The Treatment

Mary Beth Barone has been carving out her comedic persona for more than a decade. A seasoned stand up, she also co-hosts the comedy podcast Ride with Benito Skinner, and is featured in the Prime Video comedy Overcompensating, which Skinner created and stars in. Her newest comedy triumph is the Netflix special Galaxy Brain. Barone tells The Treatment why she enjoys bringing the audience into her stand up, how her punchlines are often in the middle of the joke, and whether her delivery is actually deadpan.

Writer, director, and actor Mario Van Peebles is perhaps best known for his 1991 breakthrough film 'New Jack City,' which he directed and starred in. Since then he has frequently been on both sides of the camera, which has taken him all over the world. For his treat, he explains why travel has been life changing for him and what it has taught him about humanity.

For historian and professor Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor, wrestling with language is part of her job. However, she admits she was left speechless the day a student in one of her classes used the N-word. That moment was the impetus for her new book 'Something We Said: Richard Pryor, a Notorious Word, and Me.'



Stordeur Pryor is the daughter of the late comedian, who often used the word in his comedy. The book is an examination of her complicated relationship to the word and to her father. Stordeur Pryor talks to Elvis about what her father was like off stage, how the N-word led to a rift between her father and her white mother, and how she feels now about that day in class.

Jordan Peele’s films tackle uncomfortable truths about race in this country through humor, horror and many homages to classic films. Peele won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 2017 for his hit directorial debut, 'Get Out.' For his treat, he talks about the film whose technical wizardry and problematic take on race inspired his 2022 film 'Nope.'

Actress Mariska Hargitay has played Captain Olivia Benson on 'Law & Order: SVU' for more than two decades keeping audiences rapt with her ability to balance her character’s vulnerability and strength through wrenching situations.

Her latest project, 'My Mom Jayne,' put her in the director’s chair for the first time as she delved into the complicated and tragically short life of her mother Jayne Mansfield. The documentary is nominated for three Emmys and Hargitay will host the awards show in September, a first for her.

Hargitay tells Elvis that making the film was a cathartic experience for her. Plus, she shares her hope that people see themselves and their families in her story, and insists that forgiveness is the only way forward.

Note: This episode originally aired on June 27, 2025