Secular Saint or Church Guitarist? (with George Saunders)

Author George Saunders joins Sam to talk about his new book Vigil and why people are so obsessed with turning him into a secular saint (and his childhood role of church guitarist). George explains that even though he’s not on social media he still finds ways to doom scroll, how the current governme…

Bea or Twila? (with Emilia Clarke)

Actress Emilia Clarke joins Sam to talk about her new show PONIES and how for the first time ever she was given the choice of which main character to be, Bea or Twila. They compare stories of traveling with hot plates, and the need to have “an evening” of making dinner and watching a cooking show e…

1929 or 2026? (with Andrew Ross Sorkin)

Financial journalist and author of the new book 1929, Andrew Ross Sorkin, joins Sam to talk about the parallels between 1929 and now and, and how while history does repeat itself, there are some comparisons that don’t work. Sam explains Soul Cycle vs. Peloton, they rehash the Gamestop frenzy, why t…

Moscow or ‘Merica? (with David Remnick)

The New Yorker editor David Remnick joins Sam to talk about if The New Yorker is the “slow food movement” of news and how today’s current events remind him of living in Moscow at the end of the Soviet Union. They talk about how the industry changed when Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post and why…

Carrots or Grapes? (with Emily Oster)

Economist and author Emily Oster joins Sam to ring in the New Year and talk about why so many people try to reset in January and if they believe in New Year’s resolutions. They unpack why some important people eat the same thing every day in order not to exert energy on unimportant decisions and wh…

Choices We Made: City or Country? (with Leslie Bibb)

Choices We Made: Actress Leslie Bibb joins Sam while Mercury is fully in retrograde and they quickly agree that their shoulders only fully relax when they’re in the country despite both living in the city.  They talk about being subject to the winds of planetary forces, not being gamblers (they bot…

Choices We Made: Magazine Makeup Artist or Cosmetics CEO? (with Bobbi Brown)

Bobbi Brown, Founder of Jones Road Beauty, joins Sam fresh off the plane from Paris to discuss her new book, Still Bobbi, and to explore her career trajectory from behind-the-scenes makeup artist to two-time cosmetic company CEO. Bobbi talks about how some of her most important choices were choosin…

Choices We Made: Bread Baskets or Bougie Butter? (with Tony Shalhoub)

Actor Tony Shalhoub joins Sam to discuss living out both their dreams while traveling the world eating bread for his new CNN show Breaking Bread. He talks about how bread is the “OG social media,” and while his bigger decisions have been pretty random, little decisions like ordering off a menu are …

Choices We Made: Wealthy or Wise? (with Michael Lewis)

Author Michael Lewis joins Sam to celebrate the 15th anniversary of The Big Short and talk about if we’ve learned any lessons since its publication—like why we so often conflate wealth and wisdom. They discuss why they don’t think anyone would actually prefer to go back 30 or 60 years if they had t…

Act or Direct? (with Michael Showalter)

Comedy legend turned director extraordinaire Michael Showalter joins Sam to talk about how he made this career shift and how he now realizes he hates acting. Michael tells Sam that he’d ultimately like to direct a film in every genre and he hopes horror is next. They talk about how they love travel…