Factual America

Rob Ford, Toronto mayor, and scandal – we dive deep into the chaos of the new Netflix documentary Trainwreck: Mayor of Mayhem, with director Shianne Brown. From political rise to crack-smoking infamy, this episode unpacks how a beloved yet controversial figure shook Canadian politics – and why his story still matters today. Subscribe to Factual America: https://linktr.ee/FactualAmericaTimestamps: 00:00 – Introduction03:55 – Who Was Rob Ford?09:55 – Scandals & Controversies12:26 – The Downfall Begins15:35 – The Power of Populism19:32 – Media's Role in the Ford Saga22:30 – Rob Ford: The Man Behind the Headlines26:12 – Rob Ford's Divisive Legacy29:16 – Telling Ford's Story32:40 – Reflections & What's NextVisit our Website: https://www.alamopictures.co.uk/#MayorScandal#NetflixDocumentary#PoliticalScandal#TorontoPolitics#TrainwreckNetflix#TrueCrimeDocs

One of the deadliest music festivals in recent history, the 2021 Astroworld tragedy left 10 dead and thousands traumatised. Now, a powerful new documentary uncovers what really happened – with first-hand accounts from survivors, paramedics, and festival staff.In this episode, we go behind the scenes of the film with director Yemi Bamiro and executive producer Kari Lia, as they reveal how they navigated trauma, and uncovered systemic failures behind the disaster.Subscribe to Factual America: https://linktr.ee/FactualAmericaTimestamps:00:00 - Trailer "Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy"01:12 - Introduction and synopsis02:08 - A tragedy rooted in Houston04:45 - Day of excitement ends in a disaster11:53 - Most spectators didn't even realise it was happening17:13 - Similarities and differences with other crowd crushes19:12 - Misinformation leads to victim blaming21:22 - The stories within the story25:46 - Challenges during the production36:40 - Future plans**** FACTUAL AMERICA PODCAST **** Factual America uses documentary filmmaking to examine the American experience as well as universal topics that affect all Americans. Guests include leading documentary filmmakers, their subjects, as well as experts on the American experience. Our host Matthew Sherwood, was born and raised in Texas but has lived in the UK since 2001. He draws on decades of journalism experience, interviewing world leaders and helping audiences understand the key global trends shaping our lives.Subscribe to Factual America: https://linktr.ee/FactualAmericaLike us on Facebook: @factualamerica  Follow us on Twitter: @Factual_AmericaConnect with Matthew Sherwood: Twitter: @sherwood1967  Facebook: @matthew.sherwood.14  LinkedIn:  @matthewsherwood  **** ABOUT ALAMO PICTURES **** Alamo Pictures is a London-based production company specialising in feature-documentaries, factual television and shorts about the US. Benefitting from an outsider's keen eye and years of stateside experience, Alamo's filmmakers explore topical, uniquely American stories from a sympathetic, European perspective.The result is engaging cinema and television that defies stereotypes and helps audiences truly understand what makes America tick. Visit our Website: https://www.alamopictures.co.uk/#Astroworld#TravisScott#DocumentaryFilm#TrueStory#SurvivorStories

In this exclusive interview, we speak to Yotam Guendelman and Ari Pines, the directors of the latest Netflix true crime documentary, which uncovers the chilling details behind the 1982 Tylenol poisonings – a case that shook America. With cyanide-laced pills, and a suspect who was never charged, the Chicago Tylenol murders remain one of the most disturbing unsolved crimes in US history. We explore the evidence, media panic and legacy of this case that undermined Americans' trust in pharmaceutical companies and forever changed how we interact with over-the-counter drugs.If you're into true crime podcasts, unsolved mysteries, and deep dives with the filmmakers behind the headlines – this one's for you.Timestamps:00:00 – Trailer "Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders"03:04 – Introduction and synopsis06:53 – Mass hysteria in the USA09:24 – The prime suspect – James Lewis13:32 – One-sided investigation18:34 – The involvement of Johnson & Johnson25:30 – Alternative theories29:18 – How the project started31:10 – The first (and last) Interview with James Lewis38:33 – Future plans and outroSubscribe to Factual America: https://linktr.ee/FactualAmericaLike us on Facebook: @factualamerica Follow us on Twitter: @Factual_AmericaConnect with Matthew Sherwood: Twitter: @sherwood1967 Facebook: @matthew.sherwood.14LinkedIn: @matthewsherwood Watch the Full Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/VeeqNzI25zM

Osama bin Laden, CIA, and the manhunt that changed history. In this interview with award-winning directors Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan of American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden, we uncover the untold truths behind one of the most intense and dangerous global manhunts.Explore rare footage, insider interviews, and shocking revelations about the CIA's pursuit of Osama bin Laden. How did the mission unfold? What went wrong? And what secrets are still hidden about the operation that led to the historic raid?Subscribe to Factual America: https://linktr.ee/FactualAmericaTimestamps: 00:00 - Trailer "American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden"02:22 - Introduction and synopsis04:28 - A who's who of US government officials07:20 - The women behind the manhunt10:51 - A decade of hunting bin Laden17:06 - Parallels between a film about 9/11 and October 7th18:24 - How the series came together20:08 - Crazy contributor stories25:09 - The 25th anniversary of 9/1127:44 - Future plans of Mor and Daniel – OutroWatch the full episode on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHTDnhmQjf0

The Liver King built a supplement empire by devouring raw meat on social media. And he had the muscles to prove it. But how did the Liver King get so huge? Netflix director Joe Pearlman tells all. In this interview, we dig into the raw truth behind the man, the myth, and the meat-fueled machine that captivated millions.From viral fame and ancestral living to steroids, scandal, and supplement sales – this conversation goes beyond the beef.Timestamps: 00:00 - Trailer02:07 - Introduction 04:32 - An evangelist for the ancestral lifestyle07:58 - Not Brian Johnson but the Liver King13:11 - A man that knows to market himself15:31 - The lies that came long before the steroids17:47 - The reveal of the real Brian Johnson22:04 - Liver Queen: no regrets24:12 - How Joe got involved with the project25:10 - Living online 24/726:50 - America in the eyes of a British filmmaker30:01 - The "Wild West" that is social media31:18 - Joe Pearlman's future projects#LiverKing#NetflixDocumentary#FitnessScandal#RawMeat#SupplementEmpireWatch Full Episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=404rzi6AyOcSubscribe to Factual America: ⁠https://linktr.ee/FactualAmerica⁠Subscribe to Factual America: ⁠https://linktr.ee/FactualAmerica⁠Like us on Facebook: @factualamerica Follow us on Twitter: @Factual_AmericaConnect with Matthew Sherwood: Twitter: @sherwood1967 Facebook: @matthew.sherwood.14 LinkedIn: @matthewsherwood

Vietnam War secrets, untold stories, and hidden history - revealed by Netflix director Brian Knappenberger and renowned historian Lien-Hang Nguyen.As we approach the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, this interview uncovers new accounts from the war - from suppressed footage to shocking revelations about U.S. involvement and North Vietnam's internal strategy.A must-watch for anyone interested in war documentaries, declassified history, and the truth behind one of the most controversial conflicts of the 20th century.Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXnTT2OtHd0

