Twilight

The Plot Thickens

#WarnerMedia Podcast Network #Cinema #Entertainment #Filmmaking

57:36

When Katharine Graham took over the Washington Post in 1963, she was a shy socialite who'd never run anything. By retirement, she'd taken down a president, ended the most violent strike in a generation, and built one of the best-performing companies in American history. Graham had no training, no experience, not even confidence. Just a newspaper bleeding money and a government that expected her to fall in line. When her editors brought her stolen classified documents, her lawyers begged her not to publish. They said it would destroy the company. She published them anyway. Nixon came after her, attacking her with the full force of the executive. Then Watergate. For nearly a year she was ridiculed and isolated while pursuing the story that would eventually bring down the president. Graham proved that you can grow into a job that initially seems impossible and no amount of training can substitute for having the right values and the courage to act on them. Approximate timestamps: Subject to variation due to dynamically inserted ads: (02:19) The Making of an Unlikely Heiress (10:15) The Education of a Publisher’s Wife (22:16) Learning to Lead (30:46) Becoming a Media Titan (44:12) Legacy (47:59) Reflections + Lessons This episode is for informational purposes only and is full of practical lessons I learned reading her memoir, Personal History and watching Becoming Katharine Graham. Check out highlights from this book in our repository, and find key lessons from Graham here: ⁠⁠ https://fs.blog/knowledge-project-podcast/outliers-katharine-graham/ Thanks to ReMarkable for sponsoring this episode. Get your paper tablet at reMarkable.com today Upgrade—If you want to hear my thoughts and reflections at the end of all episodes, join our membership: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fs.blog/membership⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ and get your own private feed. Newsletter—The Brain Food newsletter delivers actionable insights and thoughtful ideas every Sunday. It takes 5 minutes to read, and it’s completely free. Learn more and sign up at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fs.blog/newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow me on X at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠x.com/ShaneAParrish Check out our website for all stock video and photo credits. Episode photo sourced from: iwmf.org/community/katharine-graham/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

4 years ago 58:12

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Lucy sinks into a depression after the failure of her newest show and becomes a reclusive, fiercely competitive backgammon player. Yet she's still revered, and following a memorable final appearance at the Academy Awards, her heart gives out. As the memorials pour in, the public clamors to learn everything about her life, while those closest to her wonder if they ever really knew her at all.

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68 episodes

The Plot Thickens

Twilight

The Plot Thickens

37,824 subscribers

published 4 years ago

MP3•Episode home

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

68 episodes

#WarnerMedia Podcast Network #Cinema #Entertainment #Filmmaking

All episodes

The Plot Thickens

1
Le Scandale 46:57

12 hours ago46:57

46:57

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton’s love affair becomes a tabloid sensation. Richard drinks and Elizabeth cries, they fight and make up, all while trying to keep the affair from their spouses and the public. When the press infiltrates the set and reports on every ugly development, Joe struggles to hold the production together. But as the budget balloons, Joe starts taking the blame for everything that’s gone wrong. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

The Plot Thickens

1
The Girl is on Salary 50:53

8 days ago50:53

50:53

Joe Mankiewicz decides to recast two leading men and hires Richard Burton and Rex Harrison – major talents who turn out to be major headaches. He also moves filming to a new country, where the budget spirals out of control. Joe works against the clock to meet the studio’s deadline to start shooting, and he nearly pulls it off… until Richard Burton puts the moves on his married co-star Elizabeth Taylor, throwing the entire production into chaos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

The Plot Thickens

1
Joe 56:36

15 days ago56:36

56:36

While Elizabeth Taylor fights for her life in a London hospital, Joe Mankiewicz begins to grapple with the movie he’s inherited. The script is dreadful, the sets are grotesque, and none of the footage is usable. Joe decides to start over from scratch. A look at Joe’s long career in Hollywood gives some clues as to how he’ll handle this epic production and manage his high maintenance actors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

The Plot Thickens

1
London Slog 50:51

22 days ago50:51

50:51

20th Century Fox pays Elizabeth Taylor a record-breaking salary to play Cleopatra, then tries to save money by filming the movie in England. That turns out to be a disastrous decision. The weather doesn’t agree with Liz, who suffers one health problem after another, delaying production for months. Fox then faces the question: pull the plug on this movie... or fire the director and find someone new to save the picture? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

The Plot Thickens

1
Season 6 Trailer: Cleopatra 3:53

5 weeks ago3:53

3:53

His studio was collapsing. His budget was skyrocketing. And his two stars were making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Those were just some of the headaches facing Joseph L. Mankiewicz, the director of one of the most expensive and infamous movies ever made: Cleopatra . With Mankiewicz calling the shots and the luminous Elizabeth Taylor in the title role, Cleopatra should have been a smash. Instead, it was a shoot plagued by medical emergencies, climate disasters and nervous breakdowns… not to mention Taylor's scandalous love affair with Richard Burton. This season, Ben Mankiewicz digs through his own family stories to understand how it turned out so badly for his Oscar-winning uncle. Cleopatra, a six-episode limited series, begins July 17. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

