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Welcome to Kicking the Seat!

Ian Simmons launched Kicking the Seat in 2009, one week after seeing Nora Ephron’s Julie & Julia. His wife proposed blogging as a healthier outlet for his anger than red-faced, twenty-minute tirades (Ian is no longer allowed to drive home from the movies).

The Kicking the Seat Podcast followed three years later and, despite its “undiscovered gem” status, Ian thoroughly enjoys hosting film critic discussions, creating themed shows, and interviewing such luminaries as Gaspar NoéRachel BrosnahanAmy Seimetz, and Richard Dreyfuss.

Ian is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association. He also has a family, a day job, and conflicted feelings about referring to himself in the third person.

Ep527: Reelpolitik: The More Things Change

Today, the Kicking the Seat Podcast and Mark Krawczyk of Special Mark Productions become big-time fixers in the latest installment of "Reelpolitik"! Barry Levinson's 1997 satire Wag the Dog centers on a shadowy strategist (Robert DeNiro) who hires a big-time Hollywood producer (Dustin Hoffman) to create a fake war meant to cover up a real White House sex scandal.

The guys peek behind Levinson's curtain of conspiracy to determine what Clinton-era exaggerations might have been true (then and now), and ask what we can learn from the inextricable link between politics and media.

Also, Ian teases a pair of upcoming interviews, and invites listeners to check out his new humor-illustration series, Furlough Funnies!

Episode 527 is just a distraction!

Show Guide:

Intro Music: 0:00 - 0:14

Intro: 0:14 - 3:41

Wag the Dog Trailer: 3:41 - 6:11

Wag the Dog Discussion: 6:11 - 1:110:19

Outro Music: 1:10:19 - 1:10:34

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Ep528: Scuola Argento: Talon Show

Ep526: Rare Bindings