Choice Words with Samantha Bee

Actor and fellow Daily Show alum Josh Gad joins Sam to talk about why it’s harder to do political satire now than in the early aughts (hint: it’s the fascism). They also talk about his new book, In Gad We Trust, lying to your therapist, experiencing imposter syndrome even after years of success, and why he tried to say no to the Book of Mormon. Plus they talk about why Trump impersonations are bad...

Actor Kathryn Hahn joins Sam from her “she shed” to talk about how important it is to try a decision on for size before you make it and how she’s very good at getting rid of stuff (except for her kids’ art projects). They talk about taking jobs to pay off student loans, the distinct wetness of pre-packaged hardboiled eggs, why moving to LA was never part of her plan, and watching their moms go thr...

Brooke Shields joins Sam to talk about her new book “Brooke Shields is Not Allowed to Get Old” and why it was so important to her to go to college despite her already booming career. They talk about aging and making new friends in your fifties, warding off overzealous doctors, learning to accept compliments, and unwinding the internet for their teenage daughters even if sometimes their kids hurt t...

MSNBC’s Chris Hayes joins Sam and drops the most intimate choice yet—the decision to kiss his now-wife for the first time! Chris talks about how he is perhaps *too* decisive,  what the right level of fame is, how his life improved when he stopped reading his mentions and Donald Trump’s pathological and genuine need for attention. They talk about Chris’ new book The Sirens’ Call and why they agree...

Amanda Skinner, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southern New England joins Sam to talk about how running a Planned Parenthood is like landing a plane while gassing it up at the same time. They talk about what it’s like working in an “access state” while getting surges of patients from other states, and how the crux of what they do is providing preventative care to keep people stay healt...

Brooke Shields joins Sam to talk about her new book “Brooke Shields is Not Allowed to Get Old” and why it was so important to her to go to college despite her already booming career. They talk about aging and making new friends in your fifties, warding off overzealous doctors, learning to accept compliments, and unwinding the internet for their teenage daughters even if sometimes their kids hurt t...

Andy Slavitt, President Biden’s White House Senior Advisor for the Covid response and President Obama’s head of Medicare and Medicaid, joins Sam to breakdown the current world of healthcare and discuss the life-changing decision to call the White House and offer to help fix the ACA website. They talk about why powerful people are so compelling and how it makes making decisions even harder and how...

Samantha Bee joins fellow immigrant and world-renowned chef José Andrés on his podcast Longer Tables for a conversation about food, life, and everything in between. In Longer Tables with José Andrés, José explores the powerful ways food connects us and shapes our world. Each episode features deep, engaging conversations with friends from the culinary world and beyond—like Stacey Abrams, Ron Howard...

Comedian and host of You Made It Weird Pete Holmes joins Sam for an impromptu relationship podcast. Pete talks about the importance of choice of partner, and how the real test is to see if you and your partner would edit a movie in the same way. They talk about choosing to be alone in order to learn how to later be in a relationship, why Pete chooses to tour just once a month, and how he knows whe...

Actor Taran Killam joins Sam to talk about childhood decisions that changed his life—like deciding to go to the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts in order to get one more month of summer vacation. The two talk about the magic of live theater, being decisive but not in order to make good decisions, visiting the White House and seeing president Biden’s moon rock, and the ethics of singing...

This week we're introducing you to Samantha Bee's other podcast, The Daily Beast Podcast. Each week, Samantha and co-host Joanna Coles navigate the latest in politics, pop culture and everything in between. This week they talk about the Menendez Brothers and interview movie producer Richard Curtis. Keep up with Samantha Bee @realsambee on Instagram and X. And stay up to date with us @LemonadaMedia...

Actor Kathryn Hahn joins Sam from her “she shed” to talk about how important it is to try a decision on for size before you make it and how she’s very good at getting rid of stuff (except for her kids’ art projects). They talk about taking jobs to pay off student loans, the distinct wetness of pre-packaged hardboiled eggs, why moving to LA was never part of her plan, and watching their moms go thr...

Comedian Heather McMahan joins Sam to talk about how she’s what you would get if Joan Rivers and Conan O’Brien had a baby, why she chose to self-produce her comedy special Breadwinner and the importance of being your own yes-man. They also talk about the joys of the human body, like ovarian cysts bursting on transatlantic flights, if there’s anything she doesn’t think her audience wants her to jok...

