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The Cowboy

In this new eight-episode documentary series, David Rubenstein explores America’s 400-year history through a close examination of iconic national symbols such as the Hollywood Sign, Fenway Park, American cowboys and the Statue of Liberty: indelible artifacts, places, and archetypes. Each episode tells the story of an American symbol to reveal its origins, significance and the arc of its resonance.

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The Cowboy

Iconic America Episode 4 | 55m 24s | CC

The cowboy is the quintessential American — fiercely independent, brave and laconic. This episode examines the myths and realities of this archetype, which remains as potent as ever in the 21st century.

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Iconic America: Our Symbols and Stories with David Rubenstein is a production of Show of Force, DMR Productions, and WETA Washington, D.C. David M. Rubenstein is the host and executive producer. Maro Chermayeff, Jeff Dupre, Joshua Bennett and Sam Pollard are executive producers for Show of Force. John F. Wilson is executive producer for WETA. Bill Gardner is the executive in charge for PBS. Chris Ullman is producer for DMR Productions. Jonathan Scheinberg, Prisca Pointdujour, Sam Lacroix, Alexandra Nikolchev, Sally Rosenthal, Matthew Horovitz, Lizzie Mulvey and Ken Levis are producers for Show of Force. Kate Kelly is producer for WETA. Rick Van Meter is supervising producer. Allison Hanna is archival producer. Gary Lionelli is composer for the original score. Funding is provided by The Zohar and Lisa Ben-Dov Family through the Luminescence Foundation.

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