Why Angela Davis Needs a ‘Forrest Gump’-Style Biopic (Podcast)
The Black feminist revolutionary turns up at key points in history — like a leftist version of Gump
Tim Molloy | March 21, 2018 @ 5:28 PM
Last Updated: March 22, 2018 @ 12:21 PM
Angela Davis was a Black revolutionary professor when California Gov. Ronald Reagan fired her from UCLA in 1969 — and catapulted her onto the national stage.
The next year, she became the third woman to join the FBI’s Most Wanted List, accused of a plot to free a prisoner she loved. She’s been celebrated in documentaries like “The Black Power Mixtape” and Ava DuVernay’s “13th.” But we think she deserves to be the subject of a “Forrest Gump”-style biopic, one that would sweep from the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement to the rise of Black Power nationalism.
We discuss why on the latest “Shoot This Now” podcast, available on Apple or Spotify or right here:
If you’ve never heard of Davis, you’re not alone. But you’re probably not from California. Davis is a symbol of revolutionary California when everything seemed possible in the Golden State.
Like Gump, she appears at crucial moments in Baby Boomer history.
She grew up in Alabama during bombings by segregationists, trying to drive African-Americans out of middle-class neighborhoods. Her neighborhood was targeted so ferociously that they called it “Dynamite Hill.” She grew up next to one of the four little girls killed in the Ku Klux Klan’s bombing of a Black church in 1963.
She went to high school in the Manhattan in the early 1960s, and studied in Berlin during the days of the Berlin Wall.
Her time in California came during the rise of the Black Panthers — and Ronald Reagan.
When she was imprisoned, John Lennon and Yoko Ono and The Rolling Stones* wrote songs about her. Aretha Franklin offered to pay her bail.
But she is also the opposite of Gump: an intellectual African-American woman determined to control her own fate.
She’s a hero of the left, but why isn’t she more famous? Perhaps her arrest and trial may suppressed her message and the legacy she deserves. In the podcast, we talk about how Reagan and President Nixon tried to paint her as a threat to society — and we end with her resistance against President Trump.
As we do every week, we also talk about our dream cast in the event that this movie is ever made. A few of the names that come up include Susan Kelechi Watson (“This Is Us”), Zazie Beetz (“Atlanta” and Deadpool 2”) and Jussie Smollett (“Empire”).
If you like our little podcast, feel free to review us on iTunes, or tell someone you like about it. You can also listen to our past episodes here.
17 Podcast Recommendations for Your Coachella Drive, From 'Ear Hustle' to 'Lovett or Leave It' to 'The Nod'
You're bored in the car, at the gym, cleaning your place. The answer is podcasts. We've assembled a new list about all the things that fascinate you, from politics to avoiding politics to comedians to comics to cults. Strap on those headphones.
Before we begin, can we plug for our own podcast? TheWrap's "Shoot This Now" features Matt Donnelly and Tim Molloy talking about stories we want made into movies. We've talked about stories from many of the podcast on this list, including "Atlanta Murder" and "Mic Dicta." Here it is on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Longform Podcast: The three co-hosts talk to the best nonfiction writers alive about how they practice their craft. Our favorite interviews include Chana Joffe-Walt pulling back the curtain on her "This American Life" masterpiece, "Five Women," and Taffy Brodesser-Akner, the best celebrity profiler alive, explaining how she made the best of Nicky Minaj dozing off during an interview.
Business Wars: The latest edition of the podcast from Wondery focuses on the rivalry between DC and Marvel. It begins with a multimillion dollar staredown over the release date of Marvel's "Captain America: Civil War," and then flashes back through the origins of both companies -- including the fact that Superman's creators initially earned only $130 for the Man of Steel.
Mic Dicta: A phalanx of lawyers crack jokes that are actually funny about legal issues that actually matter, like immigration policy and how not to sue an improv troupe. You know: Issues that affect us all.
Dear Franklin Jones: If you love Netflix's "Wild, Wild Country," drink in this eerie story of how intelligent people are lured into cults -- told by Jonathan Hirsch, whose parents were among Jones' followers.
