Rob Reiner: The Spinal Tap Sequel, Like the Original, Goes to 11

Impolitic with John Heilemann

Audacy | Puck

News, Politics

4.8 • 4.2K Ratings

🗓️ 8 September 2025

⏱️ 69 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

John welcomes writer, director, and actor Rob Reiner to the show to discuss the release of the sequel to his genre-defining 1984 mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap” — “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues". Reiner explains why it took 30 years for the follow-up to get made; how the original film went from box-office dud to cultural landmark; and its influence on a generation of comics, from Ricky Gervais to Ben Stiller to Jack Black, and movies and TV shows, from “Best In Show" to "The Office" to "Parks & Rec." Reiner also reflects on his extraordinary post-Tap career as a director and his relationships with his father, the legendary Carl Reiner, and his childhood friend, Albert Brooks. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'll now hand you over to my best man, Eddie.
0:06.0	Wow, wow, wow, second time's a charm, eh, Billy Boy?
0:10.0	Oh God.
0:12.0	Substitution courtesy of Paddy Power embarrassing Eddie makes way for sensible Samuel.
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1:07.4	Aloha and namaste everyone and welcome to Impolitic with John Heilman, a puck and Odyssey Joint,
1:13.3	featuring lively in-depth conversations with the people who cruise the corridors of power in America,
1:18.3	sculpting and shaping the evan flow of our politics and our culture.
1:23.6	A little over 31 years ago, in the winter of 1984, a fake documentary about a fake heavy metal band,
1:32.5	movie starring Christopher Guest, Michael McKin, and Harry Shearer as Nigel Tufnell, David St. Hubbins,
1:39.3	and Derek Smalls, respectively, the core members of a collective described precisely, if not gushingly, in the film as, quote, one of Britain's loudest bands, opened on a handful of movie screens across America, earning rave reviews, but less than $50,000 at the box office during its debut weekend, and less than $5 million in total during its entire theatrical run.
2:05.1	And from there, went on to change the course of movie and TV history.
2:09.6	The movie that we're talking about, of course, was This Is Spinal Tap, not the first
	...

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