QUESTION EVERYTHING

Gloria Steinem doesn’t do many video interviews anymore. So when she invited Danielle into her living room — the same room where decades of talking circles shaped the women’s movement and where Ms. Magazine was born…the conversation felt different from the start.

Danielle isn’t just interviewing her, she’s Gloria’s fellow. She’s spent hours in this room with her, asking questions. What you hear in this episode isn’t a press stop, it’s personal, direct, and occasionally surprising.

At 92, Gloria is unsentimental about legacy, clear-eyed about power, and still asking better questions than most of us. She talks about freedom, fear, feminism, love, regret, and why hope isn’t naïve — it’s strategy. 

In honor of Women’s History Month — and in a moment that makes this conversation feel urgent — this is Gloria Steinem, unfiltered and fully herself…as she always is 😊. 

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Why her living room — not a stage — became one of the most influential political spaces in America
• The childhood detail that explains everything: trailer parks, diners, and learning democracy early
• The book and movie that changed her life + why Breakfast at Tiffany’s made her cry
• “I was rescued by feminism.” What she means — and what women risked in the 1950s
• The 1957 abortion that shaped her future + the dedication that still moves women today
• Why she refuses the title “mother of the movement” and insists feminism is a circle, not a pyramid
• The real story behind her iconic sunglasses 
• The first purchase she made with her first credit card
• What she learned from Flo Kennedy, Dorothy Pitman Hughes, and Wilma Mankiller
• Her blunt take on internet “followers” + why influence without values makes her nervous
• Why questions are a form of protest
• The hardest decade of her life + why it wasn’t what you think
• At 92, what she’s afraid of, what she’s grateful for, and what keeps her enrolled in hope
• Her unexpected plan for her funeral + why she wants it to double as a feminist benefit
  The line you’ll repeat all week: “Hope is a form of planning.”
• And her advice to a 35-year-old woman today

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What does it take to outgrow the box people put you in? In this episode of Question Everything, Danielle sits down with Kandi Burruss, Grammy-winning songwriter, Broadway producer, entrepreneur, and former star of Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Atlanta, to unpack the gift (and curse) of reality TV fame. Kandi opens up about what becoming a Bravolebrity really cost her, the rejection that devastated her, and how she rebuilt her power behind the scenes. From earning a Grammy writing the TLC hit No Scrubs to producing record-breaking Broadway shows, Kandi shares how she learned to work on her next move while still in her current one. Plus, she opens up about the most emotional part of her recent split from Todd Tucker. This conversation is about ambition, rejection, reinvention, and the discipline of earning it again and again.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• All about Kandi’s transformation era following her divorce 
• What really happened behind the scenes when she left The Real Housewives of  Atlanta
• How reality TV fame can both elevate and limit an artist’s credibility in Hollywood
• How Kandi approaches auditions now, and how she handles rejection
• The financial lesson she learned after buying her first house during her Xscape era
• How Kandi turned panic about money at 19 into a hitmaking empire
• The real story behind writing TLC’s Grammy-winning song No Scrubs
• What makes a song timeless, from hook writing to cultural relevance
• How sampling works in the music industry and why clearance matters
• What it takes to prove you belong in rooms that underestimate you
• The difference between fame and leverage (and why power isn’t always on stage)
• How she navigated reinvention in her forties: from Broadway to single motherhood
• What it takes to pivot careers after 14 seasons on reality television
• The difference between fame and leverage in the entertainment industry
• Why she believes you should always work on your next move while in your current one
• The real impact of divorce and navigating co-parenting in the public eye
• How she’s redefining motherhood and split custody as a single mom
• Why she doesn’t identify with the “soft girl era,” and how hustle became her coping mechanism
• How she built multiple businesses: restaurants, production company, Broadway, and music
• How to reinvent yourself without burning out
• How she became a Broadway producer and broke records with Othello
  
  

  Kandi’s Book Recommendation: The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley Ph.D. 

  Follow Kandi on Instagram.

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What if the real reason you avoid getting savvy with money isn’t math? Vivian Tu, former Wall Street trader turned founder of “Your Rich BFF,” is back, and this time she’s asking us to rethink everything we think we know about money, including the complicated emotions that come with it. From paying an $8,000 lease break in her twenties to becoming the breadwinner in her marriage, Vivian opens up to Danielle about the evolution from being “smart” with money to being wise. But this isn’t just a finance conversation. It’s about shame. It’s about immigrant parents and sacrifice. It’s about dating red flags, prenups, consumerism, and the quiet fear so many women carry that they’re “bad with money.” Plus, the one investing mistake too many of us are making without even realizing it. In this episode of Question Everything, you’ll learn:

• The personal changes (freezing embryos, retiring her parents, starting a trust) that led her to write her new book Well Endowed
• The difference between being smart with money and being wise with money
• The lie that most women are being told about their money habits 
• How to have hard conversations about money, from the first date to long-term partnership
• Why you should never get married without a prenup (don’t worry, even if you did, it’s not too late!)
• Why credit card debt is one of the most problematic types of debt and how to tackle it with a plan 
• Why you can’t rely on willpower to be financially successful 
• A statistic that shocks Vivian: 50% of couples don’t talk about money until they are already engaged
• The common mistake that some people are making with their retirement savings that will cost you in the long run
• Why Vivian calls consumerism a “trap” and urges us to “deinfluence” our lives
• How to curb lifestyle inflation with three simple questions 
• A simple hack to save money on online purchases
• The moving lessons Vivian learned from her immigrant parents’ sacrifices, and how she’s using that knowledge to build generational wealth
• Why putting your credit score on your dating profile is suddenly a flex
• Vivan’s suggestions for how to have meaningful money conversations on the first date (without seeming obvious)
• How to reframe the big financial decisions of your twenties and thirties, and beyond

Vivian's book recommendation:  Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office, by Lois P Frankel

Follow Vivian on TikTok @yourrichbff

Make sure to check out Vivian’s book Well Endowed

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Is self-help actually helpful? In this episode of Question Everything, Danielle speaks with Gretchen Rubin, #1 bestselling author and co-host of the Since You Asked podcast. Danielle and Gretchen unpack some big questions when it comes to the rampant self-improvement era we’re living in now. Questions like: Can people ever really change? How do you make better decisions when every option comes with regret? In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why getting enough sleep is the most underrated habit for happiness and productivity
• How your chronotype can impact your daily energy, mood, and life
• Why reunions and old friendships are a key to connecting with others, but also another version of ourselves
• Why self-help is not a one-size-fits-all approach to life 
• The science behind how digital vs. IRL friendships impact the quality of our life 
• What psychology tells us about how behaviors ultimately dictate the quality of our lives 
• How to make tough life decisions without chasing “perfect” choices
• Practical strategies for reframing setbacks and career transitions

Follow Gretchen on Instagram @gretchenrubin

Check out Gretchen’s podcasts, Happier with Gretchen Rubin and Since You Asked with Lori Gottlieb and Gretchen Rubin

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What does it mean to practice love when fear is loud and life feels out of control? In this special Valentine’s Day episode of Question Everything, we’re talking about love (just not in the way you might expect). Danielle sits down with bestselling author and spiritual teacher Marianne Williamson for a conversation about miracles, fear, forgiveness, and what it really means to return to love in our everyday life. Marianne’s 1992 book A Return to Love, famously championed by Oprah Winfrey, has changed the way millions of people think about relationships, spirituality, and personal growth. In this episode, Marianne explains how the idea of “miracles” is far more practical than mystical, and why our shared purpose is more simple than any of us could have ever imagined. Together, Danielle and Marianne explore how to take ownership of your inner world even when the outer world feels out of control.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How to choose love over fear in difficult moments
• Finding clarity and peace during uncertain times
• Simple daily habits that help you reconnect with love
• How to lift your vibrational energy, even when the world feels overwhelming and scary
• The difference between understanding spiritual ideas and putting them into practice in our everyday life
• The difference between manifestation and magic
• How to live with more intention and less fear
• Understanding the root cause of feeling stuck
• Why personal growth begins with changing how you see yourself and your place in the world
• How to make a big spiritual shift that will have an impact on your life
  
