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Radiolab

The Front Runner

So, a cool thing happened for the show recently. A couple years ago, our episode "I Don't Have to Answer That" made it to the ears of director Jason Reitman. The story is about presidential candidate Gary Hart, who, in 1987, was caught in an extramarital affair that forced him to drop out of the race. And at the time, this sort of personal scandal was the first of its kind in politics. It pushed politicians and political reporters into unchartered territory that forever changed the way we scrutinize political figures and judge their fitness for office. When Reitman heard this, he saw a major motion picture in his head. And today, that film, The Front Runner, is out in theaters. Listen to Reitman and his team talk about how Radiolab inspired them to make this movie.  This piece was produced by Jackson Roach.
Duration
11m
Broadcast on
12 Nov 2018
Audio Format
other

So, a cool thing happened for the show recently. A couple years ago, our episode "I Don't Have to Answer That" made it to the ears of director Jason Reitman. The story is about presidential candidate Gary Hart, who, in 1987, was caught in an extramarital affair that forced him to drop out of the race. And at the time, this sort of personal scandal was the first of its kind in politics. It pushed politicians and political reporters into unchartered territory that forever changed the way we scrutinize political figures and judge their fitness for office. When Reitman heard this, he saw a major motion picture in his head. And today, that film, The Front Runner, is out in theaters. Listen to Reitman and his team talk about how Radiolab inspired them to make this movie. 

This piece was produced by Jackson Roach.


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RIDI Lab is supported by AT&T. We all love to connect via video calls or texts. Right now, at AT&T, you can get the new iPhone 18 Pro for $0 with iPhone trading. Any condition. It has the ultimate pro camera system and big leap in battery life, so you can turn this deal into a long-lasting connection. Learn how you can trade in your iPhone for the new iPhone 18 Pro, requires trading of iPhone 14 or higher, excluding iPhone 16E, an eligible plan. Terms and restrictions apply, subject to change, visit an AT&T store for details. So, maybe we just start with you introducing yourself? Yeah, sure. My name is Jason Reitman, and I'm the co-writer and director of the Front Runner. The youngest candidate, Hart spoke at full campaign trade. It's a clear front runner. So where do you want to start this? So start with the shoulder in a little. My name's Gary Hart, and I'm running for president. Well, I guess I'll start with the moment I heard the story for the first time. Wait, you're listening? Okay. I live in Los Angeles. I spend a lot of time in a car. I make movies. I spend a lot of time on planes. For listening to RadioLab. RadioLab. I spend a lot of time intimately listening to RadioLab. I started this podcast, "Went in Blind." Hey, I'm Jad Abumrod. I'm Robert Crowwich. This is RadioLab. You know, here we are. And having no idea who Gary Hart was. And the story that we're going to tell on this podcast is about a moment, a shockingly recent moment. I didn't. I was 10 years old when this incident happened. Now if you're of a certain age, you probably remember this story, you probably know what happens next. But even if you've never heard of Gary Hart, you still probably know the outline of this story. The accusations. And then the denial. And immediately understood why they were doing the story, that there was all this connective tissue with 2018. All the wall media thing, which just goes on and on and on until you want to take... I think everyone living in 2018 wonders how we got here. Like no matter what your politics are, you look at 2018 and go, "Wait, how did we get here?" It wasn't always like this.

Transcription truncated.

So, a cool thing happened for the show recently. A couple years ago, our episode "I Don't Have to Answer That" made it to the ears of director Jason Reitman. The story is about presidential candidate Gary Hart, who, in 1987, was caught in an extramarital affair that forced him to drop out of the race. And at the time, this sort of personal scandal was the first of its kind in politics. It pushed politicians and political reporters into unchartered territory that forever changed the way we scrutinize political figures and judge their fitness for office. When Reitman heard this, he saw a major motion picture in his head. And today, that film, The Front Runner, is out in theaters. Listen to Reitman and his team talk about how Radiolab inspired them to make this movie.  This piece was produced by Jackson Roach.