Back Row with Amy Odell

The 2026 Met Gala has three storylines running at once: Jeff and Lauren Bezos as lead sponsors, The Devil Wears Prada 2 opening the Friday before, and Anna Wintour doing more press than she has in years. Amy sits down with Chantal Fernandez of The Cut to break down all of it — plus predictions for the night.

0:00 Intro — Why This Met Gala Is Different

1:14 - Meet Chantal Fernandez

5:42 The Theme: "Costume Art" & What It Actually Means

8:01 - The Real Story Nobody's Covering: The New Costume Institute Galleries

10:17 - How Met Gala Exhibitions Became Museum Blockbusters

12:35 - How Themes Actually Get Chosen (and Who Funds Them)

14:02 - Anna's Role: Making Exhibitions Commercial

19:00 - Why the Met Gala Gets More Criticism Than the Oscars

21:14 - What Brands Actually Get Out of Spending $350K on a Table

24:26 - Can You Even Boycott the Met Gala?

28:06 - Lauren Sanchez, Schiaparelli & the New Ultra-Rich Aesthetic

30:16 - Breaking Down the NYT Lauren Sanchez Profile

32:56 - Graydon Carter's Perfect Quote

40:14 - Fashion Is Losing Power — and the Bezoses Are a Symptom

44:01 - Anna's Devil Wears Prada 2 Marketing Blitz: Smart or a Mistake?

49:19 - Predictions for Met Gala Night

52:49 - Will Devil Wears Prada 2 Be Any Good?

54:10 - Outro

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Links & Resources

📰 Back Row Newsletter: https://www.backrow.net/ 

📸 Amy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/instamyodell/

Mentioned in this episode: 

↳ Chantal's VIC story

↳ Amy’s recent Met Gala reporting

 ↳ NYT profile of Lauren Sanchez by Amy Chozick

↳ Chantal’s 2024 Met Gala story 

↳ Charlotte Cowles’s story asking Anna if she’s retiring

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What does extreme wealth actually do to a person? Their psychology, their relationships, their behavior?

New York Magazine features writer Lane Brown set out to answer that question by interviewing a dozen ultra-high net worth individuals, people worth $30 million or more. (Read his full story here.) Almost no one wanted to talk. The ones who did had never spoken about this before.

Lane and Amy discuss what he found: why sudden wealth immediately isolates you, how self-made billionaires think versus inheritors, why the goalpost never stops moving no matter how much you have, and the eight-step psychological descent — mapped out by a therapist who treats the ultra-wealthy — that can turn an ordinary rich person into someone completely detached from reality.

Part 2 is available to Back Row premium subscribers at backrow.net/subscribe, which includes full newsletter access. You can also subscribe through Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

CHAPTERS

00:00 — Introduction

01:19 — Meet Lane Brown

02:12 — What Extreme Wealth Does to a Person

03:21 — The First Thing Money Does: Isolation

06:36 — Who Counts as Ultra-Wealthy?

07:28 — How Lane Got Mark Cuban to Talk

09:31 — Why the Rich Refused to Participate

11:22 — Self-Made vs. Inherited Wealth

13:18 — Is It All Just Luck?

14:16 — The Goalpost That Never Stops Moving

17:41 — The 8-Step Descent Into Corruption

20:23 — Do Billionaires Know People Hate Them?

23:24 — When Luxury Purchases Lose Their Thrill

27:03 — Are Billionaires Actually Cheap?

29:02 — The Tax Strategy Behind the Spending

This episode was produced by Amy Odell and edited by Joyce Ciesil and Jonathan Voytko.

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This is the audio version of the Back Row newsletter published April 7, 2022.

What on earth is Anna Wintour doing on the cover of Vogue?! A theory as to why she's leaning so hard into The Devil Wears Prada 2 promo — and what it all says about her legacy.

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How much was Vogue really like The Devil Wears Prada? Amy Odell sits down with former Vanity Fair critic and the author of the Premiere Party newsletter, Richard Lawson, to rewatch The Devil Wears Prada before the sequel drops.

Amy interviewed more than 250 people to write Anna: The Biography, including Anna Wintour's closest friends and collaborators. Richard worked at Condé Nast for a dozen years — and has stories. They review the movie's origin story, break down each scene, and talk about what was totally real and what was totally made up.

CHAPTERS:

01:30 — The Devil Wears Prada Origin Story

05:50 — How the Film Elevates the Book

09:10 — Richard’s Real-life Andy Sachs Experience

17:00 — The Movie’s Opening Montage

20:10 — Miranda’s Arrival: “A Million Girls Would Kill For This Job”

24:50 — Andy’s Boring Boyfriend

31:00 — What was it Really Like for Assistants in the Aughts?

34:20 — Would Andy Have Succeeded Without Miranda?

36:50 — The Story Behind the Cerulean Monologue

42:30 — The Harry Potter Book: Did Miranda Want Andy to Fail?

45:30 — The Met Gala Scene

53:50 — Why the Costumes Worked

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Will Kris Jenner's birthday party be immortalized on an HBO show in a hundred years?

Maybe.

