“With writing or any bit of art-making, it’s coming from the you that’s in the moment, but it’s inadvertently for the you that you don’t know yet. That is what I try to do with Talk Easy. The big difference between the show now and the beginning is that there’s much more of me in it today.”
-Sam Fragoso, episode 383 of Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso
To commemorate his 30th birthday, Abbi Jacobson interviews Sam!
They talk about Sam’s early days in journalism (8:00), his Almost Famous-like experience as a teenage film critic (10:30), making Talk Easy and how the show evolved post-pandemic (13:15), and the email from the late Roger Ebert that changed his life (22:30).
On the back-end, they discuss Abbi’s annual birthday prompts (28:00), why Sam’s episode with filmmaker Werner Herzog has stayed with her (31:57), and how he approaches asking hard questions on Talk Easy (36:43). To close, a passage from Sam’s debut episode with Don Cheadle (45:28) and a philosophy captured in his short film Sebastian (53:20).
Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at sf@talkeasypod.com.
Show-notes:
- Listen to Abbi and Sam’s first conversation on Talk Easy.
- Watch Sam’s short film Sebastian, and find more of his directing work here.
- Explore the full catalogue of eight years of episodes.
- Follow Sam on Instagram and Twitter.
- Order your Talk Easy mug in cream and navy or our vinyl record with Fran Lebowitz.
Illustrations by Krishna Shenoi. Reference photograph by Julius Chiu.
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