Documentaries

   
Image from Health Risks of Vaping: Lessons From the Battle With Big Tobacco
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Health Risks of Vaping: Lessons From the Battle With Big Tobacco

Like cigarette manufacturers decades ago, e-cigarette makers have pitched their products as fun and safe. But nobody knows what the risks are.
Image from New York Tenants Are Organizing Against Evictions, as They Did in the Great Depression
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New York Tenants Are Organizing Against Evictions, as They Did in the Great Depression

Activists concerned about pandemic-related homelessness are seeking rent relief. In the 1930s, tenants banded together against evictions.
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How to Fact-Check History

Meet Joseph Hogan, Retro Report's fact-checker who explains what methods and processes he employs to verify the information in our stories.
Image from Poll Watchers and the Long History of Voter Intimidation
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Poll Watchers and the Long History of Voter Intimidation

President Trump has called on supporters, including law enforcement officers, to monitor election sites. Voter intimidation tactics have a long history.
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Enemies of the People: Trump and the Political Press (Media Mistakes Excerpt)

Top national political reporters admit mistakes in their reporting on the 2016 election campaign.
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Enemies of the People: Trump and the Political Press (CNN's Missteps Excerpt)

CEO Jeff Zucker acknowledges missteps in CNN’s 2016 campaign coverage, when many media outlets covered Donald Trump’s campaign as a spectacle that produced higher ratings.
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Enemies of the People: Trump and the Political Press (False Equivalency Excerpt)

A look at how the journalistic instinct for “balanced” reporting on Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in 2016 played out in particular when it came to the Clinton email investigation.
Image from Bush v. Gore: How a Recount Dispute Affects Voting Today
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Bush v. Gore: How a Recount Dispute Affects Voting Today

The dramatic controversy surrounding the 2000 presidential election led to sweeping voting reforms, but opened the door to a new set of problems that continue to affect elections today.
Image from Enemies of the People: Trump and the Political Press (Historical Excerpt)
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Enemies of the People: Trump and the Political Press (Historical Excerpt)

Tensions between the press and presidents, charges of liberal media bias and the decline in public trust in journalism has been in existence for decades.
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Enemies of the People: Trump and the Political Press (Trailer)

Journalists who covered the 2016 presidential campaign now offer a candid analysis of their role in President Trump’s rise to power.
Image from Tenants Facing Eviction Over Covid-19 Look to a 1970s Solution
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Tenants Facing Eviction Over Covid-19 Look to a 1970s Solution

An idea from a tenant rebellion in the 70s could help renters facing eviction.
Image from Political Debates: What the Unforgettable Moments Reveal
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Political Debates: What the Unforgettable Moments Reveal

High-stakes debates put candidates in the hot seat. But are they helpful to voters?
Image from Working Sick During Covid: What We Learned from Swine Flu
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Working Sick During Covid: What We Learned from Swine Flu

‘Stay home if you’re sick’ is time-tested advice. But not all workers can afford it.
Image from The Domestic Violence Case That Turned Outrage Into Action
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The Domestic Violence Case That Turned Outrage Into Action

The ‘Burning Bed’ killing put domestic violence in the headlines.
Image from How Black Women Fought Racism and Sexism for the Right to Vote
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How Black Women Fought Racism and Sexism for the Right to Vote

African American women played a significant and sometimes overlooked role in the struggle to gain the vote.
Image from What the Bungled Response to HIV Can Teach Us About Dealing With Covid-19
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What the Bungled Response to HIV Can Teach Us About Dealing With Covid-19

Politics, public health and a pandemic. What we didn’t learn from HIV.
Image from Racial Inequality Was Tearing the U.S. Apart, a 1968 Report Warned. It Was Ignored.
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Racial Inequality Was Tearing the U.S. Apart, a 1968 Report Warned. It Was Ignored.

Anger over policing and inequality boiled over in 1967 in protests and violence across the United States. A landmark report warned that without major changes, it would happen again.
Image from From Women’s Suffrage to the ERA, a Century-Long Push for Equality
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From Women’s Suffrage to the ERA, a Century-Long Push for Equality

The Equal Rights Amendment, proposed nearly 100 years ago, sparked debate from its very beginning, even among many of the women who had worked together for suffrage.
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Why History Urges Caution on Immunity Testing

After past outbreaks, workers with proof of antibodies were in demand. But history urges caution.
Image from American Samoa Dodged a Pandemic in 1918. Here’s What We Learned.
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American Samoa Dodged a Pandemic in 1918. Here’s What We Learned

Two territories, two wildly different outcomes as a pandemic terrorized the world.
Image from Coronavirus Has a Playlist. Songs About Disease Go Way Back.
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Coronavirus Has a Playlist. Songs About Disease Go Way Back.

