A playboy congressman, an outcast CIA operative, and a socialite steer over $300 million of the United States Government’s money — in an era when Reagan couldn’t raise $19 million for the Contras — to fund a covert war intended to turn Afghanistan into “Russia’s Vietnam.” Is this a joke? Is this some improbable work of fiction? Who are these wildly eccentric figures? How did they pull it off? In this special presentation from THE HISTORY CHANNEL® discover the intricate details of this incredible, fascinating and completely true series of events. Learn how Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson allied with CIA agent Gust Avrakotos and Houston philanthropist Joanne Herring to secretly bankroll the Afghan Mujahideen’s resistance to the Soviet Union. Retrace the behind-the-scenes machinations that led to the CIA’s largest and most successful campaign ever. And understand the wide-ranging and long-lasting implications of this little-known episode.
Charlie Wilson
Self
Carrol Shannon
Joanne Herring
Soldier
Self
Narrator

A playboy congressman, an outcast CIA operative, and a socialite steer over $300 million of the United States Government’s money — in an era when Reagan couldn’t raise $19 million for the Contras — to fund a covert war intended to turn Afghanistan into “Russia’s Vietnam.” Is this a joke? Is this some improbable work of fiction? Who are these wildly eccentric figures? How did they pull it off? In this special presentation from THE HISTORY CHANNEL® discover the intricate details of this incredible, fascinating and completely true series of events. Learn how Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson allied with CIA agent Gust Avrakotos and Houston philanthropist Joanne Herring to secretly bankroll the Afghan Mujahideen’s resistance to the Soviet Union. Retrace the behind-the-scenes machinations that led to the CIA’s largest and most successful campaign ever. And understand the wide-ranging and long-lasting implications of this little-known episode.
2007-12-28
5.1
7.4A look at the origins, history and conspiracies behind the "Majestic 12", a clandestine group of military and corporate figureheads charged with reverse-engineering extraterrestrial technology.
6.7A documentary on the life of John Lennon, with a focus on the time in his life when he transformed from a musician into an antiwar activist.
7.1This documentary focuses on the actors and their journey over two summers to create the remake to the original IT, by Stephen King. The documentary originally released as bonus material, bundled with IT: Chapter Two.
7.3A chronicle of the life, work and mind that created the Cthulhu mythos.
6.5Interviews with leading authors, philosophers and scientists, with an in-depth discussion of the Law of Attraction. The audience is shown how they can learn and use 'The Secret' in their everyday lives.
7.0A documentary exploring the legacy of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the reasons it went from the black sheep of Star Trek to a beloved mainstay of the franchise, and a brainstorm with the original writers on what a theoretical eighth season of the show could look like.
8.0Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.
6.6An investigation into the ongoing threat caused by the phenomenon of “fake news” in the U.S., focusing on the real-life consequences that disinformation, conspiracy theories and false news stories have on the average citizen.
6.1A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.
7.6A documentary focused on plastic pollution in the world's oceans.
6.5A documentary that explores the downloading revolution; the kids that created it, the bands and the businesses that were affected by it, and its impact on the world at large.
7.0Have you ever read the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policies connected to every website you visit, phone call you make, or app you use? Of course you haven’t. But those agreements allow corporations to do things with your personal information you could never even imagine. This film explores the intent hidden within these ridiculous agreements, and reveals what corporations and governments are legally taking from you and the outrageous consequences that result from clicking “I accept.”
7.2Going beyond the occasional news clip from Burma, the acclaimed filmmaker, Anders Østergaard, brings us close to the video journalists who deliver the footage. Though risking torture and life in jail, courageous young citizens of Burma live the essence of journalism as they insist on keeping up the flow of news from their closed country.
7.4Retrospective documentary about the making of the horror cult classic "The Return of the Living Dead."
7.3This documentary follows NBA superstar LeBron James and four of his talented teammates through the trials and tribulations of high school basketball in Ohio and James' journey to fame.
6.5Film adaptation of French economist Thomas Piketty's ground-breaking global bestseller of the same name: an eye-opening journey through wealth and power.
7.6A years-in-the-making documentary on the legendary punk band the Ramones. Through a mixture of archival footage, archival and new interviews with all members of the band's various lineups, and new interviews with a number of their contemporaries, the film traces the peaks and valleys the band experienced over the course of its 20-plus year career before disbanding in 1995.
6.9An impressionistic portrait of the iconic actor Harry Dean Stanton comprised of intimate moments, film clips from some of his 250 films and his renditions of American folk songs.
6.9The story of the gold-plated statuette that became the film industry's most coveted prize, AND THE OSCAR GOES TO... traces the history of the Academy itself, which began in 1927 when Louis B. Mayer, then head of MGM, led other prominent members of the industry in forming this professional honorary organization. Two years later the Academy began bestowing awards, which were nicknamed "Oscar," and quickly came to represent the pinnacle of cinematic achievement.
7.1A real-life undercover thriller about two ordinary men who embark on an outrageously dangerous ten-year mission to penetrate the world's most secretive and brutal dictatorship: North Korea.