Coming in May on FRONTLINE

How did the government come to spy on millions of Americans?

FRONTLINE explores that question this month in United States of Secrets — a major, two-part series airing May 13 and 20 that reveals the dramatic inside story of the U.S. government’s massive and controversial secret surveillance program, from inside the NSA and the White House on Sept. 12, 2001, to the Snowden revelations, up through the present.

Then, at the end of the month, we’ll premiere a bracing, on-the-ground look at the evolving conflicts in Ukraine and Syria.

Plus, with troubling news about antibiotic resistance making headlines every day, we’ll bring you an encore presentation of our popular 2013 look at the rise of deadly superbugs.

Here’s a closer look at our May lineup:

May 6: Hunting the Nightmare Bacteria (Encore Presentation)

Is the miracle age of antibiotics coming to an end? In Hunting the Nightmare Bacteria, FRONTLINE reporter David Hoffman investigates the rise of untreatable infections around the globe — including an uncontrollable outbreak at America’s most prestigious hospital, where 18 patients were mysteriously infected and six died.

May 13 & 20: United States of Secrets

NSA contractor Edward Snowden’s download of tens of thousands of top-secret documents from a highly secure government network led to the largest leak of classified information in history — and sparked a fierce debate over privacy, technology and democracy in the post-9/11 world.

In United States of Secrets, FRONTLINE goes behind the headlines to reveal the dramatic inside story of how the U.S. government came to monitor and collect the communications of millions of people around the world — including ordinary Americans — and the lengths they went to trying to hide the massive surveillance program from the public.

Part one, from Michael Kirk (League of Denial, Bush’s War), goes inside Washington to piece together the secret political history of “The Program,” which began in the wake of Sept. 11 and continues today — even after the revelations of its existence by Edward Snowden.

Then, in part two, Martin Smith (The Untouchables, To Catch a Trader) explores the secret relationship between Silicon Valley and the National Security Agency: How have the government and tech companies worked together to gather and warehouse your data?

Part political thriller and part spy novel, United States of Secrets is FRONTLINE’s definitive history of domestic surveillance in a post-9/11 world.

May 27

In a special two-part report, FRONTLINE will travel to Syria and Ukraine to bring you an up-close look at the latest developments in these countries’ raging conflicts. Stay tuned for more details on these two breaking stories.