CW: This episode discusses cinematic sexual violence.

Sami Gold, undergraduate political science student at George Washington University and contributor to Liberal Currents, returns to the podcast for a two-part deep dive into the controversial new Donald Trump origin story The Apprentice, which was released weeks before the 2024 election despite half-hearted attempts from the Trump campaign to block the film. 

Featuring Sebastian Stan as young Donald Trump and Jeremy Strong as his notorious mentor, the political fixer Roy Cohn, The Apprentice exceeded our low expectations. Part one of our discussion is about the film itself: the challenges of depicting Trump cinematically, an evaluation of how Toronto does standing in for Manhattan in the seventies and eighties, and the mixed reaction to the film from within Trump’s inner circle. 

Part two of our discussion, on Trumpism in general and the upcoming election, is available on the Patreon feed. 

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“Don't Mess With Roy Cohn” by Ken Auletta, for Esquire, December 1978

“How Gotham Gave Us Trump”, by Michael Kruse, for Politico, July/August 2017

“The Apprentice at Cannes: Location Manager Richard Hughes on the Whirlwind Of 50 Locations In 30 Days”, from the Directors Guild of Ontario’s “The Wider Lens”, May 21, 2024

International trailer for The Apprentice (Ali Abbasi, 2024)