Welcome to Current Affairs. My name is Nathan Robinson. I'm the editor-in-chief of Current Affairs Magazine, returning to the program.

Today we are, it is our privilege to be joined by friend of the program, the writer and film director, Adam McKay,

former head writer for Saturday Night Live, the maker of the Academy Award

winning The Big Short, here to talk today about his, well, to talk about the man who is the subject

of his 2018 film Vice about the life of former Vice President Richard Dick Cheney, who recently died.

Adam McKay, welcome to Kurt Affairns.

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Well, there was no one I'd rather talk to about the life of Dick Cheney after his death.

And I was hoping you could give us a bit of a refreshing perspective because I just want to start here

by reading you a little bit of the mainstream media coverage of Dick Cheney's death.

New York Times headline, Dick Cheney, powerful vice president and Washington Insider,

dies at 84. A former dissident secretary of congressman, he was an architect of policies in an era

of war and economic change. The consummate Washington insider, he was an architect and executive

of major initiatives like deploying military power abroad to advance the cause of democracy, strengthening the powers of presidents.

The Atlantic went with Dick Cheney didn't care what you thought.

The former Vice President's indifference to approval made him a boogeyman for both the left and right.

And the Wall Street Journal ran a obituary by a guest contributor.

Dick Cheney, the most consequential vice president in American history, one of our most successful

defense secretaries.

When many feared in the wake of 9-11, no one knew what might be fallacy, he helped harden

the country and prevent attacks.

In an era that cherishes rags to success, tales of talent and grit, his humble and rocky start goes unremarked, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, so on and so forth.

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