You Can’t Make This Up

She’s considered the Greatest of All Time: a gymnast so special that five of the most difficult skills are named after her. But Simone Biles stunned the world when she withdrew from the 2020 Olympics, citing a need to protect her mental health. But after a break from the sport, the champion returned to the gym and confronted her physical and emotional challenges. The Netflix documentary series Simone Biles: Rising follows the gymnast’s journey from disappointment in Tokyo to her return to the Olympic stage in Paris.

In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Katie Walsh.

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched Simone Biles: Rising yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on. 

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From the rolling surf of Malibu to the glamor of the Hollywood hills, detectives in the LA County Sheriff's Department deal with some of the wealthiest and most famous people in the country. And when murder is involved, the pressure is on to solve the crime all while in a spotlight as bright as any blockbuster premier.

In the latest installment of the Netflix docuseries, Homicide: Los Angeles revisits some of the most shocking and baffling crimes from the City of Angels, told by the detectives and prosecutors who worked them. Legendary executive producer Dick Wolf brings viewers inside these puzzling investigations and shows what it takes to solve them.

In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews executive director Adam Kassen.

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched Homicide: Los Angeles yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on. 

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It’s been said that there’s no more difficult position in the NFL than the quarterback. But throwing the pass is only half the story. Receivers turn those throws into dazzling catches, explosive runs, and highlight-worthy touchdowns. 

The Netflix sports series Receiver follows pass catchers Davante Adams, Justin Jefferson, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, and Amon-Ra St. Brown. On the field and off, these players prepare for their chance at greatness. Dealing with playing time, injuries, and family drama, we see that being an elite receiver in the NFL is more than just catching the ball.

In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Shannon Furman.

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched Receiver yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on. 

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Would-be mothers in The Netherlands selected Jonathan Jacob Meijer to be their online sperm donor - a well-spoken, well-traveled gent with luxurious hair and a desire to help women conceive. But the parents were shocked to learn Meijer had gone far beyond the largely voluntary guidelines for sperm donation, having fathered hundreds of children in their country…and beyond. With no laws to stop him, Meijer remained defiant, vowing to continue donating sperm around the world.

The Netflix documentary series The Man with 1000 Kids spans the globe, following Meijer and the parents who felt duped by him. It explores the frightening implications for the children and the larger population, and examines a reproductive health industry built without guardrails. It also attempts to answer what would drive a man to extremes to create a world in his own image.

In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews executive producer Natalie Hill.

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched The Man with 1000 Kids yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on. 

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Inspired by an unbelievable true story, a mild mannered professor discovers his hidden talent as a fake assassin-for-hire. He meets his match in a client who steals his heart and ignites a powder keg of deception, delight, and mixed-up identities. Glen Powell and Adria Arjona star in the action/comedy/romance movie Hit Man, directed by Oscar nominee Richard Linklater. 

On today’s episode, we turn things over to our friends at the Netflix podcast “Skip Intro.” Host Krista Smith talks with actor and co-writer Glen Powell about making and filming this killer comedy.

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched Hit Man yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on. 

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In 1959, Barbie changed the way girls played with dolls - taking them from babies to beauty queens, fashion mavens, and professional role models. But girls of color didn’t see themselves represented by the blonde haired, Malibu-tanned figurine. It took 20 years for Mattel to finally release Black Barbie. But in the subsequent years, Black Barbie’s place in the Barbie universe - and in the real world - is still evolving and sparking conversation.

Black Barbie traces the doll’s journey from creation to its impact on children of color and its influence in contemporary culture. We hear from the former employees who labored to bring diversity to the famous toy line. The film asks whether - this Barbie is everything - OR could be something more?

In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews writer & director Lagueria Davis.

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched Black Barbie yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on. 

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In a city where bank robberies were an everyday occurrence, one Seattle bandit stood out among the rest. The FBI nicknamed him “Hollywood,” a savvy criminal inspired by heist films like “Heat” and “Point Break.” Beneath that elaborate prosthetic disguise was Scott Scurlock, a free-spirit living in a treehouse and spreading his stolen cash around. But when he plans to retire after one last big score, everything goes wrong.

The Netflix film How to Rob a Bank traces Scurlock's escapades as the high-profile robber the cops are desperate to get their hands on. It shows the toll being “The Hollywood Bandit” took on him, as well as how his $2 million stick-up spree came to its cinematic conclusion.

In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews directors Stephen Robert Morse & Seth Porges.

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched How to Rob a Bank yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on. 

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Get ready to chill this hot summer with all new, buzzworthy documentary films and series from Netflix. From the lighthearted to the heartbreaking, from thrilling true crime to the unexplained, Netflix’s profiles of people and events will give you plenty to talk about. 

They include a documentary film about the history of queer comedians in “Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution”; the return of “Unsolved Mysteries”; the sport-themed series “Receiver,” “Simone Biles: Rising,” and “America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders”; and standouts like the films “Daughters,” “Skywalkers: A Love Story,” and “Black Barbie: A Documentary.”

In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews Amanda Richards from Tudum.

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Melanie and Miranda Wilking were TikTok’s favorite dancing sisters, until Miranda left the act to perform for the 7M management company. Robert Shinn was more than an agent to his famous dancers - he was a spiritual guide who instilled the tenants of the Shekinah Church he founded decades earlier. When Miranda’s family went public with their story, many online fans believed the dancers for 7M were all in a cult. As other members escaped and worked to rebuild their lives, it wasn’t until they came together to stop the cycle of their abuser that the real healing began.

Dancing For the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult tells the story of the coercive church, its former members, and the performers still dancing online. It exposes the diabolical tactics used by cult-like organizations to exert control over people as well as the lengths families will go to keep their loved ones safe.

In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Derek Doneen and executive producer Jessica Acevedo.

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched Dancing For the Devil yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on. 

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From the slave patrols of the 1700s and the first publicly funded police departments of the 1800s to the uprisings of the 1960s and 2020s, the scope and scale of American law enforcement has expanded over time. Once a tool of the powerful to maintain social order, the police have now become a power unto themselves.

The Netflix documentary film Power offers a visceral and immersive journey to demonstrate how we’ve arrived at this moment in history. It examines urgent questions about a growing and largely unchecked authority: who is policed, who is protected, who gets to decide, and why.

In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Yance Ford.

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched Power yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on. 

Listen to more from Netflix Podcasts.