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Today we have an inside look into life in the Ford White House thanks to Bob Barrett’s new book Inside the President’s Team: Family, Service, and the Gerald Ford Presidency, which comes out January 7. In this book, Bob — who was one of President Ford’s most trusted advisers — gives us a behind-the-curtain view of the Ford presidency as, second to Gerald Ford’s wife Betty Ford, no one was closer to the president during his administration than Bob Barrett. Bob carried the “nuclear football” of the American nuclear codes, and literally couldn’t let President Ford out of his sight. This led to a deep friendship with the First Family and gave Bob an inside look into the administration, which, born through President Nixon’s resignation over Watergate, will always hold a unique place in history. In Inside the President’s Team, we go inside the White House and inside the First Family in a way we’ve never really seen before. I want to pause here and say that I loved the insights on First Lady Betty Ford — you all know I love to study First Ladies, and she is one of my favorites. Inside the President’s Team talks about why Ford decided to pardon Nixon for Watergate, and how he responded to criticism over his decision; what happened during the two assassination attempts on President Ford; and even about Betty Ford’s intervention. President Ford was, as Bob puts it, “the most decent, honorable, trustworthy person I ever met.” Now, Bob actually passed away in 2022, so we have today on the show his son Nils Barrett to talk about his father and this remarkable book. We chat about how the Ford presidency already is remembered to history 50 years later and how it might be remembered 50 years from now; who both Bob Barrett and Gerald Ford were at their core; and how Bob continued serving Ford after his time in office ended, helping develop the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the Ford Presidential Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the Betty Ford Center for drug and alcohol rehabilitation in Rancho Mirage, California. Ultimately, this book celebrates living a life of service, and Bob himself served two tours in Vietnam with the U.S. Army and attained the rank of major. He worked at the United States Army War College as its Public Affairs and Communications officer and was offered the role of military aid to President Ford at the start of his administration — hence the nuclear football. I can’t wait for you to get to know him through the eyes of his son. 

Inside the President’s Team: Family, Service, and the Gerald Ford Presidency by Bob Barrett

It’s 2025, and it’s season 15! I could not be more excited for this season and all that it will bring, starting with today’s guest, Rachel Hollis. Since Rachel’s last book in 2020, so much has happened in her life, and she’s here today to talk about it and her brand new book, What If YOU Are the Answer?: And 26 Other Questions That Just Might Change Your Life, which is out January 7. On the 1 percent chance you don’t know Rachel and her work, Rachel is the stratospherically popular author of books like 2018’s Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are So You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be, 2019’s Girl, Stop Apologizing: A Shame-Free Plan for Embracing and Achieving Your Goals, and 2020’s Didn’t See That Coming: Putting Life Back Together When Your World Falls Apart. She is an author, a motivational speaker, a blogger, a podcaster — a leader in the self-help space, which you all know is a world I love to read books about. As I said, since 2020, Rachel’s world has been rocked by a divorce from her ex-husband, Dave Hollis, who died in 2023 after their separation; a miscarriage; finding new love (your world can be rocked even when it’s good!). In this new book, Rachel is harnessing the power of asking questions, and is doing so in a very vulnerable, candid, and close-to-the-bone way. As she puts in the book, “the right question can change everything,” and in this book Rachel asks 26 questions that cause readers to look at their own life through a new lens. I loved this book, and I think you will too.

What If YOU Are the Answer?: And 26 Other Questions That Just Might Change Your Life by Rachel Hollis

I know many of you — myself included — are thinking about what we want out of 2025, and with that reflection drumming up some New Year’s resolutions. As we do so, I thought it would be helpful to bring in the habit expert herself, the one and only Wendy Wood, to close season 14 and to close 2024. Whatever type of year you had — a great one, or a not so great one — a fresh start is on the horizon, and 2025 is a blank canvas that we can make of whatever we want. Wendy wrote the 2019 hit book Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick, and she walks us through today what a habit is, in the first place; how hard it really is to change our habits and, in the process, change ourselves; the science behind changing our habits, including processes like context, repetition, and reward; statistics that might stun you, like that we as humans spend 43 percent — yes, 43 percent! — of our day doing things without thinking about them, as if on autopilot; whether it is easier to make a habit or break a habit, and so much more, including the best advice she’s ever received regarding habit formation — and it is hopeful as we venture into a new year. Many of us have habits we want to make surrounding going to the gym more, and I can’t wait for you to hear the statistics Wendy brings about how environment is so important, as well as proximity. Wendy Wood is here to help us reach our goals, so let me tell you a little bit about her. She is a professor of psychology and business at the University of Southern California and has written for The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times; her work has been featured so many places, including The New York Times, USA Today, The Chicago Tribune, NPR, and TIME magazine. Her purpose is to convey scientific insight on habit to the general public, and she’s here today to do just that.

Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick by Wendy Wood

My annual “Best Books of the Year” episode with Carla Jean Whitley is always such a highlight for me (and I know for all of you)! Below are her picks for 2024. Enjoy!

The Best Books She’s Read This Year:

Nonfiction —

Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts by Oliver Burkeman (also adding in Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals for good measure, as well)

Heartbreak is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music by Rob Sheffield

Memoirs —

Just Like Glass: A Family Memoir by Amy Wight Chapman

Grief Is for People by Sloane Crosley

Fiction —

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

Sandwich by Catherine Newman

The Best Books She’s Reread This Year:

Looking for Alaska by John Green

The Giver by Lois Lowry

We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year by Margaret Renkl

The Books She Is Anticipating for 2025:

Mothers and Other Fictional Characters: A Memoir in Essays by Nicole Graev Lipson (coming March 4, 2025)

The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff (coming April 22, 2025)

The Living Mountain: A Celebration of the Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland by Nan Shepherd (coming March 18, 2025)

The Lost Trees of Willow Avenue: A Story of Climate and Hope on One American Street by Mike Tidwell (coming March 25, 2025)

Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green (coming March 18, 2025)

Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson (coming May 13, 2025)

We are continuing our series of life optimization episodes today with the dynamic Laura Vanderkam, time management expert and author of multiple books on the topic, including three books we’re discussing in today’s episode: her book 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think, which came out in 2010; Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done, which came out in 2014; and I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time, which came out in 2015. Laura has also written What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast: A Short Guide to Making Over Your Mornings — and Life, which came out in 2012; All the Money in the World: What the Happiest People Know About Getting and Spending, which was released in 2013; The New Corner Office: How the Most Successful People Work from Home, which came out in 2020; and 2022’s Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters. And that’s still not all of her books! A graduate of Princeton, Laura and her husband share five children — so time management is a must! — and she became interested in time management while working as a journalist, after interviewing accomplished people juggling busy schedules. In October 2016, she gave a TED talk called “How to Gain Control of Your Free Time,” which has been viewed more than 12 million times, and she has written everywhere from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Fortune, and more. She is also the host of the “Before Breakfast” podcast and the co-host of the “Best of Both Worlds” podcast with Sarah Hart-Unger. With a life as busy as Laura’s, she has to know how to manage her time! Today we chat about Laura’s philosophy that looking at your life in 168 hour blocks — so, a week — is more preferable than looking at it in 24 hour blocks; the power of time tracking; the best piece of time management advice she’s ever received; how outsourcing is a time management hack; her thoughts on multitasking; and so much more. There’s not a person among us who has an extra stockpile of hours in their day or week — no, not even Beyonce! — and Laura’s here to teach us how to make the most of our time.

All by Laura Vanderkam:

168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done

I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time

We have so much good for you even before 2024 closes, and especially as 2025 kicks off. We’ll be bringing you lots of new books, especially in the new year, but as we close 2024 and look ahead to what next year will bring, I’m also going to bring in some conversations about books from years past that will make you think about the type of person you want to be going forward into this next chapter. That includes today’s conversation with Amy Morin about her 2018 book 13 Things Mentally Strong Women Don’t Do: Own Your Power, Channel Your Confidence, and Find Your Authentic Voice for a Life of Meaning and Joy. In addition to this book, Amy has written a number of books about things mentally strong populations don’t do — people, couples, kids, parents. We are zooming in on women today, but I think anyone will be able to take something from this conversation. Today we talk through each of the 13, spotlighting some of my favorites; I ask Amy, if she could revise this book — which came out six years ago this month — what she’d add or take away; and we talk about three components of mental strength. We also talk about what mental strength brings to a life, and I’m really excited for you to hear what she has to say. Amy is a licensed clinical social worker, psychotherapist, college psychology instructor, keynote speaker, author, and expert on mental strength. Her books have sold over 1 million copies and have been translated into 40 languages, and, in addition to being an accomplished writer, she’s also an award-winning podcast host, hosting “Mentally Stronger with Therapist Amy Morin.” She is also the former editor-in-chief of Verywell Mind and has been featured everywhere from Today, Good Morning America, Time, Fast Company, Success, CNN, CNBC, and more. Amy’s TEDx talk “The Secret of Becoming Mentally Strong” is one of the most popular talks of all time with more than 22 million views, and Amy’s quest to find mental strength is hard won: she lost her mother at 23, and her husband died when she was 26. As she puts it, “Losing the two most important people in my life sent me on a quest to learn as much as I could about how to be mentally strong.” In 2013, during one of the lowest moments in her life, she wrote a letter to herself about what mentally strong people don’t do, and 13 things emerged that could rob her of her mental strength if she let them. She figured her letter could maybe help someone else, so she published it online, thinking maybe a few people could benefit from it. It went viral, and more than 50 million people read it. From there came her book deal, and the rest is history. We are all better for her message. 

13 Things Mentally Strong Women Don’t Do: Own Your Power, Channel Your Confidence, and Find Your Authentic Voice for a Life of Meaning and Joy by Amy Morin

I have a great story to tell you about our guest today. Back in 2020, my co-host Jessica and I were looking to start what would become our podcast about the royal family, Podcast Royal. By 2020, Cathy Heller was already a prolific podcaster, as her show Don’t Keep Your Day Job — which has since been renamed — debuted in 2017. Cathy gave me such helpful advice, and Jessica and I went on to launch Podcast Royal in November 2020 before I solo launched I’d Rather Be Reading about six months later in 2021. Cathy was so generous, selfless, and kind, and I’ve never forgotten it. Cathy gave so much to me without getting anything in return — she is truly, truly a good person. A light in a sometimes dark world. Now, flash forward to the present day, we’re here to celebrate Cathy today with the December 3 release of her brand new book Abundant Ever After: Tools for Creating a Life of Prosperity and Ease. Speaking of Abundant Ever After, that is the updated name of Cathy’s podcast, which is seven years running and 916 episodes strong! Along with her podcast, Cathy’s book teaches us how to create the most expansive life possible and serves as a powerful guide for anyone ready to step into their most authentic self and transform their lives. In a word, Abundant Ever After is transformative, teaching us to do less striving and more surrendering, allowing more and more abundance in our lives. Today on the show we talk about what abundance is, how to live an abundant life and eschew limiting beliefs, and lean into, in Cathy’s words, “a life that takes your breath away.” She also discusses what she might say to someone who is a skeptic of all of this, and so much more. It’s a very powerful conversation with someone whose life I look at and genuinely say, in the iconic words of When Harry Met Sally, “I’ll have what she’s having.” I can’t state enough what a difference Cathy has made in my life — and I’m not the only one. She is so giving of her time and energy and resources, and one of the best gifts she’s given the world comes in the form of this fantastic book. Let me tell you a little bit about the force that is Cathy Heller. She has been described as a “fire hose of inspiration,” and is a dynamic transformational coach, spiritual guide, meditation teacher, and motivational speaker. In addition to Abundant Ever After, Cathy also wrote Don’t Keep Your Day Job: How to Turn Your Passion into Your Career, and a through line through her work is providing inspiration for listeners and readers to boldly pursue their dreams and live authentically, to find their purpose and live on purpose. Cathy originally had a career in the music industry and has found new purpose through her work trying to help others find their happiest, most fulfilled selves. The world could use a million more people just like Cathy, and I can’t wait for you to learn more from her today. She’s the real deal. 

Abundant Ever After: Tools for Creating a Life of Prosperity and Ease by Cathy Heller

I went to the library recently and checked out so many books on self-help and self-improvement. It’s really dawning on me that, in just a few days’ time, I’ll have a new name and, while I’ll always be the same person, I am looking at it as a fresh start of sorts. One of the books I checked out was Caroline Adams Miller’s 2009 book Creating Your Best Life: The Ultimate Life List Guide, and I enjoyed it so much that I reached out to her to chat about it. Well, wouldn’t you know it, that same month Caroline had a new book coming out — and so today we are talking about both of these books! Caroline’s new book is called Big Goals: The Science of Setting Them, Achieving Them, and Creating Your Best Life, which came out November 27. I found Caroline, both in her books and in this conversation, to be a wealth of knowledge. In Caroline’s groundbreaking Big Goals, we learn about Goal Setting Theory and about goal setting practices for personal and professional goals that will ensure that we make all of our goals a reality. Caroline spent over 15 years researching this book, and it’s packed with data. It connects beautifully with Creating Your Best Life, her 2009 book, which we also speak about today. Caroline is a pioneer in the areas of the science of goal setting, happiness, success, and grit. Creating Your Best Life was the first mass-market book on goal accomplishment that included evidence-based research, and it also connected the science of success with the science of happiness for the first time. It is so popular that it was re-released in 2021. Caroline also wrote many other books, including Getting Grit in 2017, and she is a keynote speaker who has worked with clients like Morgan Stanley, lululemon, Harvard Law School, and many others. Caroline has taught as part of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Business School Executive Education program and has also taught in NYU’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies and the University of Texas-Dallas School of Management. A graduate of Penn and Harvard, she’s been featured in hundreds of magazines, newspapers, and other media outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, BBC, NBC, NPR, and CNN. She’s also a top-ranked Masters Swimmer and even has a black belt in martial arts. She’s clearly pretty good at this whole goal setting thing. We’ve got much to learn from her.

Creating Your Best Life: The Ultimate Life List Guide by Caroline Adams Miller

Big Goals: The Science of Setting Them, Achieving Them, and Creating Your Best Life by Caroline Adams Miller

Sometimes in life we get the chance to experience a mountaintop moment, and that’s exactly what happened when I chatted with the brilliant Geneen Roth this week. Geneen wrote the landmark book Women, Food, and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything, which came out in 2010, nearly 15 years ago. A huge fan of this groundbreaking work? None other than Oprah Winfrey, so if it’s good enough for Oprah, it’s good enough for me. At its core, one of the central messages in Women, Food, and God is this: we often eat to fill a void or a hole for something other than food. Anytime we eat when we’re not physically hungry — so, think emotional eating — we are hungry for something other than food. We are seeking nourishment from food to fill a lack of nourishment in another area of our lives. The good news, as Geneen and I discuss in today’s episode? This is fixable! I am living proof, as I used to struggle with this but don’t to the same degree anymore. I will probably always struggle with this to an extent, but reading Geneen’s book (which I cried while reading!) ushered in a new chapter of my life where my issues with food didn’t run the show. Geneen has candidly admitted that she has had food issues in the past, too, going back to age five or six. Her first diet began when she was just 11. I relate to this so much, as it was the same story for me. If you have ever eaten to fulfill an unmet need elsewhere, this conversation is for you. We must ask ourselves, Geneen writes, “What do I really want?” One’s relationship with food is often directly correlated to one’s relationship with themselves, and food is a mirror for how well we feel nourished in our lives. Today, Geneen helps us take the first step with an intention to heal a poor relationship with food; talks to us about why diet and restriction are not the answer to solving this issue; and shares what she’s learned after the massive global reception to this book. This is by no means the only book Geneen has written, but Women, Food, and God is what we’re zooming in on today. In fact, Geneen has written 10 books, and I was excited to hear her say on this episode that she’s working on a new book! In addition to Women, Food, and God, Geneen has also written This Messy Magnificent Life, When Food Is Love, Breaking Free from Emotional Eating, Lost and Found, and many others. Over the past 40 years, she has helped thousands of people through her workshops and retreats and has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, The Today Show, 20/20, and The View. Geneen’s books were some of the first to link compulsive eating and perpetual dieting with deeply personal and spiritual issues that transcend food, weight, and body image. She believes, as I do, that the way to transform our relationship with food and our body is to be kind to ourselves, not punishing. Take a listen to our conversation.

Women, Food, and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything by Geneen Roth

Learn more about Geneen’s work at geneenroth.com!

What if I told you that, when it comes to managing your time and your life, you were never going to get it together — and that was okay? Continuing the thread from our last conversation with Kendra Adachi, today on the show we have the incomparable Oliver Burkeman, who wrote the book Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts, which came out October 8. Literally from the opening page of the book — page one of the introduction, which is called “The Imperfect Life” — Oliver had me hooked with the words “This is a book about how the world opens up once you realize you’re never going to sort your life out.” The hard truth? There will always be too much to do. We will never win the unwinnable battle of conquering our time. But the good news? We will be okay, and Oliver’s book teaches us how. We will, in his words, never reach the end of the trouble-free phase. Our culture has a productivity and busyness obsession, and it all comes down to grasping for control in an uncontrollable world. The book is broken up into bite size chunks — daily offerings over four weeks. Those four weeks are Week 1: Being Finite; Week 2: Taking Action; Week 3: Letting Go; and Week 4: Showing Up. Today on the show Oliver talks to us about why he decided to organize the book this way and teaches us about a concept called strategic underachievement and what he calls JOMO, which is the JOY of missing out, as opposed to FOMO, the fear of missing out. We talk about embracing “imperfectionism” and why people pleasers may struggle with this more; a major fallacy about time that Oliver thinks we’ve gotten terribly wrong; and so much more. Oliver is also the author of 2021’s Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, the title of which roughly represents the length of a human life. Oliver wrote the weekly column “This Column Will Change Your Life” for The Guardian from 2006 to 2020 and, in addition to Meditations for Mortals and Four Thousand Weeks, is the author of two other books, HELP!: How to Be Slightly Happier and Get a Bit More Done and The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking. You’re going to love him. If you’re looking to be liberated from your to do list, explore a more meaningful life, and take a four week “retreat of the mind” (unless you’re like me and gobble his book up in one sitting), take a listen.

Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts by Oliver Burkeman

I said I was going to take this month off from the show, but then, Kendra Adachi’s brilliant book The PLAN: Manage Your Time Like a Lazy Genius found me, and I couldn’t be selfish to you lovely listeners and keep it to myself. I really do believe books meet you where you are, and The PLAN certainly met me where I was (and still am). I am obsessed with time management, productivity, life hacks, life optimization — but I was shocked to learn in Kendra’s book, which came out October 8, that a full 93 percent of time management books are written by men! In today’s conversation, Kendra explains why that matters, and why we need a different voice at the table. Kendra writes in the book “The problem isn’t you” when it comes to time management, and that “It’s not your lack of dedication, consistency, or motivation. It’s not because you haven’t started the right habit or taken the right online course. It’s because the current productivity paradigm doesn’t work for women. It’s that simple. The advice you’re getting is for men by men, and women are just expected to make it work.” In today’s episode we talk about the productivity industrial complex, her method of compassionate time management, what a “Lazy Genius” is anyway, the four components of the PLAN (which is an acronym!), and perhaps most meaningful for me, how time management looks different in different seasons, and to embrace the season we’re in and what time management in this particular season looks like. There’s so much good here, and here to walk us through it all is Kendra Adachi, who is a New York Times bestselling author of The Lazy Genius Way, The Lazy Genius Kitchen, and now, The PLAN, which is a New York Times bestseller! And rightfully so. She hosts the Lazy Genius Podcast and, through her compassionate time management philosophy, believes that we should stop doing it all for the sake of doing what matters. She has a husband, three kids, and a great message.

The PLAN: Manage Your Time Like a Lazy Genius by Kendra Adachi

Election Day is on Tuesday, November 5, and I could think of no better book to tee that up than Bill Haldeman’s new book Meeting the Moment: Inspiring Presidential Leadership That Transformed America, which is out November 1. This book about presidential leadership takes a specific leadership quality of a certain president and shows readers how the combination of that quality and that president transformed America. Case in point? Bill writes that for Thomas Jefferson, his transformative leadership quality was ingenuity; for George Washington, it was his judgment; for Teddy Roosevelt, his courage and fearless, daring spirit; for Franklin D. Roosevelt, his confidence; for Ronald Reagan, his optimism. As Bill writes, when a president’s defining leadership quality met their action, America was advanced. We talk today about how presidential leadership has transformed America, as Bill writes, “it was not one leadership quality that made America stronger and better—it was many.” Bill, like me, has long been interested in the American presidency, and this is a fresh, compelling take on presidential leadership that inspired me to ask myself the question, “What is my transformative leadership quality that I might be remembered by?” Bill also talks about speeches of import and tells us about a powerful one in today’s episode, which presidents maybe didn’t meet the moment, and about the “second term curse” for presidents. I love studying the presidency and I love studying leadership, and this book combined both subject matters brilliantly. Let me introduce you to our fantastic guest today: Bill Haldeman is a veteran public servant and is the Vice Chancellor and Chief Strategy Officer at the University of Pittsburgh. He has also served the White House Domestic Policy Council, two U.S. Secretaries of State, and is a senior staff member to a state governor. I’m excited for you to hear our conversation.

Meeting the Moment: Inspiring Presidential Leadership That Transformed America by Bill Haldeman

Today on the show we have Wright Thompson here to talk about his latest book, one of the most powerful books I’ve ever read — The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi, which came out September 24. Though it’s not mentioned in the title or the subtitle, the book is about the brutal, absolutely depraved murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till on August 28, 1955 in Mississippi. I have a deep connection with Mississippi, as does Wright, who was born and raised there, and who grew up just 23 miles from the barn where Emmett lost his life (and where the book’s title comes from). Though Wright grew up so very close to where this atrocity took place, he never found out about this awful murder until he went to college out of state. As he writes in The Barn, the erasure of Emmett’s murder “was a collective effort, one that continues to this day.” It has been nearly 70 years since this unspeakable crime, and The Barn is an effort to reverse that erasure. William Faulkner has been quoted as saying, “To understand the world, you must first understand a place like Mississippi,” and I must admit, it’s difficult to understand this senseless murder. The two men accused of murdering Emmett, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, were acquitted in a mockery of justice. The four-hour torture and murder of a young man who was barely a teenager for allegedly whistling at a young white woman was depraved, even for Mississippi at the time. In today’s episode, Wright sets the scene for us of what August 1955 was like in Mississippi, especially in terms of race relations. He also tells us about that terrible night and what precipitated it and tells us more about Emmett’s brave and courageous mother, Mamie Till, who insisted that her son’s badly damaged body be on display in an open casket at his funeral after his body was returned home from Mississippi to Chicago because, in her words, she wanted to “Let the world see what I’ve seen.” Emmett’s death essentially launched the civil rights movement — for context, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus on December 1, 1955, just over three months after Emmett’s senseless killing. When asked why she didn’t give up her seat, she said, “I thought of Emmett Till, and I just couldn’t go back.” Just as the book is overwhelmingly powerful, so too is the fact that, as we recorded this episode, Wright was at the barn, working on a project that will eventually be announced with those who knew and loved Emmett. I got to see the barn on our Zoom call, and I’m forever moved and impacted by it. After Bryant and Milam were acquitted and therefore protected against double jeopardy, the two men admitted in a 1956 interview with Look magazine (which Wright references in this episode) that they had, indeed, tortured and murdered Emmett. To a point we later make in the episode, they both died young of cancer. Here on the show today is the incomparable Wright Thompson. He is a senior writer for ESPN.com and ESPN the Magazine, and his 2010 article “Ghosts of Mississippi” inspired the 2012 ESPN 30 for 30 documentary film The Ghosts of Ole Miss, which he narrated, about the 1962 Ole Miss football team’s perfect season and the concurrent violence and rioting over the integration of the university by James Meredith. He also narrated the ESPN 30 for 30 film Roll Tide/War Eagle. Prior to writing The Barn, Wright also published the book Pappyland: A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon, and the Things That Last, which came out in 2020. Take a listen to our conversation — and please be forewarned it contains deeply disturbing subject matter, but subject matter that is absolutely necessary to hear.

The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi by Wright Thompson

Today on the show we’re talking about a woman you all have long known I admire — Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. I have read every book I can get my hands on about this former First Lady, American (and, really, global) icon, and one of the most famous women to ever live. We have even had many episodes of the show about her in the past. But today we’re talking about the new book Our Jackie: Public Claims on a Private Life by Dr. Karen M. Dunak, which is out November 12, and instead of just looking at this remarkable woman’s life, we’re looking at this remarkable woman’s life through the lens of how she represented American womanhood more broadly. As Karen writes in the book, “Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was a person, but she also served as a symbol of broader cultural expectations.” And what Karen found through her research here was totally fascinating. Jackie's designer Oleg Cassini called her “a powerful symbol for the United States,” and she held power as a public figure, both domestically and internationally. It goes without saying that American womanhood changed dramatically from 1960 and John F. Kennedy’s election to the presidency and 1994 and Jackie’s far too soon death. Jackie’s life is examined through her time as a campaign wife to First Lady to widow to a wife again after remarrying Aristotle Onassis to becoming a career woman and an icon. As Karen writes in the book of Jackie, “She often followed a path of her own choosing, enduring the ebbs and flows of assessments about her much as she did the transition from campaign wife to first lady and then beyond. Response to her may have reflected broader ideas about American womanhood. But she was just being herself.” This book specifically zooms in on media coverage of Jackie and how that framed her narrative, and I gobbled it up. Here on the show today we have the pleasure of hosting Dr. Karen M. Dunak, professor and Arthur G. and Eloise Barnes Cole Chair of American History in the Department of History at Muskingum University. Prior to Our Jackie, Karen was the author of As Long as We Both Shall Love: The White Wedding in Postwar America, and she is a contributor to Of the People: A History of the United States. Her research interests include post-World War II U.S. history, American women’s history, gender and sexuality, and social movements, and celebrity and media in U.S. history, and her work has appeared in many academic journals. I can’t wait for you to hear what she has to say.

