I'd Rather Be Reading

Continuing our Women in Power series for Women’s History Month, today I’m bringing you the absolutely fabulous Danielle Pergament, whose work as a contributing editor at Allure, as well as with The New York Times, Goop, Conde Nast Traveler, Women’s Wear Daily, and my new obsession, Air Mail, have been some of the best celebrity profiles and travel writing you’ll read. Here is but a sampling of the A-list women Danielle has interviewed and profiled: every Jennifer possible, first of all—Jennifer Lopez! Jennifer Garner! Jennifer Aniston!—Victoria Beckham, Charlize Theron, Kim Kardashian, Alicia Keys, Sharon Stone, Hillary Duff. I could go on and on. Halsey said, when being interviewed by Danielle, “This wasn’t an interview. This was a therapy session.” There is something very disarming and comfortable about Danielle, particularly her unbelievable ability to self-deprecate, which is a quality I absolutely love in people. As someone who has interviewed celebrities myself, though nowhere near as many or as well as Danielle has done it, I have to tell you that it is a art form, especially when you get to the A-listers among A-listers like Jennifer Aniston or Kim Kardashian, people who have been interviewed a bazillion times. It is difficult to get nuggets out of them that haven’t been told before—but Danielle can do it. Wait until she tells you how she was able to help Jennifer Aniston feel comfortable enough to open up about not having children, or with Charlize Theron, where she talked about aging in Hollywood. Danielle is a master at the celebrity profile; she is also a gifted travel writer and beauty writer. In the past, Danielle has served as Allure’s executive editor and editor at large, as well as editor-in-chief at Goop, and she has also been published at Marie Claire, which you know I have to shout out every time a guest has worked for my wonderful employer. I knew I appreciated Danielle as a writer; after this time with her, I couldn’t get enough of her as a person.   “Jennifer Aniston Has Nothing to Hide”   “Victoria Beckham Is in Control”   “The Griselda Creator’s Miami”   “The History of the Bob Haircut and Why It’s Trending Now”   “Charlize Theron Didn’t Get a Facelift, Thanks for Asking”   “Jennifer Garner: I’m Not Good at Being Fake”   My absolute obsession Air Mail, where Danielle writes frequently

Admittedly, I don’t read a ton of fiction, but one fictional character I deeply enjoy is that of Jordan Manning, born from the mind of Tamron Hall, one of my favorite journalists. Tamron dipped her toe into writing novels with the publication of her debut work of fiction, As the Wicked Watch, back in October 2021. Now, today, March 12, book two in the Jordan Manning series is out, and it’s a great sophomore effort: Watch Where They Hide, another delicious hit of crime fiction. By the way, Tamron addresses in our conversation whether there will be a third Jordan Manning book and…I’m just going to let her tell you. As our Women in Power series continues, Tamron is certainly among the most powerful women in journalism. Since September 2019, she has hosted her eponymous talk show, The Tamron Hall Show, to much success including two Daytime Emmy Awards. Prior to hosting her own talk show, Tamron was a national news correspondent for NBC News, a daytime anchor for MSNBC, host of the show MSNBC Live with Tamron Hall, and a co-host of the third hour of the Today Show. Tamron’s new book, Watch Where They Hide, touches on domestic violence—a subject that, through her sister, Tamron knows all too well, unfortunately. In 2004, Tamron’s sister Renate was murdered after experiencing domestic violence. Though police officers originally informed Tamron’s family of their belief that they knew who murdered Renate, that person was never charged, and the case remains unsolved today. Tamron has made domestic violence awareness and ending domestic violence a cornerstone of her life since, and domestic violence is a part of the story of Marla Hancock in Watch Where They Hide. In the book Marla, a stay-at-home mother, disappears not long after leaving her abusive husband and moving to Indiana with her sister, Shelly, who knows Marla would never leave without bringing her kids with her. Shelly fears that Marla’s disappearance won’t get the attention it deserves, or worse, will go unsolved—see the parallels here?—so, a few weeks after filing a missing person’s report, she enlists the help of TV journalist Jordan Manning, and the twist and turns from there will keep you on the edge of your seat. Plus, stick around after our conversation for two more upcoming television shows based on books to look out for, as well as 11 fiction writers I can’t get enough of.   By Tamron Hall: As the Wicked Watch Watch Where They Hide   The entire collections of Emily Giffin Rebecca Wells Kathryn Stockett Fannie Flagg Terry McMillan Plum Sykes Candace Bushnell Taylor Jenkins Reid Carley Fortune Lauren Weisberger Jennifer Weiner   + television picks! Read: Chasing Hillary by Amy Chozick | Watch: The Girls on the Bus on Max, out March 14 Read: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles | Watch: A Gentleman in Moscow on Paramount+, out March 29

