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The Best Episodes of American Experience Season 30

Every episode of American Experience Season 30 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of American Experience Season 30!

Binge this in 10h 12m•Peaking at 10.0/10

TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    American Experience Season 30 Episode 1 - Into the Amazon
    7.9/10(126 votes)

    #1 - Into the Amazon

    S30:E1

    The remarkable story of President Theodore Roosevelt’s journey with legendary Brazilian explorer Candido Rondon into the heart of the South American rainforest to chart an unexplored tributary of the Amazon.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. American Experience Season 30 Episode 2 - The Secret of Tuxedo Park
    7.4/10(117 votes)

    #2 - The Secret of Tuxedo Park

    S30:E2

    In the fall of 1940, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered his country’s most valuable military secret — a revolutionary radar component — to a Wall Street tycoon, Alfred Lee Loomis. Using his connections, his money, and his brilliant scientific mind, Loomis and his team of scientists developed radar technology that played a more decisive role than any other weapon in World War II.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. American Experience Season 30 Episode 3 - The Gilded Age
    7.4/10(248 votes)

    #3 - The Gilded Age

    S30:E3

    Meet the titans and barons of the glittering late 19th century, whose materialistic extravagance contrasted harshly with the poverty of the struggling workers who challenged them. The vast disparities between them sparked debates still raging today.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. American Experience Season 30 Episode 4 - The Bombing of Wall Street
    7.6/10(105 votes)

    #4 - The Bombing of Wall Street

    S30:E4

    Explore the story behind the first terrorist attack in the U.S., a mostly-forgotten 1920 bombing in the nation’s financial center that left 38 dead – a crime that remains unsolved today.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. American Experience Season 30 Episode 5 - The Island Murder
    4.0/10(3 votes)

    #5 - The Island Murder

    S30:E5

    In the summer 1931, Honolulu's tropical tranquility was shattered when a young Navy wife made a drastic allegation of rape against five nonwhite islanders. What unfolded in the following days and weeks was a racially-charged murder case that would make headlines across the nation, enrage Hawai'i's native population, and galvanize the island's law enforcers and the nation's social elite.

    Director:Mark Zwonitzer
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. American Experience Season 30 Episode 6 - The Chinese Exclusion Act
    7.8/10(100 votes)

    #6 - The Chinese Exclusion Act

    S30:E6

    The origin, history and impact of the 1882 law that made it illegal for Chinese workers to come to America and for Chinese nationals already there to become U.S. citizens.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  7. American Experience Season 30 Episode 7 - The Circus (1)
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #7 - The Circus (1)

    S30:E7

    Explore the early days of this popular, influential and distinctly American form of entertainment during an era when master showmen P.T. Barnum, James Bailey and the Ringling Brothers transformed the nation’s popular culture.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. American Experience Season 30 Episode 8 - The Circus (2)
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #8 - The Circus (2)

    S30:E8

    Revisit the heyday of this distinctly American form of entertainment when former rivals Barnum, Bailey and the Ringling Brothers joined forces to present the “greatest show on earth” in big cities and small towns across the country.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. American Experience Season 30 Episode 9 - The Eugenics Crusade
    3.3/10(4 votes)

    #9 - The Eugenics Crusade

    S30:E9

    The Eugenics Crusade tells the story of the unlikely –– and largely unknown –– campaign to breed a “better” American race, tracing the rise of the movement that turned the fledgling science of heredity into a powerful instrument of social control.

    Director:Michelle Ferrari
    Writer:Michelle Ferrari

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Season 30 Ratings Summary

"Into the Amazon" is the best rated episode of "American Experience" season 30. It scored 7.9/10 based on 126 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 1/9/2018. This episode is rated 0.5 points higher than the second-best, "The Secret of Tuxedo Park".