Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky

Actor, comedian, and writer Jenny Slate joins Monica this week on Reclaiming for a truly adorable conversation about creativity, motherhood, and embracing every tender, strange part of yourself. Jenny reflects on finding raw, unexpected humor in birth and parenting, the creation of Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, and on the public rejection that transformed her relationship with performing. Together, they explore artistic courage, womanhood, and how to trust that we can not only survive life’s hardest moments, but emerge from them more fully ourselves. It feels like a conversation between old friends —though they are not!
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Award-winning journalist and women’s rights advocate Gretchen Carlson joins Monica for a deeply personal conversation about transforming enforced silence into systemic change. Gretchen reflects on her landmark 2016 sexual harassment lawsuit against Fox News chairman Roger Ailes—and the complicated reality of helping catalyze a cultural reckoning while remaining unable to tell her full story. Together, they explore the cost of speaking out, the importance of bipartisan advocacy, and Gretchen’s work with her non-profit Lift Our Voices to challenge forced arbitration and restrictive NDAs. Honest and inspiring, this conversation is about reclaiming your voice—and using it to help others reclaim theirs.
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Oscar-winning performer Ariana DeBose joins Monica for a deeply personal conversation about her rise to fame, navigating public scrutiny, and moving through grief. Ariana reflects on launching her Broadway career as a member of the original cast of Hamilton, becoming the first openly queer woman of color to win an acting Oscar for her performance in West Side Story, and the complicated experience of being truly seen. She also opens up about losing her mother and grandmother—and how she carries their love, strength, and lineage with her as she enters a new chapter.Together, Ariana and Monica explore representation, the transformative power of creative mentors, and the importance of protecting your choices—even when the noise gets loud. Honest, funny, and deeply moving, their conversation is about honoring where you come from, defining success on your own terms, and reclaiming the freedom to become who you are.

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Writers and couple Priya Parker and Anand Giridharadas join Monica this week on Reclaiming for an energized conversation about intentional gathering, healthy conflict, and building a shared intellectual life within their marriage. Priya explains how her new book, The Art of Fighting, explores the ways disagreement can deepen—rather than destroy—our sense of belonging. Anand discusses Man in the Mirror, his book that examines the fatal subway encounter between Jordan Neely and Daniel Penny, and what it reveals about safety, care, and institutional failure in a divided country. Together, they reflect on how their ideas challenge and sharpen each other, how they sustain two ambitious careers while raising a family, and how to distinguish a fight that creates change from one that merely causes harm. Moving through humor and honesty they consider what we owe the people—and the communities—to which we still hope to belong.
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This week, we’re revisiting a conversation with Reclaiming’s very first guest, actor Alan Cumming. The Traitors, which Alan hosts, continues to soar in popularity, earning six Emmy nominations this year. Grounded in their longtime friendship, Alan opens up to Monica about how creativity helped him survive an abusive childhood. He reflects on the healing power of speaking openly about his trauma, how sharing his story has helped him move forward, and why he still wrestles with the fear of becoming a father himself. It’s a raw and honest conversation about confronting the past, breaking cycles, and finding a way forward.
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