Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

This week we sit with actor Pedro Pascal! We begin with the release of his new film, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (5:02), working with childhood idol Nicolas Cage (6:50), why his parents left Chile (11:40), the John Hughes classic his dad wouldn’t let him watch (17:00), and the Tony Kushner play (20:21) that inspired him to give acting a go in New York City (25:07).    On the back-half,...

This Mother’s Day, a special talk with actor Minnie Driver. On the heels of her debut essay collection Managing Expectations , she discusses the role of luck (3:40), her bifurcated upbringing (5:12) and how it shaped her view of motherhood (11:28). As we walk through the 1970s, Minnie describes discovering acting in boarding school (12:00), her proclivity for running away (13:02), the story of her...

This week, legendary actor and comedian Bill Hader! We discuss the return of Barry (4:57), the thematic evolution of the series (7:02), and how it draws from films like Taxi Driver and Goodfellas (10:36). Then, Bill reflects on growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma (13:16), the influence of his late grandfather (17:04), his path from community college to his early PA jobs in Hollywood (18:25), landing on...

This week, our guest is poet Rupi Kaur. Ahead of her international tour (4:44), we sat to discuss her childhood in Canada (13:05), how she processes trauma through writing (22:13), her college photo series on menstruation that went viral (23:33), and the self-published poetry collection ( milk & honey) that followed (29:20). In the aftermath of this unexpected attention, Rupi speaks candidly o...

Today we’re revisiting a favorite conversation with poet and author Ocean Vuong, following the release of his new book, Time Is a Mother . He first joined us in June of 2021. We discuss reckoning with one’s work from a distance (6:18), why he wrote his autobiographical novel, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous (7:40), the cage of American masculinity (12:10), how he’s stayed the course, creatively, a...

This week we’re joined by musician and founding member of The Internet, Syd! With the release of her new solo record, Broken Hearts Club (3:15), we discuss the origin of the album (5:45), how she healed in the process of making it (10:32), her evolution from engineer to singer-songwriter (11:50), the salad days of Odd Future (15:37), the depression that followed (20:25), and how she found her voic...

Film historian Karina Longworth is the host of You Must Remember This , a podcast exploring the forgotten histories of Hollywood’s first century.  This week she joins us to discuss her new series, “Erotic 80s” (4:48), the seismic shift created by films like Last Tango in Paris and Deep Throat (7:58), the way in which these movies sold a distorted view of “female sexual liberation” (11:58), and how...

This week we’re joined by Professor Anita Hill. She’s an author, lawyer, and host of the new podcast, Getting Even with Anita Hill .  We begin by discussing her excellent new program (5:24), which reexamines her landmark testimony against Judge Clarence Thomas (9:04), her precarious relationship with the legal system (12:57), the unnerving attacks she received in the aftermath of 1991 (19:34), the...

To celebrate Oscar Sunday, we’re returning to our talk with legendary bandleader of The Roots and director of Summer of Soul , Questlove! We discuss his winding road to making the documentary: from a trip to Japan (9:00) to a cold pitch backstage at The Tonight Show (10:30) to releasing the film last year (12:30). He also explains the cultural significance of the Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969 (...

Marina Abramović is a pioneer in the field of performance art, using her body as both the subject and the medium. This week, we sit with the legendary performer in her New York City apartment. To follow along with the works discussed, visit our guided, virtual exhibit at www.talkeasypod.com/abramovic. We start with her relationship to Ukraine (8:00), creating art out of hardship (12:42), a Rainer...

This week we head to New York City to sit with the legendary David Byrne (Talking Heads). We discuss how he’s processed the pandemic (3:29), finding creativity in unlikely places (4:23), the evolution of his Broadway show ‘American Utopia’ (5:22), the influence of poet William Blake (7:26), his gift for collaboration (10:16), and the power of the song, Glass Concrete & Stone (15:30).  On the b...

Today we are joined by legendary writer Margaret Atwood! We begin with her new collection of essays, Burning Questions (4:18), which wrestle with catastrophe (4:59), growing up in the wilderness (7:05) under egalitarian parents (10:00), and how she circumvented the traditional roles for women of the 1950s (12:20). She also shares some personal stories: her first book signing event (15:40), the day...

