The BEST episodes of 60 Minutes season 53
Every episode of 60 Minutes season 53, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of 60 Minutes season 53!
60 Minutes has been on the air since 1968, beginning on a Tuesday, but spending most of its time on Sundays, where it remains today. This popular news magazine provides both hard hitting investigations, interviews and features, along with people in the news and current events. 60 Minutes has set unprecedented records in the Nielsen's ratings with a number 1 rating, five times, making it among the most successful TV programs in all of television history. This series has won more Emmy awards than any other news program and in 2003, Don Hewitt, the creator (back in 1968), was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Emmy, along with the 60 Minute correspondents. Added to the 11 Peabody awards, this phenomenally long-lived series has collected 78 awards up to the 2005 season and remains among the viewers top choice for news magazine features.
#1 - SolarWinds, Ken Burns, Best Band in the Land
Season 53 - Episode 42 - Aired 7/4/2021
Unprecedented Russian SolarWinds hack that infiltrated federal government likely still happening; Scott Pelley interviews Ken Burns; And, the story of New Orleans' St. Augustine High School Marching Band
#2 - Chairman Powell, The Last Pandemic, Prince and the Revelation
Season 53 - Episode 30 - Aired 4/11/2021
Fed Chair Jerome Powell tells 60 Minutes America is going back to work; Pentagon programs hope to make COVID-19 the last pandemic ever; And, what's hidden in Prince's vault of unreleased music?
#3 - The Oath Keepers; Race and Health; Viola Davis
Season 53 - Episode 31 - Aired 4/18/2021
The Oath Keepers militia group's path to breaching the Capitol; Black Americans more prone to health issues because of racism; Viola Davis: The 60 Minutes Interview
#4 - The Prosecutors, Putin’s Public Enemy, Showstopper
Season 53 - Episode 32 - Aired 4/25/2021
The prosecution team in the Derek Chauvin murder trial speak to 60 Minutes; Then, Alexey Navalny describes the poisoning ordeal he says Vladimir Putin perpetrated; And, the curtain begins to come up for New York performing artists.
#5 - The Secretary of State, Chips, The Premonition
Season 53 - Episode 33 - Aired 5/2/2021
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the threat posed by China; America's microchip problem; And, early pandemic spotters at the center of Michael Lewis' new book, "The Premonition."
#6 - Ingenuity and Perseverance, The Ritchie Boys
Season 53 - Episode 34 - Aired 5/9/2021
Perseverance rover, Ingenuity helicopter, and the search for ancient life on Mars; Then, stories from members of the Ritchie Boys, a secret U.S. WWII intelligence unit bolstered by German-born Jews.
#7 - Facial Recognition, UAP, Rafa
Season 53 - Episode 35 - Aired 5/16/2021
Police using facial recognition amidst claims of wrongful arrests; Navy pilots describe encounters with UFOs; And, Rafael Nadal offers 60 Minutes a glimpse into his life.
#8 - Transgender Healthcare, Geldingadalir, Exhume the Truth
Season 53 - Episode 36 - Aired 5/23/2021
Health care challenges for transgender youth; Iceland's newest volcano offers rare opportunities; Uncovering the Greenwood Massacre.
#9 - Attack on the Judiciary, 90+, Notes of Grace
Season 53 - Episode 37 - Aired 5/30/2021
Judges say it's time for more security in the face of mounting violence; Checking in on the groundbreaking 90+ Study on aging; Igor Levit talks to 60 Minutes.
#10 - What Happened in Wuhan?, Ransomware, Sir David
Season 53 - Episode 38 - Aired 6/6/2021
WHO-led inquiry ends with even more questions than it began with on coronavirus origin; Then, how cybercriminals hold data hostage... and why the best solution is often paying a ransom; And, Sir David Attenborough: The 60 Minutes Interview
#11 - High Velocity, The Last Slave Ship, Simone Biles
Season 53 - Episode 39 - Aired 6/13/2021
What makes the AR-15 style rifle the weapon of choice for mass shooters; Inside the wreck of the last ship known to have brought enslaved Africans to America; And, Simone Biles: The 60 Minutes Interview
#12 - The Prosecutors, The Oath Keepers, Japan’s Babe Ruth
Season 53 - Episode 40 - Aired 6/20/2021
The prosecution team in the Derek Chauvin murder trial speaks to Scott Pelley; Sharyn Alfonsi reports on the Oath Keepers militia group's path to breaching the Capitol; And, our 2017 report on Shohei Ohtani.
