Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

Latest Episodes:

How Glory Edim (Well-Read Black Girl) Gives Space Feb 16, 2022

Show notes

Glory Edim, founder of Well-Read Black Girl, joins us today for a special episode! In 2015, she founded the Brooklyn-based book club and online community. Two years later, a literary festival emerged. This month, she launched Well-Read Black Girl with Glory Edim by Pushkin Industries.

We begin with Glory’s daily morning journal (3:30), the mission behind her new podcast (4:28) and the “literary kickback” she hopes it becomes (5:35). As the debate over Critical Race Theory continues (7:24), she reflects on the importance of “offering space” to writers of color (10:24) and how her work has been shaped by authors like Audre Lorde (13:00), Maya Angelou (14:00), and bell hooks (15:00).

On the back-half, Glory shares memories from a childhood of “mothering herself” (18:26), the archive she created of her father before his passing (21:19), and how Well-Read Black Girl transformed her pain into something bigger than herself (27:00). Before we go, we turn to a poem from Honey, I Love by Eloise Greenfield (31:39), a formative senior yearbook quote (36:34), and where Glory hopes to go in the years ahead (37:30).

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A Tea with Cate Blanchett Feb 13, 2022

Show notes

This week, the legendary Cate Blanchett joins us. To start, we unpack her femme fatale turn in Nightmare Alley (6:06), the way director Guillermo del Toro wrestles with truth and deception in the new neo-noir (9:34), the first time Blanchett understood her gift for shapeshifting (11:18), the lasting presence of her late father (14:46), an early job as a script reader that changed how she approached her craft (19:14), the challenge of getting comfortable with “being seen” (22:40), a prophetic encounter with a psychic while filming The Gift (25:46), and how becoming a parent clarified her purpose (31:58).

On the back-half, we sit her work in I’m Not There (34:52) and Manifesto (38:54), her affinity for the Eastern philosophy of imperfection (42:33), words of wisdom from dancer Martha Graham (48:00), and how she’s beginning to accept the “divine dissatisfaction” of being an artist (51:54).

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

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Questlove: A Celebration of Soul Feb 06, 2022

Show notes

This week we sit with legendary bandleader of The Roots, Questlove! On the heels of his directorial debut, Summer of Soul, 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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Actor Tessa Thompson is Boundless Jan 30, 2022

Show notes

This week we’re joined by actor and producer Tessa Thompson! To begin, we talk about Thompson’s entry point into her new film Passing (7:56), a pivotal scene starring Bill Camp (11:08), the groundbreaking work of writers Nella Larsen (13:05) and Zora Neale Hurston (15:33), and how moviemaking keeps Tessa connected to something greater (19:37).

On the back half, she shares her earliest inclinations toward acting (22:20) and activism (26:43), growing up in Los Angeles to creative parents (24:17), reckoning with her own ambition (30:19), how she learned to take up space in Hollywood (31:10), why she recently launched her own production company, Viva Maude (33:31), and what her success would’ve meant to her late grandmother (38:58).

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

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Ezra Klein (The New York Times) On The Year Ahead Jan 23, 2022

Show notes

Ezra Klein is a columnist for The New York Times, the host of The Ezra Klein Show, and the author of Why We’re Polarized. He joins us this week to unpack the debate around school closures in the wake of Omicron (6:00), President Biden’s push to pass voting rights legislation (11:30), the GOP’s “precinct strategy” to win local elections (16:24), and what Democrats need to do ahead of the November midterms (23:00).

On the back-half, Ezra reflects on his early years covering Washington (29:35), his decision to leave VOX for The New York Times (34:37), his role in today’s media landscape (38:10), and where he’s finding hope in 2022 (45:29).

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

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Alana Haim: 13 Going on 30 Jan 16, 2022

Show notes

We’re back! This week we sit with musician Alana Haim, star of the film from director Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza. Making her acting debut, Alana shares the serendipitous backstory that led to the project (6:00), the “7th grade forever theory” that helped her get inside the character of Alana Kane (13:17), a high school house party where she baked cake and fell in love (17:30), and the fortuitous afternoon she met future co-star Cooper Hoffman (23:23).

In the back half, we talk about the early days of HAIM (30:33) and how art helps transcend our own limitations (36:50), culminating in the night Alana drove a six-wheeler truck up (and down) the pitch black hills of the San Fernando Valley (35:55), as co-star Bradley Cooper rode shotgun. We also discuss the forthcoming HAIM tour (39:08), the song she is most excited to perform from Women in Music pt. III, and what she hopes for as she enters her thirties (41:30).

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Activist Brittany Packnett Cunningham: How Did We Get Here? Jan 09, 2022

Show notes

This week one year ago, a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election. For some perspective on the other side of this moment, we return to our episode with activist and educator Brittany Packnett Cunningham.

We unpack the aftermath of the riots (6:46) before discussing her entry point into activism (11:00), unlearning perfectionism (19:38), grappling with imperfect allies (27:24), the consequences of using your voice (30:45), the enduring legacy of Toni Morrison (41:23), taking action under a Biden-Harris administration (46:03), rejecting objectification online (51:18), and, finally, how she keeps going (53:10).

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Sunday on the Podcast with George Saunders Jan 02, 2022

Show notes

As we begin the new year, we turn to writer George Saunders. He first joined us upon the release of his latest book, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain. He’s recently launched a new newsletter called "Story Club", available on Substack.

This week we’re revisiting our talk with Saunders, discussing the power of Chekhov and Tobias Wolff (8:52), regarding literature as a “fondness for life” (12:30), his summer with Steinbeck (15:00), deconstructing the (male) mythology of Hemingway (26:45), and how starting a young family changed his course (35:00).

On the back-half, we talk craft and process (39:00), his conversations with the late David Foster Wallace (42:15), and his aim to entertain any kind of reader (44:39). To close: George reads an excerpt from his New Yorker short story, “Love Letter” (49:02).

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A Talk Easy Holiday Special Dec 19, 2021

Show notes

On our annual holiday special, we hear from the people that came on Talk Easy in 2021. To start: performer Ts Madison (4:20), CNN anchor Jake Tapper (7:25), actor Vicky Krieps (8:25), and a phone call with actor and director Julie Delpy (9:55).

We also play some voicemails from visual artist Toyin Ojih Odutola (25:30), host of Death, Sex & Money Anna Sale (28:13), and actor Glynn Turman (30:20), before calling up writer George Saunders (33:20).

To close the year, we hear from actor Nick Offerman (52:30), Zola editor Joi McMillon (54:51), writer/director Janicza Bravo (56:30), and Ugandan activist and UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima (1:00:25).

This year’s special is in partnership with Covenant House. 100% of the proceeds from our mugs and vinyl records go to them through 2021. To support, visit: talkeasypod.com/shop

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How We Continue (with Noam Chomsky) Dec 12, 2021

Show notes

As we near the end of 2021, we turn to Noam Chomsky. The renowned linguist, historian, and social critic helps us unpack President Biden’s response to the Omicron variant (2:17), our distorted view of personal freedom (6:43), what the new infrastructure bill actually means for communities of color (14:32), the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict (18:01), the state of the GOP (21:23), how Critical Race Theory is a “cover-term” for Christian nationalists (24:28), and what we can actually learn from the 1930s America (28:34).

Before we go, he reflects on recently turning 93 (29:55), the night he played in a band (32:23), and how the “bicycle theory” is, perhaps, our only hope in the years ahead (33:31).

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