The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper — Season 3
One whole hour. One whole story. Every week.
About this season
A collection of unique and immersive single subject, one-hour episodes from CNN’s longform storytelling team. The recurring weekly series showcases character-driven stories, special interviews, profiles, and investigative deep dives featuring reporting from CNN’s anchors and correspondents.
Episodes (23)
1. K-Pop: A Star Is Made
Aired 5 January 2025
CNN Senior Investigative Correspondent Kyung Lah presents an in-depth look at the unusual star-making K-Pop industry in South Korea.
2. L.A. Burning
Aired 12 January 2025
CNN Anchor Anderson Cooper returns with a timely special report on the wildfires ravaging Los Angeles County.
3. Operation Panda
Aired 26 January 2025
Senior National Correspondent David Culverhas exclusive special access to the return of giant pandas to America, an important symbol of conservation and friendship between the United States and China.
4. Flight Risk
Aired 2 February 2025
The collision near Washington DC is the deadliest aviation disaster in the US since 2001.
5. Bill Gates
Aired 23 February 2025
CNN Anchor Anderson Cooper returns with a special one-on-one interview with Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates.
6. Adaptation Nation: A Climate Crisis Survival Guide
Aired 23 March 2025
Bill Weir explores the lessons learned and how to adapt to a changing climate.
7. Fentanyl in America: A Way Out
Aired 30 March 2025
Kate Bolduan reports on America's opioid overdose epidemic, speaking with EMTs, physicians and people struggling with addiction. As the crisis enters its "third wave," she examines efforts to find new solutions.
8. MisinfoNation: Extreme America
Aired 13 April 2025
Donie O’Sullivan marks 30 years since the Oklahoma City bombing by exploring how technology and social media fuel modern far-right extremism. Along the way, he encounters a newly radicalized generation justifying political violence.
9. 100 Days of Trump
Aired 27 April 2025
As President Trump approaches his first 100 days back in office, he has moved with astonishing speed to issue a record number of executive actions. Abby Phillip takes a closer look at the real-world impact of his decisions on average Americans.
10. The Wired Rainforest
Aired 4 May 2025
Nick Paton Walsh reports on the impact of the internet being introduced to the Amazon jungle's indigenous Kanamari community for the first time and how its people grapple with a technology that has transformed every part of Western life.
11. Saving Venice
Aired 11 May 2025
Erica Hill explores the future of Venice, a city threatened by rising sea levels and the more immediate threat of overwhelming tourism. She speaks with locals working to preserve the city’s traditions and address climate change.
12. The Case Against Diddy
Aired 5 July 2025
Anderson Cooper hosts a deeply reported series that goes behind the headlines and into the heart of the most important stories of our time.
13. The Idaho Murders
Aired 5 July 2025
CNN Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller uses his investigative experience to dive into the murders of four University of Idaho college students in November of 2022. The brutal killings of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin shocked the community and the world, especially since there was no known motive for the attacks. Miller examines the evidence in the case and unpacks how investigators tracked the crime to Bryan Kohberger, who had been fighting the charges for two years before finally pleading guilty this week. With unanswered questions about the case still lingering, Miller goes behind the headlines to explore the loose ends that remain.
14. Change Amplified: Live Music and the Climate Crisis
Aired 20 July 2025
Bill Weir speaks with big stars working to revolutionize the environmental impact of live music.
15. Ecuador: The Narco Superhighway
Aired 11 August 2025
David Culver goes deep inside smuggling, extortion and violence that pulls in the poor in Ecuador.
16. Sports Betting: America's Big Gamble
Aired 24 August 2025
As America's billion-dollar sports betting industry booms, Nick Watt meets with powerful executives.
17. The Simril(l)s: A Family in Black and White
Aired 21 September 2025
CNN Anchor/Senior National Correspondent Sara Sidner returns with a powerful portrait of a multi-racial Southern family that confronts and explores its painful shared history— and comes together in spite of it.
18. No Laughing Matter: Free Speech Under Attack
Aired 28 September 2025
Jake Tapper examines the events leading to Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension from ABC and the role of government and business in the decision.
19. The United States vs. Harvard
Aired 28 September 2025
Report from Harvard on how the Trump administration's crackdown on academia came to a head.
20. Bad Sports: When Fans Turn Violent
Aired 11 October 2025
As violent fan behavior escalates worldwide, Ed Lavandera speaks with sports fans, officials, and authorities to investigate.
21. The Hidden Homeless
Aired 2 November 2025
NYC's worst housing shortage serves as the backdrop for a portrait of its victims: homeless youth.
22. MisinfoNation: White Genocide
Aired 16 November 2025
Donie O'Sullivan investigates why the narrative of alleged "White genocide" in South Africa, fueled by fears of demographic change in the U.S., has gained traction among Americans, including Donald Trump; and reveals a more complex reality.
23. The Exorcists
Aired 23 November 2025