FRONTLINE offers two starkly contrasting images: one of empty storefronts in Circleville, Ohio, where the local TV manufacturing plant has closed down; the other--a sea of high rises in the South China boomtown of Shenzhen. The connection between American job losses and soaring Chinese exports? Wal-Mart. For Wal-Mart, China has become the cheapest, most reliable production platform in the world, the source of up to $25 billion in annual imports that help the company deliver everyday low prices to 100 million customers a week. But while some economists credit Wal-Mart's single-minded focus on low costs with helping contain U.S. inflation, others charge that the company is the main force driving the massive overseas shift to China in the production of American consumer goods, resulting in hundreds of thousands of lost jobs and a lower standard of living here at home.
An investigation into the hidden dangers of vitamins and supplements, a multibillion-dollar industry with limited FDA oversight. FRONTLINE, The New York Times and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation examine the marketing and regulating of supplements, and cases of contamination and serious health problems.
The U.S. is the world leader in solitary confinement, with more than 80,000 prisoners being held in isolation. But in recent years, more than 30 states have begun to experiment with reforms aimed at reducing the use of solitary. On Tuesday, April 18, FRONTLINE presents “Last Days of Solitary” — a searing, two-hour exploration of this controversial practice. Filmed over three years, “Last Days of Solitary” goes inside one state’s ambitious attempt to decrease its use of solitary and investigates what happens when prisoners who have spent considerable time in isolation try to integrate back into society.
“What fish should I eat that’s good for me and good for the planet?” Bestselling author and lifelong fisherman Paul Greenberg (“Four Fish”; “American Catch”) sets out to answer that question in “The Fish on My Plate,” a 90-minute FRONTLINE special. As part of his quest to investigate the health of the ocean — and his own — Greenberg spends a year eating seafood at breakfast, lunch and dinner. With people worldwide consuming more seafood than ever, Greenberg also explores questions of sustainability and overfishing, traveling to Norway, where modern fish farming was invented; Peru to witness the world’s largest wild fishery; Alaska, where 200 million salmon can be caught each year; and Connecticut to visit a sustainable ocean farming pioneer who is trying to transform the fishing industry.
An examination of the conflict between the Bundy family and the federal government, which has reinvigorated "patriot" groups due to what they see as federal overreach. Beginning in 1993, Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy began grazing his cattle on federal land sans permit. The resulting dispute culminated in a 2014 standoff with federal officials trying to take his cattle. In 2016, his sons led the occupation of a federal preserve in Oregon as a protest against the arson convictions of two ranchers.
For months, reports of Russian interference in the 2016 election have dominated the headlines. Now, FRONTLINE tells the story of how Vladimir Putin came to see the United States as an enemy — and why he decided to target an American election. In a special, two-part documentary with in-depth reporting from Moscow and Washington, D.C., Michael Kirk and the team behind “The Choice 2016“ examine Putin’s rise, rule and motivations.
One year after the murder of columnist Jamal Khashoggi, a two-hour FRONTLINE documentary investigates the rise and rule of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia (MBS). Correspondent Martin Smith, who has covered the Middle East for FRONTLINE for 20 years, examines the crown prince’s vision for the future, his handling of dissent, his relationship with the United States — and his ties to Khashoggi’s killing.
A searing, on-the-ground look at President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly campaign against suspected drug dealers and users in the Philippines, “On the President’s Orders” is told with unprecedented access to the police themselves. It offers a gripping, visually stunning window into the war on drugs — those carrying it out, and those most impacted by it.
FRONTLINE investigates the promise and perils of artificial intelligence, from fears about work and privacy to rivalry between the U.S. and China. The documentary traces a new industrial revolution that will reshape and disrupt our lives, our jobs and our world, and allow the emergence of the surveillance society.
An investigation into the widespread consequences and business of the mass confinement of migrant children detained under President Donald Trump's immigration policies; sexual exploitation of women in Iraq. BBC News Arabic’s Nawal al-Maghafi reports from inside Iraq, where she investigates how some clerics are abusing an ancient Islamic marriage practice to exploit women and girls.
FRONTLINE investigates how El Paso, Texas became the Trump administration’s immigration policy testing ground, and then the target of a white supremacist. Interviews with current and former officials, Border Patrol agents, advocates and migrants tell the inside story from the epicenter of the border crisis.
FRONTLINE begins its 2020 election year coverage with a two-part, four-hour documentary series investigating America’s increasingly bitter, divided and toxic politics. From veteran FRONTLINE filmmaker Michael Kirk and his team, America’s Great Divide: From Obama to Trump draws on revelatory new interviews with key political and cultural figures, as well as an unparalleled archive of in-depth broadcast reporting across two presidential administrations, to offer crucial context for the current moment. Part One traces how Barack Obama’s promise of unity collapsed as increasing racial, cultural and political divisions laid the groundwork for the rise of Donald Trump.
FRONTLINE begins its 2020 election year coverage with a two-part, four-hour documentary series investigating America’s increasingly bitter, divided and toxic politics. From veteran FRONTLINE filmmaker Michael Kirk and his team, America’s Great Divide: From Obama to Trump draws on revelatory new interviews with key political and cultural figures, as well as an unparalleled archive of in-depth broadcast reporting across two presidential administrations, to offer crucial context for the current moment. Part Two examines how Trump’s campaign exploited the country’s divisions, how his presidency has unleashed anger on both sides of the divide, and what America’s polarization could mean for the country’s future.
