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That’s Not What “You Gotta Take Your Shot” Means, Junior
Season 4
Episode 9
Published 4 weeks ago
Description
What do you get when you mix Jodie Foster, a presidential assassination attempt, a TV show that won’t go away, and a weird attempt at pitching woo?
This week on Free Nights and Weekends, we rewind to one of the strangest cultural collisions of the 1980s — the obsession that drove John Hinckley Jr. to attempt to assassinate Ronald Reagan… all in a misguided attempt to impress a movie star.
We break down:
- The bizarre connection between Taxi Driver and real-world violence
- How celebrity culture worked before the internet (and how it warped differently)
- The ripple effects of the shooting, including changes in security and the rise of gun control debates
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Original music provided by a few of the gentlemen of Supernal Endgame