On this week’s episode of You Are What You Read we are joined by Sally Quinn and her latest novel The Silent Retreat. Sally is a longtime Washington Post journalist, columnist, television commentator, Washington insider, one of the capital’s legendary social hostesses, and founder of the religious website On Faith from The Washington Post. She writes for various publications and is the author of The Party: A Guide to Adventurous Entertaining, Regrets Only, Happy Endings, and We’re Going to Make ...
Jun 24, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 42
On this week’s episode of You Are What You Read, we are joined by “beauty & style expert” David Kibbe with his latest book, David Kibbe's Power of Style: A Guided Journey to Help You Discover Your Authentic Style. David is the creator of the IMAGE IDENTITY system. Clients from all over the globe travel to New York to undergo this head-to-toe transformation process. In this conversation, David talks about the power of personal style, and how clothing can carry not just energy—but memory. Lear...
Jun 21, 2025•52 min•Season 2Ep. 41
Hello, dear listeners. On this week’s episode of You Are What You Read, we are joined by “The Restaurateur Who Invented Downtown”, Keith McNally. Keith is the founder of some of New York’s most iconic restaurants…Balthazar, Balthazar Bakery, Pastis, Minetta Tavern, Pravda, Schiller’s Liquor Bar, Morandi, Cherche Midi, Lucky Strike, Nell’s, Cafe Luxembourg, and the Odeon. Keith joins us today with his editor Aimee Bell to talk about his instant New York Times bestselling memoir, I Regret Almost E...
Jun 17, 2025•38 min•Season 2Ep. 40
Peter Wolf is bringing rock ‘n’ roll to You Are What You Read this week with his all-new memoir, Waiting on the Moon: Artists, Poets, Drifters, Grifters, and Goddesses. Peter Wolf is best known as the lead vocalist of The J. Geils Band. In 1970 the band was signed by Jerry Wexler for Atlantic Records where they went on to release nine influential albums and earned a reputation as one of rock’s most exciting live acts. In 1979 they were signed by EMI America topping the charts world-wide with the...
Jun 10, 2025•1 hr 27 min•Season 2Ep. 39
On this week’s episode of You Are What You Read, we are joined by Molly Jong-Fast. Molly is a contributing writer at Vanity Fair, a political analyst at MSNBC News, and host of the podcast “Fast Politics.” Her new book, How to Lose Your Mother: A Daughter's Memoir, hit shelves this week. Molly is the only child of the famous Erica Jong, whose sensational book Fear of Flying launched her into second-wave feminist stardom. In 2023, Erica was diagnosed with dementia just as Molly’s husband discover...
Jun 07, 2025•48 min•Season 2Ep. 38
On this week’s episode of You Are What You Read, we are joined by Michael Patrick King., award-winning writer, director and executive producer of HBO’s SEX AND THE CITY and the franchise follow-up series, AND JUST LIKE THAT, which is in its third season and available to stream on HBO MAX now. This is a conversation about Michael's rise in Hollywood, from his start in the New York City theater circuit as a playwright and standup comedian, to his illustrious work in film and television. Learn more...
Jun 03, 2025•1 hr 19 min•Season 2Ep. 37
We were thrilled to record a live episode of You Are What You Read at PEN America’s World Voices Festival with bestselling authors Jodi Picoult and Fiona Davis. This was a conversation about women in literature… in both books and in publishing. Jodi talks about her latest novel, By Any Other Name, a story about two women, centuries apart—one of whom is the real author of Shakespeare’s plays—who are both forced to hide behind another name. Fiona tells us about her novel, The Stolen Queen, set in ...
May 27, 2025•56 min•Season 2Ep. 36
On this week’s episode of You Are What You Read, we are joined by quintessential music maker and founding member of The Four Seasons, Bob Gaudio. Bob’s career in music started at a young age. At the age of 15, he co-wrote his first hit, "Who Wears Short Shorts," for a group he started, The Royal Teens. His song, "Sherry," in the early '60s, launched The Four Seasons’ incredible string of hits. At the time, he also began a productive and creative relationship with Bob Crewe, a teaming that produc...
May 20, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 35
On today’s episode of You Are What You Read we are doing a deep dive into the life of Audrey Hepburn with Hollywood historian Tom Santopietro. In his work, Tom has studied the greats. His titles include The Sound of Music Story, The Importance of Being Barbra, Sinatra in Hollywood, The Godfather Effect, Why To Kill A Mockingbird Matters, the New York Times Editor’s Choice Considering Doris Day, The Way We Were: The Making of a Romantic Classic, and now he is bringing us a definitive tribute to t...
