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Snack Shack's Mika Abdalla, Author Robert Wolf on The Mike Vilardi Show, and Former Congressman Jason Altmire
This edition of The Neil Haley Show opens with a conversation with actor Mika Abdalla about her role in the coming-of-age film Snack Shack, streaming on Paramount. Abdalla traced a career that began almost by accident, with an open casting call for a parenting magazine at her dentist's office when she was five or six, an only child whose mother wanted to draw her out of her shyness. That led to commercials, an American Girl movie at eleven, and her breakout on Project MC². She described Snack Shack, directed by Adam Rehmeier and loosely based on his own childhood, as a warm throwback to 1980s and 1990s coming-of-age movies, centered on two young best friends running a poolside snack stand over the summer, with Abdalla playing the girl who moves to town and shakes things up. To prepare, the director flew the cast in early to live their characters' lives around town, swimming at the pool and soaking up the era's cars, fashion, and music. She reflected on the bittersweet, temporary closeness of people met on location and on set, and said she is excited to find her next project now that the industry is ramping back up. Find her on Instagram at Mika Abdalla.
Neil then joined a Mike Vilardi Show simulcast welcoming author Robert Wolf, whose book Not a Real Enemy tells the true story of his family's survival through Nazi Germany and the communism that followed, drawn from his father's fight for freedom. Wolf spoke about his parents having endured totalitarianism at its most extreme and about his own belief in engaging across cultures, communities, and faiths rather than dividing into us and them, recalling friendships that cross religious lines. The wide-ranging conversation also moved into current events and a debate over socialism, communism, immigration, and public safety, with the hosts and guest offering their own strong political opinions. Not a Real Enemy is available from booksellers.
The hour closes with a segment co-hosted by author and publisher Paul Hollis featuring former Pennsylvania Congressman Jason Altmire, now a national association CEO, adjunct professor, and author. Altmire reflected on life after Congress, having left office at 44 determined not to let his career peak in his 40s, and on how the public's perception of the institution has soured in the years since. He discussed his book Dead Center, which examines the causes of political polarization, draws on academic research into how partisans think, and weaves in his own experience as a centrist in a divided Congress. Altmire argued that most Americans sit closer to the center than the political class does, citing Pew research that roughly a third identify at the extremes, evenly split left and right, and warning that because those voters dominate primaries and campaign giving, closed primary systems reward candidates who speak to the edges. He said he regrets that his 2017 forecast of worsening division has proven right. Find Jason Altmire's Dead Center wherever books are sold.