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New Show Examines ‘Truman Show’ Delusion, How the FBI Could Have Prevented 9/11 … and More

Feb 16, 2016  •  Post A Comment

A new program debuting today, Tuesday, Feb. 16, examines stories including how the FBI might have prevented the 9/11 terrorist attacks and patients who believe their lives are being watched on TV — the “Truman Show” delusion.

The program is “The New Yorker Presents,” which is being presented by Amazon Prime. The show’s first two episodes come out today, and will be followed by two new episodes becoming available each Tuesday through March 15.

“Based on content from The New Yorker, America’s most award-winning magazine, ‘The New Yorker Presents’ is a unique viewing experience, combining documentaries, short scripted narrative films, comedy, poetry, animation and cartoons,” Amazon says in its announcement. “As with the pilot, new episodes will bring the pages of the magazine to life, drawing upon the reporting, fiction, humor, poetry, and cartoons that distinguish The New Yorker.”

The series is produced by Conde Nast Entertainment and Jigsaw Productions, and executive produced by David Remnick, Alex Gibney, Kahane Cooperman, Dave Snyder, Michael Klein, Dawn Ostroff, and Henry Finder.

Here’s the lineup for the two episodes bowing today:

Episode 1

  • Filmmaker Alex Gibney (Going Clear) tells how the FBI could have prevented the 9/11 attacks – if it weren’t for the CIA.
  • “Le Café de Balzac”: Paul Giamatti plays 19th-century French author Honore de Balzac, who drank 50 cups of coffee each day. Written by Brendan O’Hare; directed by Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini (American Splendor).
  • “Unreality Star”: Patients with “The Truman Show”delusion believe their lives are being watched on TV.
  • Cartoon by Roz Chast
  • “Around Town” takes you inside The New Yorker’s legendary fact-checking department; and visits a man who raises pigeons on the roof of his apartment building.

Episode 2

  • “The Ride of Their Lives”: Filmmaker Steve James (Hoop Dreams) profiles two young people competing in the world’s most dangerous sport – bull riding.
  • “Black Bodies in Motion and in Pain”: Writer Edwidge Danticat connects the dots between painter Jacob Lawrence’s “Migration Series” and recent outbreaks of racist violence in America.
  • “The Death and Life of Atlantic City”: Writer Nick Paumgarten on the closure of the $2.4 billion Revel casino.
  • Cartoons by Roz Chast and Liana Finck.
  • “Around Town” takes us inside the archive library at The New Yorker; and visits a beekeeper who works atop a skyscraper.

new yorker presents-amazon

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