Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

Christopher Abbott is one of the finest actors of his generation. He joins us this week from the Winter Garden Theatre, where he plays Biff Loman in the latest Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman opposite Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf.
Fresh off nine Tony nominations, we sit with Abbott to unpack is volatile and vulnerable portrayal of Biff (3:00), the renewed relevance of Arthur Miller’s critique of the American dream (6:00), and how he produces his intense performance, eight shows a week (8:30). Then, we walk through his upbringing in Greenwich, Connecticut (16:00), the working-class roots that shaped his approach to acting (25:00), and why he kept walking toward the stage (27:00).
On the back-half, we discuss Abbott’s lean years auditioning in New York City (32:00), his breakthrough role in Girls (42:19), creating work in the mold of John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands (46:00), his journey to parenthood with Aubrey Plaza (1:02:00), and his lasting transformations in the films James White (1:05:00) and On the Count of Three (1:07:00). To close, we talk about his return to Girls in “The Panic in Central Park” (1:08:35), finding a home in the theater with Danny and the Deep Blue Sea (1:18:00) and now Death of a Salesman (1:20:40), and naturally, the New York Knicks (1:24:30).
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Emmy-nominated writer and stand-up Josh Johnson is making comedy that’s timely and timeless.
On the heels of his new HBO special Symphony, we begin with his creative process of shaping new material week after week, balancing life on the road with writing and hosting duties at The Daily Show (0:46). Then, we talk to Josh about the issues of today: Trump’s 1.8 Billion Slush Fund (4:26), pandemic fears (8:18), AI in commencement speeches (9:34), and “nonviolence as a psyop” (16:27).
On the back-half, Josh describes how he transitions between writing topical and evergreen jokes (23:12), the comedic inspiration that came from his Catholic school years (29:00), and finding his way into performing while working at Trader Joe’s (39:30). To close, we unpack the final week of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (42:27), the role of therapy in Johnson’s 2023 special Up Here Killing Myself (46:00), and what he hopes to create in the next five years (56:20).
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Michelle Obama is the former First Lady of the United States, a bestselling author of books like Becoming and The Look, the co-founder of Higher Ground, and now, a host alongside her older brother Craig Robinson on their hit podcast, IMO.
We start today’s episode in the present: her pivot to podcasting, her version of doomscrolling, and why she believes these times are “janky.” Then, she shares vivid memories of growing up on the South Side of Chicago, the work ethic modeled by her father, the ambition that propelled her from Whitney Young High School to Princeton University and later Harvard Law, and how she learned to question authority early as a “young, outspoken student.”
On the back-half, we walk through the first lunch she shared with her future husband, the period of adjustment that followed Barack’s bid for the Presidency, the complicated dynamics of life inside (and outside) the White House, her freighted final speech as First Lady, the enduring influence of her late mother, the beloved Marian Robinson, working for future generations, and how her hard-fought belief in the American people has never faltered.
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Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Seinfeld, Veep) is a national treasure with more primetime Emmys than any performer in the history of television. Then there’s her latest decade in film: two collaborations with Nicole Holofcener (Enough Said and You Hurt My Feelings) along with a devastating turn in the heart-rending fairytale from A24, Tuesday. Her range is unparalleled, including in the role of host on her excellent, award-winning podcast, Wiser Than Me.
This Mother’s Day, we revisit our conversation live from the Aspen Ideas Festival, where we discussed her early performances in the basement of her childhood home (15:45), a formative high school yearbook quote (16:45), landing at SNL in the 1980s (22:06) with Larry David (24:56), the legacy of Seinfeld (28:42), and where she stands on the issue of “political correctness in comedy” (31:54).
On the back-half, a celebration of her uproarious turn as Selina Meyer on Veep (36:47), a life-changing diagnosis on the heels of her historic Emmy win (40:00), and the support she received from showrunner David Mandel (42:52) and President Biden (46:23). To close, words of wisdom from Jane Fonda (52:14) and the poem “Explanation” by Julia’s father, the late Gérard Louis-Dreyfus (54:00).
Original air date: July 14, 2024
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For the better part of two decades, Emmy and Oscar-winning actor Riz Ahmed has moved seamlessly between worlds: indies, blockbusters, prestige TV, writing, rapping.
We discuss the long road to his new TV series Bait (3:45), what the character of James Bond symbolizes (6:00), and how the show connects to his own 80s upbringing in Wembley, England (18:40). Then, Riz describes how code-switching (inadvertently) led to acting (22:00), the childhood films he first made in his mind (26:25), the piece of advice from Idris Elba that changed his course (38:30), and how he broke out in Hollywood starring opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler (40:50).
On the back-half, Riz talks performing on stage with classmate (now Zeteo journalist) Mehdi Hasan (44:20), a frenetic audition for Slumdog Millionaire (45:28), nightmares from The Night Of (49:25), his upcoming project opposite Tom Cruise (53:45), the Swet Shop Boys’ hit song “Half Moghul Half Mowgli” (1:00:45), how life imitated art while shooting Relay (1:09:05), and the challenge—and freedom—of representing himself, anew, in Bait (1:13:20).
Clips from Bait courtesy of Prime Video. Subscribe to our new YouTube channel.
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