Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

Before Viola Davis (How to Get Away with Murder) became an EGOT-winning actor, she was an observer. Her work takes the human experience and transmutes it, offering a mirror and a window into ourselves.You can watch this conversation on YouTube.As we (gradually) move into 2026, we revisit our sit-down with Davis. We unpack her liberating projects in The Woman King (4:24) and G20 (4:50), the formative years she spent growing up in Rhode Island (13:52), and how she captured those familial memories in her 2022 memoir Finding Me (17:12). Then, we talk about Viola’s start as a performer (23:40), what she learned attending Juilliard (31:57), and the quagmire she faced as a Black actor emerging on Broadway and in Hollywood post-graduation (35:10).On the back-half, Davis reflects on a scene from August Wilson’s play Seven Guitars (37:50), her singular experience acting alongside Meryl Streep in Doubt (47:25), and the ways her life transformed during Shonda Rhymes’ How to Get Away with Murder and Steve McQueen’s Widows (53:00). To close, Viola shares her views on legacy (1:01:05) and how she finds her way back home, each and every day (1:05:20).Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected] air date: April 27, 2025See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We’re closing out 2025 with the person who made us laugh the most this year: comedian Robby Hoffman.[You can watch this conversation on YouTube.]At the top, we unpack the joys of her new Netflix special Wake Up (4:00), her views on Sunday football (9:00), and the state of masculinity (15:00). Then, Robby walks us through her Orthodox upbringing (19:00), leaving America for Canada (21:00), and how she started to find herself in high school (32:00).On the back-half, we talk her first night doing stand-up (39:00), some candid thoughts on her community (47:00), how she landed her break writing for The Chris Gethard Show (51:40), the conditions she fought to improve during the WGA strikes (53:00), a tribute to the late Rob Reiner (1:07:30), and the systemic change she wants to see in 2026 (1:10:00).Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected] Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For over thirty years, Kate Winslet has been one of the most beloved performers on screen.We discuss her directorial debut in Goodbye June (5:00), the loss that inspired this personal screenplay (10:00), and how her experiences in Hollywood shaped her approach to directing (20:00). Then, Winslet reflects on her vivid upbringing in Reading, England (23:00), landing her breakout role in Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures (30:00), and the encouragement of her artistic father (33:00).On the back-half, we walk through how she crafted her performance in Sense and Sensibility (35:00), her Titanic audition (38:00), the scrutiny she endured in the film’s aftermath (40:00), and the body of work she ultimately made as a refutation of the industry that tried to define her: namely, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (48:00) and Mare of Easttown (52:00).Watch this conversation on YouTube. Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected] Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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).Subscribe to our new YouTube channel. Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected] 50% off Monarch, the all-in-one financial tool at monarch.com with code TALKEASY.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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).Subscribe to our new YouTube channel. Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected] Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.