Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

TV Titan Norman Lear returns! This week, the legendary show-runner behind All in the Family and Maude sits down to discuss his feelings of imprisonment during the pandemic (3:00), the story of the dearest, darling Mr. President (10:02), understanding the bifurcation of his childhood (11:31), using laughter to make a living (19:00), remembering his glorious grandmother Bubby who represented love an...

Three years ago Jenny and Sam promised to reconvene in 2020 (if only they knew what 2020 would look like). Nevertheless, today they make good on that promise. In the intervening years, Jenny wrote a book, titled Little Weirds. It's a collection of (vaguely) autobiographical stories from the heart, about the heart. It's also the springboard for this discussion, which dives into her childhood desire...

Malcolm Gladwell is back! This week, the renowned writer/podcaster talks authorship (2:18), life as a rebellious teenager in peaceful Canada (6:47), his take on “A Letter on Justice and Open Debate” that he co-signed and the backlash it received (13:25), the fundamental ambiguity of strangers’ behaviors (23:02), the self-reflection he took amidst the protests (29:43), discounting the role of luck...

With the release of her new special, Douglas, Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby sits with us this week. We discuss life after the success Nanette (5:49), how she deals with sensory overload on stage (9:11), why the pandemic hasn't been so bad for her (11:42), how she was shaped by her mother's feisty energy (19:47), living in a world where we don’t know how to let go (26:17), being a keen observer...

Legendary American author and public speaker Fran Lebowitz joins us via landline. In conversation, there's nothing off-the-table for the famously persnickety sexagenarian. We discuss how she's weathering the COVID crisis as a tried-and-true New Yorker (12:28), her clear-eyed views on race and racism (15:53), the impact of her friendship with the late Toni Morrison (28:23), her lifelong disinterest...

Run The Jewels is an American hip-hop super duo that features the talents of Brooklyn rapper/producer El-P and Atlanta emcee Killer Mike. This week, they sit down with us to talk about the labels the media has placed on them (7:15), the value of dreaming (16:16), the inner-workings of how they create together (21:35), their philosophies on the purpose of rap (28:00), why the night of November 24th...

Documentarians Bill and Turner Ross have been painting portraits of American life for over a decade. Their latest film, Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets, marks a step in a bold, new direction, blurring the line between fact and fiction. Now available through Film at Lincoln Center, the movie unfolds during the final 24hrs. of a Las Vegas dive-bar. Regulars regale one another with memories of the shutter...

Hasan Minhaj is an American comedian, writer, producer, actor, and television host. Best known for his Netflix show, “Patriot Act”, he sits down with us this week to discuss the difference between living through history and reading it (4:30), having his second child in the midst of a pandemic (6:22), trying to find his footing in stand-up and the little signs of encouragement that kept him going (...

Dr. Ashish Jha (Director of the Harvard Global Health Institute) joins us this week to give us science-based updates on the global pandemic. We discuss the federal government’s inconsistent approach to COVID-19 (9:40), the truth about transmission rates (13:00), the affect masks can have on numbers country-wide (20:55), the restlessness of the older generation (32:24), predictions of the second wa...

A bonus episode! And a personal one at that. Back in February I directed a music video for Radnor & Lee, the folk duo created by artists Josh Radnor and Ben Lee. Today we discuss using their platforms to take a stance on the ongoing social injustices (3:20), the process of making their latest record, Golden State (11:00), finding a balance within each other (23:00), living a life full of passi...

Today we celebrate Father's Day with the great Dolores Huerta! An icon within in my Latino family, she's a trailblazing labor leader, civil rights activist, and community organizer. At age 90, she joins us this week to share her mother's words of wisdom that compelled her to fight for people (15:34), how she co-founded the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez (22:06), our civic duty to lend a hel...

Holland Taylor is an American playwright and actress best known for her television roles on The Practice and Hollywood; films like Legally Blonde, Romancing the Stone , and The Truman Show . This week, she walks us through her storied career, from her days as a playpen baby (8:08) to the college experience that solidified her choice to place career ahead of motherhood (12:51). Having moved from co...

Hank Willis Thomas believes the past is the present. Now more than ever. As a conceptual artist, he focuses on race, identity, and popular culture. His work (sculptures, photography, installations) has been exhibited around the world, from New York to Paris to Hong Kong. Today, since we can't stroll through museums, we offer a kind of guided listening experience. At our website (talkeasypod.com) y...