In this chilling episode, filmmaker Liam Le Guillou takes us deep inside A Cursed Man - his harrowing real-life journey into the world of black magic and satanic rituals. What begins as a sceptical social experiment soon spirals into a terrifying descent, as Liam invites powerful practitioners to place real curses on him. Facing nightmares, unexplained anxiety, and even a blood pact with a Satan-worshipping shaman, he confronts the true cost of dabbling with the unknown. Liam opens up about the haunting effects on his life and family, the raw truths behind magic, and the uphill battles of independent filmmaking - from losing control to fighting for distribution. This is not just a story about curses - it's about belief, fear, and the invisible forces that may be far more real than we think.Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhWoOMcAveA&t=23sSubscribe for more from Factual America: ⁠http://bit.ly/AlamoPictures⁠

"One of the deadliest tornadoes in US history is headed directly for their high school graduation…” In this episode, filmmaker Alexandra Lacey takes us inside her powerful new Netflix documentary, Twister: Caught in the Storm, a raw and moving look at life in Joplin, Missouri, after a catastrophic natural disaster. Alexandra shares how the disaster reshaped a generation of young people and reflects on the resilience, identity, and community spirit that emerged in the storm's aftermath. She opens up about the emotional weight of telling true stories, the creative risks she took behind the camera, and what it means to capture hope in the face of devastation. Blending her British-American lens, she offers unique insight into the fast-paced world of documentary filmmaking.Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeUxy239MukFollow Alexandra Lacey on Instagram: @lacey_docs

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  

Stopping the Steal gives an inside account of Donald Trump's challenge to the 2020 presidential election results and how an unsung group of Republican politicians, staffers, and election officials prevented the election from being stolen. Joining Matthew Sherwood on Factual America is Emmy and Bafta-winning director and producer Dan Reed. He discusses why he decided to interview pro-Trump Republicans about the election and the benefits he experienced being a British reporter. Dan explains what caused the January 6th riots and why previous Trump loyalists spoke out against him. He also reveals Trump's true thoughts about the election results.  Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com “They're all loyal conservative pro-Trump Republicans and these are the people who give the inside story of the attempt to steal the 2020 election.” – Dan Reed “What many people don't realise is January 6th is the end. It's like switching on the TV and seeing the last 2 minutes of the film but the movie started a long time before that.” – Dan Reed

In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon surveys the studio as Paul records his new album Seven Psalms while reflecting on his six-decade career and wrestling with the issues of faith and mortality. Joining Matthew Sherwood on Factual America is Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney, who discusses the impact Paul Simon had on American culture and music, the inspiration behind Paul's album Seven Psalms, and the challenges of making a documentary about a musical icon. Alex explains his own creative process, the lessons he's learned from a career in film, and his upcoming film on Elon Musk. We learn what he looks for when choosing to get involved in a project and the skills you need to be a successful documentary filmmaker. Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com “He's one of the greatest songwriters ever in terms of rock music. He's always been driven to the sounds at the limit of what he can hear, intriguing sounds that are completely different to his tradition or experience.” – Alex Gibney “I started out making documentaries that I thought I knew what was important early on and I discovered that was a terrible way to make films, because if you weren't exploring and open to the things in front of you that you didn't expect then you were making a boring film. So you have to be open to the idea that things are going to explode.” – Alex Gibney “It's a magical part of the movie because it's rare in a set that an audience loves a song so much that they make you play it again right away.” – Alex Gibney

Dancing For The Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult explores the experiences of a group of prominent TikTok dancers who are trapped in a cult masquerading as a management company. In the process the film uncovers disturbing truths about the agenda of Robert Shinn, the cult's founder and pastor of the Shekinah Church. Joining Matthew Sherwood on Factual America are executive producers Jessica Acevedo and director Derek Doneen, who discuss the making of the film and the challenges of interviewing people who are still in the depths of an abusive and traumatic environment. The filmmakers explain how it takes a long time to recover from leaving a cult, how to build trust with the people you are documenting, and how the cult responded to the wave of criticism and bad publicity. In the end their film reveals so much about the lure of fame, the importance of faith and the bond of family.  Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com “Nobody sets out to join a cult. Cult leaders don't come at you full blast with their manipulations on display, it's little by little slowly inching you in over time so you're not realising what's happening.” – Derek Doneen “Financial abuse and control happened there. It wasn't until they started sharing some of those experiences that they realised that it was happening to them too and unravelled what they thought was a faith-based positive environment and showed it was really quite sinister.” – Jessica Acevedo “The assumption is that people are fine and okay, but continue to dig deeper, ask the questions, have patience and meet people where they're at because you never really know what someone's going through. What you see on social media can be one thing but it's worth asking how they're doing.” – Jessica Acevedo

In 2002 the Ashley Madison website went live. It was a dating agency with a difference for its targets were people already in relationships. Inevitably, Ashley Madison was roundly criticised. The company's CEO, however, stated that affairs actually helped marriages. In 2015, hackers broke into the website and published the names, addresses, credit card information, and more of every user. Relationships were destroyed, and some of those named committed suicide. Directed by Toby Paton, Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal is a three-part Netflix docu-series that tells the story of the website's rise and fall. It goes behind the scenes of what happened through interviews with both people who worked for and who used Ashley Madison, and with people whose partner's infidelity was exposed by the hack.  Toby is Matthew Sherwood's guest in this episode of Factual America. Among the topics they discuss are how the controversy over Ashley Madison has become forgotten, what it was like working at the company, and what the identity of the still unknown hackers might be. What drives a person to cheat on their partner? This question is key to Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal. And Toby goes in depth as he explores what he learnt in the making of the docu-series. The answers that he found are more nuanced, and more empathic than you might have expected. It isn't just about cheating. Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com “Whenever you make a film or a series, no matter how closely you followed it in the news, when you actually start talking to the real people, who have lived through it... the whole thing takes on a depth and a richness that goes far beyond what you ever would have gathered from the news.” – Toby Paton  

It's April 19th, 1995, the 220th anniversary of the start of the American War of Independence, and two years since the violent end of the Waco, Texas siege. In Oklahoma City, a disaffected army veteran named Timothy McVeigh leaves a truck outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Inside the truck is a bomb. At 9am, McVeigh lights the two minute fuse. When the bomb explodes, it kills 168 people and wounds 680 more.  In An American Bombing: The Road to April 19th, Marc Levin retraces McVeigh's footsteps, showing how he went from being a war hero to a terrorist. Rather than look at McVeigh in isolation, however, Marc places his actions in the context of the evolution of political violence in the USA. It is an evolution that continues to the present day. In this episode of Factual America, Marc and Daphne discuss the making of the film. They look at how the bombing has become an almost forgotten moment in American history, the economic and military as well as historical background to the outrage, whether McVeigh acted alone, and how views that in the 90s were regarded as being extreme have now entered the mainstream. As we head towards the 2024 US Presidential election on November 5th, An American Bombing: The Road to April 19th reflects upon the dangerous journey of American democracy and the high price Americans have had to pay for their freedoms. Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com “He may be dead but the ghost of McVeigh lives, and there are lots of people out there that subscribe to some of his thinking.” – Marc Levin

