Women in Entertainment

Jackie Tohn knows that building a lasting career in Hollywood takes more than talent. It takes persistence, adaptability, and a willingness to create your own opportunities. The actress, comedian, singer, and producer joins the Women in Entertainment Podcast to discuss her role as Esther on Netflix's Nobody Wants This, including how she landed the part, the show's overwhelming success, and...

What does it take to turn 98 rejections into one of publishing's biggest success stories? Bestselling author Bonnie Garmus joins the podcast to reflect on her remarkable journey from advertising professional to acclaimed novelist. After facing nearly 100 rejections for her first manuscript, Bonnie found unexpected success with Lessons in Chemistry, receiving 12 publishing offers and dozens of...

For Ming-Na Wen, storytelling has always been about connection, whether she’s bringing a groundbreaking character to life onscreen or sharing the recipes that have fed her family for generations. In this episode of Women in Entertainment, the celebrated actor and Disney Legend opens up about creating her cookbook, a project inspired by fans who spent years asking for the recipes behind the food sh...

Tiffani Thiessen has spent more than 40 years growing up, evolving, and reinventing herself in front of audiences around the world. In this episode of the Women in Entertainment podcast, Tiffani looks back on a career that began when she was just eight years old and led to culture-defining roles on Saved by the Bell, Beverly Hills, 90210, White Collar, and beyond. She shares what it was like navig...

For Kelli Giddish, a lasting career is built by continuing to do the work. On this episode of the Women in Entertainment Podcast, Kelli joins us to reflect on her remarkable journey as Amanda Rollins on Law & Order: SVU, where she is entering her 16th season. She shares why the series continues to connect across generations, how she handles the emotional weight of its most difficult storylines...

Jill Wagner didn’t wait for Hollywood to hand her the role she wanted; she helped create it. The actress and producer joins the Women in Entertainment Podcast to trace the remarkable path from her small-town North Carolina roots to Punk’d, family-friendly films, and eventually Taylor Sheridan’s high-stakes world of Lioness. Jill shares how fear of being pigeonholed pushed her to keep evolving, and...

Heather McMahan may be selling out iconic venues, but she still approaches her career with the same mix of hustle, humor, honesty, and relentless ambition that got her there. In this episode of Women in Entertainment, Heather looks back on the long road from working restaurant shifts near Radio City Music Hall to eventually selling out the legendary venue herself. She shares how transparency helpe...

Sometimes the role that changes everything arrives after the season when nothing seems to be working. Katherine LaNasa joins Women in Entertainment to talk about the extraordinary success of The Pitt, its 26 Emmy nominations, and the collaborative environment that makes the series feel so authentic. She celebrates the women working across the production, from writing and makeup to art direction, a...

Karin Slaughter may be known for writing unforgettable darkness, but at the heart of her stories is something far more hopeful: the belief that tomorrow can be better. The bestselling author joins the Women in Entertainment podcast to discuss the evolution of her career, from creating the Grant County and Will Trent series to building the world of North Falls with the intention of creating a long-...

Karolina Wydra’s story is a powerful reminder that a dream can go quiet without ever truly disappearing. On this episode of the Women in Entertainment Podcast, Karolina reflects on growing up in Poland during communism, where resourcefulness, creativity, and independence were woven into daily life. After moving to America at 11, she found her way into modeling as a teenager, traveling the world an...

Sometimes the breakthrough arrives after you stop insisting that your dream unfold exactly as planned. D’Arcy Carden joins the Women in Entertainment Podcast for a heartfelt and hilarious conversation about friendship, creative fulfillment, and building a life around the work you love. She takes listeners behind the scenes of The Five-Star Weekend, where an early Pictionary game helped Jennifer Ga...

What happens when a filmmaker turns one of production’s most frustrating problems into a platform designed to help more stories get made? In this episode of the Women in Entertainment Podcast, Wrapbook co-founder Cameron Woodward traces his journey from producing commercials to building a spend-management platform for film, television, commercial, and unscripted productions. After experiencing the...

June Diane Raphael is done trying to be the “good girl” on set, in auditions, and in life. In this candid conversation, the actor and comedian reflects on her role as Eva Woods in Elle and the joy of helping bring a warm, complicated mother-daughter relationship to the screen. She shares how the opportunity arrived in just four days, why she immediately connected with her young co-star, and how He...

