The blurry line between reality and comedy in the Trump era.

The Takeaway

Coming up on today’s show:

  • Who are the lawyers that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has brought onto his team, and what could they potentially bring to the investigation into the Trump team and Russian interference in the election? David Lat, an attorney, and founder and managing editor of the legal news website Above the Law, weighs in. 
  • President Trump will visit Florida today. He’s expected to announce a rollback of the Obama Administration’s Cuba policy alongside Senator Marco Rubio and Representative Mario Diaz Balart. Christopher Sabatini, founder and executive director of the nonprofit Global Americans and the editor of its news and opinion website Latin America Goes Global, has the details. 
  • On Thursday, law enforcement officials announced charges against the security detail of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who were responsible for beating protesters outside of the Turkish ambassador’s residence in Washington last month. Dion Nissenbaum, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, explains what impact the charges will have on the U.S. relationship with Turkey.
  • Every Friday, Rafer Guzman, film critic for Newsday and The Takeaway, drops by to review the new releases hitting the box office. This week, Rafer returns to the 1990s with a review of “All Eyez on Me,” the latest take on Tupac Shakur’s life. 

  • The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, based in Fort Worth, Texas, is among the biggest in the nation. The gold, silver, and bronze medalists give their first public appearances as winners tonight at WNYC’s The Greene Space. Bill Zeeble, a reporter with KERA in Dallas, has covered the competition from start to finish. He says the Van Cliburn is unlike most other prestigious classical piano competitions.
  • To wrap up The Takeaway’s series on obesity, writer and activist Lindy West spoke to writer Tomika Anderson and Project Runway winner Ashley Nell Tipton in a conversation about weight and identity in America. The Takeaway brings you key excerpts of that conversation today.
  • Sam Richardson, who stars on the HBO comedy VEEP as fan favorite “Richard Splett,” stops by to talk about the show, his new Comedy Central sitcom “Detroiters,” and the blurry line between comedy and reality. 

This episode is hosted by Todd Zwillich.

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