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PBS News Hour

Imagining the Underground Railroad as an actual train system

Season 2016 Episode 2160 | 6m 52s

Colson Whitehead’s new novel considers a startling premise: what if slaves had fled southern plantations via an actual subterranean train? Jeffrey Brown sits down with the author at BookExpo America in Chicago to discuss the challenge of blending fantasy with tragic historical truth and what made Whitehead ready to write this latest work.

Major corporate funding for the PBS News Hour is provided by BDO, BNSF, Consumer Cellular, American Cruise Lines, and Raymond James. Funding for the PBS NewsHour Weekend is provided by Consumer Cellular and Cunard Cruise Line. For a complete list of funders for the PBS NewsHour and PBS NewsHour weekend, click here.
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