About this podcast
From Turner Classic Movies and HBO Max, Talking Pictures is a podcast about movies, memories, and all the life that happens in between. Join host Ben Mankiewicz as he sits down with some of Hollywood’s most influential actors and filmmakers to discuss the movies that inspired them, touched them, and made them laugh. They swap stories, jokes, surprising moments, and endless movie recommendations then watch some of those very same films on the streaming service HBO Max.
Episodes
- Ron Howard · 1 h 7 minOscar-winning director Ron Howard tells host Ben Mankiewicz that he feared being “branded” a supernatural comedy director following the success of “Splash” and “Cocoon.” After…
- Tony Goldwyn · 1 h 3 minActor-Director Tony Goldwyn talks with host Ben Mankiewicz about breaking into Hollywood where his family roots run deep and the Goldwyn name looms large. Tony looks back on the…
- Hiro Murai · 58 minDirector/Producer Hiro Murai whose new show is Apple TV’s “Widow’s Bay,” joins host Ben Mankiewicz. They discuss why he and Donald Glover collaborate so well and how their…
- Sally Field · 1 h 7 minOscar-winning actress Sally Field gets real with Ben Mankiewicz. Drawing on her memoir In Pieces, she discusses her fraught relationship with ex-boyfriend/Smokey and the Bandit…
- Susan Sarandon · 1 h 3 minOscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon joins Ben Mankiewicz to share unvarnished stories of a life in films– from making Rocky Horror Picture Show, Bull Durham, Witches of…
- Rosie Perez · 1 h 2 minOscar-nominated actress Rosie Perez sits down with host Ben Mankiewicz to discuss the films that shaped her career—Do the Right Thing and Fearless—as well as early favorites like…
- Patton Oswalt · 1 h 2 minComedian and actor Patton Oswalt joins host Ben Mankiewicz for a live taping of Talking Pictures recorded at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on the eve of the 2026 TCM Classic Film…
- Edgar Wright · 60 minTalking Pictures is back with ardent movie fan and beloved filmmaker Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead and The Running Man). He talks with host Ben Mankiewicz about living in…
- Coming Soon: Talking Pictures · 1 minSeason three of Talking Pictures is back, with a brand new lineup of guests celebrating the movies they love, this time on video. Host Ben Mankiewicz invites some of the most…
- Joachim Trier · 55 minOscar-nominated writer/director Joachim Trier (Sentimental Value) talks with Host Ben Mankiewicz about how being raised in a filmmaking family shaped his worldview and his…
- Chloé Zhao · 1 h 2 minOscar-nominated writer/director Chloé Zhao (Hamnet) reveals why she has dance parties on set and what happened when a Los Angeles high school teacher took her under his wing…
- Bonus Episode: Eli Roth · 1 h 5 minIn this bonus episode of Talking Pictures recorded live at the TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood, host Ben Mankiewicz chats with director and actor Eli Roth. They discuss…
- Paul Scheer · 58 minOne of the godfathers of movie podcasts, Paul Scheer launched How Did This Get Made? fifteen years ago. His love of movies started as a kid on Long Island working at a…
- Pamela Adlon · 57 minPamela Adlon landed her first movie role when she was sixteen, and then twenty years later, she won an Emmy... for playing a teenage boy. Her thirteen seasons as Bobby Hill on…
- Charles Barkley · 1 h 1 minNBA legend Charles Barkley became addicted to movies as a rookie, when he'd sneak into theaters to escape the limelight for a couple of hours. By the time he changed careers from…
- Paul Feig · 57 minFrom Bridesmaids to Spy to The Heat, Paul Feig has become Hollywood's go-to guy for raunchy, big-budget comedies about women. But his directing career only took off after his…
- Henry Winkler · 1 h 0 minHost Ben Mankiewicz begins the new year by talking to the nicest man in Hollywood, actor Henry Winkler. Winkler admits it was almost impossible to find work after his 10-year run…
