Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso
Lemonada Media
Recent Episodes
In the first 100 years of The New Yorker, only five have edited the magazine. Since 1998, it’s been David Remnick at the helm, shepherding the publication into the 21st century.
We discuss Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral win in New York City (3:24), the new documentary, The New Yorker at 100, chronicling the magazine’s evolution (11:00), how comedian Jon Stewart understands the rising influence of the podcast Manosphere (26:20), and the future of media (47:00).
Then, we turn to our first talk with Remnick from 2023, reflecting on the art that influenced him growing up in New Jersey (54:00) to his pathway to journalism at Princeton University (1:03:30) and his start at The Washington Post under the tutelage of legendary editor Ben Bradlee (1:09:00). We close with lessons from his early days running The New Yorker (1:14:30), why he cautions against despair (1:26:20), and a tribute to the creative longevity of musician Joni Mitchell (1:34:00).
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What happens when a house is not a home? It's the question pulsating at the heart of the new film, Sentimental Value, and one that actor Renate Reinsve reckons with in the lead role of Nora.
We discuss her process connecting the ‘puzzle’ of each character (7:00), how she balances dark and light themes in this new film (8:20), and her creative childhood in Norway (12:00). Then, Renate describes how David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive impacted her as a young performer (20:20), her liberating teen years in Edinburgh (22:00), and how her longtime collaboration with writer-director Joachim Trier came to be—beginning with her supporting role in Oslo, August 31st (25:00).
On the back-half, she reflects on her early years in the theatre (36:20), how she recalibrated herself from stage to screen (39:15), and her spiritual tribute to the late Diane Keaton in The Worst Person in the World (42:53). To close, we talk about the final day on the set of Sentimental Value (49:40), her desires for the years ahead (55:00), and what it meant to bring her family to the film’s premiere at Cannes (58:39).
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Following the success of The Worst Person in the World, writer-director Joachim Trier returns this fall with a candid family story in Sentimental Value.
We begin with the guiding words from writer Philip Roth (7:20), how Trier arrived at this intimate new film (8:40), and why he was drawn to father-daughter dynamics (his own, and others) in making this new project (10:00). Then, we talk about Joachim’s early observations growing up in Norway (25:00), why he prefers to be present with performers on set, rather than watching from a far-off monitor (32:00), and how he parlayed skating into his early work as a filmmaker (35:00).
On the back-half, Trier reflects on meeting longtime collaborator, screenwriter and director Eskil Vogt (37:00), the essayistic qualities of his sophomore film, Oslo, August 31st (40:00), and how that style fully solidified in Louder Than Bombs and The Worst Person in the World (42:00). To close, we revisit a recurring monologue in Sentimental Value (48:00), his last day on set with actor Renate Reinsve (50:00), and how director Martin Scorsese has inspired Trier to continue ‘stirring the sauce’ (56:00).
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Filmmaker Noah Baumbach has spent the past three decades transmuting his experiences into cinema, culminating in his latest film, Jay Kelly, his love letter to movies (and the memories they evoke).
We begin with the “quiet crisis” Baumbach found himself in on the heels of releasing White Noise (5:30), finding his way back to the page, with co-writer Emily Mortimer, to create Jay Kelly for George Clooney (10:20), the films that defined his early years (15:00), and the week that Mike Nichols’ production of Heartburn took over his Park Slope childhood home (22:45). Then, we walk through his early, funny work in Kicking and Screaming (29:00) and Mr. Jealousy (30:45), how art imitated life in The Squid and the Whale (32:00), and the start of his lasting collaboration with Greta Gerwig in Greenberg (43:00).
On the back-half, Baumbach talks about his love of working with actors (45:30), setting the stage for the infamous Marriage Story fight scene (47:00), his process of writing personal stories (51:30), and how his subconscious seems to always be one step ahead of him (52:00). To close, the influence of Noah’s Hollywood mentor, the late Peter Bogdanovich (58:45) and a prescient essay from Baumbach’s mother, former film critic of The Village Voice, Georgia Brown (1:05:00).
Subscribe to our new YouTube channel. Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].
Get 50% Off Monarch, the all-in-one financial tool at www.monarch.com/talkeasy.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
For your Thanksgiving inspiration: a favorite episode from Wiser Than Me, where Julia sits down with legendary cook and author Ina Garten.
Over the course of her 76 years, Ina has lived a few lives: she worked on nuclear policy at the White House, ran the beloved food store Barefoot Contessa, and went on to write best-selling cookbooks and host her own hit TV shows. But what’s always defined her isn’t just the food—it’s the way she brings people together around it. In this conversation, Ina reflects on how aging has reshaped her taste, the art of simplicity, and what she’s learned about handling those quietly difficult, passive-aggressive types we all know too well.
To hear more episode of Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, follow wherever you get your podcasts or head to: https://lemonada.lnk.to/wiserthanmefd
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