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Frontline

PBS Documentary 5.0/5 · 6 votes

What it is

Since it began in 1983, Frontline has been airing public-affairs documentaries that explore a wide scope of the complex human experience. Frontline's goal is to extend the impact of the documentary beyond its initial broadcast by serving as a catalyst for change..

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The Crown Prince & the President

s2026e10 · 2026-07-01

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Episode guide

21 this season · 1634 total
s21e01 Much Ado About Something 2003-01-03 03:00

Much Ado About Something

s21e01 · 2003-01-03 · 03:00

Australian filmmaker Michael Rubbo explores the enduring question of whether Shakespeare actually wrote the plays attributed to him. Rubbo is a partisan of Christopher Marlowe, and he rounds up a number of Marlowe-friendly experts to make the case for him---and foes to debunk it. His own hunch, however, is that Shakespeare and Marlowe were a team. The better-educated Marlowe provided “the learning and great themes,” he says, “and Shakespeare the heart and soul of Merrie England.”

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s21e02 A Dangerous Business 2003-01-10 03:00

A Dangerous Business

s21e02 · 2003-01-10 · 03:00

The New York Times won a Pulitzer Prize for articles written in conjunction with this 2003 workplace-safety report, which focuses on foundries operated by the McWane Corp. of Birmingham, Ala. “Many McWane workers say safety has been sacrificed to increased productivity,” says narrator Will Lyman. The hour examines the operations in plants in Texas, Alabama, New York and New Jersey, and includes interviews with former employees, relatives of those who died on the job and OSHA officials. Produced in cooperation with the Times and the Canadian Broadcasting Company. Lowell Bergman and David Barstow report.

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s21e03 Failure to Protect: The Taking of Logan Marr 2003-01-31 03:00

Failure to Protect: The Taking of Logan Marr

s21e03 · 2003-01-31 · 03:00

Part 1 of a two-part probe of Maine's child-protective services explores reasons why a 5-year-old died in foster care in January 2001. Logan Marr and her younger sister Bailey were taken from their mother, Christy, by the state Department of Human Services, despite a lack of evidence of abuse, and placed in the home of DHS caseworker Sally Schofield, where Logan died. Marr and Schofield are interviewed throughout the hour, which looks at why Marr lost custody of her daughters, and follows her efforts to get them back. It also traces what happened to Schofield, who was convicted of manslaughter in the case.

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s21e04 Failure to Protect: The Caseworker Files 2003-02-07 03:00

Failure to Protect: The Caseworker Files

s21e04 · 2003-02-07 · 03:00

Following staffers in the Bangor office of Maine's Department of Human Services as they decide to move children from their homes into foster care. They must find “the proper balance between saving a child and destroying a family,” says narrator Will Lyman. More often in recent years (and in this hour), the emphasis has been on child safety, which means uncomfortable sessions with parents---and a shortage of foster parents.

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s21e05 China in the Red 2003-02-14 03:00

China in the Red

s21e05 · 2003-02-14 · 03:00

An exploration of what narrator Will Lyman calls “the human cost” of the China's economic reforms, following 10 Chinese citizens between 1998 and 2001. Overall, the “cost” is 35-million lost jobs since the 1998 announcement that state-owned industries must become profitable by 2001. None of the workers at state-owned factories (one in Beijing, the other in Shenyang) profiled by producer Sue Williams were laid off, but none are doing as well as the entrepreneurs Williams filmed. Says one, a woman who makes and sells noodles in her rural village (and is its richest resident): “Now you can do anything, as long as you make money.”

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s21e07 The Long Road to War: A Frontline Special Report 2003-02-18 03:00

The Long Road to War: A Frontline Special Report

s21e07 · 2003-02-18 · 03:00

Examining the history of U.S.-Iraqi relations in the Saddam Hussein era, as well as the actions and motivations of the Iraqi leader and his skill at survival. Also: the origins of the 1991Gulf War. The program includes “Frontline” archival material.

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s21e06 The War Behind Closed Doors 2003-02-21 03:00

The War Behind Closed Doors

s21e06 · 2003-02-21 · 03:00

A 1985 report that follows up on a 1970 experiment in which Iowa third-graders were encouraged to actively discriminate against one another for two days. Teacher Jane Elliott says that she was able to turn polite, thoughtful kids into nasty, vicious ones in just 15 minutes. Students who participated in the exercise discuss the lessons they learned during a 1984 reunion. Also: Elliott conducts a similar workshop for the Iowa Department of Correction; and New York prison inmates react to a 1970 documentary about Elliott's work. Charlie Cobb is the correspondent.

