The Happy Grownup – Détails, épisodes et analyse

To the people who work for her, Cathy Hughes is known as the Queen, Her Majesty, or simply Miss. H.

You may not recognize her name, but there’s a damn good chance you have connected with at least one channel of the extraordinary communications corporation that she founded 45 years ago. Starting with one lone radio station in Washington, D.C., Miss Hughes soon expanded her reach with an insinuating late-night format that instantly became the soundtrack for millions of us during the ‘70s when we wanted to turn the lights down low. The Quiet Storm featured nonstop R&B and soul music by artists like Marvin Gaye, Luther Vandross, and Teddy Pendergrass at their most sultry and hip-grinding best. Spurred by that success, Hughes founded Radio One, now renamed Urban One, which commands over 60 radio and television stations across the United States, the most prominent distributor of lifestyle information and music content for African Americans and people of color. 

In 1999, Ms. Hughes became the first woman of color to take her company public. She is an inspiring entrepreneur, educator, musical visionary, force for social good, and a paramount example of self-reliance, resilience, and guts. Our Happy Grownup friend, Aaron Walton says that Kathy’s energy is so constant and formidable that she can make you feel like the laziest person on earth. So with the risk of falling into that demoralized state, I am delighted to welcome this cultural powerhouse, Miss Cathy Hughes.

From the first time I ever saw Jerry Mitchell in the 1991 musical Will Rogers Follies – he was the Indian of the Dawn, barely dressed in a loincloth on an elevated drum – there’s been one through line in his career as a Tony-winning choreographer for Hairspray, The Full Monty, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, La Cage aux Folles, and then as a Tony-winning director-choreographer for Legally Blonde, Kinky Boots, On Your Feet!, Pretty Woman, Boop!, and the musical adaptation of The Devil Wears Prada that’s now playing in London. Every single one of them, without exception, has been designed to make you happy. Actually, not just happy – you’re supposed to walk out of the theater joyful. Jerry has taken this mission upon himself, like Evillene says in The Wiz, “don’t bring me no bad news.” 

This week on the podcast we’ll find out the reason he has such an obsession with making everyone so goddam happy.

I met my husband online about 28 years ago on America Online, not AOL mind you, but America Online – when you didn't tell anyone about such searches because trolling the internet was a primary example of looking for love in all the wrong places. Well, guess what they were wrong, so wrong in fact that we should have been invested because of our foresight.

There are now over 8,000 dating sites around the globe. You name the category. Farmers, sea captains, Christian singles, Jewish singles, Asian singles, geeks, gays, those who are vegan, gluten-free, furries, Trekkies, ridiculously wealthy, bearded, and believe it or not, haters. And with more than 30% of those over 50 being single, there are now countless sites for us New Agers.

I have known Terry Agins since I started sitting in the front row at fashion shows more than 30 years ago. She's a feisty one. Boisterous, wicked smart, funny, opinionated with a singular energy I have always found fascinating. What also intrigued me about her is that unlike most women in fashion, she didn't travel in a pack. She wasn't part of a clique. In fact, she was often on her own. And then suddenly, about seven years ago, she wasn't. There was this tall, striking, white-haired dude, always by her side. Where the hell did Paul Hands come from? And how come he is still around? Well, that's because Terry and Paul are now married, very happily married, I might add. So for all of you new agers currently searching for companionship, and for those who are hopeful or hopeless romantics, we are going to find out why love is lovelier the second time around.

For two decades now, Mario Cantone has become instantly recognizable as Anthony Marantino on Sex and the City, And Just Like That as Charlotte's boisterously loud, kind of in-your-face, very savvy, grounded gay confidant and guardian angel. But when he is on The View or Turner Movie Classics, Mario Cantone is, well, he's still loud, kind of in-your-face, yet savvy and fairly grounded.

Oddly and surprisingly, Mario is probably most like himself as a cabaret performer, where he is a marvelous storyteller, an engaging singer, a brilliant impressionist, and frankly, an unapologetic romantic. I wish Netflix would record him at the Cafe Carlyle in New York or give him a special so that the rest of you can discover this softer and very winning charm of his. But in the meantime, Mario Cantone, thanks to Hot Fellas Bakery, is going to have to deal with the fact that he is a sex symbol at age 65. We should all have such problems like that at this age.

