The urgency I feel every morning when I wake up is palpable. The clock is running out. Either the time is nigh or the end is near. I pray and hope it’s the former. I don’t think that Election Day will immediately solve all our problems. Like many of you, I believe it will take weeks or months until this country knows who will be in charge beginning January 21, 2021. And then of course, we will have to be patient as we await a vaccine or a treatment for COVID-19, as we await the reopening of our cities, and as we see how the administration is handling our intersectional crises.
I don’t pretend that I don’t have moments of utter banality – how does my hair look? I shouldn’t have eaten those potato chips. Why are my fingers riddled with paper cuts? Should I buy an ipad?
Life can’t always be lived at its extremes. We need to take breaks and recharge and do something mindless – read a fashion magazine (I’m assuming fashion exists somewhere) or watch a rerun of your favorite tv show, or organize your spice rack or sock drawer.
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Lisa Birnbach and Joe Conason
As I have discussed in other podcasts, I often praise the work of the great and dogged investigative journalists – women and men who will not stop a search until they’ve gotten to the bottom of things. I have two such reporters on the show today.
Actually, Joe Conason, an old friend from my Village Voice days has devoted the last 42 years to digging and reporting. There, he worked in tandem with Wayne Barrett, a legendary journalist who was really the first non-gossip reporter to look into Donald Trump’s career and catalogue his manipulations of prices, truths, and real estate laws. Wayne became one of Trump’s nemeses, and unfortunately died the night before Trump was inaugurated.
In addition to the Voice, Joe has written for The NY Observer, the National Memo, and The Investigative Fund – Type Investigations. He’s written books about Bill Clinton and George Bush. He joins me today to talk about Without Compromise: The Brave Journalism that First Exposed Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and the American Epidemic of Corruption – the work of Wayne Barret. Edited by Eileen Markey.
I am excited to bring these two smart and principled reporters to you all.
First, the five things that made my life better for this week.
1. Madewell jeans. I am deluged with ads for new blue jeans on all my social media. I guess that’s because I open them and look at them. I decided I needed to replace an old pair of corduroy jeans that I adored. WHY DID I GET RID OF THEM, or did I? They were high waisted and bootcut. Madewell makes them. In denim. I ordered them online and have barely taken them off since they arrived. I love their jeans.
2. The Vow – the documentary series on HBO. I find cults utterly fascinating – be they based in religion, politics, culture, or under the guise of self help. This is a series about Nexium, the hybrid self help/sex slavery group founded by a guy/guru called Keith Raniere outside of Albany, NY. It is animated by the actress Catherine Oxenberg (of Dynasty fame) and her efforts to wrest her daughter back from the cult. Spoiler alert: Rainiere is in jail now, but that doesn’t take away from the weirdo stuff in the film. The leader seems like a nebbishy guy who gets women to sleep with him and accept ridiculous rules in order to be close to him.
3. Speaking of cults, the word game I discovered a few years ago called Spelling Bee on the New York Times puzzle site has a rabid digital community that has grown around it. It’s not just me! And while I think I was a very early adaptor, this article (which doesn’t mention me) is a fun read.
4. Politics making strange bedfellows: I had no idea that some of the people I follow and retweet on Twitter were Republicans. It no longer matters to me. Who is Rex Chapman? A former basketball star and drug addict? Oh. Well I follow him too.
5. Nancy Pelosi. Whether you admire her – as I do – or not, she is a force with which to be reckoned. Wearing her masks, being steadfast and stubborn – caring about the have nots in the way this country was formed. We can’t forget that when she’s not in the news she is doing the work. Day in and day out. And she’s grandma’s age.
Joe Conason’s 5 Things
1. Proraso shaving cream (a satisfactory grooming moment when you haven’t been able to get a haircut for months)
2. CBD oil/balm for sleep and pain (It works! it’s harmless!)
3. Avatar: The Last Airbender with my daughter Eleanor (following Marvel Comics Universe, Harry Potter series, The Office, Parks and Rec, etc — movies and TV with kids)
4. Sailing on Sunfish and Quest with my son Edward (many of my happiest moments with this summer)
5. Instant Pot Duo (like the pressure cooker I’ve used for many years, except better — and I’ve unlearned my aversion to kitchen tech)
More About Joe Conason
Wayne Barrett
Edited by Eileen Markey
Published by Bold Type Books
Twitter: @JoeConason
Facebook @JoeConason.
Website: JoeConason.org
The 5 Things That Make Life Better podcast is recorded and produced at The Field in NYC https://thefieldtv.com
My team is Shpresa Oruci, Michael Porte, Sam Haft and Boco Haft.