With Special Guest Lauren Lapkus: The two things we've laughed hardest at in the past few months are Lauren Lapkus as a gossiping Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and one of her guests, Joe Wengert, hosting a bizarre episode called "California Supreme Win-Show." Each week Lapkus, a star of Pete Holmes' "Crashing," welcomes a different guest, and together they create a new fake podcast more entertaining than most real podcasts. It's on a brief hiatus, which gives you time to catch up.
Threedom: Lapkus joins comedy podcasting legends Scott Aukerman and Paul F. Tompkins for silly conversations that evolve into ridiculous stories and then brilliant improv games you will never get through without laughing.
Ear Hustle: The only podcast approved by San Quentin prison takes you behind bars to hear from California prisoners who explain prison food, love and sex while doing time, and how cellies share their tight living space. The Radiotopia production is brought to you by Bay Area artist Nigel Poor, who asks all the right questions, and inmate Earlonne Woods, who has all the answers. Season 2, which recently premiered, includes the moving story of an inmate who hugs his mother for the first time in over a decade.
You Must Remember This: Our all-time favorite podcast. If you're interested in Quentin Tarantino's upcoming Manson film, listen to host Karina Longworth's exquisite history of the Manson murders -- including the fascinating figures most people have forgotten. The Hollywood history podcast is on hiatus, but the archived episodes still make the past feel shockingly modern.
The Nod: Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings' podcast is on fire right now. The pair (often hilariously) explore undercovered aspects of African-American life, like the time Luther Vandross very unsubtly shaded En Vogue. The "Chitlins at Bergdorf's" episode is a straight-up masterpiece.
You Made It Weird With Pete Holmes: We assume you already know about Marc Maron's "WTF." But if you want another deep-dive conversation show hosted by a successful comedian, look here. Holmes, star of the aforementioned "Crashing," mixes goofy jokes and impersonations with vulnerable discussions of what it means to be human. His recent re-post of a 2016 talk with Garry Shandling will delight anyone who loved Judd Apatow's "The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling."
Lovett or Leave It: Former Obama speechwriter Jon Lovett recorded his first show the night Donald Trump failed to repeal Obamacare, and if you wanted to hear the sound of liberal glee, this was it. "Lovett or Leave It" is a spinoff from "Pod Save America," part of Crooked Media, a political podcasting business started up by a coterie of former Obama Administration that has quickly come to rule the podcasting world. Lovett is the funniest of the erudite "Pod Save America" crew, providing comic relief from whatever dire news they're discussing on any given week. The pop-culture references make the serious policy talk feel fun.
Sit and Spin Room: If "Lovett or Leave It" makes you want to do something, this podcast will give you good, grassroots ideas for what to do. We started listening to this because one of the hosts, the mysterious LOLGOP, is an old friend. But that simple thrill was quickly replaced by a deep respect for the funny, common-sense approach the podcast takes -- and the way the hosts actually listen to their guests, who deliver the kind of policy discussion you rarely hear in the national media.
Snap Judgment: A radio show/podcast that delivers "This American Life"-style narratives backed by evocative music. Because it recoils from anything that even hints at the 24-hour news cycle, this is the perfect show for when you want an immersive, important story -- but don't want to be bummed out by current events.
Reply All: It's basically "This Internet Life" -- goofier and more relaxed than Ira Glass' gold standard for audio stories, but often every bit as informative and emotional.
The Moth: Storytelling gathering “The Moth” turns some of its best presentations into a weekly radio show and podcast. The theater brings regular people onto its stage to tell their stories, making its podcast a compilation of interesting, off-beat, intense and often funny stories that could cover just about anything.
Love + Radio
Radiotopia's podcast pops up monthly to mostly tell nonfiction stories through deep, fascinating interviews. The "Living Room" episode starts out being about neighbors having sex, then turns into something else entirely. It made the hosts of our "Shoot This Now" podcast cry.
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We make special note of the ones that mention Beyonce, or that she would like
You're bored in the car, at the gym, cleaning your place. The answer is podcasts. We've assembled a new list about all the things that fascinate you, from politics to avoiding politics to comedians to comics to cults. Strap on those headphones.
