Award-Winning Actor Sean Astin Discusses Political Radio Show and Career

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Award-winning actor, director, voice artist, producer, and radio show host Sean Astin comes to The National Press Club at 6:30 p.m. on October 27 to discuss his political radio show, "Vox Populi," as well as his career in the entertainment industry.

The event is sponsored by the National Press Club’s Young Members Committee, and is $10 for Club members and one member guest and $20 for non-members and additional member guests. Mr. Astin will not be signing autographs.

Vox Populi is a bipartisan political radio show that aims to provide a forum for discussion of politics, government, and world events with divergent viewpoints and a high standard of civil discourse. The show airs online on the TradioV on Thursdays from 12:00-2:00 PST. Of the origin of Vox Populi, Astin has said, "I've wanted to do a political show for twenty-five years. I've campaigned for three presidents...I've lobbied in front of Congress, I actually managed a Congressional campaign - I'm a guy who likes to get involved." Astin has said he tries to operate from a "center modality" and conflict resolution on his show in a way he thinks is missing in current political discourse.

Vox Populi has featured numerous politicians, scholars, historians, authors, activists, foreign dignitaries, and the politically-minded of the entertainment industry. Guests have included linguist, cognitive scientist, and political commentator Dr. Noam Chomsky; former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman; author and gay rights activist Stephen Snyder-Hill; former Assistant Secretary of Defense Larry Korb; Ben Shapiro, author of The People vs. Barack Obama; Representative Karen Bass of the House Foreign Relations Committee; Congressman Jeff Denham of the House Veterans Affairs Committee; Congressman Steve Israel, Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee; Cullen Hoback, director of the hit information privacy and collection documentary Terms and Conditions May Apply; comedian Dennis Miller of The Dennis Miller Show; former NBA star Adonal Foyle, founder of Democracy Matters; journalist and former Texas judge Catherine Crier; actor and activist Matthew Modine; and actor Brandon Routh.

Following the show's premiere in 2012 and 36 episodes funded by Astin, the actor said that he "got fried" and needed assistance in running the show. This resulted in a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised over $66,000 (more than twice the $30,000 goal) and has afforded him additional resources to produce the show's next season.

Sean Astin is best known for his film roles as Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Mikey Walsh in The Goonies, and the title character of Rudy. Recent film appearances include The Boys of Abu Ghraib, Extraction, and Freemason. In television, he appeared as Lynn McGill in the fifth season of 24, narrated the American version of Meerkat Manor, currently voices Raphael in the Nickelodeon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV series, stars in the Sony release Mom's Night Out, and co-stars in the much anticipated series The Strain for FX based on Guillermo del Toro's novel series.