The show, now in its sixth season, has become one of the most popular shows on PBS. Each one-hour segment features three episodes, mostly drawn from viewers' questions, that investigate an object such as a letter, a painting, an artifact, a building, a location, that in turn raise major issues about American history.

"We always look for what I call the 'so-what factor.' We choose objects that have a good story, but we also want stories that deal with larger issues," Wright said.

Past episodes have dealt with such varied objects as film cans that may contain German home movies of Nazi officials; a ticket stub with an autograph of Lou Gehrig that may have come from the game when he announced his retirement; a house that might have been designed and built by Thomas Edison; a building where John Wilkes Booth might have planned the assassination of Abraham Lincoln; a $6 bill dated Feb. 17, 1776, that may or may not be an early example of Continental currency.

Episodes have dealt with presidential politics, ethnic and racial inequalities, local legends and icons of popular culture. One story this past season was on a vitriolic anti-Mormon book and explored both the inaccuracies and the reasons behind the book.

One of Wright's all-time favorite episodes dealt with John Adams and how important he was as the second president. "Most people in Europe and even here thought everything would fall apart after Washington. But we came to see Adams not just as a leader, but as a person, a husband, a father and how all those things came together."

What she hopes people learn from the show, she said, "is a notion of how we find things out. How we weigh evidence. How else we can look at things? How we ask questions."

These are critical things, she said, not just in looking at history, but in how we look at life. "People shouldn't just turn on the news, and take everything in the nice, neat package that's presented. People have a notion that it's easy to separate fact from fiction, but it's not always that easy. We show them that."

But, she said, it also shows "how history is fun. How open it is. It's not just facts and names. My husband, who is a historian, likes to say, 'History is a conversation with the past about the present."' It's a conversation, she said, that we all should have.

If you go ...

What: Lecture by History Detective Gwendolyn Wright

Where: Salt Lake Public Library

When: 6:30 p.m. Thursday

How much: Free

Also: Utah State History Conference, Friday and Saturday, Salt Lake Public Library

Web: history.utah.gov

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E-mail: carma@desnews.com