Coronavirus songwriting has gone as global as the pandemic itself, creating a new genre called pandemic pop. It’s a tradition with a long history.
Image from Coronavirus Reignites a Fight Over Rights of Detained Migrant Children
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Coronavirus Reignites a Fight Over Rights of Detained Migrant Children

Migrant children in federal custody have tested positive for Covid-19, reopening a legal battle over the rights of children in custody.
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Coronavirus, Smoking, Vaping: Studies From the Past That Alarm Scientists

COVID-19 attacks the lungs. Past research shows that smoking and vaping may amplify the coronavirus.
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Coronavirus: Lessons From Past Epidemics

Dr. Larry Brilliant, who helped eradicate smallpox, says past epidemics can teach us to fight coronavirus.
Image from Meatless Burgers Are on Trend. Eating to Save the World Has a Long History.
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Meatless Burgers Are on Trend. Eating to Save the World Has a Long History.

Plant-based meats may be high tech, but the ideas behind them have been around for decades.
Image from Do Whistleblower Protections Work? Ask This One.
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Do Whistleblower Protections Work? Ask This One.

A case from almost a decade ago reveals the peril faced by whistleblowers seeking to expose wrongdoing.
Image from From Napster to Netflix: The History and Impact of Streaming Services
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From Napster to Netflix: The History and Impact of Streaming Services

After Napster, many consumers got used to entertainment on demand. There was no turning back.
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Combating the Myth of the Superpredator

In the 1990s, a handful of researchers inspired panic with a dire but flawed prediction: the imminent arrival of a new breed of “superpredators.”
Image from Teaching Teens About Sex: The Decades-Old Debate over Abstinence-Only
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Teaching Teens About Sex: The Decades-Old Debate over Abstinence-Only

A decades-old battle is re-emerging over abstinence-only sex education.
Image from AIDS: From Ryan White to Today's Silent Epidemic
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AIDS: From Ryan White to Today's Silent Epidemic

While H.I.V. rates have fallen in many places, the AIDS crisis remains in some of the U.S.
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Lessons From the Challenger Tragedy

Normalization of deviance, the process of becoming inured to risky actions, is a useful concept that was developed to explain how the Challenger disaster happened.
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Send In the Special Ops Forces

The rise of special operations units today can be traced to two historic military missions -- one a legendary success, the other a spectacular failure.
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The Misunderstood McDonald's Hot Coffee Lawsuit

Stella Liebeck was vilified when she was awarded millions after spilling McDonald's coffee in her lap. Her complaint sounded frivolous. But the facts told another story.
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Trump’s Immigration Rhetoric Echoes a Bitter Fight from the 90s

Today's immigration policies echo an anti-immigration movement 25 years ago in California.
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Population Bomb: The Overpopulation Theory That Fell Flat

In the 1960s, fears of overpopulation sparked talk of population control. So what happened?
Image from Hard Risks: Concussions in Sports, From the Boxing Ring to the Gridiron
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Hard Risks: Concussions in Sports, From the Boxing Ring to the Gridiron

As concussions plague football, are there lessons from earlier concerns about boxing?
Image from The Surprising Legacy of the Boy in the Bubble
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The Surprising Legacy of the Boy in the Bubble

Newborns today are tested for genetic and immune disorders that might not be apparent at birth. The tests evolved from the treatment of a patient with a rare diagnosis who became known as “the Boy in the Bubble.”
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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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Could We Geoengineer Ourselves Out of Climate Change?

Is geo-engineering the climate an answer to global warming? Cold War science has some lessons.
Image from Lingering Peril From Lead Paint
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Lingering Peril From Lead Paint

About half a million children have dangerously high lead levels in their blood, mostly from exposure to peeling paint and contaminated dust. The fight over who should clean it up has lasted for decades.
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Born by Surrogate: New Paths to Parenthood

Parenthood through surrogacy has become accepted in the United States, but it’s relatively unregulated compared with other countries -- something that can be traced back to case of Baby M.
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Could a Simple Intervention Fight a Suicide Crisis?

