Culture Gabfest: Does The Apprentice Make Trump Sympathetic?
On this week\u2019s show, Julia and Stephen are joined by Slate writer and senior editor, Sam Adams. Why do we tell fictional stories about real people?\u200c 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 \u2013 and spell \u2013 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\u2019s first broadcast in 1975. Finally, the panel is joined by The Atlantic staff writer Charlie Warzel to discuss his recent and prescient piece, \u201cI\u2019m Running Out of Ways to Explain How Bad This Is.\u201d\nIn the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel discusses f*cking profanity, a conversation inspired by a listener question from Jonathan.\xa0\nEmail us at culturefest@slate.com.\xa0\nEndorsements:\nSam: Separated, a documentary by Errol Morris. (Read Sam\u2019s review here.)\nJulia: Ten, Nine, Eight, a wonderful children\u2019s book by Molly Bang.\xa0\nSteve: Laura Miller\u2019s book review of Revenge of the Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell for Slate.\xa0\nPodcast production by Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices