Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

• Play It Again: Sarah Silverman (‘PostMortem’)

  To commemorate the release of her new, deeply personal Netflix special ‘PostMortem,’ we revisit our conversation with Sarah Silverman. At the top, we reflect on loss (7:16), her HBO special Sarah Silverman: Someone You Love (12:35), and coming of age in the ‘80s (18:42). Then, Silverman talks about her early comedic influences (25:35), her path from SNL to Los Angeles (32:30), and the mentorship of Garry Shandling (35:10). On the back-half, we walk through the evolution of her provocative work, from The Sarah Silverman Program (38:42) to I Love You, America (46:52), the connective tissue of The Sarah Silverman Podcast (49:12), and the legacy of her beloved, late father (51:57). Original air date: June 18, 2023. Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  --------  

  59:54
• Pulitzer Prize Winner Percival Everett (‘James’)

  Earlier this month, writer Percival Everett was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for James, his subversive and singular reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. At the top, we discuss the philosophical problem that led to James (5:50), what repeated readings of Twain’s classic unlocked in Percival (7:56), the influence of his father’s sense of humor (16:20), how he arrived at writing growing up in South Carolina (19:40), and his relationship to the publishing industry, as depicted in Erasure and later the Oscar-winning film American Fiction (21:59). On the back-half, we talk about teaching in the digital age (32:26), why Everett still assigns Blazing Saddles to his students (34:22), the “bad neighborhood” of his own mind (46:08), and what he’s chasing—or trying to excavate—each time he sits down to write (47:04). This conversation was recorded live in Los Angeles in partnership with the Aspen Society. If you’d like to come to our next live show, it will be Saturday, June 14th at the Tribeca Audio Festival in NYC with actor Sam Rockwell. Tickets here! Thoughts, future guest ideas, or your favorite one-liner from this talk with Percival? Comment below or email us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  --------  

  49:44
• Ira Glass on Three Decades of ‘This American Life’ Magic

  Thirty years. Over 850 episodes. Nine Peabodys. One Pulitzer. And yet somehow, three decades in, This American Life (and its creator, Ira Glass) remains as innovative and timely as ever. We begin with a week in the life of Ira: a typical Monday at This American Life (4:52), the rigorous notes process (6:05), and how the team selects the stories it wants to tell that Sunday (8:23). Then, we unpack Trump’s ongoing threats to slash government funding for public media (14:14), Glass’ formative days as a teenage intern at NPR (19:06), and the radio mentors who shaped his ideas around narrative (27:18). On the back-half, we discuss how his taste and talent eventually converged (42:03), what makes a good interview (45:36), the guest he most identifies with (1:00:25), the episode he’s most proud of (1:15:31), and, naturally, the future of This American Life (1:20:07). We’re now on YouTube! Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected]. Learn more at talkeasypod.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  --------  

  1:25:53
• Penn Badgley: Here’s Looking at ‘You’

  Television, perhaps more than movies, has a way of etching its stars in stone. And few actors seem to be able to break the mold more than once. Which is what makes Penn Badgley’s career—first on Gossip Girl then You—special. We sit this week around the fifth and final season of You (7:00) to unpack its shocking series finale [spoiler] (9:13) and the political climate in which the show is coming to a close (12:10). Then, Penn opens up about the solitude of his west coast upbringing (19:50), his years as a child actor (23:19), and his beloved portrayal of Dan Humphrey on Gossip Girl (33:12). On the back-half, Badgley’s transformative trip to South America in 2012 (39:46), his spiritual journey into the Bahá'í Faith (42:38), and how these experiences led him to his wife, Domino (44:30). To close, he describes the intense physical experience of filming the You finale [spoiler] (51:36), what the ‘fantasy of Joe Goldberg’ reveals about masculinity today (55:55), and a fitting Dave Eggers passage from the prologue of The Executioner’s Song (1:03:22). We’re now on YouTube! Drop us a line at [email protected]. This episode was recorded at Spotify Studios.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  --------  

  1:07:31
• The Many Lives of Viola Davis

  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. Today, we sit to unpack her recent, liberating projects in The Woman King (4:24) and G20 (4:50), the formative years she spent growing up in Rhode Island (13:52), and how she captured those familial memories in her 2022 memoir Finding Me (17:12). Then, we talk about Viola’s start as a performer (23:40), what she learned attending Juilliard (31:57), and the quagmire she faced as a Black actor emerging on Broadway and in Hollywood post-graduation (35:10). On the back-half, Davis reflects on a scene from August Wilson’s play Seven Guitars (37:50), her singular experience acting alongside Meryl Streep in Doubt (47:25), and the ways her life transformed during Shonda Rhymes’ How to Get Away with Murder and Steve McQueen’s Widows (53:00). To close, Viola shares her views on legacy (1:01:05) and how she finds her way back home, each and every day (1:05:20). Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  --------  

  1:09:53

More Society & Culture podcasts

Trending Society & Culture podcasts

About Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso: Podcasts in Family