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

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

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 Mark Kerr (7:00), played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (9:00).
 
 
 
In the second half, we revisit our conversation from 2023. There, Safdie unpacks his collaboration with comedian Nathan Fielder on their television series The Curse (44:30), the timely premise that inspired the show (47:20), and his history of capturing real-life personalities on film (51:20). Then, he describes his early connection to the 1979 movie Kramer v Kramer (54:20), a New York encounter with photographer Robert Frank (59:20), and how directors Robert Bresson (1:03:20) and Frederick Wiseman (1:03:50) opened his eyes to the possibilities of street casting.
 
 
 
We also dive into Benny’s co-directing work alongside his brother, Josh Safdie (1:05:15), a heartbreaking scene from their debut feature Daddy Longlegs (1:09:26), and the projects that followed (1:14:15): Good Time, Lenny Cooke, and Uncut Gems. To close, Safdie talks about why he worked as a boom operator while directing (1:20:00), his recent pivot to acting (1:21:23), and his full circle moment of playing an astrophysicist in Oppenheimer (1:33:20).
 
 
 
Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at talkeasypod@gmail.com.

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A Cup of Coffee with Director Benny Safdie (‘The Smashing Machine’)

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 for a conversation live in Los Angeles. At the top, they discuss how his Atlantic piece The Case for Reparations guided these three new essays (6:10), Coates’ early education growing up in West Baltimore (14:57), and his powerful dispatches from South Carolina (22:00) and the Middle East (29:30).
 
 
 
On the back-half, Coates unpacks why he believes the mainstream media prioritizes “factual complexity over self-evident morality” (37:47), his advocacy for Palestinian journalists (39:20), and his reflections about the U.S. election (47:28). To close, a formative passage from James Baldwin's The Lost Generation (52:38) and a story about love and writing (57:45).
 
 
 
Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at talkeasypod@gmail.com.

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Ta-Nehisi Coates Has a Message to Deliver. Can We Hear It?

“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 political as powerfully as Arundhati Roy. With her first memoir, fittingly titled Mother Mary Comes to Me, she turns to her turbulent relationship with her late mother, Mary Roy, a pioneering feminist who reshaped Indian law.
 
 
 
Act I: Let It Be
 
 
 
We begin with the imagery that animates the new book (4:10), her tumultuous household growing up (10:00), and how she sifted through those memories while writing The God of Small Things and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (15:40).
 
 
 
Act II: She’s Leaving Home
 
 
 
Roy reflects on her mother’s impact as a teacher (22:00), navigating her severe asthma as a child (24:30), and the moment she ultimately left home (27:20) for architecture school where she worked on film sets (30:00) and discovered The Beatles. 
 
 
 
Act III: Revolution 
 
 
 
Then, finally, how her writing sprung from her past (32:00), the political attacks that followed the success of her debut novel (35:00), bearing witness in the age of authoritarianism (41:00), and the timeliness of her 1998 essay The End of Imagination (1:01:00).
 
 
 
 
 
Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at talkeasypod@gmail.com.

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And In Our Hour of Darkness, Writer Arundhati Roy

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.
 
 
 
Watch the video of our conversation on YouTube.
 
 
 
We return to our talk with Coppola upon the anniversary of his modern-day Roman epic fable Megalopolis, discussing his decades-long process developing the film (6:16) and the inspiration he’s taken from Georges Méliès (17:00) and Jacques Tati (19:07). Then, he reflects on the origin of how he became ‘Francis Ford Coppola’ (23:07), the irrepressible spirit he forged in childhood (26:34), and where he sees himself in films like The Godfather (33:17), Apocalypse Now (35:51), and Gardens of Stone (36:10).
 
 
 
On the back-half, we unpack the parallels between the titular city of Megalopolis and Zoetrope Studios (42:35), his capacity to keep dreaming, even in the face of financial ruin (43:30), where he believes America is headed (49:04), and the lasting memory of his late wife, Eleanor (58:08).
 
 
 
Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at talkeasypod@gmail.com.
 
 
 
Get 50% Off Monarch Money, the all-in-one financial tool at www.monarchmoney.com/TALKEASY.

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Director Francis Ford Coppola Keeps His Dream Alive

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 with Rogen around the show’s release back in the spring to discuss his key influences (6:15), from Robert Altman’s The Player to The Larry Sanders Show (13:25), the evolving state of “show business” (15:36), and a life-changing piece of advice from director and producer Judd Apatow (25:00).
 
 
 
On the back-half, we dive into his early years writing comedy in Vancouver (25:57), formative memories making Freaks and Geeks (33:19), and how This Is the End, the meta-comedy from 2013, was a precursor to this latest project (43:18) and solidified his enduring creative partnership with Evan Goldberg (58:30).
 
 
 
Watch this episode on YouTube. Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at talkeasypod@gmail.com.
 
 
 
Original air date: March 30, 2025

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Seth Rogen’s ‘The Studio’ Takes the Emmys

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 institution—one that not only transformed public radio, but laid the groundwork for the world of podcasting.
 
 
 
To commemorate a half-century on the air, Terry Gross joins us for a rare appearance in the interview seat. At the top, we discuss her Brooklyn upbringing (10:26), early memories of writing (13:00), and her improbable road to public radio (29:38). Then, Terry walks us through the formative years of Fresh Air (33:37) and its seminal conversations with Kurt Vonnegut (40:21), John Updike (46:30), Monica Lewinsky (49:30), Joan Didion (1:00:55), and more.
 
