Category: Blog

Originally published in The Atlantic. In a short blog item in TPM, Josh Marshall reminds us of the illustrious past of Rep. Ralph Hall (R, Tex) who is taking over as chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee.  A member of an illustrious extended lobbying family, informally known as “Team Abramoff,”  Hall was the… Continue reading Hall of Shame

The list of films eligible to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature has been announced, and we’re honored again to be included in the shortlist: Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer made the cut, one of fifteen films to do so. The complete list, courtesy of the IFC… Continue reading Client 9 shortlisted for Academy Award

On Fox TV and at the New York Post, a peculiar detail is the subject of endless fascination: Did Eliot Spitzer, ex-governor of New York and newly minted CNN show host, really insist on wearing knee-high black socks during his encounters with high-priced escorts? A far more important question is this: Where did the story… Continue reading Meet the Leader of Eliot Spitzer’s Smear Campaign

PBS’s Need to Know recently interviewed Alex Gibney about My Trip to Al-Qaeda, the documentary adapted from Lawrence Wright’s play of the same name. The film, which has received rave reviews, debuted September 7 on HBO. Check out the interview in full:

BBC News reports today that the Japan Sumo Association (JSA) is handing out iPads to the sport’s training stables. Why would this odd bit of news make the BBC? And, more importantly, why would sumo wrestlers need free iPads? It all comes down to crookedness. Corruption in sumo wrestling, a sport wrapped in honor ritual… Continue reading Why sumo wrestlers are getting iPads

The Obama administration has denied a visa for Hollman Morris to come to the US as a Nieman fellow at Harvard University. Hollman Morris is an extraordinary journalist in Colombia.  He produces a television public affairs program called “Contravia,” in which he exposes corruption, human rights abuses and, recently, the unholy links between illegal far-right… Continue reading Keeping Human Rights Out of the U.S.

Following last month’s release of Casino Jack and the United States of Money, C-SPAN’s Q&A asked on Alex Gibney for a conversation about the film. The hour-long interview delivers a fantastic introduction to the scandal covered in the film, as well as giving a peek at some great segments from the movie itself. Be sure… Continue reading Alex Gibney interviewed by C-SPAN’s Q&A

“Alex Gibney does not believe in making small, personal documentaries. He pursues outsized figures and major political topics that shape our times. His prolific output includes serving as writer, director and producer on the Oscar-winning exploration of interrogation techniques in Iraq, Taxi to the Dark Side, as well as the indictment of corporate greed and… Continue reading Huffington Post profiles Alex Gibney and Casino Jack and the United States of Money

The ACLU blog presents a reminder today of the mournful legacy left us by the Bush administration’s interrogation policies in Afghanistan and Iraq. Omar Khadr was a mere 15 years old when he was arrested in Afghanistan for the murder of a U.S. soldier. After being tortured at Bagram Air Base, then imprisoned in Guantanamo… Continue reading The Abuse of Omar Khadr

“We are a fallen and dark-hearted species, and so Alex Gibney will never want for work. But immersion in some pretty fetid swamps — telling the stories of the spectacular thieves at Enron (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, nominated for an Academy Award), American torturers in the war on terrorism (Taxi to the… Continue reading Esquire profile: Alex Gibney “is becoming the most important documentarian of our time”