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Over 10 episodes, host Alyssa Rosenberg will be joined by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick and other collaborators on the film to discuss how America lost its way in Vietnam and how this documentary tries to help us find our way back.

Monday, September 11, 2017
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About The American War
The Vietnam War ushered in one of the most divisive periods in American history, one that raised questions we still haven’t resolved today. For filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, making their landmark documentary about the Vietnam War meant confronting these issues – and their own experiences of the war.

In “The American War,” Washington Post Opinion columnist Alyssa Rosenberg breaks down the series with Burns and Novick, getting the story behind the stories, and grappling with the lessons the United States learned – and failed to learn – in Vietnam and at home.

Listen after each episode of "The Vietnam War" for a new perspective on how the film was made and what it all means.

Read more from Alyssa about the documentary:



About us
Host: Alyssa Rosenberg 
Producer: Carol Alderman, Adriana Usero 
  • More episodes

    In the premiere episode of “The American War,” Alyssa talks to Ken Burns and Harvard professor Fredrik Logevall about Episode One of "The Vietnam War," discussing the stories Americans tell ourselves about what happened to our country during the Vietnam.

    Monday, September 18, 2017
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  • It’s easy to say now that the Vietnam War was always a doomed endeavor. But Americans who went to fight in Vietnam thought they were answering John F. Kennedy’s call to public service. Alyssa asks Ken Burns how our ideals went so wrong.

    Tuesday, September 19, 2017
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  • To truly understand what happened to America in Vietnam, Ken Burns and Lynn Novick knew they had to talk to our former opponents. Alyssa talks to Lynn about what it took to go to Vietnam and find the veterans and civilians who shared their stories.

    Wednesday, September 20, 2017
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  • Many of the Gold Star parents who lost their children in Vietnam are aging, and as they are, their stories are being lost. Alyssa finds out how Lynn Novick and Ken Burns found Jean-Marie Crocker, a Gold Star mother.

    Thursday, September 21, 2017
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