Michelle Obama is the former First Lady of the United States, a bestselling author of books like Becoming and The Look, the co-founder of Higher Ground, and now, a host alongside her older brother Craig Robinson on their hit podcast, IMO.

We start today’s episode in the present: her pivot to podcasting, her version of doomscrolling, and why she believes these times are “janky.” Then, she shares vivid memories of growing up on the South Side of Chicago, the work ethic modeled by her father, the ambition that propelled her from Whitney Young High School to Princeton University and later Harvard Law, and how she learned to question authority early as a “young, outspoken student.”

On the back-half, we walk through the first lunch she shared with her future husband, the period of adjustment that followed Barack’s bid for the Presidency, the complicated dynamics of life inside (and outside) the White House, her freighted final speech as First Lady, the enduring influence of her late mother, the beloved Marian Robinson, working for future generations, and how her hard-fought belief in the American people has never faltered.

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Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Seinfeld, Veep) is a national treasure with more primetime Emmys than any performer in the history of television. Then there’s her latest decade in film: two collaborations with Nicole Holofcener (Enough Said and You Hurt My Feelings) along with a devastating turn in the heart-rending fairytale from A24, Tuesday. Her range is unparalleled, including in the role of host on her excellent, award-winning podcast, Wiser Than Me.

This Mother’s Day, we revisit our conversation live from the Aspen Ideas Festival, where we discussed her early performances in the basement of her childhood home (15:45), a formative high school yearbook quote (16:45), landing at SNL in the 1980s (22:06) with Larry David (24:56), the legacy of Seinfeld (28:42), and where she stands on the issue of “political correctness in comedy” (31:54).

On the back-half, a celebration of her uproarious turn as Selina Meyer on Veep (36:47), a life-changing diagnosis on the heels of her historic Emmy win (40:00), and the support she received from showrunner David Mandel (42:52) and President Biden (46:23). To close, words of wisdom from Jane Fonda (52:14) and the poem “Explanation” by Julia’s father, the late Gérard Louis-Dreyfus (54:00).

Original air date: July 14, 2024

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For the better part of two decades, Emmy and Oscar-winning actor Riz Ahmed has moved seamlessly between worlds: indies, blockbusters, prestige TV, writing, rapping.

We discuss the long road to his new TV series Bait (3:45), what the character of James Bond symbolizes (6:00), and how the show connects to his own 80s upbringing in Wembley, England (18:40). Then, Riz describes how code-switching (inadvertently) led to acting (22:00), the childhood films he first made in his mind (26:25), the piece of advice from Idris Elba that changed his course (38:30), and how he broke out in Hollywood starring opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler (40:50).

On the back-half, Riz talks performing on stage with classmate (now Zeteo journalist) Mehdi Hasan (44:20), a frenetic audition for Slumdog Millionaire (45:28), nightmares from The Night Of (49:25), his upcoming project opposite Tom Cruise (53:45), the Swet Shop Boys’ hit song “Half Moghul Half Mowgli” (1:00:45), how life imitated art while shooting Relay (1:09:05), and the challenge—and freedom—of representing himself, anew, in Bait (1:13:20).

Clips from Bait courtesy of Prime Video. Subscribe to our new YouTube channel.

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Since the arrival of Beef in 2023, showrunner and creator Lee Sung Jin has been hailed as “the preeminent social satirist” working in television.

The Emmy-winning writer/director joins us around the anthology’s return (3:10) to discuss the source material behind this latest season (4:30), the rise of scammers (12:00), and the distinctions between Korean and American elites (18:00). Then, we move through Lee’s nomadic childhood (28:45), his years as an NBC page (38:28), and a decade of working inside writers’ rooms for shows like It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Silicon Valley (43:45).

On the back-half, he speaks candidly about his battles with depression (53:00), the PowerPoint that lead to Beef landing at Netflix (1:01:00), the pains of perfectionism (1:03:30), what the next generation of writers can do to break into television (1:07:30), the day director Bong Joon Ho visited his set (1:22:20), and why Lee feels he’s just getting started (1:24:38).

