American Icons: Season 3 Preview

This September, we’ll launch a new season of our award-winning documentary series American Icons. In past seasons, we’ve explored the mother of all sitcoms, I Love Lucy; a revolutionary memoir, The Autobiography of Malcolm X; and America’s favorite parable about returning home, The Wizard of Oz.

This new season will be just as wide-ranging. We’ll look atDisneyland and Walt Disney World, theme parks that embody one man’s vision of utopia; The Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial, which changed the way we remember war; and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the counterculture fable about fighting against the Man.

In this preview clip, Louise Fletcher, who played the infamous Nurse Ratched in the film version, tells Kurt Andersen about the making of the film, and what lurks in the heart of Big Nurse. She explains that to stay in character, she wouldn’t socialize with her co-stars Jack Nicholson, Chistopher Lloyd, and Danny DeVito:

We’ll also present an hour on Richard Wright’s Native Son. Published in 1940, the novel was unlike anything Americans had read before. Wright personified the rage that had been building since slavery in the central character Bigger Thomas. In this preview clip, writers, scholars, and performers describe Bigger:

We’ll share new previews as audio becomes available. The series airs beginning September 5. As always, we’d love to hear what you think! Leave us a comment below.