Episode
60 Minutes: Voting During the Pandemic, The Wild West of Testing, Probiotics
Overview
Americans will vote for president in just a few months, and the pandemic has forced election officials to explore ways to keep the public safe at the polls and offer alternatives to in-person voting. As Bill Whitaker reports, so far, it’s not been an easy task; produced by Marc Lieberman and Ali Rawaf. Sharyn Alfonsi shares the results of a three-month investigation that revealed federal officials failed to immediately stop the distribution of many COVID-19 antibody tests they already knew were flawed, leading to inaccurate data about the spread of the virus; produced by Oriana Zill de Granados. Consumers spend tens of billions of dollars on probiotics that promise to improve health. Dr. Jon LaPook takes a look at the so-called “good bacteria” and whether all the hype is true; produced by Howard L. Rosenberg and Julie Holstein.
Details
- Series
- 60 Minutes
- Season
- Season 52
- Episode
- Episode 39
- Air date
- 2020-06-28
- Runtime
- 44 min
Episode context
Voting During the Pandemic, The Wild West of Testing, Probiotics is Episode 39 in Season 52 of 60 Minutes. It aired on 2020-06-28. The runtime is 44 min.
Previous / Next
Episode 38: The Chief, The Opioid Playbook
Lesley Stahl interviews Minneapolis’ Police Chief Medaria Arradondo as the department still reels from the killing of George Floyd; produced by Sarah Koch. A Bill Whitaker double-length segment investigates pharmaceutical companies’ playbooks to push opioids, and how law enforcement has scrambled to hold their executives accountable for fueling the epidemic; produced by Sam Hornblower.
Episode 40: The Children of Flint, A Different Kind of Vision, Rafa
Five years after the Flint water crisis, there are still long lines for water and new evidence of the long-term health impact on the city’s children, Sharyn Alfonsi reports; produced by Guy Campanile. Leslie Stahl revisits the remarkable story of architect Chris Downey, who lost his sight but found a way to keep working, and believes blindness has made him a better architect; produced by Shari Finkelstein. The world’s #1 tennis player, Rafael Nadal, takes Jon Wertheim back to his hometown on the beautiful Spanish island of Mallorca. But it’s not a vacation, as the court star known as “Rafa” to his fans, practices intensely every morning; produced by Nathalie Sommer.
More episodes from this season
Episode 37: The College Test, Exhume the Truth, Three Empty Chairs
Universities ready for fall amid coronavirus. Then, uncovering the Greenwood Massacre, nearly a century later. And, the case backlog mounts for a federal appeals board.
Episode 41: 298 Counts of Murder, The Monuments, West Side Story
Six years ago, a missile brought down Malaysia Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine, killing 298 on board. Next month, four men, three of them Russian, go on trial in a Dutch courtroom. Scott Pelley investigates the evidence and speaks to victims’ relatives and prosecutors; produced by Henry Schuster. Public monuments to the Confederacy have been generating controversy and sometimes violence over what critics consider their racist symbolism. Should they stay or should they be removed? Anderson Cooper examines the national debate; produced by Keith Sharman and Erin Horan. 60 Minutes gets unprecedented access to rehearsals of the modernized vision of an American musical theater classic, West Side Story. Bill Whitaker speaks to the directors and cast; produced by Ruth Streeter.
Episode 36: 60 Minutes Presents: The Lost Music
More than 6 million people, most of them Jews, died in the Holocaust. The music they wrote as a temporary escape, however, did not, thanks in part to the efforts of an Italian composer and pianist.
Episode 42: Nadia, A Populist Movement, The Wright Way
Scott Pelley tells the story of a Yazidi woman who survived a genocide. He first met her five years ago in a refugee camp, shortly after she narrowly escaped from ISIS. That woman, Nadia Murad, went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize last year for her efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war; produced by Rachael Morehouse. Hungary’s populist government is spending billions to encourage women to have more children to solve its demographic problem. At the same time, it has built fences to keep immigrants out. Critics of the right wing government are outraged, Jon Wertheim reports; produced by Michael Gavshon. Bill Whitaker profiles the Wright family of Southern Utah, a clan sporting nine professional cowboys with five world rodeo titles among them, who live a lifestyle straight out of the old west; produced by Nichole Marks.
