We're kicking off our 5th Season and the beloved Netflix doc series “Chef’s Table” is celebrating its 10th anniversary with the new release of “Chef’s Table: Legends,” a special four-part series spotlighting the achievements and life lessons of four extraordinary pioneers of the kitchen who have changed the food world and culture writ large.

Joining Ken on the pod for the kickoff of Top Docs Season 5, “Chef’s Table” creator, EP and director David Gelb (“Jiro Dreams of Sushi”) and cinematographer/DP Adam Bricker (“Hacks”) describe what drew them to visionaries Jamie Oliver, José Andres, Thomas Keller and Alice Waters, and how they got these much-celebrated icons to open up about their lives and careers. In addition, David and Adam engage in a bit of introspection themselves as they reflect on the incredible cinematic edible journey that “Chef’s Table” has taken over the course of the last decade. Keep the courses coming.

Hidden Gems:

David: The Fog of War, Baraka

Adam: Parts Unknown – Singapore (Season 10, Episode 1)

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

While we gear up for Season 5, we hope you enjoy this re-release from July of 2023. Since we spoke with Fisher, "Beckham" went on to win several Emmys including Best Documentary or Nonfiction Series and Outstanding Directing of a Documentary/Nonfiction Program for Fisher.

From the opening moments when David Beckham strolls through a country field wearing a beekeeper’s outfit, you know you’ll be witnessing another side to one of the world’s most famous people. In “Beckham”, a 4-part series on Netflix, director Fisher Stevens (producer of “The Cove” and “Tiger King”, and an actor on stage and screen for 40 years, most recently playing Hugo Baker on “Succession”) reveals the life and career of a man whom he says has a unique disposition: Craving love, but determinedly individualistic.

Fisher speaks with Mike about some of Beckham’s most important relationships: his father; his manager, Sir Alex Ferguson; and his wife, Victoria, aka Posh Spice. They discuss what control means for David, from his father’s early invocations of its importance, to Beckham’s midnight ramblings through his London home scrubbing surfaces and trimming the wicks of candles. And they share stories of what it means to be an American fan of soccer… er, um… football.

Our "Anatomy of a Scene: Beckham"... again, with Fisher Stevens.

Hidden Gems:

Burden of Dreams

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix

As we gear up for Season 5, please enjoy one of our favorite shows. Since we released this pod first in July of 2023, "20 Days in Mariupol" won the 2024 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

The letter “Z” seems innocent enough – until you see a Russian tank painted with that mark slowly turn its turret in your direction. For AP journalist Mstyslav Chernov, who, at the time, was covering the Ukrainian war from behind enemy lines in Mariupol, this was the moment when the Russians were closing in. As seen in his harrowing new documentary “20 Days in Mariupol”, in the period leading up to this, Mstyslav and his team had filmed graphic scenes of destruction and carnage at the hands of Russian bombs and shells. Contrary to Putin’s claims, civilians were being targeted by the Russian military and this team, the only international journalists left in the city, had managed to get the images out to the world.

Joining Ken on the podcast, Mstyslav discusses his frightful on-the-ground experience in Mariupol and the remarkable film that came out of it. How did Mstyslav find himself on the front lines of the propaganda war being waged by the Putin regime? Who was the enigmatic Vladimir, a kind of sage and protector, who ultimately led Mstyslav and his team to safety? And why does Mstyslav feel that, notwithstanding the terrible suffering documented in the film, there are also glimmers of hope?

Released by PBS Distribution, “20 Days in Mariupol” opens theatrically in NYC on July 14 and in LA and SF on July 21.

Hidden Gem:

Sans Soleil

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.