Michael and Us Luke Savage and Will Sloan, Jacobin

We continue our long journey through the dark heart of Aaron Sorkin's STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP. Jordan gets pregnant, Harriet is inducted into the Falstaff Society, Matt & Danny create the most Epic Christmas TV broadcast ever, and Aaron Sorkin confirms once and for all that Santa isn't real in Episode 10 ("B-12") and Episode 11 ("The Christmas Show").

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/532-studio-sucky-106000756

During the Trump presidency, #TheResistance had a powerful figurehead, and his name was (the late) Mr. Rogers. We discuss the Tom Hanks-led #nicecore landmark A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD (2019), the strengths and limitations of Fred Rogers as a Trump-era political symbol, and what this movie fails to understand about him. PLUS: What's eating David Frum about the recent Mexican election?

Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

"Can You Say... 'Hero'?" by Tom Junod - https://www.neighborhoodarchive.com/publications/press/esquire/index.html

"How Liberalism Betrayed the Enlightenment and Lost Its Soul" by Michael Brenes - https://jacobin.com/2024/05/cold-war-liberalism-moyn-review

Mr. Rogers at the Emmys - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Upm9LnuCBUM&ab_channel=TheEmmyAwards

Growing up in Iran under the shadow of American imperialism, filmmaker Mehrnaz Saeed-Vafa felt an unlikely personal connection with American cinema - specifically, the films of Jerry Lewis. In her documentary JERRY AND ME (2012) she explores Lewis as a symbol of America and a universal archetype for outsiders... but also runs into the limits of Lewis as a person. PLUS: We consider the legacy of Morgan Spurlock.

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/430-reading-in-105570192

Our journey through America's second-greatest law-and-order franchise continues with WALKING TALL: THE PAYBACK (2007), a direct-to-video adventure with Kevin Sorbo. We discuss how the rural Dirty Harry was reimagined (or not) for the late Bush era. PLUS: Randall Emmett, Kevin Spacey, the death of cinema, and of course, Donald Trump's guilty verdict.

Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

The troops fight abroad, and sketch comedians fight on the home front. In our latest dispatch from the universe of Aaron Sorkin's STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP, we ponder the author's tortured relationship with everything from advertising to gender to Woody Allen via "The Nevada Day" Parts 1 & 2 and "The Option Period."

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/528-studio-sucky-105072974

In the feature-film adaptation of John le Carré's TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY (2011), Cold War-era Britain doesn't look that much different from behind the Iron Curtain - visually, at least. We discuss the challenges of compressing an intricate novel into a two-hour movie, and try to situate le Carré politically. PLUS: Taking the temperature of the snap British election, and a fond farewell to a B-movie titan.