Climate change, terrorism, social inequality and poverty, wars between nations, and injustice. Things do not look too good for the world today, and there seems to be little to no hope for the future. A Brief History of the Future, a new docu-series on PBS, challenges this pessimistic outlook. Directed by Andrew Morgan and presented by Ari Wallach, the series visits people from all over the world who are doing something – no matter how big or small – to make the world a better place, not just for their today, but also for everyone's tomorrow. Andrew is Matthew Sherwood's guest on this episode of Factual America. Together, they explore why humans are given to pessimism – ironically, the reason is not a negative one, the idea that what we regard today as possible was once thought to be impossible, and how creativity can come out of what Andrew calls ‘this season of chaos and complexity'. Andrew talks about A Brief History of the Future from an intensely personal perspective: he came to the series suffering from burnout after making other documentaries about problems facing the world. Conversely, his view of the future is both epic and dynamic: the future is a verb; we do it, make it, every day. Discover how on Factual America. Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com “We have a bias towards negativity, but we also have this extraordinary capacity for creativity and imagination, and just goodness.“ – Andrew Morgan 

Why would US military veterans take up arms against the country they swore to protect? This is the question at the heart of Against All Enemies, a new documentary by Charlie Sadoff. In it, Charlie explores the role disaffected veterans played in the January 6th attack on the US Capitol.  In order to better understand what happened on that day, he looks at the history of civil unrest involving veterans, from groups such as the Ku Klux Klan through to modern day extremist organisations like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. His journey takes him not only inside these groups but to the top as he meets their leaders. In conversation with Matthew Sherwood, Charlie discusses the answers he found to the question of why veterans join extremist groups, and what the aims of those groups are, as well as some of the people involved in them, including former National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn. He also considers whether there could be another January 6th attack, and if so, where. If the picture for veterans looks bleak, Charlie does offer hope. There are groups that help vets transition back to civilian life. But, as he tells Matthew, more needs to be done. Go behind the scenes of the threats and dangers facing America's veterans in Against All Enemies with Matthew Sherwood and Charlie Sadoff on Factual America. Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com “Jason Crow was a congressman... barricaded inside the floor of the chamber of the House... he asked this question, How did I a veteran end up on one side of this door, and other veterans who swore the same oath I did end up on the other side of this door? That to me was a very provocative question. And the fact that it was coming from him made it all the more powerful.” – Charlie Sadoff  

God Save Texas is a three-part docu-series inspired by Lawrence Wright's book of the same name. In each episode, an acclaimed filmmaker explores the past, present, and future of the Lone Star State.  Episode One is directed by Richard Linklater, Episode Three by Iliana Sosa. Episode Two is directed by Alex Stapleton, and she joins Matthew Sherwood to discuss what it was like returning to her hometown of Houston to explore the effect of Texas' oil and gas industry on her family and local communities.  That effect has been vast, for though the energy industry has brought a lot of prosperity to Texas, the cost it has charged has been equally high. Nevertheless, Alex explains that she has hope in the future. That hope rests firmly on the local communities. And it is so strong that Alex has now returned to live in Houston permanently. Among the other topics that Alex and Matthew discuss are mythbusting, the industrial world that lies below Houston, how Lawrence Wright's book helped Alex to articulate her mixed feelings towards Texas, and the absence and erasure of Alex's community in Texas' history. The main thesis of God Save Texas is that what starts in the Lone Star State will in time be experienced by the rest of the US. The series, therefore, can be seen as being both an epic and intimate drama. Go behind the scenes of Alex's part in it on Factual America. Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com “I think that the biggest lesson that I got out of making this film is that community is so important. And it's what makes Texas so unique... Texas has always had this wild wild west identity, but we find community, we build communities...the people of this state are pretty incredible.” – Alex Stapleton

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. “... 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

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

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  

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

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  

On the night of March 23rd 2015, Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn were drugged and bound by a mystery assailant who had broken into their home. Denise was then kidnapped. When Aaron called the police the next day, they believed he had murdered her. Two days later, however, Denise – who had been sexually assaulted by her kidnapper - was freed. Now the police believed no crime had been committed at all, and that Aaron and Denise were hoaxers. The psychological thriller Gone Girl had been released just six months before. In American Nightmare, co-directors Bernadette Higgins and Felicity Morris explore both what happened and, as host Matthew Sherwood puts it, ‘the consequences of our cultural rush to judgement and the damage done when law enforcement and the media decide the truth can't possibly be true'. The result is a three-part series that twists and turns and upends your expectations with every passing minute. In American Nightmare, light becomes dark, and dark turns into light. On this episode of Factual America, Bernadette and Felicity guide Matthew through Denise and Aaron's story as well as the making of their series. Among the topics they discuss are how the unfair treatment of women who are victims of sexual crime motivated them to make American Nightmare, the true crime documentary that inspired and shaped the series, the extensive research that went into the making of it, and how American Nightmare offers the opportunity to get viewers to ask questions of themselves and others about how they treat other people. They discuss the betrayal of trust, self-doubt, and even out-of-body experiences that Denise and Aaron went through. Perhaps most surprising of all, however, is the point of connection that they find between American Nightmare and Pamela: A Love Story, the 2023 documentary about Pamela Anderson.  Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com “This happened, and it happens a lot, and if it can happen to Denise and Aaron, it can happen to anyone.” – Bernadette Higgins

Lady Bird Johnson is best known today as the wife of Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36th President of the USA between 1963-69. However, there was much more to her life than simply the role of ‘First Lady'. In this episode of Factual America, Matthew Sherwood takes a deep dive into Lady Bird Johnson's life with Dawn Porter, director of new documentary film, The Lady Bird Diaries.  It's 1963. Liz Carpenter, Lady Bird's Press Secretary, suggests that she records her ‘thoughts and experiences' on a tape recorder. Lady Bird agrees and borrows one from Carpenter's son. She never looks back. Over the next six years she will record 123 hours-worth of material about her day-to-day life. As Dawn tells Matthew, Lady Bird's entries are ‘detailed and meticulous': she had a degree in journalism and was a very good note taker. She was also, Dawn says, very disciplined, observant, and conscious of her place in history. This consciousness made Lady Bird an invaluable counsellor for her husband. So much so that in an age where there was no line of presidential succession, Lady Bird was even referred to as ‘Mrs Vice President'. The Lady Bird Diaries describe Lady Bird as ‘one of the most influential and least understood First Ladies in [American] history'. Matthew and Dawn discuss the detail of why that is so. They also explore her abilities as a strategist, how Lady Bird changed the way the White House works, and her political and public independence even from her husband. The picture they draw is of a woman who was more than equal to the challenge of the difficult age in which she lived, and which she so carefully recorded. For a fuller picture of Lady Bird, the Johnson White House and 60s America, this episode is a must listen. Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com “She both did and didn't accept the limit on her authority that society was giving her. She didn't demand credit for her contributions but didn't stop making them... her priority was getting things done.” – Dawn Porter

On January 28th 2017, a mosque in Victoria, Texas was burnt to the ground by an arsonist. In the aftermath, Victorians stood side-by-side with their Muslim neighbours. In A Town Called Victoria, Li Lu – who grew up in nearby Sugar Land, Texas – explores what happened next: to the town, its Islamic community, and to the arsonist, who was soon apprehended. Li joins Matthew Sherwood to discuss her series, its themes, which include white supremacy, patriotism and mental illness, as well as the limits of healing. Li looks back at her own upbringing, and shares how she discovered the arson attack had happened and its effect on her. She also discusses the role played in the making of the film by her DP, Halyna Hutchins, who was tragically killed on the set of Rust in 2021. Victoria's story is a bittersweet one. For while there is solidarity and shared prayer, understanding and a determination to repair damage done, the arson attack also exposes deep and profound divisions: racial, political, and economic. And what's more, this is not a story relevant to Texas alone. As Li puts it, Victoria is a ‘microcosm' of every American community. A Town Called Victoria needed to be a sensitively made film. It could not have found a better and more informed director than Li Lu. Enter the heart of Texas and America with Li and Matthew Sherwood. Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com “In terms of really reaching people, be brave and have a conversation that's hard with someone that could use a conversation to be had with.” – Li Lu

Racism is a blight upon the United States of America, and has been all through the country's history.  In Stamped from the Beginning, a documentary film featuring and based on the book of the same name by Dr. Ibram X Kendi, director Roger Ross Williams explores the history of racist ideas in the US. Using an innovative array of methods, including VFX, animation, and music, he explores how the Trans-Atlantic slave trade gave birth to racist ideas, and how racist myths regarding black hypersexuality and criminality still impact society today. Roger and Ibram join Matthew Sherwood to discuss their film, its themes, and the role of black women, both in terms of studying racism and as the interviewees of Stamped from the Beginning. Roger also notes the reason why he uses pop culture to tell the story of racist ideas in the US. It isn't despite the fact that it has been used over the years to perpetuate racist ideas but because of it. Roger admits that making the documentary was hard. Fortunately, he liked the challenge! The result is a film that, as Matthew says, is both stimulating and uplifting. Racism may be a big part of the US's story, but it is not the last word. Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com “We hope that people – through the film – can begin the process of unlearning any racist ideas about black people that they have internalised...and that they would also begin to learn anti-racist ideas of racial equality.” – Ibram X Kendi

In 1983 America was overwhelmed by a disaster, the likes of which it had never seen before. Hysteria led to riots; mayhem became the norm. And the reason? Chubby, potato faced toys: the Cabbage Patch Kids. In this episode of Factual America, Matthew Sherwood meets Dan Goodman, co-executive producer of Billion Dollar Babies, a documentary about the rise and rise of the awkward looking but homely and utterly desirable Cabbage Patch Kids.  They discuss the origin of the Cabbage Patch Kids' success, which can be traced back to the Post-Depression era but also owes a great deal to the improving economy of the early ‘80s and the increasing availability of credit.  But none of that would have mattered had the Cabbage Patch Kids not had that certain something that made them so special. Despite being mass produced, improved manufacturing techniques gave each doll a seemingly unique appearance. Each one could be ‘adopted'. And, most simply, they looked cute: cute enough to go through hell and high water at the local shopping mall for. Dan shares how he managed to get the man behind the dolls' success, Xavier Roberts, onto the doc, while he and Matthew also discuss the roles played in the film by legendary news anchor Connie Chung, and actor Neil Patrick Harris. The Cabbage Patch Kids represent 80s excess at its best or worst, depending on your point-of-view. Step back in time to enjoy the good, the bad, and the immensely cute of it all with Matthew and Dan! Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com “You think about these Cabbage Patch Kid riots... and it's not like we looked at that and thought, ‘Boy, that was a terrible idea!'... Instead, we go the opposite direction... and that's where we got to this Black Friday mentality.” – Dan Goodman

In 1999, Rose Tajiri, a second-generation Japanese-American, was diagnosed with dementia. She was 76. Over the following years, as her condition worsened, her daughter, filmmaker Rea Tajiri, became her caregiver.  In Wisdom Gone Wild Rea documents the journey that she and her mother took together, a journey that sees them navigate both the now of life with dementia and the past as Rose recalls memories from her early years, including the time she spent in an internment camp during the Second World War. The result is, as Matthew Sherwood describes it, a film that is ‘tender, bittersweet, [and] poignant'. Rea calls the film a ‘cinematic poem', which follows the lines of her mother's thought process, her ‘dream logic'.  As Rea makes clear, caring for her mother brought highs and lows, sometimes in unexpected places; Rose's condition brought danger, but also the opportunity to explore, to find meaning. Most of all, it brought wisdom, not just in one area, but several: beauty, beauty in art, and in spiritual matters among others. Rea discusses her family's accepting response to her filming her and her mother's journey, the influence of her late father – a professional photographer – on this project, and offers advice born of her own experience to anyone who might be in the same situation: surrender, connect, enjoy. Living with dementia can be hard, but also meaningful, and even profound. Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com “It was important to me to centre the film around how [my mother] communicated. I wanted to maybe have the viewer adjust a little bit of how they experience dementia.” – Rea Tajiri

Carlos is a documentary that takes the viewer from legendary guitarist Carlos Santana's beginnings in Mexico to concerts across the world in a musical career that has lasted over fifty years. It goes off-stage as well, exploring his spiritual journey and life with his family, from mother and father, to siblings, and children. In this episode of Factual America, Matthew Sherwood meets Carlos' director, Rudy Valdez, to discuss Santana's storied life. Their conversation reveals Carlos as an innovative and laser-focused musician, a story teller with a brilliant memory, and a man always seeking to go further, deeper and higher, whether in his music or life beyond. In addition, Rudy shares how he came to direct Carlos almost despite himself, the intimate nature of the documentary's production, and his determination to create a film that felt just like you were hanging out with Carlos himself, something that for Matthew made the film very cool, indeed! From fame to family, stardom to spirituality, mysterious tapes and revealing videos of walls, this episode of Factual America takes you from the past, into the present, and maybe even to the future. Plus at the end of the episode Matthew and Rudy have a conversation about the Golden Age of documentary: how Rudy defines it, its duration, and where he believes documentary film making finds itself now. “... what we always tried to do throughout this process is show the music, show it in relation to spirituality, show spirituality and the relation to family. And... come back to music, come back to spirituality, come back to family... all of those things were part of this collective consciousness for Carlos and they were always equally driving his journey and his life...” – Rudy Valdez

To call Sylvester Stallone a film star is only the beginning of any conversation about him. Movies such as Rocky and Rambo have made him an American icon. But even that barely scrapes the surface of who he really is.  In Sly, a new documentary film available to watch now on Netflix, director Thom Zimny takes a deep dive into Sylvester Stallone's story. He starts with the actor we all know before introducing us to the man behind the persona: Stallone the writer, director, and even, painter. He goes further still, in fact, right to the heart of Stallone's life: his relationship with his father, a relationship that for Thom redefined how he saw Stallone's films. In this episode of Factual America, Thom joins Matthew Sherwood to discuss Sly, both man and film. Their conversation takes them from the beginning of Thom's relationship with Stallone to its full flowering. Thom describes his approach to interviewing Stallone, and the energy that the latter brought to their conversation. He reveals how his work with Bruce Springsteen helped him navigate Sly, and the great trust that Stallone put in him, made real with a significant gift. Along the way, Thom shares some of the surprises that came out of making Sly, and even Stallone's musicality. Join Matthew as he and Thom Zimny pull the curtain back on the real Sylvester Stallone – Sly by name, but open hearted by nature. Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com “Sly went beyond a biopic for me because I felt like there was a chance to show an artist that gets lost with just a shorthand version of their life... I love the details that get lost, that make a film universal.” – Thom Zimny  

