Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

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 a window into ourselves. Today, we sit to unpack her recent, liberating projects in The Woman King [https://www.amazon.com/Woman-King-Viola-Davis/dp/B0B8Q3DQPX] (4:24) and G20 [https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.ce18124f-5eb6-431a-b5d3-41ba43d8ce55?autoplay=0&ref_=atv_cf_strg_wb] (4:50), the formative years she spent growing up in Rhode Island (13:52), and how she captured those familial memories in her 2022 memoir Finding Me (17:12). Then, we talk about Viola’s start as a performer (23:40), what she learned attending Juilliard (31:57), and the quagmire she faced as a Black actor emerging on Broadway and in Hollywood post-graduation (35:10). On the back-half, Davis reflects on a scene from August Wilson’s play Seven Guitars (37:50), her singular experience acting alongside Meryl Streep in Doubt [https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.0aabfbe6-e2b7-8098-3c28-bfba82736fba?autoplay=0&ref_=atv_cf_strg_wb] (47:25), and the ways her life transformed during Shonda Rhymes’ How to Get Away with Murder [https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.a2b90a83-2901-66bb-ef3c-77d710dec77b?autoplay=0&ref_=atv_cf_strg_wb] and Steve McQueen’s Widows [https://www.amazon.com/Widows-Steve-McQueen/dp/B07KLCY319] (53:00). To close, Viola shares her views on legacy (1:01:05) and how she finds her way back home, each and every day (1:05:20). Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at mail@talkeasypod.com. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

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 she may be tired of Washington, she’s not too tired to make it better. At the top, we discuss the constitutional crisis (5:00) surrounding the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia (9:00), this administration’s attack on public education (12:00), and the GOP’s fealty to Donald Trump (13:25). Then, we dive into Senator Warren’s proposed bill to limit the power of special government employees like Elon Musk (25:48), her fight for campaign finance reform (28:05), and the values her Oklahoma upbringing instilled in her (35:43). On the back-half, Senator Warren reflects on her early work in bankruptcy law (39:47), why she’s devoted her career to fighting for the middle class (45:45), the challenges she’s faced in the past decade in office (1:00:19), and what she sees for the future of the Democratic party (1:05:30). Feedback, guests ideas, or a power-ranking of your favorite Warren takedowns? Email us at mail@talkeasypod.com [mail@talkeasypod.com]. This episode was recorded at Spotify Studios. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

“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 best-seller, Americanah [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/878/americanah-by-chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/], Adichie has oscillated between beloved novelist, public intellectual, and feminist icon. This spring, however, she’s returned to her true love: fiction. We sat recently to discuss her excellent new book, Dream Count [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/753002/dream-count-by-chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/] (5:20), the decade-long writer’s block she pushed through to publish again (7:00), the profound, familial loss that upended her life (9:55), and the experience that turned her into a feminist (21:20). Then, Adichie reflects on her childhood growing up in the aftermath of the Biafran War (34:42), the importance of seeing yourself in literature (39:00), her affinity for American universities (41:50), and how her racial awakening culminated in Americanah (44:49). On the back-half: a wide-ranging, candid exchange around the erosion of free speech (53:36) and the American left (56:12), how she’s grappled with backlash (58:45), her case for intellectual curiosity (1:11:40), the prophetic work of W.E.B. Du Bois (1:13:40), and where she finds inspiration for the page (1:19:00). Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at mail@talkeasypod.com. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

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), embodying best friend and caretaker of Molly, played by Michelle Williams (9:25), and what she extracted from herself to play a confrontational character (12:30). Then, Jenny describes her relationship to motherhood (17:30), her breaking point while making her 2019 film The Sunlit Night (22:32), and how some timeless words from her first story collection Little Weirds help make sense of this moment (28:56). On the back-half, we unpack Jenny’s journey to healing from social media (33:11), a token of advice from her father, poet Ron Slate (41:48), and, to continue our tradition—Slate’s personal and creative aspirations for the years to come (43:51). To close, a formative passage from Shakespeare’s The Tempest (51:57). Hear our previous talks with Jenny from 2022 [https://talkeasypod.com/jenny-slate-2022/], 2020 [https://talkeasypod.com/jenny-slate-returns/], and 2017 [https://talkeasypod.com/jenny-slate/]. Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at mail@talkeasypod.com [mail@talkeasypod.com]. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

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, Knocked Up, Superbad, Pineapple Express. That era recently inspired his new Apple TV+ show The Studio [https://tv.apple.com/us/show/the-studio/umc.cmc.7518algxc4lsoobtsx30dqb52]. On the heels of the series’ premiere, Rogen joins us to discuss its 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). Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at mail@talkeasypod.com [mail@talkeasypod.com]. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.