Episódios
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Actor Sebastian Stan has built a career out of shapeshifting.
This week, he joins us to discuss the process of transforming into Donald J. Trump in The Apprentice (8:27), his personal relationship to the American dream (15:35), and the extensive research that went into recreating 1970s-1980s New York City in the film (17:27). Then, we unpack Sebastian’s Romanian upbringing (29:00), the gift of his unconventional, nomadic childhood (34:40), and what the film represents in this post-Election moment (38:30).
On the back-half, we talk about the impact of the late director Jonathan Demme (50:45), Stan’s radical and stunning work in A Different Man (55:08), what both of his new films reveal about reality (59:14), and what the silencing of The Apprentice—and his Actors on Actors shutout—reveals about the entertainment industry (1:00:00). To close, a reflection about control and how Sebastian embraces everyday life (1:17:55).
Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].
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For the past 50 years, Nikki Giovanni has been one of our preeminent poets. Rest in Power to the legendary writer and activist, who passed this week at the age of 81.
Today we return to our conversation from 2021, reflecting on how her childhood led to a life of writing (6:21), the enduring impact of a televised conversation with James Baldwin (13:40), the story behind her famous poem, “I Married My Mother” (18:30), and why she doesn't believe in role models (28:15).
On the back-half, we work our way to the present, as Nikki shares her experience of visiting the African American Museum (30:14), the evolution of her poetry (36:40), and how she grappled with two cancer diagnoses (40:20). To close, Nikki reads from her inventive about the author page (45:49).
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It’s been a year. And while we’re not quite done with it (3:15), we wanted to take a moment to celebrate some of our favorite episodes and guests from 2024.
On the front half, we revisit passages from actor-turned-director Dev Patel (5:45), the legendary Francis Ford Coppola on Jacques Tati and failure (11:45), filmmaker Ava DuVernay on the state of Hollywood (17:47), and Dr. Seema Jilani on her work in Gaza (26:36).
On the back end, Abbi Jacobson’s interview with Sam (35:05), NYT reporter Astead Herndon on why the 2024 election was not inevitable (42:47), and national treasure Julia Louis-Dreyfus (“Wiser than Me”) on perseverance and posterity (49:55). Plus, a Joker ending (1:08:00).
What was your favorite from the past twelve months? Write us below or say hello at [email protected].
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To close out the holiday weekend, we're revisiting our conversation with writer, food expert, and television host Padma Lakshmi.
At the top, we discuss her Hulu docuseries Taste the Nation (4:40), a formative episode in El Paso, Texas (8:14), and how the show connects to Padma’s personal history (11:59). Then, she reflects on her childhood in New York City (14:07), a heartbreaking event at seven (17:30*), and her unexpected entry to the modeling industry (25:14).
On the back-half, we walk through the early years of her trailblazing career (33:52), the patriarchal systems she fought back against (38:58), and her painful essay in The Times in response to the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh (44:00*). To close, Padma talks about her powerful work through EndoFound (45:30), the activist underpinnings of Taste the Nation (49:21), and the stories she hopes to tell in years to come (52:44).
*At this time-code, there is a discussion about sexual assault.
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Today, for your holiday week, we’re returning to one of our favorite 2024 conversations with actor Jeff Daniels.
Daniels is always writing. Plays, songs, a script or two. Even in interviews you get the sense the Michigan native is trying to relay the stories of his life in a way he’d find compelling as a reader, or listener. Bystander — as a viewer.
We sat in April around the latest chapter of his crime series American Rust (12:30), reprising his role as Police Chief Del Harris. It’s a performance inspired by his midwestern upbringing in Chelsea, Michigan (16:06) and the formative teachings of theater director Marshall W. Mason (21:20). Then, Daniels reflects on his arrival to New York City in 1976 (24:06), performing in Lanford Wilson’s play Fifth of July (27:20), and his early on-screen roles in Jonathan Demme’s Something Wild (31:10), Woody Allen’s The Purple Rose of Cairo (34:20), and Noah Baumbach’s The Squid and the Whale (44:20).
On the back-half, we walk through his years making The Newsroom (51:48), working with screenwriter (and then playwright) Aaron Sorkin (53:20), and how the two of them reimagined Atticus Finch and To Kill a Mockingbird for both Broadway (59:49) and what he calls “a country at a crossroads” (1:05:33). To close, we sit with the utility of good writing in this fraught era (1:10:30), and a musical tribute to his late father, Robert (1:15:32).
Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].
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Actor, writer, and director Jesse Eisenberg’s latest project, A Real Pain, is perhaps his most personal to date.
He joins us today to unpack the journey that shaped the film (9:18), memories from his travels to Poland (15:40), and what he observed about his family growing up in East Brunswick (22:23). Then, Eisenberg reflects on his first jokes written on post-it notes (29:20), his breakthrough acting roles in Roger Dodger (31:35) and The Squid and the Whale (34:37), and formative visits to his aunt Doris in New York City (35:32).
On the back-half, we talk about his transformation in The Social Network (41:15), the erotic dream that inspired his play The Spoils (42:48), the real anxiety he explored while writing A Real Pain (46:39), lessons on directing from Richard Ayoade and Greg Mottola (51:14), and why he cares so deeply about his art (1:00:10).
Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].
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Since the turn of the century, actor Josh Brolin has had quite a run. From No Country for Old Men and Hail, Caesar! from the Coen Brothers, to Inherent Vice from Paul Thomas Anderson, to Sicario and the Dune films from Denis Villeneuve.
His new memoir, From Under the Truck, contains stories about the life in between. We discuss his upbringing bouncing from Paso Robles to Santa Barbara (8:49), the influence of his mother (10:05), and his entry to writing (19:40). Then, Brolin reflects on his vivid early adulthood in the 80s (26:14), the power of a story (32:30), and what actor Anthony Hopkins illuminated about sobriety (34:35).
On the back-half, we get into his collaborations with the Coen Brothers (38:48), his challenging relationship to drinking (50:50), and why finally, after three decades of playing characters on screen, it was time to fill in some of the backstory (1:07:13).
This conversation was recorded at Spotify Studios. Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].
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It’s been a week. To help us through it, we’ve enlisted The New York Times political reporter Astead Herndon.
We start with election night 2024 versus election night 2016 (6:35), what Astead discovered about the electorate reporting across the U.S. on his podcast The Run-Up (9:25), and how insider Democrats arrived at a second Biden run in 2023 (13:30). Then, we discuss politicians’ “lowercase racist” assumptions about Black and Latino voters (16:02), Herndon’s telling one on one interview with Vice President Harris (22:52), and the pervasive, nationwide sentiments that led to Donald Trump’s re-election (32:24).
On the back-half: where the Harris campaign fell short in its messaging to voters (38:48), the rise of the “podcast election” (44:48), a revealing window into the Biden administration (47:35), how quickly “good intentions” can turn power corrupted (53:01), and why the Democratic party must remake itself (1:00:55) as we begin to move forward from this election (1:06:00).
Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].
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On the heels of his latest book The Message, author Ta-Nehisi Coates joins Sam for a conversation in Los Angeles.
At the top, we discuss how his Atlantic piece The Case for Reparations guided these three new essays (6:10), Coates’ early education growing up in West Baltimore (14:57), and his powerful dispatches from South Carolina (22:00) and the Middle East (29:30).
On the back-half, Coates unpacks why he believes the mainstream media prioritizes “factual complexity over self-evident morality” (37:47), his advocacy for Palestinian journalists (39:20), and his reflections about the U.S. election (47:28). To close, a formative passage from James Baldwin's The Lost Generation (52:38) and a story about love and writing (57:45).
Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].
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Anna Kendrick (Pitch Perfect, Up in the Air) has been a fixture in Hollywood for the past fifteen years. She joins us this week to discuss Woman of the Hour, her directorial debut and most revealing project to date.
At the top, we dive into the film’s true crime story (7:00), its examination of gender politics in the 1970s (19:29), and the personal Hollywood experiences Anna embedded into this project (22:00). Then, Kendrick reflects on her early years as a child actor: commuting from Portland, Maine into New York City for work (25:40), receiving a Tony nomination at twelve (29:50), and moving to Los Angeles at seventeen (35:10).
On the back-half, Anna unpacks the “dissociative” process of directing a film (38:25), the mentorship she received from actor and collaborator Jake Johnson (45:00), and the dangers of workaholism (47:19). To close, she shares a passage from her memoir Scrappy Little Nobody (57:20) and describes the work she hopes to make in years to come (1:00:00).
Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].
