Watch: ‘The Final Year’ Captures the Personal Narrative of Global Politics

“The Final Year,” director Greg Barker’s documentary about a year in the life of the Obama administration’s foreign policy team, opens this Friday in theaters. It traces 2016 through the eyes of Secretary of State John Kerry, U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power, National Security Adviser Susan Rice, Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes and, of course President Barack Obama as they navigate the challenges of high-stakes diplomacy in an election year.

On this week’s Political Theater podcast, Barker and Rhodes recount how the story came into focus throughout the year as the team debated using military force in Syria, traveled for an emotional visit to Hiroshima, searched for privacy in the West Wing, and were shocked by Election Night. “I wanted to give a sense that these complicated policy issues are, in fact, being grappled with and decided on by ordinary people,” Barker said.

Show Notes:

Roll Call Reviews Obama’s ‘The Final Year’: A Documentary on the Last Days of a West Wing Team