He’s successful, he’s handsome. And I really like his taste. But what I like most about Shawn Henderson is that his mission seems to be in direct opposition of so many of his colleagues in the AD (Architectural Digest) 100. When I look at their realized visions I am impressed by so much overt ingenuity, stark drama, and distinct personality. Very often I no longer have to read the caption, I know who designed that space. But when you open the door, so to speak, Shawn Henderson’s rooms, they don’t scream ‘hey look at me,’ as much as they whisper softly, ’You’re home now. Why don’t you relax?’

Being surrounded and bombarded by tumult on an hourly basis, having somewhere you can exhale and collapse in comfort has never seemed more desirable. Yet design is in a tumultuous state. People got used to being at home. Many are still working from there. Family room flat screens on the weekend are often as likely to have on HGTV as football these days. Lots of folks are investing in DIY projects, adapting to innovation and technology, to design extremes and innovation. The price of furniture, custom work, and construction has skyrocketed and promises only to increase. How do we, especially New Agers who want a refresh, create an environment that reflects a shift or an evolution in our lives?

For me, Shawn is the perfect interior designer to speak about this because his head isn’t spun around by every new phase or fad that shows up. And for New Agers how nice to know that he isn’t terrified if you have acquired a lot of ‘stuff’ (But only to a point). Fashion can be fast, easily used and discarded within months. I’ve learned to be good with that. But I’m not redesigning my home every season. And neither is anyone I know. You want a home that functions, that reflects you and gives you room to shake your shoulders. Listen to Shawn Henderson. This is the guy who can open the door to that oasis. That’s why he is this week’s Happy Grownup podcast.

It may be a sunny morning but turn on the TV and here comes the news shrouded in storms and torrential turbulence. That’s why, if you see a guy walking down a New York City street humming or whistling wearing a benign grin, it’s fair to guess, ‘I bet he was watching Rosanna on Good Day New York.

Over 100,000 people in The Big Apple tune in with him to watch and listen to Rosanna Scotto each weekday morning, because instead of getting beaten over the head with yet more examples of people behaving badly, Rosanna keeps informing us, enticing us and enriching us with still more places to go, things to do and people to see in her beloved hometown. What’s even more winning about her consistently engaging features, stories, and conversations is that Rosanna’s curiosity remains unabated after 18 years at GDNY, a legacy made even more impressive after listening to last week’s guest on THG, Cristina Ferrare recall being abruptly from The Hallmark Channel when she was merely 62 for being “too old.”

Smart, smartly tailored, and vibrantly talkative, Scotto’s guests come from sports, the arts, childcare, exercise, travel, and of course, food, In fact, a lot of food. That’s because for more than three decades, the Scotto family has been welcoming everyone coming for their signature lasagna and zucchini chips with gorgonzola at Fresco by Scotto as if we’d been invited to their home for Sunday dinner. And some of the biggest hugs and warmest smiles come from Rosanna, who seems to be doing double duty without breaking a sweat. Still looking for someone, anyone, you can admire first thing in the morning? You can’t do much better than this New Ager making the most out of the second half of her life.

On this week’s Happy Grownup podcast

We’re taught that beauty is fleeing. (it even says so in the Bible, Proverbs 31:30). But the moment you see Cristina Ferrare, you can chuck that adage out the window since she is eternally, time defyingly gorgeous. Signed as a model when she was just 14, I repeat 14!, Cristina quickly became one the first supermodels when the label actually had authenticity.

However, blessed with an inquisitive, adventurous spirit, Ferrere has never relied solely on her looks. She acted in films, hosted multiple TV shows, and became instrumental in jumpstarting the formerly benign Hallmark Channel into a network behemoth, TV’s prime mover of hot chocolate, mistletoe and happy endings, only to be abruptly dismissed at age 62 for being “too old.”

