Episode 19: Ayelet Waldman

Writer Ayelet Waldman may not go looking for controversy but it knows where to find her. In a New York Times Modern Love essay Waldman said she loved her husband, novelist Michael Chabon, more than her children. That outraged the mothers of America.

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Episode 18: Chirlane McCray 

Chirlane McCray is probably the most interesting first lady in the country. She’s married to New York City Mayor Bill deBlasio and they have two children Dante and Chiara. There are good reasons to stay away from interviewing politicians. They tend to talk in sound bites or trap you in their talking points. But McCray is actually willing to look you in the eye and have a conversation.

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Episode 17: Elizabeth Sackler

Some art critics have called Judy Chicago's monumental work "The Dinner Party" crass and vulgar. That's because the ceramic plates highlighting famous women in history have wings and petals that evoke the most intimate parts of a woman's body. Elizabeth Sackler rescued the art installation from the darkness of storage when she bought it for the Brooklyn Museum. This is the story of two women who changed feminist art forever.

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Episode 16: Isaac Mizrahi 

He likes loud colors. He likes to mix ball gowns with combat boots. Isaac Mizrahi went from producing couture fashion to designing a line for Target before signing an exclusive deal with the home shopping channel QVC which he says is more relevant to women than high fashion anyway.

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Episode 15: Sheila Nevins

Be careful what you wish for. When I do these podcasts, I’m always looking for an experience in the moment with the person I’m talking to-something real, nothing canned. And what an experience I had spending the afternoon with Sheila Nevins. The woman who spent 35 years at HBO reinventing how we think about documentaries is no shrinking violet.

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Episode 14: Lacey Schwartz

Lacey Schwartz grew up in Woodstock, New York with her parents Peggy and Robert. She went to the local schools and celebrated her bas mitzvah at the Woodstock Jewish Congregation. With her darker skin tone and curly hair, Lacey always looked different than most of her friends. Her mother said she resembled her Sicilian great-grandfather. But when she was a teenager Lacey found out the truth about her identity.

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Episode 13: Alan Alda

Who doesn't like Alan Alda? His father was a Tony-award winning actor and from the age of 3, Alda says he knew what he was going to do when he grew up. He first made a name for himself playing Hawkeye Pierce, a surgeon in a mobile operating unit during the Korean War on M*A*S*H. Alda has worked for directors like Martin Scorsese in "The Aviator" and Steven Spielberg in "Bridge of Spies."

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Episode 12: Norman Lear

This was a thrill for me, the opportunity to talk to Norman Lear. In LA, I opened Google maps and sailed onto the 405 in my rented Nissan, managing not to collide with cars whizzing by in 5 lanes and made it all the way to Lear’s Beverly Hills office. In the 70s and 80s, he was the king of television creating one hit series after another including Sanford and Son, The Jeffersons, One Day at a Time, Maude and the ground breaking All in the Family.

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Episode 11: Jane Pauley

She was barely 25 when she became the co-host of the Today show. Jane Pauley was the girl next door ... the one you hoped your son might marry. Then a younger, blonder woman made it a little too crowded on the set and Pauley moved on to co-host the news magazine Dateline.

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Episode 10: Elizabeth Lesser

Even as a child, Elizabeth Lesser was drawn to matters of the spirit. Always a seeker, Lesser co-founded the Omega Institute, a center for holistic studies and is a frequent guest on Oprah’s SuperSoul Sunday. Lesser began her career as a midwife witnessing the many wonders of birth. In her latest book “Marrow: A Love Story,” she explores the other side of that equation.

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Episode 9: Gideon Irving

In this episode of “Now What?” you’ll hear from Gideon Irving who travels around the world performing his show in peoples’ living rooms. It’s a mix of song, magic and stories that Stephen Sondheim has called eccentric and exhilarating. In New York Gideon used roller blades to get to his shows … shlepping his harmonium, an Indian style shruti box and a musical saw in a shopping cart.

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Episode 8: Lesley Stahl 

Lesley Stahl started her career at CBS in 1972, a year when networks began to feel the pressure to hire more women. In that same year, Stahl made a name for herself covering Watergate, the scandal that led to Richard Nixon’s administration. She went on to cover the White House in the Carter, Reagan and George H.W. Bush Administrations.

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Episode 7: Kelly Carlin

Kelly Carlin’s father George went from being a stand-up comic who did safe routines to a counter culture comedian whose “7 dirty words” routine went all the way to the Supreme Court. George was the guest host of the first Saturday Night Live show ever broadcast. He did 14 stand-up comedy specials for HBO, wrote three best sellers, won 5 Grammy Awards and is idolized by comedians like Louis C.K. But it wasn’t easy being the daughter of a brilliant comedian who spent too much time away from home and used too many drugs.

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Episode 6: Nicky Vreeland 

He wears orange and burgundy robes and he’s the only Westerner the Dalai Lama has ever chosen to be the abbot of a Tibetan Buddhist monastery. Vreeland is also the grandson of long-time Vogue editor and queen of fashion Diana Vreeland. The son of a diplomat, Vreeland spent his early life in Europe chasing women and driving fast cars.

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Episode 5: Carl Reiner 

At the age of 28, Carl Reiner co-wrote and acted on Your Show of Shows with Sid Caesar. One night, driving home on the East River Drive in Manhattan, Reiner decided to write a situation comedy based on his own family life. The series, which became the Dick Van Dyke show, ran for 5 years and won 15 Emmys.

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Episode 4: Eve Ensler

Her 20s were tumultuous, filled with drugs and alcohol. She was a waitress. She cleaned houses. Then she wrote “The Vagina Monologues,” a theater piece that changed the lives of thousands of people, especially her own. It’s been published in 48 languages and performed in more than 140 countries.

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Episode 3: Karen Allen

She was still an acting student when she landed a part in a movie called Animal House starring John Belushi and her career took off. Then she was Marion Ravenwood, Harrison Ford’s love interest in “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” But when she decided to leave NYC for the country, Karen Allen’s movie career took more of a detour than she expected.

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Episode 2: Robert Klein

He’s been doing stand-up for 50 years and he’s sometimes called the comedian’s comedian. For Jay Leno, Robert Klein is a comic hero. “He was a guy who I felt was like me. Middle class, normal parents. Watched the same TV shows I watched and that was a big change in comedy.” Jerry Seinfeld points to Klein as one of the most “intelligent, coolest comedians around.”

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Episode 1: At Home With Gloria Steinem

In this first episode, you’ll hear from someone who has changed the world for women and keeps on changing it. We got to spend an afternoon with Gloria Steinem shooting the breeze in her cozy Manhattan brownstone. It’s Gloria like you’ve never heard her before.

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