Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso is a weekly series of intimate conversations with artists, authors, and politicians. Where people sound like people. Hosted by Sam Fragoso. New episodes every Sunday.

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso is a society podcast hosted by Higher Ground, with 557 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Higher Ground hosts Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso, a society show with 557 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

  In ‘The Good Place’ with D’Arcy Carden

  Aug 23, 20261h 19m

  From The Good Place and Barry to A League of Their Own and The Five-Star Weekend , D’Arcy Carden has become one of the most recognizable and beloved performers on television. We walk through her Bay Area upbringing (6:33), moving to New York to pursue acting (16:05), and finding her community in long-form improv at UCB (21:08). Then, she reflects on the day jobs that kept her afloat, including babysitting Bill Hader’s kids (24:53), watching friends around her begin to break through (29:54), and what kept her from submitting an application for SNL (35:08). On the back-half, Carden revisits The Good Place audition that changed her life (42:49), the pressure she felt each day on set (51:34), and an enduring piece of advice from her co-star Ted Danson (56:48). To close, we talk about the joy and heartbreak of A League of Their Own (58:37), her concerns about the future of Hollywood (1:01:50), and why, after reaching her wildest dreams, she hopes to keep acting forever (1:10:08). Subscribe to our ⁠YouTube channel⁠ . As always, our email: talkeasypod@gmail.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

  Novelist Colson Whitehead’s New York State of Mind

  Aug 16, 20261h 6m

  Novelist Colson Whitehead is one of only a handful of writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction twice—first for The Underground Railroad in 2017, and again for The Nickel Boys in 2020. He joins us on the heels of his latest novel, Cool Machine , the final installment of his acclaimed Harlem trilogy. We begin with his decision to close out the world of furniture dealer Ray Carney (3:00), why Whitehead felt compelled to keep returning to 125th and Morningside (7:30), and the artistic influences that shaped him as a teenager (14:15). Then, we walk through the personal scenes chronicled in Sag Harbor (15:15), the horror movies that eventually led to Zone One (17:38), and how his latest protagonist’s story unfolds alongside a New York City perpetually destroying and reinventing itself (21:48). On the back-half, Whitehead reflects on finding his voice as a young writer (31:30), why he “had no choice” but to write his debut novel, The Intuitionist (38:20), and teaching at Princeton alongside the late Toni Morrison (41:05). To close, we discuss the uncertain future of reading (44:55), the specter of AI (48:35), Zohran Mamdani’s first eight months as mayor (51:50), his love letter and elegy to the city after September 11 (55:00), and why, after more than a dozen books, writing still makes him feel a little more whole (1:03:00). Subscribe to our ⁠YouTube channel⁠ . As always, our email: talkeasypod@gmail.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

  The ‘Past Lives’ of Actor Greta Lee

  Aug 9, 20261h 13m

  What if it’s true that good things come to those who wait? For Greta Lee, the success of Past Lives came after twenty years of working and finding her way as an actor. Fittingly, her latest turn is in a film called Late Fame . We discuss the new project (4:12) and her larger-than-life character, inspired in part by artists like Isabella Rossellini, Marlene Dietrich, and Liza Minnelli (6:37). Then, Lee reflects on her upbringing as the daughter of Korean immigrants (12:20), translating for her parents at an early age (13:10), the sacrifices made by her doctor father and artist mother (16:05), and the high school experience that first made her question where she belonged (22:37). On the back-half, we walk through Lee’s lean years in New York (29:35), the restaurant job that kept her afloat (32:00), and the rejection and financial stress of trying to make a living as an actor (34:55). Then, we talk about how motherhood changed her relationship to identity and representation (41:12), before returning to the miracle of Past Lives (52:10)—from her first days on set to the film’s emotional Sundance premiere (57:20), her mother’s profound connection to the story (1:03:45), and what Greta has learned about finally owning her own story (1:08:20). Subscribe to our ⁠YouTube channel⁠ . As always, our email: talkeasypod@gmail.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

  Samin Nosrat (‘Salt Fat Acid Heat’) Cooks These ‘Good Things’ at Home

  Aug 2, 20261h 24m

  Nine years ago, cook and writer Samin Nosrat created a kitchen staple with Salt Fat Acid Heat : a New York Times bestseller that later became a hit Netflix series. Last fall, Nosrat returned with Good Things , a collection of personal recipes straight from her dining table. Today, we revisit that candid conversation, where we discussed the influences that shaped the book (8:30), the ephemerality (and pleasure) of produce (9:30), her complicated San Diego childhood growing up with Iranian parents (17:30), the high expectations placed before her (22:40), and how she eventually found her way to Chez Panisse in Berkeley (32:00). On the back-half, Samin talked about her salad days working in restaurants (46:00), grand openings and closings (42:30), the origins of Salt Fat Acid Heat (47:00), what The Bear gets right about cooking (1:00:25), and how she thinks about time (1:03:00) and ritual (1:07:40).  Original air date: September 7, 2025 Subscribe to our ⁠YouTube channel⁠ . This episode was recorded at Spotify Studios. As always, our email: talkeasypod@gmail.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

  Comedian Mary Beth Barone’s Brilliant ‘Galaxy Brain’

  Jul 26, 20261h 17m

  Two years ago Mary Beth Barone considered quitting stand-up comedy. Thankfully (for us) these were always “empty threats.” The kinds you make when you’re working and waiting for your break, or, in her case, a Netflix special.  She joins us this week on the precipice of her (excellent) streaming debut, “Galaxy Brain”, to talk about her intended audience in 2026 (5:32), the concept behind the special’s title (6:35), playing the algorithm (8:15), and the enduring influence of national treasure Lucille Ball (13:15). We also dive into her Connecticut upbringing (14:46), growing up on SNL in the ‘90s (15:15), her early, funny work (18:13), and the jokes jotted down in a gold Kate Spade notebook (26:27) before the first night she got on stage at an UCB open mic (27:08). On the back half, Mary Beth shares the decade in comedy that followed: finding her voice as a performer (28:42), the unexpected role Interstellar played in her path (30:24), being inspired by the web-to-TV pipeline of shows like “Insecure” and “Broad City” (32:58), her “Thought Provoking” material “too frank and graphic” for some publications (34:22), the “parasocial relationship” she has with her audience (38:25), and arc of “the female comedian” (42:08). We also talk auditioning for SNL alongside Caleb Hearon (46:14), trying to galvanize the hot community into participating in electoral politics (52:56), the newest season of the “Ride” podcast, buoyed by the Baronies, and co-hosted by Benito Skinner on Dear Media (54:40), the challenges of making work in the age of comment sections and subreddits (58:10), the publication of her candid, deeply moving Grub Street Diet diary (1:00:32), the ways in which 2025 “broke” her (1:04:00), how she’s putting the pieces back together slowly in 2026 (1:08:22), home movies (1:10:39), and a vision from her late Grandmother Barone that proved, rather improbably, prophetic (1:14:18). Subscribe to our ⁠YouTube channel⁠ . As always, our email: talkeasypod@gmail.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

  ListenShow Notes

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.