The Social Reckoning and What’s Making Us Happy

The episode opens with Glenn Weldon introducing "The Social Reckoning," Aaron Sorkin's new film directed by Sorkin himself, starring Jeremy Allen White as Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz and Mikey Madison as Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen. The film chronicles the Facebook Files investigation that exposed how Facebook's algorithms caused measurable societal harm while the company knowingly did nothing.

Lincoln Holmes and Danielle Kurtzleben both express disappointment, with Holmes finding the film boring except for its unintentional oddities, and Kurtzleben appreciating it slightly more but primarily for its unintended comedy. They note the film's fractured timeline using on-screen date sliders and its framing as an "All the President's Men" for the digital age, though neither believes it achieves that ambition.

Weldon recommends the film specifically for its comedic value—both intentional laugh lines from Sorkin's wit and unintentional ones from his "cheese ball" tendencies and extreme earnestness. He notes the film works best when depicting people doing passionate work (West Wing territory) and deteriorates into sanctimoniousness when depicting real-world events.

Kurtzleben identifies several heavy-handed choices that pulled her from the narrative: Horwitz not knowing how to use GPS (used to establish him as a non-tech outsider), and Haugen portrayed as meekly wondering what a basketball player celebrating means, implying she's unfamiliar with basic cultural touchstones.

Holmes extensively critiques Sorkin's persistent problematic gender politics, including: imaginary romantic tension between the reporter and whistleblower where she is moral but often wrong and he is generally right; changing the meeting location from Horwitz's backyard (with his wife present) to a hotel where Haugen's cover is implied to be a sex worker, resulting in revealing outfits; referring to interns as "Zach and girl intern"; and inserting a lecture about mansplaining that appears nowhere in the source material.

The panelists discuss Sorkin's directorial weakness, noting he benefits from other directors who understand how to pace his dialogue and extract appropriate performances. They critique his use of the Greek chorus structure (Bill Burr as Mark Zuckerberg's conscience) and his reliance on characters citing statistics to each other with portentous music swelling—treating data recitation as high drama. They argue Sorkin believes drama must be pedagogical rather than character-driven.

The conversation notes the film's recency problem: by 2026, audiences already know Facebook's algorithm promotes engagement over accuracy, so the "revelation" lacks impact. They compare it unfavorably to films like "Spotlight" and "The Insider" that managed to dramatize well-known stories more effectively.

The episode concludes with the "What's Making Us Happy" segment where Danielle recommends Janis Hallett's murder mysteries that explore subcultures, Linda recommends the documentary "Kill, Bury, Print" about a small Oklahoma newspaper's dangerous confrontation with corrupt local law enforcement, and Glenn recommends the YouTube series "The Try Guys Phoning It In," a comedy cooking competition.