This is Rumble and this is Michael Moore. Welcome to my podcast. Today, before we get started, I just want to acknowledge the underwriters of today's episode and that is Netflix and their film American Factory.

Directed by Julia Reichart and Stephen Bulknerg. In addition to its Oscar nomination, it's won many awards, the Los Angeles Film Critics, the best documentary of the year, director's guild, best documentary of the year and many others.

It's the story of an abandoned General Motors factory in Ohio and how a Chinese billionaire comes in to save the day. It's fascinating, it's full of twists and turns.

And I think you really like it. I thank the filmmakers for supporting this podcast and I thank Netflix for supporting my voice and now let's get out of the show.

This is Rumble with Michael Moore. I am Michael Moore and welcome to this episode of our podcast.

I would like to welcome here to our little endeavor. We've been doing this now for about five weeks. We have with us today Academy Award winner. That's not really what I think of you when I first think of you.

Who's coming over today? Well Academy Award winner Tim Robbins. No, but Tim Robbins is actually here. You know him across the board for so many things from Bull Durham. Was that your first big film?

Yeah, that was the film that made it okay for me not to audition anymore. That must have felt really good. It was great.

So Bull Durham, the director and I believe writer of Deadman walking. Yes. And one of a cult classic and a favorite of mine Bob Roberts about a particular politician and a campaign and everything we'll talk a little bit about that.

But also one of the main reasons that you are here today is I want to talk to you about this theater troupe that you founded and the importance of live theater, which is more and more being lost.

The drama classes are gone from many of our high schools. If there are still plays, it's because a teacher is taking it on as an after school project.

But it's not not you know being really taught anymore. And I'm I was asked to be on this advisory board of organization that the Arthur Miller foundation set up. So and it's basically to try to get to save theater in our public schools.

So you went to public school. Where here right in New York City? New York City. I went to Stuyveson High School. You went to Stuyveson High School.

Yeah. And as a matter of fact, a drama teacher saved my life. You know, I was not doing well in my first year. It was a math and science specialty school. I wasn't particularly adapted either. And he told me to get involved in a play. And it was the sole reason I came to school.

It was the only way I was able to feel good about myself because I seemed to have a talent for that. And a talent that you didn't know that you had. No.

And you see that that's the tragedy of of canceling arts programs in high schools is that oftentimes it's the the thing that is the tether for a kid. Right. The reason why they they they can still motivate themselves to go to school.

And dropout happens because people just disconnect completely. And I was almost disconnected completely. So we we don't know what would have happened to you. Well, I know what happened a lot of friends in my neighborhood. Yeah. You know, and that that that dropped out and you know, that's not a that's not a very pretty story.

Had you stayed in your math and science program. What kind what kind of awful math or science thing would society have as a result of what you may have invented or given us.

I had a physics teacher that they have helped me out through a test once and he said, please just promise me you'll never become a physicist. I swear. I swear.

Yeah, we do programs ourselves. The actors gang does programs in high schools and middle schools in grade schools do arts programs in 14 public schools in Los Angeles.

Wow. For that reason because they have cut them. And it seems to be the first cut they make is arts arts programs.

It's a terrible tragedy. I've been working with them turn around arts in the past few years and they've shown incredible changes in academic scores when they reintroduce arts into public school.

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