Podcast Summary

The New Yorker Radio Hour

Episode: Noah Baumbach’s Unhappy Families
Air Date: November 21, 2017
Host: David Remnick
Guest: Noah Baumbach
Interviewer: Susan Morrison
Topic: The making of The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected), Baumbach's views on family, success, storytelling, and art, and how these themes are reflected in his filmmaking process.

Episode Overview

This episode explores Noah Baumbach’s film The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected), focusing on his enduring fascination with complex family dynamics, personal definitions of success, and the unique rhythms of family storytelling. Through an insightful conversation with The New Yorker’s Susan Morrison, Baumbach reflects on his creative process, his experiences with The New Yorker as a young man, and the personal influences that shape his work.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Baumbach’s History with The New Yorker

• Baumbach’s Messenger Days
  • During college, Baumbach worked as a messenger at The New Yorker, describing it as "the best job" (01:45).
  • Those years were filled with reading, downtime, trading stories, and being around distinguished writers—a formative exposure to storytelling and writing culture.
  • “We would read all the newspapers and we'd sit there and we'd all just talk. And there was a lot of downtime. So I would also, like, start trying to write things.” — Noah Baumbach (01:50)

2. The “Allergic to Success” Family Legacy

• Remnick draws a parallel between Baumbach's grandfather, Harold (an artist described as "allergic to success"), and Dustin Hoffman's character in the film, probing how the family’s struggles with differing benchmarks of success inspire the movie’s narrative (02:41).
• Baumbach delves into this, noting that success in the film is elusive and highly subjective, often set by unspoken family standards.
  • “Ways families kind of set the bar in a way, you know, either implicitly or explicitly, and leave it to us to sort of measure ourselves by these standards.” — Noah Baumbach (06:09)

Notable Quote

“All happy families are alike. Every unhappy family, in its own way, belongs in a Noah Baumbach movie.” — Anthony Lane, paraphrased by David Remnick (00:29)

3. Family Dynamics and the Nature of Storytelling

• In The Meyerowitz Stories, each family member clings to his or her own narrative, using repeated stories both as comfort and as self-justification.
• Baumbach reveals that he intentionally incorporated repeated storytelling and looping familial jokes to simulate the genuine, sometimes distorted way families recall and share history.
  • “I always saw those things...That was my direction to Dustin, in a lot of cases, was you're soothing yourself. You're going into a kind of rhythm. Rhythmic loop. That is very available to you.” — Noah Baumbach (07:41)
• The repetition of stories can both bring people together and serve to obscure or revise the truth (09:03).

4. Dialogue, Overlap, and Family Reality

• Baumbach’s script demands a rapid-fire, overlapping dialogue style, contrasting with traditional film convention and heightening the sense of realism.
  • “Another one of my directions is faster because I do find that the writing or my writing works better faster.” — Noah Baumbach (10:47)
• Though the dialogue feels natural, it is carefully constructed and must be delivered verbatim, without improvisation—even from actors famous for improvisational comedy, like Sandler and Stiller (12:04).
  • “It's a rhythm...if people start adding ums and you knows...it just sounds wrong to me. It throws the whole thing off.” — Noah Baumbach (12:21)

5. Performances: Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller

• Baumbach reflects on tailoring direction for Adam Sandler, encouraging him to blend his comedic sensibility with the vulnerability required for the role (13:17).
  • Sandler’s “warm, sensitive” nature was allowed to shine in a dramatic context, showcasing a range beyond his typical comedies.

6. Redemption Through Art: The Character of Eliza

• Among the Meyerowitz family, Eliza (Sandler’s character’s daughter) stands as a symbol of hope and creative freedom, unburdened by her family’s baggage.
  • Baumbach credits this to her father’s conscious effort to break the cycle of pain passed down in the family (15:32).
  • “She's just doing it and she's gonna keep doing it...she's not hampered by all this other Meyerowitz stuff.” — Noah Baumbach (15:47)

7. Film vs. Streaming: The Experience Debate

• Although the movie was produced for theatrical release, Baumbach acknowledges its simultaneous availability on Netflix, voicing a strong preference for the communal, immersive big-screen experience:
  • “There’s something about having an emotional experience with other people...vulnerable in a different way than you are sitting at home with your feet up and, you know, pausing it to go pour another glass of wine or whatever.” — Noah Baumbach (16:45)

8. The Humor in Dysfunction

• Remnick notes that, despite the film’s somber themes, it is “one of the funniest movies I’ve seen in a long, long time” (17:28), underscoring the warmth and wit that Baumbach imbues in tales of familial struggle.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Family Competition & Artistic Failure (03:59–05:02):

  • “You had to be the only artist in the family. And it doesn't matter that I make money because you don't respect what I do.” — Danny Meyerowitz (Adam Sandler’s character, quoted in discussion)

• On Storytelling as Self-Soothing (07:41):

  • "You're soothing yourself. You're going into a kind of rhythm...you have the words for it." — Noah Baumbach

• On Scripted vs. Improvised Dialogue (12:04):

  • “If people start adding things...it just sounds wrong to me. It throws the whole thing off.” — Noah Baumbach

• On Artistic Redemption (15:47):

  • “[Eliza’s] art making is not complicated for her. She's just doing it...she's not hampered by all this other Meyerowitz stuff.” — Noah Baumbach

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:29 — David Remnick introduces the film and premise, referencing Tolstoy and Anthony Lane.
• 01:30 — Baumbach’s experience as a messenger at The New Yorker.
• 02:41 — Discussion of Baumbach’s grandfather’s Times obituary and the concept of being “allergic to success.”
• 05:08–06:41 — Baumbach’s take on family-imposed measures of success and their impact.
• 07:32 — Exploration of familial storytelling as self-consolation and mythmaking.
• 10:40–12:04 — Approach to dialogue, overlapping speech, and rehearsal practices.
• 12:45–14:05 — Working with Adam Sandler and drawing out his dramatic strengths.
• 15:32 — The redemptive character of Eliza and the nurturing of a new family dynamic.
• 16:45 — Baumbach on the difference in experiencing the film in theaters versus at home.
• 17:28 — Remnick on the film’s underlying humor.

Tone and Language

• The conversation is thoughtful but relaxed, mixing anecdote and analysis with warmth and humor.
• Baumbach’s reflections are candid and self-effacing; Remnick is probing yet supportive.
• The family scenes from the film (quoted in the discussion) land with raw, overlapping, sometimes caustic energy.

For New Listeners: Why This Episode Matters

If you’ve never listened to this episode, it provides deep insight into the creative mind behind some of the most perceptive, darkly hilarious explorations of family on film. You’ll come away with a richer understanding of the origins and intent behind The Meyerowitz Stories, Noah Baumbach’s unique craftsmanship, and his continuing dialogue with art, tradition, and the ever-fraught business of being—or failing—as a family.