Clips from Beef courtesy of Netflix. Subscribe to our new YouTube channel.

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On the heels of Beef S2, we're revisiting a favorite of ours with actor Oscar Isaac.

We begin with his 2023 Broadway debut in The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window (5:10), the play's timeless writing (6:55), and the legacy of the great Lorraine Hansberry (11:27). Then, Isaac reflects on growing up in the early ‘80s (12:47), his punk-rock salad days in high school (18:05) and then Juilliard (27:45), and the inspiration behind his breakout role in Inside Llewyn Davis (30:54).

On the back-half, we discuss grieving through Hamlet (36:54), a guiding piece of poetry from Jeremy Strong (39:49), the pre-show ritual he continues today (41:09), a formative Bible passage (45:57), and how he embraces the present moment (50:57).

Original air date: June 11, 2023

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Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened. On the heels of CR month coming to a close on The Rewatchables, we’re joined this week by The Ringer’s beloved editorial director, Chris Ryan.

He’s been hailed as the Shohei Ohtani of podcasting, the basketball bard of Bob & Barbara's bar, the face of The Ringer, the Joe Rogan of the left, and perhaps most aptly, by Bill Simmons himself, “the Prince of Philadelphia.”

We begin with a roundup of today’s television, featuring The Pitt (6:38), DTF St. Louis (9:45), The Madison (11:25), and more (12:30). Then, we get into Chris’ Philly upbringing (14:22), the influence of his film critic father, the late Desmond Ryan (22:50), and what first inspired him to become a writer (34:53).

On the back-half, Ryan reflects on the “Meet Me in the Bathroom” era of New York City (41:45), finding his voice through his blog Gabe Said “We’re Into Movements” (44:40), the halcyon days of Grantland (55:30), his legendary impressions (58:50), and what he wants for the next chapter, on and off the mic (1:21:20).

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To mark the beginning of Talk Easy’s 10-year anniversary, Sam called up Terry Gross.

Watch this episode on YouTube.

Then, we turn to their conversation from Philadelphia last fall. They discuss Terry’s half century hosting Fresh Air (8:00), early memories of writing (13:00), and her improbable road to public radio (29:38). Terry walks us through the formative years of Fresh Air (33:37) and its seminal conversations with Kurt Vonnegut (40:21), John Updike (46:30), Monica Lewinsky (49:30), Joan Didion (1:00:55), and more.

On the back-half, Gross reflects on forty-seven years of partnership with her late husband, jazz writer Francis Davis (1:03:24), their shared affinity for reading and music (1:05:57), the future of public media (1:19:16), and why she continues to have faith in (and love for) the long-form interview (1:31:35).

Original air date: September 14, 2025

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 “I got calls from people inside of some of the AI labs,” says technology ethicist Tristan Harris. “And it felt like getting a call from Robert Oppenheimer before the atomic bomb.”

Harris (a former Google insider and AI expert) has spent more than a decade sounding the alarm about the effects of technology on our wellbeing. He’s currently the co-founder of Center for Humane Technology, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to align technology with humanity’s best interests.

He joins us this week to discuss his new film, The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist (6:30), how AI has developed over the past ten years (10:12), and why the most powerful figures in tech are preparing for doomsday scenarios (13:15). Then, we unpack why the AI arms race is being driven by the wrong incentives (15:45), the ‘balance sheet of benefits’ that shapes their thinking about AGI (24:30), and the unsettling lack of control they exercise over their own nascent systems (33:55).

On the back-half, we talk about Chat GPT’s role in the devastating death of teenager Adam Raine (40:30) [content warning], Tristan’s early ethical concerns about technology as a Stanford graduate working at Google (48:34), and the rewiring he attempted as part of the widely-seen 2020 documentary The Social Dilemma (53:00). To close, Harris outlines his tech safety practices to protect our future on the planet (1:08:05), top leaders’ prognostications of (p)doom at the hands of AI (1:10:43), and, as a counter, the ‘human movement’ that he believes can lead us to a narrow path toward a better future (1:17:30).

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