In addition to Friday being International Women’s Day, March is Women’s History Month, and that seemed the perfect time to have this series I’ve been concocting in my brain for a while called Women in Power. I am so proud and happy to share my conversations with you! Also, at the end of each episode in this series, I’ll be sharing three books by three female writers whose collections I love, so stick around after the interview for that. Our first guest in the Women in Power series is a legend in the magazine space: Alexandra Shulman, who was editor-in-chief of British Vogue for 25 years. A full quarter century! She is the longest-serving editor in the position and took the helm in 1992; she has become one of the U.K.’s most respected voices in fashion since. Her 25 years at the top of the masthead included many iconic issues of the magazine, like the December 1999 “Millennium Issue,” which became the highest-selling issue of Vogue. You’ll hear me speak about this with her, but I always respected Alexandra’s stance that the magazine never publish pieces on diets or cosmetic surgery, as she didn’t want to tell women a specific way they should look. While still editor in-chief, she published a novel, Can We Still Be Friends?, in 2012, and in 2016, highlighting British Vogue’s centenary year, she published the book Inside Vogue: My Diary of Vogue’s 100th Year. In January 2017, nearing the quarter-century mark in her role, it was announced that she would leave her role that June, and she was succeeded as editor-in-chief by Edward Enninful. Since then, she has published a memoir I loved called Clothes And Other Things That Matter, which came out in 2021. Today we talk about what she’s up to these days (and it’s a lot!), what she’s reading, and, of course, about her time at Vogue.   By Alexandra Shulman: Can We Still Be Friends? Inside Vogue: My Diary of Vogue’s 100th Year Clothes…And Other Things That Matter   Alexandra’s recommendations: Orbital by Samantha Harvey Slow Horses by Mick Herron   My “Leave You with Three” picks today: Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert Untamed by Glennon Doyle + Together Rising

Have you ever met someone, and you just instantly knew they were someone you wanted to get to know? That’s how I felt when I met today’s guest, Lisa Mayer, the cofounder and CEO of Boss Beauties and the author of Boss Beauty: Inspiration to Be Everything You Want, which is out this upcoming Tuesday, March 12. Boss Beauties is a media and entertainment brand that inspires and elevates the next generation of women and girls, and the book, Boss Beauty, is, first of all, incredibly enjoyable to look at—colorful, and truly a work of art—but also filled with meaningful content, like inspirational quotes, love notes from your future self, advice from your big sis when you feel like giving up, how to reframe our Mondays, and how to make confidence our all-purpose wardrobe. Today, March 8, is International Women’s Day, and inside the pages of this book live the words “Every day is International Women’s Day to me,” so what better day for me to let you get to know Lisa and this book than today? Page after page of the book features wisdom and advice from entertainers, chefs, Olympic athletes, CEOs, an astrophysicist, a Disney legend, a champion NASCAR driver—all of whom teach us how to harness our inner grit, make an impact in the world, learn when to say yes, when to not give up, how to be everything you want, and, of course, be your own Boss Beauty. Lisa was inspired to write this book to bring to the world the business wisdom and mentorship she didn’t have. Ladies, you can be everything you want, and this book will make you believe that and go out and live that truth, once and for all. Core Boss Beauties characteristics include self-love, courage, clarity, grace, and passion, and this book will give you the inspiration and that extra push you may need to take charge and become the CEO of your own life. If you’re looking to be a force in the world and be everything you want to be, this book and this conversation are for you. Plus, stay tuned at the end for by top television (and movie!) picks based off of books for spring 2024.   Boss Beauty: Inspiration to Be Everything You Want by Lisa Mayer Learn more about Boss Beauties here! + my television and movie picks based on books for spring 2024! Read: Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany by Donald L. Miller | Watch: Masters of the Air on Apple TV+, in progress now Read: The Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee | Watch: Expats on Amazon Prime, out now Read: One Day by David Nicholls | Watch: One Day on Netflix, out now Read: Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty | Watch: Apples Never Fall on Peacock, out March 14 Read: Mr. and Mrs. American Pie by Juliet McDaniel | Watch: Palm Royale on Apple TV+, out March 20 Read: The Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn | Watch: Seasons 1 and 2 and Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, out now; season 3 premieres May 16 Read: The Idea of You by Robinne Lee | Watch: The Idea of You on Amazon Prime, out May 2

