Explore every episode of the podcast Factual America

In this episode, Matthew sits down with acclaimed filmmaker R.J. Cutler to discuss his latest Netflix documentary, 'Martha'. Cutler offers fascinating insights into the making of the film, which chronicles the life and career of Martha Stewart, the iconic businesswoman and lifestyle guru.

Discover how Cutler gained unprecedented access to Stewart and her vast personal archives, and learn about the challenges he faced in capturing her complex story. The director shares his perspective on Stewart's visionary approach to business, her resilience in the face of adversity, and her impact on American culture.

Cutler also addresses Stewart's public critique of the documentary, offering a balanced and thoughtful response. This episode provides a deep dive into the filmmaking process, the art of storytelling, and the nuances of portraying a living legend.

Whether you're a fan of Martha Stewart, interested in documentary filmmaking, or curious about American cultural icons, this episode offers unique insights and behind-the-scenes details you won't want to miss.

Watch the episode at https://www.factualamerica.com

Unsolved murders, paranormal activity, and UFOs. Unsolved Mysteries, the iconic docu-series that was a staple of TV in the 80s and 90s is back on Netflix with Volume 5.

Joining Matthew Sherwood on Factual America is multiple Emmy nominated filmmaker Terry Dunn Meurer, the co-creator and producer of Unsolved Mysteries. She shares the secrets of Unsolved Mysteries’ success and why we have such a fascination with true crime and the unexplained.

The filmmaker also describes the different cases the new series investigates, how many cases on Unsolved Mysteries have been solved, and what it’s like working with law enforcement.

Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com

“Nobody knows what these body parts are used for or who is doing this, it’s the most unexplainable case I’ve ever seen.” – Terry Dunn Meurer

“Our focus is let’s solve this. Our job isn’t to judge law enforcement, our job is to help law enforcement solve these cases.” – Terry Dunn Meurer

Between 2001-19, head coach Bill Belichick created one of the most successful dynasties ever seen in American football. Under his leadership, the New England Patriots won a record equalling six Super Bowl titles. Guided by quarterback Tom Brady, the team also set a host of other NFL records, including most wins over a ten year period, longest regular season/play-off winning streak, and most consecutive divisional titles.

But this era of nearly unprecedented success did not come without a cost, and the franchise was rocked by a number of controversies. Chief among them were the Spygate and Deflategate scandals. Through it all, however, the team kept winning. Could no-one stop the Patriots? As it happened, only the Patriots themselves could, and that is exactly what happened.

In The Dynasty: New England Patriots, a ten-part docu-series now showing on Apple TV+, director Matthew Hamachek explores the rise and fall of the Belichick-Brady Patriot dynasty. How did it achieve greatness? This question is at the heart of the docu-series and opens Matt’s discussion with Matthew Sherwood. They discuss are what it was like interviewing Brady and the famously reserved Belichick, particularly when it came to asking them questions they would rather not answer. Other topics include the comparison to be drawn between the Patriots and Oscar winner Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight, and how you make a compelling documentary about a team whose success made them incredibly unpopular.

The Dynasty: New England Patriots is the fruit of 35,000 hours of archive footage and over 70 interviews with Patriot players and coaches from Bill Belichick and Tom Brady onwards. In this podcast, discover the ruthlessness, maniacal nature, and utter determination to succeed that made and maybe marred the New England Patriots’ dynasty.

Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com

“... everything about this story surprised me... you hear about the cheating scandals... you get the caricature of what these people are supposed to be, and then as you dig deeper and deeper and deeper, you realise that behind all the headlines, there's just so much more, and these people are so complex and nuanced.” – Matt Hamachek

Melissa Lucio is the only Hispanic woman to ever be sentenced to death in the state of Texas. She is currently facing her last appeal, having spent 13 years on death row. 

Her case, as well as the problems with the American justice system and the death penalty, are captured in the documentary The State of Texas vs. Melissa (2020). 

Having made its festival debut, the film has received great reviews and won multiple audience choice awards. Joining us is French-American journalist and filmmaker Sabrina Van Tassel, who directed, wrote and produced the film.

This is also a joint episode with Factual America's sister podcast, The Lone Star Plate, hosted by Patrick Scott Armstrong, who interviews famous Texans and explores compelling Texas stories. 

“I believe Melissa would already have been executed if I hadn’t made this film.” - Sabrina Van Tassel

Mary J Blige is a multi-platinum R&B and Hip Hop recording artist, a 9-time Grammy award-winner, and celebrated actress.

She is also the subject of a new Amazon Studios documentary that releases on June 25th, Mary J Blige’s My Life, that marked the 25th anniversary of the artist's acclaimed 1994 album, propelling her to international stardom.

Joining us to talk about Mary J Blige and the making of this documentary is the Academy Award-winning filmmaker Vanessa Roth, best known for her short documentary Freeheld (2007) and Netflix series Daughters of Destiny (2017).

She tells us about how Mary’s life inspired and influenced the My Life album and her music career, about the challenges of making music documentaries, as well as what it was like working with Amazon Studios. 

“Once you’re given the opportunity, you need to do the work.” - Vanessa Roth

The Tony and Pulitzer-Prize winning musical Rent celebrates the 25th anniversary of its Broadway premiere on June 15th.

The musical's message still resonates today, as captured by the HBO documentary Revolution Rent about the first commercial American production staged in Havana, Cuba in over 50 years.

Stage director and filmmaker Andy Señor, Jr played Angel in the Broadway play, directed the Havana production, and co-directed Revolution Rent with Victor Patrick Alvarez.

Both join us to recall the experience of staging Rent in Cuba in 2014. They also discuss the intentions behind making Revolution Rent and the challenges they faced bringing the film to a worldwide audience.

Revolution Rent is debuting on HBO and HBO Max on June 15th.

"I've always told Andy that this is a sacred experience. As someone who's known a lot about the culture in Cuba, I could have went there and stirred the pot, but that's not why I was there. It was Broadway, it was Rent, it was Jonathan Larson's play, Andy was there, it was America and Cuba working together." - Victor Patrick Alvarez

Five years after the legendary Texas singer and songwriter Guy Clark passed away, his life and legacy is celebrated in a new documentary. Without Getting Killed or Caught brings Guy's colourful life and career to the big screen. 

The film is the brainchild of Grammy award-winning music producer, award-winning author, and documentary filmmaker Tamara Saviano. She and her partner in life Paul Whitfield are the co-directors and co-producers.

The film looks at Guy Clark’s life as he struggles to write poetic songs, while balancing a complicated marriage with his wife Susanna. It is also a story of Guy's friendship with another legendary Texas singer-songwriter, Townes Van Zandt, on whom Susanna forged a passionate dependence.

Tamara and Paul talk about what led them to make the documentary, how they gained access to Susanna’s diary and audio tapes, and which other films inspired them the most in their filmmaking. 

“They are so good at what they do, yet they remain so grounded and humble, and that attracts people to them.” - Tamara Saviano

Mike Tyson, the former heavyweight champion, is considered one of the greatest boxers of all time. Unfortunately, he is just as famous for his exploits outside of the ring as he is for his many knockouts.

The new docuseries Mike Tyson: The Knockout is currently streaming on ABC and Hulu. Senior Executive Producer for original non-fiction content at ABC News, Roxanna Sherwood, joins us to discuss the film. 

Roxanna shares how she collaborated with the Oscar-winning screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher and Grammy-winning composer Terence Blanchard to create a new approach to Mike Tyson's story.  She explains what it was like for Mike growing up, how he ended up in so many scandals, and why this story is relevant now more than ever.

“We are prone these days to shuffle things under the black and white. The grey has disappeared, but the truth is in the middle, the truth is grey.” - Roxanna Sherwood

00:14 - The trailer for Mike Tyson: The Knockout.
05:21 - The new context the documentary gives to Mike’s life.
08:54 - What it was like for Mike growing up in Brownsville, Brooklyn.
11:26 - First clip showing Brownsville in the 1970s and '80s.
13:40 - The difficulties Mike Tyson had as a boy.
16:48 - Second clip revealing the fortune Mike gained in a short period of time.
19:34 - The misguided trust Mike had in Robin Givens.
25:22 - Third clip looking at how Mike's lavish lifestyle turned self-destructive.
28:29 - Which knockout the title refers to.
30:43 - The rape committed by Mike Tyson and the subsequent trial.
37:36 - The importance of understanding unconscious bias and racism.
44:43 - Why this documentary is so relevant at the moment.
47:14 - How Geoffrey Fletcher and Terence Blanchard became involved with the film.
50:53 - The type of content ABC News will be making in the future.
53:30 - How to be a successful documentary filmmaker.
55:18 - What’s next for Roxanna.

Richard Melville Hall, better known to most of us as Moby, is an electronic music pioneer. In the 1990s he scored numerous top ten hits on the Billboard Dance Club chart and his album Play (1999) has sold over 12 million copies.

Even with all that success, Moby still found himself hitting rock bottom, contemplating suicide and wondering why he wasn't happy despite achieving everything he wanted.

Joining us is the director and writer of the Moby Doc, Rob Gordon Bralver. Rob teamed up with Moby to make a documentary about the musician’s life, activism and his struggles along the way in the quest for happiness.

Rob tells us how he got the opportunity to make this film and what it was like closely collaborating with Moby.

Moby Doc will be released online at the same time as Moby’s new album Reprise on May 28th.  

“There’s an element that’s meant to be a cautionary tale for not just aspiring artists, but aspiring anything. It’s seldom the road that you believed that it would be when you started.” - Rob Gordon Bralver

The Villages is a self-contained retirement community located in central Florida. Often referred to as a “Disneyland for Retirees,” it is home to over 130,000 seniors. The Villages offers residents a utopian version of a bygone America: wide, safe streets, perfectly manicured lawns, and countless activities all in the service of enjoying the golden years. 

Directed by filmmaker Lance Oppenheim, Some Kind of Heaven (2020) reveals cracks in The Villages' facade and explores life inside its palm-tree-lined streets, while challenging stereotypes around ageing.  

The film follows four residents for whom The Villages is not living up to its reputation. By aiming the camera lens at this usually closed-off community, Lance captures what The Villages is really like. What type of people live in these retirement villages? How did residents respond to Lance filming there? And why did Lance choose to delve into this bizarre world? 

Some Kind of Heaven is available on demand in the UK from May 14th 2021. 

“There’s something beautiful to the idea that no matter how old you get, you are still becoming.” - Lance Oppenheim

The opioid crisis in the US has killed half a million people and created millions of addicts, all because the pharmaceutical companies pushed opioid medicines as not being prone to abuse or addictive.

In his latest HBO doc-series The Crime of the Century (2021), Oscar- and Emmy-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney provides the most comprehensive look to date at the opioid crisis in the US.

Alex joins us to discuss the making of the film, arguing that the opioid crisis has deeply criminal roots. The film finds fresh evidence that shows just how deep that criminality runs.

The Crime of the Century premiered on HBO and HBO Max on May 10th and May 11th. It comes to Sky Documentaries and streaming service NOW on Sunday, May 16th at 9pm.

It’s the little acts of corruption that get bigger and bigger, and over time you get a fully corrupted system. – Alex Gibney

Premiering to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the Pacific War's end, the documentary Apocalypse '45 combines pristine raw, colour footage of the last months of World War II in the Asia-Pacific theatre with the voices of the two dozen men who lived through the nightmare.

Critically acclaimed director, producer and writer, Erik Nelson, joins us to discuss the making of Apocalypse ‘45. Erik shares how he found this never-before-seen footage of the war and made contact with the veterans who had lived through these gruesome events.

He talks about how, as director, he created the narrative of the film and what the creative process looked like. We also learn what it was like for Erik, as producer of Grizzly Man (2005), to work with the legendary director Werner Herzog.

“A good deal of that footage was filmed by a cameraman who was killed on Iwo Jima. He was sealed up in a cave alive. The man literally died to make this footage.” - Erik Nelson

Hollywood icons Woody Allen and Mia Farrow had a 13-year relationship that ended in flames in 1992 in front of the nation's eyes.

At the centre of the breakup were allegations that Woody Allen sexually abused Dylan Farrow, the daughter he had adopted with Mia Farrow. The case and the resulting fallout still resonate nearly 30 years later. The scandal has been resurrected this year with the release of the HBO docuseries Allen v. Farrow.

Joining us to discuss the social and cultural consequences of this story, the film and the reaction are the Emmy Award-winning filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering.

“Dylan Farrow stood strong, and provided an example to Hollywood, to the country, and maybe in some ways to the rest of the world, about the courage of coming forward and standing by your truth.” - Kirby Dick

On November 13th 1974, Ronald DeFeo shot his family dead in Amityville, New York. Not long after he was convicted of the killings, the Lutz family moved into the DeFeos’ former home. They did not stay long. After just 28 days, they fled, claiming to have been driven out by paranormal activity.

The Lutz family’s experience formed the basis of The Amityville Horror. Released in 1979, it went on to spawn a seemingly endless number of sequels, prequels, and derivatives: over 40 to date.

In his docu-series, Amityville: An Origin Story, director Jack Riccobono explores what happened to both the DeFeo and Lutz families. Matthew Sherwood discovers in conversation with Jack that what took place did not happen in isolation. As Jack says, the 1970s was a dark time in America. There was fear in the air, abuse behind closed doors, an increase in drug addiction, and strange new belief systems sprouting up.

Jack takes Matthew through the mystery of the silent rifle used in the murders, and the question of why the Lutz family moved into the DeFeo home: did they do it for commercial gain? Was it a hoax? He and Matthew look at the question marks over George Lutz’s character as well as George’s role in the perpetuation of the Amityville story: he never stopped pushing it.

Greed, family dysfunction, sensationalism, the truth vs media misrepresentation. The origin of the Amityville horror is much closer to us than we realise.

Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com

“I was drawn to this possibility of sort of this cross-genre exploration, and I really felt like there was something unique about this series...you had this true crime component, but then you also had this paranormal story, and then you had this sort of larger cultural landscape that we could explore.” – Jack Riccobono

Today, we’re talking about Christopher Wallace, aka Biggie Smalls or The Notorious B.I.G., the acclaimed rapper who was tragically murdered at the age of just 24 in a drive-by shooting.

Talking to us about Biggie Smalls' life and his legacy on hip-hop is Grammy-award-winning director Emmett Malloy, who directed and produced the original Netflix documentary Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell. 

We talk about who Christopher Wallace really was, as well as how Emmett got access to never-before-seen footage used in the film. With this documentary, Emmett succeeds in shining a different light on Biggie’s life, onto his artistic side and childhood influences that other filmmakers may have overlooked.

My goal was to present him as the artist he was, so people understand that greatness doesn’t come from nowhere, people work at it and this kid was a curious kid with a tremendous artistic gift. - Emmett Malloy

Richard Wershe, Jr, aka White Boy Rick, is the subject of a true-crime documentary that recently landed on Netflix. Shawn Rech, the award-winning director and producer of White Boy (2017), joins us to talk about the tragic circumstances surrounding White Boy Rick's over-30-year incarceration for a nonviolent offence.

Shawn is well-known for creating documentaries that help to overturn wrongful convictions or over-sentencing. White Boy tells the story of Richard, who was an FBI informant as a child and an alleged cocaine kingpin in Detroit in the 1980s.

Richard received a life sentence despite being just 17 years old. The film looks at his case, shining a stark light onto 1980s Detroit and the American justice system.

We talk about the White Boy Rick's reputation, who he really was, and the racism and unjust laws that allowed a child to be groomed by the FBI. 

“Don’t always trust the government, and don’t always trust the media. Do your own investigating and vet your sources.” - Shawn Rech

Murder Among the Mormons (2021) is the new Netflix true-crime docuseries about Mark Hofmann, who is one of the most notable forgers in history. Hofmann created forgeries related to the Latter Day Saint movement, which led to fame and fortune. But the truth caught up with Hofmann one fateful day in 1985, as two innocent people lost their lives. 

We are joined by award-winning co-director and producer of Murder Among the Mormons, Tyler Measom. His previous work includes Leaving the Cult: Sons of Perdition (2010), An Honest Liar (2014) and Biography: I Want My MTV (2019). 

Tyler directed this docuseries with Jared Hess, who is best known for his films Napoleon Dynamite (2004), Nacho Libre (2006) and Gentlemen Broncos (2009).

Tyler talks about how he and Jared came to turn this story into a docuseries, as well as what they discovered about Mark Hoffman and the nature of belief. In the process we also learn about getting a film idea to the big screen.

 “The power he must have felt to create and change history, to alter what millions of people believe, and know and pray to every day – to have the power to change that in your basement is a remarkable feeling I suspect.” – Tyler Measom

James Jordan, the father of basketball legend Michael Jordan, was found tragically murdered in the middle of swamp just days after his 57th birthday in 1993. There were many mysterious circumstances surrounding his death, but the investigation and trial were deemed a success, resulting in the conviction of two teenage boys.

But why does one of the convicted still proclaim his innocence almost 30 years later?

We are joined by award-winning director and producer of the soon to be released docu-series Moment of Truth, Matthew Perniciaro. The five-part series uses never-before-seen archive footage to tell the story behind the murder of James Jordan. It also tackles police corruption in Robeson County, North Carolina, and how that may have influenced the murder investigation.

Matthew aims to give us insights into how Michael dealt with his father's death, and what made this crime so hard to solve. He explains what motivated him to make Moment of Truth, and the challenges he faced along the way.

Moment of Truth premieres on IMDb TV, Amazon’s premium free streaming service, on April 2nd.

“Despite the fact that we think we’ve made so much progress as a society and as a culture, this just shows how far we still have to go.” - Matthew Perniciaro

On paper, Tina Turner probably should never have become a rock-and-roll superstar. But there she is anyway, one of the greatest survivors in modern music, who has overcome extreme adversity to define her career, her identity and her legacy on her own terms. 

TINA (2021) offers a fresh perspective on the life and career of Tina Turner, the Queen of Rock and Roll. Through never-before-seen footage and previously unreleased recordings, the film draws back the curtain on Tina's life, introducing us to a private side of Tina too often hidden from the cameras. 

We are honoured to be joined by the Oscar- and Emmy-winning producers of TINA, cousins Simon and Jonathan Chinn, the co-founders of Lightbox. Between them they have worked on such acclaimed documentaries as Searching for Sugarman (2012), Man on Wire (2008), LA 92 (2017), and Whitney (2018).

Simon and Jonathan talk about how they discovered new ways of telling Tina's story, the revelations that they uncovered about Tina while making the film and what it takes to make a great documentary.   

Directed by Academy Award-winners Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Martin, TINA is being released on March 27th on HBO and streaming on HBO Max in the US, and in the UK on 28th March at 9:00PM on Sky Documentaries and NOW and via altitude.film.  

“What an incredible trailblazer of a performer Tina was, even before her solo success. Seeing the full trajectory of her career as a performer is, in some sense, a revelation.” - Jonathan Chinn    

When we think of alternative music of the 1990s, bands like Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Rage Against the Machine or Green Day immediately come to mind – bands who were supported by major labels and commercially viable. 

However, there was a whole sea of other underground bands, spanning a few generations, who were completely fobbed off by the corporate music labels, who didn't sell as many records, and whose careers were overshadowed by their commercially successful counterparts.

Joining us in this episode is Shaun Katz, director and producer of Underground Inc: The Rise and Fall of Alternative Rock (2019). His film dives into the meteoric rise and fall of the hardcore, underground alternative rock scene of the late 80s to mid-90s. 

The film includes interviews with the likes of Joey Castillo from Queens of the Stone Age, Sean Yseult from White Zombie, Steve Albini (the record producer for Nirvana, the Pixies, and PJ Harvey), Todd Huth from Primus, and many more.

Underground Inc. will be available on all major cable and VOD platforms and on DVD on March 23rd. 

"There was a generational shift happening at the underground rock scene, that left the music industry not knowing what to do." - Shaun Katz

Martha Cooper is an iconic American photojournalist and the unlikely hero of street artists across the globe. She documented New York's underground graffiti scene in the 1970s, at a time when street art was looked down upon as being immoral and lacking in artistic merit.

But Martha instead fell in love with the scene and in 1984 published her photos in Subway Art. After a failed launch, the book has gone on to be one of the most sold, and stolen, art books of all time. It also influenced a generation of street artists, including OSGEMEOS.

Selina Miles is the Australian director of the new feature documentary Martha: A Picture Story, which follows the life and work of Martha Cooper. Selina shares what she's learned about Martha's life, her global reputation, and what parts of her life the film documents.

We also talk about how Selina and Martha met, how Selina came up with the idea for the documentary, and what her thoughts are on the value of street art.

“Martha’s now in her 70s, still traveling the world documenting street art in places like Mongolia and Tahiti.” - Selina Miles

Tim O'Brien is one of the most influential living American writers, a National Book Award winner and the author of the groundbreaking book The Things They Carried.

Tim joins us along with award winning director and producer Aaron Matthews to discuss Aaron's film, The War and Peace of Tim O’Brien.

Aaron spent over a year filming Tim as he battled to write one final book – a legacy for his young family about life and fatherhood – even as Tim and his family remain haunted by the ghosts of the Vietnam War. 

Tim talks about the intrusion of allowing a film crew delve deeply into his and his family's personal lives. But by doing so, the film captures the day-to-day intrusions of family life on Tim's creative process.

The discussion naturally leads to the importance of fatherhood, and Tim’s perception of all wars – past, present and future – given his own experiences as an infantryman in the Vietnam War.

“I find it outrageous that we can spend 15 years in Vietnam killing 3 million people, and you can go to a school in America and they know nothing about the Vietnam War.” - Tim O’Brien

Rural Appalachia is a part of America that’s vanishing before our eyes. With the loss of the coal industry, the future for the people of eastern Kentucky is uncertain. However, this is what inspires the self-proclaimed "last hillbilly" Brian Ritchie. 

French directors and writers, Diane Sara Bouzgarrou and Thomas Jenkoe, join us to discuss their award-winning documentary The Last Hillbilly (2020). The film won the Best International Doc Award at the Torino Film Festival, and received a special mention at IDFA under the First Appearance Category.

The Last Hillbilly follows Brian Ritchie, who is among other things, a poet, philosopher and not what you would expect from your stereotypical hillbilly. A daunting, yet poetic look at a part of America that will never be the same again, this film dives into Brian's stream of consciousness and explores the gap between his identity and his existence. 

“There are no more mines, there are no more jobs, and their identity is kind of stuck in the past. There is no future ahead of them.” - Diane Sara Bouzgarrou

The HBO documentary miniseries McMillion$ tells the gripping tale behind the McDonald's Monopoly promotion scam. Between 1989 and 2001 a criminal ring defrauded more than $24 million in prizes from McDonald's.

If not for a tipoff to a backwater FBI office, McDonald's never would have found out about the fraud. The ensuing investigation resulted in the arrests of over 50 people. 

Directors and executive producers James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte bring this incredible story to life. They share how they developed the project. James and Brian also discuss the series' entertaining cast of characters, including the FBI investigators who broke the scandal.

McMillion$ has earned five primetime Emmy nominations and scores of rave reviews. It is a refreshingly funny docuseries that captures the activities of a criminal syndicate, and it also has something to say about our willingness to believe the unbelievable.

“Some people knew what they were doing, but some people were legitimately duped into participating and claiming prizes, without ever knowing that this was a federal crime they were participating in.” - Brian Lazarte

The 1980s were a time of allegation and scandal in America. From the 1980 October Surprise, 1985-87 Iran-Contra Affair, and 1986-91 BCCI scandal, the decade seemed only to be going downhill. And in the midst of it all, the US Justice Department was accused of stealing PROMIS, a piece of software that could be used to create a programme that would allow the US government to spy on whomever used it.

Danny Casolaro was a writer, poet, and investigative journalist. At the start of the 1990s, he began exploring what had happened to PROMIS, and it led him to see the theft of this software as being at the heart of America’s other major scandals. Before he could finish his investigation, however, Danny was found dead in a hotel bathtub, with both his wrists slashed.

Did he kill himself, as the police believed, or was he murdered?

That is the question at the heart of American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders, a new docu-series on Netflix, directed by Zachary Treitz. He and co-executive producer Christian Hansen are Matthew Sherwood’s guests in this episode of Factual America. Together, they discuss what they found as they retraced Danny Casolaro’s footsteps in the last days of his life and what it was like for Zachary watching Christian disappear down a conspiracy rabbit hole before he himself followed him. 

In the process Zachary and Christian uncover a murky web of scandal at the heart of American government. Or do they? Which of the incredible stories of Michael Riconosciuto, one of Danny’s major sources, and others can ultimately be believed? The filmmakers race around the country to interview subjects and get to the root of the story – all with the support and patience given to them by Netflix in the making of the series.

American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders takes a deep dive into the darkest corners of American business and politics. Make sense of it with Zachary and Christian in conversation with Matthew Sherwood.

Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com

“Once you dip your toes into [this story] it's almost like a tar... some sort of magic ooze that kind of gets into you, as soon as you touch it. It's like what they say about the abyss... you stare into it and it stares back. This is that story. You touch it and it touches you and it kind of consumes you.” – Zachary Treitz

Steve McQueen, the Hollywood icon, had a passion for car racing. However, his long lost Formula 1 film project never saw the light of day – until now.

Joining us to talk about this incredible story are the filmmakers behind Steve McQueen: The Lost Movie (2021), director, writer and producer Alex Rodger, and archivist Richard Wiseman.

The film elegantly captures Steve McQueen's stardom and passion for car racing. It is set against the backdrop of the 1960s – glory days for both Formula 1 and Hollywood.

Narrated by David Letterman, the documentary chronicles a race between two identical films. As we watch iconic directors and film studios battle it out, we learn the story behind the story of Day of the Champion – McQueen's lost Formula 1 film.

Just as strikingly, the film brings to the big screen incredible, never-before-seen racing footage that captures the glamour, and the danger, of Formula 1 racing in the 1960s.

Steve McQueen: The Lost Movie is available on SKY Documentaries and NOW TV.

“Car racing in 1960s was unbelievably dangerous, and Steve McQueen saw this as a way into the drama of Formula 1." - Alex Rodger

Miles Davis was among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music.

An iconic trumpeter and composer, Miles changed the genre of jazz more times than anyone before him or anyone since. He invented what we today call cool jazz, hard bop, and jazz fusion. His album Kind of Blue is one of the greatest pieces of art of the 20th century. 

Award-winning director and producer, Stanley Nelson, joins us to discuss his documentary Miles Davis: Birth of The Cool. We learn about the music innovator's life journey, and the challenges that Stanley faced bringing Miles's story to the big screen. 

Available to watch on PBS, Netflix, and Amazon Prime, the film tells the story of Miles’s genius. His career encapsulated everything from playing with Charlie Parker and Dizzie Gillespie to influencing generations of musicians. Miles was also a trend-setter and fashion icon, who way too often succumbed to his destructive drug addictions.

“Miles was an icon to the African-American community; he became a black man that demanded excellence in his music and his life.” - Stanley Nelson

Saturday Night Live, The Blues Brothers, and the National Lampoon — John Belushi was an iconic figure of the 1970s comedy scene. But he was more than just a comic genius. 

At one moment, Belushi had the number one show on television, the number one film at the box office, and the number one record on the charts. Just three years later he died from a heroin overdose aged just 33. How did such a talented figure come to such a tragic end?

The award-winning director, producer, and writer, R.J. Cutler, helps us find out as we talk about his new film Belushi (2020). He uses previously-recorded phone interviews combined with archival footage to help us relive the extraordinary life of the beloved actor and comedian. 

R.J. explains how he obtained access to the interviews, love letters and home movies needed to make the film, and why it has been so hard to accurately depict Belushi’s life until now.

Belushi is available to watch now on Sky On Demand and NOW TV.

“We talk about the joy, and the brilliance, and the magic, but we also talk about darker things.” - R.J. Cutler

For years Martin Luther King Jr, the leader and hero of the civil rights movement, faced constant surveillance and harassment by the US government.

Helping us to learn more about this dark chapter in America's history is award-winning director, editor and producer, Sam Pollard, whose latest film MLK/FBI premieres on January 15th 2021, ahead of Martin Luther King Jr Day on January 18th.

As a filmmaker with a career spanning more than three decades, Sam Pollard has won three Emmys and along with Spike Lee received an Oscar nomination for Four Little Girls (1997) . He is a teacher at the Tisch School of the Arts in New York, and a member at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

MLK/FBI is not a biopic. It is a complex and nuanced story with a clear protagonist, Dr Martin Luther King Jr, and the antagonist, J Edgar Hoover, who served as the Director of the FBI for almost four decades. Each man had his fatal flaws and each man had his own view of what America should be.

"I’m someone who would do a survey film about anything and anybody. I want to be able to dig in as an anthropologist and archaeologist, to look at the pros and cons, and nuances of human beings and different institutions." – Sam Pollard

Abraham Lincoln may have been America's greatest leader. The 16th president ended slavery and led the nation out of one of its darkest periods. 

However, Lincoln's life and legacy were cut short that fateful night in 1865, when the actor John Wilkes Booth entered Ford's Theatre and killed the president with an assassin's bullet.  

Today, only 130 photographs of President Lincoln are known to have survived. But is it possible that another image exists, secretly taken after he was shot, and kept hidden for over 150 years?

We find out as we meet director Jason Cohen and executive producer Dr Whitny Braun, the filmmakers behind the new documentary The Lost Lincoln.

Jason and Whitny take us on their journey to authenticate a newly discovered photo of Abraham Lincoln, one supposedly taken right after he died. In the process, we learn about this great American whose legacy still resonates with us today.

“Here’s this great man who means so much to us, and he was ultimately human. What do all humans experience? We ultimately experience death, and it's a tribute to the fallibility of humanity.” - Dr. Whitny Braun

We live under the spell of big data. We give the big tech firms access to our personal data and they shape our lives without us even knowing it. This includes how we choose our leaders.  

Award-winning directors and producers Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer join us to discuss their film The Great Hack, released by Netflix last year. The Great Hack observes the actors in the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal surrounding the 2016 US presidential election. 

Jehane and Karim discuss how data has become a commodity, more valuable than oil, making big tech firms the richest companies of all time. In the process, we now all live public lives in a post-truth world. 

Would world-changing events like Brexit and the election of Donald Trump in 2016 have been possible without big tech and big data? The Great Hack lets you be the judge. 

“There’s 5,000 data points on me, but who owns that information?” - Jehane Noujaim

Raise Hell: The Life & Times of Molly Ivins is a documentary that chronicles the career of the acclaimed Texas columnist and journalist. Molly was nominated multiple times for the Pulitzer Prize for her commentary, and her Texas twang became an unlikely voice of liberal America. 

Now 13 years after Molly’s untimely death, award-winning director and producer, Janice Engel, brings Molly’s acerbic wit and no-holds-barred approach to journalism to the big screen. 

Janice shares with us how she went from not knowing who Molly was to making a film about her. She also talks about the sometimes tragic private side to Molly's larger-than-life public persona.

Even in death, Molly remains as unique now as she did when she was unveiling the hypocrisy of the political establishment. And she sure can still make us laugh.

“Everybody needs a dose of Molly Ivins. Firstly, how many documentaries make you laugh? And secondly, she has something to teach us all.” - Janice Engel

“Everybody needs a dose of Molly Ivins. Firstly, how many documentaries make you laugh? And secondly, she has something to teach us all.” - Janice Engel

Today we're talking about Horton Foote (1916-2009), the award-winning playwright and screenwriter. In the recently released documentary Horton Foote: The Road to Home, the celebrated screenwriter Anne Rapp helps us to learn more about this unsung Texas and American legend.

Foote was born and raised in Wharton, Texas, and he went on to become a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, the winner of two Academy Awards for screenwriting, an Emmy Award for television writing, and was a recipient of the National Medal of Arts among numerous other theatrical and literary prizes. His best known works are the Oscar-winning screenplays for To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and Tender Mercies (1983). 

Ann Rapp met Foote on the set of Tender Mercies, where she worked as a screenplay supervisor. She developed a life-long friendship with this unsung gentleman playwright.

With this documentary, she wants to share with everybody her inside look into Foote's humanity, integrity and empathy that played into his work during his whole life.

“To be a good writer, you don’t have to be educated, you don’t even need to speak good grammar. If you are an observer and a listener, and you find a voice to reflect that, then you can write. Horton was the best listener I've ever known.” - Anne Rapp

Chuck Berry (1926-2017) was the original King of Rock and Roll. That is according to Jon Brewer, and being referred to as 'God of rock docs,' he should know.

Jon discusses Chuck Berry and the making of his documentary about the American icon. The film tells the story of Chuck’s life through the lens of his relatives and friends, and also uses dramatic reenactments of certain situations Chuck Berry lived through. 

Jon goes on to share a host of amazing stories drawn from his 50 years in the music business. He worked with the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Rolling Stones, he was David Bowie's manager at one point, he produced some of Gerry Rafferty's songs, and he spent significant time with B.B. King. And that's just to name a few.

As Jon has more documentary projects under way, Factual America will be following his work and bring him back for more exciting stories about iconic musicians.

“Chuck Berry was the original king of rock and roll. He was a poet, he invented many words, and he created the teenage audience.” - Jon Brewer

On a daily basis, we are inundated with more bad news about the environmental catastrophe caused by climate change, unfolding in front of our very eyes.

But is it too late? Can anything really be done? It's enough to make us give up. Many of us have. But a simple solution may be literally underneath our feet, according to the Netflix documentary Kiss the Ground from award-winning filmmakers Josh and Rebecca Tickell.

Kiss the Ground reveals that by regenerating the world's soils, we can completely and rapidly stabilise the Earth's climate, restore lost ecosystems and create abundant food supplies. Is it really that simple?

An inspiring, solution-based approach, focusing on regenerative agriculture, this film is a must-watch for anyone interested in how we can reverse climate change.

“There’s so much joy to put your hands in the dirt, feel the dirt, and literally kiss the ground.” - Rebecca Tickell

Tatiana Suarez was born into poverty, endured a “tumultuous [and] traumatic childhood”, and at school chose to compete in a sport – wrestling – that led to her being relentlessly bullied. She overcame every obstacle that life and people put in front of her and became a champion. And not just once, but multiple times. Finally, the greatest prize of all, Olympic glory, lay within her grasp.

And then, she broke her neck.

And as that was being treated, doctors discovered that Tatiana had cancer.

In The Unbreakable Tatiana Suarez, Cassius Corrigan tells the story of how Tatiana overcame these seemingly insurmountable setbacks to achieve even greater success than before: with her neck injury meaning that Tatiana could no longer wrestle, she became instead a Mixed Martial Arts fighter. And with the absolute determination and drive to succeed that has characterised her life’s journey so far, she has beaten the hardest opponents, and won the toughest competitions.

In this episode of Factual America, Matthew Sherwood discusses with Cassius Tatiana’s incredible life. We meet Tatiana the wrestling pioneer for both girls and Latinas, Tatiana the inheritor of a strong mindedness that will not brook denial, and Tatiana who remains the great “What If” of wrestling and MMA despite her achievements. Cassius also explores Tatiana’s family background and extraordinary work ethic. It has made her an icon of one of the most dangerous sports in the world.

Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com

“... look at what Tatiana is risking every day... this is one of the greatest stories I've ever encountered in sport. I was willing to do whatever it took to bring it to life.” – Cassius Corrigan

On August 11th 2014, the world was shocked to find out that Robin Williams had died by suicide. For someone who brought so much humour to the world, it was a tragic, traumatic end. But no one knew how much more there was to the story.

Left to speculate on Robin’s motives, the media circus spun out of control, leaving the public in the dark about a complicated and obscured truth.

Robin, bright, funny, quick witted, had lost a battle against an unknown enemy, the nearly impossible to diagnose brain disease – Lewy Body Dementia.

Filmmaker Tylor Norwood brings this story to the screen for the first time in his documentary Robin’s Wish.

Robin Williams was larger than life, but Robin was a wonderful human being who was behind all that incredible work, and Robin was better than Robin Williams. – Tylor Norwood

Today is a special US presidential election edition of Factual America. Americans are heading to the polls. Will they re-elect Donald Trump? Or will they opt for a change and vote for Joe Biden? We can’t say either way with any certainty.

What we can say is that America is a polarised society. And whatever the result, the politics of division are here to stay, so it seems. That division and polarisation are captured brilliantly in Boys State, the Sundance Jury Prize Winner from filmmakers Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss.

The documentary shows what would happen if you put a thousand teenage boys together and put them in charge of the political landscape of America. 

Despite the hand-me-down politics of their parents and grandparents, can a bunch of Texas teenage boys provide hope and point the way ahead?

We found out when we caught up recently with Amanda and Jesse from their home in California.

“It’s a little bit like the Stanford Prison Experiment, but for the Government.” – Jesse Moss

The singing career of Linda Ronstadt spanned five decades. A versatile and talented artist, she has won ten Grammys, three American Music Awards, two Academy of Country Music Awards and an Emmy. Along the way, she recorded the biggest selling foreign language album of all time.

Now retired from singing, Linda continues to give back to the community, as captured by award-winning director and producer James Keach in Linda and the Mockingbirds.

James joins us to share a side of Linda Ronstadt that few have seen. His music-filled, road trip-style film captures the essence of Mexican-American culture and the immigrant experience.

The film provides a beautiful look into the coming together of two cultures. It also portrays the hardships far too many immigrant children must go through.

“With the internet, social media, and the amount of interactions we have, we realise there are so many different human experiences to ours that we’re curious about.” – James Keach

Sir David Attenborough is a broadcast legend. And probably no individual has seen more of the Earth’s wilderness in his illustrious nearly 70-year career. That makes him the perfect witness to the devastating changes afflicting our planet.

In David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet (2020), which premiered on Netflix, co-director Keith Scholey of Silverback Films and producer Colin Butfield of the World Wildlife Fund bring us Sir David’s witness statement. In the process, they also provide us with simple solutions to saving our planet before it is too late.

“The things that are happening to this world are unnecessary. Not getting out of the problem is unnecessary. So make sure that your voice is heard, so that we solve it.” – Keith Scholey

America is a land of natural beauty and natural resources. Unfortunately, these too often come into conflict. Never was this more true when it comes to America’s 640 million acres of public lands.

Filmmakers David Byars and Jeremy Rubingh document the fight to protect America’s public lands for future generations in their film Public Trust which recently premiered on YouTube with tremendous success.

The executive producers of the film are Patagonia’s founder Yvon Chouinard and famous actor and founder of the Sundance Film Festival Robert Redford.

Factual America caught up with David  Byars from his home in Ojai, California, and Jeremy Rubingh aboard his sailboat in the Puget Sound.

“Public lands is this huge democratic American idea that you don’t really see really in many other countries around the world. It’s an opportunity for unity and healing, and for everybody to come together and protect something good for future generations.” – Jeremy Rubingh

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away on September 18, 2020. She had a long and illustrious career as an advocate for gender equality, a jurist and most famously as an Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court.

Joining us to pay tribute to this true American icon is Julie Cohen, together with Betsy West, the co-director and co-producer of RBG.

RBG is a documentary that beautifully captures the life and legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The film itself premiered in 2018 at the Sundance Film Festival, was nominated for an Academy Award, and is one of the top  grossing documentaries of all time.

We caught up with Julie from her home in Brooklyn as we revisit her work on RBG and her memories of this powerful woman.

“Justice Ginsburg was a very intimidating woman. Tiny, though she might had been, and with her quiet little voice, she just had this whole force and this penetrating stare – everything about her was quite intimidating.” – Julie Cohen

Action Park in Vernon, New Jersey was straight out of a Gen X teenager’s dream. The R-rated version of a John Hughes film, or as Jason Bailey at the New York Times puts it, “a rule-free stew of dangerous rides, teen guests, teen employees, raging hormones, 80s-style machismo, and booze”.

But for all the nostalgia, the place comes with bad memories for those whose loved ones were seriously injured, and in some cases killed by the reckless actions of Gene Mulvihill, the fallen Wall Street mogul who owned and ran the park.

Seth Porges and Chris Charles Scott, the co-directors of Class Action Park streamed on HBO Max, brilliantly capture both the time and place – Northern New Jersey in the 1980s and 1990s – that will never be repeated. And many would say thank God for that.

“The laughter of Action Park isn’t a designed joke; it’s not a comedy routine. It’s the laughter of a brain having no other way to process what it’s hearing. Laughter is something that happens when you can’t cry, you can’t scream, you can’t do anything else, all you can do is laugh. ” – Seth Porges

When we think of Texas, we think of wide open spaces, ranches, rugged individualism, the Wild West, and invariably cowboys. But where do women fit into this mix?

In their film Good Ol Girl, Sarah Brennan Kolb and Kyle Kelley put this question into the context of present-day Texas. The film tells the stories of three young modern-day Texan cowgirls, and explores the role of women in cowboy culture.

Women are increasingly taking a larger role in the traditionally male dominated industry of ranching. As we found out, Texas is going to have to change if the legacy of the past is to be handed down to the next generation.

“I’ve always hoped that women would see themselves as heroes, and men would understand that women can be heroes.” – Sarah Brennan Kolb

America is famous for its sports franchises and rabid fans. However, there is one group of Americans for whom sports raise painful memories. These are the Native Americans.

At least some people are trying to put an end to racial stereotyping in US sports. And they have already succeeded in changing the name of the Washington Football Team.

Aviva Kempner is the award-winning director of successful docs like “The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg”. Kevin Blackistone is an award-winning national sports columnist. Together they are working on bringing Imagining the Indian to the screen.

We caught up recently with Aviva and Kevin at their homes in Washington DC.

“I’ve come to be opposed to all these names. The Not Your Mascot slogan is so true. People are not property of others, certainly when it is a culture that is being appropriated. We’re supposed to be past that.” – Kevin Blackistone

Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time. He may also be America’s first black cultural icon, blazing a trail for other African American athletes like LeBron James.

Besides his performance on the court, Jordan rocketed to fame on the back of a clever and innovative marketing campaign to sell sneakers, and a shrewd business model that made him a billionaire.

However, has success come with a price? Well, Nike and Jordan have made billions of dollars. They have also created a shoe culture that see some misguided youth literally killing each other to get their hands on the latest pair of Air Jordans.

Yemi Bamiro and Will Thorne capture all of this in their recently released documentary One Man and His Shoes. We recently caught up with Yemi and Will from their homes in London and Berlin.

Who is Mark Zuckerberg? That is the question at the heart of Nick Green’s new Sky documentary, Zuckerberg: King of the Metaverse. 

We all know how Zuckerberg took Facebook from being a website accessible to just a few American college students in 2004 to one that is used by over a billion people worldwide in 2024. Along the way, he has acquired Instagram and WhatsApp making him one of the most wide reaching and influential men in the world today.

But what are his thoughts? His views? What does he believe in? As Nick Green tells Matthew Sherwood, uncovering the man behind the avatar and update was hard. Unlike his social media rival, Elon Musk, Zuckerberg speaks only guardedly.

The importance of his position, however, makes it worth taking time to unravel Zuckerberg’s life. As Matthew notes, he has gone from being a hero, to villain, and is now a survivor. For Nick Green, he has been a disrupter, someone willing to “move fast, [and] break things” in the pursuit of money. In doing so, Zuckerberg has had to navigate serious legal challenges and also the attention of American politicians, all of which, he has overcome. 

In this year of important elections, a film about the man who could influence them by his actions or inaction could not be more timely. Especially since, as Nick points out, we can only hope that Zuckerberg is up to the challenge of what lies ahead. 

Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com

On Facebook’s algorithm:

“Curating what people see and curating what they are exposed to from a business perspective is extraordinary. But... it’s just caused the most horrendous problems.” – Nick Green

In our final episode of Season One, we’re joined by John Lewis, aka Badass Vegan. John’s upcoming documentary, They’re Trying to Kill Us, touches on so many of the issues that we’ve looked at this year on the podcast – factory farming, race and Big Pharma, just to name a few – but this time through the unique lens of hip hop.

They’re Trying to Kill Us explores the connections between diet, poverty and systemic racism. As well as looking at veganism, we discuss Big Pharma and the link between mind and body. 

John’s life is literally the material for a great movie, as we found out recently when we joined John from his home in Wilmington, North Carolina.

“I don’t think we can wait for the governments and the rich to make a change. We have to make the change ourselves.” – John Lewis

The history of jazz dance is the history of America.

That history is not well documented, however, especially when it comes to the leading role played by African Americans.

In Uprooted: The Journey of Jazz Dance, filmmakers Khadifa Wong and Zak Nemorin trace jazz dance back to its roots in Africa, and follow its evolution up to the present.

Along the way Khadifa and Zack address difficult subjects such as appropriation, racism and sexism within this quintessential American art form, and in the process shine a light on this chapter in America’s history.

But in the end, their film is a celebration of this most human of art forms, where as they say, “what all people have in common is rhythm and a basic human need to get down”. “

Whether it was jazz, whether it’s hip hop, there are cultures that step out of oppression, and out of wanting to speak out, and jazz dance was just an iteration of that.” – Khadifa Wong

For those of us who grew up in the 1980s and 90s, the arcade was a home away from home. And most likely we were playing a video game that was the creative genius of a scrappy group of renegade designers in Chicago.

In his film Insert Coin (2020), director Josh Tsui captures what it was like for the fellows at Midway Games to revolutionize the video game industry. And along the way, Josh perfectly captures 1990s pop culture.

Insert Coin is an interesting take on the arcade gaming world, showing us its business side and how games were designed to be addictive and suck in quarters. 

“Once you make a game you can’t get that out of your system. It’s one of the most fulfilling and frustrating creative mediums out there and it’s intoxicating. ” – Josh Tsui