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On The Gist, President Donald Trump has finally made a nomination for ambassador to South Africa. And it is a terrible one.
It’s hard to make comedy when your story, like Ben Stiller’s latest direction, is based on a state inspector general’s report. Escape at Dannemora is drama through and through, based on the prison break of two men, aided by a female employee (and lover), from New York’s Clinton Correctional Facility. Stiller talks filming bad sex, turning villains into heroes, and what makes Patricia Arquette a great actress. Escape at Dannemora premieres Sunday on Showtime.
In the Spiel, get this: a podcast where the interviews never get past “hello!” and “can you hear me all right?”
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Email: thegist@slate.com
Twitter: @slategist
Podcast production by Pierre Bienaimé and Daniel Schroeder.
