I’m on the Ezra Klein Show

Even he wants to start a recurring gathering and is puzzling through how to do it

Note: We recorded this episode in mid-December. They’ve been holding our conversation because of all the national and global events of the past month. Very happy to share it with you now.

This past November, I received an email with the subject line: “Podcast!” It had the words “Ezra Klein” in it, and I figured it was my mom forwarding me a podcast episode she liked. It took me a second to clock that the email was from Ezra Klein himself.

He likes to start the new year with a few episodes themed around his own personal resolutions, he explained, and in 2026, he wanted to host more gatherings and “be a better host generally.” Would I like to come on his show to talk to him about gatherings?

Ummmm. Yes. Yes, I would.

We recorded the conversation in December, and it went live this morning. It’s now up and you can listen to it here.

• If you have an NYT subscription, you can watch or listen to our conversation on the NYT site here.

• It’s available on all podcast feeds without a paywall for the next week. You can listen on Spotify here and on Apple here.

• And if you want to watch the interview, you can do so on YouTube this morning at 11am ET. No subscription required.

I prepared for my interview with Ezra Klein by listening to a lot of interviews with Ezra Klein. A friend sent me his favorite episodes of the show to loosen me up. I paid attention to how Ezra opens his conversations, how he moves between topics, where he pushes, when and how he changes the subject, and the nature of his connection with each guest. I knew I wanted to move gathering beyond New Year’s resolution territory, and persuade him and his listeners (hi Mom 👋🏽) that our topic is central to the most serious questions on his show: democracy, authoritarianism, civic life, identity, power, the role of the individual and the collective in society.

Walking into the New York Times building never gets old.

I took the elevator up to the audio floor and was led into the recording studio. I chatted with the producers about a great blazer one of them was wearing, drank some water, and took a few deep breaths to calm myself, be present, and not miss the moment.

As I took my seat and stared at the large black puffy headphones in front of me, the boom mic, multiple massive cameras to the left, the two-way glass on my right, and the table between us, I realized I was entering a uniquely modern ritual: the podcast interview. And it was my turn to play the role of guest, enter into this verbal and intellectual dance, and trust my host and his producers to, well, host.

A whopping two and a half hours later, I had been Ezra’d. I brought my work and my ideas to someone who had prepared himself to first get my work, and then push me into new territories.

My favorite part of getting to sit at Ezra’s table was watching him formulate live his subsequent question for me, making split-second decisions on where he wanted to go next. A few times I was almost scared (if I’m being honest) of the questions he was landing upon. They were profound, sweeping, specific, and funny. He asked me pointed questions I hadn’t been asked before. It was a dynamic, beautiful conversation where, at moments, it felt like we were sort of flying together. I wasn’t always sure what my own answer would be, nor whether, frankly, it would be wise to answer it at all. He got me to think aloud and speak as I would at an open, buzzing, relaxed, closed-door dinner party where you get to try things out and take intellectual risks — except that it was absolutely being recorded. And we both knew that.

We talked about the limits of therapy culture, my grandmother, my formation as a facilitator, the difference between first-generation immigrant literature and second, how Zohran threw the better party and won, the secret of long-term groups, Martin Buber, the Christian notion of forgiveness versus the Jewish notion of repair, ancient Greek hospitality and social codes, why it’s so hard to hang out these days, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, and yes, how he could start a weekly Seder. (We spoke for more than two hours, and I don’t know what they edited out.) Threaded through our conversation was a theme at the center of both of our work: the tension, confusion, and trade-offs between the “I” and the “We” – and how to navigate it in modern life.

And, if you make it to the end of our conversation, you will also hear me preview a very thrilling piece of news. I get to share the full announcement with you all in T-minus 22 days so please circle Feb 24 on your calendar. 😉

I hope you enjoy. And I hope Ezra Klein’s personal resolution becomes America’s resolution: to gather, to meet others, to host people, and to not wait till everything is perfect to do so. In fact, very much the opposite.

You can now listen here if you have a NYT subscription or here on Spotify or here on Apple.

As always,

Priya

P.S. Tomorrow, Wednesday, Feb 4 at 12pm ET, I’ll be leading a Zoom webinar on The Art of Civic Gathering for GROUP LIFERS. How can we use civic tools wherever we are to respond to this crucial moment in our democracy? And a special surprise guest will be joining us to share how she has been gathering with her neighbors every Sunday for the past year to Give a Damn. If you’re not already a GROUP LIFER, you can sign up here. If you are a GROUP LIFER, RSVP here. We’ll send GROUP LIFERS the Zoom link tomorrow morning. At noon, click on the Zoom link and you’re in.

P.P.S. I will be going live on Substack with Bryan Doerries, the founder and facilitator of Theater of War Productions, this Thursday, Feb 5 at 12pm ET. In a rare public interview, Doerries will join me in breaking down how he uses ancient Greek texts to process modern tragedy in community. Doerries is a group life genius, a very hard worker, and endlessly listening and curious to the world around him. Look out Thursday morning for more on that. RSVP here. Free and open to all. This conversation is part of my new BREAKDOWN series. To join, make sure you’re signed up for GROUP LIFE — you’ll receive an email when we go live with a link to watch. If you don’t receive the link, you can head to GROUP LIFE and the video will be playing on my page.