Episode 35: Nation in Crisis, A Long Siege, Failure to Protect
Sherrilyn Ifill on why George Floyd's death is a tipping point and how America can move forward; Then, San Antonio businesses continue reopening as Texas sees rise in coronavirus cases; And, Oklahoma child abuse law disproportionately penalizes women.
Episode 43: Genetic Revolution, The Youngest Refugees, Vision of Music
Dr. Jon LaPook reports about a successful clinical trial for a gene therapy for sickle cell anemia that may be a cure for the painful, chronic and often deadly disease, produced by Denise Schrier Cetta and Megan Kelty. Lesley Stahl reports from Jordan on how the creators of the legendary children’s show Sesame Street have joined forces with the International Rescue Committee to address the needs of Syrian child refugees by bringing a new gang of Muppets to the Middle East, produced by Shari Finkelstein. Sharyn Alfonsi profiles the blind and truly gifted emerging jazz pianist, Matthew Whitaker, who's wowing audiences all over the world at just 18 years old and continuing to develop his prodigious talent, produced by Katy Textor, Kate Morris and Michael Karzis. These previously broadcast segments have been updated for summer viewing.
Episode 34: The Promise of Plasma, Spilling Across the Border, Perseverance
Until new drugs are found to treat COVID-19, one of the more effective treatments has been plasma therapy. Bill Whitaker reports on how doctors are taking the blood plasma of COVID-19 survivors, and the virus-fighting antibodies in it, to create the life-saving therapy; produced by Michael Karzis, Julie Holstein and Howard L. Rosenberg. Lesley Stahl reports on raw sewage that is entering Southern California’s coast lands and waters from Tijuana, Mexico, just over the border; produced by Shachar Bar-On and Natalie Peel. In the most ambitious Mars rover mission yet, NASA hopes to launch Perseverance this summer to find evidence of ancient life on the “Red Planet,” Anderson Cooper reports; Andy Court produces.
Episode 44: The Emerald Triangle, The Columbus Letters, Built By Angels
Sharyn Alfonsi talks to cannabis producers in California three years after the state legalized adult use who are not seeing the legal market develop as predicted and say regulations and a robust black market are to blame, produced by Guy Campanile. Jon Wertheim reports on a letter written by Christopher Columbus describing his discovery of the Americas which became the world’s first best-seller when it was printed, distributed throughout Europe more than 500 years ago. Now the surviving copies are so rare and valuable that they’re being stolen and replaced with forgeries. Katherine Davis is the producer. Scott Pelley tells the remarkable story of the Ethiopian Orthodox Christmas vigil and the pilgrims that have been trekking to this mysterious holy site for centuries to visit its rock-hewn churches carved out of the African plateau, produced by Nicole Young. These previously broadcast segments have been updated for summer viewing.
Episode 33: Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Whistleblower, The Reckoning
Fed Chair Jerome Powell tells Scott Pelley what the government and the Federal Reserve need to do to weather the unprecedented economic crisis precipitated by the pandemic; produced by Henry Schuster. A top government virologist says he was removed from his crucial role leading a unit fighting the pandemic because he spoke out against the administration’s advocacy of a drug unproven to help COVID patients. Norah O’Donnell talks to whistle-blower Rick Bright in his first television interview; produced by Keith Sharman, Rome Hartman and Adam Verdugo. Jon Wertheim takes a look at some of the possible changes spurred by the coronavirus pandemic’s profound effect on society; produced by Michael Gavshon.
Episode 45: Know My Name, Giant Panda
Bill Whitaker presents a new double-length segment where Chanel Miller, the sexual assault victim previously known as “Emily Doe,” whose victim impact statement was read by millions before the modern #MeToo movement caught fire, tells her story for the first time. She recounts her ordeal after she was assaulted by a Stanford athlete and describes a judicial process she says victimized her all over again, produced by Graham Messick and Jack Weingart. Scott Pelley reports on the partnership between China and America’s Smithsonian National Zoo that has brought the giant panda back from near extinction. This previously broadcast segment, produced by Nicole Young, has been updated for summer viewing.