This week, we’re in conversation with author, voting rights activist, and gubernatorial candidate for the state of Georgia: Stacey Abrams. To begin, we talk about the systemic challenges that small business owners face (4:26), the impact of Georgia’s new voting laws (8:38), the threat of election subversion (11:52), what a functional democracy could look like (14:40), the lessons learned from her...

Comedian and documentary host W. Kamau Bell has built a career out of having difficult conversations. Today, he returns to the show with his latest project, the four-part docuseries We Need to Talk About Cosby . We begin with Kamau's reluctance to talk about Bill Cosby (7:35), whose legacy became something he decided to publicly grapple with (8:30) and examine chronologically through this piece (1...

On this special episode, educator Dr. James Whitfield tells his remarkable story. Whitfield made headlines recently after being fired as Principal of Colleyville Heritage High School in Texas. The reason? A conservative community alleged he was adding Critical Race Theory to the curriculum. (To be clear: he was not. ) But how did this happen? Whitfield begins by sharing a presentation he co-lead o...

Glory Edim, founder of Well-Read Black Girl , joins us today for a special episode! In 2015, she founded the Brooklyn-based book club and online community. Two years later, a literary festival emerged. This month, she launched Well-Read Black Girl with Glory Edim by Pushkin Industries. We begin with Glory’s daily morning journal (3:30), the mission behind her new podcast (4:28) and the “literary k...

This week, the legendary Cate Blanchett joins us. To start, we unpack her femme fatale turn in Nightmare Alley (6:06), the way director Guillermo del Toro wrestles with truth and deception in the new neo-noir (9:34), the first time Blanchett understood her gift for shapeshifting (11:18), the lasting presence of her late father (14:46), an early job as a script reader that changed how she approache...

This week we sit with legendary bandleader of The Roots, Questlove! On the heels of his directorial debut,  Summer of Soul , we discuss his winding road to making the documentary: from a trip to Japan (9:00) to a cold pitch backstage at  The Tonight Show  (10:30) to releasing the film last year (12:30). He also explains the cultural significance of the Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969 (15:39), the...

This week we’re joined by actor and producer Tessa Thompson! To begin, we talk about Thompson’s entry point into her new film Passing (7:56), a pivotal scene starring Bill Camp (11:08), the groundbreaking work of writers Nella Larsen (13:05) and Zora Neale Hurston (15:33), and how moviemaking keeps Tessa connected to something greater (19:37).  On the back half, she shares her earliest inclination...

Ezra Klein is a columnist for The New York Times, the host of The Ezra Klein Show, and the author of  Why We’re Polarized . He joins us this week to unpack the debate around school closures in the wake of Omicron (6:00), President Biden’s push to pass voting rights legislation (11:30), the GOP’s “precinct strategy” to win local elections (16:24), and what Democrats need to do ahead of the November...

We’re back! This week we sit with musician Alana Haim, star of the film from director Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza. Making her acting debut, Alana shares the serendipitous backstory that led to the project (6:00), the “7th grade forever theory” that helped her get inside the character of Alana Kane (13:17), a high school house party where she baked cake and fell in love (17:30), and the fo...

This week one year ago, a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election. For some perspective on the other side of this moment, we return to our episode with activist and educator Brittany Packnett Cunningham. We unpack the aftermath of the riots (6:46) before discussing her entry point into activism (11:00), unlearning perfectionism (19:38), grappl...

As we begin the new year, we turn to writer George Saunders. He first joined us upon the release of his latest book,  A Swim in a Pond in the Rain . He’s recently launched a new newsletter called  "Story Club" , available on Substack.  This week we’re revisiting our talk with Saunders, discussing the power of Chekhov and Tobias Wolff (8:52), regarding literature as a “fondness for life” (12:30), h...

On our annual holiday special, we hear from the people that came on Talk Easy in 2021. To start: performer Ts Madison (4:20), CNN anchor Jake Tapper (7:25), actor Vicky Krieps (8:25), and a phone call with actor and director Julie Delpy (9:55).  We also play some voicemails from visual artist Toyin Ojih Odutola (25:30), host of  Death, Sex & Money  Anna Sale (28:13), and actor Glynn Turman (30...

As we near the end of 2021, we turn to Noam Chomsky. The renowned linguist, historian, and social critic helps us unpack President Biden’s response to the Omicron variant (2:17), our distorted view of personal freedom (6:43), what the new infrastructure bill actually means for communities of color (14:32), the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict (18:01), the state of the GOP (21:23), how Critical Race Theory...