I'd Rather Be Reading

The 40th president of the United States, Ronald Reagan, is once again our topic du jour today, as we’re talking about Max Boot’s new book Reagan: His Life and Legend, which comes out on September 10. In the fantastic 880-page book, Max quotes someone as having said of Reagan that “there was almost no one who did not succumb to his magic.” Today on the show we talk about what that magic was; about...

Let me ask you a question—how much time have you spent really, truly thinking about the United States’ second president, John Adams? Probably not a ton—but today’s conversation will certainly make you think about him, and probably think a bit differently about him, at that. John Adams came into the presidency on the heels of an impossible act to follow—President George Washington, who today’s gues...

We talk about power frequently in society, but do we ever really put much thought into status? And what even is status, exactly? On the show today, we talk about how much status matters, and our guest, Dr. Alison Fragale, writes in her new book Likeable Badass: How Women Get the Success They Deserve that resources follow respect, and very little advancement is going to happen unless someone has re...

Today on the show we’re talking about a bona fide beauty icon—Elizabeth Arden, who built the cosmetics empire of the same name beginning in 1910. Now, if you think about that time period, not many women were running a beauty empire, but she was. At the height of her career, she was one of the wealthiest women in the world, but what do we really know about Elizabeth Arden, the woman? Well, first of...

Tomorrow, August 30, the biopic Reagan hits theaters, with Dennis Quaid playing President Ronald Reagan. We’re so fortunate on the show today to have a man who knew Reagan well—Ken Khachigian, whose new book Behind Closed Doors: In the Room with Reagan and Nixon , focuses on his relationship with not just Reagan but also President Richard Nixon, as well. Right smack dab on the front cover of the b...

When it comes to books that have impacted my life for the better, Kara Loewentheil’s Take Back Your Brain: How a Sexist Society Gets in Your Head—and How to Get It Out tops the list. It came out May 21, and in it she writes that our thoughts “are like GPS—they tell your brain what to focus on, how to feel, and what to do. You have to set that GPS on purpose to create the life you want.” To do so,...

Today on the show we are talking about American fashion, specifically Empresses of Seventh Avenue: World War II, New York City, and the Birth of American Fashion , the brand-new book from Nancy MacDonell, out August 27. Prior to World War II, American designers were nothing short of second-class citizens to the French. But, after the Nazis invaded Paris during the war, everything changed for Frenc...

Today I am talking to author Heath Hardage Lee about one of America’s First Ladies, and perhaps one of our most private ones—Pat Nixon, wife of President Richard Nixon. The timing is interesting: earlier this month marked 50 years since President Nixon’s resignation from the presidency following Watergate, and earlier this month Heath released her really, really fantastic new book The Mysterious M...

Today on the show we’re returning to the Alex Murdaugh saga, as I call it—this is actually not the first time on the show we’ve spoken about it and not even the first time in season 13 we’ve spoken about it. It is compelling to me for its savagery—I can’t understand it, a man who could do this evil to his family and to so many others, as well. Today on the show we have Valerie Bauerlein, here to t...

I’m really excited to bring you this conversation today about a book that came out in 2017 called Beauty Sick: How the Cultural Obsession with Appearance Hurts Girls and Women by Dr. Renee Engeln. In the book, Dr. Engeln introduces us to beauty sick culture and what it feels like and looks like for women and girls. She writes in the book “How might women’s lives be different if they book the energ...

We’ve actually already talked about today’s book and author before on the show—back in January, when the book came out, we mentioned it on the show as it was my first #ReadwithMC book club pick. And now, how lucky are we today to have Kate Kennedy on I’d Rather Be Reading discussing her book One in a Millennial: On Friendships, Feelings, Fangirls, and Fitting In, which came out January 23. This bo...

Twenty-five years ago, on September 22, 1999, one of the most beloved television shows of all time premiered on NBC: The West Wing , starring Martin Sheen, Rob Lowe, Allison Janney, Bradley Whitford, John Spencer, and a whole host of other talented actors, including our two guests today—but more on them in a moment. The political drama was created and largely written by Aaron Sorkin, one of my per...

On May 4, 1970, during a rally on the campus of Kent State University opposing expanding the Vietnam War into Cambodia by United States military forces, as well as protesting the draft and the Ohio National Guard’s presence on campus, all it took was 13 seconds for 28 National Guard soldiers to fire 67 rounds, killing four and wounding nine unarmed college students. One of the nine injured suffere...

