PHILLY D.A.

PBS is currently five episodes into the eight-part docu-series PHILLY D.A. (trailer here), about the first term of Philadelphia district attorney Larry Krasner. There’s no better time to catch up, as Krasner, a lifelong civil rights attorney who unexpectedly won the D.A. seat in a landslide 2017 election, faces a reelection challenge in the Democratic primary on May 18. I know that “PBS” and “municipal government” might not scream entertainment, but PHILLY D.A. is dramatic as hell—and informative, too. 

Krasner pledged to change the culture of Philly’s criminal justice system but has met resistance from his new colleagues: the prosecutors and police officers he’s spent his entire career criticizing. The filmmakers (Ted Passon, Yoni Brook, and Nicola Salazar) provide a comprehensive look at the past and present of the Philadelphia D.A.’s office, taking time to profile the many people that make city government run. It’s like watching a chemical reaction in real time, a practical experiment in how change in government can happen.

—Nolan Russell, Executive Assistant