Though reeling from the shock at first - kind of makes you want to torch a Christmas tree farm - here’s why we’re mad for this beautiful inside-and-out New Ager. Rather than weep into her eggnog, Ferrere forged ahead, writing half a dozen New York Times bestselling cookbooks, designing a successful jewelry line, becoming a wellness advocate, campaigning tirelessly for early detection and treatment as a cancer survivor (she has multiple myeloma) and joining her good friend Maria Shriver in raising awareness about and fund for treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease. Cristina is passionate about her loves, especially her husband or 40 years former ABC executive Tommy Thomopoulus), her daughters, and foo - oh definitely food - and as you’\ll discover this week’s podcast, she’s still thrilled to come up with a new recipe, another way to feel good, and one more opportunity to give back. Not to dump on the Good Gook, but it was Keats had it right. “A thing of beauty is a joy forever.” If only there was time travel, Keats would have such a crush on Cristian Ferrere. Hey John, get in line.

Search the faces of the millions celebrating New Year’s Eve on Copacabana Beach. Scope out all the blissed-out kids trodding around Disneyworld. That’s a lot of happy faces, but you still won’t find anyone having a better time than Bevy Smith. Wherever this New Ager goes in her myriad guises as TV host, author, motivational speaker (Her Ted Talk has been seen by millions), former beauty and fashion ad director, guest on sass-centric talk shows like The View and Watch What Happens Live and now co-starring on the Amazon Prime series Harlem, Bevy brazenly spreads positivity as if it was highly contagious, which it is.

But to truly appreciate this force of better nature in her natural element, join Bevy’s quarter of a million followers on her vibrant Instagram account, and tune into her weekly Sirius XM talk show Bevelations, where this unapologetic maximalist advocates for her maxim “It Gets Greater Later.” In fact, in response to any cynic too quick to  bitch that life is now the pits, leave it to Bevy to remind us that this means there has to be a bowlful of cherries somewhere nearby. 

He’s the laid back of the five entrepreneurs in Eames chairs on Shark Tank. And yet, few deals that interest him pas him by. That’s because Daymond John puts his faith and energy into what he believes are his three touchstones for success – goals, instinct and fearlessness. That’s because at.23, his goal was to create a clothing company that focused and elevated people in his neighborhood, his instinct was that street kids of color wanted to wear everything four sizes too large, and his fearlessness is because all the experts and two dozen banks he spoke to told it was a bad idea. So, his mom took a second mortgage on her house. And somehow John managed to pay that mortgage off after FUBU generated $6 billion dollars in sales.

Funny. The same thing happened when John took an interest in Randy Goldberg and David Heath’s wild idea to build a company that would give away one pair of socks to the homeless for every sock they sold. The other Sharks thought they were nuts. John’s instincts thought their goal was as heartfelt as it was fearless. So, he invested again. Bombas socks is now valued at $3.4 billion dollars. However, John is not above seeking advice from others which is why he this guy with dyslexia has read Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill 23 times. And look at that! John thought and John did.

So when this mogul, author, philanthropist, lecturer, and emphatically cool New Agers, tells you the value of reading his 10 goals first thing every morning and last thing every night, how he now monitors his health after a life-altering scare, why he’s determined not to make the same mistakes with his second family that he made with his first and who his mentors are, my instincts tell me that Daymond John is fearless, which is why your goal should be to listen to his Happy Grownup podcast

If you are anywhere - a charity event, an AI conference at MIT, or a seafood restaurant in Montauk - and Norma Kamali walks into the room, go sit next to her. I don’t care who you came there with. I don’t care who she came there with. Tell them to shove over and sit yourself down because Norma will always be the most interesting person in the room.

Pick any subject - health, exercise, longevity, beauty, AI, the magic of last loves, canned tuna, and of course, fashion - just cue the topic, and first she will engage you. Then she will dazzle you. Finally, she will convert you.

Why should you listen to Norma? Because this raven-haired dynamo has generated more more trends in nearly six decades of consistently disruptive fashion design than the entire roster of LVMH. Because She owned her own line when it was a man’s game and has maintained ownership though the game has been taken over by ravenous corporations. Because she knew the value of wellness while most of us were chain-guzzling Diet Coke, because she can still do a full split, because she has a bullshit detector more precise than a diamond cutter, and because she just became a bride again at… well, I’ll let her tell you how old she is… but she hardly looks old enough to qualify for Medicare.

Norma is laser focused about her next goal. She is determined to live to be 120. And if you follow her lead, you just might be around to see that she does it.

Listen to why my money is on Norma Kamali to blow out those candles. She is this week’s very special guest on The Happy Grownup podcast.