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PODCAST

Choice Words with Samantha Bee

We make a lot of choices, every single day. Some explode, some implode, most we barely remember. Each week on Choice Words, Samantha Bee sits down with people she admires to examine the biggest choices they’ve made in their lives and the ripple effects those decisions have had. What’s a story a journalist took a chance on that changed history? A vote that a politician never should have cast? A song lyric a musician came up with in the shower that made them instantly famous? Sam’s made a lot of

comedy

All Episodes

52:31

Choices We Made: 1929 or 2026? (with Andrew Ross Sorkin)

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2026/03/19

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 the lottery is a “tax on the stupid,” and get rich quick schemes. They unpack what Venezuela means for the American economy, and Sam begs Andrew to make a period piece out of his new book

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57:07

Shamed or Shameless? (with Jennifer Welch)

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2026/03/12

Jennifer Welch, host of the podcast “I’ve Had It” joins Sam to talk about taking a midlife gap year in Manhattan and how the country is led by people with no shame, and you just can’t shame the shameless. They talk about how she navigates the daily shitstorm (by starting her day at 5am with four shots of espresso), staying on Twitter despite the Elon Musk factor, how growing up atheist in Oklahoma taught her how to dissociate from craziness around her, fellow Oklahoman

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54:51

Cookbook Author or Restaurant Chef? (with Padma Lakshmi)

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2026/03/05

Television host and cookbook author Padma Lakshmi joins Sam to talk about her new show, America’s Culinary Cup and how she’s a triple threat on it serving as creator, executive producer, and host. She reveals if she brought anyone from Top Chef with her, why it is important to set the contestants up for success, and why we crave shows where we can witness expertise. Padma talks about ten years of working with the ACLU, why her book is the antidote to Stephen Miller, and what it will take

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57:14

Real Wife or TV Wife? (with Sarah Chalke)

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2026/02/26

Actress Sarah Chalke joins Sam and they revel in having both been married to Jason Jones—Sam in real life and Sarah on How I Met Your Mother (which people still yell at her in airports for). They have a quintessentially Canadian interview swapping stories of current border angst, going to the US just to go to Trader Joes, playing in a mom’s hockey league and why there isn’t actually enough hockey in Heated Rivalry for real Canadians. They talk about how decision making is not her

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55:23

Controlled Burns or Fires of the Future? (with Jacob...

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2026/02/19

Reporter and author Jacob Soboroff joins Sam to talk about his new book Firestorm: The Great Los Angeles Fires and America's New Age of Disaster and the debate between the native communities’ historic practice of controlled burns and the alternative of worsening fires year after year. Jacob talks about how covering the fires was actually the last thing he wanted to do but sometimes you just have to go with the assignment. He talks about seeing his childhood home burn down and not processing

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47:36

TV or Radio? (with Christa Miller)

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2026/02/12

Actor Christa Miller joins Sam to talk about the new season of Shrinking and her other role where she serves as music supervisor. Christa talks about how she loves giving new artists their big break on TV and how TV really is the new radio. They talk about the never-ending seasons of 90s sitcoms, choosing spending time with her kids over certain jobs and why it’s always risky to turn something down. She talks about her real life therapist being the inspiration for Shrinking and how she used to

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59:34

Secular Saint or Church Guitarist? (with George...

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2026/02/05

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 government could have learned empathy if they bothered to read a few books, and how he found inspiration for Vigil without sounding too preachy. They talk about the importance of “vomit drafts”

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45:42

Bea or Twila? (with Emilia Clarke)

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2026/01/29

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 even if they get home late. They talk about reading cookbooks like novels, the correct amount of newspapers to get every weekend (four), sliding into Alison Roman’s DMs, the never-ending

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52:37

1929 or 2026? (with Andrew Ross Sorkin)

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2026/01/22

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 the lottery is a “tax on the stupid,” and get rich quick schemes. They unpack what Venezuela means for the American economy, and Sam begs Andrew to make a period piece out of his new book

en-US

52:56

Moscow or ‘Merica? (with David Remnick)

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2026/01/15

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 his ownership is different in the second Trump administration than in the first, and how David is currently being sued by the president. They discuss how you can’t say the quiet

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55:12

Carrots or Grapes? (with Emily Oster)

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2026/01/08

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 why Emily has the same thing for breakfast and lunch every day (but gets to alternate between carrots and grapes). They talk about structured decision making, contentious co-sleeping with kids, and why

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50:52

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

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2026/01/01

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 both abide by a strict “only 20 dollars at a time” rule) because they’ve worked too hard for their money, and their shared hatred of wasting stuff including chicken carcasses. Leslie

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44:41

Choices We Made: Magazine Makeup Artist or Cosmetics...

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2025/12/25

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 choosing men—both her husband, who she knew within weeks was “the one” and Leonard Lauder, who she decided to sell her eponymous makeup brand to when it wasn’t even for sale. They talk

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49:56

Choices We Made: Bread Baskets or Bougie Butter?...

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2025/12/18

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 easy for him—as long as he lets the menu speak to him. Sam tells Tony about how important his film Big Night is to her family, and Tony explains that he’s not a born foodie like

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65:48

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

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2025/12/13

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 the choice, why cutting interest rates mean house prices will go up, and why Michael wouldn’t bet against Bitcoin but Sam refuses to take most financial risks. They talk about the

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51:50

Act or Direct? (with Michael Showalter)

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2025/12/11

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 traveling at this time of year to see how other countries celebrate Christmas, and why it’s better than staying home. Michael talks about fanning out when actors he loves are in his movies, how he

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57:10

Outraged or Engaged? (with Patton Oswalt)

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2025/12/04

Actor and comedian Patton Oswalt joins Sam to catch up where they left off during the first Trump administration and how they simply can’t believe we’re doing round two of this shit. They discuss how there’s money in outrage and how it drives engagement, and how news channels take advantage of your cortisol levels to keep you engaged with constant alerts of BREAKING NEWS. Patton explains why he no longer interacts with people on X but still can’t leave his followers behind,

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51:52

Choices We Made: Mother or Father? (with Atsuko...

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2025/12/02

Comedian Atsuko Okatsuka joins Sam to talk about her new special “Father” and why in her relationship she is “father” and her husband is “mother.” They talk about recalibrating your goals once you’ve reached them–like when Atsuko fulfilled her only childhood goal of working at an ice cream parlor. They discuss Atsuko being unknowingly undocumented as a child after her grandmother brought her to Los Angeles, and why they both prefer the company of

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50:52

City or Country? (with Leslie Bibb)

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2025/11/20

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 both abide by a strict “only 20 dollars at a time” rule) because they’ve worked too hard for their money, and their shared hatred of wasting stuff including chicken carcasses. Leslie talks about how

en-US

56:56

Choices We Made: Caretaker or Comedian? (with...

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2025/11/15

Comedian Cristela Alonzo joins Sam to talk about her new Netflix special Upper Classy, and how before her career took off she made the life-changing decision to leave LA to become her mom’s full-time end of life caretaker. She explains that she started standup as a way of dealing with the grief of losing her mom, and how she didn’t even know it could be a real job before then. Cristela talks about how when you grow up below the poverty line you learn that part of privilege is having the

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245 results

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