In The Enfield Poltergeist, Jerry Rothwell uses over 250 hours of audio recordings made by paranormal investigator Maurice Grosse to revisit the case of 284 Green Street in Enfield, North London. There, for a period of eighteen months starting in August 1977, the Hodgson family witnessed furniture move of its own accord, objects get thrown across rooms, and heard disembodied voices speak. Or did they? Some investigators were convinced, others were not. In The Enfield Poltergeist, Jerry builds a replica of the Hodgson family's house in order to recreate what – is alleged to have – happened, and he joins Matthew Sherwood to go behind-the-scenes of his film. They explore the mystery of poltergeists, disruptive activity that often centres on young people, the effect of the supposed hauntings on the Hodgson children, and how the Green Street case captured the imagination of the British press. Jerry reflects on his own background and how it might have influenced his decision to make The Enfield Poltergeist. He and Matthew also discuss the high-level background of the British Society for Psychical Research, of which Maurice Grosse was a member. Was 284 Green Street haunted? Is the question even relevant? Whatever your view, enter into the spirit of the season with The Enfield Poltergeist. “I think what's interesting is... how and why do a people - a group of people in a house come to believe something. [This] for me says a lot about all kinds of things in our modern world... why do we believe what we believe?... the evidence for those things is as much in the stories we tell, and are told, as in, you know, the hard scientific phenomena.” – Jerry Rothwell  

Welcome to the first episode of the fifth season of Factual America! Joining host Matthew Sherwood is Yon Motskin, the director of Encounters, a new Netflix docu-series about four UFO/alien encounters from around the world. Encounters tells a story that is both epic and intimate in its range. It not only explores what occurred when a diverse range of witnesses – including school children, hoteliers, law enforcement officials, and rescue workers – came face-to-face with the seemingly impossible, but what happened afterwards to them, and those who investigated their stories. Some were able to move on; others, though, were bullied, faced ridicule, and professional ruin. All, though, have stuck to their stories. Matthew and Yon discuss what happened to the witnesses, their credibility or otherwise, and the profound differences between the interpretation of UFO sightings in Japan versus the US. They look at the nature of belief, and how what we believe can define our understanding of what UFOs may be. Yon also shares his appreciation for the involvement of Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television in the making of the film. For Yon, Encounters is fundamentally ‘a human story' with themes such as ‘consciousness and communication' at its core. Whether you are interested in UFOs, psychology, mysteries, or the workings of the human heart, this is an episode for you. Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com “I believe that they believe. Now, if whatever they say happened or not, I wasn't there, so, I couldn't tell you, but it's hard to discount... it's not one person in their backyard seeing something. It's dozens, and in many cases, hundreds of people all seeing the same thing, at the same time.” – Yon Motskin

Wayne Shorter has long been considered one of the greatest modern composers and musicians of American music. His career reads like a Who's Who of the genre, starting with Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers, then the Miles Davis Quintet, followed by solo fame and the founding of fusion super group Weather Report. His collaborations extend beyond jazz greats such as Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter to include Carlos Santana, Joni Mitchel, Milton Nascimento and Steely Dan, just to name a few.  In Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity, acclaimed producer and director Dorsay Alavi moves beyond typical music doc territory to capture the essence of the man who touched so many lives, including her own. As Shorter's long-time friend and music-video collaborator, Dorsay paints an intimate portrait and cinematic ode to a truly American visionary, innovator and icon.  Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity is a three-part docu-series streaming on Amazon Prime from August 25th 2023, which would have been Shorter's 90th birthday.  Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com "There's so many layers to Wayne, but I would say mostly, he's a very, very principled person. And I believe that he has always been very authentic and true to what he has always done on an artistic level, [and] in life as well." - Dorsay Alavi

John McEnroe's volcanic temper on the tennis court is legendary. But there was always more to him than just the explosive outbursts.  In McEnroe, a documentary now available to watch on Sky Documentaries and streaming service NOW, John McEnroe takes a night time journey through his home town of New York, reflecting on, discussing, and interrogating his life on and off the court. Joining Matthew Sherwood is the film's director Barney Douglas. He shares how McEnroe has changed from his wilder, younger self, the triggers that still make him a challenging person to be with, and how McEnroe sees himself in relation to today's tennis super stars. Barney also discusses McEnroe's ‘New Yorker perspective' as a tennis player, his relationship with his father, and how it influences his relationship with his children.   The picture that Barney builds of John McEnroe is of a complex individual, one for whom connection and communication is important, who was an entertainer as well as a highly strung sportsman, and who is a thinker, not just a slave to his emotions. In addition to discussing John McEnroe, Barney pulls back the veil on how he made his film: inevitably, Covid looms large, but so do exorbitant fees for archive footage; he had to make sure he asked McEnroe the right questions, and then, there is the use of animations inspired by Tron of all films. McEnroe is a film that is built different, just like its star. In his short career, Barney Douglas has already made two other accomplished sporting documentaries – Warriors and The Edge – thus showing himself to be the right man to help John McEnroe tell his story. Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com “[He is] very authentic... there's nothing Machiavellian about McEnroe. For good or bad, you know he will be very true to how he feels, and that's actually... a very endearing quality.” – Barney Douglas

For 200 years, the people of central Appalachia in the US have lived off the industry of coal. Now, though, times are changing, and the coal industry is dying. One day, it will become no more than a memory.  Director Elaine McMillion Sheldon describes King Coal as “part documentary, part fable”, and the film aims to not only tell the story of Appalachia and its coal, but also to preserve Appalachians' memory of it.  And that is not all. Through Lanie and Gabby, two young Appalachian girls, Elaine looks to the future, to the new world that is now coming into being. In doing so, she is able to say truthfully that far from now ending, Appalachia's story is just beginning. In the course of their conversation, Elaine discusses her own intimate connection to Appalachia, the surprising origin of one mark of deep respect given to miners, and how she broke her filmmaking rules in order to make the documentary. Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com  “... if this was just a story about facts and figures, it would make no sense. But this film is really about the psyche and soul... I think that King Coal dominates a time when work, and pride in work, of belonging was a huge part of our identity.” – Elaine McMillion Sheldon

Humanity is the master of the world. But how did we achieve this? And what do our actions say about us as a people? These are the questions at the heart of Human Footprint, a new PBS docu-series directed by Nate Dappen and Neil Losin. They join Matthew Sherwood to discuss the programme, which they describe as ‘a science show that explores human history and culture'.  Human Footprint starts with an exploration of invasive species. Nate and Neil discuss our response to this problem, which we created. It has led to the rise of some unusual jobs: would you like to be a python hunter? Through Nate and Neil, we discover some more sedate occupations, for example, duck calling and hunting. This brings them to Ramsey Russell, who, in addition to being a duck hunter, is also ‘a poet [and] philosopher'. If humanity has transformed the world, some animals have transformed humans. Dogs are one of them. According to Nate, dogs' relationship with humans has been ‘symbiotic', and he describes visiting Resolute Bay in the Arctic Circle where dogs and inuits help each other to survive.  Fast evolving lizards, dancing dogs, and city ecosystems also come under discussion. However, a series like Human Footprint is not easy to make. As Neil says, ‘you have to pre-produce everything... to a really... high degree'. Despite that, however, not everything is planned out, and they did still manage to be surprised by some ‘unexpected gems' they found during filming, and afterwards. In a conversation that ranges from evolutionary biology, how Shane Campbell-Staton came on board as presenter, to the role of rap music in the making of Human Footprint, Nate and Neil take Matthew Sherwood on a journey across the world and even through time. Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com “... what the series reveals to me [is] that we have an enormous capacity for messing things up if we're not careful. But we also have an amazing capacity for good as a species, and it's really just a matter of what we decide to do collectively.” – Neil Losin

