60 Minutes
Scourge of Our Time | The Trustbuster | Inside the Archives
TV Flash files “Scourge of Our Time | The Trustbuster | Inside the Archives” as hour 706 of 767 in the TV Flash guide — 60 Minutes (1968–present) on CBS, season 57, episode 2, aired 2024-09-22, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S57E02: listed hour 706 of 767 in the 60 Minutes guide, hour 2 of 31 in season 57. It aired 2024-09-22 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “The Prosecution of Jan. 6 | Danger in the South China Sea | Dua Lipa” (S57E01). Next is “After the Hurricane | Vladimir Kara-Murza | Welcome to the W | The Mezcaleros” (S57E03). Broadcast log — titles and dates, not a plot bible.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Scourge of Our Time – The synthetic opioid fentanyl was designed to help patients in unbearable pain. But after making its way from hospitals to communities in every corner of the country, it has ignited the worst drug crisis in U.S. history, killing more than 70,000 Americans last year alone. Bill Whitaker investigates the root causes, from prescription opioids peddled by some of America's largest drug companies to the Mexican cartels' takeover of the illicit fentanyl market, and questions top U.S. officials about what's being done to stem the deadly tide. The Trustbuster – Lesley Stahl interviews the youngest-ever chair of the Federal Trade Commission, Lina Khan. The powerful and polarizing trustbuster discusses her determination to enforce antitrust policies as part of the Biden administration's breaking away from 40 years of a hands-off approach. Inside the Archives – After former President Donald Trump and then-Vice President Biden held onto documents that should have been turned over to the National Archives, the small federal agency that is supposed to safeguard America's past was thrust into the national spotlight. 60 MINUTES spent several months inside the Archives, where Norah O'Donnell was granted rare access not just to the nation's founding documents, but restricted vaults and priceless artifacts, including Revolutionary War-era oaths of allegiance signed by George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, Adolf Hitler's will and President Nixon's resignation letter. O'Donnell also spoke to the recordkeepers responsible for preserving presidential papers about why that mission is so vital. The story covers the Archives' past, present and also contains some news about a major change in its future: the Emancipation Proclamation and 19th Amendment will go on permanent display in the Archives' Rotunda in Washington in 2026, joining the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights in time for America's 250th birthday. Keith Sharman and Roxanne Feitel are the producers.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Scourge of Our Time | The Trustbuster | Inside the Archives sit in the 60 Minutes guide?
S57E02 is listed hour 706 of 767 — hour 2 of 31 in season 57, season 57 episode 2.
When did 60 Minutes S57E02 air?
Scourge of Our Time | The Trustbuster | Inside the Archives aired 2024-09-22 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Is 1980s 60 Minutes different from today's?
The grammar is the same: multi-segment hour, stopwatch motif, investigations plus profiles. In the 1980s it frequently outrated sitcoms — proof news could dominate prime time.
In the series
Why this series still plays
The template of TV newsmagazine power — for the craft of the package and the history of broadcast investigation. Hewitt's stopwatch, Wallace's ambush, Safer and Bradley and Rooney's endnotes: Sunday night investigative theater that outrated sitcoms. Appointment news before the infinite scroll. Tick, tick, tick.
Tick, tick, tick — not a theme song, a weapon. CBS's 60 Minutes, Don Hewitt's stopwatch since 1968, was an 1980s Nielsen bully that outrated sitcoms on Sunday night: investigative pieces, profiles, commentator segments, correspondent star power. Mike Wallace, Morley Safer, Harry Reasoner, Ed Bradley, Diane Sawyer, Andy Rooney's endnotes. **Ambush interviews and gotcha lore made Wallace a fearsome brand.** The museum guard wants the package as civic virtue. The flash is the ambush. Appointment news before the…
Filed against
- Mike Wallace as Correspondent
Mike Wallace’s ambush made 60 Minutes Sunday-night investigative theater that outrated sitcoms — Hewitt’s stopwatch, Safer and Bradley and Rooney’s endnotes, 1960s-into-1980s newsmagazine power. Appointment news before the internet stole…
- Morley Safer as Correspondent
Morley Safer’s packages helped 60 Minutes outrate sitcoms on Sunday night — Hewitt’s stopwatch, Wallace’s ambush, Bradley and Rooney’s endnotes, 1960s-into-1980s newsmagazine power. Appointment news before the internet stole the clock. TV…
- Harry Reasoner as Correspondent
Harry Reasoner was a 60 Minutes correspondent when the stopwatch became civic theater — Hewitt's newsmagazine power, Wallace ambush, Safer and Bradley and Rooney's endnotes, Sunday night investigation that outrated sitcoms. Appointment…
- Ed Bradley as Correspondent
Ed Bradley made 60 Minutes correspondent craft look like Sunday-night theater — Hewitt's stopwatch, investigative packages that outrated sitcoms, and a presence that treated the story as a public square. Appointment news before the…
- Diane Sawyer as Correspondent
Diane Sawyer worked 60 Minutes as correspondent steel — Hewitt’s stopwatch, Wallace’s ambush, Safer and Bradley and Rooney’s endnotes, Sunday-night investigative theater that outrated sitcoms. Template of TV newsmagazine power. TV Flash…
Also in season 57
- S57E01 The Prosecution of Jan. 6 | Danger in the South China Sea | Dua Lipa
- S57E03 After the Hurricane | Vladimir Kara-Murza | Welcome to the W | The Mezcaleros
- S57E04 The 2024 Presidential Ticket | Belief in the Ballot
- S57E05 Pennsylvania Counts | The Vatican's Orphans | Ballmer's Ballgame
- S57E06 Relief, N.C. | Navalny | The Swingiest County | The Cap Arcona
- S57E07 Deportation | Sanctions | Surfmen