A simple intervention to reduce suicides -- “caring letters,” messages of compassion and empathy – showed promise in the 1960s, but has been overlooked until now.
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Horses: Wild, But Not Free

There are now so many wild horses on public land – nearly 100,000 -- that they have become caught in a battle between the government, ranchers and environmentalists.
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The Birth of Free Agency

The drama of modern free agency has become as much a part of professional sports as the games themselves. But it wasn’t always that way. Today’s free agents owe a big debt of gratitude to Curt Flood.
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How Fear of the Measles Vaccine Took Hold

Skepticism and fear surrounding vaccines were fed by a flawed study done in 1998 linking the MMR vaccine to autism. The study was quickly discredited, we’re still dealing with the repercussions.
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Echoes of Nixon in Trump's War on Press

President Trump’s efforts to clamp down on White House leaks have echoes of a pattern set during the Nixon era.
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The Garbage Barge That Helped Fuel a Movement

In the 1980s, rising public awareness about waste was fueled by a bizarre news story about a meandering New York City garbage barge.
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LSD Gets Another Look

LSD has long been associated with 1960s counterculture. Today, psychedelic drugs are back in the lab, providing hope for people who suffer from anxiety, depression and addiction.
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She Rocked the Pentagon

After a sexual assault scandal at the Tailhook convention rocked the Navy in 1991, one female officer, Paula Coughlin, launched a campaign to change military culture.
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The Modern Bystander Effect

Why don’t people intervene when they encounter violence streaming live online?
Image from DNA Clues Solve Crimes . . . With a Privacy Cost
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DNA Clues Solve Crimes . . . With a Privacy Cost

DNA information that is available on genealogy websites is doing more than satisfying curiosity -- it's solving crimes.
Image from Are Robots Really Taking Over?
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Are Robots Really Taking Over?

Humans are wary that robots could replace them. So what can we learn from the legendary chess match between a supercomputer and Garry Kasparov?
Image from Tabletop to Tablet: Using Dungeons & Dragons to Combat Screen Addiction
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Tabletop to Tablet: Using Dungeons & Dragons to Combat Screen Addiction

The role-playing game ​D​ungeons ​&​ ​D​ragons​, once at the center of a moral panic, is now seen as a counterbalance to the problem of screen addiction.
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Thalidomide: Return of an Infamous Pill

How a pill that led to drug safety guidelines became a case study for rising drug prices.
Image from Athletes vs. Injustice: Protests in Sports
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Athletes vs. Injustice: Protests in Sports

When N.F.L. players, starting with Colin Kaepernick, took a knee during the National Anthem to protest they ignited an uproar over injecting politics onto the playing field.
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Online All the Time? Researchers Predicted It.

Our social media addiction is explained by theories pioneered by B.F. Skinner decades ago.
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Sexual Misconduct at Work, Again

The #MeToo movement is shedding renewed light on sexual harassment at work. The fight has a decades-long history.
Image from This Snake Is Eating the Everglades
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This Snake Is Eating the Everglades

Burmese pythons released into the wild by well-meaning pet owners have created a reptilian nightmare in the Everglades.
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Israel Survived an Early Challenge With War Planes Smuggled by U.S. Vets

In 1948, World War II aviators risked their lives in a secret operation to smuggle weapons and planes to the Israeli military.
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Can We Teach Cars to Drive? It's an Uphill Challenge.

Autonomous vehicle technology has gotten better, but how close are we really to a time when a robot chauffeur will be able to safely drive us?
Image from The Moon’s Lasting Pull
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The Moon’s Lasting Pull

Our moon has winked from the heavens as a symbol and anchor, reminding us not only the cycle of life, but also of danger and death. Scientists have brought the moon into sharper focus, and astronauts have left the first footprints there. But will we ever be able to explain its lasting, mesmerizing power of attraction?
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Space Law: The Next Generation

An international treaty laid out the basics of space law in 1967. But without a lot of case history to go on, lawyers today have looked to maritime law and Arctic exploration as they lay the groundwork for how space will be governed.
Image from How NASA Sold Us a Trip to the Moon
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How NASA Sold Us a Trip to the Moon

To launch its lunar landing project, NASA had to find ways to convince the American public that the costly, audacious pursuit was essential. One lasting result: Tang breakfast drink.
Image from Future of Aging
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Future of Aging

Across the globe, more and more people are living longer lives and that's redefining what it means to be over 65, and what the future might mean for retirement. 
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Perp Walks: When Police Roll Out the Blue Carpet

Perp walk: Unfair maneuver or a strong warning to would-be criminals?
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The Future of College

Online learning is indeed disrupting college as we know it -- but not in the way you might think.
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How A Folk Singer’s Murder Forced Chile to Confront Its Past

Víctor Jara was a legendary Chilean folk singer and political activist, whose brutal killing during a military coup in 1973 went unsolved for decades. Now, his family may finally get justice.
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Future of Water

The increasing scarcity of drinking water is beginning to capture the world's attention -- but surprisingly, an innovative solution might just be found in one of the Earth's driest places.
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Future of Gaming

As gaming becomes the dominant form of entertainment this century, game developers increasingly track player behavior to tailor experiences that will keep people playing longer and spending more money.
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The Roots of Evangelicals’ Political Fervor

White evangelical Christians are among President Trump’s most important supporters. But more than 40 years ago, they were on the margins of American politics.
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Genetic Screening: Controlling Heredity

