Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

On the heels of Beef S2 , we're revisiting a favorite of ours with actor Oscar Isaac. We begin with his 2023 Broadway debut in  The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window  (5:10), the play's timeless writing (6:55), and the legacy of the great Lorraine Hansberry (11:27). Then, Isaac reflects on growing up in the early ‘80s (12:47), his punk-rock salad days in high school (18:05) and then Juill...

Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened. On the heels of CR month coming to a close on The Rewatchables , we’re joined this week by The Ringer’s beloved editorial director, Chris Ryan. He’s been hailed as the Shohei Ohtani of podcasting, the basketball bard of Bob & Barbara's bar, the face of The Ringer, the Joe Rogan of the left, and perhaps most aptly, by Bill Simmons himself,...

To mark the beginning of Talk Easy ’s 10-year anniversary, Sam called up Terry Gross. Watch this episode on YouTube. Then, we turn to their conversation from Philadelphia last fall. They discuss Terry’s half century hosting Fresh Air (8:00), early memories of writing (13:00), and her improbable road to public radio (29:38). Terry walks us through the formative years of Fresh Air (33:37) and its se...

 “I got calls from people inside of some of the AI labs,” says technology ethicist Tristan Harris. “And it felt like getting a call from Robert Oppenheimer before the atomic bomb.”  Harris (a former Google insider and AI expert) has spent more than a decade sounding the alarm about the effects of technology on our wellbeing. He’s currently the co-founder of Center for Humane Technology , a no...

A year after the attack on the Governor’s residence, Josh Shapiro says he and his family are “not afraid.” Their spirit, not broken but strengthened by the firebombing. Watch this conversation on YouTube We begin with the anniversary of the arson attack, his Pennsylvania upbringing as depicted in Where We Keep the Light , his childhood dream to become an NBA player, and how he pulled a Lloyd Doble...

To celebrate Oscar Sunday, we return to our talk with writer-director Joachim Trier! We begin with guiding words from writer Philip Roth (7:20), how Trier arrived at his intimate new film Sentimental Value (8:40), and why he was drawn to father-daughter dynamics (his own, and others) in making this new project (10:00). Then, we talk about Joachim’s early observations growing up in Norway (25:00),...

Rose Byrne has taken many forms on-screen. In Mary Bronstein’s film If I Had Legs I’d Kick You , she delivers a career-defining performance as a Long Island therapist and mother slowly unraveling under the weight of her child’s mysterious illness. Watch our conversation on YouTube . In the lead-up to Oscar Sunday, we return to our talk with Byrne, discussing the maternal madness at the heart of th...

When it comes to the theatrical experience, director Ryan Coogler is in rarified air these days. From Creed to Black Panther to Wakanda Forever, his movies arrive as seismic commercial and cultural events. His latest, Sinners, was no exception when it came out in IMAX last spring. And with 16 Oscar nominations, Coogler’s blues-steeped vampire epic has now become the most-nominated film in Academy...

Journalist and author Jacob Soboroff (MS Now) has spent the better part of a decade reporting from inside America’s fractured immigration system. He joins us this week, fresh off the plane from Minneapolis, where he’s been on the ground covering the ICE raids that continue to sweep across the city (and the nation). We discuss the evolving operations (3:00) and protests on the ground (6:00), the gu...

Musician Anderson .Paak has always marched to the beat of his own drum. Whether he’s on the church circuit in Oxnard, center stage at the Grammys, or as one half of groups like NxWorries and Silk Sonic, Anderson is joyfully, defiantly, himself. Watch this conversation  on YouTube. The versatile singer-songwriter joins us this week to discuss his directorial debut, K-Pops! (3:31), the music—Fr...

George Saunders has long been hailed as one of the great short story writers of our time. Of his 1996 debut CivilWarLand in Bad Decline , Zadie Smith called Saunders “a prophecy and the voice of the American berserk.” Thirty years later, Saunders is still turning to the page in search of answers. Watch this conversation on YouTube. We sit today to discuss his latest novel, Vigil (6:25), why he fel...

Today, we revisit our 2023 conversation with performer and director Ramy Youssef, one of the singular voices of the past decade. We begin with his reflections on Ramadan, before diving into the third season of his Hulu show Ramy and the questions that shaped it. Then, we walk through his coming of age as a first-generation Egyptian-American Muslim in New Jersey, his early forays into film, and the...

