Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

Forest Whitaker & Armando Iannucci


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This week, some heavy hitters! First, Forest Whitaker. He's of course the star of *countless* great movies. He's got this knack for taking huge figures from history and portraying them complex, fascinating, sometimes really fragile people. He played Charlie Parker in Bird, won an Academy Award for playing Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland. Now, he's starring as Archbishop Desmond Tutu in the new film The Forgiven. He talks with Jesse about getting to know Archbishop Tutu as a character and a friend over the years. Plus, hot takes on Battlefield Earth! Then, Armando Iannucci. He's a brilliant comic writer - he created Veep, In The Loop, The Thick of It. And in all of those projects, he's found most of his material in the vain, ambitious and insecure people who run democracies - UK cabinet ministers in The Thick of It, presidential wannabes in Veep. His latest project is called "The Death of Stalin" and it's about, well, Stalin. How do you make a comedy based on a guy like that? Listen to find out! Finally, Jesse tells you about The Coup, a group that puts a human side to hard line, radical political rap.

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Bullseye with Jesse ThornBy Jesse Thorn

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