May 17, 2025•52 min•Season 2Ep. 34
On this week’s episode of You Are What You Read, we are joined by Susan Morrison, author of the all-new biography, LORNE: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live. Susan Morrison is the articles editor of The New Yorker, former editor in chief of the New York Observer, and an original editor of SPY magazine. In her latest work, she studies Lorne Michaels and his fifty-year helm as creator and producer of Saturday Night Live. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 13, 2025•1 hr 10 min•Season 2Ep. 33
Just in time for Mother’s Day, we are celebrating two, very special mothers this week…educator, mother (of 8), grandmother (of 13) and dear friend, Barbara Forste, and her daughter, award-winning actress, producer and publisher, Sarah Jessica Parker. Barbara Forste is a lifelong supporter of the arts and of literacy and education. She worked in market research for Procter & Gamble, as a second grade teacher, and as a child-wrangler at the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Opera and the A...
May 06, 2025•49 min•Season 2Ep. 32
You’re in our kitchen! On this week’s episode of You Are What You Read, we are joined by two cookbook authors, television personalities, and beloved chefs, Rachael Ray and Anna Francese Gass. You know and love Rachael Ray from her Emmy-award winning daytime talk show, Rachael Ray, for 17 seasons, from her incredibly popular Food Network series 30 Minute Meals, and also from Rachael Ray’s Italian Dream Home. Rachael joins us today with Anna Francese Gass, host of the all-new Hulu cooking show, In...
Apr 29, 2025•38 min•Season 2Ep. 31
Earlier this week on You Are What You Read, we had a conversation with Liz Moore, author of GOD OF THE WOODS and LONG BRIGHT RIVER, which is now a television series starring Amanda Seyfried. Liz Moore adapted the novel with writer/producer/director Nikki Toscano, who joins us on the podcast today. Nikki has brought us unique and thrilling television in her career: Paramount+’s THE OFFER, Amazon’s conspiracy drama thriller, HUNTERS, and now Peacock's LONG BRIGHT RIVER. Nikki teamed up with Liz Mo...
Apr 26, 2025•44 min•Season 2Ep. 30
On this week’s episode of You Are What You Read, we are joined by Liz Moore. Liz is the author of the latest thriller sweeping the globe, God of the Woods. God of the Woods was voted Book of the Month Club’s Book of the Year and has received praise from The New York Times, People Magazine, NPR, and TIME Magazine to name a few. Liz is also the author of the bestselling novel, Long Bright River, a Good Morning America Book Club Pick, one of Barack Obama’s favorite books, and now the hit Peacock te...
Apr 22, 2025•52 min•Season 2Ep. 29
On this Holy Saturday edition of You Are What You Read, we are bringing back a conversation fitting for this time of year. Father James Martin is a Jesuit priest, writer, author and editor-at-large of America magazine who joined us recently for a conversation about eternal life. We were so moved, and so were all of you, by Father James’ wisdom and counsel about living with more empathy, curiosity and faith. Please feel free to share this with a friend who needs to hear it. As the Lenten season c...
Apr 19, 2025•58 min•Season 2Ep. 28
On this week’s episode of You Are What You Read, we are joined by Elizabeth Hanks, also known as E.A. Hanks, with her memoir, The 10: A Memoir of Family and the Open Road. The daughter of Tom Hanks, Elizabeth writes a beautiful, deeply felt memoir about her family and her late mother, Susan Dillingham. Elizabeth recounts her solo, cross-country journey across the American southwest on a mission to discover who she is—where her mother ends and she begins. Formerly a staffer at Vanity Fair, Elizab...
Apr 08, 2025•1 hr 18 min•Season 2Ep. 27
On this episode of You Are What You Read, we are joined by author, playwright and screenwriter Paul Rudnick. Paul is the author of seven books, including Farrell Covington and the Limits of Style and most recently, What is Wrong With You? His plays have been produced on and off Broadway and include Jeffrey, I Hate Hamlet, Regrets Only, and The New Century. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Esquire, and more. You know and love his screenplays, Addams Family Values, C...
Apr 05, 2025•58 min•Season 2Ep. 26
On this week's episode of You Are What You Read, author of the blockbuster Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus, joins us for a conversation about the book, which is available in a newly-designed paperback edition today. Lessons in Chemistry took the world by storm when it hit bookshelves in 2022. A #1 Global Bestseller with more than 8 million copies sold, the book received great acclaim from the Good Morning America Book Club and was named “Best Book of the Year” by Barnes & Noble, The New ...
Apr 01, 2025•27 min•Season 2Ep. 25
On this week’s episode of You Are What You Read, world-renowned journalist Graydon Carter joins us for a conversation about his memoir, When the Going Was Good, which hits shelves today. Graydon is the founder of Air Mail. Before this, he was a staff writer for both Time and Life. He cocreated Spy, edited The New York Observer, and for twenty-five years was the award-winning editor of Vanity Fair. He is also the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning producer of more than a dozen documentaries and one h...
