Armando Iannucci is the creator of Veep and The Thick of It and the writer and director of In the Loop. Those, you'll note, are all contemporary political satires. Iannucci's new movie, The Death of Stalin, is set in 1953 Moscow and tells a true-to-some-degree version of the story of, logically, Joseph Stalin's death. Historical period piece or no, The Death of Stalin is still utterly recognizable Iannucci: it's funny, it's filthy -- it's mostly about the incompetence of the powerful. And, at the same time, stories about Russian authoritarianism have a certain contemporary vibe too, ya know?
Other possible topics include:
- Lil Dicky on Top 10 Hot 100 Debut With 'Freaky Friday': 'It's Validating to See a Song Be Mainstream While Being So Quirky & Weird'
- 25 Songs That Tell Us Where Music Is Going
- 'We need a Disney princess' meme quickly derails from genuine to bizarre
- You've Reached the Winter of Our Discontent
- Hating tipping is easy. Fixing it is almost impossible.
- Trump Rings Up Roseanne Barr After Her Show Is a Ratings Winner
GUESTS:
- Lucy Gellman - Editor of The Arts Paper and host of WNHH radio's Kitchen Sync
- Mercy Quaye - Founder and executive director of The Narrative Project
- Brian Slattery - Arts editor for the New Haven Independent and a producer at WNHH radio
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Colin McEnroe, Joe Coss, Betsy Kaplan, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show.