  

Follow Marianne Williamson on Instagram @mariannewilliamson

 

Check out Marianne’s book A Return to Love

 

Book Recommendation: Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

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What is etiquette in the modern age? In this episode of Question Everything, Danielle speaks with with two modern etiquette authorities: Elaine Swann, the expert the New York Times calls “The Emily Post of the Digital Age,” and Sarah Jane Ho, Netflix host and host of the Mind Your Manners podcast, as well as an Eastern wellness expert. Together, they unpack how we have lost decorum, what’s actually going on with our social skills, and why “just be yourself” might be the worst advice we’ve ever normalized. From dating, weddings, and group chats to social media, power, and belonging, this conversation is a sharp, funny, and deeply human look at how to move through the world with more confidence, clarity, and grace. In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why etiquette isn’t dead—but why it feels more confusing than ever
• Have we lost decorum?! And why?
• Why “just be yourself” became bad advice in a socially complex world
• Solution to our social skills feel rusty after the pandemic and life online
• How social media and digital life changed the rules of behavior
• The hidden rules of modern dating 
• What’s actually considered rude now
• The wedding etiquette arms race and what couples really owe their guests
• Who pays the biggest social price for bad manners (and why)
• The difference between being polite and being a pushover
• How to set boundaries, tell the truth, and still be gracious
• The small habits that make people feel respected, comfortable, and at ease

Book Links (via Bookshop.org — always support independent bookstores):

Mind Your Manners by Sara Jane Ho

Elaine Swann’s Book of Modern Etiquette by Elaine Swann

 

Follow the Guests:

Sara Jane Ho — Instagram, TikTok

Elaine Swann — Instagram, TikTok 

 

Learn More:

Elaine Swann’s Etiquette School: The Swann School of Protocol

Sara Jane Ho’s Personal Care Brand: Antevorta 

 

Book Recommendations

Book recommendation from Sara Jane Ho: Manifest Now By IDIL Ahmed 

Book recommendation from Elaine Swann: Safe People by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend

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Jeannie Mai, host, style icon, mother, and one of the most recognizable voices in daytime television, opens up about her early Bay Area life that shaped her long before the spotlight. From leaving home at 14 and surviving sexual abuse, to learning how to reinvent, and soften without losing her edge, Jeannie reflects on the cost of becoming who the world sees + the courage it took to become who she actually is. Now in a new chapter she calls 'becoming', Jeannie talks honestly about divorce from her former husband Jeezy, motherhood, co-parenting, faith, healing, and what it really means to rise from the ashes. In this episode, Jeannie shares:

• What she learned from navigating instability at a young age, and how it influenced her approach to love and healing
• The community of women that rallied around her during her toughest moment.
• How survival skills can quietly become limitations in adulthood
• The difference between intensity vs. intimacy (and how chaos can masquerade as love)
• How to recognize when you’re performing love instead of living it
• Why being single can be “the most prized piece of land you’ll ever inherit”
• Why divorce feels like “experiencing death alive”
• Why the end of love often marks the beginning of real self-work
• What “doing the work” actually looks like after divorce
• Why healing requires time alone, but not isolation
• The role of movement, strength, and progress in healing
  Why not taking things personally is an emotional superpower
• Jeannie opens up about the labels people love to slap on women (“divorced,” “single,” “46,” “mom”) + why they’ll never tell the full story
• Why children don’t exist to heal us, but often reflect us
• The tearful moment her daughter mirrored back words Jeannie had only ever prayed silently
• How she loves to show up + surprise her friends
• How to redefine healthy love without closing yourself off
• How faith evolves when you stop asking and start listening

Follow Jeannie on Instagram @thejeanniemai and on her YouTube. 

