Writer Jia Tolentino (The New Yorker) became a literary sensation in 2019 upon the release of her best-selling essay collection, Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion. She joins us this week to ring in 2025.

We start by discussing the erosion of privacy online (11:26), the potentially forthcoming TikTok ban (13:32), and how she circumvented self-surveillance technology in her Hidden Pregnancy Experiment for The New Yorker (15:28). Then, we unpack how data is monetized online (18:00), as depicted in an unsettling scene from Succession (21:50), the harmful effects of screen time on children (26:10), and her writerly upbringing in Houston (31:48).

On the back-half, Jia recounts a formative summer in Venice (41:55), her subsequent decade working at The Hairpin and Jezebel (50:43), the trad wife phenomenon (55:00), how she swings between pessimism and optimism (1:12:19), and why writing still retains the power to liberate (1:17:00).

Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at sf@talkeasypod.com.

Writer Jia Tolentino (The New Yorker) became a literary sensation in 2019 upon the release of her best-selling essay collection,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/567511/trick-mirror-by-jia-tolentino/">Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion</a>. She joins us this week to ring in 2025.
We start by discussing the erosion of privacy online (11:26), the potentially forthcoming TikTok ban (13:32), and how she circumvented self-surveillance technology in her <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/the-hidden-pregnancy-experiment">Hidden Pregnancy Experiment</a> for The New Yorker (15:28). Then, we unpack how data is monetized online (18:00), as depicted in an unsettling scene from Succession (21:50), the harmful effects of screen time on children (26:10), and her writerly upbringing in Houston (31:48).
On the back-half, Jia recounts a formative summer in Venice (41:55), her subsequent decade working at The Hairpin and Jezebel (50:43), the trad wife phenomenon (55:00), how she swings between pessimism and optimism (1:12:19), and why writing still retains the power to liberate (1:17:00).
Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:sf@talkeasypod.com">sf@talkeasypod.com</a>.

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso is a weekly series of intimate conversations with artists, activists, and politicians. Where people sound like people. Hosted by Sam Fragoso. New episodes every Sunday.

Where people sound like people, since 2016.

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