With every new advance in prenatal genetic screening, the ability to prevent suffering has also sparked difficult questions about what should count as “a disease” versus “a difference,” and whether we’re in danger of wiping out certain segments of the population. This story was produced in collaboration with PBS, American Experience.
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Abortion Was Illegal. This Secret Group Defied the Law

We tell the story of a little known chapter in American history, before Roe v. Wade, when a clandestine group provided thousands of women with illegal abortions in Chicago.
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For Private Prisons, Detaining Immigrants Is Big Business

An inmate population surge in the 1980s led to the growth of for-profit prisons. Today, despite their mixed record, private prison companies are overseeing the vast majority of undocumented migrants.
Image from Operation Ceasefire: Inside a Community's Radical Approach to Gang Violence
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Operation Ceasefire: Inside a Community's Radical Approach to Gang Violence

This is the story of cops, African-American pastors, gang members, and academics coming together to create positive change for Boston, while upending notions of traditional policing in a way that is especially pertinent today.
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Future of Cities

In the latest installment of our “What Happens Next” series examining the future of society, we visit Medellín, Colombia—a city that has reinvented itself over the past few decades, turning its violent past into a sustainable future by transforming its slums.
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A Trusted Pill Turned Deadly. How Tylenol Made a Comeback

How do some companies regain public trust after something goes seriously wrong, while others fail? A look at how Tylenol responded after someone spiked its pills with poison in the 1980s sheds some light.
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How Supreme Court Confirmations Became So Bitter: From Bork To Kavanaugh

Will Brett Kavanaugh answer any questions? He may not -- and it all goes back to the bitter hearings over Judge Robert Bork, which forever changed how nominees answer questions.
Image from Biosphere 2: A Faulty Mars Survival Test Gets a Second Act
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Biosphere 2: A Faulty Mars Survival Test Gets a Second Act

NASA isn’t the first organization to experiment with living on Mars – in 1991 eight people sealed themselves inside a giant glass biosphere to practice space living. By the time they emerged two years later, they had “suffocated, starved and went mad.”
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From Y2K to 2038, Lessons Learned from First Computer Crisis

The Y2K bug threatened to wipe out computers and disrupt modern society at the end of the 20th century. We all remember the doomsday hype, but what really happened?
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Trump Administration Sued for Torpedoing Enforcement of Landmark Housing Law

Ben Carson, Secretary of HUD, is being sued for not enforcing the Fair Housing Act -- landmark legislation that was passed 50 years ago during the Civil Rights era.
Image from The Wildfire That Burned Yellowstone and set off a Media Firestorm
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The Wildfire That Burned Yellowstone and set off a Media Firestorm

Increasingly, wildfires affect populated areas. But 30 years ago, it was a huge fire in Yellowstone National Park that stoked media attention and political controversy.
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Where the Debate Over "Designer Babies" Began

Genetic technology is advancing, and critics are warning of a slippery slope. We spoke with the scientists working at the forefront of the research, families who have benefited and the first-ever "test-tube" baby to understand the debate.
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Gerrymandering's Surprising History and Uncertain Future

Both political parties have always played the redistricting game. But some of today’s battles have roots in a civil rights case decided by the Supreme Court 30 years ago.
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She Derailed the Fight for Equal Rights for Women

Even in the #MeToo era, many people don't know that the Equal Rights Amendment never passed...because of one woman -- which is why it's a big deal that Illinois recently passed the amendment.
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Iran, North Korea, Russia: How the Nuclear Threat Re-emerged

Despite President Trump's summit with Kim Jong Un, new reports suggest North Korea is pushing ahead with its nuclear program. The U.S. and Russia are also expanding their nuclear arsenals... so how is it that the public seems so complacent about the risk of nuclear catastrophe?
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Why We Can't Have a Civil Conversation About Guns

In the 1980s, the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan and the shooting of his press secretary, Jim Brady, led to the Brady Bill. Decades later, are there lessons from that fight for the Parkland students?
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Rehab Rarely Works for Opioid Addicts. Could a Vaccine?

Overdose deaths are skyrocketing, forcing researchers to find new ways to think about and treat addiction.
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Selling the Code: Can Genetic Testing Services Really Predict Your Future?

