Soderbergh Ep. 35: The Laundromat (2019) with Luke Savage

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: our episode on Soderbergh's 2019 Panama Papers infotainment film THE LAUNDROMAT. Joining us to parse this deeply odd "comedic" "look" into the mysterious world of offshore finance is co-host of the Michael & Us podcast and author of The Dead Center: Reflections on Liberalism and Democracy After the End of History, Luke Savage! Together we get to the bottom of Soderbergh and Scott Z. Burns' decision to give the BIG SHORT treatment to Jake Bernstein's entirely unfunny nonfiction book Secrecy World, and find in the film a very familiar liberal disinterest in the transformative potential of moments like the Panama Papers leak. Great conversation, check it out (whether or not you've seen the pretty lousy movie)!

Note: We had a small technical problem in the last 20 minutes or so, and our guest's audio quality is notably lower but still perfectly listenable for the end of the episode. We blame transnational gangs of malefactors.

Further Reading:

Secrecy World: Inside the Panama Papers Investigation of Illicit Money Networks and the Global Elite by Jake Bernstein

The Dead Center: Reflections on Liberalism and Democracy After the End of History by Luke Savage

The Panama Papers: Breaking the Story of How the Rich and Powerful Hide Their Money by Bastian Obermayer and Frederik Obermaier

The Hidden Wealth of Nations: The Scourge of Tax Havens by Gabriel Zucman 

"The Dirty Problems with Operation Car Wash" by Vincent Bevins: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/08/anti-corruption-crusades-paved-way-bolsonaro/596449/

"'Keep It Confidential': The Secret History of U.S. Involvement in Brazil's Scandal-Wracked Operation Car Wash" by Andrew Fishman, Natalia Viana, & Maryam Saleh:
https://theintercept.com/2020/03/12/united-states-justice-department-brazil-car-wash-lava-jato-international-treaty/

"Steven Soderbergh: On His New Film 'The Laundromat' And What The Panama Papers Teach Us" by Risa Sarachan:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/risasarachan/2019/10/17/steven-soderbergh-on-his-new-film-the-laundromat-and-what-the-panama-papers-teach-us/

"Meryl Streep Says Financial Corruption in 'Laundromat' Is a 'Black-Hearted Joke'" by Ariston Anderson:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/venice-2019-meryl-streep-steven-soderbergh-laundromat-1235958/ 

Further Viewing:

THE INSIDER (Mann, 1999)

WE STEAL SECRETS: THE STORY OF WIKILEAKS (Gibney, 2013)

WILD TALES (Szifron, 2014)

THE BIG SHORT (McKay, 2015)

SPOTLIGHT (McCarthy, 2015)

THE REPORT (Burns, 2019)

CAUGHT BY THE TIDES (Jia, 2024)

Follow Luke Savage:

https://x.com/LukewSavage

https://www.lukewsavage.com/

https://www.patreon.com/cw/michaelandus

 

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Produced by Ian Rhine and Jake Serwin. Additional production by Ryan Torgeson.