Eli Timoner lived a life founded on love. As a result, long after an accidental stroke forced him into retirement, he was celebrated by his former workers. And when he died aged 92, on 3rd March 2021, he did so, surrounded by his family. Last Flight Home, a documentary by Eli's daughter Ondi, tells the story of his last days. But more than that, it relates how Eli chose the date of his passing, something he was able to do through California's End of Life Option Act. In this moving and poignant episode of Factual America, Ondi joins Matthew Sherwood to discuss the film, her father, family, and how her experience of his dying and death has made her an activist in support of the right to end one's own life. Ondi speaks frankly about her fears when Eli told her that he wished to die, and how filming him – something she did with his blessing - helped her come to terms with what was happening. She reflects on the differences of opinion that existed within her family over Eli's decision before they came together to see the world anew. She also shares how she believes Eli continues to watch over his family today. Eli's story is not an easy one. But neither is it one sided. As Matthew and Ondi's conversation makes clear, loss is accompanied by grace, beauty, and good memory. Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com “[Dad] said to me... Ondi, would you rather know the day I'm going to die? Or would you rather get a call in the middle of the night? And it's true, it really allowed us all to prepare, and to plan, and to have closure, and to be able to celebrate, even, his life. And for him, it was like wind in a sail.” – Ondi Timoner

Once upon a time, to be the conductor of an orchestra was to be a man. No longer. Female conductors, however, are still very much a rarity. The Paris based La Maestra Competition aims to break down the barriers that women still face in becoming conductors by giving them a space to showcase their skills. In Maestra, Maggie Contreras follows five women as they prepare to take part in the 2022 La Maestra Competition. Among them are Mélisse, a Parisian from Iowa, Zoe, a single mother who juggles her preparation with looking after her young twins, and Ustina, a Ukrainian whose country was invaded by Russia just a week before La Maestra started. Maggie joins Matthew Sherwood to discuss these women and more: the physicality of being a conductor, the loneliness of preparation, and extreme limits of time that the women have in competition with their orchestra.  Maggie explains why she chose Maestra's unlikely opening scene, how she ensured that the film would be accessible to viewers with no experience of conducting, and how her own background as an actor helped her to direct the film.  As with all films, Maestra could not have been made without its financial backers. These include David Letterman's Worldwide Pants production company, and Jamie Wolf's Foothill Productions. Maggie reflects on their contribution as well as that of the Northern Irish companies that handled the film's editing. Maggie takes Matthew back to her own musical childhood before discussing the challenge of making Maestra, both in the shadow of Covid and by being an outsider in Paris. Together, she and Matthew look at the bond that draws her diverse range of films together. It's all about making them entertaining. Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com “... you always have to have an idea of what it is you're getting into, but then the magic and joy and fun and danger is you take a step back and let it blossom into what it needs to be.” – Maggie Contreras

Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the most recognisable figures in the world today. His meteoric rise to fame began in the 1960s and 70s when he won the coveted Mr Olympia and Mr Universe bodybuilding titles multiple times. In the 80s and 90s, Schwarzenegger starred in some of the most successful action films ever to be made, including The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and Predator. And in 2003, he won election as governor of California, a feat he would repeat in 2007. But life hasn't always gone so perfectly for Schwarzenegger. Drug use and allegations of sexual misconduct are just two of the controversies that he has faced. And in 2011, Maria Shriver, his wife of 25 years, left him, when he admitted to having had an affair several years earlier. In a new Netflix docu-series Arnold, Schwarzenegger reflects on the highs and lows of his life. From its humble beginnings in post-war Austria, stardom in America, to life at 75, his new ventures, and pets. Joining Matthew Sherwood is Lesley Chilcott, the director of Arnold. Amongst other things, she discusses Schwarzenegger's ‘laser focus', the secret to his success, his failures, his humour, and the mystery of what might be called his prescience. Lesley also talks about how she likes to ‘edit musically', the challenge of making a docu-series about such a rich and diversely lived life, and even the comic idea of ‘Arnold's limitlessness'. Schwarzenegger may indeed be one of the most recognisable people alive today but that doesn't mean we know everything about him. Join Matthew and Lesley as they unpeel the layers from the life of Arnold. Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com “... a good friend of [Schwarzenegger's], Paul, always says, You know, I've known Arnold for 40 years, and he sees around corners, and I don't know how he does it. And I don't know what's planned versus what isn't, even though I talk to him almost every day.” – Lesley Chilcott

It's the 1990s, and in New York, guitar music is at its nadir. But as the new millennium approaches, new bands rise out of the ashes of the past. The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Interpol, and LCD Soundsystem, are just a few of those bringing a new, powerful sound to the Big Apple. In the middle of this renewal, however, another, wholly discordant, sound rings out over New York: that of terror on 9/11. And in the years that follow, more changes take place. Rents rise, ending the ability of upcoming musicians to live and play close by, while the advent of music downloads forces bands to find new ways to make money. Meet Me in the Bathroom explores the rise of New York's millennial bands, their love of music, and the essential role that friendship played in their development. Using archival footage, as well as interviews with the musicians themselves, the film charts their rise, journey through 9/11, and beyond. The film's co-directors, Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace, join Matthew Sherwood to discuss this renewal of New York's music scene at the end of the twentieth century and the tumultuous events at the start of the twenty-first. They look at the importance of Britain to the bands, the ‘romantic' nature of this period – a time when the lack of social media meant that bands had a greater element of mystery about them – and of New York itself. Dylan and Will discuss how they made the film, the challenges they faced, and the goldmines they found, as well as how the pandemic lockdown proved to be both a blessing and a curse. Meet Me in the Bathroom is both an exploration and, as Matthew says, a tribute to another age in music, one more innocent, but no less powerful and authentic. Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com ‘What we knew we could do [is] sort of viscerally bring to life the time and a sense of the culture, a sense of the differences between then and now, just through building this kind of collage of that period.' – Dylan Southern

Working: What We Do All Day is a docu-series that explores both what it means to work and the ways in which the meaning of work is changing.  Presented by former US President Barack Obama, the docu-series focuses on people working in three different industries: technology, hospitality, and home care. Through him, we hear of their dreams, and their reality; their hopes, and their fears. Joining Matthew Sherwood to discuss Working: What We Do All Day is its director, Caroline Suh. Among other things, she reveals how President Obama became involved in the docu-series, the discoveries that she made in the making of it, and the rationale behind choosing the featured companies. Working: What We Do All Day is a multi-layered film. As Caroline tells Matthew, it enters the lives of people up and down the corporate ladder and seeks to find points of connection between them. In doing so, the docu-series challenges our tendency to do what Caroline admits she once did; that is, only think about the work she is doing now rather than the deeper meaning of it. To quote Barack Obama, ‘our work is one of the forces that connects us' to each other. Working: What We Do All Day helps demystify that force. In doing so, it brings us closer to one another. Find out what he means, learn about some of Matthew's dirtier jobs (!), and even Richard Scarry on this episode of Factual America! Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com “... when someone does something incredibly well, no matter what it is, there's a beauty to it, and it reaffirms your faith in humanity.” – Caroline Suh