Our Jackie: Public Claims on a Private Life by Dr. Karen M. Dunak

What an episode we have for you today, listeners. Today on the show we have the phenomenal Terri Cole, whose work about boundaries I have so resonated with in the past. She has a new book out on October 15 called Too Much: A Guide to Breaking the Cycle of High-Functioning Codependency, and it examines what we thought we knew about codependency. We have had the godmother of codependency, Melody Beattie, on the show, and Melody introduced the concept to the world. Now, in Too Much, Terri is taking the concept to the next level, introducing us to high-functioning codependency. In today’s conversation we define what high-functioning codependency, or HFC, is, what it looks like, some common behaviors exhibited by those who have it, and how those with HFC got to this place. You also might have heard this called “overfunctioning.” You’ll hear me say this many times throughout this episode, but I identify as a recovering HFC, and Terri writes that these behaviors are “highly programmed and largely unconscious.” Terri, too, is a recovering HFC, and writes in Too Much that “prioritizing the wants, needs, and outcomes of others over my own well-being was my default setting.” She talks about the moment she knew she couldn’t go on this way, and the book is a deeply personal one to her. We also talk about how we draw the line from being caring and a high-functioning codependent — and when we know, as the book’s title suggests, that it’s too much. By the way, when it comes to romantic relationships, codependents are attracted to narcissists, and the reverse is true, as well. The book talks about how we can prevent this deeply unhealthy combination. In our conversation today, we talk about the cost to a life if one doesn’t address their high-functioning codependency, and how the key to getting to the other side is boundaries. Now, Terri is an expert in boundaries; her book prior to Too Much, which I also highly recommend, is called Boundary Boss: The Essential Guide to Talk True, Be Seen, and (Finally) Live Free. I do think it’s important to note that reversing high-functioning codependency is absolutely possible, but it isn’t a linear path or a straight line, and that those working through this should expect setbacks. You know what? People could probably live their whole lives with high-functioning codependency, but because of Terri’s book, they won’t want to, and they don’t have to. Terri Cole, MSW, LCSW, is a licensed psychotherapist and global relationship and empowerment expert and has been doing this work for over 25 years. She is the host of a podcast I love, “The Terri Cole Show,” and inspires over 600,000 people weekly. She has a deep gift for making complex psychological concepts actionable and accessible so that clients achieve sustainable change. This conversation with Terri meant a lot to me, and I bet it will to you, too. Take a listen.

Too Much: A Guide to Breaking the Cycle of High-Functioning Codependency by Terri Cole

Check out Terri’s HFC Toolkit at terricole.com/hfc and visit hfcbook.com/ for more information!

Today on the show we are talking about Victoria’s Secret, the retail giant that, as my guests Lauren Sherman and Chantal Fernandez write in their new book Selling Sexy: Victoria’s Secret and the Unraveling of an American Icon, “defined a generation’s idea of sexy.” Selling Sexy is out October 8 and tells the story of a company that, at its peak, pulled in $8 billion in annual sales. We talk in today’s episode about Les Wexner, what Victoria’s Secret was like at its apex, its ubiquitous presence in malls, its revolutionizing of bras and underwear, its Angels, and its fashion show. We talk about how Victoria’s Secret fit into the business conversation (including a look into its business model), how Victoria’s Secret fit into the fashion conversation, and how Victoria’s Secret fit into womanhood and girlhood for a generation of women, including myself. We also talk about its downfall, from an American icon to where it is today. How is Victoria’s Secret doing today, you may ask? Well, you’ll have to listen to find out. Here to guide us through it all is Lauren Sherman, who hosts one of my favorite podcasts, “Fashion People.” Lauren has been reporting on the fashion industry for more than 15 years and is a special correspondent at Puck. Prior to that appointment, she was Business of Fashion’s chief correspondent, and before that a reporter at Forbes. You may have seen her work in The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Women’s Health, or The New York Times. Chantal Fernandez is a writer that covers fashion, retail, luxury, and beauty with a focus on business and culture. She is currently a features writer at New York Magazine’s The Cut, which I am completely obsessed with and read every day. She, like Lauren, is a Business of Fashion alum, where she was a former senior reporter. You may have read Chantal in The New York Times, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, or The Financial Times, and these two women are just about as knowledgeable and impressive as it gets. I enjoyed this book and this conversation so much. Take a listen.

Selling Sexy: Victoria’s Secret and the Unraveling of an American Icon by Lauren Sherman and Chantal Fernandez

We have a legend on I’d Rather Be Reading today, friends. None other than Malcolm Gladwell is here to talk about his latest book, Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering, which is out October 1. Revenge of the Tipping Point comes nearly 25 years after Malcolm’s 2000 book The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, a bestseller that took his career to the next level and ushered in a new genre of books. Today on the show we talk to Malcolm about what made him want to return to the concept of The Tipping Point and if there was unfinished business there; what a tipping point is, exactly; and how, as he writes in Revenge of the Tipping Point, “the very same tools we use to build a better world can also be used against us.” As he puts it, Revenge of the Tipping Point is a study of the underside of possibilities he explored a quarter century ago. We talk about social engineering, social epidemics, monocultures, overstories, his process, and how we can use tools necessary to control an epidemic to build a better world. So much here, and I’m excited to dig into all of it with you listeners today. Malcolm Gladwell is someone I’ve mentioned on the show before — I’ve read all of his books, and I’m a big fan. He is a journalist, author, and public speaker who has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996. In addition to publishing seven New York Times bestselling books (and I have no doubt his latest, his eighth, will become a bestseller, too), he is a podcaster — his show “Revisionist History” is a must-listen. His work is in the realm of sociology and psychology, social sciences, and after the success of The Tipping Point in 2000, books like Blink, Outliers, What the Dog Saw, David and Goliath, Talking to Strangers, and The Bomber Mafia followed. His books are massive bestsellers, he’s one of the forefront thinkers of our time, and has even been named one of TIME’s 100 most influential people. Revenge of the Tipping Point marks Malcolm’s eighth book, and I’m thrilled to chat with him about it today. I also want to throw this in here for good measure — he has a cat named Biggie Smalls, so that’s absolutely amazing. Take a listen.

Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering by Malcolm Gladwell

We are back today with another fantastic episode, and for my 38th birthday today, I’d like to give you a gift — a conversation about a book that really touched me. We’re chatting today about Dr. Mary E. Anderson’s book The Happy High Achiever: 8 Essentials to Overcome Anxiety, Manage Stress, and Energize Yourself for Success—Without Losing Your Edge, which came out September 24. She writes that we are experiencing an epidemic of high achievers anxiety, which Mary explains in today’s episode. In the book, she writes “The bad news is that right now, you are likely not feeling your best. You may be overwhelmed and tired and frustrated by what feels like an insurmountable mountain of effort, and the truth is, if you continue on this track, you will burn out.” Sometimes achievement becomes a problem and becomes as much of an addictive behavior as maybe some of the more traditionally destructive behaviors. Mary writes of those with high achievers anxiety that they are “plagued with a feeling of inadequacy, no matter how high they soared” and I self-identify as one of these people. But Mary gives us hope, writing that “You can be happy and high achieving,” and that one can move from being an anxious high achiever to, as the book title alludes to, a happy high achiever. Today on the show we chat about Mary’s eight essentials to overcome anxiety, manage stress, and energize yourself for success, which are the roadmap to being a happy high achiever. We also talk about the “Troublesome Trifecta,” and what life as a happy high achiever looks like — and how, with this great book, we can get there. Here to guide us through it all is Dr. Mary E. Anderson, known affectionately as “Dr. A” by her clients, who is a licensed clinical psychologist and sought-after speaker with over a decade of experience helping patients become happier, healthier, and sustainably high achieving. I truly hope that you get as much out of this book and this conversation as I did. Take a listen!

The Happy High Achiever: 8 Essentials to Overcome Anxiety, Manage Stress, and Energize Yourself for Success—Without Losing Your Edge by Dr. Mary E. Anderson

I’m so pleased to have on the show today Megan Gorman, who wrote a very compelling book called All the Presidents’ Money: How the Men Who Governed America Governed Their Money, which is out September 24. Before we get into the book — which isn’t that such a great idea and such a great title? — let me tell you a little more about Megan: she is the founder and managing partner of Chequers Financial Management, a female-owned high-net-worth tax and financial planning firm. Her clientele ranges from entrepreneurs to corporate executives to inheritors of family wealth. She is an attorney by training and is passionate about the problem solving required to work in the world of complex financial planning. She has been named to Forbes’ list of America’s Top Women Wealth Advisors and was a vice president at Ayco, a Goldman Sachs company, and BNY Mellon Wealth Management prior to launching her own firm. Megan is a senior contributor at Forbes, where she writes about personal finance and income tax, and she is frequently cited across prominent financial media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and CNBC. She has now written the brilliant All the Presidents’ Money: How the Men Who Governed America Governed Their Money, where she dives deep into the personal finances of the presidents. As she writes, “most of their money problems are just like ours.” In the book, Megan teaches readers what president is the best at money (and he may surprise you!), and who is worst with money. Interestingly, Megan writes that, when it comes to solid financial advice, “if you ever asked me what is the best thing you could do financially, my answer would be quite succinct: get married and stay married.” We talk about First Ladies, too, and about financial advice for the presidents and for us; Megan writes about financial fragility and financial resilience, and how “In many of the presidents’ stories, financial fragility is a common theme.” We talk about what grit has to do with wealth, how the American dream is still there but much harder to attain in present times, and so much more. Studying the U.S. presidents and their personal money stories and how they built wealth — or didn’t — is incredibly fascinating. Take a listen.

