The New York Times Presents documentary series is digging into Elon Musk’s claims about Tesla’s self-driving technology.
“Elon Musk’s Crash Course,” a new installment in the series that airs on FX, will investigate the effects of Musk’s aspirations for self-driving technology and Tesla’s Autopilot system, FX announced on Monday. The documentary will probe “how Autopilot has been a factor in several deaths and dozens of other accidents that Tesla has not publicly acknowledged,” according to the network, and will feature interviews with former Tesla employees as well as examine “pressure Elon Musk [has] put on government officials to quash investigations.”
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The episode will air on May 20 at 10 p.m. both on FX and on Hulu.
Directed and produced by Emma Schwartz, who has previously worked on multiple investigative Frontline titles for PBS, “Elon Musk’s Crash Course” will also highlight reporting by New York Times technology correspondent Cade Metz and auto industry reporter Neal Boudette. The film is executive produced by Ken Druckerman, Banks Tarver, Mary Robertson, Jason Stallman, Sam Dolnick, Stephanie Preiss and New York Times Presents showrunner Esther Dere. Liz Day is serving as supervising producer, while Rachel Abrams is senior producer.
New York Times Presents, which garnered widespread attention with its 2021 Framing Britney Spears documentary tackling the pop superstar’s conservatorship and follow-up Controlling Britney Spears, has previously tackled Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction at the 2004 Super Bowl, the “Collab Crib” influencer community and the death of Breonna Taylor.
The New York Times Presents producing team is also behind the FX and Hulu docuseries The Weekly, which takes a deeper look at New York Times headlines and is an offshoot of the Times podcast The Daily. The New York Times Presents is produced by both the Times and Left/Right (Showtime’s The Circus, several episodes of Frontline).
