In 2012 journalist David Weinberg set out on an ambitious plan was to travel down the Mississippi river in an inflatable canoe, a journey of roughly 2,500 miles. Over 20 episodes David weaves the story of his journey with interviews of the people he met along the way as well as historians, writers and government officials. What emerges is an epic story of how America went from a band of ragged colonies to a global super power and how we are still reckoning with the legacy of empire and our belief that we can control an uncontrollable river.