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For the past decade, Jason Reynolds has become an inspiring voice in the literary world. He’s a New York Times bestselling author and as of this month, a 2024 MacArthur fellow.
Reynolds sits with us today to share his latest YA novel Twenty-Four Seconds from Now… (7:45), why he was interested in writing a story about boyhood and masculinity (12:05), and an early passage from the book (15:52) that captures the distinct rhythm of his writing (17:59). Then, we talk about the story structure of this new novel (19:00), how Queen Latifah’s Black Reign introduced him to poetry (21:45), and how his early memories of writing (27:45) and a singular high school teacher (35:17) saved his life.
On the back-half, Reynolds describes a meaningful post-college job at rag & bone (46:02), what he’s seen in the education system post-pandemic (59:30), his hope for the next generation (1:02:30), and his lifelong mission to embolden students to see the value in their own narratives (1:14:23).
Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].
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Today, culture critic Wesley Morris (The New York Times) returns to Talk Easy for a conversation about The Wonder of Stevie, his new podcast with the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions.
At the top, Wesley unpacks Stevie Wonder’s legendary five-album run from 1972-1976, his recent “battleground states” tour in the run up to the election, and how his relationship to Stevie’s music has evolved in the process of making this limited series.
To listen to The Wonder of Stevie, stream here or wherever you get your podcasts.
Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].
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Since his directorial debut in 2006, Jason Reitman has made the kind of films they say Hollywood doesn’t make anymore.
Today, we sit to discuss his latest project Saturday Night (9:09), the influence of 1970s movies like Michael Ritchie’s The Candidate (12:46), and the details Reitman and his co-writer Gil Kenan collected from dozens of interviews leading up to production (17:45). Then, Jason describes the dynamic between Lorne Michaels and his father, the late director Ivan Reitman (21:55), his formative years at the movie theater (25:50), and the filmmakers that shaped his early work: Alexander Payne, Kevin Smith, Spike Jonze, and Richard Linklater (31:03).
On the back-half, we talk about Reitman’s debut film Thank You For Smoking (39:06), the collaborators that shaped Juno (42:50), his personal connection to Up in the Air (43:10), and lessons from making Young Adult (49:43) and Labor Day (51:08). To close, a story about fatherhood (53:00) and the joy of directing (58:58).
Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].
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Director Francis Ford Coppola doesn’t just want to make movies. He wants to change them. This was true in 1969 when he co-founded Zoetrope Studios with George Lucas, and it remains true today at age 85.
We begin with the historical context of his modern-day Roman epic fable Megalopolis (9:40), his decades-long process developing the film (12:18), and the inspiration he’s taken from Georges Méliès (22:25) and Jacques Tati (24:59). Then, Coppola reflects on the origin of how he became ‘Francis Ford Coppola’ (29:27), the irrepressible spirit he forged in childhood (32:34), and where he sees himself in films like The Godfather (38:29), Apocalypse Now (41:48), and Gardens of Stone (42:17).
On the back-half, we unpack the parallels between the titular city of Megalopolis and Zoetrope Studios (50:19), his capacity to keep dreaming, even in the face of financial ruin (53:46), where he believes America is headed in 2025 (54:29), and the lasting memory of his late wife, Eleanor (1:03:25).
Watch this conversation on YouTube.
Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].
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Joaquin Phoenix is one of the greatest actors of his generation. For three decades, he’s moved seamlessly between auteur-driven films (Her, The Master) and box-office sensations (Gladiator, Joker).
We sit today for a rare, long-form conversation with Phoenix, starting with his latest film, Joker: Folie à Deux (9:10), his free-wheeling collaborations with director Todd Phillips (11:32), and the nomadic upbringing that marked his early years (15:00). Then, he reflects on his childhood television debut in Hill Street Blues (22:27), the brilliance of Robert De Niro (27:53), and his formative performances in To Die For and Parenthood (34:45).
On the back-half, we discuss how the polarizing mockumentary, I’m Still Here (47:15), inspired his singular collaborations with directors Spike Jonze, Paul Thomas Anderson, James Gray, and Lynne Ramsay (51:30). We also talk about the evolution of his acting process (52:47), the impassioned Oscars speech he delivered accepting Best Actor for Joker (58:15), and whether he’ll ever turn in what he believes is a ‘great’ performance (1:02:40).
Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].
