Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

On the brink of 70, legend Pam Grier sits down to reflect on a series of pivotal moments from her inimitable life. For example: moving to Los Angeles at 18 in 1967, becoming a trailblazer through iconic films like Foxy Brown and Coffy, getting thrown out of a bar with John Lennon and Harry Nilsson in 70s Hollywood, words of wisdom from Eartha Kitt, falling in love with Richard Pryor, overcoming ce...

Werner Herzog is 76 years old with three films coming out in 2019. I don't know how he does it, but I try to find out in this conversation. From a childhood encounter with god in the Bavarian mountains to sitting across from Mikhail Gorbachev, Herzog shares some pivotal moments from his decade-spanning life and career. In previous interviews he has expressed his disdain for introspection. This is...

Wyatt Cenac is the host of Problem Areas on HBO. It's a new kind of program– think Last Week Tonight meets Frontline, except hosted by someone whose comedy is dryer than the Sahara desert. On the podcast, we talk early stand-up days, growing up in Dallas, Texas, ego in comedy, running a show in 2019, the “anxiety crisis” across America, and why Trump appeals to low-income communities. Oh, and some...

“Chaz is a strong woman, sure of herself. I'd never met anyone like her,” wrote her late husband, Roger Ebert. Truth be told: neither have I. Chaz Ebert is a singular soul. Wise, kind, and extremely busy. She's the CEO of Ebert companies, including RogerEbert.com. She's a publisher of books, a philanthropist, and a TV and film producer. I've known Chaz for seven years, and this week we finally sat...

A very special episode for you live from Ebertfest 2019 in Champaign, Illinois. Rita Coburn Whack talks of her film "Maya Angelou, Still I Rise" and lets us in on the words of wisdom she learned from Angelou herself. Then, Sam brings out two of the festival's biggest stars. Lastly– Sam calls up the great writer and critic Richard Roeper to talk all things Ebert. Illustrations by Krishna Shenoi. Mu...

Tayarisha Poe is an emerging filmmaker from West Philly. Her debut feature, Selah and the Spades, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this year. Our conversation took place at the Park City festival (and side-note: the background noise is a result of taping this inside a restaurant). We talk raising money for her first film, writing characters of color that are, by design, unkind, and much mor...

It's Sean Kingston! He's a Jamaican-American singer-songwriter with a handful of billboard hits you've probably danced to: Beautiful Girls, Take You There, Fire Burning, Colors. We talk growing up in Kingston, Jamaica and Miami, Florida, being discovered through MySpace, the toll of being a pop-star in 2019, and why he's ready for a comeback.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheart...

Alex Ross Perry is a New York born and bred filmmaker. In shows in his movies, too: The Color Wheel, Listen Up Philip, Queen of Earth, Golden Exits. A staple in contemporary independent cinema his latest, Her Smell, stars Elizabeth Moss as a ’90s punk rock star whose at the end of her rope. We talk his hypnotic new film (out April 12th), discarding unhealthy relationships, the toll of making indie...

Spaceballs! Independence Day! Lost Highway! Bill Pullman is an actor you've seen on screen for the past four decades of film and television. Now he's here, at my house, working through the memories of his life. *Light (sporadic) snoring on this episode provided by our dog, Delizia.* For more about our show (and Bill) go here: http://talkeasypod.com/artist/bill-pullman/  Learn more about your ad-ch...

Brit Marling has spent the past five years co-creating The OA, a mystical, spellbinding show that defies one sentence log-lines. (So best not to try.) After mysteriously premiering on Netflix in 2016, season 2 is set to be released March 22nd. But to be honest...we don't dive into the intricacies of the show's labyrinthian plot. Instead we talk about everything else, from the physical demands of b...

Three days tardy but we got Vincent D'onofrio. After some explaining in the intro, we get into it. Working with Kubrick and Altman. His tenure on Law & Order. The worst performance he ever delivered on screen. Then, finally, his unofficial official directorial debut, The Kid. For more, our website: www.talkeasypod.com  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com Se...

Multi-talented comedian and actress Mary Holland stopped by today to talk about performing in UCB Improv shows, her performance tendencies and where they come from, and reflecting on past periods of her life, including her childhood, college, and acting career.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystu...