If you’ve been a longtime listener to the show, you know I love to have conversations about faith, and I’ve got two back-to-back ones for you listeners this weekend. Today on the show we have the absolutely lovely Demi-Leigh Tebow, who you might know as Miss Universe 2017. Back then, she was Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters, before she married famous quarterback Tim Tebow in 2020. Demi-Leigh is the founder o...

One of my favorite faith leaders, Max Lucado, is on the show today chatting with me about his latest book, What Happens Next: A Traveler’s Guide Through the End of This Age , which comes out on August 13. Today’s show is a conversation about faith, and about the end times—but it’s anything but doom and gloom and frightening and scary. It’s quite the opposite, actually—I’ve never felt more peace ab...

I am a big fan of the dynamic Lydia Fenet, who has written not one but two books we are talking about on the show today: The Most Powerful Woman in the Room Is You: Command an Audience and Sell Your Way to Success , which came out in 2019, and Claim Your Confidence: Unlock Your Superpower and Create the Life You Want , which came out last year. Lydia is the CEO and founder of the Lydia Fenet Agenc...

One of my recent absolute obsessions is skincare. I am always looking for new information, data, research, and resources about my skin, and that’s how I stumbled across Hannah English’s brilliant book Your Best Skin: The Science of Skincare , which came out in 2022. Hannah is a beauty writer, content creator, and pharmaceutical scientist with a clinical research background who breaks down the scie...

Today on the show we have Jason Ryan, here to talk to us about his new book Swamp Kings: The Story of the Murdaugh Family of South Carolina and a Century of Backwoods Power , which came out in April. We have spoken about the Murdaugh saga (as I like to call it) on the show before, and we’ll actually speak about it again in season 13. This book certainly talks about Alex Murdaugh, but it also talks...

We are kicking off season 13 with a book from 2021 that changed my life for the better that I had to revisit and bring to you listeners: Energize: Go from Dragging Ass to Kicking It In 30 Days by Dr. Michael Breus and Stacey Griffith. Dr. Michael Breus is known as “the Sleep Doctor,” and to that end, he writes in the book “to stop feeling so tired and burst with infinite energy all day long, all y...

I have always been a big proponent of books finding you when they’re meant to, and I recently read Daniel Pink’s latest book, The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward , which came out in 2022. I’ll be honest—I don’t think I had ever consciously thought about regret until reading his book. Then, I realized, by learning from the regrets of my past, I could at least try to do my bes...

I am so excited to introduce you today to a woman who will change the world for the better—and already is. Today on the show we have the dynamic Kathleen Griffith, whose book Build Like a Woman: The Blueprint for Creating a Business and Life You Love , came out on June 4 and, I am happy to tell you, is already a bestseller. Kathleen opens the book by writing that “This book is for every woman who...

This book may have come out nearly four years ago, but it is just as needed today as it was in 2020: entrepreneur Kara Goldin’s Undaunted: Overcoming Doubts and Doubters . Kara, who founded the flavored water brand Hint in 2005, calls herself an “accidental entrepreneur,” and founded Hint after a Diet Coke addiction, which—relatable. Kara’s mission is helping people fall in love with healthy choic...

What an episode we have for you listeners today as we conclude our JFK Jr. series. Today, July 16, officially marks 25 years since the plane crash that took the lives of John, Carolyn, and Lauren, and on the show today we have RoseMarie Terenzio and Liz McNeil, who have written the absolutely brilliant new book JFK Jr.: An Intimate Oral Biography , which is out today. RoseMarie also wrote the memo...

Today on the show we have a living legend—Kathie Lee Gifford is here to talk about her faith and, listeners, you know I love to talk to guests about their faith. Kathie Lee has written a really compelling new book that juxtaposes the story of evil personified in King Herod with the living hope of Jesus told through the story of his mother, Mary. Kathie Lee writes in her new book Herod and Mary: Th...

Most people probably know Carole Radziwill from her time on The Real Housewives of New York City and while, don’t get me wrong, I loved her on the show—that’s nowhere near the most interesting part of her story. Carole is an extraordinarily talented journalist and had an esteemed career in the field, even working as a war correspondent at one point. She worked as a journalist and a producer for ne...