The Icons That Built America Episode Rating Graph

In the 1970s, two maverick broadcasters take a different approach, challenging their bosses, the rules and polite society to help create a new genre: talk radio.

Daytime talk shows in the 1980s is aimed at a stay-at-home female audience and has conversational topics and polite discussion; a young politician-turned-TV host rewrites the rules when an unexpected fight breaks out between his guests.

n 1987, a small-time drug dealer forms a hip-hop based group in his hometown of Compton, California. The group's provocative brand of "reality rap" draws backlash from the government and law enforcement as they try to push the boundaries of what hip-hop can be.

In 1965, a struggling motorcycle salesman desperate to juice sales at his small-town dealership comes up with a dangerous publicity stunt that not only launches him into a new career, but changes entertainment forever. As his star rises, he'll bet it all on a stunt that could propel him to new heights or cost him his life. And a generation later, a young boy who grew up idolizing the motorcycle daredevil will take his own dangerous path to television and film success... by daring to fail.