In the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, America Divided, the EPIX Original limited docu-series executive produced by Norman Lear, Shonda Rhimes and Common, features narratives around inequality in education, housing, healthcare, labor, criminal justice and the political system – all woven into an eight-story, five-part series. The show follows high-profile correspondents as they explore aspects of inequality related to their own biographies.
• “The System” – Policing and Mass Incarceration: Oscar®-winning hip-hop artist Common returns to his hometown of Chicago — ground zero for disparities in the criminal justice system.
• “Something in the Water” – The Flint Water Crisis: Actress Rosario Dawson travels to Flint, Michigan to investigate the man-made disaster behind the city’s water crisis.
• “Out of Reach” – The Lives of Undocumented Immigrants: Emmy®– and Golden Globe®-winning actress America Ferrera travels to Texas, where migrants who have entered the country illegally are the focus of hostility, and where even US-born children are denied basic rights.
• “Democracy For Sale” – Money in Politics & Voting Rights: Actor and comedian Zach Galifianakis investigates the political landscape in his home state of North Carolina and considers how it’s emblematic of the country’s deepening political divide during the 2016 campaign.
• “A House Divided” – The Struggle for Housing in New York City: Legendary TV producer Norman Lear investigates gentrification and displacement in a city of people with no homes and homes with no people. He then he goes undercover to expose racial discrimination in housing.
Norman Lear
• “Home Economics” – Domestic Workers: Golden Globe®-winning comedic actress and producer Amy Poehler reports on the complex challenges faced by domestic workers who maintain an intimate relationship with the families that employ them while also struggling for better conditions.
• “The Epidemic” – Addiction and Deindustrialization: Actor and activist Peter Sarsgaard explores the addiction crisis ravaging a heartland beset by unemployment and the shuttering of America’s factories.
Peter Sarsgaard
• “The Class Divide” – The Battle to Fix Inequality in Education: “Grey’s Anatomy” star and former teacher Jesse Williams goes back to the classroom, studies the battle to fix inequality in education and learns of a daunting school-to-prison pipeline.
Jesse Williams
America Divided was created by Solly Granatstein, Lucian Read and Richard Rowley.
Premieres September 30, 2016