Renowned restaurant critic, food writer, and magazine editor Ruth Reichl joins Sam to talk about why taking a job as the editor-in-chief of Gourmet Magazine was such a hard decision, and how it ended up changing her life. They talk about getting paid to do a job you would do for free, her new documentary “Food and Country,” thoughts on meal kits, and their recurring waitressing nightmares. Keep up...

Fellow Canadian and actor Lauren Ash joins Sam to talk about why she continues to live on a Green Card rather than apply for US citizenship, and why on her 40th birthday she decided to try a career in music. She talks about why she’s not as easily swayed as when she was younger but how small decisions unravel her, and how helpful it is to have that special Canadian pragmatism. They also talk about...

With less than two weeks until Election Day, editor-at-large of The 19th* Errin Haines joins Sam to talk about news coverage leading up to the most significant election in recent memory and whether or not shy voters will make a surprising difference. They talk about the importance of being open to the best idea in the room and how Errin sticks to a decision once she’s made it—unless it’s for a las...

Jenny Slate sits down with Sam to talk about the difference between FOMO and regret and how sometimes you need to bust through a wall to take a big swing. Jenny talks about how she is naturally risk averse and giving birth was the most dangerous (and best) situation she ever put herself in. They talk about Jenny’s need to do the dishes before she can enjoy a meal and philosophize over the clothes...

Joanna Coles, the Chief Content Officer of The Daily Beast sits down with Sam to talk about deciding to leave the never-ending cycle of daily news for a slightly more dependable pace of monthly magazines…and then returning to news after two decades away. They talk about seeing George Clooney in the flesh, the beauty of shopping on resale websites, getting nutritional advice on TikTok and how neith...

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey joins Sam to talk about trading her career as a (yes) professional basketball player in Austria for law school and later to serve as Attorney General and Governor of Massachusetts. They talk about how Governor Healey happily works across the aisle with non-crazy Republican colleagues, and why some of them are voting for Kamala Harris. They talk about struggling...

Jon Cryer joins Sam to talk about how he chooses his acting roles when he knows saying yes to one job means having to turn down another, and tells Sam about a huge role he passed up. They also get into it about a raccoon that steals his delivery food, why he gets recognized at the Frankfurt airport, and being a seat-filler at the DNC. Keep up with Samantha Bee @realsambee on Instagram and X. And s...

Actor Mackenzie Davis joins Sam to talk about how she took a semester off from college to model–hated it–and ultimately decided to go back to school and fast track her degree so that she could start acting. They bond over seeing baking directions as meditational, learning lines while cooking, and how making lists and keeping lists are two different skills. Check out Mackenzie’s new film, Speak No...

Actor Shailene Woodley joins Sam to talk about a pivotal decision she made to move to Europe and live out of a carry-on suitcase for ten years amid a blossoming Hollywood career. Shailene tells Sam that she would pick up dishwashing shifts when she needed money and how living in Europe taught her to see how Americans and Europeans talk about sex and bodies differently. Plus they talk about needing...

Carrie Coon joins Samantha Bee to discuss being a classic midwestern middle child, almost attending a naval academy, how the first decision she ever made in her life was to go to graduate school, why comedians are the darkest people, and how when she was younger she would collect boyfriends and leave the country rather than break up with them (didn’t we all??). Keep up with Samantha Bee @realsambe...

Crooked Media’s Jon Lovett joins Sam to debrief the DNC and why Chicago is the perfect combination of sweatpants and sandwich town. They discuss his decision to go on Survivor and why it’s the best way to see how democracy works up close. Plus, Sam and Jon get into why movies are too long, the best way to moderate debates, and the power of young people persuading other young people to vote.  Go to...

Co-host of MSNBC’s The Weekend and former senior advisor to Vice President Harris Symone Sanders Townsend joins Sam for DNC week! Sam and Symone talk about how as kids they both hosted fake news shows, where she was when she heard President Biden was ending his campaign, why Symone had to make a pro/con list when deciding to leave the White House, being a risk-taker, and why voters like making his...