All the Presidents’ Money: How the Men Who Governed America Governed Their Money by Megan Gorman

Celebrating the giants of American history — the George Washingtons, the Abraham Lincolns, the Martin Luther King Jrs — is important, but behind every larger-than-life American icon is, as Sharon McMahon calls her new book, The Small and the Mighty. The full title of Sharon’s book, which is out September 24, is The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, from the Founding to the Civil Rights Movement, and all of these 12 unsung American heroes are extraordinary. As Sharon writes, “How many more Americans who changed the course of history are waiting to be discovered?” And in writing this book and telling the stories of these 12, I could tell with every page and Sharon’s poetic prose that she wanted to inspire the rest of us to do what we can in our corners of the world to make the world a better place, too. As she writes of the 12 she chose, “None of them could do it all, but they all could do something. These are the small and the mighty. And we can be too.” As she puts it, “It’s the small who truly are the mighty.” It’s interesting, because I find Sharon herself to be an unsung hero — although, as her profile rises and rises, she is very deservedly getting her flowers. Sharon has become known as “America’s Government Teacher” and is a podcaster, author, Instagram influencer, and law and government teacher. Sharon’s content on her podcast, Instagram, and other platforms mostly centers around civics and history-focused material, and she is particularly interested in combatting misinformation from both sides of the aisle and providing a nonpartisan explanation on the application of constitutional law to contemporary American politics. If you don’t already follow her work, you must. Sharon is a longtime high school law and government teacher and started publishing politics-oriented content to her Instagram during the pandemic back in 2020, mostly as a response to what she saw as rising misinformation on her own social media feeds amid not just the pandemic but also the presidential election that year. And there’s no better time to follow Sharon as we are once again in a presidential election year, just in case you weren’t aware. Kidding. Sharon then launched Government for Grownups, a workshop series about U.S. history and government, and is also deeply involved in philanthropy, as well, continually using her platform for good. Her podcast is called “Here’s Where It Gets Interesting,” and her Instagram is called “Sharon Says So.” She is a remarkable woman that I can’t wait for you to learn from today. Take a listen.

The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, from the Founding to the Civil Rights Movement by Sharon McMahon

I am a huge sports fan, and both the college football season and the NFL season are in full swing. Sports-wise, this is one of my favorite times of the year, and our guest today Joe Posnanski has written a book for all lovers of the game called Why We Love Football: A History in 100 Moments that you definitely won’t want to miss. Joe chose 100 moments because of the 100 yards in a football field, and talks to us today about how on earth he chose just 100 moments out of the hundreds and even thousands he could have chosen. He talks about what anecdote was most fun to write about, a player and a play that epitomizes football to him, why football matters to society and culture, and yes, even Taylor Swift. We also brought up some of my childhood memories with the Kansas City Chiefs, and it left me feeling very nostalgic. The book is out September 17, and follows Joe’s books The Baseball 100 and also Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments. Joe talks about simultaneously loving both college and pro football, and how you can also love multiple sports, just like he loves football and baseball, which he writes in the book is like living a double life. Joe is a former senior columnist for Sports Illustrated and columnist for The Kansas City Star and currently writes for his personal blog JoeBlogs. He’s one of the most well-respected sportswriters in the game and has written a number of other books in addition to the three already mentioned. In both 2002 and 2005, Joe was named the best sports columnist in America by the Associated Press Sports Editors, and has won numerous other awards for his work, including Sports Emmy Awards in both 2014 and 2016 as part of NBC’s Olympics coverage. He hosts his own weekly podcast, “The PosCast,” and he’s just a great guy. Trust me—if you weren’t already excited about football season being back, you certainly will be after this chat and this book. Take a listen.

Why We Love Football: A History in 100 Moments by Joe Posnanski

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!

When it comes to books that have impacted my life for the better, Kara Loewentheil’s Take Back Your Brain: How a Sexist Society Gets in Your Head—and How to Get It Out tops the list. It came out May 21, and in it she writes that our thoughts “are like GPS—they tell your brain what to focus on, how to feel, and what to do. You have to set that GPS on purpose to create the life you want.” To do so, Kara walks us through three steps: 1. How to identify what thoughts are really driving you. 2. How to evaluate whether a thought is serving you or not. 3. How to change your thoughts. Today on the show we’re talking about the Voice as a proper noun, neuroplasticity, the brain gap, the thought-emotion-behavior-return loop, and how to create a new neural pathway through the brilliant thought ladder concept. If it all sounds overwhelming, I promise you, both Kara’s book and this conversation breaks it all down into easily digestible and understandable bits that will improve your life. If my ringing endorsement isn’t enough, Take Back Your Brain is a New York Times bestseller, a No. 1 nonfiction bestseller for USA Today, and a Publishers Weekly bestseller. If you are looking to stop endless negative self-talk and step into power and confidence and joy—and especially if you’re a woman—you have arrived at the right conversation as we aim to take back our thoughts, getting rid of the ones that no longer serve us. Kara is the host of the extremely popular “UnF*ck Your Brain” podcast; she’s also a Harvard Law School graduate, Master Life Coach, and the founder of The New School of Feminist Thought. Take Back Your Brain is her first book, but my goodness, I hope it’s not her last. Take a listen to this powerful conversation.

Take Back Your Brain: How a Sexist Society Gets in Your Head—and How to Get It Out by Kara Loewentheil

Today on the show we are talking about American fashion, specifically Empresses of Seventh Avenue: World War II, New York City, and the Birth of American Fashion, the brand-new book from Nancy MacDonell, out August 27. Prior to World War II, American designers were nothing short of second-class citizens to the French. But, after the Nazis invaded Paris during the war, everything changed for French fashion, and by the time the war ended in 1945, the American look was in fashion. What is the American look, you ask? Nancy answers that for us today, as well as introduces us to a fascinating cast of characters who helped birth American fashion: Elizabeth Hawes, Eleanor Lambert, and Claire McCardell, for starters. Soon, American fashion began to beat the French at their own game, and this is all a leadup to the Battle of Versailles, which we interviewed Robin Givhan about on the show last year. American fashion is thriving now—at $500 billion, it’s the largest fashion industry in the world—but there would likely be no Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford, Tory Burch, Halston, or Michael Kors without the Empresses of Seventh Avenue. These women have largely been forgotten to history—that is, until Nancy MacDonnell came along. Nancy is a fashion journalist and fashion historian that writes The Wall Street Journal column “Fashion with a Past,” which explores the historic roots of current fashion trends. Nancy has written everywhere from The New York Times to Elle, Vogue, and many other publications, and she’s written five books, including The Classic Ten: The True Story of the Little Black Dress and Nine Other Fashion Favorites. In addition to her work as a writer, Nancy is also an adjunct lecturer in fashion history at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Let’s take a listen to what she has to say.

Empresses of Seventh Avenue: World War II, New York City, and the Birth of American Fashion by Nancy MacDonell

Today I am talking to author Heath Hardage Lee about one of America’s First Ladies, and perhaps one of our most private ones—Pat Nixon, wife of President Richard Nixon. The timing is interesting: earlier this month marked 50 years since President Nixon’s resignation from the presidency following Watergate, and earlier this month Heath released her really, really fantastic new book The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon: The Life and Times of Washington’s Most Private First Lady, which I absolutely tore through. There is so much we have gotten wrong about Mrs. Nixon over the years. First of all, she was a private woman, which led her to come across as, as the book’s title suggests, mysterious. Misunderstood, even. Heath and I speak about this in today’s episode, but her public persona was “Plastic Pat,” while the real Mrs. Nixon was anything but. Heath and I talk today about her love story with Richard Nixon; how Mrs. Nixon was First Lady and running the East Wing of the White House at a very interesting time, constantly toeing the line between the traditional wife and modern woman; what doors she opened for women; an example of Pat at her best and at her wobbliest; and so much more. Pat Nixon died in 1993, and, perhaps indicative of his love for her and how much he needed her, President Nixon died just 10 months later. To teach us more about Mrs. Nixon is Heath Hardage Lee, an award-winning historian, biographer, and curator. Heath’s book The League of Wives is currently being developed into a television series, and Heath and her work have been featured on The Today Show, C-SPAN, and on the Smithsonian Channel’s America’s Hidden Stories. She also writes about history and politics for outlets like Time, The Atlantic, The Hill, and White House History Quarterly. Take a listen to our conversation.

The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon: The Life and Times of Washington’s Most Private First Lady by Heath Hardage Lee

Today on the show we’re returning to the Alex Murdaugh saga, as I call it—this is actually not the first time on the show we’ve spoken about it and not even the first time in season 13 we’ve spoken about it. It is compelling to me for its savagery—I can’t understand it, a man who could do this evil to his family and to so many others, as well. Today on the show we have Valerie Bauerlein, here to talk about her brilliant new book The Devil at His Elbow: Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty, which comes out today, August 20. Alex was the Prince of Hampton County, South Carolina, as Valerie puts it, and he came from a long line of Murdaughs who believed “To live above the law, you must become the law.” So they did that. They all became lawyers—or solicitors, as they’re known in Hampton County—and ran the town and the county. Not only do we learn more about Alex and his immediate family of Maggie, Buster, and Paul Murdaugh in this book, but also the deeper Murdaugh family history, filled with corruption and crime and callousness, quite frankly. Valerie is such a talented writer—she writes that, for Alex, “duplicity was his birthright,” and in this book we learn information I’d never heard or read before about his murder case for the deaths of Maggie and Paul and other crimes he committed, as well. As Valerie writes, “Three generations of Murdaughs had devoted a century to building a legal dynasty. Now, in a little more than ten years, Alex had burned the whole thing down.” This book details how he did just that. Valerie Bauerlein is on the show today, and she is fantastic. She is a national reporter for The Wall Street Journal who writes about small-town America and Southern politics, economics, and culture. She has covered the South her entire career, including 19 years at The Wall Street Journal and four years at The State in Columbia, South Carolina. I’m excited for you to meet her and learn more about this saga from her.

The Devil at His Elbow: Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty by Valerie Bauerlein

I’m really excited to bring you this conversation today about a book that came out in 2017 called Beauty Sick: How the Cultural Obsession with Appearance Hurts Girls and Women by Dr. Renee Engeln. In the book, Dr. Engeln introduces us to beauty sick culture and what it feels like and looks like for women and girls. She writes in the book “How might women’s lives be different if they book the energy and concern aimed at their own appearance and aimed it out at the world instead?” If women didn’t have to worry about this, think of all we could get done. The desire to be thin and pretty, to be the beauty ideal, seems to affect girls younger and younger, and in Beauty Sick Dr. Engeln introduces us to what she calls the “tyranny of the mirror,” and writes that looks shouldn’t matter—but they do. Beauty is used as a source of power for women, and girls learn that the most important asset they possess is their physical beauty. We don’t teach boys and men this same lesson. Beauty, Dr. Engeln writes, is a weak and temporary power, and beauty sickness is a barrier to gender equality, where we see women as objects instead of human beings. Today we talk about how social media has played into this, how beauty sickness revolves around shame, how it attacks women’s mental and emotional well-being and their financial well-being, as well, and how we should, in her words, “turn away from the mirror to face the world.” Dr. Engeln writes that she’s looking for “a culture that sees women not as objects to be looked at, but as human beings who are ready and able to change the world in remarkable ways,” and so am I. Dr. Engeln’s TEDx talk on beauty sickness received more than 700,000 views and reveals the shocking consequences of our obsession with girls’ appearance, including depression, eating disorders, disruptions in cognitive processing, and lost money and time. This book combines scientific studies and the voices of real women of all ages, and I’m really excited to introduce you to Dr. Engeln, who has been a professor for 15 years at Northwestern, where she teaches about psychopathology, the psychology of women and gender, social psychology, and the psychology of human beauty. In addition to publishing numerous empirical journal articles and presenting at academic conferences on body image, media, and the objectification of women, Dr. Engeln presents talks on these topics to groups around the country and is regularly interviewed by media outlets, including The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Today.com, The Huffington Post, and more. At Northwestern, her lab, The Body and Media Lab, conducts research exploring issues surrounding women’s body images, with a particular emphasis on cultural practices that create or enforce the frequently contentious relationship women have with their bodies. Take a listen to this compelling conversation.

Beauty Sick: How the Cultural Obsession with Appearance Hurts Girls and Women by Dr. Renee Engeln

We’ve actually already talked about today’s book and author before on the show—back in January, when the book came out, we mentioned it on the show as it was my first #ReadwithMC book club pick. And now, how lucky are we today to have Kate Kennedy on I’d Rather Be Reading discussing her book One in a Millennial: On Friendships, Feelings, Fangirls, and Fitting In, which came out January 23. This book put into words everything I wish I could have said about being a millennial and perfectly nails down the millennial experience into 336 pages. Some of it is nostalgic and fun—stick around for our lightning round at the end of the episode—but some of it, quite frankly, isn’t pretty. In this book and in this conversation Kate introduces us to the millennial paradox, what a lost millennial is, and so much more. In this book and in her work, Kate Kennedy has become the voice of a generation. She is a podcast host of the wildly popular show “Be There In Five,” a New York Times bestselling author—in addition to One in a Millennial, she also wrote a book about her love/hate relationship with social media called Twinkle, Twinkle, Social Media Star, and is a pop culture commentator. She also invented the “remindoormat” in 2014, which she created as a hobby after she decided to paint “turn off your curling iron” on her doormat in an attempt to not burn down her apartment. She then took it to a wider scale to much success, and called it Be There in Five (which later became the name of her podcast), which launched a line of reminder, affirmation, and custom doormats for people on the go. The doormats took off, and Kate left her corporate marketing job to run the business full-time. Kate is still writing her story—as are all millennials—and she’s here to talk about her book with us today. I want to make a special dedication to my dear friend Mary, who loves Kate as much as I do and is a fellow millennial and just about the best friend, cheerleader, and hype woman a girl can have. I love you Mary, and I hope all of you love this episode.

One in a Millennial: On Friendships, Feelings, Fangirls, and Fitting In by Kate Kennedy

Twenty-five years ago, on September 22, 1999, one of the most beloved television shows of all time premiered on NBC: The West Wing, starring Martin Sheen, Rob Lowe, Allison Janney, Bradley Whitford, John Spencer, and a whole host of other talented actors, including our two guests today—but more on them in a moment. The political drama was created and largely written by Aaron Sorkin, one of my personal favorite writers, and aired from that day in 1999 until May 14, 2006, totaling seven seasons. Across its 154 episodes, we become immersed, as the title suggests, in the West Wing of the White House, where the Oval Office and the offices of those that work closely with the president are located, during the fictional Democratic administration of President Josiah Bartlet, played by Martin Sheen. The West Wing is regularly and often ranked among the best television shows of all time, and during its run won three Golden Globe Awards and a whopping 26 Primetime Emmy Awards, including the award for Outstanding Drama Series, which it won four consecutive times from 2000 to 2003. Beloved cast member John Spencer, who played chief of staff Leo McGarry, died unexpectedly of a heart attack on December 16, 2005, about a year after his character experienced a nearly fatal heart attack on the show. This, naturally, rocked the cast, and the show ended five months after his death. Today on the show we have two cast members, Melissa Fitzgerald and Mary McCormack, here to discuss their new book What’s Next?: A Backstage Pass to the West Wing, Its Cast and Crew, and Its Enduring Legacy of Service, which is out August 13. This book is so great, and it’s long—825 pages’ worth of interviews and oral history about a show that changed culture. Today, Melissa, Mary, and I talk about what made The West Wing such a cultural touchstone, the show’s enduring commitment to public service, the group chat that continues still today, what the book’s title means, the show’s legacy, and so much more. Melissa played Carol Fitzpatrick on the show, an assistant to press secretary C.J. Cregg (played by Allison Janney). In addition to her career as an actress—she has also appeared on Grey’s Anatomy and in The Truman Show—she is also the founder of Voices in Harmony, a nonprofit community theater in L.A., and back in November 2013 joined Justice for Vets as its Senior Director. Mary played Deputy National Security Adviser Kate Harper on The West Wing and has appeared in films like Private Parts, Deep Impact, True Crime, and Mystery, Alaska, and on shows like Murder One, ER, In Plain Sight, Scandal, The Newsroom, Will & Grace, and The Kids Are Alright. I can’t wait for you to hear this conversation!

What’s Next?: A Backstage Pass to the West Wing, Its Cast and Crew, and Its Enduring Legacy of Service by Melissa Fitzgerald and Mary McCormack

On May 4, 1970, during a rally on the campus of Kent State University opposing expanding the Vietnam War into Cambodia by United States military forces, as well as protesting the draft and the Ohio National Guard’s presence on campus, all it took was 13 seconds for 28 National Guard soldiers to fire 67 rounds, killing four and wounding nine unarmed college students. One of the nine injured suffered permanent paralysis, and students Allison Krause, 19, Jeffrey Miller, 20, Sandra Scheuer, 20, and William Schroeder, 19, were killed. Students had been protesting on campus since May 1, and after the Kent State shootings, immediate and massive outrage sparked at college campuses across the country. More than four million students participated in organized walkouts at hundreds of colleges, universities, and even high schools, and the shootings made the United States’ role in the Vietnam War even more contentious. It was a loss of innocence, and a Pulitzer Prize winning photo of a young woman wailing over the body of Jeffrey Miller summed up the feelings of a generation. In the photo, she seems to silently scream “Why? Why? Why?” After the incident, eight of the shooters were charged and ultimately acquitted in a bench trial. The Kent State massacre was a cultural moment that shook the nation, and, as Brian VanDeMark writes in his brilliant new book Kent State: An American Tragedy, out tomorrow, “If you want to know when the Sixties died, they died on May 4, 1970, right there and then, at 12:24 in the afternoon.” Today on the show, Brian and I discuss so much, including what Kent State represented on the whole for America, its legacy, and what we learned from it. Brian teaches history at the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis and is the author of several books on American history, including co-authoring Robert McNamara’s bestselling Vietnam memoir, In Retrospect, which became the basis of the Academy Award-winning documentary The Fog of War. Take a listen to this fascinating conversation with him about a moment that changed history forever.

Kent State: An American Tragedy by Brian VanDeMark

If you’ve been a longtime listener to the show, you know I love to have conversations about faith, and I’ve got two back-to-back ones for you listeners this weekend. Today on the show we have the absolutely lovely Demi-Leigh Tebow, who you might know as Miss Universe 2017. Back then, she was Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters, before she married famous quarterback Tim Tebow in 2020. Demi-Leigh is the founder of The Tebow Group, an entrepreneur, a keynote speaker, and an influencer who was crowned both Miss South Africa and Miss Universe. Demi-Leigh is also a voice for the voiceless for victims of human trafficking, and is now an author, with the release on Tuesday of A Crown That Lasts: You Are Not Your Label. The book’s title pays tribute to her Miss Universe crown, and Demi-Leigh writes candidly and vulnerably in the book about how she lost her identity—lost herself, really—in being Miss Universe. Now, as I tell Demi-Leigh in this episode, not every one of us is going to be Miss Universe, but so many of us lose ourselves in our own titles—wife. Mother. Daughter. Insert your career here. But what matters is not only who are, but whose we are. This book showcases Demi-Leigh’s journey to, as she put it, untangle her identity from her label, and to find confidence in a crown that lasts, not one that is temporary. The book tells her story and also helps us continue to craft our own story; it’s filled with such rich advice and such heartfelt reflection. As obviously beautiful as Demi-Leigh is on the outside, it compares not to the inner beauty she possesses in spades. Take a listen to our powerful conversation.

