillion-dollar "persuasion industries" of advertising and public relations and how marketers have developed new ways of integrating their messages deeper into the fabric of our lives. Through sophisticated market research methods to better understand consumers and by turning to the little-understood techniques of public relations to make sure their messages come from sources we trust, marketers are crafting messages that resonate with an increasingly cynical public.

The Fight

Barak Goodman

Кортни Б. Вэнс, Richard Ben Cramer

Explores the famous 1938 heavyweight bout between German Max Schmeling and American Joe Louis and finds two men who, in the shadow of war, became reluctant symbols of equality and supremacy, democracy and fascism.

Clinton: Part 1

Barak Goodman

Campbell Scott, Bill Clinton

Clinton tells the story of a president who rose from a broken childhood in Arkansas to become one of the most successful politicians in modern American history and one of the most complex and conflicted characters to ever stride across the public stage. Part 1 follows their bumpy road to the 1992 presidential victory, an amazing triumph over repeated scandals and setbacks followed by a tumultuous first two years that see the beginning of the Whitewater scandal, the shocking death of Deputy White House Counsel Vince Foster and the humiliating defeat of Hillary's healthcare bill.

Clinton: Part 2

Barak Goodman

Campbell Scott, Bill Clinton

The story of a president who rose from a broken childhood in Arkansas to become one of the most successful politicians in modern American history and one of the most complex and conflicted characters to ever stride across the public stage. In Part 2, Clinton wins the 1996 election in a landslide, pulling off one of the greatest turnarounds in political history. But as Clinton sails buoyantly into his second term, times are good, the economy is booming, and American prestige and power internationally are at an all-time high. Clinton's dream of repairing the breach with Republicans seems within reach. But Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky -- a White House intern -- becomes public after she confides in a co-worker named Linda Tripp.

The Lobotomist

Barak Goodman, John Maggio

Tells the gripping tale of a medical intervention gone awry.

Woodstock

Barak Goodman

Joan Baez, David Crosby

50 years after the legendary fest, Barak Goodman’s electric retelling of Woodstock, from the point of view of those who were on the ground, evokes the freedom, passion, community, and joy the three-day music festival created.

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

Barak Goodman

Will Patton, Guy Gane

Just days after the Civil War ended, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre. As a fractured nation mourned, a manhunt closed in on his assassin, the twenty-six-year-old actor, John Wilkes Booth. The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln tracks the converging paths of the president and his killer, then tracks and draws connections between their last journeys, in the forms of Lincoln's funeral train route and Booth's desperate efforts to escape.

Scottsboro: An American Tragedy

Barak Goodman

A look at the infamous "Scottsboro Boys" case that occurred in Alabama in 1931, in which nine young black men were arrested, tried and quickly convicted in the rape of two white women, despite overwhelming evidence that showed their accusers had falsely accused them and the fact that one of the women later admitted that no rape had in fact occurred (although both had had sexual relations with their boyfriends on the day prior to the "rape"). The case was one of the first that shined a spotlight on what many called the "legal lynchings" that occurred in the South whenever blacks were accused of crimes, especially against whites and most especially against white women.

George W. Bush

Jamila Ephron, Barak Goodman

George W. Bush, Andy Card

This two-part, four-hour look at the life and presidency of George W. Bush features interviews with historians, journalists and several members of the president’s inner circle. Part One chronicles Bush’s unorthodox road to the White House. The once wild son of a political dynasty, few expected Bush to ascend to the presidency. Yet 36 days after the November 2000 election, Bush emerged the victor of the most hotly contested race in the nation's history. Little in the new president’s past could have prepared him for the events that unfolded on September 11, 2001. Thrust into the role of war president, Bush's response to the deadly terrorist attack would come to define a new era in American foreign policy. Part Two opens with the ensuing war in Iraq and continues through Bush’s second term, as the president confronts the devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina and the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Slay the Dragon

Chris Durrance, Barak Goodman

Stephen Wolf, Rick Pluta

It influences elections and sways outcomes -- gerrymandering has become a hot-button political topic and symbol for everything broken about the American electoral process. But there are those on the front lines fighting to change the system.

Oklahoma City

Barak Goodman

Janet Beck, Alan Berg

The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in April 1995 is the worst act of domestic terrorism in American history. This documentary explores how a series of deadly encounters between American citizens and federal law enforcement—including the standoffs at Ruby Ridge and Waco—led to it.

Clinton

Barak Goodman

The political history of Bill Clinton including his two terms as President of the United States.

Kinsey

Barak Goodman, John Maggio

Documentary examining the impact and continuing influence of 'Alfred Kinsey"s groundbreaking research on human sexuality.

Ruby Ridge

Barak Goodman

Bo Gritz

Shortly before dawn on August 21, 1992, six heavily armed U.S. marshals made their way up to the isolated mountaintop home of Randy and Vicki Weaver and their children on Ruby Ridge in Northern Idaho. Charged with selling two illegal sawed-off shotguns to an undercover agent, Weaver had failed to appear in court and law enforcement was tasked with bringing him in. For months, the Weavers had been holed up on their property with a cache of firearms, including automatic weapons. When the federal agents surveilling the property crossed paths with members of the family, a firefight broke out. The standoff that mesmerized the nation would leave Weaver injured, his wife and son dead, and some convinced that the federal government was out of control. Drawing upon eyewitness accounts, including interviews with Weaver’s daughter, Sara, and federal agents involved in the confrontation, Ruby Ridge is a riveting account of the event that helped give rise to the modern American militia movement.