The BEST episodes of The New York Times Presents

Every episode of The New York Times Presents ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The New York Times Presents!

A series of standalone documentaries powered by the unparalleled journalism and insight of The New York Times, bringing viewers close to the essential stories of our time.

Last Updated: 12/18/2024Network: FXStatus: Continuing
The Gallagher Effect
star
8.14
21 votes

#1 - The Gallagher Effect

Season 1 - Episode 23 - Aired 12/27/2019

Law enforcement interviews with Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher's fellow SEALs shed new light on the war-crimes case that created a clash between the Navy and President Trump.

Watch Now:Amazon
Mr. McGahn
star
8.08
12 votes

#2 - Mr. McGahn

Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired 10/27/2019

Most Americans don't know Donald McGahn's name. But they will be living with his legacy for decades to come. The Weekly tells the story of one of the most influential people in the Trump administration.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Hot List
star
8.00
18 votes

#3 - The Hot List

Season 1 - Episode 22 - Aired 12/1/2019

When a big bear of a man in flip-flops showed up with a bottle of Japanese whiskey promising to deliver evidence implicating some of the world’s richest and most powerful men in an epic cover-up of sexual misconduct, our reporters were hooked. The man went by a pseudonym, Patrick Kessler, and he said he had terabytes of video surveillance from Jeffrey Epstein’s residences and other materials that, if true, would validate theories Epstein was engaged in an extensive blackmail operation. Kessler said he would share it all with The New York Times.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Six Million Dollar Claim
star
7.94
18 votes

#4 - The Six Million Dollar Claim

Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 8/25/2019

What happens when the medicine a family needs to survive costs $1.5 million a year? Who pays the bill? And who's reaping the profits?

Watch Now:Amazon
Inauguration, Inc.
star
7.90
29 votes

#5 - Inauguration, Inc.

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 6/30/2019

With exclusive documents, photos, interviews and found footage, The Weekly and The New York Times's Washington reporters piece together an anatomy of President Trump's inauguration, the most expensive inaugural weekend the country has ever seen.

Watch Now:Amazon
Collision
star
7.68
22 votes

#6 - Collision

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 6/23/2019

An idealistic American couple bicycling around the world. A group of young men radicalized by ISIS. The Weekly investigates how these lives tragically intersected on a remote mountain pass.

Watch Now:Amazon
Connecting the World
star
7.67
21 votes

#7 - Connecting the World

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 7/28/2019

A tragic story about Facebook scammers who pose as American servicemen and prey on vulnerable women – and the tech company that does little to stop it.

Watch Now:Amazon
Segregated City
star
7.67
12 votes

#8 - Segregated City

Season 1 - Episode 16 - Aired 10/20/2019

New York's school system is among the most segregated in the country. Student activists are demanding change. A new school's chancellor seeks to deliver equal opportunities for all.

Watch Now:Amazon
Apple's Gold
star
7.65
20 votes

#9 - Apple's Gold

Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 9/1/2019

Blood diamonds. Blood smartphones. We investigate a supply chain, uncovering how the gold in your smartphone might trace back to violent paramilitary groups that extort, and sometimes kill, Colombian miners.

Watch Now:Amazon
V. Johnson & Johnson
star
7.64
11 votes

#10 - V. Johnson & Johnson

Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 10/6/2019

Johnson & Johnson insisted that its baby powder was safe. However, asbestos within the company was linked to ovarian cancer. Reporters Tiffany Hsu and Roni Caryn Rabin investigate.

Watch Now:Amazon
Fire and Water
star
7.64
11 votes

#11 - Fire and Water

Season 1 - Episode 26 - Aired 2/14/2020

How a Hong Kong Campus Became a Fiery Battlefield, from behind the front lines of the police crackdown on protesters at Hong Kong Polytechnic University last year.

Watch Now:Amazon
Fake Believe
star
7.63
16 votes

#12 - Fake Believe

Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 11/24/2019

Over several months, “The Weekly” embedded with a team of creative young engineers developing the perfect deepfake — not to manipulate markets or game an election, but to warn the public about the dangers of technology meant to dupe them. The team picked one of the internet’s most recognizable personalities, the comedian and podcaster Joe Rogan, who unwittingly provided the inspiration for the engineers’ deepfake moonshot. Can they perfect the technology before someone else pulls off the ultimate scam? Or do they risk introducing a tool that can forever be used to cloud the truth?