From BoJack to Batman, Will Arnett has made a name for himself with his signature baritone voice. This week the beloved ‘SmartLess’ co-host joins us to talk easy. Watch this conversation on YouTube. We begin with his latest role in Bradley Cooper’s Is This Thing On? (6:35), the real-life story that inspired the personal project (10:53), and how making it reconnected Arnett to his early years as a...

Patti Smith has been hailed as the Godmother of Punk, the people’s poet, a defining voice of her generation. She’s been inducted into the Rock & Roll of Fame. She won a National Book Award for her memoir, Just Kids. Last fall, she published her most intimate book yet: Bread of Angels . Act I: In Sickness and In Health We discuss Patti’s early creative awakenings in South Jersey (7:50), discove...

Gwyneth Paltrow, now and forever, reigns supreme. Watch this conversation on YouTube. We discuss her return to acting in Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme (7:45), the personal parallels that shaped her portrayal of 1930s movie star Kay Stone (8:00), and memories of her early years at the Williamstown Theatre Festival (12:14). Then, Paltrow reflects on the “fast-moving train” that followed her breakout r...

Before Viola Davis ( How to Get Away with Murder ) became an EGOT-winning actor, she was an observer. Her work takes the human experience and transmutes it, offering a mirror and a window into ourselves. You can  watch this conversation  on YouTube. As we (gradually) move into 2026, we revisit our sit-down with Davis. We unpack her liberating projects in The Woman King (4:24) and G20 (4:...

We’re closing out 2025 with the person who made us laugh the most this year: comedian Robby Hoffman. [You can watch this conversation on YouTube.] At the top, we unpack the joys of her new Netflix special Wake Up (4:00), her views on Sunday football (9:00), and the state of masculinity (15:00). Then, Robby walks us through her Orthodox upbringing (19:00), leaving America for Canada (21:00), and ho...

For over thirty years, Kate Winslet has been one of the most beloved performers on screen. We discuss her directorial debut in Goodbye June (5:00), the loss that inspired this personal screenplay (10:00), and how her experiences in Hollywood shaped her approach to directing (20:00). Then, Winslet reflects on her vivid upbringing in Reading, England (23:00), landing her breakout role in Peter Jacks...

In the first 100 years of The New Yorker, only five have edited the magazine. Since 1998, it’s been David Remnick at the helm, shepherding the publication into the 21st century.  We discuss Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral win in New York City (3:24), the new documentary, The New Yorker at 100 , chronicling the magazine’s evolution (11:00), how comedian Jon Stewart understands the rising influence of...

What happens when a house is not a home? It's the question pulsating at the heart of the new film,  Sentimental Value,  and one that actor Renate Reinsve reckons with in the lead role of Nora. We discuss her process connecting the ‘puzzle’ of each character (7:00), how she balances dark and light themes in this new film (8:20), and her creative childhood in Norway (12:00). Then, Renate d...

Following the success of The Worst Person in the World , writer-director Joachim Trier returns this fall with a candid family story in  Sentimental Value . We begin with the guiding words from writer Philip Roth (7:20), how Trier arrived at this intimate new film (8:40), and why he was drawn to father-daughter dynamics (his own, and others) in making this new project (10:00). Then, we talk ab...

Filmmaker Noah Baumbach has spent the past three decades transmuting his experiences into cinema, culminating in his latest film, Jay Kelly , his love letter to movies (and the memories they evoke). We begin with the “quiet crisis” Baumbach found himself in on the heels of releasing White Noise (5:30), finding his way back to the page, with co-writer Emily Mortimer, to create Jay Kelly for George...

For your Thanksgiving inspiration: a favorite episode from Wiser Than Me , where Julia sits down with legendary cook and author Ina Garten. Over the course of her 76 years, Ina has lived a few lives: she worked on nuclear policy at the White House, ran the beloved food store Barefoot Contessa, and went on to write best-selling cookbooks and host her own hit TV shows. But what’s always defined her...

This week, cook and writer Alison Roman published her fourth cookbook,  Something from Nothing —a collection of over one hundred simple, timeless recipes inspired by the items you may already have in your pantry. On the heels of its release, we return to our conversation with the culinary force. We discuss her dessert cookbook Sweet Enough (4:55), her early years as a restaurant pastry chef (...

Today, we’re sharing an episode from Fail Better with David Duchovny , featuring filmmaker and writer Judd Apatow. Together, they trace the arc of Judd’s career, from Anchorman and Bridesmaids to Superbad and The 40-Year-Old Virgin , before diving into his new visual memoir, Comedy Nerd: A Lifelong Obsession in Stories and Pictures .   Throughout their conversation, Judd reflects on what’s driven...