Today, companies market genetic tests for everything from cancer to diet and exercise. But how much can tests like 23andme really predict?
Image from Fixing the Code: Genetically Engineering Your DNA to Cure Disease
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Fixing the Code: Genetically Engineering Your DNA to Cure Disease

For the past 20 years, scientists have been trying to cure disease by altering DNA. We examine how with CRISPR Cas-9 gene editing and the revival of gene therapy, they're closer than ever.
Image from Finding the Code: The Race to Sequence the Human Genome and What It Means
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Finding the Code: The Race to Sequence the Human Genome and What It Means

One of biology’s most spectacular achievements -- the race to sequence the human genome -- was billed as a way to end disease. Here's where it led.
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Us vs. Them: from George Wallace to Donald Trump

Trump has used populist politics to appeal to voters who are fed up with the status quo. We look at another politician who tapped into America’s divisions decades ago: George Wallace.
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What History Can Teach Us About Mass Killings

A century ago, a culture rid itself of the problem of mass murder. How did that happen and what can the modern-day world learn from it?
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Myths and Misperceptions about Eating Disorders

30 million people will suffer from eating disorders in their lifetime, yet decades after Karen Carpenter died from anorexia, myths about eating disorders continue.
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Raising Doubts about Evolution… in Science Class

A growing skepticism of science has seeped into the classroom, and it’s revived attacks on one of the most established principles of biology – evolution.
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How ISIS Resembles the Doomsday Cults of the 1970s

Can the lessons we learned from extremist cults decades ago be used to fight ISIS recruitment today?
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Future of Work

A remote Oregon mountainside offers a window into the workplace of the future.
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Future of Money

Future of Money, the first in a 5-part series, looks at what ancient stones on a tiny Pacific island can teach us about Bitcoin, blockchains and the future of money.
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Future of Home

Guatemalan homesteaders and a Michigan contractor are riding a wave that could change how our lives are wired.
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Future of Fact

Online manipulation and immersive media have begun to eradicate our shared notion of authenticity and trust. How will society change when we can no longer believe what we see, hear, or think?
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Future of Food

A small South Dakota farm holds lessons for feeding a crowded and less predictable world.
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'Why Hasn't Sexual Harassment Disappeared?'

From naming the problem in the 1970s, to bringing it out of the shadows in the 90s, to a growing accountability today – the evolution of sexual harassment in the workplace.
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Reproductive Rights and the Women Who Sparked a Movement

As the U.S. tightens restrictions on women's reproductive health, the new season of The Handmaid's Tale seems more relevant than ever. We look back on a group of women who broke sexual taboos in the 1970s, and how the fight over women's bodies continues today.
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Conspiracy Theories and Fake News from JFK to Pizzagate

Retro Report explores decades of conspiracy theories -- from the John F. Kennedy assassination to Pizzagate -- and what they can tell us about how we view the world today.
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Lobotomy: A Dangerous Fad's Lingering Effect on Mental Illness Treatment

From the 1930s to the 1950s a radical surgery -- the Lobotomy -- would forever change our understanding and treatment of the mentally ill.
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Suing the President: The Students Who Challenged the Travel Ban

With the release of Donald Trump's new travel ban, a brief look at a Yale group that fought the original ban.
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Sanctuary Cities: Trump Renews an Uproar That Began Long Ago

As deportations rise under President Trump, churches and cities are declaring themselves sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants. It’s the latest chapter of a movement with a long history.
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Forever Prison

Guantanamo Bay has become a symbol of the war on terror, but its story actually begins a decade before, when it was first used to detain thousands of Haitians outside the reach of U.S. law. This story was created in collaboration with NPR and PBS, FRONTLINE.
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DDT, Malaria, and the Book That Changed Environmental Debate

Author Rachel Carson's strike against the pesticide DDT turned her into both an environmental hero and a foil for those who believe regulation has gone too far. That fight is more relevant than ever.
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Could You Patent the Sun?

Decades after Dr. Jonas Salk opposed patenting the polio vaccine, the pharmaceutical industry has changed.  What does that mean for the development of innovative drugs and for people whose lives depend on them?
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Violence in the Amazon: Why Protecting the Rainforest is Still a Fight

In 1988, the murder of Chico Mendes fueled a movement of activists, celebrities and indigenous peoples that helped to make the rainforest a household name. But what happens now?
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Activating a Generation: From Live Aid to the Ice Bucket Challenge

Thirty years after "Live Aid" changed the face of charity fundraising, clicktivism has taken center stage. If you share, re-tweet and like, are you making the world a better place?
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Princess Diana Brought Attention to Land Mines, but Their Danger Lingers

In the late 1990s, Princess Diana brought public attention to land mine victims. But, more than two decades after her death, how much progress has been made in the worldwide fight against leftover munitions?
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The Populist Politician and California's Property Tax Revolt

In 1978, voters passed Proposition 13, lowering taxes for millions of California homeowners. Decades later, what has it meant for California?
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How Zero Tolerance Blurred the Lines Between Schools and Criminal Justice

Over the last 30 years, schools across the country have enacted tough new discipline policies. Some of those schools say they went too far.
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Upheaval at the 1860 Democratic Convention: What Happend When a Party Split

