A powerful new documentary called Surviving Ohio State recently made its way to HBO. It premiered on Tuesday, June 17 at 9 p.m. Eastern Time. This documentary is an original HBO production, which means it was made especially for HBO and will be shown there first.
The film tells an important real-life story and is expected to be emotional, informative, and eye-opening. If you’re interested in true stories and real events, this documentary might be worth watching.
To see Surviving Ohio State, you need to have access to Max, which is HBO’s official streaming platform. Max is a paid streaming service where you can watch all of HBO’s shows, movies, and documentaries.
What is ‘Surviving Ohio State’ about?
“Surviving Ohio State” is a new documentary from HBO that tells a very serious and heartbreaking true story. It focuses on a dark chapter in the history of Ohio State University, one of the biggest and most famous colleges in the United States. For about 20 years, from 1978 to 1998, a doctor named Dr. Richard Strauss worked at the university as a sports medicine physician. That means he was in charge of checking the health of student-athletes to make sure they were fit to play sports.
But while he was doing that job, he was also secretly abusing many of the young men he was supposed to be helping. These athletes, who were often teenagers or in their early twenties, had no choice but to go to him. If they wanted to stay on the team and continue playing the sport they loved, they had to be examined and approved by Dr. Strauss. Because of that, he had a lot of power over them, and he used that power in terrible, harmful ways.
Over time, many people at the university started to hear rumours or even witness signs that something wasn’t right. Some students tried to complain or speak up. But the truth is, for 20 years, the abuse was ignored or covered up. It became an “open secret,” which means lots of people quietly knew it was happening, but no one really took action to stop it. The university, sadly, seemed more interested in protecting its name and reputation than in protecting its students.
This documentary doesn’t just tell what happened, it gives voice to the survivors. It lets them finally speak freely about what they went through, how it changed their lives, and how they’ve struggled emotionally and mentally ever since. It also includes interviews with people who tried to help, like whistleblowers (people who speak up about wrongdoing) and journalists.
One of the most important people featured in the film is Jon Wertheim, a reporter who wrote a powerful article for Sports Illustrated in 2020. His story, called “Why Aren’t More People Talking About the Ohio State Sex Abuse Scandal?”, helped bring national attention to this issue. That article inspired the documentary.
“Surviving Ohio State” looks at what life was like at the university during those years, how the culture of silence and power made the abuse possible, and how those student-athletes are still fighting today, not only to heal from what happened to them, but also to hold the university responsible for its failure to protect them. They want the truth to be known, and they want to make sure that no student ever goes through something like this again.
This documentary is not easy to watch, because it deals with real pain and trauma. But it’s also very important, because telling the truth and listening to survivors is one of the ways we can begin to make sure that justice is done.
Where to watch ‘Surviving Ohio State?’
You can watch the new documentary “Surviving Ohio State” tonight at 9 PM (8 PM Central Time) on HBO and Max.
If you want to stream it online, you’ll need a Max subscription. You can sign up just for Max by itself, or you can choose a Disney Bundle that includes Disney+, Hulu, and Max all together. This bundle starts at $16.99 a month, which can be a better deal if you want access to all three streaming services.