Aaron Sorkin Goes Off Script
episodePreviously titled “Aaron Sorkin Still Believes in American Institutions, Even If No One Else Does” — renamed by the publisher on Sep 19, 2026
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What is Aaron Sorkin’s new film “The Social Reckoning” about?
I'm John Caramonica, a critic at The New York Times. And I'm Joe Cascarelli, a culture reporter at The Times. Together, we host PopCast, a weekly pop culture chat show where we speak to the biggest musicians, actors, internet celebrities, and more. We've had Bad Bunny, Olivia Rodrigo, and Anne Hathaway. We've also hosted live performances with Andre 3000 and Erykah Badu. Plus, we end every conversation with a snack. Catch new episodes of PopCast every week on YouTube. And anywhere you get your
podcasts. I did the Coke and wrote a few good men, you know, the next day.
I'm Lulu Garcia Navarro, and today I'm in Beverly Hills interviewing Aaron Sorkin. The walk and talk.
Billion dollars here, billion dollars there. Sooner or later, it starts to add up to real money.
The snappy dialogue. Really going to let him loose in the White House where there's liquor and women? We can hide the women, but the man deserves a drink. The soaring monologues. We stood up for what was right. His work often dramatizes the institutions that shape American society, like the presidency in his hit TV show, The West Wing, or big tech in the social network about Mark Zuckerberg and the founding of Facebook.
If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you'd have invented Facebook.
Now, 16 years later, Sorkin's back with a follow-up to the social network. It's called The Social Reckoning. Facebook isn't the ref. That's the point. That's the point, Charlie. He both wrote and directed the film, which focuses on real-life whistleblower Francis Haugen. So why revisit Facebook after all these years? Here's my conversation with writer and director Aaron Sorkin. But first, a quick message. If you're not a subscriber, and you should be, we have some news for you. You can explore The Times for free without paywalls during your first month in The New York Times app. Just download the app, and we hope you enjoy it. Now, on to the interview. Aaron Sorkin, thank you so much for coming on the interview.
It's great to have you. It's my pleasure. I want to start with a big question before we dig into your latest work. Andrew Breitbart, the founder of the right-wing website Breitbart News, would say often that politics is downstream from culture, right? And what he was saying essentially is that Hollywood is sometimes – more influential, it has more sway over our politics than Washington does. You've written stories that use our politics and institutions as a backdrop so many times. The West Wing, The American President, Charlie Wilson's War, The Newsroom, The Trial of the Chicago 7, and some might add The Social Network and your new film, The Social Reckoning, to that. And we're going to talk about that in a minute.
How do you view your role in that equation?
It's not a political agenda. I think before a movie can be anything else, before it can be thought-provoking or relevant, it has to be good. It has to work as a movie. It has to work as something that you watch while you're eating popcorn. So that's what I'm thinking about while I'm writing. Beyond that, I write idealistically and romantically.
You've said that a
lot. And I find that these areas... government uh the news journalists, that's where the stories are. They're just stories there that really suit the way I like to write.
Well, explain that though, because, you know, in 2020, you told my colleague, David Marchese, that you like writing heroes without capes because it makes us feel as though greatness is achievable.
And
again, you invoke these words, romantic, idealistic, you've used these words a lot. And I guess not to be trite, but do you write to make the world a better place?
No, let's be really clear. I write to, in some way, captivate you for the two hours that I've asked for your attention while you're in the theater. I take a lot of pride in the fact that there are people who tell me that they got into public service because they watched The West Wing. I really do. And in terms of Heroes Without Capes, I'll, you know, from time to time, you'll be watching the news and someone will say something like, there's not going to be a West Wing moment here.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is Aaron Sorkin’s new film “The Social Reckoning” about?
0:00–7:37
2
How does Sorkin view the relationship between culture, politics and institutions?
7:37–16:26
3
Why did Sorkin decide to revisit Facebook after the original “Social Network”?
16:26–24:15
4
What is Sorkin’s writing philosophy – idealism, romance, and “heroes without capes”?
24:15–32:09
5
How did Sorkin overcome his past drug addiction and what role did sobriety play in his career?
32:09–39:54
6
Why is Sorkin optimistic about AI and its impact on storytelling?
39:54–45:58
7
What does Sorkin think about Meta’s recent settlement and its effect on his film’s ending?
45:58–52:49
8
What upcoming projects (Broadway revival, future films) is Sorkin planning and how does he view America’s institutions today?
52:49–1:02:14
Speakers
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