The 50 Year Argument to Air September 29th on HBO

HBO will be airing The 50 Year Argument on Monday, September 29th at 9:00. Directed by Oscar winner Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street) and David Tedeschi (The Shield), the documentary focuses on The New York Review of Books, including founding editor Robert Silvers and longtime partner Barbara Epstein, who passed away in 2006. The duo had worked together for 43 years when Epstein succumbed to lung cancer at the age of 77.

The 50 Year Argument is said to weave together archival material, original verite footage, contributor interviews, and portraits by photographer Brigitte Lancombe in order to illustrate the depth and scope of the paper. The documentary will feature interviews with the likes of Noah Chomsky, Jennifer Homans, and Yasmine El Rashidi, with the history of the establishment of the paper, how its writers approached the larger issues they covered, and the debate that its most memorable articles inspired being highlighted throughout.

In addition to its initial airing, The 50 Year Argument will run September 29th (3:45 a.m.), October 2nd (8:00 a.m., 3:15 p.m.), October 5th (1:45 p.m.), October 8th (4:00 p.m., 12:35 a.m.), and October 11th (9:45 a.m.) on HBO, as well as October 1st (8:15 p.m.), October 9th (2:00 p.m.), October 14th (11:00 p.m.), and October 19th (10:50 a.m.) on HBO2.

You can check out a preview for The 50 Year Argument below. The film, which is Scorsese’s third HBO documentary following Public Speaking and George Harrison: Living in a Material World, was recently screened at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Will you be watching The 50 Year Argument? Do you think we’ll learn anything unexpected about The New York Review of Books thanks to the film? What other subjects would you like to see HBO Documentaries cover?