Some issues are too fundamental for a party to withstand, and the consequences can last for a generation.
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Lessons from the 2004 Democratic Convention: Obama's Speech

Sometimes the most important speech at the convention isn't delivered by the nominee.
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Lessons from the 1924 Democratic Convention: An Immigration Debate's Impact

Immigration has been a defining issue in a campaign before, and the consequences transformed the Democratic Party.
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Lessons from the 1912 Republican Convention: Birth of the Modern Primary

The animosity between William Howard Taft and Theodore Roosevelt changed the primary process forever.
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How It Started (1831): Conventional Wisdom

In 1831, a radical third party had a new idea for selecting a presidential candidate, and it’s still in use today: the national nominating convention.
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Lessons From the 1964 Republican Convention: Declaring War on the Establishment

Donald Trump's candidacy wasn't the first time the Republican Party was split by an outsider declaring war on the establishment elite.
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Lessons from the 1968 Democratic Convention: Under the Shadow of Protests

There are important lessons to be learned from the Democrats' 1968 Chicago convention.
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Lessons from the 1976 Republican Convention: Why Ronald Reagan Lost the Nomination|

In 1976, Ronald Reagan found owning the soul of a party isn't the same as taking home its nomination.
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Smoking Man: Political Ads That Changed the Game

In the 2012 Republican primary, Herman Cain's campaign produced an unusual video featuring Cain's chief of staff, Mark Block, giving a pep talk while smoking a cigarette.
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The Rock: Ads That Changed the Game

In 2007, long-shot Democratic candidate Mike Gravel released one of the strangest ads in political history.
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Willie Horton: Ads That Changed the Game

The infamous Willie Horton ad placed a nail in the coffin of Michael Dukakis' 1988 presidential run.
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Morning in America: Political Ads That Changed the Game

Future "warm and fuzzy" ads can trace their lineage to this one. For his reelection campaign, Ronald Reagan employed a team of advertising all-stars, resulting in one of the most famous catchphrases in American politics.
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It's 3:00 am: Political Ads That Changed the Game

After a string of critical losses in the 2008 Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton's campaign put out a hard-hitting ad that questioned Barack Obama's readiness for the White House.
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Daisy: Political Ads That Changed the Game

Perhaps the most famous political ad of all time, this early television spot ran on air just once, but generated enough media coverage to become a real factor in the 1964 presidential election.
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The Mommy Wars

The Mommy Wars were billed as the nastiest fight in American parenting, and actually fueled by a decades-old blunder. This story was produced in collaboration with Quartz.
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The Outrage Machine

In the digital age, where everyday people can suddenly become public enemy number one, how do we strike the balance between keeping free speech alive online and preventing a cyber mob from taking over?
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Atomic Vets

The story of the veterans who witnessed secret atomic testing and how their decades-long struggle for recognition affects soldiers today. This story is a coproduction with Reveal, from The Center for Investigative Reporting.
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Welfare and the Politics of Poverty

Bill Clinton's 1996 welfare reform was supposed to move needy families off government handouts and onto a path out of poverty. Twenty years later, how has it turned out?
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A Change of Heart

The artificial heart became a media sensation in the 1980s as it both raised hopes and spread controversy. Today its impact on medical science is still playing out in surprising ways.
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Runaway Plane

For decades the United States has been on a quest to perfect stealth technology, but development of the F-35 fighter jet shows just how complicated dreams can become.
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What Is a Healthy Diet? The Answers Are Unsatisfying

Thirty-five years after the first dietary guidelines, how much do we really know about the science behind a healthy diet?
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How Heroin Addiction's Rural Spread Changed the War on Drugs

From time to time over the past 40 years, efforts were made to treat heroin addiction as a public health instead of a crime problem. But they were not successful.
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Free Speech VS Censorship: Warnings From Explicit Lyrics to Trigger Warnings

Offended by lyrics they deemed too sexual and violent, Tipper Gore and Susan Baker campaigned to put warning labels on albums in 1985. Years later, warning labels have ended up in some unexpected places.
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Argentina's Stolen Babies, and the Grandmothers Leading the Search

The Mothers and Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a group of women dedicated to finding babies who were taken by Argentina's military regime in the 1970s and 1980s, have reunited their 130th family.
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Lessons from Columbine About School Shootings and Media Misinformation

The killing of twelve students and a teacher at Columbine High School in 1999 continues to shape how we view and understand school shootings today.
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The Nanny Murder Case: Shaken Baby Syndrome on Trial

In 1997, a young British nanny charged with murder brought shaken baby syndrome into the national spotlight, and raised a scientific debate that continues to shape child abuse cases today.
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How a Standoff with the Black Panthers Fueled the Rise of SWAT

