Episodes

Pure Nonfiction and The Ankler collaborate for a live recording of Documentary Spotlight at the Culver Theater in Los Angeles. Host Thom Powers interviews the teams behind "Seized" (director Sharon Liese, producer Sasha Alpert), "Rehearsals for a Revolution" (director Pegah Ahangarani), "The Eyes of Ghana" (producers Nana Adwoa Frimpong, Ethan Lewis), and "Bernstein's Wall" (director Douglas Tirola). Subscribe to our Substack newsletter Doc Voices. On Instagram: @purenonfiction@thompowers1

Pure Nonfiction and The Ankler collaborate for a live recording of Documentary Spotlight at the Culver Theater in Los Angeles. Host Thom Powers interviews the teams behind "American Doctor" (director Poh Si Teng, participant Dr. Thaer Ahmad), "Time and Water" (director Sara Dosa), "A Fox Under a Pink Moon" (directors Mehrdad Oskouei, Soraya Akhlaghi); and "Just Look Up" (directors Betsy Hershey, Emma Wall, participant Michael Greenberg). Subscribe to our Substack newsletter Doc Voices. On Inst...

Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney delivers the most ambitious documentary of his career in "Musk." How did one person amass so much power in Tesla, Space X, Starlink, Twitter, Grok, DOGE and more? Host Thom Powers interviewed Gibney about the challenges of investigating the world's richest man. The film is being released to U.S. theaters by Bleecker Street. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter Doc Voices. On Instagram: @purenonfiction@thompowers1

Fergie Chambers, the American multi-millionaire supporter of far left causes, is profiled in the documentary “All About the Money”.

"Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World" profiles the Pulitzer-winning poet who died in 2019. The filmmaker Sasha Waters describes how she shaped this biography drawing upon the memories of Oliver's friends including filmmaker John Waters, poet Mark Doty, and journalist Maria Shriver; along with contributions from Oliver's admirers such as Stephen Colbert and Oprah Winfrey. The film is being released theatrically by Kino Lorber and will be broadcast on PBS' American Masters on August 25. ...

Zayd Ayers Dohrn explores his parents' complicated legacy from the Weather Underground in the podcast Mother Country Radicals and his new memoir Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young.

Host Thom Powers interviews the directors of three new projects, in the second part of a live recording in New York.

Recorded live in New York, host Thom Powers explores four new documentary projects interviewing director Rebecca Miller (Mr Scorsese), director Ally Pankiw (Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery), producer/editor Shane Reid (John Candy: I Like Me), and producer Sara Bernstein (Marty: Life is Short). The conversations took place as part of Documentary Spotlight, co-presented by The Ankler, in partnership with Apple TV, Hulu, Netflix, Prime Video, and Red Bull Studios. Subscribe to our Substack newslet...

"American Doctor" looks at the war in Gaza through the eyes of three volunteer surgeons from different backgrounds - Palestinian, Jewish and Zoroastrian. The film debuted at Sundance and will be released this summer from Watermelon Pictures. Host Thom Powers interviewed director Poh Si Teng in front of a live audience at CPH:DOX. She started out as a producer of acclaimed works such as "St. Louis Superman" and "Patrice: The Movie" before making her directorial debut with "American Doctor." Subs...

"John Candy: I Like Me" (Amazon) looks at the highs and lows of the beloved comedian who was ever-present in the 1980s and early 90s before his death at age 43. Host Thom Powers interviews director Colin Hanks and producer Ryan Reynolds. They may be better known for their acting roles, but both have a deep commitment to documentary. Hanks previously directed docs on Tower Records and the Eagles of Death Metal. Reynolds is an executive producer and featured in the hit documentary series "Welcome ...

“Mel Brooks: The 99-Year-Old Man” is the latest collaboration by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio who previously profiled comedians George Carlin and Gary Shandling.

Frontline executive producer Raney Aronson-Rath speaks about leading PBS's current affairs series while President Trump is defunding public television. Instead of shrinking, Frontline is growing with new staff and an invigorated mission. Host Thom Powers interviews Raney a wide on a wide range of projects, including the Sundance prize-winning doc "One in a Million" that follows a family of Syrian refugees for ten years. The new division of Frontline Features will release the film to theaters lat...

