The Enigma of Deep Throat

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Hal Holbrook created a backstory for Deep Throat that was based on a question of morality. William Goldman didn't just give Deep Throat the best line in the movie, he structured the entire film on his struggles with morality. When Woodward meets with Deep Throat for the third and final time, he and Bernstein are stuck. The camera lingers on Deep Throat's face as he agonizes over what to do. And then he talks. First he confirms what we already know, that the break-in was an operation run by Nixon's chief of staff. Now that is some serious whistleblowing.

A remixed complete version of our two part Watergate series from last year: Journalists may write the first draft of history but Hollywood prints the legends and the myths. The 1976 film All the President’s Men remains our most authoritative account of Watergate. The film is also responsible for the myth of Deep Throat. Your host follows the myth… from 1976 to the present. Plus a reporter from the Washington Post newsroom who never made it into All the President’s Men yet did more to safeguard the free press and American democracy than Woodstein ever did.