SWAT teams were created in the 1960s to combat violent events. Since then, the specialized teams have morphed into a force increasingly used in routine policing, most often to serve drug warrants,sometimes with disastrous results. Which raises the question -- are we too militarized?
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From Crack Babies to Oxytots: Lessons Not Learned

In the 1980s, many government officials, scientists, and journalists warned that the country would be plagued by a generation of “crack babies.” They were wrong. More than 25 years later, the media is sounding a similar alarm.
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Why Waco is Still a Battleground in the 2nd Amendment Debate

Twenty-six years ago, federal agents raided the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, and generated a legacy that continues to shape antigovernment groups today.
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Transgender Rights: A Decades-long Struggle for Equality

This #PrideMonth, 50 years after Stonewall, many transgender people are still struggling for inclusion, even amongst the LGBT community.
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E. Coli Outbreaks Changed Food Production, But How Safe Are We?

A 1993 E. coli outbreak linked Jack in the Box hamburgers sickened 700 people and acted as a wake up call about the dangers of food-borne illness. Decades later, how far have we really come in terms of food safety?
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Fire Safety and Chemicals in our Clothes

There are over 80,000 chemicals in use today. The story of TRIS, removed from children's pajamas in the 1970s, illustrates just how hard it is to regulate chemicals, or to even know if they're safe.
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He's the only CIA Contractor to be Convicted in a Torture-related Case

The story of the first and only interrogator connected to the CIA to be convicted in a torture-related case.
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A Right to Die?

Should doctors be allowed to help suffering patients die? In 1990, with his homemade suicide machine, Dr. Jack Kevorkian raised that question. It's an issue Americans still struggle with today.
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How Geography Drove MLK's Fight for a Ferry in Alabama

Weeks before Selma's Bloody Sunday in 1965, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. urged residents of Gee's Bend, Ala., to vote, and fed a continuing fight over a small ferry that would last for decades.
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Power Line Fears

News media coverage in the 1980s and early 1990s fueled fears of a national cancer epidemic caused by power lines and generated a debate that still lingers today.
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Is Multiple Personality Disorder Real? One Woman's Story

In the 1970s, the TV movie “Sybil” introduced much of the nation to multiple personality disorder and launched a controversy that continues to resonate.
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A Mother, a Dingo and an Australian Media Frenzy

In 1982, an Australian mother was convicted of murdering her baby daughter. She was later exonerated, but soon fell victim to a joke that distracted the world from the real story.
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The Murder of US Churchwomen in El Salvador That Exposed a Government Coverup

The murder of four American churchwomen focused attention on the United States' involvement in El Salvador. Decades later, the case continues to take surprising turns.
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Reintroducing Wolves to Yellowstone was a Success. That's When Trouble ​Began.

In the 1990s, the federal government reintroduced the gray wolf to Yellowstone National Park. It was considered a big success. And that’s when the real fight began.
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How the Shootout at Ruby Ridge Resonates in the Gun Debate Today

When armed suspects stand off against the law today, one event continues to cast a shadow on both sides of the police line: the 1992 siege at Ruby Ridge.
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Campaign Finance from Watergate, to Soft Money and Citizens United

The Watergate campaign finance scandals led to a landmark law designed to limit the influence of money in politics. Forty years later, some say the scandal isn’t what’s illegal, it’s what’s legal.
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Bees: Colony Collapse Disorder Is More Complicated Than You'd Think

The mystery of Colony Collapse Disorder has pushed honeybees into the public eye. But the story of their plight -- and its impact -- is much more complicated.
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How Prozac Turned Depression Medication into a Cultural Phenomenon

When Prozac was introduced in 1988, the green-and-cream pill to treat depression launched a cultural revolution that continues to echo.
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The Surprising Technological Revolution Launched by the Air Bag

How did cars become “computers on wheels,” so automated that some are about to start driving themselves? The story begins forty-five years ago with a quest to make cars safer and the battle over the air bag.
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Flawed Evidence: The Limits of Science in the Crime Lab

Before DNA testing, prosecutors relied on less sophisticated forensic techniques, including microscopic hair analysis, to put criminals behind bars. But how reliable was hair analysis?
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Agent Orange: Last Chapter of the Vietnam War

The use of the defoliant Agent Orange during the Vietnam War continues to cast a dark shadow over both American veterans and Vietnamese citizens.
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The NFL Draft 20 Years After Manning-Leaf: How Teams Try to Pick a Winner

After the 1998 NFL draft produced one of the greatest busts in history, what have we learned about the science of evaluating human talent – on and off the field?
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Nuclear Power's Public Opinion Rollercoaster from Three Mile Island to Fukushima