Fifteen films are shortlisted for the Oscars Feature Documentary category. On this episode, we hear from four of the directing teams: - "The Alabama Solution" with Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kauffman - "Yanuni" with Richard Ladkani - "My Undesirable Friends Part 1 - Last Air in Moscow" with Julia Loktev - "Cutting Through Rocks" with Sara Khaki and Mohammedreza Eyni These conversations were recorded an online edition of Documentary Spotlight, co-presented by The Ankler. Subscribe to our ...

"Come See Me in the Good Light" (Apple TV) portrays a love story of the spoken word poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley as they make the most of their lives in the face of a terminal cancer diagnosis. The film is joyous, funny and shortlisted for the Oscars' Best Documentary category. Pure Nonfiction host speaks with the director Ryan White and the one of the film's key figures Megan Falley. You can hear producer Jessica Hargrave interviewed on episode 229. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter...

Director Alexandria Stapleton discusses her Netflix series "Sean Combs: The Reckoning," backed by executive producer Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews Stapleton about each episode of the series and the participants who overcame years of fear and intimidation to finally speak out. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter Doc Voices. On Instagram: @purenonfiction@thompowers1

"Apocalypse in the Tropics" explores the tumultuous battle to save democracy in Brazil. It reveals striking parallels to politics in the United States. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers speaks with director Petra Costa and producer Alessandra Orofino. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter Doc Voices. On Instagram: @purenonfiction @thompowers1

Host Thom Powers interviews the film teams behind five projects that are qualified for the Oscars: MY MOM JAYNE (director Mariska Hargitay, producer Trish Adlesic, editor J.D. Marlow) exploring the life of Hollywood star Jayne Mansfield through the eyes of her daughter. PUT YOUR SOUL ON YOUR HAND AND WALK (director Sepideh Farsi) profiling the Gaza photographer Fatma Hassona. CHILD OF DUST (director Weronika Mliczewska, producr Bao Nguyen) follows the lifelong dream of a man in Vietnam to mee...

Hear the filmmakers behind four of this year's most acclaimed documentaries: director Tamara Kotevska ("Honeyland") and cinematographer Jean Dakar on "The Tale of Silyan"; first time director Beth Lane on "UnBroken"; co-director Mohammedreza Eyni on "Cutting Through Rocks"; director David Osit and producer Jamie Goncalves on "Predators." These talks were recorded before a live audience in Los Angeles at our Documentary Spotlight event in partnership with The Ankler. Subscribe to our Substack ne...

Recorded live in Los Angeles, we partnered with The Ankler to bring you conversations covering four new documentaries: producer Jessica Hargrave (pictured) on “Come See Me in the Good Light”; director Dan Farah on “The Age of Disclosure”; producer Alisa Payne on “The Perfect Neighbor”; and directors Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman on “The Alabama Solution.” Subscribe to our Substack newsletter Doc Voices. On Instagram: @purenonfiction @thompowers1

Thom Powers interviews "Songs from the Hole" director Contessa Gayles about her career path from working inside CNN to going independent.

Heidi Ewing's and Rachel Grady's latest film Folktales follows three teens in Norway learning outdoor survival skills at a folk high school where they bond with sled dogs.

Our Emmy contender conversations conclude with a look at three stand out biographies. Host Thom Powers interviews these directors: R.J. Cutler on "Martha" (Netflix) David Gelb with cinematographer Adam Bricker on "Chef's Table: Legends" (Netflix) Laurent Bouzereau on "Music By John Williams" (Disney+) Recorded live in Los Angeles at Documentary Spotlight, co-presented by The Ankler. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter Doc Voices. On Instagram: @purenonfiction @thompowers1

Thom Powers hosts conversations on three Emmy contenders: "Will & Harper", "Social Studies" and "Chimp Crazy".

Recorded live in New York City, Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews the filmmakers behind four Emmy contenders.