Longform

Episode 511: Taffy Brodesser-Akner

Listen Later

Taffy Brodesser-Akner is a staff writer at the New York Times and the creator of the new Hulu television series Fleishman Is in Trouble, based on her bestselling novel.

“I took the cast out to dinner … And the way they began talking to each other, which was very intimate, was like a punch in the stomach. Because I had always thought that I got people to open up to me [in celebrity profiles]. And I was like, Oh, no, I got them to answer questions differently than maybe they had before. … And that was a little devastating to me.”

Show notes:

  • @taffyakner
  • taffyakner.com
  •  Brodesser-Akner on Longform
  • 00:00 Brodesser-Akner on Longform Podcast (#126)
  • 00:00 Brodesser-Akner on Longform Podcast (#350)
  • 01:00 Brodesser-Akner's New York Times archive
  • 01:00 Brodesser-Akner's GQ archive
  • 01:00 Fleishman Is in Trouble (Hulu • 2022)
  • 01:00 Fleishman Is in Trouble (Random House • 2020)
  • 04:00 "Billy Bob Thornton on Bad Santa 2, Ungrateful Fans, and Why He Won't Direct Anymore" (GQ • Nov 2016)
  • 09:00 "Jimmy Buffett Does Not Live the Jimmy Buffett Lifestyle" (New York Times • Feb 2018)
  • 13:00 "The Gospel According to Marianne Williamson" (New York Times • Sep 2019)
  • 14:00 Erin Brockovich (2000)
  • 17:00 "This Tom Hanks Story Will Help You Feel Less Bad" (New York Times • Nov 2019)
  • 17:00 "What Happened to Val Kilmer? He’s Just Starting to Figure It Out." (New York Times • May 2020)
  • 23:00 Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
  • 23:00 Ruby Sparks (2012)
  • 24:00 "Christian Slater Isn't Mr. Robot, He's Mr. Nice Guy" (GQ • Aug 2016)
  • 27:00 "Water’s Edge" (GQ • Jul 2015)
  • 33:00 "CNN’s Jake Tapper Is the Realest Man in ‘Fake News’" (GQ • Apr 2017)
  • 41:00 "How Goop’s Haters Made Gwyneth Paltrow’s Company Worth $250 Million" (New York Times • Jul 2018)
  • 47:00 Sam Anderson on Longform Podcast

    • Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store
    LongformBy Longform
    • 4.6
    • 4.6
    • 4.6
    • 4.6
    • 4.6

    4.6

    1,742 ratings

    More shows like Longform

    View all
    Fresh Air by NPR

    Fresh Air

    38,494 Listeners

    The New Yorker Radio Hour by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

    The New Yorker Radio Hour

    6,779 Listeners

    The New Yorker: Fiction by The New Yorker

    The New Yorker: Fiction

    3,355 Listeners

    The Book Review by The New York Times

    The Book Review

    3,991 Listeners

    Otherppl with Brad Listi by Brad Listi

    Otherppl with Brad Listi

    527 Listeners

    Between The Covers : Conversations with Writers in Fiction, Nonfiction & Poetry by David Naimon, Tin House Books

    Between The Covers : Conversations with Writers in Fiction, Nonfiction & Poetry

    471 Listeners

    On the Media by WNYC Studios

    On the Media

    9,194 Listeners

    The Political Scene | The New Yorker by The New Yorker

    The Political Scene | The New Yorker

    4,045 Listeners

    The Gray Area with Sean Illing by Vox

    The Gray Area with Sean Illing

    10,727 Listeners

    The New Yorker: The Writer's Voice - New Fiction from The New Yorker by The New Yorker

    The New Yorker: The Writer's Voice - New Fiction from The New Yorker

    2,134 Listeners

    Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso by Higher Ground

    Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

    1,412 Listeners

    The Paris Review by The Paris Review

    The Paris Review

    794 Listeners

    City Arts & Lectures by City Arts & Lectures

    City Arts & Lectures

    394 Listeners

    The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

    The Ezra Klein Show

    15,835 Listeners

    Critics at Large | The New Yorker by The New Yorker

    Critics at Large | The New Yorker

    662 Listeners