Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge

The 50-year history and legacy of Rolling Stone magazine is covered in this six-episode documentary miniseries directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney and Blair Foster, and narrated by Jeff Daniels. "It's not just about the music but also the things and the attitudes that the music embraces," reads the letter from the editor in the 1967 debut issue of the magazine, founded by Jann Wenner and music journalist Ralph J. Gleason. To some extent that statement also describes this series, which offers a survey of music culture over the past half-century along with a recounting of the magazine's foray into serious journalism, from the gonzo approach of Hunter S. Thompson to coverage of the war in Iraq. Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge is not a critical study of the magazine but rather a self-congratulatory profile of its history, milestones, and place in popular culture, although it does confront the magazine's biggest journalistic failure: a 2014 investigative feature about a gang rape at the University of Virginia that turned out to be fabricated and was ultimately retracted. Otherwise, this is an intermittently entertaining romp through American music culture, from rock to punk, rap, and hip hop, from the perspective of the reporters and editors of Rolling Stone, with a few comments from profiled subjects, including Bruce Springsteen and Ice-T. Extras include deleted scenes with extended interviews. A strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (S. Axmaker)