34:I[58016,["/_next/static/chunks/a10b49cc1be72925.js","/_next/static/chunks/b5ea50e123aa84a6.js","/_next/static/chunks/48003610e91209eb.js","/_next/static/chunks/de880ec5a0241b38.js","/_next/static/chunks/81ce7bf5f20dbd5a.js","/_next/static/chunks/49260bad4a6c1c3e.js","/_next/static/chunks/53f751967ccc7d59.js","/_next/static/chunks/15a1b1fbd3cf7d4a.js","/_next/static/chunks/9d18ca3107644c0d.js","/_next/static/chunks/88bed98e5cd5e639.js","/_next/static/chunks/2a1278cba709ea3b.js"],"ProcessEpisodeButton"] 38:I[56939,["/_next/static/chunks/a10b49cc1be72925.js","/_next/static/chunks/b5ea50e123aa84a6.js","/_next/static/chunks/48003610e91209eb.js","/_next/static/chunks/de880ec5a0241b38.js","/_next/static/chunks/81ce7bf5f20dbd5a.js","/_next/static/chunks/49260bad4a6c1c3e.js","/_next/static/chunks/53f751967ccc7d59.js","/_next/static/chunks/15a1b1fbd3cf7d4a.js","/_next/static/chunks/9d18ca3107644c0d.js","/_next/static/chunks/88bed98e5cd5e639.js","/_next/static/chunks/2a1278cba709ea3b.js"],"EpisodeTranscript"] 2e:["$","div",null,{"className":"absolute inset-0 rounded-3xl ring-1 ring-inset ring-black/10 dark:ring-white/10"}] 35:T503,

Beloved playwright Annie Baker won the Pulitzer for Drama in 2014 for her play, The Flick. A decade later, she’s releasing her directorial debut, Janet Planet, through A24.

We begin by talking about her striking first feature (7:55): the Western Massachusetts origins of the project (11:00), the mother-daughter love story at its center (13:24), how Thomas Mann’s “The Magic Mountain” shaped Baker’s understanding of time (22:55), and why she’s routinely sidestepped the slippery-slope of “confessional” autobiography in her own work (30:30).

On the back-half, we discuss Annie’s early jobs in New York before she turned to the page and the classroom (40:00), the issues of class that continue to plague contemporary theater (45:00), a formative Rainer Maria Rilke poem as read by Sam (55:50), and whether she believes art “matters” in 2024 (1:00:18)

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How Playwright Annie Baker Made the Movie of the Summer

Powered by Wave AI