#13 - Targeting Americans, The Nuremberg Prosecutor, James Corden
Season 53 - Episode 41 - Aired 6/27/2021
Brain trauma suffered by U.S. diplomats abroad could be work of hostile foreign government; What the last Nuremberg prosecutor alive wants the world to know; And, Bill Whitaker talks with James Corden, the talk show host for the internet age.
#14 - A Fair Shot, Darren Walker, Survival
Season 53 - Episode 29 - Aired 4/4/2021
Inside Florida's chaotic vaccine rollout; How Darren Walker, the head of the Ford Foundation, wants to change philanthropy; And, survivors recount being stranded on an island as teens 50 years ago.
#15 - Handcuffed to the Truth, Robots to the Rescue, Colson Whitehead
Season 53 - Episode 43 - Aired 7/11/2021
Holding Syrian President Bashar Assad and his regime accountable for war crimes; Then, Robots come to the rescue after Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster; And, Colson Whitehead talks with 60 Minutes.
#16 - Left Behind, Talent on the Spectrum, Survival
Season 53 - Episode 44 - Aired 7/18/2021
Families remember loved ones lost to COVID-19; Then, companies seeking out potential employees with autism; And, survivors recount being stranded on island as teens 50 years ago.
![The Case Against Curtis Flowers, The Wright Way, Prince and the Revelation [Repeat]](https://cdn.episode.ninja/file/episodeninja/7975646.jpg)
#17 - The Case Against Curtis Flowers, The Wright Way, Prince and the Revelation [Repeat]
Season 53 - Episode 45 - Aired 7/25/2021
Podcast helps save man from death row; The family that dominates saddle bronc riding; And, what's hidden in Prince's vault of unreleased music?
#18 - Ingenuity and Perseverance, Darren Walker, The Premonition
Season 53 - Episode 46 - Aired 8/1/2021
Perseverance rover, Ingenuity helicopter, and the search for ancient life on Mars; Darren Walker speaks with Lesley Stahl; Early pandemic spotters at the center of Michael Lewis' new book, "The Premonition"
![Incoming, Dynamic Robots, Grizzlies [Repeat]](https://cdn.episode.ninja/file/episodeninja/7975648.jpg)
#19 - Incoming, Dynamic Robots, Grizzlies [Repeat]
Season 53 - Episode 47 - Aired 8/8/2021
The attack on Al Asad Airbase; Robots of the future at Boston Dynamics; And, Finding ways to coexist with grizzly bears in Montana
#20 - Hell Flight, Justice Defenders, Kings of the Road
Season 53 - Episode 48 - Aired 8/15/2021
The COVID flight from hell; Inside the organization helping prisoners in Africa become lawyers and paralegals; Will driverless trucks soon share our roads?
#21 - Race in the Ranks, Geldingadalir, Kindred in the Bleachers
Season 53 - Episode 49 - Aired 8/22/2021
Changing how the military handles racial bias in the ranks; Iceland's newest volcano offers rare opportunities; And, Dave Kindred goes back on the beat to cover high school girls basketball
![Chips, UAP, The Comeback [Repeat]](https://cdn.episode.ninja/file/episodeninja/7975651.jpg)
#22 - Chips, UAP, The Comeback [Repeat]
Season 53 - Episode 50 - Aired 8/29/2021
America's microchip problem; Navy pilots describe encounters with UFOs; Former NFL Quarterback Alex Smith on his comeback.
#23 - The Last Pandemic, The Ritchie Boys
Season 53 - Episode 51 - Aired 9/5/2021
Pentagon programs hope to make COVID-19 the last pandemic ever. Stories from members of the Ritchie Boys, a secret U. S. WWII intelligence unit bolstered by German-ƀorn Jewish immigrants.
#24 - 60 Minutes Presents: Home for the Holidays
Season 53 - Episode 17 - Aired 12/27/2020
Shakira shows what it takes to prepare for a Super Bowl halftime show; then, meet the blind piano player who's so good, scientists are studying him; And, Inside the Japanese artform of Kabuki with its biggest star, Ebizo.
#25 - Treating COVID-19 Today, The Lincoln Project, Grizzlies
Season 53 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/11/2020
The COVID-19 treatments showing the most promise; Then, inside the Lincoln Project's campaign against President Trump; And, finding ways to coexist with grizzly bears in Montana