Watch Now:Amazon
Guilty By Machine
star
7.63
16 votes

#13 - Guilty By Machine

Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 11/3/2019

On the program: police breathalyzers. The Weekly investigates one of the most widely used forensic tools in law enforcement.

Watch Now:Amazon
Baby Constantin
star
7.63
16 votes

#14 - Baby Constantin

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 6/16/2019

The separation of children from their families at the border remains among the most controversial practices of the Trump administration. The Weekly uncovers the untold story of Baby Constantin, who spent most of his first 10 months of life separated from his parents by the American government.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Education of T.M. Landry
star
7.63
32 votes

#15 - The Education of T.M. Landry

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 6/2/2019

A tiny school in rural Louisiana attracted national attention for sending students to the Ivy League. But a New York Times investigation shows that the viral success stories were full of deception, and that the truth was much darker.

Watch Now:Amazon
El Chapo's Son: The Siege of Culiacán
star
7.60
15 votes

#16 - El Chapo's Son: The Siege of Culiacán

Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 11/17/2019

When Mexican forces came to arrest the son of the notorious drug lord, "El Chapo", it was the spark that ignited all-out war on the streets of Culiacán. Using never-before-seen video, and exclusive accounts from eyewitnesses, The Weekly investigates how the Sinaloa Drug Cartel took on the Mexican army, and won.

Watch Now:Amazon
Balaraba
star
7.54
13 votes

#17 - Balaraba

Season 1 - Episode 29 - Aired 3/13/2020

Meet the Woman Who Outsmarted Boko Haram: Kidnapped and ordered to carry out suicide bombings, Balaraba intentionally botched her missions, buying time before her dramatic rescue.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Myth of the Medallion
star
7.53
30 votes

#18 - The Myth of the Medallion

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 6/9/2019

New York City taxi drivers have been pushed to bankruptcy, foreclosure - even suicide. A yearlong investigation into the collapse of the taxi medallion industry reveals how the system was rigged against the drivers, and who profited from it.

Watch Now:Amazon
Rudy! Rudy?
star
7.47
19 votes

#19 - Rudy! Rudy?

Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 10/13/2019

After 9/11, he was a national hero: America's Mayor. Now his back-channel work in Ukraine has helped spark an impeachment process that may forever tarnish both him and his client, President Trump. What happened to Rudy Giuliani?

Watch Now:Amazon
My Blood
star
7.42
12 votes

#20 - My Blood

Season 1 - Episode 24 - Aired 1/12/2020

A 16-year old girl is the youngest person to receive an experimental treatment that could be the first genetic cure for a common disease. If it works, millions of people around the world could benefit.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Memo
star
7.38
26 votes

#21 - The Memo

Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 8/18/2019

An investigation into an overlooked moment when top U.S. law enforcement officials had an opportunity to take on the drugmaker that was planting the seeds for the opioid crisis -- but instead chose a less aggressive path.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Endorsement
star
7.38
16 votes

#22 - The Endorsement

Season 1 - Episode 25 - Aired 1/19/2020

For more than a century, The New York Times editorial board has endorsed a presidential candidate every four years. And now, for the first time, their decision-making process will be filmed & revealed to the public in this exclusive episode of The Weekly.

Watch Now:Amazon
Open Arms
star
7.31
13 votes

#23 - Open Arms

Season 1 - Episode 30 - Aired 3/20/2020

American arms manufacturers are supplying bombs in a war that is considered the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Schools, hospitals and mosques are often targets. Why does the U.S. allow this? The Trump administration believes it creates jobs.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Rabbit Hole
star
7.18
22 votes

#24 - The Rabbit Hole

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 8/11/2019

An examination of the role YouTube played a role in the election of a right-wing president in Brazil. If YouTube can influence a huge country's trajectory, what else can YouTube do?

Watch Now:Amazon
The Promise
star
7.18
11 votes

#25 - The Promise

Season 1 - Episode 27 - Aired 2/21/2020

Decades after children endured inhumane treatment at a notorious state institution, some of them were abused again at a group home for adults.

Watch Now:Amazon