Talk Easy With Sam Fragoso

Dr. Ashish Jha (Director of the Harvard Global Health Institute) joins us this week to give us science-based updates on the global pandemic. We discuss the federal government’s inconsistent approach to COVID-19 (9:40), the truth about transmission rates (13:00), the affect masks can have on numbers country-wide (20:55), the restlessness of the older generation (32:24), predictions of the second wave (36:50), and his hope of overcoming the pandemic (40:24).

A bonus episode! And a personal one at that. Back in February I directed a music video for Radnor & Lee, the folk duo created by artists Josh Radnor and Ben Lee. Today we discuss using their platforms to take a stance on the ongoing social injustices (3:20), the process of making their latest record, Golden State (11:00), finding a balance within each other (23:00), living a life full of passion (31:09), the expectations between creators and consumers (40:02), and why their working relationship works (43:38). 

Today we celebrate Father's Day with the great Dolores Huerta! An icon within in my Latino family, she's a trailblazing labor leader, civil rights activist, and community organizer. At age 90, she joins us this week to share her mother's words of wisdom that compelled her to fight for people (15:34), how she co-founded the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez (22:06), our civic duty to lend a helping hand (42:37), persevering after being brutally attacked by the police (54:31), working with those who hold differing views (59:00), and why, ultimately, she loves people (1:05:28).

Holland Taylor is an American playwright and actress best known for her television roles on The Practice and Hollywood; films like Legally Blonde, Romancing the Stone, and The Truman Show. This week, she walks us through her storied career, from her days as a playpen baby (8:08) to the college experience that solidified her choice to place career ahead of motherhood (12:51). Having moved from coast to coast, she discusses her early years in New York with Anne Bancroft on Broadway (17:00), lessons learned from the great Stella Adler (22:50), and finding her footing in Los Angeles with Tom Hanks in Bosom Buddies (29:31). Finally, we reexamine the day she met Gov. Ann Richards (41:30), and why she felt compelled to write and star in a play about her (49:30). 

Hank Willis Thomas believes the past is the present. Now more than ever. As a conceptual artist, he focuses on race, identity, and popular culture. His work (sculptures, photography, installations) has been exhibited around the world, from New York to Paris to Hong Kong. Today, since we can't stroll through museums, we offer a kind of guided listening experience. At our website (talkeasypod.com) you'll find a visual companion to this conversation with Hank. These are selected works- all of which undeniably speak to this moment of ours. At 35:30, a few words on what the future in media could look (and sound) like.

Jelani Cobb is a professor, historian, and staff writer for The New Yorker, where he covers race and politics. He joins us to discuss the “dimension and contours” of this moment in America (6:00), the intersection of Amy Cooper's phone call and George Floyd's death (12:05), how to engage those with whom you disagree (18:30), Ahmaud Arbery and the age of the black-panic defense (24:00), why body cam videos may objectify instead of humanize (28:45), Twitter's sudden censorship of President Trump (37:30), and, finally, his predictions for what the next 5-6 months may look like (44:00). historian professor

In the midst of a global pandemic, two artists emerge with new projects. Art for your hearts and minds. First we call up multi-hyphenate talent Terence Nance (4:07), known for his HBO series Random Acts of Flyness, to discuss his healing debut EP: Things I Never Had. After that we ring up director Malik Vitthal (31:00). His new film, Body Cam, stars Mary J. Blige and is available on VOD today! We'll see you back here on Sunday with the legendary Holland Taylor.

For the last 20 years, journalist Brooke Gladstone has been making sense of the news. Her Peabody-winning show, On the Media, says to examine the “myths and media narratives that shape our worldview—for better or for worse”. This week Brooke join us to put this moment of ours in context. We discuss her ability to “take the long view”, the need for civility in journalism, lessons learned from the 2016 Presidential election, how we are hardwired to be guided by instinct over reason, and why she can't process the news of the day unless she's interpreting it for somebody else.

A self-described “contract player”, Ted Danson has been a staple on television for the past 40 years. Cheers. Becker. Bored to Death. Damages. Curb Your Enthusiasm. In that time he's been, at least for me, a stabilizing force. A welcomed, recurring presence. On the heels of The Good Place's final season, Danson takes this unusual moment of ours to slow down and reflect. We discuss how his love of basketball translated into his love of acting; his memories of making Body Heat; the enduring influence of James Burrows; his evolving relationship with Sam Malone and Cheers; and the long, winding journey to stop “pretending to be Ted and tell the truth.”

Back in 2017 I invited my mother on the podcast. She (reluctantly) accepted the invitation. What follows is that conversation, in full. A very special thanks goes out to Theresa Meyers this week. She has helped me more than she knows. A beacon, even when I've been a pain the ass (which has been often). I love her so. Happy Mother's Day to you and yours. Stay safe everyone.

Roxane Gay may be a self-described introvert, but she's not one to shy away from a public fight. As a contributing writer for The New York Times, Gay has taken aim at President Trump, modern misogyny, racial discrimination within the police force. But it's her two best-selling books–Bad Feminist and Hunger–that cemented her place in the public discourse as a singular talent, someone able to write personally and politically in equal measure. She does the same on this week's episode, alternating between timely cultural commentary and candid self-reflection. This is a story, in part, about how Roxane Gay arrived at the woman (and writer) she is today. Thanks for being here.

