Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso
Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

Lemonada Media

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Episodes

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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.

Recent Episodes

Hollywood Plays Itself in Seth Rogen’s ‘The Studio’
MAR 30, 2025
Hollywood Plays Itself in Seth Rogen’s ‘The Studio’

Actor, writer, director, and producer Seth Rogen came up in an age of abundancea 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.

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.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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69 MIN
Ezra Klein’s Call for ‘Abundance’ in America
MAR 23, 2025
Ezra Klein’s Call for ‘Abundance’ in America

In their new book, Abundance, journalists Ezra Klein (The New York Times) and Derek Thompson offer a hopeful vision for what the future of the U.S. can look like.

Ezra returns to the show to discuss how his ‘agenda of abundance’ (6:15) is a response to the hollowing out of the middle class (11:26) and the dwindling housing market (16:30). Then, Klein explains how these regulatory inefficiencies have impacted California’s high-speed rail project (27:56), what we can learn from international construction (32:15), and why it’s so difficult to build in Blue states (40:00).

On the back-half, we discuss the future of AI in the workforce (48:48), whether “Abundance” can serve as a prescriptive text for the Democratic Party (1:00:56), the hope he aims to engender in readers (1:08:18), and our path to meaningful progress in 2025 and beyond (1:14:16).

Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at mail@talkeasypod.com.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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80 MIN
Actor Monica Barbaro (‘A Complete Unknown’) Takes the Stage as Joan Baez
MAR 2, 2025
Actor Monica Barbaro (‘A Complete Unknown’) Takes the Stage as Joan Baez

In celebration of Oscar Sunday, our conversation with actor Monica Barbaro. Her portrayal of Joan Baez in the Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

At the top, we discuss how director James Mangold drew inspiration from Miloš Forman’s Amadeus (7:00), the vocal lessons Monica received in preparation for the role of Baez (10:15), and her affecting rendition of House of the Rising Sun (16:00). Then, we dive into Monica’s California upbringing (18:00), her pivot from dancing to professional acting (24:00), and the winding journey that led her to A Complete Unknown (29:00).

On the back-half, we talk about her breakout role in Top Gun: Maverick (38:00), her evolving relationship to perfectionism (39:30), the deep, autobiographical research she did to portray Joan Baez (42:00), and what she hopes for in the years to come (54:15).

Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at mail@talkeasypod.com.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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58 MIN