Podcasts · Society & Culture · TV & Film

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

Higher Ground

300 episodes · Explicit

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso is a weekly series of intimate conversations with artists, authors, and politicians. Where people sound like people. Hosted by Sam Fragoso. New episodes every Sunday.

Episodes page 3 of 6

  1. Director RaMell Ross (‘Nickel Boys’) is Redefining Cinema

    · 1 h 04 min

    One week from Oscar Sunday, we’re joined by Nickel Boys director RaMell Ross. At the top, RaMell describes the formal innovations of the new film (6:44), the naivete that allowed him to make this singular project…

  2. Live From New York: 50 Years of ‘Saturday Night Live’

    · 46 min

    A celebration of 50 years of Saturday Night Live, featuring stories from Bill Hader, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Jason Reitman. Find links to hear each of these full episodes. Visit Peacock to watch The SNL Anniversary…

  3. Are You Not Entertained? Host Chris Hayes (The Sirens’ Call) on the Attention Age

    · 1 h 11 min

    For more than a decade, Chris Hayes has been one of our most incisive political thinkers. He joins us this week in New York City, hours before taping his hit MSNBC show, All In with Chris Hayes, to discuss his new…

  4. Mikey Madison (‘Anora’) Enters Her Golden Age

    · 53 min

    Actor Mikey Madison has delivered the performance of the season with her star-making turn in Anora. She joins us this week on the heels of her recent Oscar nomination for Best Actress. We begin by discussing the…

  5. The Humanity of Actor Steven Yeun (‘Love Me’)

    · 1 h 14 min

    From The Walking Dead to Minari to Beef, Steven Yeun has become one of the most singular performers in Hollywood today. With his latest role in the sci-fi romance Love Me, we look back at our conversation with the…

  6. Director David Lynch Transcends

    · 41 min

    David Lynch was an artist in every sense of the word. Rest in peace to the legendary filmmaker, who passed away this month at the age of 78. Today we present a tribute to Lynch, featuring excerpts from two of his most…

  7. The Week That Changed Los Angeles

    · 1 h 02 min

    Writer Emily Witt (“Health and Safety: A Breakdown”) has spent the past two weeks on the ground covering the Los Angeles wildfires for The New Yorker. Her latest story centers around the Benns (5:39), a…

  8. A Hopeful Climate Conversation with Richard Powers

    · 58 min

    This week, we revisit a soulful conversation around climate change and the restorative power of nature with author Richard Powers. We begin by defining the thematic through-line between The Overstory and Bewilderment…

  9. A New Year with Writer Jia Tolentino (‘Trick Mirror’)

    · 1 h 20 min

    Writer Jia Tolentino (The New Yorker) became a literary sensation in 2019 upon the release of her best-selling essay collection, Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion. She joins us this week to ring in 2025. We…

  10. A ‘Babygirl’ Holiday with Harris Dickinson

    · 54 min

    To close out the holidays, our conversation with actor Harris Dickinson. We discuss his latest role in Halina Reijn’s Babygirl (6:50), Nicole Kidman’s “disarming and generous” quality on set (9:27), and the…

  11. Writer Hilton Als on Prince and ‘What Joan Didion Means’

    · 52 min

    For the holiday week, we’re revisiting one of our favorite conversations with Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and critic Hilton Als. At the top, we unpack his approach to writing profiles (5:50), inspired by the words…

  12. The Year of Actor Sebastian Stan (‘The Apprentice’)

    · 1 h 17 min

    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…

  13. Remembering Poet Nikki Giovanni

    · 44 min

    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,…

  14. Talk Easy in 2024: A Mixtape

    · 59 min

    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…

  15. Host Padma Lakshmi (‘Taste the Nation’) is Just Getting Started

    · 54 min

    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…

  16. Play It Again: Jeff Daniels

    · 1 h 13 min

    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…

  17. Jesse Eisenberg Steps Into His Past

    · 1 h 03 min

    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…

  18. Actor Josh Brolin: A Life in Vivid Color

    · 1 h 25 min

    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…

  19. What Can Be, Burdened By What Has Been (with Astead Herndon of NYT)

    · 1 h 09 min

    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…

  20. Ta-Nehisi Coates (‘The Message’) is Live in Los Angeles

    · 1 h 01 min

    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…

  21. Actor and Director Anna Kendrick: Life Imitates Art

    · 1 h 02 min

    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.…

  22. This Conversation with Author Jason Reynolds is a Gift

    · 1 h 23 min

    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…

  23. Wesley Morris Returns with ‘The Wonder of Stevie’

    · 1 h 25 min

    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…

  24. Director Jason Reitman’s Love Letter to ‘Saturday Night’

    · 1 h 02 min

    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…

  25. Francis Ford Coppola Stays in the Picture

    · 1 h 04 min

    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…

  26. The Joaquin Phoenix Interview

    · 1 h 05 min

    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…

  27. Why Myha’la (‘Industry’) is Playing the Long Game

    · 57 min

    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…

  28. Actor Ken Leung (‘Industry’) Enters a New Season

    · 54 min

    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…

  29. Abbi Jacobson Interviews Sam

    · 57 min

    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…

  30. The First Gen Z Congressman’s Fight for Gun Reform

    · 1 h 00 min

    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…

  31. Filmmaker Lee Daniels (‘The Deliverance’) Finds His Light

    · 51 min

    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…

  32. Director Steven Soderbergh: Scene by Scene

    · 45 min

    Since 1989 (Sex, Lies, and Videotape), filmmaker Steven Soderbergh has been a pioneering voice in American cinema. Part free-wheeling iconoclast, part exacting technician. Today, we return to our conversation with the…

