EDITORIAL STAFF
Victor Couto
Victor Couto is the production manager and former associate producer at Retro Report. He has produced a short documentary film and written for Newsday. Victor graduated from Purchase College with a B.A. in Journalism.

Video
Enemies of the People: Trump and the Political Press (Media Mistakes Excerpt)
Top national political reporters admit mistakes in their reporting on the 2016 election campaign.
politicsmedia-criticism
Matt Spolar
Jennifer Latham
Andrew Mayz
Bret Sigler
Susie Banikarim
Bret Sigler
Susie Banikarim
Victor Couto
Karen M. Sughrue
Video
Enemies of the People: Trump and the Political Press (CNN's Missteps Excerpt)
CEO Jeff Zucker acknowledges missteps in CNN’s 2016 campaign coverage, when many media outlets covered Donald Trump’s campaign as a spectacle that produced higher ratings.
politicsmedia-criticism
Matt Spolar
Jennifer Latham
Andrew Mayz
Bret Sigler
Susie Banikarim
Bret Sigler
Susie Banikarim
Victor Couto
Karen M. Sughrue
Video
Enemies of the People: Trump and the Political Press (False Equivalency Excerpt)
A look at how the journalistic instinct for “balanced” reporting on Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in 2016 played out in particular when it came to the Clinton email investigation.
politicsmedia-criticism
Matt Spolar
Jennifer Latham
Andrew Mayz
Bret Sigler
Susie Banikarim
Bret Sigler
Susie Banikarim
Victor Couto
Karen M. Sughrue
Video
Enemies of the People: Trump and the Political Press (Historical Excerpt)
Tensions between the press and presidents, charges of liberal media bias and the decline in public trust in journalism has been in existence for decades.
media-criticismpolitics
Matt Spolar
Jennifer Latham
Andrew Mayz
Bret Sigler
Susie Banikarim
Bret Sigler
Susie Banikarim
Victor Couto
Karen M. Sughrue
Video
Enemies of the People: Trump and the Political Press (Trailer)
Journalists who covered the 2016 presidential campaign now offer a candid analysis of their role in President Trump’s rise to power.
Matt Spolar
Jennifer Latham
Andrew Mayz
Bret Sigler
Susie Banikarim
Bret Sigler
Susie Banikarim
Victor Couto
Karen M. Sughrue
Video
Political Debates: What the Unforgettable Moments Reveal
High-stakes debates put candidates in the hot seat. But are they helpful to voters?
politics
Heru Muharrar
Sandrine Isambert
Hal Hansen
Erik German
Meral Agish
Victor Couto
Video
Coronavirus Has a Playlist. Songs About Disease Go Way Back.
Coronavirus songwriting has gone as global as the pandemic itself, creating a new genre called pandemic pop. It’s a tradition with a long history.
covid-19popular-culture
Cullen Golden
Victor Couto
Karen M. Sughrue
Mini-doc
How Biden vs. Sanders Echoes a 1964 Republican Party Split
Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden are the icons of an ideological split among today’s Democrats, echoing a similar split in the Republican party of 1964.
politics
Brian Kamerzel
Heru Muharrar
Matt Spolar
Sianne Garlick
Victor Couto
Karen M. Sughrue
Video
Meatless Burgers Are on Trend. Eating to Save the World Has a Long History.
Plant-based meats may be high tech, but the ideas behind them have been around for decades.
popular-cultureenvironment
Anne Checler
Jill Rosenbaum
Sandra McDaniel
Victor Couto
Video
Do Whistleblower Protections Work? Ask This One.
A whistleblower case from 2010 reveals the peril faced by
whistleblowers seeking to expose wrongdoing.
law-policypolitics
Peter Klein
Heru Muharrar
Kit R. Roane
Victor Couto
Video
Trump’s Immigration Rhetoric Echoes a Bitter Fight from the 90s
Today's immigration policies echo an anti-immigration movement 25 years ago in California.
law-policyimmigration
Anne Checler
Scott Michels
Victor Couto
Video
The Surprising Legacy of the Boy in the Bubble
Newborns today are tested for genetic and immune disorders that might not be apparent at birth. The tests evolved from the treatment of a patient with a rare diagnosis who became known as “the Boy in the Bubble.”
popular-culturemedicine
Jeff Bernier
Kit R. Roane
Victor Couto
Video
LSD Gets Another Look
LSD has long been associated with 1960s counterculture. Today, psychedelic drugs are back in the lab, providing hope for people who suffer from anxiety, depression and addiction.
popular-culturemedicine
Anne Checler
Joshua Fisher
Victor Couto
Meral Agish
Video
Israel Survived an Early Challenge With War Planes Smuggled by U.S. Vets
In 1948, World War II aviators risked their lives in a secret operation to smuggle weapons and planes to the Israeli military.
militarypolitics
Boaz Dvir
Anne Checler
Boaz Dvir
Barbara Dury
Victor Couto
Video
Old Attitudes on Addiction Are Changing. So Are Treatments.
Overdose deaths are skyrocketing, forcing researchers to find new ways to think about and treat addiction.
science-technologymedicine
Anne Checler
Jill Rosenbaum
Barbara Dury
Victor Couto
Video
Conspiracy Theories and Fake News from JFK to Pizzagate
Retro Report explores decades of conspiracy theories -- from the John F. Kennedy assassination to Pizzagate -- and what they can tell us about how we view the world today.
popular-culture
Sandrine Isambert
Miriam Weintraub
Jennifer Oko
Victor Couto
Video
Upheaval at the 1860 Democratic Convention: What Happened When a Party Split
Some issues are too fundamental for a party to withstand, and the consequences can last for a generation.
Politics
Brian Kamerzel
Matt Spolar
Victor Couto
Video
Lessons from the 2004 Democratic Convention: Obama's Speech
Sometimes the most important speech at the convention isn't delivered by the nominee.
politics
Brian Kamerzel
Matt Spolar
Victor Couto
Video
Lessons from the 1924 Democratic Convention: An Immigration Debate's Impact
Immigration has been a defining issue in a campaign before, and the consequences transformed the Democratic Party.
immigrationpolitics
Amy Lee Hochman
Matt Spolar
Victor Couto
Video
Lessons from the 1912 Republican Convention: Birth of the Modern Primary
The animosity between William Howard Taft and Theodore Roosevelt changed the primary process forever.
politics
Amy Lee Hochman
Matt Spolar
Victor Couto
Video
Lessons from the 1912 Republican Convention: Birth of the Modern Primary
In 2016, some Bernie Sanders supporters complained that the delegate process wasn’t fair. In 1912, a battle over the primary process transformed American politics.
politics
Video
How It Started (1831): Conventional Wisdom
In 1831, a radical third party had a new idea for selecting a presidential candidate, and it’s still in use today: the national nominating convention.
politics
Brian Kamerzel
Matt Spolar
Victor Couto
Video
Lessons From the 1964 Republican Convention: Declaring War on the Establishment
Donald Trump's candidacy wasn't the first time the Republican Party was split by an outsider declaring war on the establishment elite.
politics
Brian Kamerzel
Matt Spolar
Victor Couto
Video
Lessons from the 1968 Democratic Convention: Under the Shadow of Protests
There are important lessons to be learned from the Democrats' 1968 Chicago convention.
politics
Matt Spolar
Victor Couto
Amy Lee Hochman
Video
Lessons from the 1976 Republican Convention: Why Ronald Reagan Lost the Nomination|
In 1976, Ronald Reagan found owning the soul of a party isn't the same as taking home its nomination.
politics
Brian Kamerzel
Matt Spolar
Victor Couto
Video
Atomic Vets
The story of the veterans who witnessed secret atomic testing and how their decades-long struggle for recognition affects soldiers today. This story is a coproduction with Reveal, from The Center for Investigative Reporting.
military
David Ritsher
David Ritsher
Amanda Pike
Rachel De Leon
Victor Couto
Jennifer LaFleur
Video
Transgender Rights: A Decades-long Struggle for Equality
This #PrideMonth, 50 years after Stonewall, many transgender people are still struggling for inclusion, even amongst the LGBT community.
sex-gender
Anne Checler
Bonnie Bertram
Victor Couto
Meral Agish
Hillary Hubley