Mission Accomplished

In 2000, our big-screen heroes were optimistic strivers who always wound up doing the right thing. By the time George W. Bush left office, those go-getters were replaced by morally murky desperados doing whatever they could to get by. In just eight years, we’d gone from Erin Brockovich to Michael Clayton.

How did America, and Hollywood, change so much in such a small amount of time? In the new narrative podcast Mission Accomplished, Brian Raftery tries to answer that question. The show features all-new interviews with filmmakers about the making of such beloved Bush-year movies as Bring It On, Anchorman, Donnie Darko, 25th Hour, and Iron Man. It also looks at how the movies of the 2000s capture the chaos, confusion, and sporadic joy of that era. Along the way, you’ll hear from the likes of Tony Gilroy, Adam McKay, Oliver Stone, and other writers and directors about the wildest, most unpredictable period of the 21st century—at least until the 2010s came along.