{"podcast":{"title":"Documentary First","slug":"documentary-first-1033526","podcast_index_feed_id":1033526,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/documentary-first/","website_url":"https://tinyurl.com/DocFirstPod","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/f3d2ce0b-222e-47a7-9438-74dd3423112f/DF-logo-circle-whitebg.jpg","author":"Documentary First | Christian Taylor","episode_count":290,"summary":"The craft and business of documentary filmmaking — from people who actually do it. Documentary First is a weekly podcast for working and aspiring documentary filmmakers who want honest, in-depth conversations about how documentaries get funded, made, and seen. Hosted by Christian Taylor — award-winning director of The Girl Who Wore Freedom (25+ international awards, distributed through Virgil Films, Swank, and Canal+) — the show draws on 270+ interviews with documentary filmmakers, editors, producers, distributors, and composers across HBO, Netflix, PBS, and the independent doc world. Past guests include Ken Burns, PBS American Masters creator Susan Lacy, Emmy and Peabody Award-winning editor Charles Olivier (HBO's The Jinx, The Redeem Team), and Emmy-nominated director Nick Bruckman (Netflix's Minted). Every week, Documentary First delivers two formats in one feed. The main show features long-form interviews exploring how filmmakers approach their craft, navigate distribution, and build sustainable careers. On alternating weeks, Documentary First: The Deep Dive takes a single insight from a recent guest conversation and goes further — drawing on psychology, philosophy, and real-w…","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/documentary-first-1033526"},"episode":{"title":"The First Generation to Live Shorter Lives Than Their Parents | Deep Dive on Ep. 276","slug":"the-first-generation-to-live-shorter-lives-than-their-parents-deep-dive-on-ep-276","published_at":"2026-04-30T10:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/documentary-first-1033526/the-first-generation-to-live-shorter-lives-than-their-parents-deep-dive-on-ep-276","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/documentary-first-1033526","url":"https://tinyurl.com/DocFirstPod","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/9249e2ec-f64f-441f-b565-fe53aede7eb2.mp3","summary":"What if the documentaries no streaming platform will buy are the ones that could save your kid's life? Today's children may be the first generation in American history to live shorter lives than their parents. That's the central argument of The 100-Year Effect, a documentary I watched at the Julian Dubuque International Film Festival the same weekend I watched two other films that turned out to be telling me the same urgent story. In this Deep Dive on Documentary First Episode 276 with Robin Canfield , host Christian Taylor unpacks what three independent documentaries ( The 100-Year Effect , Ali Eats America , and Déjà Vu ) reveal about what corporations have done to our food, our farms, and our bodies. And she makes the case that purpose-driven documentaries are doing for our culture what investigative journalism has always done for our democracy. They shine a light into the dark places. They show us where we are sick. And right now, they are fighting for survival. Anchored in Robin Canfield 's framework from his book Purpose Driven Documentaries: A Field Guide to Creating Impact , this episode features a C.S. Lewis sermon delivered in Oxford in June 1941, a Bourdain-style culinary road trip born in a hospital room at Walter Reed, and an argument for why what we choose to watch is now a civic act. In this episode, Christian explores: Why today's children may be the first generation in American history to live shorter lives than their parents What three independent documentaries have in common, and what they're trying to wake us up to How childhood radiation treatment connects to Ali Allouche's second cancer diagnosis at 17 How Robin Canfield's framework of purpose-driven documentary anchors all three films Why investigative journalism and purpose-driven documentary se…","meta_description":"What if the documentaries no streaming platform will buy are the ones that could save your kid's life? Today's children may be the first generation in Ame…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":933,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/documentary-first-1033526/episodes/the-first-generation-to-live-shorter-lives-than-their-parents-deep-dive-on-ep-276/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/documentary-first-1033526/the-first-generation-to-live-shorter-lives-than-their-parents-deep-dive-on-ep-276.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}