One of the more consequential figures at the center of of the "Me, too" movement was (and continues to be) journalist Ronan Farrow. His work in The New Yorker magazine (along with Jodi Kankto and Megan Twohey in The New York Times) helped expose and eventually bring down Harvey Weinstein.
The story behind the story, though, took on a life of its own. It's a tale of good, old-fashioned journalism. It's part spy novel. And Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators is one hell of a read. The spin-off podcast of the same name took things even further. And on July 12, it's all being rolled into Catch and Kill: The Podcast Tapes, on HBO and HBO Max.
The six-part, half-hour documentary series is directed by Emmy winners Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato. It "brings to life Ronan Farrow’s intimate, revealing interviews with whistleblowers, journalists, private investigators and other sources, conducted for the Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist’s podcast and bestselling book."
The series will debut with two episodes, dropping at 9 p.m. Eastern on July 12. New episodes will follow at the same time the next four Mondays.
The HBO series will expand on both the book and the podcast, "with never-before-seen footage and new insights into this culture-shaking story, enhanced by Bailey and Barbato’s creative weaving of additional sound and imagery from documents, audio tapes, photos, archive footage and striking illustrations."
Here are the episode titles and breakdowns, per HBO:
Episode 1: The Wire
Debut date: MONDAY, JULY 12 (9:00-9:30 p.m. ET/PT)
Filipina-Italian model Ambra Gutierrez reveals the high-stakes police sting operation that captured a chilling admission from Harvey Weinstein—and her plan to preserve the evidence after authorities declined to prosecute.
Episode 2: The Reporters
Debut date: MONDAY, JULY 12 (9:30-10:00 p.m. ET/PT)
Veteran The New Yorker reporter Ken Auletta and The Hollywood Reporter writer Kim Masters discuss their years-long quests to reveal the “open secret” of Weinstein’s behavior, and the roadblocks that stalled their efforts.
Episode 3: The Assistants
Debut date: MONDAY, JULY 19 (9:00-9:30 p.m. ET/PT)
A former assistant at Weinstein’s company, Rowena Chiu, speaks out about her experiences with Weinstein’s predation, the difficult choices she and fellow assistant Zelda Perkins made to try to hold him accountable, and her decision to remain silent for decades.
Episode 4: The Producer
Debut date: MONDAY, JULY 19 (9:30-10:00 p.m. p.m. ET/PT)
Rich McHugh discusses producing the story with Farrow at NBC News, interviewing Rose McGowan and numerous other sources on camera, and his dawning realization that the reporting was being shut down behind the scenes.
Episode 5: The Editors
Debut date: MONDAY, JULY 26 (9:00-9:30 p.m. ET/PT)
The New Yorker editors David Remnick and Deirdre Foley-Mendelssohn, attorney Fabio Bertoni and Fact Checkers Tammy Kim and Fergus McIntosh discuss the arduous process of verifying the details of the story, while fending off legal threats from Weinstein’s camp.
Episode 6: The Spy
Debut date: MONDAY, JULY 26 (9:30-10:00 p.m. p.m. ET/PT)
Undercover spy Igor Ostrovsky talks about being hired to track and gather intelligence on Farrow, and the unexpected turn of events that prompted him to become Farrow’s source. The Citizen Lab’s John Scott-Railton also talks about the rise of private espionage and its consequences, as well as efforts to combat it.
