Last fall, Zadie Smith published her prescient historical novel The Fraud. We return to our conversation with the beloved author this week, on the heels of our latest sit-down with writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner.
At the top, Smith details her most recent book (7:48), her instinctive writing process (13:37), and the role of projection in her work (20:08). Then ... Show More
Jan 11
The Return of Gwyneth Paltrow (‘Marty Supreme’)
Gwyneth Paltrow, now and forever, reigns supreme.Watch this conversation on YouTube.We discuss her return to acting in Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme (7:45), the personal parallels that shaped her portrayal of 1930s movie star Kay Stone (8:00), and memories of her early years at the ... Show More
1h 8m
Nov 2024
Fashion Neurosis with Zadie Smith
Zadie Smith is a British novelist, essayist, and short story writer. She is the author of six novels and her first book White Teeth was completed during her final year at Cambridge University. Published in 2000, White Teeth became an instant international bestseller - winning num ... Show More
53m 10s
Jul 2025
Author and influencer Ghada AlMuhanna Abalkhail returns to discuss her latest book series and much more...
We're so back! And so is Ghada Almuhanna Abalkhail, the TWENTY30's cultural expert, who returns to the show to discuss her latest book series that explores the concept of the Saudi homeland through archival photographs. She shares insights and observations behind creating the boo ... Show More
1h 16m
Jan 2025
How Award-Winning TV Writer & Novelist Georgia Jeffries Writes
Award-winning TV writer/producer turned novelist Georgia Jeffries spoke with me about why Cagney and Lacey was her film school, teaching screenwriting at USC, and the ghosts, grief, and grievance in her debut novel THE YOUNGER GIRL. Georgia Jeffries is the Emmy-nominated TV write ... Show More
47m 48s
Apr 2025
Writer, Critic & Curator Hilton Als Looks For The Silences
As a longtime staff writer at The New Yorker, Hilton Als's essays and profiles of figures like Toni Morrison, Joan Didion, and Richard Pryor have redefined cultural criticism, blending autobiography with literary and social commentary. Als is also a curator. His latest gallery ex ... Show More
44m 10s
Jul 2023
Tara Isabella Burton, "Self-Made: Creating Our Identities from Da Vinci to the Kardashians" (PublicAffairs, 2023)
In a technologically-saturated era where nearly everything can be effortlessly and digitally reproduced, we're all hungry to carve out our own unique personalities, our own bespoke personae, to stand out and be seen.
As the forces of social media and capitalism collide, and indiv ... Show More
33m 30s
Mar 2021
Oana Aristide, Remembering Stevie Smith, and what is an NFT?
Novelist Oana Aristide discusses her debut novel Under the Blue, about a reclusive artist forced to abandon his home and follow two young sisters across a post-pandemic Europe in search of a safe place. It has been described as eco-fiction and it explores themes of environmental ... Show More
28m 23s
Aug 2025
#13 - Beyond Stereotypes: Najla Said on Art, Culture, and Legacy
In this episode of Tak on the Pod, Andrea sits down with the talented Najla Said, a Lebanese-Palestinian-American actor, playwright, and author whose powerful work in theatre and literature explores themes of identity, belonging, and the complexity of cultural narratives. Known f ... Show More
52m 2s
Jul 2025
Best Of: Actor Leslie Uggams / Martha's Vineyard's Indigenous Past & Present
Actor and singer Leslie Uggams talks about her remarkable career, which started when she was 6. She was later the first Black woman to host a TV variety show. In the 1977 TV miniseries Roots, she played Kunta Kinte's daughter. More recently she's been in Empire, American Fiction, ... Show More
48m 13s