In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary series “Arnold" out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews Executive Producer Allen Hughes and Director Lesley Chilcott. From a tiny village in Austria to the limelight of championship bodybuilding - from conquering Hollywood to capturing Sacramento - Arnold Schwarzenegger's life stands apart. For the first time, Schwarzenegger talks at length about his journey as an athlete and unlikely box office se...
Jun 14, 2023•35 min•Ep 21•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary series “MerPeople" out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews executive producer and director Cynthia Wade. No longer the legends of sailors or the stars of fairy tales. Mermaids exist! With a custom-made fin, a can-do attitude, and some strong swimming skills, you too can splash it up as a merperson. Whether it’s entertaining children at birthday parties, wow-ing spectators at Las Vegas casinos, or t...
Jun 07, 2023•37 min•Ep 20•Transcript available on Metacast Nicole Chase was a young mom with a daughter to support when she took a job at a local restaurant in Canton, Connecticut. She liked the work and was good at her job. But the place turned out to be more like a frat house than a quaint roadside sandwich spot. And the crude behavior kept escalating – until one day she says her boss went too far and she turned to the local police for help. What happened next would put a detective on the hot seat and lead to a legal battle that would drag on for year...
Jun 02, 2023•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary film “Victim/Suspect" out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Nancy Schwartzman and journalist Rachel De Leon. An investigative reporter discovered a nationwide pattern of women who’d come forward to report a sexual assault, only to be arrested for filing a false report. But the victims said they recanted because police said they didn’t believe them. Rachel De Leon learned police were empl...
May 31, 2023•36 min•Ep 19•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary series “Working: What We Do All Day," out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews Executive Producer and Director Caroline Suh. What brings you joy in work? What gives you purpose? What makes a good job…good? These are the questions at the center of “Working: What We Do All Day." The series explores the ways in which we find meaning in our work and how our experiences and struggles connect us on a huma...
May 24, 2023•32 min•Ep 18•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary “Anna Nicole Smith: You Don't Know Me" out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews executive producer and director Ursula Macfarlane. Born in a small Texas town, Vickie Lynn Hogan would go on to fame as the model and actress known as Anna Nicole Smith. From her first appearance in Playboy in 1992, her puzzling marriage to an elderly billionaire, and her popular reality show, Anna Nicole’s dizzying asce...
May 23, 2023•40 min•Ep 17•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about season seven the Netflix series “Queer Eye," premiering May 12 on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews executive producer and showrunner Jennifer Lane. From beignets to ben-yays! The Emmy® Award-winning "Queer Eye" is back for a seventh season. Grab your beads and let the good times roll as Bobby, Karamo, Antoni, Tan, and Jonathan bring some sparkle and sass to New Orleans and transform the lives of residents who are in need of a...
May 10, 2023•33 min•Ep 16•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we’ll peek ahead at some of the hottest nonfiction and unscripted titles coming this summer to Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews Tudum's Amanda Richards. Buckle up for another great batch of documentary series and films in the coming weeks. Netflix will take you around the world and the bottom of the sea. From wealthy celebrities to working stiffs. From hotel maids to presidents. Be ready to meet football legends, investigative reporters, and even...
May 03, 2023•25 min•Ep 15•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary series “Chimp Empire" out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director James Reed. Jackson relies on intimidation and political favors to maintain his leadership position in Central Ngogo, while rivals within the group plot to usurp him. Suddenly, a crisis over resources in disputed territory turns deadly. Now Jackson must prepare for war against those who years ago drove him from his old tribe. Th...
Apr 26, 2023•40 min•Ep 14•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary “Longest Third Date," out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Brent Hodge. After a pair of dates, Matt and Khani decided to go on a spontaneous getaway to Costa Rica. While they drank Coronas on the beach, coronavirus was shutting the world down. And when all air travel to the United States was canceled, the couple found themselves stranded indefinitely in Central America. Now thrown toget...