A Crown That Lasts: You Are Not Your Label by Demi-Leigh Tebow

One of my favorite faith leaders, Max Lucado, is on the show today chatting with me about his latest book, What Happens Next: A Traveler’s Guide Through the End of This Age, which comes out on August 13. Today’s show is a conversation about faith, and about the end times—but it’s anything but doom and gloom and frightening and scary. It’s quite the opposite, actually—I’ve never felt more peace about what will happen to me when it’s my time, and I’ve also never felt more peace about those I love that have already gone home. Max writes in What Happens Next that “God tells us what to expect not to scare us, but to prepare us” and reassures us that it’s all happening right on schedule, writing “Be assured, God is at work. His plans are proceeding at the right pace, in the right places, and according to His will.” In this conversation and in this book, I learned more about paradise, and left feeling so filled with hope of what is to come. I have listened to Max’s voice for so long, as I am a listener of his “Encouraging Word” podcast, and it was such a thrill to have Max speaking directly to me. Max is a bestselling author and minister at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, and Max has written almost 100 books—100 books!—and regularly appears on the New York Times bestseller list. He was named “America’s Pastor” by Christianity Today and “The Best Preacher in America” by Reader’s Digest; he has appeared on programs like NBC Nightly News and Larry King Live, in the pages of USA Today, and has even been a featured speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast. His voice is so, so comforting to me, and, as the Olympics wrap up this weekend, don’t miss what Max says about our loved ones that have gone before us cheering us on as we run our race, like spectators in an Olympic stadium. I hope you will get as much richness and goodness out of this conversation as I most certainly did.

What Happens Next: A Traveler’s Guide Through the End of This Age by Max Lucado

I am a big fan of the dynamic Lydia Fenet, who has written not one but two books we are talking about on the show today: The Most Powerful Woman in the Room Is You: Command an Audience and Sell Your Way to Success, which came out in 2019, and Claim Your Confidence: Unlock Your Superpower and Create the Life You Want, which came out last year. Lydia is the CEO and founder of the Lydia Fenet Agency, has raised over a billion dollars for nonprofits globally as the world’s leading charity auctioneer, hosts a podcast I love and subscribe to called “Claim Your Confidence,” is a globally recognized speaker, and is a wife and mom. She grew up in Lake Charles, Louisiana, which we talk about in today’s episode, and rose to become Global Managing Director of Strategic Partnerships for Christie’s Auction House. Today on the show Lydia talks to us about confidence, and her belief that, in her words, “you already have everything it takes to be confident” and that “confidence and power comes from within.” She talks about her worst-case scenario moment, what confidence means to a life, why the journey is more important than the destination, why fear is our “greatest learning tool,” what her Southern upbringing taught her, and about the car accident that nearly took her life. Lydia has made a career built on empowering others, and you’ll no doubt leave this conversation feeling just that—empowered. Enjoy!

Both by Lydia Fenet:

The Most Powerful Woman in the Room Is You: Command an Audience and Sell Your Way to Success

Claim Your Confidence: Unlock Your Superpower and Create the Life You Want

One of my recent absolute obsessions is skincare. I am always looking for new information, data, research, and resources about my skin, and that’s how I stumbled across Hannah English’s brilliant book Your Best Skin: The Science of Skincare, which came out in 2022. Hannah is a beauty writer, content creator, and pharmaceutical scientist with a clinical research background who breaks down the science behind skincare in such an easily digestible and understandable format. Hannah’s book teaches us truly everything I can think of that I’d ever want to know about skincare—starting with what skincare is, exactly, and the job of the skin. This book is a wealth of knowledge and answers almost every question you can think of when it comes to the topic. Today on the show, Hannah talks about the piece of advice she wishes more people knew about skincare, the most frequently asked question she gets about skincare, if we should treat the skin on our face differently than the skin on our body, the proper order of skincare products and what skincare products we actually need (as opposed to what is marketed to us that we need), the most efficacious skincare routine, how she really feels about makeup wipes, retinol, and injectables like Botox, and so much more. So much good information that is applicable to everyone with skin—so, yes, that’s every single one of you listeners. Take a listen!

Your Best Skin: The Science of Skincare by Hannah English

Today on the show we have Jason Ryan, here to talk to us about his new book Swamp Kings: The Story of the Murdaugh Family of South Carolina and a Century of Backwoods Power, which came out in April. We have spoken about the Murdaugh saga (as I like to call it) on the show before, and we’ll actually speak about it again in season 13. This book certainly talks about Alex Murdaugh, but it also talks about the Murdaugh family of Hampton County, South Carolina, and how Alex’s actions—as depraved as they are—are really only the tip of the iceberg. The Murdaugh power dynasty may have ended with him, but crimes like fraud, theft, and even alleged murder certainly didn’t begin with him. Jason had so much access to the key players, the history, and the place—the Lowcountry of South Carolina. Jason actually lives in Charleston, South Carolina, and his deep connections to the setting allowed for some really fantastic reporting here. Prior to Swamp Kings, Jason wrote books like Jackpot: High Times, High Seas, and the Sting that Launched the War on Drugs; Hell-Bent: One Man’s Crusade to Crush the Hawaiian Mob; and Race to Hawaii: The 1927 Dole Air Derby and the Thrilling First Flights That Opened the Pacific. I found Jason to be a delight, despite our subject matter at hand being pretty dark. Take a listen.

Swamp Kings: The Murdaugh Family of South Carolina and a Century of Backwoods Power by Jason Ryan

We are kicking off season 13 with a book from 2021 that changed my life for the better that I had to revisit and bring to you listeners: Energize: Go from Dragging Ass to Kicking It In 30 Days by Dr. Michael Breus and Stacey Griffith. Dr. Michael Breus is known as “the Sleep Doctor,” and to that end, he writes in the book “to stop feeling so tired and burst with infinite energy all day long, all you have to do is follow the right schedule personalized for your chronotype and body type.” What is a chronotype, and what do you mean by body types? He gets into that in today’s episode, and, of course, in the book. Once you have your chronotype and your body type, you get your Power Profile, and from there your Power Protocol, which teaches us the best time to eat, the best time to have sex, the best time to do basically everything to have more energy. This book and this conversation introduces us to five kinds of movement, why getting eight hours of sleep a night might not be accurate, why we shouldn’t drink coffee straightaway when we wake up and should instead get 20 minutes of direct sunlight, water, a cold shower, and a stretch, and how long before bed we should cut out alcohol and blue light to get the best sleep possible. I am all about optimization and living my best life, and this book really was a key component of helping me get there. (I’m still a work in progress, by the way.) Dr. Breus is a clinical psychologist and has been in private practice as a sleep doctor for nearly 25 years, and has been on every major media outlet you can think of, from Oprah to Today to Dr. Oz. In addition to Energize—which, of course, is out right now—he’s also written other great books, including The Power of When, The Sleep Doctor’s Diet Plan, and Good Night. By the way, the co-author of Energize is Stacey Griffith, who is a founding instructor at SoulCycle. I can’t wait for you to hear this conversation.

Energize: Go from Dragging Ass to Kicking It In 30 Days by Dr. Michael Breus and Stacey Griffith

Sleep, Drink, Breathe: Simple Daily Habits for Profound Long-Term Health by Dr. Michael Breus (out in December)

Take the Power Profile quiz!

I have always been a big proponent of books finding you when they’re meant to, and I recently read Daniel Pink’s latest book, The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward, which came out in 2022. I’ll be honest—I don’t think I had ever consciously thought about regret until reading his book. Then, I realized, by learning from the regrets of my past, I could at least try to do my best to prevent the regrets of my future. As I mentioned last week, I am taking a big leap professionally—today, actually, is my last day at Marie Claire, and in August I’ll begin my new role at People magazine. I felt safe and comfortable at Marie Claire, but when this People opportunity came up, I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t try, even if the role intimidated me. So I took the leap, and I am proud of myself for doing that. Dan writes that none of us escape regret—well, save for a select few, which he explains in the episode today—and writes that regrets not only make us human, but they make us better. He writes that regret is “an essential component of the human experience” and “a marker of a healthy, maturing mind”; he also writes that regret is the most misunderstood emotion. Dan went deep on researching regret, even conducting the World Regret Survey to learn more about it. Wait until you hear in this episode some of the data he found from interviewing 15,000 people from 105 countries around the globe. He was able to break down regret into four core categories, which he expounds on in today’s episode: foundation, boldness, moral, and connection regrets. Today we talk about what the most common regrets are universally, if there is a time period in one’s life from which the most regrets stem from, the difference between “if only” and “at least” statements, and why regret, in his words, gives him hope. There’s a reason I bookended the last episode with Kathleen Griffith with this episode. The last episode talked about building the career and life of your dreams; this episode talks about what happens—regret—if we don’t go for it and say yes to the big life, the big goals, the big dreams. I am in a season of saying yes to the big life, the big goals, the big dreams, and I hope you’ll join me there. Let me tell you about the work of Daniel Pink, who is absolutely brilliant—you probably already know who he is, as his work has been so important for so long. He is a No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of seven books that have sold millions of copies around the world and won multiple awards. His books are known for helping both readers and organizations rethink how they live and operate, and some of my favorite books by Dan include Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us and When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing. He is a graduate of Northwestern and Yale Law School, and from 1995 to 1997, he was the chief speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore. This was not planned, but today, July 23, when this episode drops, happens to be Dan’s birthday. So happy birthday Dan and thank you for this conversation. Take a listen.

