Grey Gardens

In today's episode I'm excited to welcome Walter Newkirk to the podcast. Walter is the author of MemoraBEALEia and Letters From Little Edie Beale as well as his memoir titled The Secret Life of Walter Newkirk. Walter had the unique opportunity to visit Grey Gardens and interview Little Edie in 1976. The two started a letter writing exchange that lasted decades and Walter became a friend to Little...

In today's episode I'm excited to welcome Walter Newkirk to the podcast. Walter is the author of MemoraBEALEia and Letters From Little Edie Beale as well as his memoir titled The Secret Life of Walter Newkirk. Walter had the unique opportunity to visit Grey Gardens and interview Little Edie in 1976. The two started a letter writing exchange that lasted decades and Walter became a friend to Little...

In today's episode I'm excited to welcome Walter Newkirk to the podcast. Walter is the author of MemoraBEALEia and Letters From Little Edie Beale as well as his memoir titled The Secret Life of Walter Newkirk. Walter had the unique opportunity to visit Grey Gardens and interview Little Edie in 1976. The two started a letter writing exchange that lasted decades and Walter became a friend to Little...

In today's episode, Fern welcomes author David Vass to the podcast. David released a book last year titled Liar, Alleged: A Tell-All: Celebrities, Sex, and All the Rest . David was the sound and lighting director at the popular cabaret club in the West Village called Reno Sweeney, where in 1978 Little Edie Beale performed live on stage for eleven shows. David shares with us intimate details of wor...

After a five month break due to health reasons, I'm excited to launch a new Grey Gardens episode with returning guest Brian Buck, who is a long time Grey Gardens fan and admin for the Grey Gardens Facebook group. In today's episode Brian and I want to talk about the garden, the garden walls, the property and the landscape artists who helped each owner from the garden's inception to its reshaping a...

In today's episode we're taking a detour from Grey Gardens and the Edies. Instead, we're going to talk about the infamous author Truman Capote, who is the center of the new miniseries Feud: Capote Verses the Swans . Lee Radziwill, family member of the Edies',  weaves Truman into her life, and in this episode we will learn about his past, his rise to fame, his socialite status, and eventually his d...

In todays episode we're going to take a deep dive into some of the problems that existed both within the lives of the Edies and the decaying house they lived in. My guest for this episode which is filled with sensitive questions and intriguing discussion is Marilyn VanPraag, a clinical social worker for over forty years. Marilyn will help to answers questions I've pondered since watching Grey Gard...

Todays episode is filled with so many Grey Gardens topics including: Lee Radziwill's footage, the Maysles decision to go back and film the Edies, editing the documentary Grey Gardens, the NY Film Festival, the Premier, The Plaza Hotel, Mick Jagger, Tom Logan, meals and friendship with Little Edie and so much more. Mix a few highballs chickens, this episode is almost two hours long! Listen in for a...

In today's episode Fern welcomes to the mic, Liam Freivald, who edits and produces the podcast. They will share two exciting announcements! First is the goal of reaching 25,000 downloads. Our thanks to every listener of the podcast! The next announcement is the launch of Fern's book titled Staunch: The Edies of Grey Gardens . After three years in the making, Staunch is finally ready to be released...

Fern welcomes fellow podcast host and Grey Gardens fan Hadley Mendelsohn to todays episode. Hadley is the co-host of the podcast titled Dark House, which features two amazing episodes about Grey Gardens. Listen in to hear Fern and Hadley discuss the Edies, the women's stance against societal norms, ghostly energy existing within Grey Gardens and we will hear Big Edie recite her favorite Charles Ki...

In today's episode, Fern welcomes Muffie Meyer, one of Grey Gardens editors and directors to the podcast. Listen in to hear editing and behind the scenes details about the cult classic documentary. Little Edie attended Muffie's wedding and the two remained friends until Little Edie's death in 2002.    Contact Muffie Meyer at  meyer@middlemarch.com You can follow Fern on Instagram at @Fernlovesmahj...

In todays episode Cassandra Distilli joins me to discuss the beloved Bouvier home named Lasata. It recently came onto the real estate market in East Hampton for a cool  fifty-five million. We delve into Bouvier history and discover who was the first Bouvier to land on American shores and perpetuate the family's lineage. Listen in after you mix a highball and pet the cats!  The book Fern and Cassan...