It's March 2020 and the pandemic has just begun. All of a sudden, director Sam Green has a lot of time on his hands. He uses it to read a book, which mentions Annea Lockwood, a composer, who has spent fifty years recording the sound of rivers. Intrigued, he contacts her.  Their conversation leads Sam to contemplate sound. The result is 32 Sounds, a documentary that he describes as a ‘meditation' upon a subject that is both ‘mysterious' and ‘ephemeral' but yet can still make a powerful impact on us. In his conversation with Matthew Sherwood, Sam discusses the challenge of using a visual medium to explore sound. He affirms that watching a film at home with headphones can be just as intense as watching it in the cinema, and he opens up on his relationship with the film's composer, JD Samson: before their meeting of minds, there was a tension between them born of different ideas about the role of music in the film. 32 Sounds is not your typical documentary. Be warned. By the end of this podcast, you may, like Matthew, start hearing all the sounds around you in a new and intense way! Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com “... opening your ears can be incredibly pleasurable and can bring you back to the present and root you in your body.” – Sam Green

In 2018, the Californian town of Paradise was destroyed by a wildfire. How did it happen? Could anything have been done to limit or even stop the inferno? Global warming has made the risk of wildfires greater than ever before, and there are people who believe that we are doing all that we can to stop them. As Trip Jennings tells Matthew Sherwood, however, he was tired of hearing this message. And so, he spent five years researching wildfires. The result is Elemental, a documentary that reveals there is more that we can do, and in some cases, easily, as well. Paradise could have been saved. Trip's research has taken him from a flight over a wildfire to special hangers where scientists burn replicas of homes in order to observe the fire's behaviour. He has explored how America's indigenous people have responded to fires, and met fire survivors, as well as many experts who share their knowledge in the film. It would be easy for Elemental to be a pessimistic film, full of anger about what has happened and is happening, but that is not Trip's way. He tells Matthew that we need to forgive ourselves and evolve our way of thinking. As part of that, he outlines specific ways in which we can make our homes, and our lives, safer. He also stands up for forests. They may be lethal when set alight, but they also have a critical role to play in the life of planet earth and Mankind. Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com “... it's things like boring, non-sexy details that we should think of as doing important climate adaptation work... we shouldn't be thinking about, oh it's just drudgery... we should be thinking about these things as how we adapt as a society to climate change, which is the challenge of all of the generations that are present right now on Earth” – Trip Jennings

In 2019, four-time Grammy award winner Jason Isbell recorded his album Reunions. As he did so, he discussed his life and work with director Sam Jones. The result is Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed, an unflinchingly honest account of a difficult childhood, Jason's addiction to drink and drugs, the ups and downs of his marriage to fellow musician Amanda Shires, and how he has poured his life into his music. In this episode of Factual America, Sam joins Matthew Sherwood to discuss his film and its star. They explore how listening is essential to creating good cinematic visuals, the effect that the Covid-19 pandemic had on Jason Isbell's life as well as on the process of making the documentary, the ‘triumphant ending' to Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed that in the end didn't even make the final cut, and points of connection between how Sam makes his films and Jason records his music. Matthew discovers a promising new form of media (!), while both he and Sam find similarities between Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires and other famous musical and Hollywood couples from the past and present.  Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed is an intensely personal film about a musician at the height of his powers. With his commitment to cinéma vérité, Sam Jones is the ideal man to direct it. Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com “... the challenge in editing the film was finding these portals between past and present. And what I found is that both past and present inform each other... knowing about his past made the present more rich, and then seeing him in the present struggle gave more context to his past.” – Sam Jones

The Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF) was meant to help the Baltimore Police Department fight violent crime. Instead, its officers terrorised innocent civilians. In 2017, a criminal investigation resulted in the successful prosecution of the officers, and they were convicted of extortion, fraud, racketeering, and robbery. In I Got A Monster, director Kevin Abrams tells the story of what happened, and how a crusading defence attorney named Ivan Bates helped bring the corrupt police officers to justice. In the documentary, Kevin also speaks to the GTTF's victims, giving a voice to people too often denied one. Kevin tells host Matthew Sherwood about the GTTF's Jekyll and Hyde leader. Wayne Jenkins was a tough but charismatic cop. Away from the spotlight, however, he was also utterly corrupt. They explore the question of how so many officers, who were also the subject of internal police investigations, managed to end up in the same unit. Was it a coincidence or a conspiracy?  Kevin and Matthew discuss the broader issue of police corruption in the US, how it has been allowed to continue, and what has happened to the Baltimore Police Department since 2017, Kevin also reflects on his experience of making I Got A Monster, which was completed thanks to the goodwill and help of a diverse range of people, including the FBI, local journalists, and Baltimoreons. Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com ”... documentary has a great ability to humanise things, and to make things feel real [so] that people can get a greater understanding emotionally of what people are dealing with... police corruption and the victims of it.” – Kevin Abrams

February, 1993. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) has received word that the Branch Davidians, a cult based near Waco, Texas, is stockpiling illegal weapons at their compound. The ATF attempts to storm the base but the cultists know they are coming and force them to retreat. A 51-day siege follows, and it only ends when the compound is consumed by fire. 82 are killed, including 28 children. In this episode of Factual America, Matthew Sherwood meets Tiller Russell, director and producer of Waco: American Apocalypse, a new Netflix docu-series that features interviews with law enforcement officers and Branch Davidian survivors, as well as previously unseen footage from the siege. Tiller describes what happened at Waco as an ‘iconic American tragedy' as it brought together two foundational aspects of American life – God and guns. The fate of so many children at the compound also makes it a very contemporary tragedy. Unsurprisingly, therefore, Tiller calls Waco ‘a ghost story' that has ‘haunted America'. The impact of the Waco siege on America and the world was undoubtedly facilitated by the rise of the 24/7 news cycle which, as Matthew notes, happened at around the same time. Despite, or perhaps because of this, Tiller explains that he is ‘a big believer in the passage of time... being a necessity to retell these stories in a way that adds depth and nuance to them.' Especially if we consume a lot of news, we need time, sometimes a lot of it, to process what has happened. If we are able to do so, we may discover the story at the heart of Waco: American Apocalypse, the one that, as Tiller says, shows it is about ‘the human experience... what it means to be alive and to die and to watch people that you love, die'. “Nothing like this had ever happened before. So, the FBI had no idea what they were doing. They were in this uncharted territory; the ATF, the people inside the compound, the news media had never seen anything like this.” – Tiller Russell

