Jena Friedman Is the ‘Hipster Nancy Grace’

The Last Laugh

The Daily Beast

Comedy Interviews, Comedy, Interviews, Tv & Film, Society & Culture, Tv, Movies, Film

4.6 • 661 Ratings

🗓️ 12 October 2021

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jena Friedman is a former ‘Daily Show’ field producer, an uncompromising stand-up comedian and, as of this past year, an Oscar-nominated screenwriter for ‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.’ Now, she’s taking on the true crime industrial complex as the host of ‘Indefensible’ on SundanceTV and AMC+. In this rare repeat appearance on the podcast, Friedman talks about exposing “crisis pregnancy centers” in ‘Borat,’ weighs in on “Missing White Woman Syndrome,” and shares her thoughts on the death of John McAfee, with whom she conducted the definitive interview for her previous show ‘Soft Focus.’

Follow Jena Friedman on Twitter @JenaFriedman and Instagram @jenafriedman

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Here's what I love about my guest on today's show.
0:04.0	She is never afraid to make her audience uncomfortable in the name of comedy.
0:09.7	I feel bad for the amount of true crime that I consume, but to be fair, women, we don't watch true crime.
0:15.3	Technically, we study it to make sure we don't end up on it.
0:23.5	And true crime is kind of feminist.
0:26.2	It's the only time the entertainment industry
0:28.3	will take a chance on an unknown female lead.
0:41.3	This is the Last Laugh.
0:47.8	I'm Matt Wilstein from The Daily Beast, and I am so thrilled to welcome Jenna Friedman back on the podcast today.
0:53.6	Jenna was one of our very first guests on this show all the way back in April of 2019 when she was promoting her adult
0:55.6	swim show Soft Focus, which remains one of my favorite things ever. And fun fact, hers was actually
1:02.1	the second interview we ever recorded after our premiere with Sarah Silverman. But back then,
1:07.9	Jenna was just a hilarious comedian, former Daily Show field producer, and
1:12.4	all-around delightful person.
1:14.4	Now, she's also an Oscar nominee.
1:17.4	Jenna was among the several writers nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay last year for the
1:22.6	Borat sequel.
1:23.7	So I was very eager to have her back on to talk about that project, including how this podcast made an unexpected impact on her very first day.
1:32.8	Now she's about to premiere her latest series, Indefensible, which combines her deep love of true crime with her true passion of making interview subjects squirm.
1:43.2	As expected, the show is fantastic. So let's get into it.
1:47.7	Here's me with Jenna Friedman. Well, welcome back on the show. I'm very excited to have you back on.
1:54.5	You were one of our, I was looking back, I think you were episode six of this podcast, and now
	...

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