Apr 19, 2023•38 min•Ep 13•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary series “American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon Bombing" out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Floyd Russ. In the confusion after two explosions at the marathon finish line, two bombers slip away with the panicked crowd into the streets of Boston. It leaves investigators with hundreds of victims injured, a trampled crime scene, and no good leads. When they realize the cops are on to them, ...
Apr 12, 2023•40 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary series “Emergency NYC" out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews directors Adi Barash and Ruthie Shatz. With more than 300 rescue calls a minute, emergency medicine in New York City is a fast-paced world where time and skill make the difference between life and death. The staff at Lenox Hill Hospital are constantly confronted by those who need care in the gravest of situations: a teenager caught in a...
Apr 05, 2023•38 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast The tragedy at Waco became a rallying cry for the anti-government movement within America and the foundation for arguments surrounding gun rights and religious freedom. In this final episode of the Waco companion podcast, Tiller speaks again with Lee Hancock and then with Bob Ricks, the FBI’s Assistant Special Agent in Charge, about the FBI’s failed response to Waco, rampant conspiracy theories, government distrust, Waco’s connection to the Oklahoma City Bombing a year later, and how the events ...
Mar 29, 2023•27 min•Ep 15•Transcript available on Metacast In the third episode of this special series, we explore the enduring emotional toll Waco had on those who were directly involved. Tiller speaks to Lee Hancock about the challenge of objectively reporting on Waco during those 51 days in 1993, and the lasting trauma the story has had on her life. Then Tiller interviews KWTX reporter John McLemore, the sole reporter who covered the ATF raid live - and whose life and career were upended by it. And finally we hear from David Thibodeau, perhaps the mo...
Mar 27, 2023•29 min•Ep 14•Transcript available on Metacast Robert Rodriguez was an undercover agent with the ATF who embedded with David Koresh and the Branch Davidians. On the day of the raid, Robert knew the Davidians were tipped off that the ATF was coming, and he tried to call the whole thing off. Despite his warnings, the ATF went ahead with their plan, resulting in the largest gunfight on US soil in over 100 years, and Robert was pinned as the scapegoat. In a rare interview not included in the documentary series, Robert sits down with director Til...
Mar 24, 2023•31 min•Ep 13•Transcript available on Metacast On this week's episode, we're bringing you the first in a four part special companion to the Netflix documentary series, Waco: American Apocalypse. Director Tiller Russell and reporter Lee Hancock discuss the inspiration behind the series and then paint a complex portrait of cult leader David Koresh – the controversial figure at the center of the story – and how he was able to convince over 100 people (and perhaps himself) that he was a living prophet. Featuring interviews with FBI Agent Bob Ric...
Mar 22, 2023•37 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we're bringing you something special: the latest episode of We Have The Receipts, the Netflix podcast about all things reality, hosted by Chris Burns and Love is Blind's Lauren Speed Hamilton. And they're talking about the Netflix reality series “Outlast" out now on Netflix. Outlast is a raw survival competition series where 16 lone wolves must outlast each other in the Alaskan wilderness in an attempt to win 1 million dollars. There is only one rule in...
Mar 15, 2023•46 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary series “MH370: The Plane that Disappeared" out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Louise Malkinson. Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 was supposed to be a routine trip: a redeye to Beijing, with 239 people on board. But shortly after takeoff, the jet vanished from radar screens for good. “MH370: The Plane that Disappeared” explores three of the most contentious theories about the plane’s disa...
Mar 08, 2023•35 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary series “Full Swing" out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews executive producer Paul Martin. Money! Fame! Legacy! All are constantly on the line for the professional golfers on the PGA tour. But navigating the personal and professional hazards off the course are just as challenging. “Full Swing” gives fans a chance to get to know the players through their wins and losses and witness what it takes to...
Mar 01, 2023•38 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary series “Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal," out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews directors Julia Willoughby Nason & Jenner Furst. Alex Murdaugh was a third-generation lawyer in a powerful South Carolina family. But their reputation began to crack when his son Paul was behind the wheel during a fatal boating accident. The controversy rekindled interest in other deaths the Murdaughs were connec...
