Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge

In its heyday, Rolling Stone was youth culture’s most important magazine because it was one of the only outlets to take it seriously, one of the only places that understood how much sway musicians could have, not just on their audiences, but on society as a whole. Part 1 captures this well, as it covers the magazine’s creation as just another one of the “Stories From the Edge.” Some of the stories are stunning, including writer Ben Fong-Torres’ encounters with Ike and Tina Turner and the depth of the relationship between the magazine and John Lennon and Yoko Ono, especially poignant in its coverage after his murder.

In Part 2 Gibney and Foster do a remarkable job of explaining the challenges that Rolling Stone faces, while still celebrating its significance. “The gossip crept in,” complains the late Hunter S. Thompson, the king of the gonzo journalism style that informed so much of the magazine’s non-music coverage. “Bon Jovi and whatever color he paints his fingernails is more important than the fact that Ronald Reagan is president.” Much to Thompson’s chagrin, Rolling Stone went from championing the counterculture to protecting its view of the mainstream. The documentary includes carping from some reporters who complain about how the magazine was slow to recognize the power of punk and hip-hop. Also to everyone’s credit, there is a lengthy discussion of the magazine’s missteps in its now-discredited story about a rape on the University of Virginia campus.

An inside look at the magazine's probing 1975 report on Patty Hearst's kidnappers, the arrival of The Sex Pistols, and John Lennon's final days.

Rolling Stone moves to New York, Elvis dies, Hunter S. Thompson covers the Pulitzer divorce case, and televangelists attack the magazine.

Ice-T and his band, Body Count, polarise America with their take on police brutality. Jann Wenner, Hunter Thompson and P.J. O'Rourke interview Bill Clinton. Rolling Stone must again come to grips with generation tumult as *NSync and Britney Spears move into the spotlight.

A shocking Rolling Stone expose takes down one of the most powerful U.S. generals in the Afghanistan War. The magazine suffers from a journalistic scandal. Political writers Janet Reitman and Matt Taibbi keep tabs on American democracy, with the rise of Trump's America, Jann Wenner's 2016 post-election interview with President Obama. And the magazine's relationship with Bob Dylan.