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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

44:41

Magazine Makeup Artist or Cosmetics CEO? (with Bobbi...

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2025/10/30

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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42:29

HHS or DOJ? (with Alex Wagner)

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2025/10/23

Journalist Alex Wagner, host of Runaway Country: a new podcast from Crooked Media, joins Sam to talk about how she can’t decide which department—HHS or DOJ—is the current worst offender. They talk about how journalism school isn’t preparing journalists for the way the news system currently works, and why the Pentagon press corp handed in its badges. They both reflect on the hundreds of travel pieces they’ve done and why it’s still important to talk to people at

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48:17

Choices We Made: Sourdo or Sourdoughn’t? (with Nancy...

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2025/10/18

Chef and restaurateur Nancy Silverton joins Sam to talk about being one of the first American chefs to bring sourdough to the masses. They talk about Nancy opening a new diner with longtime friend Phil Rosenthal and how to decide what gets to be on the menu (not yogurt, yes cottage cheese). They talk about how to run more than one restaurant at a time, and protecting her immigrant kitchen workers at her Los Angeles restaurants from ICE. They discuss earliest memories of dining at home, the cookie

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46:27

Introducing: Don’t Listen To Us with Mandy Patinkin...

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2025/10/16

We’re so excited to share a new show from Lemonada Media, Don’t Listen To Us, an advice show for advice-skeptics and wisdom-lovers, hosted by Mandy Patinkin, Kathryn Grody, and their son Gideon. Legendary actor Mandy (The Princess Bride, Homeland, Criminal Minds) is the consummate entertainer who shoots from the hip, stage actress Kathryn is the thoughtful connector who sees all the nuance, and Gideon is the brave soul keeping them on track (or at least trying). Together, Mandy and

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65:48

Wealthy or Wise? (with Michael Lewis)

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2025/10/09

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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45:47

Cash or Card? (with Stephanie Ruhle)

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2025/10/02

Host of The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle and former Wall Streeter Stephanie Ruhle, joins Sam to talk about why it’s important to teach your kids use cash if you care about financial literacy. They talk about trying to lower the political temperature and why sometimes going viral is the worst thing for us. Stephanie explains why she doesn’t let herself get tired or sloppy and needs to “keep it tight” in her reporting so no one can attack her and the importance of fact

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56:56

Caretaker or Comedian? (with Cristela Alonzo)

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2025/09/25

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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56:21

Weightlifter or Runner? (with Casey Johnston)

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2025/09/18

Casey Johnston, the author of Sam’s favorite new book A Physical Education, joins Sam to talk lifting and leaving diet culture. Casey explains why initially she—and many others—felt lifting wasn’t for women who wanted to be seen as attractive, and why people are afraid to question the status quo of health industries. Casey explains the importance of resting your muscles, the dangers of the manosphere, and why Don Jr. did the worst deadlift she’s ever seen. Sam explains

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40:12

Bystander or Upstander? (with Governor JB Pritzker)

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2025/09/11

Governor JB Pritzker of Illinois joins Sam to talk about what to do when the president declares war on one of your cities—totally normal stuff! The Governor explains why people need to finally decide if they’re going to be bystanders or upstanders and why he thinks people usually try to be upstanders. They talk about how President Trump talks a big game but also the federal government conveys nothing to the actual states they’re talking about, and why Illinois is always ready to go

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44:53

Actress or Animal Tracker? (with Martha Plimpton)

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2025/09/04

Actress Martha Plimpton joins Sam to talk about how she became a trained animal tracker in Africa, how she ended up living in the same apartment for 42 years, and at the risk of turning this into a total real estate podcast, Martha shares that for the first time in her entire life she won’t have a homebase in New York. She tells Sam about living in London and how people are less grossed out by menopausal women (and women in general) there, and why hot flashes were actually kind of fun for her

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47:16

A Bob or A Buzz? (with E. Jean Carroll)

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2025/08/28

Advice columnist extraordinaire and author of the new book Not My Type: One Woman vs a President, E. Jean Carroll joins Sam to talk about why she decided to write her book in secret even going to the length to edit it over Signal. Because Sam grew up reading E. Jean’s column, E. Jean also pauses to take credit for all of Sam’s success. They talk about the unwritten rules of jury trials like why you’re not allowed to entertain the jury with interesting stories and why E. Jean says

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43:40

Hopeful Pessimist or Doom and Gloom? (with Jen Statsky)

