To commemorate the release of her new, deeply personal Netflix special ‘PostMortem,’ we revisit our conversation with Sarah Silverman.

At the top, we reflect on loss (7:16), her HBO special Sarah Silverman: Someone You Love (12:35), and coming of age in the ‘80s (18:42). Then, Silverman talks about her early comedic influences (25:35), her path from SNL to Los Angeles (32:30), and the mentorship of Garry Shandling (35:10).

On the back-half, we walk through the evolution of her provocative work, from The Sarah Silverman Program (38:42) to I Love You, America (46:52), the connective tissue of The Sarah Silverman Podcast (49:12), and the legacy of her beloved, late father (51:57).

Original air date: June 18, 2023.

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Earlier this month, writer Percival Everett was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for James, his subversive and singular reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

At the top, we discuss the philosophical problem that led to James (5:50), what repeated readings of Twain’s classic unlocked in Percival (7:56), the influence of his father’s sense of humor (16:20), how he arrived at writing growing up in South Carolina (19:40), and his relationship to the publishing industry, as depicted in Erasure and later the Oscar-winning film American Fiction (21:59).

On the back-half, we talk about teaching in the digital age (32:26), why Everett still assigns Blazing Saddles to his students (34:22), the “bad neighborhood” of his own mind (46:08), and what he’s chasing—or trying to excavate—each time he sits down to write (47:04).

This conversation was recorded live in Los Angeles in partnership with the Aspen Society.

If you’d like to come to our next live show, it will be Saturday, June 14th at the Tribeca Audio Festival in NYC with actor Sam Rockwell. Tickets here!

Thoughts, future guest ideas, or your favorite one-liner from this talk with Percival? Comment below or email us at mail@talkeasypod.com.

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Thirty years. Over 850 episodes. Nine Peabodys. One Pulitzer. And yet somehow, three decades in, This American Life (and its co-founder, Ira Glass) remains as innovative and timely as ever.

We begin with a week in the life of Ira: a typical Monday at This American Life (5:00), the rigorous notes process (7:00), and how the team selects the stories it wants to tell that Sunday (12:00). Then, we unpack Trump’s ongoing threats to slash government funding for public media (15:00), Glass’ formative days as a teenage intern at NPR (20:00), and the radio mentors who shaped his ideas around narrative (30:00).

On the back-half, we discuss how his taste and talent eventually converged (42:00), what makes a good interview (45:00), the guest he most identifies with (1:02:00), the episode he’s most proud of (1:10:00), how he thinks about legacy (1:15:00) and, naturally, the future of This American Life (1:20:00).

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