The Fog of Truth: Close-Up on Documentaries Christopher Llewellyn Reed and Bart Weiss

In this bonus episode, we invite back our former cohost Summre Garber to talk about the documentary slate at the 2021 Slamdance Film Festival, where she is co-captain of the documentary-features program. Then we all discuss, in depth, the following three films: CODE NAME: NAGASAKI, EVERYONE WANTS TO BE THE NEXT WEISMANN and HOLY FRIT. This episode marks the departure of Chris Reed as permanent cohost, leaving Bart Weiss in charge of the future. Should be fun! Enjoy!

In this bonus episode, cohosts Bart and Chris revisit their favorite documentaries of 2020, and then invite, each in turn, six guest hosts from the past year to chat about their own favorites. Those guests, in alphabetical order, are: Hannah Buchdahl, Sandie Angulo Chen, Leslie Combemale, Roxana Hadadi, Lisa Sanchelo and Debra Zimmerman. Chris and Bart each gave a Top 10, while our guests each listed a Top 5. Enjoy, and see you in 2021!

We wrap up Season 10 with returning guest host Anuradha Rana (Associate Professor, School of Cinematic Arts, DePaul University) as we review Daniel Lombroso's WHITE NOISE, a profile of some of the current leading figures among the alt-right. From there, Bart and Chris interview the great Errol Morris, whose AMERICAN DHARMA offers a portrait of right-wing activist Steve Bannon. What a great way to end the season! Listen in and enjoy.

Inkoo Kang joins us to review the new Showtime documentary CITIZEN BIO, which profiles the late Aaron Traywick and his (not so) merry band of biohackers, and pair that with an interview that Bart and Chris conduct with Sharon Shattuck, one of the directors of PICTURE A SCIENTIST, an examination of pervasive gender bias in the sciences. The nation may be riven by election madness and discord, but we thought we'd take a break from our recent political coverage to talk about different topics.

This week, we examine the grotesque incompetence, selfishness and venality of Donald Trump and others in his administration, as evidenced by their response to the coronavirus pandemic, through the lens of Alex Gibney's latest documentary, TOTALLY UNDER CONTROL. New guest host Shilyh Warren makes her debut to help us express our outrage. Then, Chris interviews filmmakers Eli B. Despres, Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg about their profile of the ACLU, THE FIGHT.

Both films we discuss this week, THE SOCIAL DILEMMA and FEELS GOOD MAN, look at the more sinister aspects of online culture. Returning guest host Jennifer Proctor joins us a for a review of the first, and then Bart and Chris interview the director, Arthur Jones, and producer, Giorgio Angelini, of the second.