Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

We start with election night 2024 versus election night 2016 (6:35), what Astead discovered about the electorate reporting across the U.S. on his podcast The Run-Up (9:25), and how insider Democrats arrived at a second Biden run in 2023 (13:30). Then, we discuss politicians’ “lowercase racist” assumptions about Black and Latino voters (16:02), Herndon’s telling one on one interview with Vice President Harris (22:52), and the pervasive, nationwide sentiments that led to Donald Trump’s re-election (32:24).

On the back-half: where the Harris campaign fell short in its messaging to voters (38:48), the rise of the “podcast election” (44:48), a revealing window into the Biden administration (47:35), how quickly “good intentions” can turn power corrupted (53:01), and why the Democratic party must remake itself (1:00:55) as we begin to move forward from this election (1:06:00).

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On the heels of his latest book The Message, author Ta-Nehisi Coates joins Sam for a conversation in Los Angeles.

At the top, we 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).

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Anna Kendrick (Pitch Perfect, Up in the Air) has been a fixture in Hollywood for the past fifteen years. She joins us this week to discuss Woman of the Hour, her directorial debut and most revealing project to date.

At the top, we dive into the film’s true crime story (7:00), its examination of gender politics in the 1970s (19:29), and the personal Hollywood experiences Anna embedded into this project (22:00). Then, Kendrick reflects on her early years as a child actor: commuting from Portland, Maine into New York City for work (25:40), receiving a Tony nomination at twelve (29:50), and moving to Los Angeles at seventeen (35:10).

On the back-half, Anna unpacks the “dissociative” process of directing a film (38:25), the mentorship she received from actor and collaborator Jake Johnson (45:00), and the dangers of workaholism (47:19). To close, she shares a passage from her memoir Scrappy Little Nobody (57:20) and describes the work she hopes to make in years to come (1:00:00).

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Reynolds sits with us today to share his latest YA novel Twenty-Four Seconds from Now… (7:45), why he was interested in writing a story about boyhood and masculinity (12:05), and an early passage from the book (15:52) that captures the distinct rhythm of his writing (17:59). Then, we talk about the story structure of this new novel (19:00), how Queen Latifah’s Black Reign introduced him to poetry (21:45), and how his early memories of writing (27:45) and a singular high school teacher (35:17) saved his life.

On the back-half, Reynolds describes a meaningful post-college job at rag & bone (46:02), what he’s seen in the education system post-pandemic (59:30), his hope for the next generation (1:02:30), and his lifelong mission to embolden students to see the value in their own narratives (1:14:23).

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Today, culture critic Wesley Morris (The New York Times) returns to Talk Easy for a conversation about The Wonder of Stevie, his new podcast with the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions.

At the top, Wesley unpacks Stevie Wonder’s legendary five-album run from 1972-1976, his recent “battleground states” tour in the run up to the election, and how his relationship to Stevie’s music has evolved in the process of making this limited series.

To listen to The Wonder of Stevie, stream here or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.