In today's episode, Liz Lange, Grey Garden's current owner and style afficionado, joins me to discuss the revitalization of both the historical house and gardens. Grey Gardens was on the cover of a recent edition of Veranda , an upscale lifestyle magazine with a focus on home design and decor. Inside the glossy pages of the magazine, we read Liz's interview and see the updated home and garden. The...

In today's episode Cassandra Distille and I will talk about the book titled Gristmill by East Hampton author George Caldwell. It's a fictional gothic story that takes place in East Hampton with some similarities and clouded familiarities alluding to the Edies and Grey Gardens. I'll boil some water on Perfection while Cassandra brings some special tea leaves and two cat-themed mugs in preparation o...

The topic of todays episode are the inspections or "The Raids" as Little Edie calls them, from the different Suffolk County Government agencies that could have potentially resulted in an eviction from Grey Gardens for the Edies. My go to person for information on this topic is Grey Gardens historian and devoted fan, Terie Spencer, who joined me here on the podcast in episode two. Terie has been co...

Fern welcomes back to the podcast Grey Gardener expert Brian Buck. In today's episode they talk about and listen to clips from the CD titled Little Edie Live! There's so many clips of Little Edie, a cameo by Lois Wright and at the end of the episode the grand dame herself, Big Edie graces us with her charming voice. Let's boil some corn or scoop some ice cream to eat while we listen to our two fav...

In todays episode Fern welcomes Cassandra Distille to the podcast. They discuss That Summer, the prequel to Grey Gardens. The movie includes a famous Bouvier sister and family member of the Edies, Lee Radziwell. Viewers get to see Grey Gardens before and during renovations when the house was at its worst. We see the caring, kind and compassionate side of Lee, who helped her aunt Edith and cousin E...

Join Fern and Anna Weltner as they continue their conversation about the gothic and melodramatic undertones in Grey Gardens.  The Veranda article Fern mentions in the outro can be found here . Anna's website is  www.annaweltner.com  and the article she and Fern are discussing can be found  here . The Edgar Allan Poe story they discuss is The Fall of the House of Usher, which  CourseHero has a stor...

In this two part episode I am excited to welcome Anna Weltner, an American documentarian and video artist to the podcast. In 2019, Anna published the article, "A melodrama in a haunted house: tracing genre influences in Grey Gardens." After reading this well written article I was intrigued about the gothic and melodramatic undertones in Grey Gardens and contacted Anna. In today's episode Anna expl...

Listen in as Fern shares her East Hampton visit with returning guest Brian Buck, Grey Gardens historical expert and devoted fan. Fern made stops in front of Grey Gardens, walked on Georgica Beach, drove past the Maidstone Club on her way to see Lasata, then visited the Bouvier grave site at the cemetery in East Hampton. Fern and Brian shifted to a spirited conversation, discussing the ghosts/spiri...

In this episode of Grey Gardens, Fern welcomes Keely Stahl, GG fan and admin of the World Famous Grey Gardens Face Group. Keely posted an article about the documentary written by Nathan Rabin, which is chock full of quotes and topics to unpack about the Edies, the house and film. We dive into thought provoking conversation where we consider one another's opinions and perspectives as well as consid...

In today's episode Fern joins Grey Gardens fan and historian Michael Steinbeck. They discuss topics ranging from Jackie O, to favorite quotes, to Phelan's heartfelt letter to Big Edie during financial difficulties to the many layers that make up the complex woman named Little Edie Beale. Don't forget to feed the cats and raccoons before listening in to the newest episode of the podcast Grey Garden...

I am very excited to welcome today's guest Billy Kalbacher to the podcast. He's the very Billy, who Little Edie refers to in The Beales of Grey Gardens. Billy shares with us some of his personal experiences and cherished memories with both Mother (Big Edie) and Little Edie. As a boy summering in East Hampton he was used to hearing about and seeing the Cat Woman's House. When he got to know the cat...

Fern welcomes Christina Raptis, a fellow Grey Gardens fan and Long Islander to the podcast. In today's episode Christina will share her experience attending the estate sale at Grey Gardens as she describes the house, the gardens and Georgica Beach to us. We will also discuss a few scenes from the HBO movie and the documentary that stood out to her as well as the Edies infamous mother-daughter rela...

In today's episode Fern welcomes back Brian Buck, Grey Gardens historian, group administrator and expert of the Facebook group Grey Gardens. Listen in to the informative and always respectful discussion about today's Grey Garden topic: the handsome and debonair Black Jack Bouvier, his life, his fathering, his lifestyle and his relationship with his eccentric sister Edith Bouvier Beale. He was the...