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s21e08 Blair's War 2003-04-04 03:00

Blair's War

s21e08 · 2003-04-04 · 03:00

A look at what producer Eamonn Matthews calls the “tricky game” that the British Prime Minister has been trying to play during the Iraq crisis as he offers himself as “an Atlantic bridge” between the U.S. and its erstwhile European allies. The hour traces the split to the months following Sept. 11 as perceptions of terrorism crystallized. To U.S. policymakers “it's war,” Matthews says, while in France and Germany the attacks were seen as simply a terrorist incident. “Sure it was a bad one,” Matthews says, “but [Europeans] have seen them before.” The result: “a huge collision of world views.” Interviewed: British foreign secretary Jack Straw and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

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s21e09 Kim's Nuclear Gamble 2003-04-11 02:00

Kim's Nuclear Gamble

s21e09 · 2003-04-11 · 02:00

“Kim's Nuclear Gamble” traces “how we got into the mess we're in with North Korea,” says producer Martin Smith, who traces the crisis over Pyongyang's plutonium back to 1994, when Kim Il Sung (the father of present North Korean leader Kim Jong Il) made similar threats, and former President Jimmy Carter (who's interviewed) brokered a deal. The hour explores policy differences toward North Korea between the Clinton and Bush administrations (and differences of opinion within the Bush administration); looks at life in North Korea; and assesses how destructive a war in Korea might be. Also interviewed: former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright; and Defense Department consultant Richard Perle.

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s21e10 Cyber War! 2003-04-25 02:00

Cyber War!

s21e10 · 2003-04-25 · 02:00

“Cyber War!” examines warfare by computer and assesses the probability of attacks on U.S. infrastructure on what producer Michael Kirk calls a “new kind of battlefield.” The hour traces “cyber war” to the 1991 Gulf War; explores potential enemies (Al Qaeda among them); and looks at its use in the Iraq war. Also: a profile of Richard Clarke, former adviser to the president for cyber security; and John Arquilla, who trains U.S. “cyber warriors” at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Cal. They're good, but as Kirk puts it: “If you can do it to them, then they can do it to us some day.”

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s21e11 Burden of Innocence 2003-05-02 02:00

Burden of Innocence

s21e11 · 2003-05-02 · 02:00

“Burden of Innocence.” Filmmaker Ofra Bikel follows the cases of five men who did time for crimes they didn't commit. Bikel explores psychological and practical reasons why, after prison, reentry into society is often so hard, but she also finds one man, law student Anthony Robinson, who seems to have made the adjustment successfully. Still, Robinson's wary. “I'm apparently okay,” he says. “But there's always that stigma.”

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s21e12 The Wall Street Fix 2003-05-09 02:00

The Wall Street Fix

s21e12 · 2003-05-09 · 02:00

“The Wall Street Fix” traces the rise and fall of WorldCom stock and looks at what N.Y. Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer calls a “corrupt business model.” Correspondent: Hedrick Smith.

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s21e13 The Other Drug War 2003-06-20 02:00

The Other Drug War

s21e13 · 2003-06-20 · 02:00

A report on prescription-drug pricing focuses on complaints from consumers about high prices and state-government efforts in Maine and Oregon to control drug costs. The hour also includes comments from Eli Lilly and Merck executives, who describe what they say is the necessity to recoup the costs involved in drug research, and from drug-industry critics, who decry what one calls the industry's “staggering” profits. Summing up the dilemma: indpendent analyst Richard Evans. “As a soceity we've got two important questions here,” Evans says. “One is how do we make sure that everyone has access to existing technology, and how do we make sure that we do that in such a way that we don't wreck our access to better technology tomorrow.”

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s21e20 The Other Drug War 2003-06-20 02:00

The Other Drug War

s21e20 · 2003-06-20 · 02:00

A report on prescription-drug pricing focuses on complaints from consumers about high prices and state-government efforts in Maine and Oregon to control drug costs. The hour also includes comments from Eli Lilly and Merck executives, who describe what they say is the necessity to recoup the costs involved in drug research, and from drug-industry critics, who decry what one calls the industry's “staggering” profits. Summing up the dilemma: indpendent analyst Richard Evans. “As a soceity we've got two important questions here,” Evans says. “One is how do we make sure that everyone has access to existing technology, and how do we make sure that we do that in such a way that we don't wreck our access to better technology tomorrow.”

