Trung Phan & Rob Henderson — Apocalypse Now (EP.178)

Our previous episode with Trung & Rob included the bombshell reveal that Rob had never watched Apocalypse Now. Nearly one year later, Rob and Trung make their triumphant return to the show to discuss the themes of the film, the lessons aspiring creators can draw from its troubled production history, the role of the Vietnam War in American cinema, and a whole lot more. Important Links:

• Rob’s Substack
• Rob’s Twitter
• Trung’s Substack
• Trung’s Twitter
• Our previous episode with Trung & Rob

Show Notes:

• Rob’s homework assignment
• The two endings of Apocalypse Now
• Coppola’s disastrous production process
• Should Willard have taken Kurtz’ place?
• Draft dodgers: fear of death, or fear of social judgment?
• Different perspectives of American Empire
• The memory industry: Vietnam in film
• When condemning backfires
• The thin veneer of civilization
• Willard’s moral injury
• Is pacificism sustainable?
• Art as a response to social conditions
• Telling the story vs romanticizing it
• Be careful what you wish for: The McKenna take
• When Jim was Jedpilled
• When Rob was Jedpilled
• The creative process: feeding the black box, becoming the vessel, and summoning the muse
• George Lucas’ version of Apocalypse Now
• Cut scenes and time travel
• Trung & Rob as Emperors of the World
• MORE!

Books Mentioned:

• The Enlightenment Trilogy; by Jed McKenna
• Heart of Darkness; by Joseph Conrad
• The Lucifer Principle; by Howard Bloom
• Howard Bloom hierarchies
• The Sympathizer; by Viet Thanh Nguyen
• The War of Art; by Steven Pressfield
• Moby-Dick; by Herman Melville
• The Tao Te Ching; by Lao Tzu
• The Creative Act: A Way of Being; by Rick Rubin

Films, TV Shows & Podcasts Mentioned:

• Apocalypse Now; directed by Francis Ford Coppola
• Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse; directed by Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper & Eleanor Coppola
• The Vietnam War; directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick
• Platoon; directed by Oliver Stone
• The Wolf of Wall Street; directed by Martin Scorcese
• Wall Street; directed by Oliver Stone
• The Social Network; directed by David Fincher
• Born on the Fourth of July; directed by Oliver Stone
• The Deer Hunter; directed by Michael Cimino
• A Clockwork Orange; directed by Stanley Kubrick
• Patton; directed by Franklin J. Schaffner
• Full Metal Jacket; directed by Stanley Kubrick
• Saving Private Ryan; directed by Steven Spielberg
• The Godfather & The Godfather Part II; directed by Francis Ford Coppola
• The Matrix; directed by the Wachowskis
• Rick and Morty
• Do We Get To Win This Time?
• Tetragrammation with Rick Rubin