Factual America

Joining us is Vicky Ward, a New York Times bestselling author, investigative journalist and the host and co-producer of Chasing Ghislaine. In 2002 Vicky conducted one of the few interviews ever given by Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender.  

Vicky has now turned her sights on Epstein's former confidante, Ghislaine Maxwell. The British socialite is currently on trial for allegedly helping Epstein to prey on young girls. Subsequently, Vicky has turned her investigative work into a hit podcast series and new 3-part docuseries, which is available on Discovery+ in the UK and US. 

Vicky fills us in on the latest events surrounding Ghislaine Maxwell's trial and continuing efforts to get to the bottom of this murky tale.

“I’ve never had such a horrific experience reporting, before or since.” - Vicky Ward

The National Geographic documentary The First Wave captures the harrowing first four months of the Covid-19 pandemic as it played out in one of New York City’s hardest-hit hospital systems. 

Joining us is Matthew Heineman, an Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning filmmaker who directed and produced this film. 

The incredible footage he obtained and shaped into The First Wave represents a testimony to the strength of the human spirit and how people come together in the face of crisis.

He shares how he gained access to the hospital at the beginning of the crisis, the heroes he filmed, and the inevitable emotional toll the production had on him and his crew. 

“I saw an obligation to take this issue that was so relegated to stats, headlines, and misinformation, and try to put a human face to it.” - Matthew Heineman

Kenny G is the best-selling instrumentalist of all time, but why does he elicit such heartfelt, negative criticism from some listeners?

Penny Lane’s new HBO documentary Listening to Kenny G shows the world-famous saxophonist speaking candidly about his musical background, his stringent work ethic, and his controversial standing in the jazz world.

Penny joins us to discuss the making of the film and how she gained access to such a high-profile music star. She also reveals her original impressions of Kenny G and his music, but shares what it was like getting to know the real artist behind the music while shooting this documentary. 

“I would never have thought who Kenny G is, why he makes this music, it just never crossed my mind that behind that music was an artist.” - Penny Lane

On September 5th 1981 a group of women came together to change the world. These women marched from Wales to Berkshire to protest nuclear weapons being kept at RAF Greenham Common, a British airbase.

Feature-length documentary Mothers of the Revolution (2021) tells the true story of the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp and how it helped to bring the Cold War to an end. Between 1981 and 2000, in one of the longest protests in history, thousands of women from around the world came together at Greenham Common to take a committed stand against nuclear proliferation. 

Joining us is a subject of the documentary, Olga Medvedkov. A peace activist in Soviet Russia along with her husband Yuri, Olga faced severe persecution, partly for her friendship with the Greenham Common Women. Olga explains how she was introduced to the Greenham Common Women and the role they may have had in the collapse of the Soviet Union. 

“You live in an Orwellian society, of course you can comply and 99% do because it’s dangerous, but 1% doesn't, and we belonged to that one tiny percent.” - Olga Medvedkov

The National Geographic documentary Becoming Cousteau explores the life of legendary ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, a man well ahead of his time in bringing climate change and environmental devastation to the world’s attention. 

Mridu Chandra, award-winning filmmaker and one of the producers of Becoming Cousteau, joins us to discuss Cousteau's remarkable life and passion for the environment. A scuba diving pioneer, Cousteau also was an accomplished filmmaker and three-time Oscar winner.  

Mridu talks about the challenges that she and director Liz Garbus faced in making a film using only archival footage, and how Garbus was keen to bring Cousteau's story to life. 

“Throughout his life, he was always ahead, and when it came to his environmentalism, it stemmed from his genuine passion, being an honest witness and decades of experience.” - Mridu Chandra

The Discovery+ docuseries Curse of the Chippendales chronicles the dark side of the 1980s all-male striptease dance troupe.

The muscular men of the Chippendales captured the hearts, minds, and dollars of the 1980s in their iconic cuffs and collars, but what started out as a first in women’s entertainment soon turned into a story of greed, jealousy and murder for hire.

Executive producer Suzanne Lavery and writer and director Jesse Vile discuss what drew them to the Chippendales, how they created the film and the biggest challenges they faced in bringing this outrageous story to life. 

“It’s a true-crime series but it’s true crime with a heart, there’s a lot more going on than murder and mayhem.” - Jesse Vile

Hawking: Can You Hear Me? is a Sky Original documentary that explores the remarkable human story of Stephen Hawking, through candid interviews with his family, friends, and colleagues.

The film brings to life the man behind the persona of legendary theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking and in the process shows the impact fame and disability had on those closest to him.

Joining Factual America to discuss the making of the film and the challenges they faced are director Oliver Twinch and producer Anthony Geffen. 

“If you know how difficult things were and how challenging things were through his everyday life, you came to understand more how extraordinary his triumphs were.” - Oliver Twinch

The Rescue explores the story of the dramatic Tham Luang cave rescue in 2018, when twelve boys and their soccer coach were saved from deep inside a flooded cave in northern Thailand. But like all great documentaries, it is about so much more – bravery, cave diving, the human spirit and ultimately, generosity. 

The Rescue is the latest masterpiece by the Oscar-winning director Chai Vasrahelyi, which she co-directed and co-produced with her partner in film and life, Jimmy Chin.

Chai joins us to discuss how the filmmakers were able to bring to life one of the most perilous and extraordinary rescues in modern times. She explains the main challenges in the making of the film, why they used re-enactments, and how they obtained access to exclusive interviews and never-before-seen footage from this dramatic event.   

The Rescue, produced by National Geographic Documentary Films, had its theatrical release in the US on October 8th and in the UK on October 29th.

“The ordinary people were able to do something so extraordinary.” - Chai Vasarhelyi  

A young man from the San Francisco suburbs journeys to the Middle East and soon finds himself as the face of Islamist extremism in post-9/11 America. This is the story of John Walker Lindh, as explored in the recent Showtime hit documentary Detainee 001.

Emmy-winning director Greg Barker joins us to discuss this unlikeliest of stories.  The film shows how America grapples with justice in the fog of war, and how narratives were built and destroyed in the aftermath of 9/11.   

We discuss the misconceptions people have about John Walker Lindh, the life of freelance war journalists, and how Greg has managed to gain access to high-profile subjects over the years. 

“They all either got totally hooked on the adrenaline of war reporting, or they had a moment where they thought, I don’t want to get killed.” - Greg Barker  

International Space Station and international co-operation in space has outlived presidents, regimes, current events, 9/11, and it has been carrying on for several decades now.

It is fascinating how many people it takes to get someone into space. This is what inspired director and producer Clare Lewins in her new documentary The Wonderful: Stories From the Space Station.

The Wonderful is a story about humanity, played out against the vast backdrop of the universe. It shows what it’s like to live and work in space, hurtling through space 250 miles above the Earth’s surface.

Clare Lewins shares with us the difficulties she faced making this film, and amazing stories from some of the astronauts she met during filming.

“It’s a fundamental part of human DNA to want to explore and want to push boundaries.” - Clare Lewins