The Plot Thickens

1
The Legend 1:02:35

1 year ago1:02:35

1:02:35

After being removed from a film and ruining his friendship with Henry Fonda, John Ford begins to openly challenge his previous work. He deconstructs the Western and, for the first time, makes films specifically about Indians and women. But his power in Hollywood dwindles, and he soon finds himself out of work, a living legend living off his savings. As Ford enters his 70s, his movies are rediscovered and he is showered with honors and accolades, even as he denies his own artistry every chance he gets. Though he does accept one major award... from none other than the President of the United States. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

The Plot Thickens

1
The Mythmaker 50:09

1 year ago50:09

50:09

At the height of his powers, John Ford directs his masterpiece, an anti-racist Western called The Searchers . It’s a movie of contradictions: John Wayne plays the hero, but he's driven by hate and revenge. He’s searching for his niece, with the intent to kill her. Behind the scenes, Ford continues to use Monument Valley as a generic backdrop for the West without once acknowledging that it’s sacred Navajo land. And while Ford considered himself a friend to the Navajos, his portrayal of Native Americans is fraught with stereotypes. But these damaging images were used in service of creating a complex, fascinating film that dared to condemn bigotry and has mesmerized generations of film fans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

The Plot Thickens

1
Monument Valley 52:55

1 year ago52:55

52:55

After D-Day, Ford goes on a historic bender then heads home... not to Hollywood but to Monument Valley, a secluded land with incredible scenery. There, he creates his own kingdom, a place he can work and create art without being under the thumb of studio executives. His stock company follows him from film to film, and Ford rewards his loyal subjects, but he’s not a kind ruler. He mercilessly picks on actors and pits them against each other, sometimes in the cruelest ways possible. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

The Plot Thickens

1
The Search 51:12

1 year ago51:12

51:12

This week, Ben traces the mystery of John Ford's missing D-Day documentary. The one time Ford talked about it, he claimed it was buried in a government film vault, too disturbing for public view. This sends Ben on a globe-trotting journey, following clues in the US, England and Russia. He encounters fellow seekers, as well as skeptics who question whether the footage was lost in battle… or if Ford made the whole thing up. But when new evidence comes to light, Ben's quest takes him to an unexpected final stop, where new revelations await. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

The Plot Thickens

1
The Commander 43:38

1 year ago43:38

43:38

Ford is finally in the military and his first assignment is… to make a sex ed film for soldiers! Soon he sees real combat and is injured while filming the battle of Midway. He’s nursed back to health with the help of John Wayne, while his Midway movie wins an Oscar and becomes a favorite of President Roosevelt. Ford then recuts December 7th , a movie directed by his friend and colleague Gregg Toland, to make it less racist. It wins him yet another Oscar. The brass recruit Ford for the assignment of his career: to cover the largest invasion in history. Ford goes to Normandy Beach to film D-Day, but his film detailing the invasion goes missing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

The Plot Thickens

1
The Araner 55:22

1 year ago55:22

55:22

John Ford buys a yacht, where he cavorts, drinks and vacations. But he also keeps an eye on the looming threat in Europe, and uses his new vessel to enlist in the Naval Reserve. He rises through Hollywood and turns his friends into stars, including John Wayne – though he's increasingly abusive towards them on the set. As the ‘30s dissolve into the ‘40s, Ford directs a remarkable string of movies, winning back-to-back Oscars (though he doesn’t show up to the ceremonies). Then war breaks out, and he’s shipped overseas to cover the front. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

The Plot Thickens

1
Go West, Young Man 52:06

1 year ago52:06

52:06

John Ford was born in Maine as Sean Aloysius O’Feeney… or so he says. His birth records say differently, and it would not be the last time he changes his name. As a child, he visits Ireland and falls in love with his heritage, and later fights at the University of Maine when confronted with an Irish slur. He rediscovers his long-lost brother Francis on the big screen and follows him to Hollywood, where he works as a stunt double until fibbing his way into directing. As silent movies transition to talkies, Ford befriends the man who would become his friend, his muse, and his enabler, a young football player named John Wayne. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

The Plot Thickens

1
Season 5 Trailer: Decoding John Ford 4:44

1 year ago4:44

4:44

Meet John Ford, the curmudgeon with an eyepatch who just happened to be the greatest filmmaker of the 20th Century. Ford was a bully and a drunk who ruled Hollywood for five decades, making dozens of seminal movies – though he was incredibly hard to pin down. His behavior swung wildly from loyalty to cruelty, without notice. He won more Oscars than any director in history, but never showed up to accept an award. And he rewrote American history, painting the country with images so beautiful that people wished they were real. John Ford defined the attitudes of his time, ideas about masculinity and heroism that we're still grappling with today. Join host Ben Mankiewicz for a new season of The Plot Thickens, starting June 6. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

The Plot Thickens

1
Introducing: Talking Pictures from TCM and Max 52:54

1 year ago52:54

52:54

While we're hard at work on the next season of The Plot Thickens , we're excited to share Ben Mankiewicz's new podcast, Talking Pictures . The first guest on Talking Pictures is writer director Nancy Meyers ( Something’s Gotta Give , It’s Complicated , The Holiday ). Recorded at her home, Meyers talks about casting Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton, getting script advice from Sunset Boulevard director Billy Wilder, and what it’s like to become famous for her interiors. Spoiler: it’s frustrating! Nancy Meyers also answers our Super 8 questionnaire and reveals which film had her running from the theater in absolute terror. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

The Plot Thickens

1
From American Masters: Creative Spark: John Waters on the Fine Art of Bad Taste 18:46

2 years ago18:46