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.
Listen in the Podli app 🎧
Follow your favourite podcasts, listen offline and in the car with CarPlay and Android Auto, and always pick up where you left off. Free to try.
Sep 27, 2026 · 1:23:33
Christiane Amanpour is the host of CNN's award-winning flagship global program “Amanpour,” where she’s been one of the network's most trusted voices on foreign affairs since…
Sep 20, 2026 · 1:29:34
For eight years, Ben Rhodes worked as a speechwriter and Deputy National Security Adviser to President Barack Obama. A decade after leaving the White House, Rhodes has become…
Sep 13, 2026 · 1:28:52
“I get calls from people inside of some of the AI labs,” says technology ethicist Tristan Harris. “And it feels like getting a call from Robert Oppenheimer before the atomic…
Sep 6, 2026 · 1:16:23
These days Nick Offerman appears to be one of the few remaining men who enjoys “making things rather than destroying things.” Career-best performances, best-selling books, a…
Sep 4, 2026 · 1:02:42
Rest in peace to writer and activist Gloria Steinem. The trajectory of Steinem’s life and work was unparalleled. Her cultural and political impact, incalculable. We sat to…
Aug 30, 2026 · 1:58:05
With the fall movie season upon us, who better to sit with than The Big Picture co-hosts Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins? We begin with a post-vacation check-in (2:38), the…
Aug 23, 2026 · 1:18:57
From “The Good Place” and “Barry” to “A League of Their Own” and “The Five-Star Weekend,” D’Arcy Carden has become one of the most recognizable and beloved performers on…
Aug 16, 2026 · 1:05:55
Novelist Colson Whitehead is one of only a handful of writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction twice—first for The Underground Railroad in 2017, and again for The Nickel…
Aug 9, 2026 · 1:13:01
What if it’s true that good things come to those who wait? For Greta Lee, the success of Past Lives came after twenty years of working and finding her way as an actor. Her…
Aug 2, 2026 · 1:24:19
Nine years ago, cook and writer Samin Nosrat created a kitchen staple with Salt Fat Acid Heat : a New York Times bestseller that later became a hit Netflix series. Last fall,…
Jul 26, 2026 · 1:17:18
Two years ago Mary Beth Barone considered quitting stand-up comedy. Thankfully (for us) these were always “empty threats.” The kinds you make when you’re working and waiting for…
Jul 19, 2026 · 1:18:32
Timothy Olyphant has made a career out of masking the effort behind his effortless performances. He joins us on the heels of his recent turns in Lucky and The Five-Star Weekend .…
Jul 12, 2026 · 1:32:31
All that glitters is not gold. Maggie Haberman is a White House correspondent for The New York Times who’s been covering Donald Trump for nearly three decades. Her extraordinary…
Jul 5, 2026 · 1:12:16
From Kenny Powers (“Eastbound & Down”) to Jesse Gemstone (“The Righteous Gemstones”), Danny McBride has created some of the most vain, quintessentially American portraits of male…
Jun 28, 2026 · 1:09:06
Councilmember Nithya Raman says she’s running for mayor “to make LA affordable for everyone.” She joins us this week in her first extended sit-down since edging out Spencer Pratt…
Jun 21, 2026 · 59:49
Tom Hanks is one of the defining actors of the last half-century. Today, we return to one of our favorite conversations with the beloved performer and writer. We begin by…
Jun 14, 2026 · 1:12:20
Alanis Morissette’s 1995 chart-topping album “Jagged Little Pill” didn’t just describe a generation; it defined it. “I will take angry as the first note in the music,” she tells…
Jun 7, 2026 · 42:43
In celebration of the Tony Awards, Sam’s conversation on ‘Fresh Air’ with the legendary Nathan Lane. At the time of recording, Lane had just received a nomination for his…
May 31, 2026 · 1:15:57
Christopher Abbott is one of the finest actors of his generation. He joins us this week from the Winter Garden Theatre, where he plays Biff Loman in the latest Broadway revival…
May 24, 2026 · 1:01:19
Emmy-nominated writer and stand-up Josh Johnson is making comedy that’s timely and timeless. On the heels of his new HBO special Symphony , we begin with his creative process of…
May 17, 2026 · 1:23:40
Michelle Obama is the former First Lady of the United States, a bestselling author of books like Becoming and The Look, the co-founder of Higher Ground , and now, a host…
May 10, 2026 · 52:30
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:…
May 3, 2026 · 1:20:51
For the better part of two decades, Emmy and Oscar-winning actor Riz Ahmed has moved seamlessly between worlds: indies, blockbusters, prestige TV, writing, rapping. We discuss…
Apr 26, 2026 · 1:29:16
Since the arrival of Beef in 2023, showrunner and creator Lee Sung Jin has been hailed as “the preeminent social satirist” working in television. The Emmy-winning writer/director…
Apr 19, 2026 · 52:16
On the heels of Beef S2 , we're revisiting a favorite of ours with actor Oscar Isaac. We begin with his 2023 Broadway debut in The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window (5:10), the…
Apr 12, 2026 · 1:26:37
Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened. On the heels of CR month coming to a close on The Rewatchables , we’re joined this week by The Ringer’s beloved editorial…
Apr 5, 2026 · 1:46:20
To mark the beginning of Talk Easy ’s 10-year anniversary, Sam called up Terry Gross. Watch this episode on YouTube. Then, we turn to their conversation from Philadelphia last…
Mar 29, 2026 · 1:24:09
“I got calls from people inside of some of the AI labs,” says technology ethicist Tristan Harris. “And it felt like getting a call from Robert Oppenheimer before the atomic…
Mar 22, 2026 · 1:27:41
A year after the attack on the Governor’s residence, Josh Shapiro says he and his family are “not afraid.” Their spirit, not broken but strengthened by the firebombing. Watch…
Mar 15, 2026 · 1:04:32
To celebrate Oscar Sunday, we return to our talk with writer-director Joachim Trier! We begin with guiding words from writer Philip Roth (7:20), how Trier arrived at his intimate…
Mar 8, 2026 · 50:37
Rose Byrne has taken many forms on-screen. In Mary Bronstein’s film If I Had Legs I’d Kick You , she delivers a career-defining performance as a Long Island therapist and mother…
Mar 1, 2026 · 54:01
When it comes to the theatrical experience, director Ryan Coogler is in rarified air these days. From Creed to Black Panther to Wakanda Forever, his movies arrive as seismic…
Feb 22, 2026 · 1:16:49
Journalist and author Jacob Soboroff (MS Now) has spent the better part of a decade reporting from inside America’s fractured immigration system. He joins us this week, fresh off…
Feb 15, 2026 · 1:24:22
Musician Anderson .Paak has always marched to the beat of his own drum. Whether he’s on the church circuit in Oxnard, center stage at the Grammys, or as one half of groups like…
Feb 8, 2026 · 1:22:43
George Saunders has long been hailed as one of the great short story writers of our time. Of his 1996 debut CivilWarLand in Bad Decline , Zadie Smith called Saunders “a prophecy…
Feb 1, 2026 · 49:19
Today, we revisit our 2023 conversation with performer and director Ramy Youssef, one of the singular voices of the past decade. We begin with his reflections on Ramadan, before…
Jan 25, 2026 · 1:06:07
From BoJack to Batman, Will Arnett has made a name for himself with his signature baritone voice. This week the beloved ‘SmartLess’ co-host joins us to talk easy. Watch this…
Jan 18, 2026 · 1:20:20
Patti Smith has been hailed as the Godmother of Punk, the people’s poet, a defining voice of her generation. She’s been inducted into the Rock & Roll of Fame. She won a National…
Jan 11, 2026 · 1:08:21
Gwyneth Paltrow, now and forever, reigns supreme. Watch this conversation on YouTube. We discuss her return to acting in Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme (7:45), the personal…
Jan 4, 2026 · 1:10:04
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…
Dec 28, 2025 · 1:15:19
We’re closing out 2025 with the person who made us laugh the most this year: comedian Robby Hoffman. [You can watch this conversation on YouTube.] At the top, we unpack the joys…
Dec 21, 2025 · 1:18:11
For over thirty years, Kate Winslet has been one of the most beloved performers on screen. We discuss her directorial debut in Goodbye June (5:00), the loss that inspired this…
Dec 14, 2025 · 1:38:22
In the first 100 years of The New Yorker, only five have edited the magazine. Since 1998, it’s been David Remnick at the helm, shepherding the publication into the 21st century.…
Dec 7, 2025 · 55:24
What happens when a house is not a home? It's the question pulsating at the heart of the new film, Sentimental Value, and one that actor Renate Reinsve reckons with in the lead…
Nov 30, 2025 · 1:03:23
Following the success of The Worst Person in the World , writer-director Joachim Trier returns this fall with a candid family story in Sentimental Value . We begin with the…
Nov 23, 2025 · 1:13:41
Filmmaker Noah Baumbach has spent the past three decades transmuting his experiences into cinema, culminating in his latest film, Jay Kelly , his love letter to movies (and the…
Nov 19, 2025 · 57:15
For your Thanksgiving inspiration: a favorite episode from Wiser Than Me , where Julia sits down with legendary cook and author Ina Garten. Over the course of her 76 years, Ina…
Nov 16, 2025 · 1:02:50
This week, cook and writer Alison Roman published her fourth cookbook, Something from Nothing —a collection of over one hundred simple, timeless recipes inspired by the items you…
Nov 12, 2025 · 51:21
Today, we’re sharing an episode from Fail Better with David Duchovny , featuring filmmaker and writer Judd Apatow. Together, they trace the arc of Judd’s career, from Anchorman…
Nov 9, 2025 · 1:15:26
Director Edgar Wright hit the ground running. For most filmmakers it takes many years (and many films) to find their voice, but Wright’s seemed to be fully formed upon arrival,…
Nov 2, 2025 · 1:26:09
For more than three decades, author Salman Rushdie has lived under threat. In 1989, a fatwa forced him into hiding. In 2022, he was stabbed more than a dozen times while speaking…
Oct 29, 2025 · 1:18:11
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…
Oct 26, 2025 · 1:13:10
Is it possible the rumors of the death of print magazines (and masculinity) have been greatly exaggerated? We sit this week with GQ's Global Editorial Director Will Welch to…
Oct 19, 2025 · 59:37
Gabriela Hearst is one of the rare figures in fashion with an unwavering commitment to sustainability. At the top, we discuss her luminous Spring Summer 2026 collection at Paris…
Oct 12, 2025 · 51:06
Rose Byrne has taken many forms on-screen. In Mary Bronstein’s new film If I Had Legs I’d Kick You , she delivers a career-defining performance as a Long Island therapist and…
Oct 8, 2025 · 1:41:52
Director, writer, and actor Benny Safdie stops by Sam’s home this week to discuss his new film, The Smashing Machine (1:30)—an unflinching portrait of mixed martial arts icon…
Oct 5, 2025 · 1:01:35
Few writers have examined the tension between history and morality more urgently than Ta-Nehisi Coates. Last fall, on the heels of his new book The Message , Coates joined Sam…
Sep 28, 2025 · 1:05:23
“Sometimes I feel that I’m not going to write again,” says Arundhati Roy, “but then it becomes harder to keep quiet than to write it.” Few writers have bridged the personal and…
Sep 21, 2025 · 1:00:40
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…
Sep 15, 2025 · 1:09:23
At this year’s Primetime Emmys, Seth Rogen took home four major awards for The Studio , including Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. We sat…
Sep 14, 2025 · 1:39:29
This month marks 50 years of Terry Gross as the host of Fresh Air . What began in 1975 as a local experiment at WHYY in Philadelphia has since grown into a national…
Sep 7, 2025 · 1:12:44
Eight years ago, cook and writer Samin Nosrat created a kitchen staple with Salt Fat Acid Heat : a New York Times bestseller that later became a hit Netflix series. Nosrat…
Aug 31, 2025 · 1:00:13
Over the long holiday weekend, Dev Hynes (Blood Orange) released his latest album, Essex Honey . To celebrate, we return to our 2022 conversation with the visionary musician. At…
Aug 28, 2025 · 1:27:02
We’re excited to share a new show from Lemonada Media: The Dan Buettner Podcast. Today’s episode features the incomparable Laura Dern. In his groundbreaking Blue Zones research,…
Aug 24, 2025 · 1:08:07
It’s been a year in Los Angeles. Between the historic wildfires, rapid recovery efforts, and the ICE raids over the summer, Mayor Karen Bass has been tasked with moving at a…
Aug 17, 2025 · 1:25:29
With the arrival of Weapons in theaters, we return to our conversation with actor Josh Brolin. Since the turn of the century, Brolin has had quite a run. From No Country for Old…
Aug 10, 2025 · 50:27
Actor Julia Garner ( Ozark ) has built a career out of shapeshifting. This summer, the Emmy-winning performer lands on the silver (surfer) screen with two major projects— The…
Aug 3, 2025 · 1:19:19
David Mamet is one of the most celebrated American playwrights of the last century: Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Speed-the-Plow, American Buffalo, and Glengarry Glen Ross— which…
Jul 30, 2025 · 42:43
Long before Celine Song was nominated for an Academy Award for her feature directorial debut, Past Lives , she was a struggling playwright in New York City with an unusual side…
Jul 27, 2025 · 56:03
After nearly four decades of working in Hollywood, actor Patricia Clarkson ( The Station Agent, Pieces of April ) says her portrayal of women’s rights activist Lilly Ledbetter is…
Jul 23, 2025 · 1:03:33
“I wanted to be good, but I completely burned up the morning,” said Joaquin Phoenix on day 1 of Eddington . “Ari and I stayed on set when everyone left for lunch—and, slowly,…
Jul 20, 2025 · 56:04
“ Eddington is a film about a bunch of people who know that something is wrong,” says writer-director Ari Aster. “It’s just that nobody can agree on what that thing is.” Aster…
Jul 16, 2025 · 1:15:01
Writer/director Lena Dunham is the voice of my generation. Or at the very least, a voice of a generation. Her new show, Too Much , is now available to stream on Netflix. We start…
Jul 13, 2025 · 1:29:01
From the opinion pages of The New York Times to his popular TikTok feed, Jamelle Bouie is a leading voice in American politics. This week, Bouie helps us sift through the inner…
Jul 6, 2025 · 52:29
To celebrate the fourth season of The Bear , we return to our conversation with Emmy-winning actor Ebon Moss-Bachrach. At the top, we dive into the making of the hit series…
Jun 29, 2025 · 1:26:02
In just under a decade, Jerrod Carmichael has had a remarkably varied career. On the heels of his latest HBO special , we return to our conversation with Emmy-winning comedian.…
Jun 22, 2025 · 58:05
Oscar winner Sam Rockwell has established himself as one of the most versatile actors of his generation. In our recent sit-down, recorded at the Tribeca Audio Festival , we trace…
Jun 15, 2025 · 1:00:43
For the past twenty-four years, Seth Meyers has built a comedy career inside the walls of 30 Rock. We join him there today for our Father’s Day special, reflecting on the past…
Jun 8, 2025 · 59:44
Michelle Zauner (Japanese Breakfast) has long turned to music to make sense of the past. Today, she joins us to unpack all of the emotional terrain covered in her latest album,…
Jun 1, 2025 · 1:28:02
Since his bestselling novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous debuted in 2019, Ocean Vuong has become one of the most beloved writers of his generation. He first sat with Sam in…
May 25, 2025 · 1:15:22
Even before Jelani Cobb became Dean of the Columbia Journalism School, he was an educator. His reportage at The New Yorker (where he’s been writing about race and politics since…
May 21, 2025 · 59:54
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),…
May 18, 2025 · 49:44
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 .…
May 11, 2025 · 1:25:53
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…
May 4, 2025 · 1:07:30
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…
Apr 27, 2025 · 1:09:52
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…
Apr 20, 2025 · 1:18:20
An outspoken advocate for working families, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) has made a career out of taking on Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and the Beltway. And while…
Apr 13, 2025 · 1:25:45
“Everything’s changed,” says author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. “I’ve changed, and every book is a different person.” It’s true: in the 12 years since the release of her…
Apr 6, 2025 · 56:32
Jenny Slate returns today for her fourth appearance on the program. We discuss how this role in the new FX series Dying for Sex offered her ‘full wingspan’ as a performer (5:45),…
Mar 30, 2025 · 1:09:54
Actor, writer, director, and producer Seth Rogen came up in an age of abundance — a Hollywood that made big-budget comedies with box office success: The 40-Year-Old Virgin,…
Mar 23, 2025 · 1:20:35
In their new book, Abundance , journalists Ezra Klein (The New York Times) and Derek Thompson offer a hopeful vision for what the future of the U.S. can look like. Ezra returns…
Mar 16, 2025 · 48:05
From Mean Girls to Mamma Mia! to First Reformed , Amanda Seyfried has repeatedly displayed her versatility as a performer. Today, we return to one of our favorite conversations…
Mar 9, 2025 · 1:22:53
What does photography need to do now? Artist Tyler Mitchell has been asking (and attempting to answer) that question since making history as the first Black photographer to shoot…
Mar 2, 2025 · 58:48
In celebration of Oscar Sunday, our conversation with actor Monica Barbaro. Her portrayal of Joan Baez in the Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown , earned her an Academy Award…
Feb 26, 2025 · 1:00:20
In the lead-up to Oscar Sunday, our conversation with actor, writer, and director Jesse Eisenberg. At the top, we unpack the journey that shaped his film A Real Pain (9:18),…
Feb 23, 2025 · 1:03:32
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…
Feb 20, 2025 · 45:33
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 .…
Feb 16, 2025 · 1:11:26
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…
Feb 9, 2025 · 53:07
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…
Feb 2, 2025 · 1:13:54
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…
Listen in the Podli app 🎧
Follow your favourite podcasts, listen offline and in the car with CarPlay and Android Auto, and always pick up where you left off. Free to try.
Your podcast? Get the Podli badge for your site