I’m so pleased to share with you a special bonus episode discussing the Oscars, which are quickly approaching this Sunday, March 10. The Academy Awards are the culmination of awards season, and there’s so much to discuss when it comes to this year’s ceremony. Will Oppenheimer sweep the awards, as is predicted? Why wasn’t Barbie’s star Margot Robbie nominated for Best Actress, or its director, Greta Gerwig, nominated for Best Director? Will Lily Gladstone of Killers of the Flower Moon make history by winning Best Actress, or will the coveted prize go to Emma Stone, star of Poor Things? There’s so much to look forward to, and, in honor of Hollywood’s biggest night, I have with me a gentleman who could easily be called an Oscars guru: Dave Karger, author of the new book 50 Oscar Nights: Iconic Stars and Filmmakers on Their Career Defining Wins, which came out on January 23. The anecdotes in this book are absolutely second to none, and Dave talks to everyone for the book, from Meryl Streep and Steven Spielberg to Julia Roberts and Martin Scorsese to Jane Fonda and Clint Eastwood; the book features never-before-told stories of the crème de la crème of awards shows and is told through a collection of interviews with actors, filmmakers, craftspeople, and those that helped bring the film to life and then won an Oscar for it. All told the winners included in the book span 60 years of Oscar winners and include quite a few that have achieved the elusive EGOT status, signifying that they’ve won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and a Tony. Heretofore, only 19 people have done this, by the way, including Elton John, Whoopi Goldberg, and John Legend, all of whom are profiled in Dave’s book. Dave is a film expert, an award-winning journalist, and a host on Turner Classic Movies. He’s been the Oscars expert on the Today Show for nearly a quarter century and has spent over 15 years writing about the Oscars for Entertainment Weekly. He has cohosted ABC’s Live from the Red Carpet pre-show and has served as the Academy’s official red carpet greeter on Oscar night. So, to put it mildly, Dave knows the Oscars! The stories he was able to get out of some of the most famous people in the world through this book are truly remarkable. In our conversation, Dave reveals if any of the celebrities he interviewed left him starstruck, where most people keep their Oscar statuette, how heavy the statuette is (I was shocked by his answer!), which Oscar moments make his so called Mount Rushmore of iconic moments from the awards show, the relevancy of winning an Oscar today, and, yes, I had to get his Oscar predictions. It’s a can’t miss conversation that I can’t wait for you to tune into.   50 Oscar Nights: Iconic Stars and Filmmakers on Their Career Defining Wins by Dave Karger