In the winter of 1957-58, 19 year old Charlie Starkweather went on a killing spree that would claim eleven victims before he and his accomplice, Caril Ann Fugate, were caught. At their trial, both were found guilty of murder. Charlie was executed while Caril was given a life sentence, later reduced. In The 12th Victim, Nicola Marsh explores what happened during the killing spree from Caril's perspective. She shows how, contrary to what was said at the time, Caril was not Charlie's girlfriend but his ex; neither was she his willing accomplice but his hostage. And, most importantly, although convicted of murder, she killed no one. As Nicola tells Matthew Sherwood, the Starkweather murders “coincided with the birth of live television news”. This gave both Charlie and Caril an immediate notoriety that encompassed all of America. In the years since, the case has also influenced the arts. Nicola cites Badlands (1973), True Romance (1993), and Natural Born Killers (1994) as films all inspired by what happened. They also explore how The 12th Victim was made – from Nicola's use of archival footage to the different ways she recreated key scenes. And they look at the question of what makes the true crime genre so popular, Nicola offers this succinct answer: “You get to experience all the things you're afraid of, but in a very safe way.” At the heart of it all, however, stands a young girl whose life was ruined by the actions of others. Starkweather's malice, incompetent policing, and bad decisions made by her attorney gave Caril Ann Fugate little chance of escaping the nightmare. Nevertheless, she continues to protest her innocence and seek a pardon. “I think what really I found particularly compelling about the story was that for women, most women, we've all been in slightly sketchy situations. And the path out of it is laugh at the jokes until you have a clear exit strategy... If somebody gets a bit handsy, you don't turn around and punch them in the face, otherwise, you can end up dead.” – Nicola Marsh

The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 represents one of the greatest mysteries in modern aviation history.  On March 8th 2014 the plane left Kuala Lumpur on a scheduled flight to Beijing. Forty minutes later, the captain and Kuala Lumpur Air Traffic Control bade each other good night. That was the last communication between MH370 and the outside world. Less than two hours later, having been tracked by military radar, the aeroplane disappeared from sight somewhere over the Andaman Sea. In MH370: The Plane That Disappeared, a three-part Netflix docu-series, director Louise Malkinson, tells the story of how the plane vanished, and the nine-year aftermath. Louise and her producer, Harry Hewland, join Matthew Sherwood to discuss their new documentary. At the heart of the MH370 story are the families of the 239 passengers and crew who were on the plane, as well as those who, over the last decade, have sought to find out what happened. MH370: The Plane That Disappeared puts both groups front and centre as it explores what Harry calls, ‘the human story of the impact of MH370 and what this kind of mystery can do to people.' In order to tell their story as authentically as possible, Louise and Harry were determined not to lead the viewer to any particular conclusion. When they present the various theories regarding MH370's fate, they provide argument and counter-argument. The question of what happened to flight MH370 is yet to be solved. The docu-series is, therefore, a story without an end. It is also, however, the story of a ‘strong community': the next-of-kin who, as Louise tells Matthew, still ‘come together, every year around the anniversary' to remember their loved ones, and who are still intent on finding the truth about what happened on that dreadful day in 2014. “I spoke to people in China, we spoke to people in Malaysia, we spoke to people in France... everybody's the same: we all need closure. We all need it. We need to be able to say goodbye, and the fact that they haven't been able to do that...[it's] an unimaginable torture that they've had to go through, through all this time.” – Louise Malkinson

Right Here, Right Now represents a beginning and an end. As director Jak Hutchcraft tells Matthew Sherwood, the film is his directorial debut. A concert, like the one that forms the film's subject, however, will likely never be repeated in the UK again. The year is 2002. Superstar DJ Fatboy Slim (Norman Cook) has decided to put on a free concert at Brighton beach. The authorities expected “around 50,000 people to attend” explains Jak. On the day, however, 250,000 fans crowd onto the beach. The police are overwhelmed. On a hot summer's day, the concert is surely heading for disaster. In the event, though, there are a total of just six arrests and one death – a tragic accident after the event. Matthew and Jak discuss how Cook went from being a member of 80s pop band, The Housemartins, to being a DJ, and one of the biggest stars not only in the UK, but also America. They discuss his musical genius, looking at one of Cook's most famous songs, Rockefeller Skank. At the heart of their conversation, however, is the free concert on Brighton beach: how it nearly didn't happen, the trauma it caused those tasked with policing it, and the impact it had on Brighton and Brightonians – an impact that is still being felt today. Matthew discovers that Jak used to be a youth worker. Redundancy made him look at where his career was going – where he wanted it to go. Ultimately, his questioning brought him to Right Here, Right Now, and the concert of a lifetime.  Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com “[Fatboy Slim's free concert] changed people's lives... It changed dance culture and club culture and electronic music. It changed that forever, especially in the UK, [as well as] perceptions of our DJs and what they can do.” – Jak Hutchcraft Resources: Right here, Right now The MovieMaker Podcast Innersound Audio Alamo Pictures Connect with Jak Hutchcraft Website Twitter Instagram Connect with Matthew Sherwood: Facebook LinkedIn Twitter  Connect with Factual America: Facebook Instagram Twitter More from Factual America:  Trainwreck: Woodstock '99 – The Perfect Storm Moonage Daydream: The Spectacular Life and Times of David Bowie Spector – A Legend, and A Murderer

The Martha Mitchell Effect Martha Mitchell, wife of John Mitchell, Attorney General of the US under President Richard Nixon, was not afraid to speak ‘truth to power'. She was so influential that President Nixon would go on to say that without her, there would have been no Watergate scandal. Despite her important role, Mitchell has, in the years since Watergate, become a forgotten figure. Co-producer of The Martha Mitchell Effect, Judith Mizrachy states that this is a result of a successful gaslighting campaign against her. The film aims to give Mitchell the credit she is due. How Do You Measure A Year? Jay Rosenblatt started filming conversations with his daughter, Ella, when she was just two years old. He continued to do so every year on her birthday until she turned 18. In How Do You Measure A Year? we see those conversations evolve as Ella goes from being a ‘toddler to [a] young woman'. How Do You Measure a Year? represents Jay's desire to learn and help Ella grow up, to empower her, and, as Jay says, help her to be herself. Stranger at the Gate A US Marine returns home from active service filled with hatred towards Muslims. He builds a bomb, intending to blow up his local mosque. But then, he meets the Muslims who worship there. They treat him with kindness and love. And that's after they discover what he intended to do. For director Joshua Seftel, Stranger at the Gate comes out of his wider The Secret Life of Muslims project, which is his attempt to counter the hatred Muslims received after 9/11. Stranger is an extraordinary story of friendship, forgiveness and reconciliation. Joshua notes how divided people have become today but also how we can ‘build impossible bridges between each other' so that strangers may become friends. Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com Resources: The Martha Mitchell EffectHow Do You Measure A Year? Stranger at the Gate The MovieMaker Podcast Innersound Audio Alamo Pictures Connect with Anne Alvergue IMDb Twitter Connect with Debra McClutchy IMDb Website Connect with Judith Mizrachy IMDb Website Connect with Jay Rosenblatt IMDb Website Connect with Joshua Seftel IMDb Website Connect with Matthew Sherwood: Facebook LinkedIn Twitter  Connect with Factual America: Facebook Instagram Twitter More from Factual America:  All That Breathes Oscars Short Documentary Nominees Writing with Fire: Oscar Nominee for Best Documentary