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The Road to Now

#290 The Circus: An Exit Interview w/ Mark McKinnon

The Road to Now

Benjamin Sawyer

Society & Culture, History

4.8628 Ratings

🗓️ 13 November 2023

⏱️ 51 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Bob welcomes Mark McKinnon for an exit interview about his work as co-producer and co-host of The Circus. Showtime announced last week that after eight seasons and 130 episodes this would be the final season of the political docuseries.

 

Mark reflects on chronicling American political history as it happened from 2016 to 2023, during a turbulent period in American history that includes the rise of Donald Trump's MAGA movement, a once in a century pandemic, and the largest war in Europe since WWII.

 

This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

I'm Bob Crawford and this is the road to now. Ben Sawyer is on assignment. And when I say on

0:11.2

assignment, remember, he's a college professor. So he is working with his students today. He's

0:17.8

doing the good work to make the next generation better because, Lord, we need them

0:25.4

to be better. Excited today to welcome back to the Road to Now, Mark McKinnon, creator, producer,

0:35.1

co-host of Showtimes the Circus.

0:38.9

Mark, welcome to The Road to Now.

0:40.4

I know you just stepped off the plane.

0:43.9

I did from Miami hot off that incredibly exciting debate last night,

0:49.1

number three in the Republican primary.

0:51.7

I'm sure you watched every minute of it, Bob.

0:53.4

You know, my wife said to me,

0:56.0

there's a debate. We need to watch it. And I said, honey, we need to watch anything but that debate.

1:01.6

I think Fargo season five was on. I watched the NBA. There's an NBA on an NBA network.

1:08.5

They go through all the games and they do commentary and they pop in, you know,

1:13.5

in the fourth quarter or when something's good.

1:15.6

It's like the red zone.

1:16.8

And I got, I got swept up in that.

1:19.2

And then I went to my NBA league pass and watched my Grizzlies lose yet another game.

1:24.7

So, you know, I assure you that was more entertaining than where I was.

1:29.4

But then I did go over to the cable news networks because I wanted to hear the rap and

1:35.5

get the highlight reel. And Nikki Haley, this is all my opinion. She had a good perspective

1:43.9

on abortion, very moderate. Ron Sandus did seem to be

...

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