Big Story

CGTN America
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The Big Story podcast brings listeners inside CGTN’s flagship investigative journalism program, showcasing a curated selection of in-depth, news-driven documentaries from across the globe. Through compelling documentary storytelling, the series examines global events, current affairs, and the pressing issues impacting communities worldwide. This material is distributed by MediaLinks TV, LLC on behalf of CCTV. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.

  1. Feb 10

    Big Story Podcast: Triage – Healthcare in the U.S.

    The U.S. stands at the forefront of medical innovation, but this progress comes at a staggering cost. Exorbitant bills often push people to choose between their health or financial ruin.  'Triage: Healthcare in the U.S.' takes a closer look at the patients, doctors, and providers trying to make sense of a system that should be looking out for Americans but too often leaves them unattended and broke.  Watch the full documentary, https://www.cgtnnow.com/videos/triage-healthcare-in-the-u-s

    25 min
  2. Big Story Podcast: Loaded – Guns In Thailand

    02/14/2025

    Big Story Podcast: Loaded – Guns In Thailand

    Thailand is grappling with an unsettling trend: a rise in homegrown gun violence and mass shootings. Big Story’s senior correspondent Jason Motlagh talks to survivors and experts trying to make sense of horrific scenes that were once observed at a distance and are now closer and more frequent.

    19 min
  3. Big Story Podcast: Red Light – Racial Violence in the U.S.

    01/29/2025

    Big Story Podcast: Red Light – Racial Violence in the U.S.

    In Louisiana, a police chase ends with the death of an unarmed black man, Ronald Greene. In Mississippi, Rasheem Carter’s body is found in the woods one month after his disappearance under mysterious circumstances. Not far away from there, two men, also African American, are subjected to different types of torture and abuse by the “Goon Squad,” an infamous group of policemen who would eventually face justice for multiple hate crimes. In each case, the victims’ families quest for truth and justice proves instrumental to unearth clues as to what really happened, in stark contrast with the role of law enforcement officers. ‘Red Light – Racial Violence in the U.S. South’ sheds light into one of the country’s major fault lines. Correspondent Dan Williams combines detailed reporting from current events with historical precedents to deliver a hard hitting, important piece of journalism.

    23 min
  4. Big Story Podcast: Dead End — Drug Overdoses in the U.S.

    01/05/2025

    Big Story Podcast: Dead End — Drug Overdoses in the U.S.

    Portland, Oregon, is an epicenter of the deepening opioid crisis in the United States, where a life is lost to drug use every eleven minutes. Fentanyl, a cheap and highly potent synthetic opioid up to fifty times stronger than heroin, has been responsible for the majority of overdose deaths. In 2023, the overdose death rate topped 112,000 in twelve months for the first time, with more lives lost than in the wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan combined. ‘Dead End’ brings into focus the personal stories of the people battling addiction in the streets of Portland.

    24 min
  5. Big Story Podcast: Toxic – U.S. Chemical Warfare In Vietnam

    12/25/2024

    Big Story Podcast: Toxic – U.S. Chemical Warfare In Vietnam

    Between 1961 and 1971, the U.S. sprayed 20 million gallons of an herbicide known as Agent Orange over Vietnam. The purpose was to decimate the canopy of the native jungle and gain a military advantage over the Vietcong in the Vietnam War. After half a century, the consequences of this chemical war are still palpable to the Vietnamese. According to Red Cross estimates more than 3 million people have been affected by the chemical Dioxin present in Agent Orange. “It was only after independence that we heard about Agent Orange,” recalls Tran Quoc Viet, a war photographer, “and learned how scary its effect was.” At the time, the pollutant contaminated water and food sources, and it is estimated that at least 150.000 children were born with severe congenital disabilities afterward. Thousands of U.S. veterans who came into contact with it during the war were also poisoned, along with children born to them after it ended. “It enters your bloodstream and then your DNA,” says UC Davis Professor Emeritus Larry Berman. “And it lives there as a time bomb.”

    19 min
  6. Big Story Podcast: Buried – U.S. Bombs In Laos

    12/17/2024

    Big Story Podcast: Buried – U.S. Bombs In Laos

    Tiny Laos has the sad distinction of being the most bombed country in history because of an overt military intervention by the U.S. During the Vietnam War, the Nixon administration dropped more than two million tons of ordnance on Laos, more than twelve times the amount dropped on Japan in World War II, or a ton of bombs for every person living in the country. Almost a third did not explode, and for decades, up until now, these bombs have killed and maimed scores of people in rural areas and paralyzed economic growth. In this poor, little-known Southeast Asian country, we follow an all-women bomb disposal team working to clear the countryside of hidden dangers. Along the way, we meet with bomb victims struggling to survive and the organizations that are leading rehabilitation and land reclamation efforts. Drawing on rare archival footage, activists and security experts unpack the dark story behind America’s “Secret War” and the lack of accountability that endures to this day. For Laotians, the impact is anything but secret.

    21 min
  7. Big Story Podcast: Children Of The Border

    12/11/2024

    Big Story Podcast: Children Of The Border

    Dozens of children in western Venezuela begin their daily journey to school before 5 a.m. But this is no ordinary school – it is located across the border in Colombia. They live in the Guajira peninsula, facing the Caribbean Sea, a region shared by Colombia and Venezuela. The area is also home to the Wayuu indigenous people, the largest indigenous group in both countries. The Wayuu face numerous challenges, but one of their main struggles is the lack of access to clean drinking water. Because of that, children die of malnutrition at a rate nearly six times the national average. Despite the adverse conditions, the ‘Children of the Border’ have not lost hope and show their enthusiasm for learning and playing at school every day.

    19 min
  8. Lawless – Gangs of Haiti

    08/02/2024

    Lawless – Gangs of Haiti

    Haiti is a broken state. Since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise, street gangs armed with military grade weapons from the US have filled the power vacuum, taking control of 90 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and swathes of the countryside. Killing and kidnapping-for-ransom are at an all-time high, and tens of thousands are fleeing to escape violence the United Nations says is on par with countries at war. Haitian officials have called for another foreign intervention to break the gangs’ stranglehold. In the meantime, vigilante groups have formed to defend their neighborhoods. As the pressure builds, CGTN America gains rare access to the two most powerful gang factions battling for supremacy, and tracks the plight of civilians trapped in the crossfire.

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About

The Big Story podcast brings listeners inside CGTN’s flagship investigative journalism program, showcasing a curated selection of in-depth, news-driven documentaries from across the globe. Through compelling documentary storytelling, the series examines global events, current affairs, and the pressing issues impacting communities worldwide. This material is distributed by MediaLinks TV, LLC on behalf of CCTV. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.

Information

  • Creator
    CGTN America
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    17
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 Big Story
  • Show Website
    Big Story