Four decades after the accident at Three Mile Island cast a shadow on the atomic dream, is America again ready to give nuclear energy a chance?
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Her Vegetative State Caused Congress, President Bush and Even the Pope to Weigh In

The controversy over Terri Schiavo’s case elevated a family matter into a political battle that continues to frame end-of-life issues today.
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Earthquake Readiness: How the San Franciso 1989 Quake Shook Awareness

The 1989 earthquake that shook San Francisco sent out a wake up call that continues to echo across the country.
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The Shame of the Church

Sexual abuse in the Catholic Church has been making headlines for years. Some priests have been punished, but what about the bishops who shielded them?
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The Fly That Quarantined California and Pitted Environmentalists Against Farmers

In the summer of 1981, the Mediterranean fruit fly spread through California’s Santa Clara Valley, infesting backyard fruit trees and threatening the state’s $14 billion agricultural industry.
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The Preschool Sex Abuse Case that Changed How Molestation is Investigated

The nightmare began in 1983 when a 39-year-old mother called the police department in Manhattan Beach, California and accused a teacher at the McMartin Preschool, Raymond Buckey, of molesting her two and a half-year old son.
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The Minneapolis Bridge Collapse that Sounded the Alarm on US Infrastructure

At the height of rush hour on August 1, 2007 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a bridge carrying eight lanes of I-35W over the Mississippi River suddenly collapsed, sending cars trucks plunging into the water below.
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Stealing J. Edgar Hoover's Secrets

Long before Edward Snowden, there was the greatest heist you've never heard of. On March 8, 1971, a group of eight Vietnam War protestors broke into a Federal Bureau of Investigation field office in Media, Pennsylvania and stole hundreds of government documents that shocked a nation.
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The Lasting Impact of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Disaster

On a cold March night in 1989, the tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground off the coast of Southern Alaska, spilling 11 million gallons of crude oil into the waters of Prince William Sound and creating one of the worst oil spills in American history.
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Crime and Punishment: Three Strikes and You’re Out

After the 1993 murder of a California child, many states passed laws to lock up repeat offenders for life, but today those laws are raising new questions about how crime is handled in America.
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Toxic Waste in the Neighborhood: The Love Canal Disaster

In 1978, toxic chemicals leaking from an old landfill thrust an upstate New York community called “Love Canal” into the national headlines, and made it synonymous with “environmental disaster.”
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Wrongly Accused of Terrorism: The Sleeper Cell That Wasn't

Six days after 9/11, the FBI’s raid on a Detroit sleeper cell signaled America’s resolve to fight terrorism. But, despite a celebrated conviction, there was one problem — they’d gotten it wrong.
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Blackout: Understanding the US Power Grid's Vulnerability from the 2003 Failure

In 2003, a blackout crippled areas of the U.S. and Canada, leaving some 50 million people in the dark. Years later, we are still grappling with concerns over the vulnerability of our power grid.
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The Long War on Cancer

When President Richard Nixon vowed to make curing cancer a national crusade, many anticipated quick results. But decades later, what have we really accomplished?
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Hurricane Katrina's Aftermath and Lessons in Dealing with Disaster

Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005, and Louisiana’s troubled housing recovery has shaped the response to every major disaster since, including Hurricane Sandy.
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How Cloning a Sheep Set Off a Sci Fi Panic

In 1997, Scottish scientists announced they had cloned a sheep and named her Dolly, and sent waves of future shock around the world that continue to shape frontiers of science today.
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Richard Jewell: The Wrong Man

The 1996 Olympics in Atlanta were rocked by a bomb that killed one and injured more than 100. In the rush to find the perpetrator, one man became a target. There was only one problem. He was innocent.
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Walter Reed: The Battle for Recovery

In 2007, the scandalous treatment of wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center shocked the nation. Today, after major reforms, what’s changed for America’s injured soldiers?
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Freeing Willy

In the wake of the 1993 hit movie Free Willy, activists and fans campaigned to release the movie’s star – a captive killer whale named Keiko -- and launched a story Hollywood couldn’t invent.
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The Battle For Busing

A story of America's school integration and what happened when the buses stopped rolling.
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GMO Food Fears and the First Test Tube Tomato

In the 1990s, a bunch of gene jockeys brought the first genetically engineered food to market. The business crashed but biotech science has flourished far beyond the produce aisle.
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The Tawana Brawley Story

In 1988, the nation learned the truth about the alleged crimes against Tawana Brawley, but the shocking story was far from over.
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The Crack Baby Scare: From Faulty Science to Media Panic

In the 1980s, images of tiny, jittery "crack babies" caused social outcry -- crack-addicted pregnant mothers were prosecuted and the media warned that a generation of “crack babies” would plague our country. Turns out… they were wrong.