Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

Latest Episodes:

Episode 163 - Dr. Ashish Jha (Director of Harvard Global Health Institute) Mar 15, 2020

Show notes

Dr. Ashish Jha is the Director of Harvard Global Health Institute and a Professor at Harvard T. H. Chan school of public health. If you've turned on your TV over the past few days, you've likely seen him discussing COVID-19. Today he joins us to talk about how the coronavirus spread; the necessity for social distancing; elderly discrimination; what we can learn from the Spanish Flu of 1918; and plenty advice on how to best keep you and your family safe in this critical moment.“We’ve got a common enemy and we are going to fight and we are going to win”, he says. To learn more about Dr. Jha and his work, visit our site www.talkeasypod.com.

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Episode 162 - Sam Waterston Mar 08, 2020

Show notes

Actor Sam Waterston doesn't do many of these. In fact, this is his first podcast. To mark the special occasion the stage and screen performer reflects on his 60-year career, from his days at Yale in Waiting for Godot to breaking into Hollywood with the The Great Gatsby. But what most fascinates Waterston is reflecting on his life behind the camera, off-stage, as a husband and father. For years Waterston was reluctant to publicly give voice to his thoughts. Now that he's approaching 80, he's starting to feel different. “I just want to know what I think,” he says, “and I don’t know how much more time there is to find that out.”

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Episode 161 - Alison Pill Mar 01, 2020

Show notes

If it weren't for her singular acting abilities, Alison Pill would be best known for her boisterous laugh. (That is only kinda a joke.) The chameleonic actress–Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Midnight in Paris, The Newsroom–has been at it since the age of 10. And so we begin on set, unpacking her life as a child actor, and how she managed to find a voice as she grew up on (and off) screen. We also discuss her transcendent work on stage (from Blackbird to Three Tall Women), rejecting precocity, the film that almost made her quit acting, the trials and tribulations of dating in your 20s, approaching #MeToo with a politics of grace, and why Thornton Wilder has irrevocably changed her life. There's also laughing. Lots and lots of laughing.

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Episode 160 - Haley Bennett Feb 23, 2020

Show notes

Actress Haley Bennett joins us this week for a reflective look at her life as an actress, starting with her role as a pop-star in Music and Lyrics to her newest film, the disturbing domestic thriller, Swallow. We discuss the serendipity of motherhood, the perils of acting at an impressionable young age, and how she managed to find her artistic voice amid Hollywood pressures. Plus, a Terence Malick story!

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Episode 159 - Morgan Parker Feb 16, 2020

Show notes

Welcome back! This week, celebrated poet, author, and essayist Morgan Parker sits with Sam to discuss her latest book, Magical Negro. They talk about what poetry can look (and sound) like in the Internet era, the loneliness of being a writer in LA, Morgan's experiences of dating (and writing about) white men named Matt, the visceral intensity of her book readings, and how mass (predominately white) audiences engage with her work.

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A Talk Easy Holiday Special! Dec 23, 2019

Show notes

From the Talk Easy team to you, happy holidays! We're closing out the year with our third annual holiday special, featuring a special group of guests who sat with us over the past twelve months. Throughout this episode, they reflect on their favorite art, memories, triumphs, lessons, and so much more from 2019. Randall Park – 4:22 Mary Holland – 5:45 Harrison Cameron – 25:25 Gary Gulman – 28:01 Jeff Garlin – 28:46 Chaz Ebert – 45:47 Pam Grier – 47:58 Tayarisha Poe – 1:01:45 Justin Simien – 1:04:06 Minhal Baig – 1:17:01 Ron Perlman – 1:20:17 Michael Kelly – 1:33:54 Want to receive our special holiday newsletter? Drop us a line at talkeasypod(at)gmail(dot)com and we'll add you to the list!

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Episode 158 - Gloria Steinem Dec 16, 2019

Show notes

The trajectory of Gloria Steinem’s life and work is unparalleled. Her cultural and political impact, incalculable. With the release of “The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off”, the beloved author and activist reflects on a life-altering procedure she had completed at age 22, why she helped create the women's liberation movement alongside Dorothy Pitman Hughes and Flo Kennedy, and how she learned to become angry—on her own behalf—about race and gender bias throughout America. We also discuss much more because, well, this is Gloria Steinem after all. For more about our show visit www.talkeasypod.com

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Episode 157 - Laura Dern Dec 09, 2019

Show notes

From Wild at Heart to Marriage Story, legendary actress Laura Dern has impacted decades of storytelling with her work on screen. For the next hour, we discuss her early memories of Martin Scorsese, years of teenage activism, her quick pivot from college to Blue Velvet, and how Lucille Ball's “female boss narrative” affected her as an artist and mother. And throughout our conversation, Laura reflects on experiences with beloved collaborators: David Lynch, Jonathan Demme, Robert Altman, Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach, and of course, her parents, Diane Ladd and Bruce Dern. For more about our show and Laura, visit www.talkeasypod.com/laura-dern

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Episode 156 - Tracy Letts Nov 25, 2019

Show notes

Before a string of successful plays (August: Osage County, Bug) and brilliant performances on screen (Homeland, Lady Bird, Ford v Ferrari), Tracy Letts was acting on-stage, with his father, in Tishomingo, Oklahoma. As his twenties approached, he pursued love and theatre in Chicago, pivoted to editing textbooks in Florida, and then returned to the stage with the authorship of his first play, Killer Joe. From there, Tracy oscillated between Los Angeles and Chicago, navigating traumatic loss and feelings of “not making it.” In the years ahead, he embraced steady success at the Steppenwolf Theatre and developed his pivotal play, August: Osage County. His father's deteriorating health during this period echoed the marriage of good and horrendous occurrences in his life. Then, finally, Tracy reflects on the qualities he inherited from his family— his father’s honest presence, in life and on stage, and his mother’s curiosity and cleverly-disguised emotional reserve. Visit www.talkeasypod.com for more our show-notes.

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Episode 155 - Errol Morris Nov 17, 2019

Show notes

Director Errol Morris—with his brief history as a private detective and door-to-door salesman—has transformed the world with his boundless curiosity. In this hour, we discuss the hostile reaction to American Dharma, how interviewing mass murderers shaped Errol’s theory of language, the role of self-deception in his films, and the subsequently arcane motives of Steve Bannon and Elizabeth Holmes. Errol reflects on his roots in commercial directing, his hatred of standard documentary filmmaking, the existential sadness in Gates of Heaven, and his mother's ineffable uniqueness. For more about our show, visit: www.talkeasypod.com

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