Drinks, Crime and Prohibition
The America that outlawed booze may have planted a bit of outlaw in all of us. This new, two-part history of Prohibition reminds us how much the 18th Amendment redefined the nation’s character—initially by making the federal government a force in people’s personal lives for the first time and giving them reason to resent it. Soon enough, the ban on alcohol would empower organized crime and trigger lasting expansions in federal law enforcement and the prison system. Begins Monday, June 11, at 8 p.m., Smithsonian