Feb 22, 2023•34 min•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary series “Bill Russell: Legend" out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Sam Pollard. With his revolutionary defense, Bill Russell changed the game of basketball, winning a record eleven NBA championships and cementing the Boston Celtics as a dynasty. But throughout the 1960s, Russell grappled with his place in sports and in society, being among the first athletes to demonstrate in the civil ...
Feb 15, 2023•38 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary series “Gunther's Millions," out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Aurelien Leturgie and executive producer Emilie Dumay. When a German countess died in 1992, she left her fortune to the only family she had: her dog Gunther. At the direction of Gunther’s caretaker, the world’s richest dog enjoyed yachts, private jets and started a pop group that was maybe a sex cult? The series “Gunther’...
Feb 08, 2023•38 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary film “Pamela, a love story" out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews Director Ryan White and Producer Jessica Hargrave. From Playboy centerfold to sun-soaked TV lifeguard to that stolen sex tape, Pamela Anderson was always associated with beauty and sensuality. But she was objectified and easily dismissed by a lascivious press core, more interested in her physique than her talent. “Pamela, a love st...
Feb 01, 2023•39 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary series “Break Point" out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews showrunner Kari Lia. After decades of dominance, tennis’s legendary names are leaving the game. Now a new generation of men and women athletes are ready for their place at the top. But who has the makings to be tennis’s next champion? “Break Point” is an intimate, globe-trotting look on the court and behind the scenes with the up-and-comi...
Jan 25, 2023•31 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary film “The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker" out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Colette Camden. A driver’s assault on pedestrians is foiled by the man he picked up hitchhiking, striking him in the head with a hatchet from his backpack. The story of the rescue by a colorful, carefree drifter goes viral. Soon there are memes, TV appearances, and talk of a reality show for the man simply known...
Jan 18, 2023•35 min•Ep 3•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary series “Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street," out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Joe Berlinger. Bernie Madoff was considered an elder statesman of the stock market, but hidden away from his legitimate securities firm, he was running an unregulated hedge fund. But it was all a Ponzi scheme swindling investors out of $64 billion. “Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street” chronicles the rise a...
Jan 11, 2023•35 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast Next up on You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary series “Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street." This series reveals the truth behind Bernie Madoff’s infamous $64 billion global Ponzi scheme - the largest in history - which shattered the lives of countless individual investors who had placed their trust in the revered Wall Street statesman. In our next episode, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Joe Berlinger. If you haven't watched “Madoff: The Monster of Wall S...
Jan 04, 2023•7 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast To finish out the year, we're replaying one of our most popular episodes of 2022. Wherever he went, Simon Leviev’s entourage would follow. A carefully curated supporting cast – his business partner, his driver, his security guard – created an air of glamour and legitimacy. But who were these people? Were they in on the scam? Or were they as much victims as the women Simon swindled? The Making of a Swindler Part 1 is a companion to the documentary, "The Tinder Swindler", only on Netflix.
Dec 28, 2022•41 min•Ep 54•Transcript available on Metacast At the top of Rebecca's Best Of list, we're replaying her interview with “Descendant" director and producer, Margaret Brown. The Clotilda was the last known ship to arrive in the United States carrying enslaved Africans, decades after slave importation was outlawed. The ship was burned and sank somewhere in the Mobile River, while its passengers would later settle in the community of Africatown. In the century that followed, the descendants of The Clotilda struggled to preserve their heritage in...
Dec 21, 2022•39 min•Ep 53•Transcript available on Metacast One of Rebecca's favorites of 2022, we're replaying her interview with "Trainwreck: Woodstock '99" director Jamie Crawford and producer Cassie Thornton. Organizers from the original Woodstock tried to recreate the music and magic at a new three-day festival in 1999. But concert-goers expecting another groovy weekend were met with high food prices, dirty water, and mountains of litter. And promoters learned too late their audience wasn’t filled with 60s flower children; they’d drawn an army of ro...
Dec 14, 2022•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