The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward by Daniel Pink

I am so excited to introduce you today to a woman who will change the world for the better—and already is. Today on the show we have the dynamic Kathleen Griffith, whose book Build Like a Woman: The Blueprint for Creating a Business and Life You Love, came out on June 4 and, I am happy to tell you, is already a bestseller. Kathleen opens the book by writing that “This book is for every woman who is done and ready,” and talks about building a business and a life through the lens and framework of architecture and construction and building—think a demolition, a punchlist, a crew. This book is definitely for founders and entrepreneurs and those starting a business, but it’s also for those, like me for example, who may not be starting a business—yet, anyway—but who have ideas and who want to illuminate both their careers and their lives. As Kathleen puts it, “It will be painful, but it will be every bit worth it” as we construct the careers and lives of our dreams. The book champions the concept of a “total life” and in it we learn about an integrated life layout, where we can make a difference both at work and at home, and, though work/life balance will never be achieved, we can find a work/life integration that works for us. In addition to Kathleen’s own powerful words, the book is punctuated by the voices of boldfaced entrepreneurs like Jessica Alba, Arianna Huffington, and so many more—their voices are the icing on an already rich cake. In the book we learn about the three Cs of culture, category, and customer; what the difference is between a big B and a little b breakdown; what building like a woman means, and why doing so is a force to be reckoned with; and the book features questions to get our brains going to build the life we want. Kathleen says more than once in the book that the goal is to build a life that is “so perfectly imperfect, imperfectly yours.” And that’s just it—it’s your life. If you are living your life for anyone but you, a life that doesn’t fit anymore or maybe never did, a life that doesn’t feel right—then right now is the time to change that and start living the life of your dreams. Kathleen and her book have a roadmap on how to do that. Kathleen is a founder herself and CEO of Grayce & Co., a strategy agency for women. She specializes in the female consumer and is a forefront and outspoken champion and advocate for women. This book is a tool for success that will teach you skills like life design, wellness practices, money management, brand strategy, sales pitches, and so much more; you’ll leave with both a mindset and a skillset after reading. Kathleen is an award-winning serial entrepreneur, business strategist, TV producer, speaker, and now, author that has directed more than $500 million in marketing dollars and generated over a billion dollars in profit for clients ranging from Nike Women to Verizon. Let’s dig into our conversation with her.

Build Like a Woman: The Blueprint for Creating a Business and Life You Love by Kathleen Griffith

This book may have come out nearly four years ago, but it is just as needed today as it was in 2020: entrepreneur Kara Goldin’s Undaunted: Overcoming Doubts and Doubters. Kara, who founded the flavored water brand Hint in 2005, calls herself an “accidental entrepreneur,” and founded Hint after a Diet Coke addiction, which—relatable. Kara’s mission is helping people fall in love with healthy choices, and this drove her decision to found Hint and expand it into verticals like sunscreen, for example. On the show today we talk about the importance of a mission, facing our fears, what living undaunted looks like, why she considers herself a disruptor, what she’d add to the book today, four years on, and so much more. I found Kara to be dynamic, passionate, kind, warm, and authentic, and in addition to writing Undaunted and founding Hint, Kara has also worked at TIME, CNN, and AOL; she is a wife and a mother of four kids; she, too, is a podcaster, and hosts The Kara Goldin Show, which I love; and she created The Kara Network as a place for fellow entrepreneurs to reach out and tell their stories as well as provide helpful insight to those interested in following a similar path. This book is part autobiography, part business memoir, and Kara is as real as it gets. Take a listen to our conversation.

Undaunted: Overcoming Doubts and Doubters by Kara Goldin

What an episode we have for you listeners today as we conclude our JFK Jr. series. Today, July 16, officially marks 25 years since the plane crash that took the lives of John, Carolyn, and Lauren, and on the show today we have RoseMarie Terenzio and Liz McNeil, who have written the absolutely brilliant new book JFK Jr.: An Intimate Oral Biography, which is out today. RoseMarie also wrote the memoir Fairytale Interrupted: A Memoir of Life, Love, and Loss, which came out in 2012; we talk about Fairytale Interrupted on the show today, too. Rose and Liz’s new book, the oral biography, is one of the best books I have ever read—full stop. And not just about the Kennedys, but period. It is so rich with detail, honesty, transparency, courage, new information—even someone like me, who has read every book on the Kennedys I can get my hands on, learned so much in this read. So many people you expect to be interviewed are interviewed, but then there’s the unexpected barrage of celebrities, with everyone from Brooke Shields to Julia Roberts, Mike Tyson, Whoopi Goldberg, Carly Simon, President Bill Clinton, Wyclef Jean, Demi Moore, and Drew Barrymore making appearances. There is so much good here—I could not put it down. It is a full, robust portrayal of a life—John’s life. Rose was John’s assistant for five years and had an incredibly unique relationship with him—she was his personal assistant, which she writes in Fairytale Interrupted was the best job she ever had. They had such a fun dynamic—full of brother/sister teasing. Of Carolyn, though she was presented in the press as an ice queen, Rose speaks of her as this warm, generous woman, loyal, loving, kind. Rose had a front row seat to the creation and launch of his magazine, George, and was also deeply involved in John and Carolyn’s top-secret wedding planning. Rose was one of the first people to learn that John, Carolyn, and Lauren were missing, right behind Carole Radziwill, who we interviewed last week. This book is perfect to conclude our series on JFK Jr. and to honor John, Carolyn, and Lauren on this anniversary of their death. It’s told in one of my absolute favorite formats—the oral history—and I can’t wait for you to hear this conversation with Rose and Liz, who is an editor-at-large at People magazine, where she has worked for the last 30 years. These days, Rose is a strategic communications professional and also executive produced Paramount Network’s I Am JFK Jr. I can’t wait for you to hear from them both.

JFK Jr: An Intimate Oral Biography by RoseMarie Terenzio and Liz McNeil

Fairytale Interrupted: A Memoir of Life, Love, and Loss by RoseMarie Terenzio

Today on the show we have a living legend—Kathie Lee Gifford is here to talk about her faith and, listeners, you know I love to talk to guests about their faith. Kathie Lee has written a really compelling new book that juxtaposes the story of evil personified in King Herod with the living hope of Jesus told through the story of his mother, Mary. Kathie Lee writes in her new book Herod and Mary: The True Story of the Tyrant King and the Mother of the Risen Savior, which is out July 16, that she has been completely fascinated by the historical figure of Herod the Great since she went on a trip to the Holy Land back in 2012. Herod was Christianity’s first true persecutor, and was a tyrannical ruler; Kathie Lee writes that Herod’s story is the greatest story never told. This book is a historical narrative that reads like a modern-day thriller and is really not your typical nonfiction book—it reads like a novel, but it’s all true. In addition to the juxtaposition between Herod and Mary, there’s another juxtaposition in the book, which is the contrast between a king like Herod, with all his privileges, and then someone like Jesus, the King of the world, who was born in an animal pen. At the end of the book, Kathie Lee includes codas of really interesting conversations between her and her collaborator, Dr. Bryan Litfin, basically unpacking the book and talking readers through it. In those codas, she really vulnerably and bravely reveals some very personal details about her own life that helped me get to know her better and respect her even more. There’s no way you don’t know who Kathie Lee Gifford is, but just in case you don’t, she co-hosted Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee alongside Regis Philbin from 1985 to 2000, and also had an 11-year run with Hoda Kotb on the fourth hour of Today from 2008 to 2019. Kathie Lee has received 11 Daytime Emmy nominations and won her first Daytime Emmy in 2010 with Today. She has also served as an NBC News correspondent and got her start on Name That Tune back in 1978. She married sportscaster and former NFL player Frank Gifford in 1986, and he passed away in 2015; they share two children. In addition to her broadcasting career, Kathie Lee has released multiple albums and multiple books, including books about her faith, cooking, children’s books, and biographical books, like 2018’s The Rock, the Road, and the Rabbi and 2020’s It’s Never Too Late: Make the Next Act of Your Life the Best Act of Your Life. I tell Kathie Lee this on the show today, but I feel that all of that work was meant to get her right here, to the place where she has a platform and can share about her faith and invite others to join her in it. Take a listen to this powerful conversation.

Herod and Mary: The True Story of the Tyrant King and the Mother of the Risen Savior by Kathie Lee Gifford and Dr. Bryan Litfin