  33. We Are So Back (at the Movies) with Sean Fennessey (‘The Big Picture’)

    · 1 h 32 min

    We’re so back at the movies… with head of content at The Ringer and co-host of The Big Picture, Sean Fennessey! At the top, Sam and Sean discuss Sean Wang’s Dìdi (8:52), the father-daughter story at the heart of M.…

  34. A Tea with Amelia Dimoldenberg of Chicken Shop Date

    · 1 h 04 min

    What’s the difference between an interview and a first date? For the past decade, Amelia Dimoldenberg has been walking that fine line on her hit YouTube series, Chicken Shop Date. The premise is in the title: filmed at…

  35. Author Vinson Cunningham on our ‘Great Expectations’ for 2024

    · 1 h 26 min

    Vinson Cunningham has been a staff writer at The New Yorker for the past eight years, covering theater, television, and politics. He joins us this week to unpack his personal debut novel Great Expectations. At the…

  36. The Vision of Novelist Zadie Smith (‘The Fraud’)

    · 1 h 08 min

    Last fall, Zadie Smith published her prescient historical novel The Fraud. We return to our conversation with the beloved author this week, on the heels of our latest sit-down with writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner. At the…

  37. Writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner on Her ‘Long Island Compromise’

    · 1 h 11 min

    Taffy Brodesser-Akner (“Fleishman Is in Trouble”) is a staff writer at The New York Times, where she covers everything from The Eras Tour to Tom Hanks. She joins us today to unpack her new book Long Island Compromise…

  38. Tom Hanks: A Retrospective

    · 58 min

    Today, we're revisiting our special conversation with actor Tom Hanks. We begin by discussing his debut novel, The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece (5:58), his nomadic upbringing across California…

  39. Talk Easy Presents Author Isabel Allende on ‘Wiser Than Me’

    · 1 h 17 min

    This week, on the heels of our live show with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, we’re presenting a special conversation from her podcast Wiser Than Me. The episode features award-winning author Isabel Allende (The Wind Knows My…

  40. Live from Aspen with Performer Julia Louis-Dreyfus

    · 56 min

    Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Seinfeld, Veep) is a national treasure with more primetime Emmys than any performer in the history of television. Then there’s her latest decade in film: two collaborations with Nicole Holofcener…

  41. Actor Ebon Moss-Bachrach (‘The Bear’) Returns to the Kitchen

    · 53 min

    On the heels of his first Emmy win, actor Ebon Moss-Bachrach joins us on the show to unpack the return of The Bear. At the top, we dive into the making of the hit series (9:22), a powerful scene with co-star Jeremy…

  42. A Post-Debate Talk with Democratic Strategist James Carville

    · 1 h 12 min

    “You’re never gonna forget where you were last night at 7:30,” says James Carville. “It has the potential to be that consequential.” Carville is regarded as one the most influential (and animated) operators in the…

  43. How Playwright Annie Baker Made the Movie of the Summer

    · 1 h 04 min

    Beloved playwright Annie Baker won the Pulitzer for Drama in 2014 for her play, The Flick. A decade later, she’s releasing her directorial debut, Janet Planet, through A24. We begin by talking about her striking first…

  44. A Father’s Day Special (with Ethan Hawke)

    · 1 h 13 min

    This Father's Day, we're revisiting our special talk with actor Ethan Hawke. After a phone call with Dad Fragoso (2:00), we dive into the episode. At the top, Hawke unpacks his docuseries The Last Movie Stars (9:24),…

  45. Director Richard Linklater’s Moments in Time

    · 1 h 20 min

    Director Richard Linklater has made a career out of telling personal stories with universal appeal. Dazed and Confused, Waking Life, the Before trilogy, Boyhood. No matter the genre or form, Linklater's human touch…

  46. Maya Hawke (‘Stranger Things’) Writes through Chaos

    · 1 h 02 min

    On the heels of her breakout role in Stranger Things, Maya Hawke has gone her own way as an artist— both as an actor and singer-songwriter. That’s especially true on her striking new record, Chaos Angel. We begin our…

  47. Comedian Ilana Glazer (‘Broad City’) is Mothering

    · 1 h 00 min

    This week we’re joined by comedian and actor Ilana Glazer. At the top, Glazer reflects on her recent tour across the country (4:55), portraying a new mother in Babes while having her first child (8:30), and the film’s…

  48. A Love Letter to Comedy with Paul W. Downs and Lucia Aniello (‘Hacks’)

    · 1 h 16 min

    Hacks co-creators Paul W. Downs and Lucia Aniello, who are also husband and wife, have been performing and writing together for over a decade. Today, we discuss the road to season three of their hit HBO series. At the…

  49. A Mother’s Day Special with Pamela Adlon (‘Better Things’)

    · 1 h 06 min

    This Mother’s Day, our very special episode with actor, writer, and director Pamela Adlon. We discuss her new movie Babes (7:27), directing a comedy about reproductive rights in 2024 (12:38), and her creative…

  50. Comedian Jerrod Carmichael’s Self-Portrait

    · 1 h 25 min

    In just under a decade, comedian, writer, and actor Jerrod Carmichael has had a remarkably varied career. On the heels of his Emmy-winning HBO special Rothaniel, he embarked on a personal new project: Jerrod Carmichael…

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