Today, we’re sweepin’ the clouds away and chatting with the amazing and lovely (and amazingly lovely) Sonia Manzano. You probably know her best as Maria from Sesame Street, where she was one of the most recognizable faces on the show for more than 40 years. Truly, Sonia Manzano formed an indelible part of several generations’ childhoods…which, if you think about, is remarkable. Not many people can claim to have left such a mark.

What you might not know, though, is that she’s also an accomplished writer. In addition to playing Maria, she was also a writer on Sesame Street and won an astonishing 15 Emmys for her work. She’s also written children’s picture books, a YA novel, and her revealing memoir, Becoming Maria. And earlier this year (2016), she was awarded with a Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award.

On this episode, we chat about how she got her start in acting, her early career on stage and moving to Sesame Street, her audition for the show (hint: which one of these things is not like the others?), making the jump to writing, how writing and acting each satisfy her creative impulses, the future of childhood literacy…and Trump. Of course we talk about Trump.

You can listen on iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, Pandora, or wherever you get your podcasts; you can follow the RSS feed; or you can listen right here!

• Sonia Manzano is on Twitter here.
• Jamie is on Twitter and Instagram as @theroarbots.