Taliban Country: Nearly 20 years after the U.S. drove the Taliban from power in Afghanistan, the group claims it holds more territory that any time since the war began in 2001. As President Trump says he wants to end the war, FRONTLINE reporter Najibullah Quraishi goes on a dangerous journey inside both Taliban- and ISIS-held territory and exposes the harsh reality that not only is the Taliban once again wielding power, but the threat from ISIS looms large. The Luanda Leaks: As part of a worldwide investigation with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists that draws on a trove of more than 700,000 leaked documents, FRONTLINE examines how Africa’s richest woman, Isabel dos Santos, built a business empire with access to state funds from one of the poorest countries on earth — and the role U.S. companies have played in helping her amass her fortune.
Jeff Bezos is not only one of the richest men in the world, he has built a business empire that is without precedent in the history of American capitalism. His power to shape everything from the future of work to the future of commerce to the future of technology is unrivaled. As politicians and regulators around the world start to consider the global impact of Amazon — and how to rein in Bezos’ power — FRONTLINE investigates how he executed a plan to build one of the most influential economic and cultural forces in the world.
What is it like to give birth — and then be forced to say goodbye to your baby 24 hours later? This documentary short from FRONTLINE and The Marshall Project, offers a powerful and unforgettable window into the lives of incarcerated pregnant women — and what happens to their newborns.
FRONTLINE goes inside a hospital battling the coronavirus crisis in northern Italy, as doctors are forced to make life and death decisions. An intimate, exclusive story that follows one besieged ER doctor, her staff and the patients suffering from COVID-19, from the darkest days to the signs of hope.
This is the story of the Iraq war, told by Iraqis who lived through it. They share their personal accounts and lasting memories of life under Saddam Hussein, the U.S.-led invasion of their country and the 17 years of chaos that followed — from the sectarian violence to the rise and brutal reign of ISIS.
Two intimate stories of immigrant families whose lives were upended by the coronavirus. "Love, Life and the Virus" follows Zully, a 30-year-old mother, who is diagnosed with COVID-19 — and gives birth while on a ventilator. “Undocumented in the Pandemic” tells the story of an family’s struggle to stay together, as a father is detained by ICE in a facility where COVID-19 is spreading.
Their families were already struggling to make ends meet. Then came the coronavirus. Director Jezza Neumann, who made 2012’s Poor Kids, once again delves into how poverty impacts children. With the 2020 election approaching, Growing Up Poor in America follows three children and their families in the battleground state of Ohio as the COVID-19 pandemic amplifies their struggle to stay afloat. As the country also reckons with issues of race and racism, the children share their worries and hopes about their futures.
George Floyd's killing triggered mass demonstrations nationwide calling for racial justice and police accountability in the United States. In the wake of those protests, New Yorker writer and historian Jelani Cobb returns to a troubled police department he first visited four years ago to examine whether reform can work, and how police departments can be held accountable.
In the midst of the historic coronavirus pandemic, economic hardship and a reckoning over racism, this November Americans will decide who leads the nation for the next four years: President Donald Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden. Ahead of the 2020 election, FRONTLINE’s critically acclaimed series “The Choice” returns with interwoven investigative biographies of both men, focusing on how they have responded in moments of crisis. In this 2-hour special from veteran FRONTLINE filmmaker Michael Kirk and his team, hear from friends, family, colleagues and adversaries about the challenges that shaped Trump and Biden’s lives and could inform how they confront the crises facing the nation at this pivotal juncture.
As America chooses its next president in the midst of a historic pandemic, FRONTLINE investigates whose vote counts — and whose might not. With Columbia Journalism Investigations and USA Today, New Yorker writer Jelani Cobb reports on allegations of voter disenfranchisement, rhetoric and realities around mail-in ballots, and how the pandemic could impact turnout.
From the pandemic to the polls, 2020 has been a time of tumult across a deeply divided America. FRONTLINE presents a post-election special on the lives, fears and hopes of Americans in the chaotic months leading up to the historic presidential contest. This documentary was filmed around the U.S. for much of the year, following Americans as they dealt with COVID-19 in their communities this spring, responded to George Floyd’s killing this summer, and then experienced the polarizing election and its aftermath this fall.
With Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court days before the 2020 presidential election, Sen. Mitch McConnell solidified the conservative majority he had been seeking for decades. FRONTLINE tells the inside story of McConnell’s hard-fought effort to transform the nation’s highest court in “Supreme Revenge: Battle for the Court,” an updated version of our 2019 film.
Return From ISIS follows an American mom and her kids from Indiana to the heart of the self-declared ISIS caliphate and back. In this special report three years in the making, producer Josh Baker (Battle for Iraq) investigates how the family ended up in Syria and what happened when they came home to the United States.
Over the last three years, FRONTLINE has collaborated with ProPublica to investigate the rise of extremism in America. In the aftermath of the assault on the U.S. Capitol, FRONTLINE and ProPublica team up again to examine how far-right groups were emboldened and encouraged by former President Trump and how individuals were radicalized and brought into the political landscape.
The epic story of how people around the world lived through the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, from lockdowns to funerals to protests. Filming across the globe and using extensive personal video and local footage, FRONTLINE documented how people and countries responded to COVID-19 across cultures, races, faiths and privilege.