“For all of the writers and podcasters at The Ringer, there is a kind of interpretive analysis experience that is like, come along for the ride as I help you better understand the thing that you love. I love it too. That’s our model. That’s what we do.”
-Sean Fennessey, episode 381 of Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso
We’re so back at the movies… with head of content at The Ringer and co-host of The Big Picture, Sean Fennessey!
At the top, Sam and Sean discuss Sean Wang’s Dìdi (8:52), the father-daughter story at the heart of M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap (15:52), and why the documentaries Brats (19:39) and Faye (22:35) make the perfect weekend watch.
Then, they talk about the real-life story behind A24’s Sing Sing (27:45), what Borderlands reveals about post-strike Hollywood (29:57), the anticipation building around Sean Baker’s triumphant upcoming feature Anora (32:13), Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night (33:17), Joshua Oppenheimer’s apocalyptic musical film The End (35:49), and James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown (37:17).
On the back-half, we dive into Sean’s childhood in Long Island (43:37), his early writing at Ithaca College (44:15), working at Complex Magazine in the mid-aughts (53:00), his pivot to Grantland (1:02:10), launching The Ringer (1:15:50), his on-mic personality on The Big Picture (1:11:50), the future of his podcast(s) (1:18:31), and why he remains optimistic about the film industry (1:27:09).
This conversation was recorded at Spotify Studios. Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at sf@talkeasypod.com.
Show-notes:
- Listen to The Big Picture on Spotify.
- Hear more shows on The Ringer Podcast Network.
- Follow Sean on Instagram, Twitter, and Letterboxd.
- For more talks, hear our conversations with Matt Belloni, Vinson Cunningham, Richard Linklater, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, and Dev Patel.
- Order your Talk Easy mug in cream and navy or our vinyl record with Fran Lebowitz.
Illustrations by Krishna Shenoi.
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