What happens when women finally set down their armor and make space for honesty, grief, courage, and one another? Director Minkie Spiro joins Women in Entertainment for an intimate conversation about bringing The Five-Star Weekend from page to screen. Minkie shares why she was drawn to the female-centered story, how she elevated its emotional and visual language, and why Nantucket needed to feel l...

Jessica Knoll is back with Helpless , a provocative, twist-filled return to the sharp, psychologically charged storytelling that made Luckiest Girl Alive unforgettable. In this episode of the Women in Entertainment Podcast, Jessica sits down for a candid conversation about the making of Helpless , a novel she describes as a spiritual successor to Luckiest Girl Alive . She shares how the idea began...

What if AI is not here to replace creativity, but to unlock more of it? In this episode of the Women in Entertainment Podcast, Renee Rossi and Jocelyn Westerhold sit down with Michelle Kwon of Runway, the AI research and creative technology company helping shape the future of audiovisual storytelling. Michelle explains how Runway works across video generation, image generation, audio, editing, pre...

Jane Musky has spent decades creating the rooms, streets, seasons, and visual worlds that make unforgettable stories feel alive. In this episode of the Women in Entertainment Podcast, Jane looks back on the creative path that began with a fifth-grade vision for a Mary Poppins set and grew into an extraordinary career in production design. She shares how theater training shaped her hands-on approac...

Jenny Jackson knows books from every angle as a longtime editor, a bestselling novelist, and a storyteller fascinated by the complicated ties that shape us. In this episode of Women in Entertainment, Jenny joins us to discuss The Shampoo Effect , her highly anticipated follow-up to Pineapple Street. She opens up about rediscovering writing during the pandemic, why her creative process changed dram...

Shana Stein knows that bravery isn’t the absence of fear; it’s being afraid and doing it anyway. In this episode of Women in Entertainment, Shana opens up about her path from theater kid to producer to episodic director, sharing how early experiences at William Morris, AFI, and on independent films led her into television, where she found a creative home on Monk . Over seven seasons and hundreds o...

Karen Pittman is moving through her career with a mantra that feels both personal and powerful: no lack, no scarcity, all abundance. In this episode of Women in Entertainment, Karen reflects on a season of extraordinary momentum, from filming The Morning Show Season 5 to stepping deeper into Forever Season 2. She shares how Mia Jordan’s evolution on The Morning Show mirrors what many women of colo...

Behind every unforgettable screen world is a designer translating a story into space. In this episode of the Women in Entertainment Podcast, we sit down with production designers Claire Bennett, Grace Yun, Alison Gartshore, Anne Seibel, and Ruth Ammon for an inspiring roundtable on the artistry and strategy behind visual storytelling. Together, they explore how a script becomes a living, breathing...

As the Tribeca Film Festival celebrates its 25th anniversary, Cara Cusumano is helping shape what the next era of festival storytelling can look like. In this episode of the Women in Entertainment Podcast, Cara reflects on her nearly two decades with Tribeca, beginning as a film student attending the very first festival after moving to New York in 2001, and growing into a programmer at one of the...

Off Campus is more than a hockey romance; it’s a character-driven story about trust, healing, chemistry, and the kind of love that lets people become more fully themselves. In this episode of the Women in Entertainment Podcast, Louisa opens up about bringing Elle Kennedy’s beloved Off Campus world to the screen and the responsibility of adapting a fan-favorite series with care. She shares why chem...

Barbara Muschietti believes the best stories begin with a feeling, and few genres unlock emotion quite like horror. In this episode of Women in Entertainment, Barbara talks about growing up in Argentina, where Saturday night horror films, classic literature, and a movie-loving family helped shape her creative path. Long before IT became a global phenomenon, Barbara and her brother Andy Muschietti...

This Friday, Dutton Ranch arrives, and Natalie Alyn Lind is ready to ride into one of television’s most-watched universes. On this episode of Women in Entertainment, Natalie reflects on the surreal experience of joining the Taylor Sheridan world as Oreana, a character she says “popped off the page” from her very first audition. After testing in Fort Worth, she landed the role, packed up within day...