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For actor Myha’la, the role of a lifetime arrived less than a year out of college. “Lightning struck,” she says, “and in so many ways I have been preparing my entire life to be here.” In this case ‘here’ is Industry’s Harper Stern, a fiercely ambitious New Yorker who has come to London to join Pierpont, a prestigious financial investment bank.
With the season finale of HBO’s breakout hit approaching, we sat down with Myha'la to discuss all things Industry (4:42): how the evolution of Harper can be charted by her changing hairstyles (8:05), her recent pivot into “ethical investing” (10:45), and the Gen-Z qualities she best embodies (14:04). We also discuss the actor’s first experiences singing and dancing (16:00), her time as front-woman of a Christian Rock band (20:30), and a formative experience at her Catholic high school (23:01).
On the back half, Myha’la reflects on her years at Carnegie Mellon (34:55), her views around “method acting” (39:30), the first day on the set of Industry (42:55), the personal investment she’s made in Harper Stern (48:00), a humbling performance never far from mind (53:50), and the ‘picture’ she’d like to paint as an artist in the years ahead (56:50).
This conversation was recorded at Spotify Studios and Pushkin Industries. Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].
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For the past couple decades, actor Ken Leung has played scene-stealing characters in films like Rush Hour, Keeping the Faith, and A.I. Or, prestige TV shows like Lost and The Sopranos.
Today, he joins us to discuss his spectacular turn in HBO’s Industry (7:30), how he created his character in baseball-bat-wielding manager Eric Tao (9:55), and his Brooklyn upbringing to a family of Chinese immigrants (17:35). Then, he shares how he found his footing as an actor (23:30), a memory of his late younger brother, Kevin (29:27), and why he views each film and TV set as a ‘spiritual space’ (30:56).
On the back-half, we walk through Leung’s work on The Sopranos (32:30), his present-day collaboration with actor Myha’la (37:45), the arc of this latest season of Industry (44:15), the state of representation in Hollywood (48:06), and why he feels at peace in this moment (53:00).
Clips courtesy of HBO. Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].
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To commemorate his 30th birthday, Abbi Jacobson interviews Sam!
They talk about Sam's early days in journalism (8:00), his Almost Famous-like experience as a teenage film critic (10:30), making Talk Easy and how the show evolved post-pandemic (13:15), and the email from the late Roger Ebert that changed his life (22:30).
On the back-end, they discuss Abbi’s annual birthday questions (28:00), why Sam’s episode with filmmaker Werner Herzog has stayed with her (31:57), and how he approaches asking hard questions on Talk Easy (36:43). To close, a passage from Sam's debut episode with Don Cheadle (45:28) and a philosophy captured in his short film Sebastian (53:20).
Listen to our first conversation with Abbi Jacobson from 2022.
Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].
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To start, Sam sits with another week in American life, before returning to our timely conversation with Congressman Maxwell Frost (FL-10).
At the top, we discuss the five-year aftermath of the horrific shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida (10:29), his first two months in office as the first Gen-Z Congressman (12:10), and the legislature he’s fighting for to reduce gun violence (17:14). Then, we walk through his impassioned response to the Sandy Hook shooting (19:40), how it cemented his early commitment to politics (26:17), and embracing his Afro-Cuban identity as an adopted child (30:15).
On the back half, Frost reflects on his road to Congress (37:58), the connection he shares with his biological mother (41:00), the blend of grassroots organizing and policy-making he leads with today (49:22), and the progress he hopes to see in the years to come (57:40).
Original air date: February 26, 2023.
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This week, our guest is trailblazing filmmaker Lee Daniels.
At the top, we discuss his fifteen-year journey to the new Netflix film The Deliverance (5:00), Daniels’ relationship to spirituality (9:16), and his memories of directing theatre at eight-years-old (14:55). Then, we dive into the therapeutic quality of filmmaking (17:14), his work as a casting director at Warner Brothers in the 80s (19:48), and what it meant for Daniels to manage young performers like Morgan Freeman and Loretta Devine (23:38).
On the back-half, he unpacks the tumultuous process of making his award-winning film Precious (32:00), the projects that followed in The Paperboy and The Butler (39:30), the rise of Empire and his paradigm-shifting work in Hollywood (41:10), the peace that guided him to make his new film (46:10), and what motivates him to keep working (50:31).
Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].
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