I listened to Bethenny Frankel’s podcast, Just B, for the first time and almost turned it off. Her voice is grating, she swears a lot in the intro which is understandable and I do too, but it’s grosser from her somehow. At one point she compared a paper straw to “a limp d*ck that started off hard” when trying to talk about her efforts to go green. I did not enjoy listening to her, but I wanted to get to the point where she talked to Hillary Clinton, which was more than worthwhile. Bethenny’s show is number one in the Society and Culture chart on Apple podcasts and Hillary’s new show, You and Me Both, is second. That seems to be how they got connected with each other. Hillary said so many thoughtful important things, and it just made me sad and wistful for what could have been. I appreciated how open and well spoken she is. I think about her almost every day. Here’s some of what Hillary said in her interview with Bethenny.
“Do you feel that you’re becoming more authentic?”
I always felt like I had a mission or a purpose to make something out of my own life and also to give back. I feel like I’m on this earth to make things better for people who don’t have those advantages that I’ve been given. The word “authentic” gets thrown around a lot. I feel like I’ve been exactly the same person my entire life, but I’m really well aware of public perceptions. Being in political life is sometimes a barrier to people really seeing or getting to know you.The challenge of being a woman
Part of the challenge, especially when you’re a woman is… recognizing that there’s still this gigantic double standard. We are still judged on a different set of criteria than men in public life, or men in business or men in academia. You name it. There is still a different set of expectations. I’ve been first in a lot of areas so I’ve had to go into the traffic and try to figure out how I was going to maneuver and get through it. There’s still a big burden on women in the public arena that we have to just keep pushing forward with.On being married to Bill for 45 years [this is at minute 26]
[She said Bill was really supportive behind the scenes before this.] I’ve had a somewhat public marriage but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There’s just so much more in a relationship, certainly in our marriage that I have benefitted from [and] am grateful for.I had to make a hard decision like many millions of women throughout history. It was not easy. [People] on all sides telling me what I should or shouldn’t do. I had to dig down deep [and think] ‘what is right for me, for my family, for the kind of life that I want to keep living and the person I want to keep becoming?’ I made the decision to stay in the marriage, to focus on it and to be as committed as I could be. I don’t pretend that my decision is the right decision for everybody. If you really think it through you come to the decision that’s right for you.On women being more empathic
The countries with the best outcomes [during the pandemic] were run by women. In New Zealand, Taiwan, Germany, Finland, Denmark. Many of them were moms, many of them were more open to feeling the fear and anxiety that people had and being more inclusive and listening. [This] led to measurable results.“Do you feel like you went gangster enough with Trump?”
I thought about that a lot. [In my book] What Happened I wrote a chapter about women in politics [and] how do you deal with somebody that aggressive? In retrospect, I could have tried a few different things. Still, you’ve got to be careful as a woman. They get to be aggressive but if we’re aggressive we pay a price for it. I think I could have tried a few other tactics.On her mantra
‘Keep going and be grateful.’ When you’re knocked down, which everybody is, you’ve got to find a way to get back up. Maybe you get to your knees first and then you grab on something, you pull yourself up. Keep going and be grateful. Everyday.I really believe that gratitude is a discipline and if you practice it, it has really good effects on you.
Hillary also said she and Bill make time for playing word puzzles and games and that they love to take long walks and watch TV together. It was really nice to hear. She said “you have to make a real point of it. Working on relationships is hard. It takes patience and practice. It’s like anything else, if you value it, you do it.” It was a rare look into the day-to-day reality of their life and she made it clear that they spend a lot of time together. She said they’re quarantined with Chelsea and her family including their three grandchildren. They have a granddaughter, six, and grandsons, aged four and one. Hillary called the memories of their time together “priceless.”
At one point they talked about people loving or hating them and Hillary said you can’t live in either realm and just have to be balanced and yourself. Bethenny tried to turn it around into a discussion about cancel culture without saying that directly and Hillary made it about having a conversation and finding common ground. Hillary also talked about her mom’s difficult childhood and how that motivated her to work for children’s causes, which she made a key point in her campaign too. I enjoyed this interview so much. I don’t think I’ll listen to Bethenny’s podcast again unless she has another amazing guest, but I doubt she’ll top Hillary. Maybe she’ll be able to book Oprah or Michelle.
