Culture Gabfest: Does The Apprentice Make Trump Sympathetic?

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3.9 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 16 October 2024

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On this week’s show, Julia and Stephen are joined by Slate writer and senior editor, Sam Adams. Why do we tell fictional stories about real people?‌ The panel ponders this question as they discuss two biopics: The Apprentice and Saturday Night. The Apprentice is an uncanny portrait of Donald Trump, a young striver under the tutelage – and spell – of his mentor, Roy Cohn. But does the film offer any new information or ideas? Saturday Night, on the other hand, is the often obnoxious tale of the frenetic 90-minute countdown before Saturday Night Live’s first broadcast in 1975. Finally, the panel is joined by The Atlantic staff writer Charlie Warzel to discuss his recent and prescient piece, “I’m Running Out of Ways to Explain How Bad This Is.” In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel discusses f*cking profanity, a conversation inspired by a listener question from Jonathan. Email us at culturefest@slate.com. Endorsements: Sam: Separated, a documentary by Errol Morris. (Read Sam’s review here.) Julia: Ten, Nine, Eight, a wonderful children’s book by Molly Bang. Steve: Laura Miller’s book review of Revenge of the Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell for Slate. Podcast production by Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Donald Trump from Mr. Cohn. Thank you so much.
0:03.5	Donald who?
0:04.5	Critics are calling The Apprentice a damn good movie.
0:07.7	There are winners.
0:08.8	And they're on losers.
0:10.3	Sharp and skating.
0:11.8	Yeah, you're brutal.
0:12.8	Guilty is charged.
0:13.8	Sebastian Stan gives a transformative performance.
0:18.1	This is going to be spectacular.
0:19.4	Jeremy Strong is extraordinary.
0:21.6	Don't you forget, I made you.
0:23.0	It's tremendous.
0:24.0	I know I'm taught.
0:26.0	The Apprentice, exclusively in cinemas from October 18,
0:29.0	rated 15. I'm Julia Turner and this is the Slate Culture Gab Fest. Does The Apprentice make Trump
0:45.3	sympathetic edition? It's Wednesday October 16th, 2024 and on today's show we've got
0:51.9	a double-headed two films about influential
0:55.1	inscrutable modern-day Titans who got their start 50 years ago in the
0:59.1	Lourid squalor of New York City. First up is The Apprentice, the controversial film about
1:04.7	how Donald Trump became Donald Trump, thanks to the molding of Roy Cohn. And then
1:10.0	Saturday night a nerve-jangling portrait of SNL creator Lauren Michaels in the run-up to the very first episode.
	...

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