We live in a world beset by major problems: the coronavirus pandemic, systemic racism and, as if those weren't troubling enough, the threat of climate change. But Emmy-winning producer, director and author Ann Druyan maintains optimism about human potential. You might say she takes a cosmic view. "What gives me hope…

Rock star David Crosby likens it to Paris in the 1930s, or even the Italian Renaissance. The creative flowering that grew out of the Laurel Canyon section of Los Angeles in the 1960s produced some of the greatest music of that or any other era, changing the culture and the lives of some of rock & roll's most gifted…

The late Senator Joseph McCarthy was born in Wisconsin in the town of Grand Chute—French for "great fall." He would indeed suffer a great fall, tumbling from the heights of power and prominence in the 1950s to an ignominious end, the disgraced namesake of an ugly set of political tactics known as McCarthyism. How…

Coronavirus stay-at-home orders dramatically impacted television viewing habits, driving up consumption of just about every genre of programming, including documentary. The resulting huge audience numbers and media attention generated by Tiger King and The Last Dance could give those nonfiction series a leg-up as Emmy…

In a bucolic setting in rural Sweden, a handcrafted log cabin nestles within a grove, home to a family of four. The surrounding forest supplied the wood, the amber beams fastened with dowels, not nails. But what's most remarkable about the dwelling is something else—it's built inside a greenhouse. Sweden’s winters are…

The PBS documentary Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation debuted last year in time for the 50th anniversary of that historic cultural happening. But with the country now in the throes of social upheaval, on a scale perhaps not seen since the 1960s, the film has taken on even greater relevance. "It’s…

For The Last Dance, the ESPN documentary series about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, director Jason Hehir interviewed more than a hundred people, including two former presidents—Clinton and Obama—and a noted international diplomat. That would be Dennis Rodman, former star rebounder and occasional envoy to North…

In ESPN's hit documentary series The Last Dance, NBA legend Michael Jordan is described as "the ultimate sports alpha male." True, perhaps. But he faces some competition for that title from the subject of another ESPN documentary, Lance Armstrong. "To me, Lance was very alpha," observes director Marina Zenovich, who…

The Oscar-nominated short documentary St. Louis Superman introduces viewers to Bruce Franks Jr., whose voice has become a clarion call against racial injustice. His message was first manifested as a practitioner of battle rap—an art form noted for its contest of ideas between two performers—before he became a Black…

The Philippines, and its long tug of war between democracy and autocracy, is the subject of two timely documentaries. In A Thousand Cuts, set for U.S. release later this summer, director Ramona Diaz examines the Philippines under President Rodrigo Duterte, who has unleashed a campaign of violence and murder on drug…

When Netflix released the documentary The Black Godfather almost exactly a year ago, it introduced audiences to Clarence Avant, an African-American entertainment industry insider, dealmaker and mentor who has quietly played an extraordinary role in the lives of leading entertainers, athletes, executives and…

Long before Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin became household names, before Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness turned into one of the most successful documentary series of all time, directors Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin embarked on something they little suspected would become a cultural mega-hit. "We sort of…