 
 
On the back-half, Gross reflects on forty-seven years of partnership with her late husband, jazz writer Francis Davis (1:03:24), their shared affinity for reading and music (1:05:57), the future of public media (1:19:16), and why she continues to have faith in (and love for) the long-form interview (1:31:35).
 
 
 
Subscribe to our new YouTube channel. Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at talkeasypod@gmail.com.

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The Terry Gross Interview

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 returns with Good Things, a collection of personal recipes straight from her dining table.
 
 
 
We discuss the influences that shaped the book (8:30), the ephemerality (and pleasure) of produce (9:30), her complicated San Diego childhood growing up with Iranian parents (17:30), the high expectations placed before her (22:40), and how she eventually found her way to Chez Panisse in Berkeley (32:00).
 
 
 
On the back-half, Samin talks about her salad days working in restaurants (46:00), grand openings and closings (42:30), the origins of Salt Fat Acid Heat (47:00), what The Bear gets right about cooking (1:00:25), and how she thinks about time (1:03:00) and ritual (1:07:40).
 
 
 
This episode was recorded at Spotify Studios. Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at talkeasypod@gmail.com.

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Cook Samin Nosrat (‘Salt Fat Acid Heat’) Returns with ‘Good Things’

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 the top, we dive into his EP Four Songs (3:15), performing at Madison Square Garden with Harry Styles (4:40), and the process that guides much of his music (6:39). Then, Dev describes growing up in Essex, England (7:04), falling in love with music at his sister’s piano lessons (11:00), his dreams of entering the New York punk culture of Please Kill Me (20:30), early performances with the band Test Icicles (22:08), and how he’s been inspired by the late Octavia Saint Laurent (30:10).
 
 
 
In the back half, we unpack Dev’s gift for collaboration (34:22), the 2013 night that changed everything (38:50), a surreal, full-circle performance of Delancey at the Apollo Theater (46:17), music’s unique ability to express emotions (49:50), and where he hopes to go in his art next (54:20).
 
 
 
Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at mail@talkeasypod.com.
 
 
 
Get 50% off Monarch Money, the all-in-one financial tool at www.monarchmoney.com/TALKEASY.

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The Homecoming of Dev Hynes (Blood Orange)

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, National Geographic explorer and bestselling author Dan Buettner uncovered the secrets to longevity and happiness from the world’s longest-lived populations. Now, on the podcast, he’s sharing the practical habits, mindsets, and wisdom that can set the stage for a longer, more fulfilling life—at any age. Dan sits down with extraordinary doctors, explorers, thought leaders, and actors from around the world.
 
 
 
In this talk, Laura Dern shares how she lives with purpose, the surprising study that suggests winning an Academy Award can add years to your life, and lessons from her actor parents, Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd.
 
 
 
Listen to The Dan Buettner Podcast wherever you get your podcasts, or watch on YouTube. To learn more, head to https://lemonada.lnk.to/TheDanBuettnerPodcastfd
 
 
 
Thoughts or future episode ideas? Email us at mail@talkeasypod.com.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Laura Dern on Living Well (The Dan Buettner Podcast)

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 breakneck speed to meet the demands of a city in peril.
 
 
 
Watch this conversation on our new YouTube channel.
 
 
 
The Mayor joins us this week to reflect on her office’s response to ICE in Los Angeles (7:00), the federalization of thousands of National Guard troops by the Trump administration (11:20), and the ongoing legal battle now being waged in court (15:00). We also discuss the city’s “rapid rebuilding efforts” in the aftermath of the January wildfires (21:45), lessons learned from the historic catastrophe (25:50), and why she cut through “federal red tape” (28:48) to push forth her Inside Safe program designed to reduce homelessness (30:20).
 
 
 
On the back-half, we get into some of Bass’ personal story: coming of age in the Venice/Fairfax area of Los Angeles (36:30), working in emergency rooms during the crack epidemic of the 1980s (46:00), and her six terms in Congress representing various Los Angeles districts (58:00), all while navigating unimaginable personal loss (54:00). To close, the Mayor discusses her ongoing mission to end homelessness (1:00:00), the promise and potential of the 2028 Olympics (1:04:00), and where she finds the strength to continue fighting for the city that raised her (1:04:45).
 
 
 
This episode was recorded at Spotify Studios. Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at mail@talkeasypod.com.
 
 
 
Get 50% off Monarch Money, the all-in-one financial tool at www.monarchmoney.com/TALKEASY.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Candid Conversation with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass

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 actor-turned-director Dev Patel (5:45), the legendary Francis Ford Coppola on Jacques Tati and failure (11:45), filmmaker Ava DuVernay on the state of Hollywood (17:47), and Dr. Seema Jilani on her work in Gaza (26:36). 
 
On the back end, Abbi Jacobson’s interview with Sam (35:05), NYT reporter Astead Herndon on why the 2024 election was not inevitable (42:47), and national treasure Julia Louis-Dreyfus (“Wiser than Me”) on perseverance and posterity (49:55). Plus, a Joker ending (1:08:00).
 
What was your favorite from the past twelve months? Write us below or say hello at sf@talkeasypod.com.

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Talk Easy in 2024: A Mixtape

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