Across five “pacy” episodes, “The American Experiment” (Netflix) “draws you into the grand story of how a British backwater became the most powerful nation in the annals of humanity”, said Ed Power in The Irish Times.The series, directed by Brian Knappenberger and produced by Tom Hanks, offers a bird’s-eye view of America since the 16th century, and features more than 60 talking heads (including Mike Pence, Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton and Al Gore), who weigh in on the US’ origins and its “enduring fabulosity”. Yet the series is not entirely “self-congratulatory”; as it gets into the weeds of US politics, it makes it clear that all is not entirely well at the centre of Pax Americana.
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