I’m not a Bethenny fan but I actually enjoy her podcast, and this episode was no exception. I think that B is a very good interviewer and she typically has a solid and respectful rapport with the people on her show. Love Hillary, always and forever.
I rewatched YouTube clips of Howard Stern’s interview with Hillary. Such an insightful interview. I had tears running down my face thinking what could have been. I agree with Howard. She would have been a great POTUS, one of the best.
I can’t listen to either interview- it would be too painful- so thank you for recapping.
I’m not sure I buy the “women are more empathetic leaders” line. We’ve been told that for decades, but I’ve found working for women as mixed a bag as working for women. Some are great, some are awful. Ask women who work at Facebook how great their lives are with Sheryl Sandberg running the show; place sounds like a sexist snake pit. Or Amy Klobuchar’s staff.
I had wish that she’s Biden’s choice as VP. I’m sorry but it scares the hell out of me if KH becomes the prez in the event Biden can’t continue for some reason. Someone had said that the votes are for KH and not for Biden.
Why does it scare you? I am genuinely curious. KH’s positions are very similar to Biden’s – that is part of why she didn’t stand out in the primaries.
Hillary took Kamala to see her money people in 2017 to convince Kamala to run..
Hillary already passed the torch❣
If Kamala scares you, you need an Xray, they’ll be able to tell you where in your body the racism is.
Kamala’s amazing- have you seen her in action in the Senate? I agree with Sarah, I’m genuinely curious about what you find threatening about her.
They find that she is black as the problem, potentially coupled with the fact she is female.
If it was another reason like her actions as a law and order prosecutor or policies they would have said that.
But she “scares” them… That stinks of racism.
Hillary is a really good person who worked her entire life to help children, which I think she has a special affinity for due to her mother’s horrible and heartbreaking childhood. America isht on her, and it really says a lot about Americans. When you consider children alone, Trump locks them in cages and doesn’t even love his own kids. America looked at that choice, and decided to take the child abuser. Really, Trump voters belong in hell.
Also, did anyone see Crazy Rose’s tweet to Hillary? She’s gone full Q, accused this woman who worked her whole life to benefit children, of ‘lining her pocket with pedophiles” and then IMO issued a death threat to her.
I didn’t realize Bethany Frankel was so popular. An interview with Hillary Clinton is a huge get for any media group and Bethany got her. Hillary wouldn’t have done Bethany’s podcast if it wasn’t going to reach a huge audience, right? I feel so out of touch learning this lol 2020 is weird af.
I needed to clarify that section it’s in a specific area, the Society and Culture podcasts. I edited that!
I listen to Hillary’s podcast and it is great. It is a well organized piece of work for sure, but HRC is the right type of person to do one.
But she should be at 1600 and I will always stand by that.
Yes. But the republicans would have kept the house in 18, and expanded the senate, and they would have impeached when the Covid death toll hit 50. And removed her. Then we’d have President Kaine. I honestly don’t know how that would roll for this year. Long term, where will we land now, and where would we have landed if HIllary had been sworn in (she won)? Was Trump inevitable? Would he have been elected this year? These are all questions which haunt me, and I don’t know the answers, but I suspect no outcome reflects well on Americans. I’m so done with this country, since W I’ve known I don’t belong here. It’s only gotten worse.
Same here with W- that’s ‘the day the music died’ for me as well.
Love Hillary forever and forever. Somehow I didn’t know she had a podcast!!!! I generally dislike podcasts but will definitely give hers a listen!!!!
I forever love Hillary!!! I still haven’t gotten over the loss in 2016.
I agree totally. I think Hillary is just amazing.
God I really do love Hillary and I don’t give a fuck who knows it. I still sad we could’ve had a bad bitch.
I will always love Hillary. Always.