Rolling Stone Magazine: Stories From the Edge chronicles the last 50 years of American music, politics and popular culture through the story of the magazine that understood rock ‘n’ roll was more than music - it was a cultural force that reshaped America.
Drawing on previously unheard recordings provided by some of Rolling Stone’s greatest writers, as well as original interviews, rare photos and footage, the series is an inside look at how Rolling Stone helped shape the zeitgeist and has endured for a half century.
The voice of Rolling Stone is narrated by Jeff Daniels (The Martian, The Newsroom).
EPISODE ONE
Jann and Jane Wenner, along with Ralph Gleason, capture the hippy zeitgeist in the pages of their new counterculture magazine, Rolling Stone. The magazine chronicles the drug busts of the Grateful Dead, the Groupies scene and the rise of Ike and Tina Turner. Jann Wenner scores a legendary interview with John Lennon at a pivotal moment for The Beatles.
EPISODE TWO
As Rolling Stone plunges into politics, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson and photographer Annie Leibovitz cover the tumultuous 1972 Presidential Election.
EPISODE THREE
Rolling Stone’s investigative team scoops the rest of the publishing world with its revelatory story about the kidnapping of heiress Patty Hearst. The music world reels as the Sex Pistols take the spotlight and tragedy befalls John Lennon.
EPISODE FOUR
Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone struggle to contend with their commercial success as the punk ethos of The Clash and Talking Heads take over the vanguard of rock ‘n’ roll. Hunter Thompson strikes again with a story of wild 1980s excess in Palm Beach.
EPISODE FIVE
Ice-T and his band, Body Count, polarize 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.
EPISODE SIX
A shocking Rolling Stone exposé 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.