Today’s conversation, if nothing else, was made just for me—and I hope many of you, as well. Two of my favorite subjects to read about are the British royal family and U.S. presidents, and those two subject matters meet today thanks to David Charter, author of Royal Audience: 70 Years, 13 Presidents, One Queen’s Special Relationship with America, out March 5. In the book David zooms in on one facet of the Special Relationship between the U.K. and the U.S.—the relationship of the late Queen Elizabeth with the 13 U.S. presidents she knew in her record-breaking 70 year reign on the British throne, from 1952 to her death in 2022. This book traces the Queen’s relationship with each president from Eisenhower to Biden—and she was especially close to four presidents during that time period. Do you think you can guess who? You’ll have to listen to the episode to find out. Her late Majesty loved the U.S.; on a visit in 1957, for example, she requested to go to a football game and a supermarket in Maryland—and she did just that. Any viewer of The Crown knows the less-than-great exchange between First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and the Queen, who were roughly the same age; today on the show we unpack that interesting encounter between two of the most famous women in the world. Around the Reagan presidency, the Queen developed such a love affair with the U.S. that, in addition to state visits, she took five private visits to the U.S., mostly centered around horseracing. I was so touched by this anecdote: after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S., the Queen sang “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the first time she had ever sung a national anthem for a foreign country, and the first time she had sung a national anthem, period, as she didn’t sing “God Save the Queen” to herself. This moment is but one example of her class and dignity, in my opinion. Her last state visit to the U.S. was during the George W. Bush administration, in May 2007. From then on out, U.S. presidents came to her. Today on the show David and I talk about subjects like royal protocol and U.S. presidents and how, all told, the Queen visited 15 U.S. states and Washington, D.C.; I love this quote David has in here from The Washington Post from 1991: “Two centuries after George III lost the colonies, Queen Elizabeth is in danger of winning them back.” She was very difficult not to love. I gobbled up this book and wanted more, and I can’t wait for you to hear from David. He became the U.S. editor of The Times in 2018 and is based, perhaps appropriately for this book, in Washington, D.C. Before that, he was the chief political correspondent, Brussels correspondent, and Berlin correspondent at The Times, and is now the assistant U.S. editor of the publication. Get ready for a fascinating conversation!   Royal Audience: 70 Years, 13 Presidents, One Queen’s Special Relationship with America by David Charter

Today on the show, we’re talking about loneliness. Now, before you switch off this episode and head off to what you might consider greener pastures, let me reframe loneliness for you: it can actually have an upside. Today’s guest Charlotte Donlon writes, in her book The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other, “Everyone knows loneliness. Some may experience it more often. Some may find relief from it more quickly. Some may deny or avoid it. But I don’t think any of us escapes its company entirely, and I’m no longer sure we should.” She adds in the book that “Being human requires a touch of loneliness.” Loneliness has reached epidemic proportions since the pandemic, and, as many of you will relate to, you can be lonely even if you are surrounded by people. On the other side of loneliness is belonging, and that’s what Charlotte’s book centers around. She writes “We can deny our loneliness, or we can embrace it and step into the great belonging.” What is the great belonging? Well, take a listen to our conversation and read Charlotte’s book to find out. Charlotte is fantastic, and was actually introduced to me by Carla Jean Whitley, a dear friend of the podcast and of mine. In her book, Charlotte asks “What if loneliness is a necessary part of the human condition? What if it is a current that leads us deeper into belonging—to ourselves, to each other, and to God?” Now, I have self-disclosed many times that I am a Christian on the show; we talk about faith, specifically our shared Christian faith, in this episode, but this book and this conversation is for all faiths, including those of you who may not have one. In this book, Charlotte encourages us to, instead of turning away from the waters of loneliness for fear they will engulf us, wade in and see what we find there. In the book, Charlotte offers tools, resources, and practices for transforming loneliness into true belonging, and I can’t wait for you to hear from her.   The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other by Charlotte Donlon Charlotte’s Five Good Things Substack

One of my personal favorite subjects to study is First Ladies—I am completely compelled by these women, regardless of party affiliation, and I’ve read just about every book on them as a group, as well as many individual biographies of these dynamic women. Today on the show I have with me Katie Rogers, White House correspondent for The New York Times, to discuss her first book, the fantastic American Woman: The Transformation of the Modern First Lady, from Hillary Clinton to Jill Biden, which is out February 27. In the book, Katie delves into the transformation of the modern First Lady. The role of First Lady has definitely changed from Martha Washington to Dr. Jill Biden, but even more granularly, it has changed so much from the 1990s and Barbara Bush and Hillary Clinton to the present day, in particular Dr. Biden’s refusal to give up her role as an educator in favor of being First Lady full-time, as all of her predecessors have done. In the book and in our conversation today, Katie gets into how we ask so much of our First Ladies yet give them no proper blueprint on how to do their job. (We also don’t pay them, and there’s no barometer of what a successful First Lady is or does.) We talk about what will happen when the U.S. finally elects a female president, and what the role of First Gentleman, if that is what he is called, will look like. There is so much depth to this conversation—I can all but promise you that you won’t look at the role of the First Lady the same ever again. Katie has worked at The Times since 2014 and has been a White House correspondent since 2018, covering two presidential administrations and writing extensively about domestic policy, foreign policy, and, perhaps most interestingly to me, the complicated dynamics of First Families. Before writing for The Times, Katie was a reporter at The Guardian and The Washington Post. I am excited for you to meet her and learn from her in this episode. American Woman: The Transformation of the Modern First Lady, from Hillary Clinton to Jill Biden by Katie Rogers

