I'd Rather Be Reading

My guest today truly needs no introduction. Ladies and gentlemen, we are fortunate enough today to have the one, the only Connie Chung here with us to chat about her memoir, Connie, out September 17. Definitely stick around for the surprise Maury Povich pop in midway through the conversation—Maury, of course, is Connie’s husband of 40 years. Where to even start with Connie Chung and what an inspiration she is to female journalists like me? Connie is the youngest of five sisters, and she writes in her memoir she was a kid “who had no voice at home, never uttered a peep at school, never raised a hand to answer a teacher’s question,” and morphed “into someone who was fearless, ambitious, driven, full of chutzpah and moxie, who spoke up to get what she wanted.” She writes that her family was shocked when she pursued a profession that required speaking in front of millions of viewers. Connie, of course, is a legendary broadcast journalist. She also writes, “the truth is, being a reporter fit perfectly with my personality. I preferred to observe, watching what unfolded before me, never expressing my opinion.” As the fifth daughter, Connie was very aware that her parents kept trying for a son. She then went on to break into a very male-dominated business at the time where the white man was the ideal. In fact, she writes in the book about striving to be like a white man early in her career. She was told at one point “you’ll never make it in this business,” but guess what? She did! And actually, her dream of working at CBS, as she writes, “came true because of timing, a connection, and who I was—a woman and a minority.” And that was all thanks to the Civil Rights Act President Lyndon Baines Johnson passed in 1964. Connie is a legend in the broadcast journalism space. She has worked for CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, MSNBC—truly remarkable. When she joined Dan Rather as the co-anchor spot of the CBS Evening News, there had been 17 long years from the time Barbara Walters co-anchored a network evening news program to Connie taking over the co-anchor spot with Dan Rather. Through this appointment, Connie became the first woman to co-anchor the CBS Evening News and the first Asian to anchor any news program in the U.S. Though a mountaintop moment this certainly was, she writes “Still, the feeling of always having to prove myself weighed heavily on my mind.” She was let go from the CBS Evening News just two years later, and she writes “For two years, I had held what I’d thought was an equal seat at the table with three white men. But now I saw clearly that was never true. Losing all that was gut-wrenching, breaking my rock-solid confidence.” We talk about all of this and so much more in today’s episode, and I can’t wait for you to hear our conversation. Take a listen!   Connie: A Memoir by Connie Chung

If you are as big of a Selling Sunset fan as I am, then you are going to love today’s episode. Season eight of Netflix’s massive hit reality series just dropped September 6, and here today to chat about her new book Selling Sunshine: Surviving Teenage Motherhood, Thriving in Luxury Real Estate, and Embracing My Voice is one of the show’s stars, Mary Bonnet. Mary has written an incredibly vulnerable book that takes us inside her struggles, her pain, her heartache, but also her joy, her happiness, and her success. In the book and in our conversation today Mary talks about finding out she was pregnant at 15 with her son, Austin; her relationship with Jason Oppenheim of The Oppenheim Group (the real estate agency that is the basis of Selling Sunset and where Mary has worked since long before the Netflix camera crews came into the office); her successful real estate career; how she felt when she learned her real-life workplace would soon become the subject of a Netflix reality show; when she knew she was famous; her very handsome husband Romain; and so much more. Mary writes about the “obstacles behind the smile”—not just getting pregnant as a teenager but also Mary’s experience as a sexual assault survivor. In the book, which is out September 24, Mary writes “My life has hardly been a linear journey.” But she also writes, “2024 is going to be an epic year, I can feel it!” and I certainly hope that for her (and for all of us). This book is proof that there’s always more to someone’s story than meets the eye, and I’m excited for all of you to read it and get to know Mary a little better today. Mary was named one of Variety’s 40 Most Powerful Women on Reality TV and, outside of Selling Sunset, is vice president at the Oppenheim Group and a prominent figure in the world of luxury real estate in Los Angeles. She’s sold over $140 million in real estate to date and is one of the leading real estate agents in the city, and just a lovely person. Take a listen to our conversation.   Selling Sunshine: Surviving Teenage Motherhood, Thriving in Luxury Real Estate, and Embracing My Voice by Mary Bonnet

Today on the show to kick off season 14 is a second-time guest: Kathy Iandoli, who we spoke to back in 2021 about her book on the legendary Aaliyah. And Kathy is back with a book she co-wrote with another legendary musician—Eve, who in a word, is just fabulous. In the book, we learn so much about this rapper, actress, talk show host, and multihyphenate, including that she felt cursed by being born with the name Eve—as in the first woman, Eve, according to the Bible. We talk today with Kathy about Eve’s childhood in Philadelphia and how that molded her into the woman she is today; how she opened so many doors for women in music—rap specifically—as the First Lady of Ruff Ryderz, and what it was like to be a female in such a male-dominated industry; the biggest obstacle she faced in her 25-year career; and what she’s really like when the spotlight is off of her. We also talk about Eve being 43 when she gave birth for the first time to her son, Wilde, and how that shifted her life. As she writes towards the end of Who’s That Girl?, which is out September 17, “The ride isn’t as rough anymore, and I’m enjoying every minute of it.” (“Who’s That Girl?” by the way, is probably my favorite Eve song.) You know who Eve is—she’s a Grammy-winning rapper and singer with singles like the aforementioned “Who’s That Girl?,” “Let Me Blow Ya Mind,” and “Tambourine”; she’s an actress who has appeared in films like Barbershop and television shows like Queens; she’s a talk show host and has been on The Talk and The Real; and now she’s an author. She’s also a history maker, by the way—when she won the Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for “Let Me Blow Ya Mind” with Gwen Stefani, she was the first recipient ever of that award. I love that. Today on the show we have Eve’s fantastic co-writer Kathy Iandoli, who has written everywhere from Vibe to The Source, The Village Voice, Rolling Stone, Billboard, Cosmopolitan, and so much more. Kathy specializes in music, specifically hip-hop, and has written books like God Save the Queens: The Essential History of Women in Hip-Hop and the aforementioned Baby Girl: Better Known as Aaliyah, among others. She’s also a professor of music business at New York University, a documentarian who has produced film projects on women in hip-hop for BBC and Netflix (including the award-winning Ladies First!), and one of my favorite guests. I’m so happy to have her back on. Who’s That Girl?: A Memoir by Eve and Kathy Iandoli

Unbelievably, we’ve reached the season finale of season 13! What a season, huh? Don’t you worry, because we’ve got more conversations to come in season 14. But today we’ve got a great one for you—Julia Boorstin of CNBC is here to chat about her buzzy, powerful book When Women Lead: What They Achieve, Why They Succeed, and How We Can Learn from Them, which came out in 2022 but is still making waves today. The book is, in my opinion, a masterpiece about women, leadership, and business. And Julia knows what she’s talking about—she’s a longtime CNBC reporter and before that was at Fortune magazine, and her work covers business, tech, and entrepreneurship. The crux of the book centers around how and why women leaders thrive, and why women are essential to a successful workplace. Today we talk about what skillsets women specifically bring to a workplace; what women need to succeed in business and what needs to be changed in the modern workplace; women’s adaptability advantage and why resilience matters; and how, if companies care about making money, they’ll invest in women. When Women Lead zooms in on the stories of over 60 female CEOs and is, as Julia writes, a “radical blueprint for the future of business and our world at large.” It’s an absolutely necessary read and I can’t wait to talk about it with Julia today. Julia Boorstin is the senior media and tech correspondent for CNBC and is a graduate of Princeton; she worked at Fortune, has contributed to both CNN and CNN Headline News, and joined CNBC in 2006, and in 2013 created the CNBC Disruptor 50 list, an annual list that highlights private companies that are challenging established industries. She also helped launch the network’s “Closing the Gap” initiative, covering the people and companies closing gender and diversity gaps. This is the perfect conversation to end season 13 on. Take a listen! When Women Lead: What They Achieve, Why They Succeed, and How We Can Learn from Them by Julia Boorstin

Today on the show, we’re talking about the history and power of hairdressing and how, as our guest Dr. Elizabeth Block puts it in her new book, how hair “contributed to the lived experiences of women.” Her new book Beyond Vanity: The History and Power of Hairdressing is out September 10 and looks at hair through an academic lens—and it’s totally compelling. We get into the cultural impact of hair; why hair is, as the title suggests, something that is beyond vanity; how choosing a hairstyle or color is much deeper than surface level; hairdressers, wigs, salons, hair products, hair tools, hair length, and so much more. We dig into when people realized that hair as an entrepreneurial venture could be profitable, hair throughout history, and what historians like our guest today might say about our hair 100 years from now. Walking us through it all is Dr. Elizabeth Block, who teaches us that studying hair and its importance is anything but frivolous. She is an art historian and a senior editor in the publications and editorial department at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. She is also the author of the award-winning Dressing Up: The Women Who Influenced French Fashion, and her work has appeared in Town & Country, Slate, BBC News, and BBC Woman’s Hour, among other prestigious places. I’m excited for you to hear what she has to say as we dig in.   Beyond Vanity: The History and Power of Hairdressing by Dr. Elizabeth Block

