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His overpowering narcissism is constantly interfering with his desperate desire to be seen as a perfect hyperprogressive ally.

The effect is to achieve Woodss desire to inject nuance into the shows discussions and plots without sanctimony.

In the Knowdoesnt strike me as a show that appears in your head all at once fully formed.

But, more, its just genuine curiosity I find most people quite interesting.

So it seemed like a good combination to have me be an NPR interviewer with real live guests.

Then I started talking to Brandon Gardner, my writing partner, and we just fleshed out the world.

The medium matches the characters.

I found that some of them really did.

What are the challenges of working in that medium?A lot of it is time and money.

So you really have to commit.

With stop-motion, it doesnt work that way.

Youve acted in satires in the past likeSilicon Valleyand Armando Iannuccis movieIn the Loop.

Its not sanctimonious and its not holier-than-thou, and I think thats really important.

IwishI was better than these characters, but Im not.

Youre a very specific person, but it doesnt have to be like a sketch.

It was excellent direction that really helped me.

But the thing I gravitated to were the people who sounded just like actual people.

The jokes about public radio all seem like theyre coming from a place of knowing reverence.

I listen to it all the time.

But Michael Barbaro, when hes listening, will do this very emphatic mm-hmm.

Hell beveryactive listening, and that part drives me bananas.

Its that kind of shit that drives me crazy.

Did anything she mention make it into the show?Yogurt week is a real thing.

At NPR, their big treat is yogurt week.

Thats a real NPR celebration.

So that idea of the listeners aggression and entitlement made it into the show.

Its really more of a satire of NPR listeners, which I am one of.

Thats a source of real credibility.

It telegraphs a degree of self-awareness and humility, but also confidence.

Throughout the whole Trump era, every late-night show was endlessly lampooning Trump.

I would be so happy to see it if Ben Shapiro did a comedy making fun of the right.

My blood pressure would go down.

Often, were not even good.

I dont know that the aspirations of the characters in the show are bad.

Concern with language is totally valid.

And I wouldnt really have a very good answer.

We were kind of like, Work your magic, Hillary.

yo go get us Mike Tyson.

I think the crux of it was that the joke would never be on them.

So we really wanted to avoid that.

Actually, I think thats wrong.

I think he would ask about the mise-en-scene.

I felt that you did me a disservice.

My best angle is a Dutch tilt, and you should have shot me from a Dutch tilt.

There really wouldnt be a question.

There would just be a stream of recrimination.

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