How ‘Tony’ Turned Anthony Bourdain Into a Movie Star. Plus: The Latest on the Paramount Negotiations.
Summary
Hosts Brian Curtis and David Shoemaker review *Tony*, a biopic depicting Anthony Bourdain’s formative summer in Provincetown, praising its focus on his self-invention and kitchen camaraderie. They discuss how the film avoids the pitfalls of writer biopics by emphasizing lived experience over the act of writing. The episode also touches on Ian Frazier’s upcoming movie *Coyote vs. Acme* and includes personal anecdotes about the hosts’ own college summers.
Topics discussed
Sponsor reads for Tremfya and The Dog Stars
Ian Frazier's New Yorker profile of Ponce de Leon
Review of the movie Tony: Bourdain's early life
Bourdain's authenticity and the oyster metaphor
Food writing as a portal to culture and vicarious living
Bourdain as a frustrated novelist and biopic challenges
Historical accuracy and other writer biopics
Hosts' formative summers: bartending and news internships
Bourdain's mother and the New Yorker publication story
Bourdain biography and meeting the author
Paramount merger news and NYT defamation case
Andy Rooney parody and media criticism of Thomas Kean Jr.
Listener puns and Alex Michelson interview
Whole Foods sponsor read
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