The Gilded Age was America’s first era of extreme wealth, inequality, and loud luxury, spanning 1870 to 1900. On this episode of the Back Row podcast, which explains how fashion and culture really work, Amy talks to Gilded Age historian and author Elizabeth Block about how shockingly closely society and fashion today mirror the wealthy and luxury industries during that time period.

Elizabeth is the author of the upcoming book Gilded Age Fashion: More Than 50 Iconic Looks and the Stories Behind Them.

Their conversation breaks down how Kris Jenner's birthday feels straight out of the late 1880s; how sky-high luxury fashion prices are basically the same as they were back then; the most extreme luxuries of the past and present; and Vogue's Gilded Age origins.

Listen to Part 2 for Elizabeth’s take on what life was like for the have-nots during the period — and why she sees parallels between Taylor Swift’s wedding and the Gilded Age.

Part 2 is available to Back Row Premium subscribers. Sign up at BackRow.net (which includes full newsletter access) or through Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

CHAPTERS:

00:00 — Introducing Dr. Elizabeth Block

01:20 — Are We Living in a New Gilded Age?

03:20 — The Gilded Age Weddings

07:40 — Kris Jenner’s Birthday Party: Gilded Age-Coded?

11:00 — How Much Did Socialites Spend on Dresses? Then vs. Now

16:30 — Gossip Columns: What Were the Faux Pas?

20:30 — Etiquette Books and the Rules of Modesty

26:20 — Vogue’s Gilded Age Origins

Links & Resources:

Back Row Newsletter

Amy Odell — Instagram

Elizabeth Block — Instagram

Newsletter: Gilded Age Fashion

Books:

Gilded Age Fashion: More Than 50 Iconic Looks and the Stories Behind Them

Beyond Vanity: The History and Power of Hairdressing

This episode was produced by Amy Odell and edited by Joyce Ciesil and Jonathan Voytko.

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Are tech billionaires the next Kardashians?

From Mark Zuckerberg sitting front row at Prada to Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s Met Gala sponsorship, tech billionaires are increasingly present in the fashion world in 2026. Why is this happening?

Amy invites tech journalist Taylor Lorenz back on the pod to discuss this controversial relationship between fashion and big tech. They dive into Bezos funding the Met Gala (4:30), why going to fashion shows could be a byproduct of tech backlash (07:00); Mark Zuckerberg at Prada (13:30), the future of space tourism (19:00); and whether smartglasses are fashion or surveillance (24:20). 

Listen to Part 2 to hear their takes on Bryan Johnson’s ‘Don’t Die’ movement and Clavicular’s Looksmaxxing on the runway — and what these male beauty and wellness trends mean for the future of fashion.

Part 2 is available to paid subscribers at backrow.net (which includes full newsletter access) or through Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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What did Love Story get wrong about JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette?

03:00 inside the real Kennedy compound

06:00 how the show fictionalizes Hyannis Port

08:20 how John and Carolyn really started dating

12:10 when the paparazzi began

13:00 JFK Jr.’s Cape Cod childhood

15:40 the treasure diving story

17:50 the infamous boat moment

19:20 the “breakfast board” truth

21:00 Carolyn vs the Kennedy family (real story)

23:30 what Carolyn was actually like

27:00 their dinner parties and private life

28:30 how they really got engaged

30:00 iconic photos vs reality

31:00 how accurate is the show overall?

34:00 their final plans for the house

36:00 why they didn’t prioritize security

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This is the audio version of the Back Row newsletter published Tuesday, March 17.

After waiting two years for John Galliano's next move, we finally know he's going to Zara. In this analysis, Amy talks about why fashion people have forgiven him for his antisemitic and racist tirades that became public in 2011 and led to him losing his job at Dior — and why this move is a risk for Zara. Amy finishes with the "Loose Threads" news roundup, featuring Adrien Grenier's Devil Wears Prada 2 laments and a funny update about Gwyenth's clothing auction.

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Amy Odell is joined by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan of ⁠Go Fug Yourself⁠ and the ⁠Drinks With Broads⁠

They discuss Anna Wintour’s surprise appearance (and why she’s leaning into The Devil Wears Prada 2), the backlash against Timothée Chalamet and what it says about celebrity culture, and the ongoing dominance of luxury brands like Chanel and Dior on the red carpet.

Plus: the state of red carpet coverage, why it feels increasingly sanitized, and the looks that worked—and didn’t.

In part two, we get into the media’s Ozempic discourse, Chanel vs. Dior, and why the K-pop Demon Hunters cast didn’t get the attention they deserved.

CHAPTERS

00:00 The Oscars as luxury marketing

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Paris Fashion Week wrapped up the Fall 2026 shows, so Amy Odell and New York Times bestselling author Dana Thomas are handing out the Fashion Month Awards.

Together they break down the biggest moments from New York, Milan, and Paris Fashion Week, including:

• Prada’s viral runway stunt

They also talk about how fashion shows—and fashion media—are changing as creators, newsletters, and independent platforms reshape the industry.

Part two of the Fashion Month Awards is available to Back Row Premium subscribers. Sign up at BackRow.net to get newsletter access and more exclusive fashion reporting included with your subscription, or in Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Chapters:

00:00 — Introducing Dana Thomas and the Fashion Month awards

Links and Resources:

Amy Odell - Instagram

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