Mar 25, 2025•48 min•Season 2Ep. 24
On this episode of You Are What You Read, we are joined by bestselling author and dear friend Bernice McFadden. Bernice is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Tulane University and the author of the critically acclaimed novels Sugar, Gathering of Waters, The Book of Harlan, and Praise Song for the Butterflies. Today, she joins us with her first-ever memoir, Firstborn Girls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 22, 2025•37 min•Season 2Ep. 23
This week’s guest on You Are What You Read is Henry Alford, a humorist and journalist who has written for The New Yorker for more than two decades. A former columnist for The New York Times and a contributing editor to Vanity Fair, he is the author of seven books, including And Then We Danced, How to Live, and Big Kiss, an account of his attempts to become a working actor, which won a Thurber Prize. In his most recent work, I DREAM OF JONI, Henry studies the beloved singer, songwriter and instru...
Mar 18, 2025•53 min•Season 2Ep. 22
On this episode of You Are What You Read, we are diving into a conversation about publishing with someone at the top of the game, the former publisher and CEO of Macmillan, John Sargent. Before he was a leader in the world of books, John was raised on a ranch in Wyoming. He worked at three different publishers before going to Simon and Schuster to run the children’s book division at the age of twenty-nine. He spent six years there, followed by three years as the CEO of DK Publishing. In 1996, he...
Mar 15, 2025•48 min•Season 42Ep. 21
On this week’s episode of You Are What You Read, #1 New York Times bestselling author joins us for a LIVE conversation about her new novel, The Familiar, a historical romantasy set during the Spanish Inquisition. Leigh is also the author of Ninth House and the creator of the Grishaverse (now a Netflix original series) which spans the Shadow and Bone trilogy, the Six of Crows duology, the King of Scars duology—and much more. Leigh is an associate fellow of Pauli Murray College at Yale University....
Mar 11, 2025•37 min•Season 2Ep. 20
Hello dear listeners! Over the years, we have had the opportunity to speak with some of the most influential authors of our time…one of them being James Patterson. James Patterson has written more than 200 novels, including the Alex Cross series, the Women’s Murder Club, the Maximum Ride series and more. He has co authored #1 bestselling novels with Bill Clinton and Dolly Parton. James is also crazy about his fabulous wife, Susan Solie Patterson. Susan joined us for a conversation about her nove...
Feb 25, 2025•36 min
On this week’s episode of You Are What You Read, award-winning actor, singer and comedian, Josh Gad, joins us for a conversation about his memoir, In Gad We Trust. You know Josh as the voice of Olaf in the Frozen franchise. He also starred as Elder Arnold Cunningham in the Broadway musical, The Book of Mormon, and LeFou in the live-action adaptation of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. This is a conversation about books, theater and stories that built Josh into the beloved actor he is today. Learn ...
Feb 18, 2025•44 min•Season 2Ep. 18
Rock and roll icon Dion DiMucci joins us for this week's episode of You Are What You Read. Dion was the lead singer of Dion and the Belmonts and a prominent solo artist with signature hits, “Runaround Sue”, “The Wanderer”, “Ruby Baby”, and “Lovers Who Wander”. In 1989, he was inducted by our good friend Stevie Van Zandt into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame with The Rolling Stones and is one of only two artists (along with Bob Dylan) to be on the cover of The Beatles Classic—Sgt. Pepper’s. He joins...
Feb 11, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 17
On this week’s episode of You Are What You Read, we are sitting down with bestselling author Julie Gilbert for a conversation about her beloved aunt, Edna Ferber. Julie writes about her Edna Ferber in the biography, Edna Ferber and Her Circle, and in her latest book, Giant Love: Edna Ferber, Her Best-selling Novel of Texas, and the Making of a Classic American Film. Julie has taught Creative Writing at New York University’s School of Continuing Education and currently heads The Writers Academy a...
Feb 04, 2025•52 min•Season 2Ep. 16
Rebecca Yarros is topping best seller lists with her sweeping, Empyrean fantasy romance series, Fourth Wing, Iron Flame and now Onyx Storm. On this week’s episode of You Are What You Read, we get to know Rebecca beyond the page. She tells us about her journey to becoming an author, her relationship with her dedicated readers, and the inspiration from her big, beautiful family. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 28, 2025•40 min•Season 2Ep. 15
On this week’s episode of You Are What You Read, we are joined by Jesuit priest, Father James Martin, for a conversation that will lift your spirits and, hopefully, provide some healing in 2025. Father Jim is editor at large of America magazine, consultor to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, and author of the New York Times bestsellers Learning to Pray, Jesus: A Pilgrimage, The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything, and Come Forth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adch...
Jan 21, 2025•57 min•Season 2Ep. 14
On this week’s episode of You Are What You Read, we are joined by #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-three novels, Lisa Jewell. Lisa is sweeping the nation right now on her paperback tour of None of this is True, and we know some of you are on your way to see her. Lisa has connections with her fans like no other author. In this conversation, we talk about her continued support from readers, from her debut novel, Ralph’s Party, to her most recent thrillers: The Family Upstairs, Then S...
Jan 14, 2025•24 min•Season 2Ep. 13
