EPISODE PREMIERES SUNDAY, MAY 12 AT 8PM ET/PT
NEW YORK, NY – (May 6, 2024) – The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper, a CNN Original, returns with immersive reporting on transgender student athletes, a community finding themselves at the center of a culture war. “The Playing Field: The Battle Over Transgender Athletes” premieres Sunday, May 12 at 8pm ET/PT on CNN.
At least 24 states in the US have already passed some form of ban on trans student athletes. “The Playing Field: The Battle Over Transgender Athletes” takes a deep look at the stories of those targeted by this legislation, following them for more than a year. The episode follows the emotional journey of a trans high school softball player, who advocates for her right to play on her school’s girls’ softball team all the way to the Ohio State Senate. It also features the story of a trans college swimmer in New Jersey hoping to successfully petition the NCAA to allow her to switch from competing on the men’s team to the women’s team.
“The Playing Field” also features reporting from inside the annual meeting of an advocacy group calling for a ban on transgender women in women’s sports divisions, arguing that transgender athletes have an unfair competitive advantage. Although a 2017 Sports Medicine study concluded there is “no direct or consistent research” showing that transgender people have an athletic advantage, psychologists, medical doctors, former and current athletes gather to argue otherwise.
The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper is executive produced by Susan Chun.
The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper will stream live for pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN connected TV and mobile apps on Sunday, May 12. “The Playing Field: The Battle Over Transgender Athletes” will also be available on demand beginning Monday, May 13 to pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN connected TV and mobile apps, and Cable Operator Platforms. Past episodes of The Whole Story are available to stream on demand now on Max.
The Whole Story is also available as a CNN Audio showcast. Visit CNN.com/audio or listen wherever you get your podcasts.
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About CNN Originals
The CNN Originals group develops, produces and acquires original, long-form unscripted programming for CNN Worldwide. Amy Entelis, executive vice president of Talent, CNN Originals and creative development, oversees the award-winning CNN Originals portfolio that includes the following premium content brands: CNN Original Series, CNN Films, CNN Presents,
and the newly formed CNN Studios, an internal production studio which creates long-form programming for CNN’s global platforms. Since 2012, the team has overseen and executive produced more than 45 multi-part documentary series and 60 feature-length documentary films, earning more than 110 awards and 445 nominations for the cable network, including CNN Films’ first Academy Award® for Navalny, making CNN the only news organization with this distinction. Acclaimed titles include the Peabody Award winning and 13-time Emmy® Award-winning Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown; five time Emmy® nominee, Apollo 11, directed by Todd Douglas Miller; Emmy® nominated Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico; the Emmy® Award-nominated “Decades Series”: The Sixties, The Seventies, The Eighties, The Nineties, The 2000s, and The 2010s, executive produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman; The Last Movie Stars, directed by Ethan Hawke about the lives and careers of actors and humanitarians Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman; Grammy® Award nominee Little Richard: I Am Everything, directed by Lisa Cortés; The Many Lives of Martha Stewart; This is Life with Lisa Ling; Primetime Emmy® and duPont-Columbia Award-winning, RBG, directed by Betsy West and Julie Cohen; See It Loud: The History of Black Television, executive produced by LeBron James and Maverick Carter; Space Shuttle Columbia: The Final Flight in partnership with the BBC; the Producers Guild Award and three-time Emmy® Award-winning Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy; BAFTA nominee and Directors Guild Award winner, Three Identical Strangers, directed by Tim Wardle; and the five-time Emmy® Award-winning United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell; The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper; and Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?. CNN Originals can be seen on CNN, the CNN Original Hub on Max and discovery+, and for pay TV subscription via CNN.com, CNN apps and cable operator platforms.
About Warner Bros. Discovery
Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD) is a leading global media and entertainment company that creates and distributes the world’s most differentiated and complete portfolio of content and brands across television, film and streaming. Available in more than 220 countries and territories and 50 languages, Warner Bros. Discovery inspires, informs and entertains audiences worldwide through its iconic brands and products including: Discovery Channel, discovery+, CNN, DC, Eurosport, HBO, HGTV, Food Network, OWN, Investigation Discovery, TLC, Magnolia Network, TNT, TBS, truTV, Travel Channel, Max, MotorTrend, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Warner Bros. Film Group, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Games, New Line Cinema, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies, Discovery en Español, Hogar de HGTV and others. For more information, please visit http://www.wbd.com.
Press Contacts
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