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s21e14 Public Schools, Inc. 2003-07-04 02:00

Public Schools, Inc.

s21e14 · 2003-07-04 · 02:00

“Public Schools, Inc.” explores the career of Chris Whittle, founder of Edison Schools, the for-profit company that manages public schools around the country. The trouble is, Edison hasn't been making a profit, and “there's a real question as to whether the model itself is flawed,” says reporter John Merrow. In this hour, Merrow and New York Times business writer Diana B. Henriques profile Whittle (who's interviewed) and chart Edison's problems in Philadelphia, Chester, Pa. and Wichita (and its successes in Baltimore). They also examine the pressures that Edison faces from Wall Street---and the often-conflicting pressures it faces from public officials. “Democracy,” Merrow says, “is messy.”

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s21e21 Public Schools, Inc. 2003-07-04 02:00

Public Schools, Inc.

s21e21 · 2003-07-04 · 02:00

“Public Schools, Inc.” explores the career of Chris Whittle, founder of Edison Schools, the for-profit company that manages public schools around the country. The trouble is, Edison hasn't been making a profit, and “there's a real question as to whether the model itself is flawed,” says reporter John Merrow. In this hour, Merrow and New York Times business writer Diana B. Henriques profile Whittle (who's interviewed) and chart Edison's problems in Philadelphia, Chester, Pa. and Wichita (and its successes in Baltimore). They also examine the pressures that Edison faces from Wall Street---and the often-conflicting pressures it faces from public officials. “Democracy,” Merrow says, “is messy.”

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s21e15 Truth, War, and Consequences 2003-10-10 02:00

Truth, War, and Consequences

s21e15 · 2003-10-10 · 02:00

Correspondent Martin Smith explores how the “mess” in Iraq six months after Saddam's fall came to be. Smith interviews State and Defense Department officials---who aren't on the same page. One example of this “interagency warfare”: Gen. Jay Garner, the first Pentagon administrator in Iraq, tells Smith that he had been told to “ignore” a postwar plan developed by State. And when Garner arrived in Iraq---days after the troops---the country's infrastructure was already in tatters.

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s21e16 Chasing the Sleeper Cell 2003-10-17 02:00

Chasing the Sleeper Cell

s21e16 · 2003-10-17 · 02:00

Correspondent Lowell Bergman (working with The New York Times) examines the case of six Buffalo Yemeni-Americans who pleaded guilty to aiding Al Qaeda. It was the first major terrorism case completed after the passage of the USA Patriot Act and the creation of the Homeland Security Department, and Bergman explores how---and how effectively---these “new tools” were used. Bergman also reviews the case itself. “What did they do,” he asks, “that was really illegal?”

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s21e17 The Alternative Fix 2003-11-07 03:00

The Alternative Fix

s21e17 · 2003-11-07 · 03:00

“The advancing edge of health care” or “pseudo science”? Alternative medicine can be either, depending on the therapy and who's talking about it, and both sides make compelling cases in this overview of the subject. But no one disagrees with former New England Journal of Medicine editor Marcia Angell when she calls it “big business.” And this report doesn't pretend to be the final word. “We don't know everything about illness and health,” Harvard medical historian Ted Kaptchuk says simply.

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s21e18 Dangerous Prescription 2003-11-14 03:00

Dangerous Prescription

s21e18 · 2003-11-14 · 03:00

“Dangerous Prescription” explores side effects from what producer Andy Liebman calls “major inadequacies” in the FDA's oversight of drugs before and after they appear on the market. The hour uses diet drugs, cholesterol-lowering drugs and a medication for rheumatoid arthritis as case studies. It follows the FDA's approval process and finds, says Liebman, that “many fewer people than most of would imagine” are tested before approval is granted. And drugs that are approved are monitored in “a voluntary system that's very haphazard.” Overall, Liebman concludes: “Our watchdog agency isn't doing much watching,” and what watching it does “is going to waste.”

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s21e19 Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald? (Updated) 2003-11-21 03:00

Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald? (Updated)

s21e19 · 2003-11-21 · 03:00

No episode summary is available.

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