Current Affairs14 Mai 2025

Inside Saturday Night Live (w/Susan Morrison)

🦩 This episode originally aired on May 6, 2025. Get new episodes early at patreon.com/CurrentAffairs

Lorne Michaels might be the most powerful figure in American comedy — and yet, most people barely know who he is. In this episode, New Yorker editor Susan Morrison joins us to discuss her new book Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live, a deeply reported, wildly entertaining biography of the man behind SNL. We explore how Michaels built a cultural institution from scratch, reinvented the variety show format, and launched the careers of generations of comedy legends — all while staying deliberately out of the spotlight. Morrison explains how Michaels has shaped American humor and politics, maintained control over a live show for nearly 50 years, and earned a reputation as one of the most inscrutable and effective bosses in showbiz.

0:00–1:55 Spy Magazine vs. Trump

1:55–14:54 Why Lorne Michaels?

14:54–28:50 Reinventing the Variety Show

28:50–31:28 How SNL Shaped Comedy

31:28–34:21 SNL and Politics

34:21–38:01 Lorne’s Management Style

38:01–43:20 Favorite Sketches

🎭 Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/532520/lorne-by-susan-morrison/

🦩SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT AFFAIRS MAGAZINE: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership

🦩 PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/CurrentAffairs

🦩THE MYTH OF AMERICAN IDEALISM: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(600)

Before Bernie and Mamdani, There Was Eugene Debs

🌹 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membershipShawn Gude is the former editor of Jacobin and author of American Socialist: The Life and Legacy of ...

9 Okt 43min

The Consultants Will Kill You

🌹 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membershipIn Michigan and Maine, a tale of two campaigns.🌹 Full article by Nathan J. Robinson: https://www.cu...

8 Okt 19min

In Praise of Suit Socialism

🌹 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membershipIf there’s a visual language that connotes credibility and authority, why not take advantage of it?�...

5 Okt 17min

Democrats Paved the Way for Fascism — Jennifer Welch on MAGA, Socialism, and Political Revolution

🌹 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership Jennifer Welch, co-host of I’ve Had It and author of Not Today, Fascists, joins Current Affairs ed...

29 Sep 43min

Israel Is Stealing the West Bank in Plain Sight (w/ Jasper Nathaniel)

🌹 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membershipJasper Nathaniel is an independent journalist who recently returned from reporting in the occupied W...

19 Sep 36min

How 9/11 Normalized Endless War

🌹 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership CODEPINK co-founders Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans, along with national co-director Danaka Katovi...

15 Sep 45min

How Trump Made a Broken DOJ Even Worse

🌹 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership Rachel Cohen is an attorney and organizer who previously resigned from the law firm Skadden Arps a...

9 Sep 31min

MAGA Stole Animal Rights from the Left

🌹 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership Astra Taylor is a writer, activist, and co-author of End Times Fascism, and Aaron Regunberg is a cl...

2 Sep 49min