Jelani Cobb is a professor, historian, and staff writer for The New Yorker, where he covers race and politics. He joins us to discuss the “dimension and contours” of this moment in America (6:00), the intersection of Amy Cooper's phone call and George Floyd's death (12:05), how to engage those with whom you disagree (18:30), Ahmaud Arbery and the age of the black-panic defense (24:00), why body ca...

In the midst of a global pandemic, two artists emerge with new projects. Art for your hearts and minds. First we call up multi-hyphenate talent Terence Nance (4:07), known for his HBO series Random Acts of Flyness, to discuss his healing debut EP: Things I Never Had. After that we ring up director Malik Vitthal (31:00). His new film, Body Cam, stars Mary J. Blige and is available on VOD today! We'...

For the last 20 years, journalist Brooke Gladstone has been making sense of the news. Her Peabody-winning show, On the Media , says to examine the “myths and media narratives that shape our worldview—for better or for worse”. This week Brooke join us to put this moment of ours in context. We discuss her ability to “take the long view”, the need for civility in journalism, lessons learned from the...

A self-described “contract player”, Ted Danson has been a staple on television for the past 40 years. Cheers. Becker. Bored to Death. Damages. Curb Your Enthusiasm. In that time he's been, at least for me, a stabilizing force. A welcomed, recurring presence. On the heels of The Good Place's final season, Danson takes this unusual moment of ours to slow down and reflect. We discuss how his love of...

Back in 2017 I invited my mother on the podcast. She (reluctantly) accepted the invitation. What follows is that conversation, in full. A very special thanks goes out to Theresa Meyers this week. She has helped me more than she knows. A beacon, even when I've been a pain the ass (which has been often). I love her so. Happy Mother's Day to you and yours. Stay safe everyone. Learn more about your ad...

Roxane Gay may be a self-described introvert, but she's not one to shy away from a public fight. As a contributing writer for The New York Times,  Gay has taken aim at President Trump, modern misogyny, racial discrimination within the police force. But it's her two best-selling books– Bad Feminist  and  Hunger– that cemented her place in the public discourse as a singular talent, someone able to w...

For the next month I'm co-hosting a new podcast! It's called “The Last Dance Aftershow”, a weekly program on the 10-part documentary of Michael Jordan and the 1997-1998 Chicago Bulls. Upcoming guests include Adam McKay, Chuck Klosterman, Heidi Gardner, Sam Smith, Steve James, Jason Hehir, Bill Cartwright, and many more! Listen/rate/subscribe wherever you do your listening. https://the-last-dance-a...

Four years ago Sam stumbled upon a book called “Big Magic”. From it, Talk Easy was born. Today we come full circle in sitting with beloved writer Elizabeth Gilbert. Both in her fiction and non-fiction work, Gilbert seeks a kind of radical honesty. She’s irrepressibly curious, a searcher of stories. On this week’s podcast, those stories come in all different shapes and sizes: an appreciation for he...

Four years ago W. Kamau Bell joined us on Talk Easy. It was a different time, before Donald Trump was President Trump. This week the sociopolitical comedian returns to provide some light and laughter in these trying times. He discusses being a parent during the pandemic, the insensitive comments made by the U.S. Surgeon General, going back to Mobile, Alabama for his CNN show ( United Shades of Ame...

Who better to guide us through this darkness than Noam Chomsky? The esteemed linguist, author, and political activist joins us this week to provide a historical perspective to the pandemic (44:02). He also offers his diagnosis of the Trump administration and its failure to effectively respond to COVID-19. At 91, Chomsky is a beacon of hope in these trying times. Before speaking with Noam, Sam call...

Beto O'Rourke entered politics because of people. He believes in their capacity for goodness and decency. He believes in their potential. And yet– what if his political brand is not exactly what the country wants in 2020? For the first time since suspending his Presidential campaign, Beto reflects on where he succeeded and where he failed these past three years. His strengths and weaknesses as a c...

Naomi Klein is an author, filmmaker and climate activist. But above all– she is a journalist. She joins us to reflect on her natural instinct to run toward crisis; her decades long research of disaster capitalism; the striking systemic difference between her home country of Canada and the United States; the influence of her grandfather’s strike against Disney; and how this pandemic has asked her t...