Badlands Story Hour Ep. 117: The Apprentice

In Episode 117 of Badlands Story Hour, Chris Paul and Burning Bright unpack The Apprentice, the 2024 film dramatizing Donald Trump’s early years under the mentorship of Roy Cohn. The hosts analyze the movie’s intent and narrative schizophrenia, how it veers from a surprisingly nuanced portrayal of Trump’s ambition to a late-stage character assassination filled with unsubstantiated allegations. They explore the film’s core theme: Trump as a Frankenstein’s monster molded by the dark political arts of Roy Cohn, and they discuss whether Hollywood inadvertently humanized Trump in the process.

Roy Cohn’s infamous three rules, never apologize, hit back ten times harder, and never admit you're wrong, serve as a springboard for a broader conversation on morality, lawfare, and narrative warfare. Chris and Burning tackle topics like the ethics of blackmail, the psychological purpose of shame, and Trump’s mastery of narrative manipulation as a counterspell to the media matrix. With cultural, spiritual, and geopolitical insights layered throughout, this is a razor-sharp dissection of how fiction attempts to frame truth, and how Donald Trump remains an enigma even in Hollywood’s hands.