- Jane Lynch · 54 minEmmy-winner Jane Lynch is known for bringing her razor-sharp comic edge to movies like Best in Show and TV shows like Glee. But her biggest break came in a famous commercial for……
- Jason Reitman · 1 h 1 minThis week, writer/director Jason Reitman (Saturday Night, Juno, Up in the Air) joins host Ben Mankiewicz to talk about growing up on a movie set, his brief stint writing for…
- Carol Burnett · 58 minCarol Burnett’s life has always spun around the movies. She tells Ben Mankiewicz about her childhood spent in Hollywood movie theaters, the famous actor who helped her break into…
- Margot Robbie · 1 h 1 minThe fearless Margot Robbie goes in-depth with Ben Mankiewicz about how her early days as an Australian soap star prepared her to go toe-to-toe with Leonardo DiCaprio. Now, after…
- Bridget Everett · 56 minComedian, actor, and cabaret performer Bridget Everett and new fan Ben Mankiewicz chat about her Peabody Award-winning HBO show Somebody Somewhere as well as her outrageously fun…
- Bill Murray · 1 h 3 minSeason two of Talking Pictures is here! Bill Murray doesn’t do a lot of podcasts, but he was game to talk movies with host Ben Mankiewicz. They dive into his comedies (Stripes…
- Coming Soon: Season 2 Talking Pictures · 3 minTalking Pictures is back for its second season, filled with new guests and new stories about how movies shape us, change us – and make us laugh. This season, host Ben Mankiewicz…
- Bonus Episode: Mario Cantone · 1 h 2 minIn a special bonus episode of Talking Pictures recorded live at the Turner Classic Movies Film Festival in Hollywood, host Ben Mankiewicz interviews actor, comedian, and classic…
- Bill Hader · 59 minDirector, actor, Saturday Night Live veteran, and cinephile Bill Hader joins host Ben Mankiewicz to talk about his heroes (Stanley Kubrick, Joel and Ethan Coen), about writing…
- Patty Jenkins · 1 h 1 minHost Ben Mankiewicz visits with director Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman, Monster) and her mother (!!) to talk superheroes, female serial killers, and gets her take on being a female…
- Errol Morris · 55 minLegendary documentarian and filmmaker Errol Morris (The Thin Blue Line, The Fog of War, The Pigeon Tunnel) and host Ben Mankiewicz have a charged conversation about interviewing…
- Damien Chazelle · 57 minDirector Damien Chazelle ( La La Land, First Man) describes his childhood as a budding filmmaker inspired by Walt Disney, his path to getting his first film made (Whiplash), and…
- Alexander Payne · 1 h 0 minDirector Alexander Payne (Election, Sideways, About Schmidt) talks about the inspiration for his new film The Holdovers, what it’s like working with actors Paul Giamatti and…
- Mel Brooks · 38 minHost Ben Mankiewicz hangs out with his friend, 97-year-old legend Mel Brooks (The Producers, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein) in this often hilarious and sometimes poignant…
- Cord Jefferson · 1 h 0 minWriter director Cord Jefferson (American Fiction) and host Ben Mankiewicz talk life transitions, bravery, and family for this in-depth conversation. Jefferson charts his path…
- Emerald Fennell · 52 minWriter-director Emerald Fennell has made two of the most talked about movies in recent years: Saltburn and Promising Young Woman. Fennell tells host Ben Mankiewicz why she makes…
- Steven Soderbergh · 1 h 0 minThis episode of Talking Pictures is special for host Ben Mankiewicz, whose favorite film of all time is Out of Sight, directed by Steven Soderbergh. Ben sits down with Soderbergh…
- Nancy Meyers · 50 minOur first guest on Talking Pictures is writer director Nancy Meyers (Something’s Gotta Give, It’s Complicated, The Holiday). Recorded at her home, host Ben Mankiewicz talks with…
- Coming Soon: Talking Pictures · 2 minFrom TCM and MAX, this is Talking Pictures: A Movie Memories Podcast, hosted by Ben Mankiewicz. We all remember the first movie to really scare us, or the movie a parent loved…
