The Cut

As Olivia Rodrigo releases Guts, we take stock of the singer-songwriter who seemed to come out of nowhere, fully realized as an artist, back in 2021. How did Olivia surprise us so much before, and can she repeat her success a second time? Sam chats with Lindsay Zoladz, pop music critic at The New York Times, about the dualities of Olivia Rodrigo: She's an artist who is both quiet and loud, young and old at heart, and a former Disney child star whose lyrics are a gut punch. We also trace her inspirations from Alanis Morisette to Taylor Swift and explore why we can't get enough of Olivia's music in a year that's seen the pop culture power of women and girls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Five years ago, host Lindsay Peoples wrote a piece called Everywhere and Nowhere, What it’s Really Like to be Black and Work in Fashion. It shook the table and ushered in a conversation on race in the industry. She interviewed over 100 people, one of them being designer Tracy Reese who's been working in fashion for over five decades. For the fifth anniversary of the piece, Lindsay spoke to Tracy about what's changed, how far the industry has come and how much work still needs to be done. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At the end of Britney Spears’s conservatorship in November of 2021, most of her fans rejoiced. But conspiracy theories have a subset of #FreeBritney fans convinced she’s still not really free. They focus on what they see as oddities or glitches in some of her Instagram posts. Vox reporter Rebecca Jennings says there are even theories that Britney has been replaced with AI or a body double. Rebecca and Sam talk about her current piece for New York Magazine and get into the TikTok sleuthing of this extreme set of Britney fans, how the conspiracy theories mirror QAnon, and what Britney herself thinks about her fans’ actions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tracy Margolies is the Chief Merchandising Officer at Saks Fifth Avenue. She continues to create innovative conversations and connections in fashion, changing the way we think about brands and shop them too. In this episode, Tracy talks about her career, her start in the industry and what it’s like balancing motherhood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kenya Moore sits on the Mount Rushmore of Real Housewives legends but she’s been Gone With the Wind fabulous since before the show. The forever beauty queen has given us quality content since she joined the franchise in 2012. On This episode from January, Kenya talks about her career, her journey through motherhood and what it was like going through those grueling challenges when she starred in the Reality TV show, Special Forces. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Katori Hall has a way of making the most dynamic, interesting characters come to life and there’s been no better display of that than the world she’s created on the show P-Valley. On this episode, Katori talks about her career, her writing process and what's next in her journey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bevy Smith knows how to command a room and she’s had our attention for over two decades. Her Ted Talk was one of the most viewed of 2022 and her book, Bevelations: Lessons From a Mutha, Auntie Bestie serves as the ultimate guide in reinventing yourself. On this episode, Lindsay and Bevy get a chance to catch up and talk about why it gets greater later. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2016, Maggie Smith experienced what it was like to go viral. Her poem, Good Bones was shared all over the internet. Celebrities shared it. Mothers who could relate shared it. Even Meryl Streep read at an award show. After that moment, her life changed. In her memoir, You Could Make This Place Beautiful, She details for us exactly how her life changed in the most painful but necessary ways. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Christy Carlson Romano was ubiquitous on the Disney Channel in the early 2000s, starring in ‘Even Stevens,’ ‘Kim Possible,’ and ‘Cadet Kelly.’  But after the roles stopped and the checks dried up, she lost money to psychics, struggled with family relationships, and grappled with addiction. Now she processes those experiences on her popular YouTube channel, with videos like “Why I Don't Talk to Shia LaBeouf.” She talks with Sam about overcoming her past, tapping into nostalgia to find new audiences, and advocating for changes in the entertainment industry for child actors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Debra Lee is truly in a league of her own. With over 30 years of experience in the entertainment business, she was often one of the first and only women in the room. As the former CEO of BET, she was at the forefront of curating Black culture with fidelity. Now she finally gets a chance to tell her story. On this episode, she talks about her new memoir, I am Debra Lee, which details her rise to the top and the struggles along the way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Atsuko Okatsuka is the comedian whose video you’ve probably shared with one of your friends. She has this adorable innocence and instant relatability that makes her so charming and convincing on stage. On this episode, she talks about how she got into comedy, Asian American representation in media and what it’s like going viral. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Margaret Cho is undeniably a comedy giant and a stand up legend who paved the way for so many women in comedy we see today. She gave Asian American women the liberty to be loud, vulgar, quirky and outright hilarious. Her comedy hits on the topics of race, gender, politics, sexuality and all the controversial things we’re not supposed to talk about. On this episode she talks about her career and how race has shaped her comedy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Shiza Shahid has been impressive pretty much all her life. At 14, she was working as a volunteer in women’s prisons. At 18, she was off to Stanford. A few years later, she returned to her home, Pakistan, where she co-founded the Malala fund with now Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Malala Yousafzai. These days, she’s running the cookware company, Our Place that has all the Insta girlies in a frenzy. The all-in-one Always pan has been an internet fave since it popped up on the scene, but the brand has a larger mission of telling stories through meals that bring people together. On this episode, Shiza talks about her business, transitioning from the nonprofit world and what her day-to-day is like running a company. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sit down, be humble? Naw, not Robin Thede. She's uncontestedly hilarious and she knows it. On this episode, she spills the details on the fourth season of a Black Lady Sketch Show, and gives us a little advice on how to take up space. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley has been a trailblazer pretty much her entire political career. In 2010, she was the first Black woman elected to the Boston City council and then would later go on to become the first Black woman elected Congress from Massachusetts. As a member of congress, she’s been a constant voice on issues like reproductive rights, healthcare and criminal justice reform. In this episode, she talks about her political career, her journey dealing with alopecia and what she’s hopeful about in this current political climate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As Hollywood’s most powerful stylist, Law Roach has been the image architect for the biggest names in the industry — Zendaya, Celine Dion, Priyanka Chopra, Anne Hathaway, Ariana Grande, and Anya Taylor-Joy, to name just a few — yet he still struggles as one of the few Black stylists working with A-list talent and luxury brands. This past weekend after the Oscars, Hollywood’s biggest night, Law posted on Instagram a stamp graphic of one word: “retired.” The caption read, in part, “The politics, the lies, and false narratives finally got me.” On this episode, we take a stroll in his shoes. Law sat down with the Cut’s editor-in-chief, Lindsay Peoples, to give us the details on everything from what led to this moment in his life and retirement to what will happen to all of his clients at the Met Gala, racism in fashion, and what’s next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Abby Phillip is a voice and a face that's guided us through the news an anchor on CNN. Two years ago, she graced the cover of The Cut and on this episode, Lindsay and Abby reminisce on what that moment in time was like. They talk about Lindsay's first cover as Editor in Chief of the The Cut and what's changed for both her and Abby since. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week we’re sharing with you a panel Lindsay moderated at the New Museum a few months ago with artists Miles Greenberg and Salome Asega. Miles is a performance artist and sculptor who’s known for using the physical body as sculptural material. Salome is the Director of New Inc at the New Museum and her work explores and critiques the speed in which technology develops. In this episode, they talk about the role art plays in technology and what that means for the future of art. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tory Burch is one of the designers who defined the 2000s. From the timeless ballet flat, to the signature Tory Burch emblem, her brand put a mark on an era and continues to remain a household name. She does this all while empowering women along the way. We talked about her upcoming collection, the plight of ambitious women and the evolution of the Tory Burch Brand. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From Land of the Giants, here is the first episode of this season, Dating Games. When Tinder launched in 2012, it changed dating culture and our expectations around dating forever by leveraging the iPhone and gamifying the dating experience. But did the rise of dating apps make finding romance easier or harder, and what are the consequences of playing a game that never ends? Subscribe to Land of the Giants to get new episodes every Wednesday.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices