Documentaries and Podcasts

Television Documentaries

Television documentaries can be a great starting point for finding a History Day topic.

  • Many students find projects through History Channel documentaries. (But no Ancient Aliens, ya’ll.)
  • The PBS (public television) American Experience series has won numerous awards and produced hundreds historical documentaries. Many films have their own websites, which link to primary sources and recommended readings.
  • Documentary director Ken Burns has also created scores of highly acclaimed films exploring the history of the Vietnam War, Baseball, the Civil War, and the West, just to name a few. These films also have accompanying websites with primary and secondary source recommendations.
  • Other historical documentaries can also be found through the BBC, Independent Lens, and California Newsreel, which has an especially strong African American Perspectives series.

How to access documentaries

You have a few options for finding and watching documentaries. You may be able to check out documentary films from your public library. If you have broadband internet, you can try streaming documentaries through the PBS app as well as the History.com website. And you might be able to access documentaries on YouTube.

Podcasts

Podcasts can also offer topic inspiration along with a good overview of the subject. Scroll through a list of episodes and pick a couple that intrigue you. We recommend