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Higher Ground

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.

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

Gwyneth Paltrow, now and forever, reigns supreme.

Watch this conversation on YouTube.

We discuss her return to acting in Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme (7:45), the personal parallels that shaped her portrayal of 1930s movie star Kay Stone (8:00), and memories of her early years at the Williamstown Theatre Festival (12:14). Then, Paltrow reflects on the “fast-moving train” that followed her breakout roles in Se7en, Hard Eight, and Emma (30:05), the sexism she encountered in Hollywood (32:35), and how her sense of self shifted after winning the Academy Award for Shakespeare in Love at just twenty-six (35:00).

On the back-half, we revisit the making of The Royal Tenenbaums (41:40), her decision to step away from acting to build Goop (49:30), why she continues to advocate for wellness practices today (57:30), and what she imagines the next chapter of her life and work might hold (1:00:18).

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

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The Return of Gwyneth Paltrow (‘Marty Supreme’)

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 talkeasypod@gmail.com.

Original air date: April 27, 2025

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Viola Davis: What If We’re Enough?

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 mail@talkeasypod.com.

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Is Comedian Robby Hoffman the Last American Dream?

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 mail@talkeasypod.com.

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Kate Winslet Is Home for the Holidays

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 mail@talkeasypod.com.

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The New Yorker at 100 (with David Remnick)

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 mail@talkeasypod.com.

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Renate Reinsve Delivers the Performance of the Year in ‘Sentimental Value’

Following the success of The Worst Person in the World, writer-director Joachim Trier returns this fall with a candid family story in Sentimental Value.

We begin with the guiding words from writer Philip Roth (7:20), how Trier arrived at this intimate new film (8:40), and why he was drawn to father-daughter dynamics (his own, and others) in making this new project (10:00). Then, we talk about Joachim’s early observations growing up in Norway (25:00), why he prefers to be present with performers on set, rather than watching from a far-off monitor (32:00), and how he parlayed skating into his early work as a filmmaker (35:00).

On the back-half, Trier reflects on meeting longtime collaborator, screenwriter and director Eskil Vogt (37:00), the essayistic qualities of his sophomore film, Oslo, August 31st (40:00), and how that style fully solidified in Louder Than Bombs and The Worst Person in the World (42:00). To close, we revisit a recurring monologue in Sentimental Value (48:00), his last day on set with actor Renate Reinsve (50:00), and how director Martin Scorsese has inspired Trier to continue ‘stirring the sauce’ (56:00).

Subscribe to our new YouTube channel. Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at mail@talkeasypod.com.

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Filmmaker Joachim Trier’s ‘Sentimental’ Family Affair

Filmmaker Noah Baumbach has spent the past three decades transmuting his experiences into cinema, culminating in his latest film, Jay Kelly, his love letter to movies (and the memories they evoke).
 
We begin with the “quiet crisis” Baumbach found himself in on the heels of releasing White Noise (5:30), finding his way back to the page, with co-writer Emily Mortimer, to create Jay Kelly for George Clooney (10:20), the films that defined his early years (15:00), and the week that Mike Nichols’ production of Heartburn took over his Park Slope childhood home (22:45). Then, we walk through his early, funny work in Kicking and Screaming (29:00) and Mr. Jealousy (30:45), how art imitated life in The Squid and the Whale (32:00), and the start of his lasting collaboration with Greta Gerwig in Greenberg (43:00).
 
On the back-half, Baumbach talks about his love of working with actors (45:30), setting the stage for the infamous Marriage Story fight scene (47:00), his process of writing personal stories (51:30), and how his subconscious seems to always be one step ahead of him (52:00). To close, the influence of Noah’s Hollywood mentor, the late Peter Bogdanovich (58:45) and a prescient essay from Baumbach’s mother, former film critic of The Village Voice, Georgia Brown (1:05:00).
 
Subscribe to our new YouTube channel. Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at mail@talkeasypod.com.
 
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The Noah Baumbach Retrospective

For your Thanksgiving inspiration: a favorite episode from Wiser Than Me, where Julia sits down with legendary cook and author Ina Garten.
 
Over the course of her 76 years, Ina has lived a few lives: she worked on nuclear policy at the White House, ran the beloved food store Barefoot Contessa, and went on to write best-selling cookbooks and host her own hit TV shows. But what’s always defined her isn’t just the food—it’s the way she brings people together around it. In this conversation, Ina reflects on how aging has reshaped her taste, the art of simplicity, and what she’s learned about handling those quietly difficult, passive-aggressive types we all know too well.
 
To hear more episode of Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, follow wherever you get your podcasts or head to: https://lemonada.lnk.to/wiserthanmefd

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For the Holidays, Ina Garten (Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus)

This week, cook and writer Alison Roman published her fourth cookbook, Something from Nothing—a collection of over one hundred simple, timeless recipes inspired by the items you may already have in your pantry.

On the heels of its release, we return to our conversation with the culinary force. We discuss her dessert cookbook Sweet Enough (4:55), her early years as a restaurant pastry chef (12:24), and the chaotic conditions of working in the service industry (14:50). Then, Roman describes working at the experimental bakery Milk Bar in New York City (18:09), hosting cooking videos at Bon Appétit (22:40), and eventually working as a food columnist at The New York Times (25:18).

On the back-half, we walk through the criticism she faced in 2020 (32:20), the subsequent fallout from her remarks (38:52), the personal newsletter that emerged (47:12), the connective power of cooking (55:08), the time capsule of writing (58:30), and what she hopes for in the years to come (1:01:45).

Original air date: April 23, 2023.

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

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Cook Alison Roman Creates ‘Something from Nothing’

As we begin the new year, we turn to writer George Saunders. He first joined us upon the release of his latest book, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain. He’s recently launched a new newsletter called "Story Club", available on Substack. 

This week we’re revisiting our talk with Saunders, discussing the power of Chekhov and Tobias Wolff (8:52), regarding literature as a “fondness for life” (12:30), his summer with Steinbeck (15:00), deconstructing the (male) mythology of Hemingway (26:45), and how starting a young family changed his course (35:00).

On the back-half, we talk craft and process (39:00), his conversations with the late David Foster Wallace (42:15), and his aim to entertain any kind of reader (44:39). To close: George reads an excerpt from his New Yorker short story, “Love Letter” (49:02).

 
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Sunday on the Podcast with George Saunders

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