We’ve got yet another first on the show today—our very first cookbook author! Yes, this is a cookbook, filled with delicious recipes and mouthwatering food photos, but this is a cookbook with a twist. It is part cookbook and part memoir of its author, renowned chef Missy Robbins. It really is as much about self discovery as it is about food, and that’s what makes it extra compelling. Missy actually has two books, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner…Life: Recipes and Adventures from My Home Kitchen, and Pasta: The Spirit and Craft of Italy’s Greatest Food, both of which are out now (and are linked below). In this episode, we specifically talk about Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner…Life, and in our conversation Missy and I talk about The Bear, which is a show I totally binged—and you should too if you haven’t yet. Missy introduced me to the term “kitchen culture” and said that, probably very much for the best, the type of kitchen culture on display in The Bear would not be acceptable at her restaurants. Speaking of, Missy has two restaurants, Lilia, which opened in 2016, and Misi, which opened in 2018. She takes us into the busy and nonstop life of a chef, gives us her best cooking tips, and gives us a peek behind the curtain of the restaurant industry, including winning a Michelin star, which Missy has done at two different restaurants, actually. She is actually only one of 10 women to have a Michelin star, which of course is incredibly imbalanced. Missy’s specialty is Italian food, and both Lilia and Misi are of that food genre. Missy also introduced me through this book to the concept of being a food tourist, which is something I’m adopting immediately. In addition to being a Michelin star chef, Missy appeared on season four of Top Chef Masters, and has worked at many restaurants you’ve heard of, including Spiaggia in Chicago, where she frequently cooked for Barack and Michelle Obama. No pressure, right? She then became executive chef at A Voce, changing the menu completely with the exception of two dishes, and oversaw the opening of its second location. In addition to all of this, she is in such a balanced, healthy place in her life, and I know you’ll enjoy getting to know her through our conversation.   Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner…Life: Recipes and Adventures from My Home Kitchen by Missy Robbins   Pasta: The Spirit and Craft of Italy’s Greatest Food by Missy Robbins   Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead by Jenny Hollander, the February pick of Marie Claire’s book club—some of the best fiction I’ve read lately!

Yet another pinch me moment this week—today on the show we have Audrey Hepburn’s son, Luca Dotti, and Meghan Friedlander, who together wrote the beautiful and compelling book Audrey Hepburn in Paris. Meghan is the curator of the popular Audrey fan site Rare Audrey Hepburn, and Luca? Well, he knew Audrey better than almost any human being can say. I am a huge Audrey Hepburn fan, so the thought of spending time with one of her two sons is unbelievable to me. The book also includes a foreward by Giambattista Valli, and the book explores and celebrates Audrey’s lifelong connection to Paris, featuring all of the places in the City of Light she loved the most and telling her story there. The book has never-before-published anecdotes and photographs and digs into her family, friendships, films, photoshoots, and fashions, especially her soul mate relationship with friend and fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy. You will be left breathless and speechless, both by the book itself and the stories and photos within it, and by this conversation. In this book we get a glimpse of the iconic actress’ beautiful life there, and each chapter of the book focuses on a different aspect of Paris that made it so precious to Audrey. Audrey never actually lived in Paris, but she was an honorary Parisienne. Towards the end of the book, it reads that “She would form some of her happiest memories in the life-altering city.” It was endlessly enjoyable reading about them. Plus, stick around to hear about what writers I’d love to invite to my dinner party or interview, but won’t be able to, at least not on this side of heaven. Imagine: Nora Ephron. Maya Angelou. Dominick Dunne. Julia Reed. And little old me. I may not ever be able to have them on the show (they’ve all left us for a better place), but I can at least have the honor of talking to you about them.   Audrey Hepburn in Paris by Luca Dotti and Meghan Friedlander