The vast majority of natural and human landmarks along the 2,320-mile stretch of the Mississippi River can be found at state parks. Here, take a trip down Old Man River and hop from Itasca State Park in Minnesota through Columbus-Belmont State Park in Kentucky all the way to Rosedown Plantation in Louisiana.

In recent years, the state parks in and around the Great Lakes have benefited from major restoration efforts, making them must-see places to visit. In this episode, explore Mackinac Island in Michigan, Indiana Dunes State Park near Chicago, South Bass Island State Park in Ohio’s Lake Erie Archipelago, and more.

Despite being one of our national treasures, very little of the Colorado Rockies is protected by the National Park Service. Discover why the best way to explore Colorado’s mighty mountains is by visiting amazing state parks from State Forest State Park in the far north to Lincoln Park in the heart of Denver to the dinosaur graveyard at Garden Park Fossil Area.

Mr. Yogerst gets a little personal in this lecture on California’s Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, which he’s been going to his entire life. Explore the melted landscape of the Borrego Badlands, the sandy trails of Coyote Canyon, the majesty of the Salton Sea, and the natural springs of the Vallecito Valley.

Northern California’s coastal redwoods are among the tallest and oldest living things on the planet. Learn what makes coastal redwoods different from their cousins in the Sierra Nevada, what mobilized federal and state efforts to save the redwoods, and the best ways to see them for yourself at Prairie Creek, Del Norte Coast, and Jedediah Smith state parks.

Sprawling across 1.6 million acres of wilderness, Wood-Tikchik is one of the largest state parks in the United States (around the same size as Delaware). Chugach, on the other hand, is an easily reachable state park just miles from downtown Anchorage. Both parks (and their can’t-miss sights) are covered here.

Relive the story of the South through essential episodes such as the forging of the slave South, Southern prosperity and the cotton economy, the lives of the enslaved, the breakdown of the Union and the wartime South, emancipation and Reconstruction, and the making of the New South.

Part two of a special series about how two rivals have plunged the Middle East into sectarian war. While Iran extends its power from Iraq into Syria and Lebanon, Saudi Arabia is making a stand in Yemen, with deadly consequences for the region.

An Oscar-nominated portrait of an African-American family that dramatically captures their successes and failures as they struggle to overcome the devastating effects of poverty, welfare, and community violence. For four generations, the Collins family has depended on welfare and lived in Chicago’s Henry Horner Homes, one of the most dangerous housing projects in America. Through the powerful voices of three generations of African-American women,...

Up From Slavery is a powerful, compelling and haunting 7-part documentary series that examines the history of slavery in America, from the arrival of the first African slaves through Nat Turner's Rebellion to the Civil War and beyond. In 1860, as the American Experiment threatened to explode into a bloody civil war, there were as many as four hundred thousand slave-owners in the United States, and almost four million slaves. The nation was founded...