Totally Booked with Zibby

Margarita Montimore is the author of Oona Out of Order, a Good Morning America Book Club pick and a USA Today best seller. Her previous book is Asleep from Day. I absolutely loved reading Oona Out of Order - it's so original, surprising, and captivating. Margarita and I talked about what it means to be or feel your age, the discovery process in revising your work, and her advice to aspiring writers: tremendous tenacity.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jeff Gordinier is the author of Hungry: Eating, Road-Tripping, and Risking It All with the Greatest Chef in the World. Jeff is the Food and Drinks editor at Esquire and a frequent contributor to The New York Times where he was previously a reporter. Written in a time when we could go out to restaurants and enjoy the beauty of that type of hospitality, this interview made me long for culinary experiences other than chicken fingers with my children. You really have to hear from Jeff himself in this episode about how he ended up on an "eat, pray, love, eat more" journey with René Redzepi, renowned Danish chef who has been a significant change agent in the world of food. Jeff and I talked about his career and infatuation with the experience of restaurants, that sitting down at a restaurant or bar to enjoy a meal or cocktail is to delight in self-care, and how this book is really about reinvention and personal change.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kari Lizer is the author of Aren't You Forgetting Someone?: Essays from My Mid-Life Revenge. She is the creator of the award-winning show The New Adventures of Old Christine, which was based on her life as a single working mom, and an Emmy-nominated co-executive producer of Will & Grace. We talked all about what Kari calls the "no-man's-land time of life," shaping identity through motherhood, empty-nesting, and career, and the creative diversity between writing for television and writing a book. Her collection of essays makes everyday occurrences laugh-out-loud-able and totally relatable!   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amy Klein is the author of The Trying Game: Get Through Fertility Treatment and Get Pregnant without Losing Your Mind. Amy wrote The Fertility Diary column for The New York Times Motherlode blog for three years and writes frequently about health and fertility for publications like Newsweek, Slate, and The Washington Post. Amy and I talked about her fertility journey, what the much-discussed "baby boom" may look like for people seeking fertility treatment, and the transitions The Trying Game went through before ultimately becoming this compassionate guide about fertility.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

R. Eric Thomas is the author of a collection of essays called Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America. A senior staff writer at elle.com where he has written the pop culture and politics humor column Eric Reads the News since 2016, Eric has also been published by The New York Times and is a long-running host of The Moth StorySLAMs. I loved talking to Eric about going viral, figuring out where the humor is in the hard moments, finding the narrative arc in each story, and that the reason we keep trying is to see what the next chapter brings us. Reading his fantastic, humorous essays feels like you're listening to him talk because he has such a clear voice as a writer - listen on to hear our conversation!   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emily Gould is the author of Perfect Tunes: A Novel. She also wrote the books And the Heart Says Whatever and Friendship. She has contributed to many anthologies, Bookforum, and The Cut. She also ran Emily Books, an imprint of Coffee House Press which publishes books by women! Perfect Tunes is a fusion of love, music, loss, and motherhood. Emily and I talked about the dreams of her protagonists and herself, what it's really like to put aside a full draft and start over, whether or not we should worry about what’s in our obituaries, and the pull of collective anguish that really makes people come together. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My interview with Susan Isaacs was a special recording that happened earlier in the year at an event at Temple Emanu-El in New York City for their women's group. We did this in front of a live audience, which was a lot of fun. Susan is the best-selling author of 14 novels including her latest, It Takes One to Know One. Her literary accomplishments are beyond impressive! Her novels have been turned into movies with huge stars, she has reviewed books for the largest newspapers in the country, been a political speechwriter, senior magazine editor, recipient of a number of awards, and is the chairperson of Poets & Writers. I loved talking to Susan about combining research and empathy to create captivating narratives, getting to "live" a life other than your own through creating characters on the page, and the irreplaceable pleasure of picking up a book. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mallory Kasdan is the author of Ella, a hilarious, smart children's book that made Entertainment Weekly's Top Ten Must List and was featured in Time, Vogue, The LA Times, and The New York Post. Mallory is also a podcast producer and host of “MILK” as well as a professional voice-over actor for TV and radio. My daughter is obsessed with Ella, which is a perfectly executed modern take on Eloise at the Plaza. I loved talking with Mallory about the inspiration behind the story, the relationship between author and illustrator, her super cool career, and parenting podcasts galore! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lisa Damour, Ph.D, is the New York Times best-selling author of Untangled and her latest book, Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls. She is a graduate of Yale University where she worked at the Yale Child Study Center (which I also did when I was at Yale!). She is an expert on child development and education which she applies as a research center director, private psychotherapist, consultant, speaker, and advisor. Wow. This episode is full of really meaningful tips for parents. I talked to Lisa about her research, understanding the healthy sides of anxiety, how we can manage our own stress to help teenagers find a middle ground between the extremes, loving your career, and ... face masks! Listen for her many insights. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I interviewed Amy Fish (over Skype - the new normal!), the author of the fabulously titled I Wanted Fries with That: How to Ask for What You Want and Get What You Need. She is the ombudsperson, also known as the Chief Complaints Officer at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, and regularly teaches, speaks, and writes about how to complain effectively. Her book is both funny and absolutely helpful. It’s about how to ask for what you want and get what you need. Amy and I talked about why we're fearful to "make waves," the art of speaking up for yourself, and how to make a phone-free dinner table happen! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.