101 episodes

FRONTLINE Executive Producer Raney Aronson-Rath sits down with series filmmakers for probing conversations about the investigative journalism that drives each FRONTLINE documentary and the stories that shape our time.

The FRONTLINE Dispatch FRONTLINE PBS, WGBH

    • News
    • 4.0 • 1 Rating

FRONTLINE Executive Producer Raney Aronson-Rath sits down with series filmmakers for probing conversations about the investigative journalism that drives each FRONTLINE documentary and the stories that shape our time.

    Stuck in a ‘Fractured’ System

    Stuck in a ‘Fractured’ System

    Working as a health care reporter in North Carolina, WFAE’s Dana Miller Ervin heard about jail inmates living with serious mental illnesses who cycled for years between jails and psychiatric hospitals. The courts deem them too sick to stand trial – incapable to proceed or ITP – but they often wait months to get the care they need just so their cases can move forward. 

    Ervin detailed her investigation in an 11-part WFAE radio series, “Fractured,” made with support from FRONTLINE’s Local Journalism Initiative. Now, a documentary by the same name follows Ervin as she chronicles the plight of ITP inmates. Fractured is directed by Débora Souza Silva, a 2023 recipient of the FRONTLINE/Firelight Media Investigative Journalism Fellowship.

    Ervin and Silva joined Raney Aronson-Rath on The FRONTLINE Dispatch to discuss making the film; how long waits for care affect these defendants as well as others in the criminal justice system; and potential solutions to the problem.

    The “Fractured” documentary is streaming on FRONTLINE’s website, YouTube, and the PBS App.

    Read and listen to more from WFAE and FRONTLINE’s series Fractured.

    • 19 min
    Democracy on Trial, Part Four: Inside the White House on Jan. 6

    Democracy on Trial, Part Four: Inside the White House on Jan. 6

    FRONTLINE investigates the roots of the federal criminal case against former President Donald Trump stemming from his 2020 election loss in a special audio version of the new documentary Democracy on Trial.

    In this final installment, the Jan. 6 Select Committee examines what happened inside the White House on Jan. 6, 2021. What was former President Donald Trump doing for 187 minutes during the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, when some in the crowd were chanting, “Hang Mike Pence”? What did Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to then-President Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, testify that she witnessed that day? Plus: As a potential criminal trial looms, how will it differ from the Jan. 6 Select Committee’s hearings? And what are the trial’s implications for democracy?

    Watch Democracy on Trial in full on FRONTLINE’s website, YouTube or the PBS App.

    • 30 min
    Democracy on Trial, Part Three: An “Invitation” for Jan. 6

    Democracy on Trial, Part Three: An “Invitation” for Jan. 6

    FRONTLINE investigates the roots of the federal criminal case against former President Donald Trump stemming from his 2020 election loss in a special audio version of the new documentary Democracy on Trial. 

    In part three, the Jan. 6 Select Committee examines the pressures mounting on the Justice Department and then-Vice President Mike Pence to intervene on Trump’s behalf. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger recalls a phone call in which the former president tells him, “I just want to find 11,780 votes” — the number of votes needed to win the 2020 presidential election in the state. And the former president sends a now-famous tweet inviting supporters to Washington D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021, to protest the results of the 2020 election, saying it “will be wild.” 

    Tune in next week for the fourth and final installment of the audio-only version of the documentary here on The FRONTLINE Dispatch. Watch Democracy on Trial in full on FRONTLINE’s website, YouTube or the PBS App. 

    • 39 min
    Democracy on Trial, Part Two: A Pressure Campaign and a Warning

    Democracy on Trial, Part Two: A Pressure Campaign and a Warning

    FRONTLINE investigates the roots of the federal criminal case against former President Donald Trump stemming from his 2020 election loss in a special audio version of the new documentary Democracy on Trial. 

    In part two, Georgia election official Gabriel Sterling issues a stark warning about the potential for violence. Rusty Bowers, former Arizona House speaker and a lifelong Republican, testifies in front of the Jan. 6 Select Committee about former President Donald Trump’s campaign of pressure on local officials. And two Georgia election workers, Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman, face racist threats after being named in a conspiracy theory about stolen votes. 

    Tune in next week for the third installment of the audio-only version of the documentary here on The FRONTLINE Dispatch. Watch Democracy on Trial in full on FRONTLINE’s website, YouTube or the PBS App. 

    • 33 min
    Democracy on Trial, Part One: A Blueprint For the Case Against Trump

    Democracy on Trial, Part One: A Blueprint For the Case Against Trump

    With the 2024 presidential race underway, FRONTLINE investigates the roots of the federal criminal case against former President Donald Trump stemming from his 2020 election loss. In this special audio version of Democracy on Trial, veteran political filmmaker Michael Kirk and his team examine the House Jan. 6 committee’s evidence, the historic charges against Trump and the threat to democracy.

    In this first installment, former President Donald Trump is charged with crimes in office — an unprecedented event in American history. The Jan. 6 Select Committee report starts to build a case against former President Donald Trump, which will go on to become a blueprint for special counsel Jack Smith. And a central question emerges for the committee: What did former President Trump know about the 2020 election results, and when did he know it?

    Tune in next week for the second installment of the audio-only version of the documentary here on The FRONTLINE Dispatch. Watch Democracy on Trial in full on FRONTLINE’s website, YouTube or the PBS App.

    • 45 min
    ‘Democracy on Trial’ Director on the Roots of Federal Charges Against Trump

    ‘Democracy on Trial’ Director on the Roots of Federal Charges Against Trump

    Democracy on Trial is a 2.5-hour documentary special from FRONTLINE that examines the roots and implications of the unprecedented charges against former president Donald Trump in connection with the efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

    Drawing on interviews with elected officials, former government lawyers, House Select Committee witnesses and former committee staffers, authors and journalists, the documentary — which is being released in audio form via The FRONTLINE Dispatch podcast in the coming weeks — shows how the work of the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack forms a blueprint for the federal indictment brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith.

    Director Michael Kirk, a longtime FRONTLINE filmmaker, joins host Raney Aronson-Rath, editor-in-chief and executive producer of FRONTLINE, to talk about the case against Trump; the defense strategy of the former president, who has pleaded not guilty; and reporting this story in a deeply divided country.

    As this unusual election year unfolds, watch Democracy on Trial in full on FRONTLINE’s website, YouTube or the PBS App, and listen to the multi-part audio version of the documentary starting today on The FRONTLINE Dispatch.

    Want to be notified every time a new podcast episode drops? Sign up for The FRONTLINE Dispatch newsletter.

    • 19 min

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