Today’s guest is David Klion, a writer in Brooklyn whose work has appeared in The Nation, The New York Times, The Guardian, BuzzFeed, The Baffler, and many other publications. In mid-September, the website Coda published a story by David, titled “Russia, Hollywood’s Mirror,” where he examines Russia tropes in American movies over the past six centuries. Here’s the opening of the article: “If Russians didn’t exist, Hollywood would have to invent them. In a sense, Hollywood has.”So what did David and Kevin talk about in this interview? They go through a whole laundry list of American movies about Russia, focusing on favorites like Rocky IV, Red Heat, GoldenEye, and others. David talks about what kind of Hollywood movies he’d like to see more of, and discussed at length how popular entertainment both feeds off and informs perceptions when it comes to how Russians and Americans think about each other.Follow David on Twitter:https://twitter.com/DavidKlionRead his Coda story on Hollywood and Russia:https://codastory.com/disinformation-crisis/rewriting-history/russia-hollywood-mirrorSupport this very podcast here:www.patreon.com/kevinrothrockMusic:“Polyushka Polye” by The Red Army Choir, www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2YlbiyiuMcОлег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-3wC7gkMDQ“Your Health,” Soyuzmultfilm, 1965, Ivan Aksenchuk, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFKxyA81TtM

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