The 40th president of the United States, Ronald Reagan, is once again our topic du jour today, as we’re talking about Max Boot’s new book Reagan: His Life and Legend, which comes out on September 10. In the fantastic 880-page book, Max quotes someone as having said of Reagan that “there was almost no one who did not succumb to his magic.” Today on the show we talk about what that magic was; about his love story with his wife, Nancy Reagan, who Max writes in the book without her Reagan “would never have been elected to anything”; how he and his presidency are perceived 20 years after his death in 2004; and if, as Max writes in the book, “Reaganism contain[ed] the seeds of Trumpism?” Max and I talk about the differences between Reagan the man and Reagan the public figure, how he was as a father to his four children (one of whom we’ve had on the show!), where his elevated sense of self-confidence came from, and, of course, his legacy. Much to get into, and here to delve into it all with me is Max Boot, an author, historian, and policy analyst who, in addition to writing 880-page definitive biographies, is also a columnist for The Washington Post, a global affairs analyst for CNN, and the Jeane J. Kirkpatrick senior fellow in national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. In addition to this new book, Max has also written The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Biography, and Invisible Armies: An Epic History of Guerilla Warfare from Ancient Times to the Present. He has also written The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power and War Made New: Technology, Warfare, and the Course of History, 1500 to Today. An impressive man who has certainly written an impressive book.   Reagan: His Life and Legend by Max Boot

Let me ask you a question—how much time have you spent really, truly thinking about the United States’ second president, John Adams? Probably not a ton—but today’s conversation will certainly make you think about him, and probably think a bit differently about him, at that. John Adams came into the presidency on the heels of an impossible act to follow—President George Washington, who today’s guest Dr. Lindsay M. Chervinsky writes in her new book Making the Presidency: John Adams and the Precedents that Forged the Republic, was set apart, as “no one else possessed his stature or enjoyed the same level of public trust—and no one else ever would again.” When it came to John Adams, Lindsay writes in the book—which is out September 5—that he “was tasked with navigating the presidency without that unique prestige. He was guaranteed to fall short in comparison to Washington.” Even if Washington wasn’t as beloved a leader as he was, it still would have been a challenge to be the second president of the United States. As Lindsay writes, “Whoever came next was going to mold the office for all the chief executives to follow. John Adams was an experienced diplomat and a thoughtful constitutional thinker. He was also irascible, stubborn, quixotic, and certain that he knew best most of the time. He proved the right man for the moment.” In our conversation today, Lindsay explains why that is so, and how Washington may have created the presidency, but Adams defined it. Today we talk about Adams’ relationship with Washington (after all, he was Washington’s vice president); Adams’ relationship with Thomas Jefferson, who succeeded him in office; how Washington undermined Adams’ success as president; Adams as a leader throughout his 27 years dedicated to public service; Adams as a husband to Abigail and a father to, among others, a future president, John Quincy Adams; and so much more. Incredibly interestingly, Lindsay is the executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library and the author of The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution. She’s also the co-editor of Mourning the Presidents: Loss and Legacy in American Culture and was a historian at the White House Historical Association. She has been published in Time Magazine, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Washington Monthly, and CNN.com, and, as a presidential historian, is a frequent presidential commentator on national TV and radio.  Today’s conversation is certainly about President John Adams, but it's about the presidency as a whole, too, and I’m excited for you to listen to what Lindsay has to say.   Making the Presidency: John Adams and the Precedents That Forged the Republic by Dr. Lindsay M. Chervinsky

We talk about power frequently in society, but do we ever really put much thought into status? And what even is status, exactly? On the show today, we talk about how much status matters, and our guest, Dr. Alison Fragale, writes in her new book Likeable Badass: How Women Get the Success They Deserve that resources follow respect, and very little advancement is going to happen unless someone has respect—also known as status. Alison writes that women are largely disadvantaged when it comes to status, and that the aforementioned power is based on status so, ergo, when women in particular have lower status, they also have less power. Status is critically important, but we rarely pay attention to it and have sparsely put words to it—that is until Likeable Badass came along. The book came out September 3 and delves into the science of success—one of my favorite topics to study. Alison’s playbook, as outlined in the book, consists of the three steps of understand the game, master the plays, and coach others. She teaches us what the likeable badass solution is, how it’s important for women especially to get credit for both likeability and competence (and how it has, heretofore, been so difficult for both to coexist), how things can often get worse as a career advances, not better, and she introduces us to five limiting mindsets that we need to conquer. If you’re looking to advance in any workplace, we’ve got to figure out status, which, simply defined, is what others’ perception of us is. Here to walk us through it all is Dr. Alison Fragale, who is a behavioral scientist and the Mary Farley Ames Lee Distinguished Scholar of Organizational Behavior at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her work has been published in the most prestigious academic journals in her field as well as outlets like The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Financial Times, Inc. Magazine, Fast Company, and The Boston Globe. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth in math and economics and a Ph.D. in organizational behavior from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business; she is also a renowned keynote speaker, trusted advisor, and genuinely good person, and I’m so excited for you to hear from her today.   Likeable Badass: How Women Get the Success They Deserve by Dr. Alison Fragale

Today on the show we’re talking about a bona fide beauty icon—Elizabeth Arden, who built the cosmetics empire of the same name beginning in 1910. Now, if you think about that time period, not many women were running a beauty empire, but she was. At the height of her career, she was one of the wealthiest women in the world, but what do we really know about Elizabeth Arden, the woman? Well, first of all, Elizabeth Arden is not her birth name—that would be Florence Nightengale Graham. Elizabeth Arden is largely to thank for establishing makeup as proper and appropriate, and even necessary, as previously makeup was only associated with actresses and prostitutes. Today’s guest, Dr. Stacy A. Cordery, has written a brilliant book about this remarkable woman called Becoming Elizabeth Arden: The Woman Behind the Global Beauty Empire, which is out September 3. Buoyed by her genuine belief that “every woman deserves to be beautiful,” as Stacy writes, “her salons empowered women—not just to look their best, but to be their best.” Elizabeth Arden was known for its three simple foundational skincare steps—cleanse, tone, and nourish. It’s also known for its red door salons, the Arden look, color harmony, and now, for being an empire. Today on the show, Stacy teaches us about the woman and about the company, which was acquired by Revlon in 2016 for a whopping $870 million. Elizabeth Arden is responsible for fashioning the American woman. She made cosmetics mandatory, if one wanted to be fashionable. Stacy writes that her creative genius still influences fashion and design today, and “From the humblest of origins, pioneering businesswoman Elizabeth Arden grew into a global industry leader." She died in 1966 at 84 years old, but certainly not before leaving her mark. Dr. Stacy A. Cordery is here to tell us all about her. She is a biographer and a professor of history at Iowa State University, and is the author of Alice: Alice Roosevelt Longworth, from White House Princess to Washington Power Broker, Juliette Gordon Low: The Remarkable Founder of the Girl Scouts, and two books about President Theodore Roosevelt. You might have seen her work on NPR, The History Channel, CNN, C-SPAN, and The Smithsonian Channel, and now she’s right here, right now. Let’s take a listen.   Becoming Elizabeth Arden: The Woman Behind the Global Beauty Empire by Dr. Stacy A. Cordery

Tomorrow, August 30, the biopic Reagan hits theaters, with Dennis Quaid playing President Ronald Reagan. We’re so fortunate on the show today to have a man who knew Reagan well—Ken Khachigian, whose new book Behind Closed Doors: In the Room with Reagan and Nixon, focuses on his relationship with not just Reagan but also President Richard Nixon, as well. Right smack dab on the front cover of the book, which just came out on July 23, Ken is described as a speechwriter, confidant, and strategist to political legends. In today’s episode, I ask Ken what role he enjoyed playing most and why, and which role was the most challenging for him. Ken was a longtime aide to President Nixon and was there for both his resignation 50 years ago this month and the Frost/Nixon interviews. Later, he was President Reagan’s chief speechwriter. Ken is a veteran of nine presidential campaigns, and in this book takes us in the room with not just one but two presidents. In addition to his work as a successful attorney, Ken became California’s premier Republican strategist in elections for governor, senator, and attorney general. He helped Nixon craft his memoirs and wrote notable speeches for Reagan like his first inaugural address, welcome home remarks for hostages taken during the Iran hostage crisis, his acceptance speech at the 1984 Republican National Convention, and, four years later, his farewell address at the 1988 Republican National Convention. Most recently, when it comes to presidential campaigns, he served as a senior advisor on the 1996 campaign of Bob Dole, the 2000 campaign of John McCain, and the 2008 campaign of Fred Thompson. Take a listen to what he has to say.   Behind Closed Doors: In the Room with Reagan and Nixon by Ken Khachigian   Visit Ken’s website at reaganandnixon.com!