Permission to Speak
Permission to Speak
Permission to Speak is a fun and fiery romp through how we talk and what our voice says about us with Samara Bay, speech coach to the stars and public speaking adviser back when there was a public to speak in. Each week she interviews people who specialize in how we use our voice and people in the public eye who are USING it—what it took to find their voice, when it still wavers, the crap comments…Social links:
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How to Check Your Bias: Accents with Dr. Katherine Kinzler
Samara chats with the groundbreaking psychologist and author of the new book How You Say It: Why You Talk The Way You Do—and What It Says About You, about what Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s changing accent tells us about human nature, how Hugh Laurie betrayed us, and the accent YOU have. As Katherine says…
55:22Explicit
How to Rise with Former Rep. Katie Hill
Samara chats with the California congresswoman who resigned in November—about how to actually run for office, the politics of politics on Capitol Hill, and what it was like to weather a very public shaming—and how to write and deliver a speech in the midst of it. With lots of swearing and free-flow…
59:27Explicit
How to Make Dolly Parton Cry with Shima Oliaee
Samara chats with the award-winning reporter and producer of Dolly Parton’s America about ALL the delicious behind-the-scenes on the hit pod series with Jad Abumrad, plus finding her own voice on the mic, the superpower of being okay with being hated, and how to land a kickass money ask. Host: S…
1:04:37Explicit
Mailbag: Part 2
Samara and her pod producer Cat take listener questions on everything from vocal fry’s benefits – yes, benefits – to what we do if we think we’re too nasal, what we do if we can’t breathe because of anxiety (WHY WOULD WE HAVE ANXIETY), and how to stop apologizing for taking up time and space. H…
47:26Explicit
Mailbag: Part 1
Samara and her pod producer Cat take listener questions and talk big ideas—about how to stop people pleasing in a pandemic, how tiny choices we’ve made throughout our lives got us the voices we have now, what’s up with trying to convince others that we have authority, and a whole lot of Samara’s ow…
50:52Explicit
How to Inspire Hope with Ilyse Hogue
Samara chats with the president of NARAL Pro Choice America about what public speaking and leadership even mean (hello, AOC), how to find hope in a dystopia, and what it is to know our history—her new book tells the story of the politicization of abortion, and how WE can change the narrative. Hos…
49:22Explicit
How to Be Yourself with Ashley Nicole Black
Samara chats with the writer, comedian, and actress known for “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” and “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” about how to play and trust our instincts like we did when we were kids, who the gatekeepers of funny are, and why ideas are like toilet paper. Host: Samara Bay Executi…
1:00:14Explicit
How to Check Your Bias: Women’s Voices with Amanda Montell
Samara chats with the author of “Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language” about the subtle ways our speech differs from men’s, and why. This is a conversation about how we talk, how we get judged, how we judge others, and what needs to change (and doesn’t!) so we can show up …
58:12Explicit
How to Check Your Bias: Black Voices, with Dr. Anne Charity-Hudley
For this first pod in a special Permission to Speak series on “non-standard” English (ie. how you probably speak... ehem), Samara chats with the linguist and scholar about African American English: why Black kids internalize shame about how they sound from an early age, what “standard English” even…
52:38
How to Own the Room with Viv Groskop
Samara chats with the UK author, comedian, and pod icon who says “be your own version of what you think an adult should look like and sound like, and only you get to decide what that is.” They talk the Buddhism of speaking in public, surprising lessons everyone can take from standup and improv, an…
55:16Explicit