Friends. Keith David has been in, wait for it, over 300 films and television programs. Somehow that is not a fictitious number. With his booming, commanding voice you've seen him in The Thing! They Live! Platoon! Armageddon! He's worked with Spike Lee, Oliver Stone, John Carpenter, the list goes on for days. And yet, to be honest, Keith and I talk about life outside of the frame. Family, love, alc...

Matt Walsh is a staple in contemporary comedy. We talk UCB, being a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, his recurring role on Veep, and making people laugh for the past thirty years. For more, our website: www.talkeasypod.com  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for p...

Dulé Hill has done it all. The West Wing! Psych! Ballers! She’s All That! His most recent acting challenge is playing Nat King Cole in “Lights Out”, a play co-written by Talk Easy alum Colman Domingo. (The wonderful production can be seen at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, from now through March 17th.) In conversation, we talk tap-dancing for Jerry Lewis’ MDA Telethon as a child, making a car...

Welcome back! We're excited to return with the multi-hyphenate talent Minhal Baig. She’s a story editor on “BoJack Horseman”, a writer on the forthcoming A24 show “Ramy”, and, above all, a director. Her sophomore film, called “Hala”, premiered this past week at the Sundance Film Festival to rave reviews. (Apple promptly acquired the project.) For our season 3(ish) premiere, we sat down in Park Cit...

Jeremy O. Harris has managed to be a playwright, actor, and screenwriter all while still being a student at the Yale School of Drama. His latest piece, “Slave Play”, is currently at the New York Theater Workshop. On our final episode of the year, Jeremy and Sam sort through how Jeremy arrived at this rare moment, the kind of conversations on race he hopes to have in his work, and why he’s feeling...

Jacqueline Bisset ladies and gentleman. Bullitt, Casino Royale, Murder on the Orient Express, Day for Night. The list is endless. And then there are her collaborators: John Huston, Sidney Lumet, François Truffaut, Roman Polanski. The legendary actress has done it all and this, somehow, is her first podcast.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.co...

Chris Elliott has made a living out of making us laugh. Whether that be through writing and performing on  Late Night with David Letterman, support parts in Groundhog Day and There's Something About Mary, or his cult-classic "sitcom" Get A Life, he's done it all. Most recently, he's in Bridey Elliott's directorial debut Clara's Ghost. Over the next hour Sam and Chris dive into how he juggled fathe...

Filmmaker Patrick Wang joined Sam today to discuss how drawing on his experiences growing up in Houston, TX, being an exchange student in Argentina, studying at MIT, and how he perceives other people influence the films he creates. They also talked about why he self-distributes his films, the rejection he has to deal with constantly, and how he overcomes it.  Learn more about your ad-choices at ht...

This week’s episode was a first for the show, as Sam has on sex educator and visual artist Zoë Ligon. They dive into what it's like to write about sex on the Internet in 2018, carnal desires in the “Me Too” era, how parents should talk to their children about sex, and more.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information...

This week, Sam sits down with artist Viggo Mortensen ahead of the release of his new film, Green Book. They talk about his (very supportive) cinephile mother, his on-screen debut (Witness), how he chose love and family over Hollywood throughout the 1990’s, and why he pivoted after the massively successful "Lord of the Rings" franchise. Oh, and a brief monologue about happiness.  Learn more about y...

Jonny Sun is a writer known, primarily, for his words on Twitter.com. His quick wit and life-affirming tweets has garnered the attention of many online, including former Hamilton star Lin-Manuel Miranda. Together they have a new book out by Random House called "Gmorning, Gnight!", illustrated by Sun. (Oh, right, he's also an excellent illustrator.) He was also recently brought on as a staff writer...

Adam Bhala Lough is a documentarian best known for his films “The Carter” and “The New Radical”. His most recent project, Alt-Right: Age of Rage, is a look inside the first year of Donald Trump’s presidency, tracking the rise of alt-right coalitions and the groups (mainly, ANTIFA) combating them. On that note...please go vote on November 6th.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheart...

The death of Michael Brown changed DeRay Mckesson's life (9:21). It changed all of our lives. But it was the unjust murder of the 18-year-old Brown that propelled Mckesson into protest. With the release of his new book, On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope, the activist and author discusses early memories of the BLM movement (16:08), supporting Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election (20:2...