Small talk with Jessica St. Clair and Casey Wilson

20th September 2024

Earlier this year, Casey Wilson and Jessica St. Clair put together an audio book called The Art of Small Talk. Think of it as a guide on navigating through brief conversations with strangers. In the audio book, they discuss why small talk is important and how it brings us as human beings, living our lives, closer together. On this episode, Jessica and Casey will get into how to perfect the art of small talk. They’ll tell us what works for them and walk us through a few examples. They’ll even coach Jesse on how to best engage in small talk at the dog park.

Episode notes

(Photo: Daniel Speer)

A quick back and forth with the cashier at the grocery store. A friendly hello to someone on the elevator. A laugh with a taxi driver. These are all examples of “small talk.”

Some of us live for small talk. Others dread even the thought of it. For folks residing in either of those camps, and those who find themselves in between, actors Jessica St. Clair and Casey Wilson off their audio book The Art of Small Talk.  

Think of it as a guide on navigating through brief conversations with strangers. Not the creepy strangers you should avoid. But people you may meet in passing like a bank teller or food server. 

Jessica and Casey argue small talk is something to embrace, not avoid. That it brings us as human beings, living our lives, closer together.

On this episode, Jessica and Casey will get into how to perfect the art of small talk. They’ll tell us what works for them and walk us through a few examples. They’ll even coach Jesse on how to best engage in small talk at the dog park.

In this episode...

Senior Producer
Producer
Maximum Fun Producer
Maximum Fun Production Fellow
Video Editor

Guests

  • Jessica St. Clair
  • Casey Wilson

About the show

Bullseye is a celebration of the best of arts and culture in public radio form. Host Jesse Thorn sifts the wheat from the chaff to bring you in-depth interviews with the most revered and revolutionary minds in our culture.

Bullseye has been featured in Time, The New York Times, GQ and McSweeney’s, which called it “the kind of show people listen to in a more perfect world.” Since April 2013, the show has been distributed by NPR.

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Senior Producer

Producer

Maximum Fun Producer

Maximum Fun Production Fellow

Video Editor

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