Into the Deep producer talks about life on the set of America, Whaling & the World. Hear more about Burns' background and other films he has produced for American Experience.

Whaling shanty Wearing Whaling Grounds (Wings of a Gull)

Whaling shanty Bonnie the Diamond

The history of the American whaling industry from its 17th-century origins in drift-and-shore whaling off the coast of New England and Cape Cod, through the golden age of deep ocean whaling, and on to its demise in the decades following the American Civil War.

Nathaniel Philbrick, author of In the Heart of the Sea, talks about his interest in the whaleship Essex and the history of whaling on Nantucket. Hear more about Philbrick's historical interests and other works he has written.

Whites willing to resort to racist violence found encouragement from high profile figures.

The call of sanitation workers for fair treatment drew Martin Luther King, Jr. to Memphis.

Martin Luther King, Jr launched the Poor People's Campaign in 1968 to fight poverty.

March 1968: Memphis sanitation workers' march in Memphis ends in police violence.

Learning about My Lai changed American opinions about the Vietnam War. Was the price of winning the war a price worth paying?

Lieutenant William Calley's 1971 conviction for crimes committed during the My Lai massacre set off protests in the U.S., with many feeling he was unfairly blamed for Vietnam mistakes.

When should a soldier refuse to follow orders? The 1968 attack of My Lai pushed soldiers and Americans to ask this hard question.

My Lai: In the Vietnam War, military leaders failed to give moral guidance to scared US soldiers.

March 16, 1968, a company of American soldiers entered the village of My Lai, located in Quang Ngai Province in central Vietnam. By the end of the day, they had shot and killed between 300 and 507 unarmed and unresisting men, women and children. What drove a company of American soldiers -- ordinary young men from around the country -- to commit the worst atrocity in American military history?

The story of the modern environmental movement.

Around age 12, Robert Stone created his first short film on environmental pollution in his New Jersey hometown. Commentary by Robert Stone.

Passing environmentally friendly laws isn't always enough, as the 1960s' conflict between environmentalists and loggers proved.

The 1973 oil embargo highlighted US dependence on foreign oil.

Congressmen with poor environmental records were targeted for defeat in 1970.

What was the effect of Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring?