Doc Talk: A Deadline and Nō Studios Podcast

Lauren Greenfield, director of the FX documentary series Social Studies, joins the show to discuss what she discovered in her deep dive into the way high schoolers' lives are ruled by immersion into TikTok, Instagram, Discord and other social media platforms. Slut-shaming, bullying, self-marketing — it's all part of what some might consider a toxic stew. Social Studies is the winner of the breakth...

When Barbara Walters joined ABC news in 1976, she became the highest paid journalist in the U.S. – pulling in $1 million a year. That, not surprisingly, triggered a lot of resentment among her peers, none more so than her evening news co-anchor Harry Reasoner. Overcoming envy and sexism and balancing a career and motherhood, Walters reached the pinnacle of her profession and stayed there, a story...

Doc Talk heads to the Croisette to speak with filmmakers and film participants who debuted their documentaries at Cannes: Raoul Peck on George Orwell; Eugene Jarecki on Julian Assange; U2's Bono on his new Apple TV+ film; Mariska Hargitay on her film about her late mother, Jayne Mansfield, and the makers of Slauson Rec, a documentary about Shia LaBeouf's stormy tenure leading a free theater compan...

Another glamorous Cannes Film Festival has ended, after an exciting fortnight on the Côte d’Azur that drew the likes of Tom Cruise, Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Stone, Scarlett Johansson, Robert Pattinson, Denzel Washington, Paul Mescal, Kristen Stewart, and many others. Stars of documentaries also turned up: Shia LaBeouf, whose exploits as founder of a free theater company in L.A. are chronicled in Sl...

Doc Talk travels to Millennium Docs Against Gravity in Poland, where we speak with artistic director Karol Piekarczyk about what has become one of the biggest and most prestigious all-documentary festivals in the world. We also visit with Northern Irish filmmaker Mark Cousins, who conducted a special "anti-masterclass" at MDAG. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stanley Tucci joins us to discuss his new National Geographic documentary series Tucci in Italy, which finds the acclaimed actor exploring the country's immensely rich culinary traditions, from trippa to lardo, hay soup and barbecued mutton.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oscar-winning director Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson explores the brilliance of Sly Stone in Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius), his Emmy-contending documentary feature. The Summer of Soul filmmaker joins us to talk about Sly's incredible contributions to music, and the mystery behind the one-time superstar's career and personal implosion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm...

MSNBC is airing the six-part documentary series David Frost Vs, built around some of the most extraordinary interviews conducted over a 50-year period by David Frost, the legendary British journalist and entertainer. We speak with executive producer Wilfred Frost, one of David's sons, about his dad's tête-à-têtes with Richard Nixon, Elton John, Muhammad Ali, John Lennon, Yoko Ono and more. Learn m...

Filmmaker Miranda Yousef joins us to discuss her documentary Art for Everybody, which enjoys a 100 percent critics approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It's the story of self-styled "Painter of Light" Thomas Kincade, who made a mint selling kitschy scenes of cozy cottages. Kinkade marketed himself as a devout Christian, but as the film reveals, beneath all that light lurked a dark side. Learn more...

Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney joins us to discuss his new HBO documentary double feature The Dark Money Game, an investigation in two films of the pernicious influence of untraceable money in our politics. The first film, Ohio Confidential, uncovers a massive dark money scandal in the Buckeye State, while the second film, Wealth of the Wicked, digs up the roots of dark money going back to th...

Filmmakers Stanley Nelson and Nicole London explore We Want the Funk!, a joyous documentary about a genre of music that compels people to dance from beat one. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Doc Talk heads to CPH:DOX in Copenhagen, where we speak with Oscar-winning Ukrainian filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov, winner of the festival's F:ACT Award for his new documentary 2000 Meters to Andriivka. We also visit with CPH:DOX artistic director Niklas Engstrøm, who talks about Europe's alarm over Pres. Trump "trying to change the world order." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/a...

Filmmakers Ben Braun and Chiaki Yanagimoto discuss their documentary AUM: The Cult at the End of the World, an exploration of the Japanese religious movement and doomsday cult responsible for a fatal terror attack on the Toyko subway. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We speak with Yorgos Krassakopoulos, head of program for the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival in Greece, about the 27th edition of the highly respected cinematic event. And we talk with one of the filmmakers invited to share his film at TiDF — Mark Andrew Altschul, director of All American, a documentary about high school girl wrestlers. Plus, Doc Talk hosts John Ridley and Matt Car...

Director Ezra Edelman is speaking out about Netflix's decision to abandon his Prince documentary series in favor of a version more to the liking of the musician's estate. We discuss Edelman's critique of the current state of celebrity documentaries, plus we talk with the makers of WTO/99, the new documentary about the giant protests against the World Trade Organization in Seattle in 1999. Learn mo...

Hosts John Ridley and Matt Carey react to the Oscars, which saw No Other Land win Best Documentary Feature and The Only Girl in the Orchestra win Best Documentary Short. And we talk with Chloé Trayner, artistic director of the just wrapped 22nd edition of True/False. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Slamdance relocates from its longtime home in Park City, Utah to Los Angeles, we talk with president and co-founder Peter Baxter about the festival's documentary lineup. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We speak with the directors of the Oscar-nominated documentary feature Porcelain War, Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev. Their film, telling a story of art and war in Ukraine, just won the DGA Award, a year after debuting at Sundance where it claimed the Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Documentary. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I Am Ready, Warden director Smriti Mundhra and The Only Girl in the Orchestra director Molly O'Brien join us to talk about their Oscar-nominated short documentaries. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We talk with two filmmakers who just premiered feature documentaries at Sundance — Cristina Costantini, director of Sally, about late astronaut Sally Ride, and Violet Du Feng, director of The Dating Game, an examination of how Chinese men, who vastly outnumber women, try to find mates in the China of today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Doc Talk unpacks the nominees for Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards. And co-host John Ridley speaks with director Geeta Gandbhir and executive producer Soledad O'Brien about the stunning documentary The Perfect Neighbor, which just premiered at Sundance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Documentary programmers Basil Tsiokos and Sudeep Sharma join us to discuss the nonfiction lineup for the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. The slate includes new work from Oscar winners Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, Mstyslav Chernov, and Davis Guggenheim, plus films on book banning, the first openly trans attorney to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, the late astronaut Sally Ride, and a documen...

The documentary community is reckoning with enormous loss from the Los Angeles wildfires, which has directly impacted many filmmakers. We are joined by Tracy Droz Tragos, who lost her home in the Pacific Palisades fire; Smriti Mundhra, who evacuated her home in Malibu Canyon; L.A. resident Lucy Walker who documented California wildfires in Bring Your Own Brigade, and L.A.-based writer and editor T...

We talk with Orwa Nyrabia, IDFA's artistic director, and visit with filmmakers premiering new work at the world's biggest documentary festival. Plus, filmmakers Carla Gutiérrez and Irene Taylor share their Amsterdam experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Doc Talk co-hosts John Ridley and Matt Carey react to the announcement of the shortlists in the documentary categories for the 97th Academy Awards. What were the snubs and major surprises? We unpack the 15 features and 15 shorts remaining in contention for the Oscar.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices