Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

Latest Episodes:

Love Songs with Syd (The Internet, Odd Future) Apr 17, 2022

Show notes

This week we’re joined by musician and founding member of The Internet, Syd! With the release of her new solo record, Broken Hearts Club (3:15), we discuss the origin of the album (5:45), how she healed in the process of making it (10:32), her evolution from engineer to singer-songwriter (11:50), the salad days of Odd Future (15:37), the depression that followed (20:25), and how she found her voice on the other side (31:00).

After the break, Syd talks about performing through her stage fright (32:22), reckoning with Odd Future’s hyper-masculinity (35:20), the media’s outsized expectations for queer artists (38:02), actualizing her mother’s musical dreams (44:34), a full circle moment with Erykah Badu (50:00), and what she hopes for in the decade to come (50:48).

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Let’s Talk About Sex (At the Movies) Apr 10, 2022

Show notes

Film historian Karina Longworth is the host of You Must Remember This, a podcast exploring the forgotten histories of Hollywood’s first century.

This week she joins us to discuss her new series, “Erotic 80s” (4:48), the seismic shift created by films like Last Tango in Paris and Deep Throat (7:58), the way in which these movies sold a distorted view of “female sexual liberation” (11:58), and how the cultural perception of these X-rated pictures evolved as the public learned of the abusive conditions in which they were made (12:50). As the 1980s took hold, Karina outlines how Hollywood capitalized on sex in the movies (16:50), making a film like American Gigolo (18:00), which transformed Richard Gere into a “distracting” sex symbol (22:09) and lead to “MTV aesthetic” in films like Flashdance and Risky Business (24:28).

On the back-half, we wrestle with the legacy of director Adrian Lyne’s work (28:00), the way cinema has drifted away from the center of culture (31:57), why Karina continues to make You Must Remember This (40:50), and a refrain she shares with 1930s actress, Kay Francis (42:53).

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Anita Hill is Getting Even. We Believe Her. Apr 03, 2022

Show notes

This week we’re joined by Professor Anita Hill. She’s an author, lawyer, and host of the new podcast, Getting Even with Anita Hill.

We begin by discussing her excellent new program (5:24), which reexamines her landmark testimony against Judge Clarence Thomas (9:04), her precarious relationship with the legal system (12:57), the unnerving attacks she received in the aftermath of 1991 (19:34), the survivors of sexual harassment emboldened by her work (27:35), and why the structural barriers to justice remain in 2022 (32:17).

After the break, Anita replays the phone call she received from President Joe Biden in 2019 (36:45), the weight of her decision to speak out (41:35), the significance of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court nomination (44:48), her mother’s enduring influence (49:15), and a poem by Pauli Murray that keeps the song of hope alive in her (51:00).

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Oscar Sunday with Questlove Mar 27, 2022

Show notes

To celebrate Oscar Sunday, we’re returning to our talk with legendary bandleader of The Roots and director of Summer of Soul, Questlove!

We discuss his winding road to making the documentary: from a trip to Japan (9:00) to a cold pitch backstage at The Tonight Show (10:30) to releasing the film last year (12:30). He also explains the cultural significance of the Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969 (15:39), the indescribable warmth of analogue sound (17:11), and why B.B. King's Why I Sing the Blues endures (18:03).

Then, in the spirit of Summer of Soul, we dive into the musical past of Questlove: listening to Sly & the Family Stone in the bathtub at age six (19:56), Stevie Wonder and Curtis Mayfield at age 2, performing in a traveling band with his parents (23:35), before eventually creating The Roots (28:35).

With distance, Questlove reflects on the group's European excursion (34:34), the infamous Philadelphia jam sessions that placed The Roots in a larger, cultural context (39:30), how his definition of success has evolved with age (41:17), and the profound final words of his manager Richard Nichols (44:12). To close, we sit with the words of Nina Simone (48:43) and how they've inspired Questlove to preserve and restore the history of Black music for future generations (51:36).

To submit a question, comment, or reflection for our mailbag episode, write us at mail@talkeasypod.com.

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Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present Mar 20, 2022

Show notes

Marina Abramović is a pioneer in the field of performance art, using her body as both the subject and the medium. This week, we sit with the legendary performer in her New York City apartment. To follow along with the works discussed, visit our guided, virtual exhibit at www.talkeasypod.com/abramovic.

We start with her relationship to Ukraine (8:00), creating art out of hardship (12:42), a Rainer Rilke poem that shaped her childhood (15:39), and the curiosity that propels her forward (23:00) in the face of sexist attacks from the press (29:15).

On the back-half, Marina reflects on her groundbreaking work in Rhythm 0 (34:45), her tolerance for pain (39:50), the deep-seated influence of her mother (40:12), finding happiness at age 75 (45:27), how her seminal piece, The Artist Is Present, lives on (49:10), and what it means to be still, together (53:37).

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The Pieces of David Byrne Mar 13, 2022

Show notes

This week we head to New York City to sit with the legendary David Byrne (Talking Heads). We discuss how he’s processed the pandemic (3:29), finding creativity in unlikely places (4:23), the evolution of his Broadway show ‘American Utopia’ (5:22), the influence of poet William Blake (7:26), his gift for collaboration (10:16), and the power of the song, Glass Concrete & Stone (15:30).

On the back-half, David opens up about his pivot from New Wave to Latin music (18:34), getting comfortable with creating on his own terms (21:25), and why he turned to performance as a response to being neurodivergent (29:48). He also reflects on his relationship to the Talking Heads at age 69 (34:54), the cross generational impact of his art (36:36), the unique interpretations of American Utopia (38:25), and how he “found the world” through making music (41:45).

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Author Margaret Atwood’s Burning Questions Mar 06, 2022

Show notes

Today we are joined by legendary writer Margaret Atwood! We begin with her new collection of essays, Burning Questions (4:18), which wrestle with catastrophe (4:59), growing up in the wilderness (7:05) under egalitarian parents (10:00), and how she circumvented the traditional roles for women of the 1950s (12:20). She also shares some personal stories: her first book signing event (15:40), the day she met her late husband Graeme Gibson (17:20), and the innumerable ways in which he'd shape her life (20:11).

On the back-half we discuss the historical antecedents behind The Handmaid’s Tale (24:11), its renewed relevance amid threats to Roe v. Wade (25:43), the debate around ‘the writer as political agent’ (29:53), patriarchal gatekeeping inside the publishing industry (32:42), the limits of art-making (34:20), and why she continues to write at age 82 (39:17).

To close, Margaret reads from both her elegiac poem Dearly (40:05) and her essay “Polonia” (45:27).

To submit a comment, question, or reflection for our upcoming mailbag episode, write us at mail@talkeasypod.com.

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Stacey Abrams’ Guide to Preserving Democracy Feb 27, 2022

Show notes

This week, we’re in conversation with author, voting rights activist, and gubernatorial candidate for the state of Georgia: Stacey Abrams. To begin, we talk about the systemic challenges that small business owners face (4:26), the impact of Georgia’s new voting laws (8:38), the threat of election subversion (11:52), what a functional democracy could look like (14:40), the lessons learned from her 2018 bid for Governor (18:14), and how she plans to win in 2022 (22:12).

On the back half, Abrams reflects on growing up in the south (26:00), her earliest political ambitions (31:49), and how literature has offered a human complexity not always granted to people in politics (36:34), especially Black women in positions of power (38:07). As we leave, Stacey shares a personal story about her first visit to the governor’s mansion (41:53), the need to move past tribalism (46:34), and why she still wants to be in this fight in 2022 and beyond (48:31).

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W. Kamau Bell: How Do We Talk About Cosby? Feb 23, 2022

Show notes

Comedian and documentary host W. Kamau Bell has built a career out of having difficult conversations. Today, he returns to the show with his latest project, the four-part docuseries We Need to Talk About Cosby.

We begin with Kamau's reluctance to talk about Bill Cosby (7:35), whose legacy became something he decided to publicly grapple with (8:30) and examine chronologically through this piece (10:17). Kamau speaks on his approach to the series (13:10), the integral women who helped create it (14:40), and a formative United Shades of America moment that transformed the way he encounters and tells painful stories (16:24).

On the back half, we unpack Cosby’s impact on Black history and representation (24:00), how he changed the stunt industry (27:53), a philosophy on truth that became embedded in the documentary (34:38), and how the project permanently altered Kamau’s course (35:04).

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A Texas Principal Said Black Lives Matter. His Community Didn’t Agree. Feb 20, 2022

Show notes

On this special episode, educator Dr. James Whitfield tells his remarkable story. Whitfield made headlines recently after being fired as Principal of Colleyville Heritage High School in Texas. The reason? A conservative community alleged he was adding Critical Race Theory to the curriculum. (To be clear: he was not.)

But how did this happen? Whitfield begins by sharing a presentation he co-lead on diversity in our schools (5:41), an impassioned email he wrote to parents in aftermath of George Floyd’s unjust murder (10:00) and the eventual backlash that came from it (15:27), leading to accusations of Whitfield bringing CRT into the classrooms (24:05). Then came the “controversial” photos of Dr. Whitfield and his wife (26:40), revealing the deep-seated racism of his community (28:14). A community that uses the cover of Christianity to spread exclusionary and bigoted rhetoric (34:36).

On the back half, Dr. Whitfield explains how he’d like to see American history taught in schools (41:48), what has (and hasn’t) changed since he sent that email in 2020 (47:28), the parallels between his dreams of being an educator and his late mother’s (54:11), and why he refuses to be invisible after everything that’s happened (59:46).

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