On the Saturday February 22, 2025 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet director Ali Abbasi. His film “The Apprentice,” which was recently nominated for two Oscars, is a controversial coming-of-age look at Donald Trump’s early years under the mentorship of lawyer Roy Cohn. It paints a picture of the future president of the United States as an ambitious, if slightly awkward guy, who came to believe that there are only two kinds of people in the world, “killers and losers.” Ali Abbasi joined me on the phone to discuss his six year journey to getting this film made and released and much more.

Then we’ll meet Nick Newman, author of several children’s novels including “Witchborn” and “In the Shadow of Heroes,” which was shortlisted for the Costa Children’s Book Award. He has previously worked as a teacher, musician, and stand-up comedian. Today we’re talking about his latest work, the eerie, hypnotic and darkly beautiful novel “The Garden,” which is about two elderly sisters living alone at the edge of the world and how their lives unravel when their sanctum is breached.