The Lost Tapes - Season 1

The 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor with a detailed account taken straight from original sources captures moment by moment. President Roosevelt called December 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy," a quote that would become one of the most famous in American history. In fact, the attack on Pearl Harbor inspired several powerful public statements, but many of them have never been heard before, until now. Take an unprecedented look at this tragic day entirely through news reports, public statements, recently declassified documents, and footage recorded in the days before, during, and after the event that shook the world.

The city of Los Angeles erupted into chaos on April 29, 1992, after four white LAPD officers were acquitted for beating African American motorist Rodney King. Over the next six days, television and radio reports, home video, and police footage captured the turmoil that led to 54 deaths, nearly 12,000 arrests, and over $1 billion in damages. Using these recordings, we take a look at one of the biggest periods of civil unrest in American history as if it were all unfolding in real time.

For more than a year, a serial killer known as "Son of Sam" terrorized New York City, killing six people and critically wounding seven others. On July 29, 1976, David Berkowitz began a murder spree that left law enforcement baffled and the public afraid to leave their homes. Forty years after his arrest, the latest installment of Smithsonian Channel's immersive and critically acclaimed series THE LOST TAPES uses rare footage to set the scene for what would become a national media frenzy in search of an elusive murderer.

On February 4, 1974, 19-year-old Patricia "Patty" Hearst was kidnapped from her Berkeley, California apartment. Because she was the granddaughter of American publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst, Patty's kidnapping left authorities confounded and the American public glued to its television screens watching the saga of an abducted American heiress unfold. The Lost Tapes: Patty Hearst tells the inside story, without interviews or narration, utilizing Hearst's own voice recordings, footage of her first interview following her release and first-hand audio tapes of the kidnappers. In addition, rediscovered news footage allows viewers to experience all of the confusion, fear and absurdity that held a nation in thrall for 19 months.