Lena Dunham is Never ‘Too Much’

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

Lemonada Media

Society & Culture, Film Interviews, Tv & Film

4.8 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 16 July 2025

⏱️ 78 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Writer/director Lena Dunham is the voice of my generation. Or at the very least, a voice of a generation. Her new show, Too Much, is now available to stream on Netflix.

We start by discussing her 2022 film Sharp Stick (6:20), the 1970s cinema that inspired it (9:50), and how it offers a “three-way mirror” to the female experience (12:41). Then, Lena reflects on meeting Judd Apatow on the heels of Tiny Furniture (15:39), her rapid ascension following Girls (17:39), the pain and power of grappling with OCD on the show (23:11), the genius of season five’s “The Panic in Central Park” (29:35), and how she’s continued to learn from public criticisms (35:27).

On the back-half, we sit with the end of Girls (43:59), the aftermath of that decade (49:57), the new creative path Lena had to forge (55:46), the prophetic presence of her father (1:00:27), the inspiration that is her mother (1:01:47), and the dreams she has for the years ahead—on the screen, and off (1:06:54).

Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Lemonada.
0:02.7	This is Talk Easy. I'm Sanfrogoso. Welcome to Talk Easy. I'm Sam Forgo, so. Welcome to the show.
0:41.9	Today, actor, writer, director, Lena Dunham.
0:48.1	For a majority of the 2010s, Dunham served as the creator and star of the hit HBO series,
0:55.2	Girls. The show has actually had a resurgence lately, as younger generations have begun to discover Dunham's singular talent, her ability to write funny, vulnerable, self-aware characters
1:01.3	trying desperately to find their way in the world.
1:05.1	But how do you follow up a decade-defining show like girls?
1:09.3	Well, for a time, Lena didn't try to. Instead, she moved
1:13.7	back to movies, writing and directing two films in 2022, Catherine called Birdie and Sharpstick.
1:20.8	And it was around Sharpstick that I sat with Lena on the podcast. Since then, she's returned to
1:25.8	television with her hit new program Too Much, a rom-com
1:30.0	Netflix series starring Meg Stalter and Will Sharp. In it, Stalter portrays Jessica, a heartbroken
1:37.1	New Yorker who takes a job in London, where she plans to live the rest of her life in solitude.
1:42.5	That is, until she meets Felix, a charming, unpredictable musician who, as you can guess,
1:50.4	sweeps her off her feet.
1:51.9	Here's a clip from the trailer.
1:55.4	Jess, something has shifted with you.
1:59.0	Ah!
1:59.7	Jess?
2:00.3	Hi, how are you? Josh, hi.
2:01.3	How are you?
2:02.5	Girl, are you good?
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 11 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Lemonada Media, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Lemonada Media and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.