For the next month I'm co-hosting a new podcast! It's called “The Last Dance Aftershow”, a weekly program on the 10-part documentary of Michael Jordan and the 1997-1998 Chicago Bulls. Upcoming guests include Adam McKay, Chuck Klosterman, Heidi Gardner, Sam Smith, Steve James, Jason Hehir, Bill Cartwright, and many more! Listen/rate/subscribe wherever you do your listening. https://the-last-dance-aftershow.captivate.fm/ (https://the-last-dance-aftershow.captivate.fm/) - All proceeds go to Feeding America, the nation's largest hunger-relief organization.

Four years ago Sam stumbled upon a book called “Big Magic”. From it, Talk Easy was born. Today we come full circle in sitting with beloved writer Elizabeth Gilbert. Both in her fiction and non-fiction work, Gilbert seeks a kind of radical honesty. She’s irrepressibly curious, a searcher of stories. On this week’s podcast, those stories come in all different shapes and sizes: an appreciation for her current solitude; a re-examination of how her parents shaped the woman she is today; why she felt like a failure after getting a divorce, followed by the freedom she found on the heels of “Eat, Pray, Love”. Gilbert also candidly reflects on the love of her life—Rayya Elias—who sadly passed away two years ago.

Four years ago W. Kamau Bell joined us on Talk Easy. It was a different time, before Donald Trump was President Trump. This week the sociopolitical comedian returns to provide some light and laughter in these trying times. He discusses being a parent during the pandemic, the insensitive comments made by the U.S. Surgeon General, going back to Mobile, Alabama for his CNN show (United Shades of America), and the life lessons learned from his father and Chris Rock.  We also answers some listener questions before sharing the (unusual) story of how Kamau and Sam met back in 2015.

Who better to guide us through this darkness than Noam Chomsky? The esteemed linguist, author, and political activist joins us this week to provide a historical perspective to the pandemic (44:02). He also offers his diagnosis of the Trump administration and its failure to effectively respond to COVID-19. At 91, Chomsky is a beacon of hope in these trying times. Before speaking with Noam, Sam calls up Dr. Ashish Jha, Director of Harvard Global Health Institute (2:57) to walk us through life on the front-lines, inside hospitals, when we can expect to return to normal, and how we can ultimately beat this virus.

Beto O'Rourke entered politics because of people. He believes in their capacity for goodness and decency. He believes in their potential. And yet– what if his political brand is not exactly what the country wants in 2020? For the first time since suspending his Presidential campaign, Beto reflects on where he succeeded and where he failed these past three years. His strengths and weaknesses as a candidate, and the intense challenges one faces when running for President. We also discuss the circuitous path that led him to politics, from punk-rocking in New York City to a sobering run-in with the law. Then, finally, Beto speaks on the enduring influence his late, larger than life father had on all fronts- as a politician, a man, and parent himself.

Naomi Klein is an author, filmmaker and climate activist. But above all– she is a journalist. She joins us to reflect on her natural instinct to run toward crisis; her decades long research of disaster capitalism; the striking systemic difference between her home country of Canada and the United States; the influence of her grandfather’s strike against Disney; and how this pandemic has asked her to slow down. It is important to note this interview was conducted remotely. Our guest, Naomi Klein, self-diagnosed herself with COVID-19 earlier this month. We are happy to report she has made a healthy recovery. 

Actress Juliette Lewis “lost her anonymity” with the movies. Movies you've probably seen. Cape Fear, Natural Born Killers, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, From Dusk Till Dawn. She's a visceral, singular performer, untethered to convention. This was true in 1989 and even more true in 2020. But it's what unfolds off-screen that Lewis keeps returning to these days. The larger, existential considerations one has as both a human and an artist. Ping-ponging between the past and present, we discuss the insanity of fame as a teenager, actress Karen Black's enduring influence, the passing of her father and how music (both her own and others) changed her life.

Dr. Ashish Jha is the Director of Harvard Global Health Institute and a Professor at Harvard T. H. Chan school of public health. If you've turned on your TV over the past few days, you've likely seen him discussing COVID-19. Today he joins us to talk about how the coronavirus spread; the necessity for social distancing; elderly discrimination; what we can learn from the Spanish Flu of 1918; and plenty advice on how to best keep you and your family safe in this critical moment.“We’ve got a common enemy and we are going to fight and we are going to win”, he says. To learn more about Dr. Jha and his work, visit our site www.talkeasypod.com.

Actor Sam Waterston doesn't do many of these. In fact, this is his first podcast. To mark the special occasion the stage and screen performer reflects on his 60-year career, from his days at Yale in Waiting for Godot to breaking into Hollywood with the The Great Gatsby. But what most fascinates Waterston is reflecting on his life behind the camera, off-stage, as a husband and father. For years Waterston was reluctant to publicly give voice to his thoughts. Now that he's approaching 80, he's starting to feel different. “I just want to know what I think,” he says, “and I don’t know how much more time there is to find that out.”