Of this kind of conversation, which is clearly dramatized. MARTIN: So, you know, we just heard this clip. Well, we'll get into that - or maybe not. I think it was - I think it was 2004.īARKER: Yeah, you invited me to my first party there. MARTIN: So first off, we should acknowledge you and I know each other. Kim Barker joins me now live in our studios this morning to talk about what it's like to see Tina Fey play you in a movie. She initially called it 'The Taliban Shuffle,' and it chronicled her personal experience covering the war in Afghanistan.

Kim Barker wrote the memoir that the film is based on. MARTIN: That was a clip from the new film 'Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.' Tina Fey produced it, and she stars as the lead character Kim Baker whose name is remarkably similar to the name of our next guest. TINA FEY: (As Kim Baker) The travel or the crying?įEY: (As Kim Baker) How many people do you need? TAKEDA: (As Ed Farber) Kim, are you going to be joining in? UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters, sobbing). And you folks are all the unmarried, childless personnel in this bureau. SCOTT TAKEDA: (As Ed Farber) The network needs reporters on the ground in Afghanistan. (SOUNDBITE OF FILM, 'WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT')

And in newsrooms around the country, there were versions of conversations like this one.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan drew in hundreds of reporters from the U.S., many of whom had never reported from abroad, let alone a foreign war.

Tango foxtrot