Debora Cahn came up with the idea for “The Diplomat” after interviewing an ambassador. At the time, she was working on “Homeland,” where the production team spent time interviewing experts in various fields to help create the show.

“She came to talk about the work she did in Pakistan,” Cahn said. “And two minutes into the conversation, I wrote ‘she’s a series.’

The series became Netflix’s “The Diplomat,” starring Keri Russell as Kate Wyler, the newly appointed U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom, who is selected from the ranks of career diplomats to deal with an international crisis. The show premiered on the streaming service in April 2023, and a second season will premiere on Thursday — and a third season already green.

“Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal spoke with Cahn about creating the show, his workplace culture and real-life State Department reactions. The following is a transcript of their conversation.

Kai Ryssdal: You’ve been in television for a while. “The West Wing,” “Homeland,” a bunch of stuff, but this is your first gig as a boss. And I want to know what it’s like to be the boss on a high-profile show.

Deborah Cahn: So a lot of people create their first show when they’re a little earlier in their career. I waited a long time, partly because I was based in LA, then I moved to New York, and at that point, the idea of ​​working long distance, if you weren’t in LA, couldn’t be in business. So I put aside my ambitions as a show runner for about a decade, but I watched very closely what these wonderful people I was working with were doing and I knew they were meeting, all the pitfalls and how to avoid mistakes and then every mistake. I was so convinced that I had taught myself how to avoid them.

Ryssdal: The buck pretty much stops with you, right? I mean, you can make all the decisions.

Cahn: Yes. Yes, it’s fun. I must say it’s a good job. I like it.

Ryssdal: Isn’t it terrifying?

Cahn: It’s terrifying. But there is a certain moment when I remember that I actually know more about this show than most people do. I always panic going into interviews because I’m like, what if I don’t have anything to say about the show? And then I realized that I am, in fact, the world expert on the television program “The Diplomat”. So, you know, it finally works.

Ryssdal: We were talking about this interview and, you know, how we could make it a “Market” interview, right? We always try to find a “Market” angle.

Cahn: You know, I was wondering that.

Ryssdal: Well, so here it is, I’m glad you asked. We’ve decided that this is actually a workplace drama, and we’re a show about, among many things, the workplace. So while you sat down to kind of – well, actually, you probably didn’t sit down and come up with this thing out of whole cloth. What was the process by which you arrived at the knot graphic, at the idea of ​​this show?

Cahn: There were a bunch of features that contributed. When I left “The West Wing,” I was like, well, I want to do this, but with the whole world. And then when we were working on Homeland, this ambassador came to talk to us. We interviewed a lot of experts in many different fields, and she came to talk about the work she did in Pakistan. And two minutes into the conversation, I wrote—I still have it in my notebook—I wrote, “She’s a series.” The stories she told, as I talked to more people in that field, weren’t all that unusual. And I thought, how the hell does nobody know what these people are doing?

Ryssdal: Can we talk about Keri Russell for a minute?

Cahn: Oh yes.

Ryssdal: So look, I said this before we started tape, I’m a huge fan of the show. I like it very much. Keri is great and Rufus Sewell and David Gyasi and the whole cast and I want to get to her chemistry in a second. But did you write this with Keri in mind?

Cahn: Not.

Ryssdal: Oh, interesting.

Cahn: I don’t have And then someone brought up Keri when we were starting to talk about casting, and I told her she’s an amazing actress. I love her work, but she is so strong and statuesque. She’s Elizabeth on the Americans, so in control. I write an itchy, trembling, neurotic kind of (person) and I just haven’t seen it. And the manager I was working with said, just have a conversation. See how it goes. We go on Zoom. In 30 seconds. I was like, oh my God, she’s Kate. She’s so down to earth and relaxed in her own body and laughs at herself every second and it’s relatable. And I was like, oh my God, she’s Kate.

Ryssdal: And then as you got to casting the rest of this team, one of the reasons why this show works for me, anyway, and I think probably for a lot of people, and probably for a lot of shows, actually, is that the chemistry between the actors and characters is so good. how do you do that Is it just random casting? Should I interview the casting director instead of you?

Cahn: Probable. (Her name is) Julie Schubert, an incredible casting director. You know, some of it is just luck. Carrie and Rufus took an instant liking to each other. And the thing we were cast for was team players. Honestly, I’m very aware that whatever happens on the show, it should be a nice place to work for everyone. And certain… OK, so if we’re talking about jobs, certain ecosystems evolve that are built around a single CEO or creator or leader, where there’s a lot of dysfunction that revolves around supporting that person’s process. And I think the work you get out of a group is so much better if everyone realizes that everyone there is a human being with creativity to contribute and a family at home, and that we’re lucky to do that. That energy, I think, creates a certain lightness and play and ease in the interaction of the entire cast.

Ryssdal: i was in the Navy. I was in flight school, actually, when “Top Gun” came out, and of course the whole vibe when “Top Gun” came out was, “Oh, naval aviation, it’s the coolest thing ever.” I was in the foreign service, as you may or may not know, many years ago.

Cahn: I didn’t know that. what did you do

Ryssdal: I have been overseas and to the embassies in Ottawa and Beijing. Ottawa, a wonderful place, not very far. Beijing, obviously, quite far.

Cahn: And what was your role?

Ryssdal: Oh, I was stamping visas and doing mundane things. I was a brand new NCO. Nothing interesting.

Cahn: Oh, that’s exciting.

Ryssdal: Well, life was cool. What was the State Department’s reaction to you?

Cahn: They were really happy. I think they were horrified when they first heard about us as they should be and we wanted to be as loyal as possible to the substance of the work that we do and the intention behind it. Someone recently said it’s not realistic, but authentic, and I think that’s the right way to describe the goal. And, you know, we’ve had people come up to us and say, “Wow, my family now, like my parents, understand what I’m doing now,” and that’s what we want.