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2025/08/21

Writer, executive-producer, and co-creator of Hacks Jen Statsky joins Sam to discuss her particular brand of hopeful pessimism, and their shared obsession with Jean Smart, who she says is one of the greatest nappers of all time. Jen explains that she is decisive if it’s a decision that only involves herself, but as soon as she brings in other people, there’s a big problem. Which is why she’s fortunate to have two amazing co-showrunners of Hacks, because they make most of the

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36:04

Listen or Speak? (with Piper Perabo)

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2025/08/14

Actress and activist Piper Perabo joins Sam to talk about the importance of listening to those who need help before speaking out on their behalf. Piper schools Sam on all the choices voters do actually have before 2028 (hello midterms!) and is the first guest to ever tell Sam that she is better at making decisions in the morning. Piper explains that she’ll probably never run for office because then she wouldn’t be able to keep saying exactly what she wants when she wants to, and why she

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56:43

Edinbra or Edinburgh? (with Jena Friedman)

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2025/08/07

Comedian Jena Friedman welcomes Sam back from her summer hiatus and talks about what it was like to work together at The Daily Show. Jena talks about how the Ben and Jerry’s Flavor Graveyard taught her about mortality and how she similarly is a “great flavor that people don’t appreciate.” Sam hears about Jena’s new show, Motherfucker, which she’s now working on at Edinburgh (though they can’t quite get the pronunciation down) Fringe and why criticism is her

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66:20

Introducing: Ask Iliza Anything

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2025/07/31

This week, we’re introducing you to Ask Iliza Anything. Comedian Iliza Shlesinger delivers brutally honest, hilarious advice you didn’t know you needed—covering everything from nightmare coworkers and psychotic bridesmaids to genuinely heartfelt life advice. Iliza loves nothing more than giving incisive life advice to total strangers, sometimes with a celebrity guest in tow. It’s always entertaining. In this episode, Iliza advises on the aftermath of being scammed, early

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47:50

Choices We Made: Comedy or Fascism? (with Josh Gad)

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2025/07/24

Actor and fellow Daily Show alum Josh Gad joins Sam to talk about why it’s harder to do political satire now than in the early aughts (hint: it’s the fascism). They also talk about his new book, In Gad We Trust, lying to your therapist, experiencing imposter syndrome even after years of success, and why he tried to say no to the Book of Mormon. Plus they talk about why Trump impersonations are bad for comedy and hurt more than they help. Keep up with Samantha Bee @realsambee on Instagram

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51:45

Choices We Made: Attention Seeker or Attention Giver?...

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2025/07/17

MSNBC’s Chris Hayes joins Sam and drops the most intimate choice yet—the decision to kiss his now-wife for the first time! Chris talks about how he is perhaps *too* decisive, what the right level of fame is, how his life improved when he stopped reading his mentions and Donald Trump’s pathological and genuine need for attention. They talk about Chris’ new book The Sirens’ Call and why they agree Trump might actually be funny. Keep up with Samantha Bee @realsambee on

en-US

32:18

Listen Now: Good Things - How to Fight Back Through...

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2025/07/10

Good Things from Lemonada Media is a podcast about the good people in the world who are rolling up their sleeves and working hard to make things better. Each week, we'll be talking about this country's most complex and confounding issues in an effort to affect systemic change, with a rotating cast of incredible guests and Lemonada hosts. From the dire condition of the American foster care system to the decline of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives, protecting democracy, and more,

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50:42

Choices We Made: Scam or Sam? (with Weird Al Yankovic)

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2025/07/03

Weird Al Yankovic joins Samantha Bee to discuss their unique meet-cute, and how their interview came to be due to a scam gone right. Al tells Sam about how he’s actually happy with all the choices he’s made in life except (other than wishing he had bought Apple stock) and yet he agonizes over little decisions—especially when editing music videos. He reveals that the ultimate dig at him is when people say he’s talented enough to do “real music”, why record

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55:14

Retain or Repeal? (with Elie Mystal)

Choice Words with Samantha Bee ·

2025/06/26

Elie Mystal, author of Bad Law: Ten Popular Laws That Are Ruining America, joins Sam to unpack how America could choose just ten laws to get rid of, and how you actually go about repealing laws—spoiler, it’s actually pretty easy. They commiserate over watching Democrats squander power when they have it, and how at best they’re a part of wet blankets, and why it’s their obligation to continually shout about what’s happening so that people finally pay attention. They talk

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223 results

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