Book recommendation: The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk M.D.

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Writer and cultural critic Christiana Mbakwe Medina joins Question Everything to dissect the strange, shifting logic of our current moment, from the collapse of celebrity mystique to our obsession with wealth, power, and proximity to influence. Christiana and Danielle, explore why “cancel culture” doesn’t really cancel anyone, how pop culture functions as soft power, and why so many modern myths, from the tradwife fantasy to the American Dream, are starting to crack. They also look ahead to what 2026 might bring: a more irreverent cultural mood shaped by fear fatigue, AI, and a hunger for something that feels human. In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why pop culture is a mirror of society, not a distraction from it
• How celebrity lost its mystique in the age of access and social media
• Why cancel culture rarely has lasting consequences
• Why Lauren Sánchez Bezos may be one of the most important power brokers in culture right now
• What the Diddy verdict reveals about power, fame, and forgiveness
• How and why powerful men are so often culturally forgiven
• What “soft power” really means—and how culture shapes politics more than we think
• Why we confuse wealth with moral worth
• How the American Dream functions more like a myth than a reality
• What the tradwife / “soft life” fantasy is really selling to burned-out women
• Why staying home is far harder and riskier than TikTok makes it look
• How AI is quietly reshaping creativity and culture already
• Why culture may be entering a more irreverent, punk era after years of fear and caution
• What’s actually changing about fame, influence, and the influencer economy
• Why celebrity apologies rarely work (and never really have)
• How we should think about aging, relevance, and cultural exits (including Beyoncé)
• What we’re misreading about power, gender, and modern ambition

Follow Christiana on Instagram @christianaama, and don’t miss her Substack and podcast, Pop Syllabus.

Book recommendation: The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson

Substack:  https://popsyllabus.substack.com/

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pop-syllabus/id1866754314

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On her 35th birthday, Danielle sits down with content creator Alexandra Hayes for an intimate conversation about milestones, identity, ambition, friendship, and what it really means to become yourself. Together, they unpack the emotional baggage and pressure we carry around birthdays, and the quiet ways our priorities shift as we grow. In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why birthdays bring up both celebration and pressure
• Alexandra’s complicated relationship with birthdays and her mantra: “A day is just a day”
• How family dynamics and early disappointments shape how we experience milestones
• Danielle’s childhood birthdays, family traditions, and when birthdays started getting harder
• The pattern of unmet expectations ruining birthdays
• How the “one word” birthday planning framework could change your celebration 
• Learning to be a better friend by becoming the kind of friend you want to have
• The idea that your gift and your curse are usually the same thing
• The athlete metaphor for life: prepare, perform, recover—and realizing recovery was missing
• How to be more protective of time, energy, and who gets access to your life
• Letting go of forcing things and trusting that what’s meant for you won’t miss you
• The power of other people’s belief in you 
• Looking ahead: sovereignty, self-trust, alignment, ambition without self-abandonment, and what Danielle & Alexandra are stepping into next

Keep up with Alexandra here, listen to her podcast Hello Hayes, and read her Substack here. 

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Gabby Reece– former pro volleyball player, Nike's first female signature athlete, co-founder of Laird Superfood, host of The Gabby Reece Show joins Danielle to talk about the real work of building a meaningful life. From the emotional tightrope of motherhood and ambition to the realities of aging, marriage, leadership, and letting go of people-pleasing, Gabby shares the lessons she's learned at every stage. What you'll hear in this episode:

• How to build a life that won't leave you full of regret
• What it means to "go first"—and how that philosophy shaped her life and career
• Her thoughts on Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka, and mental health in sports
• Her honest take on feminism, sport, and the sexualization of women's bodies
• The quiet lie women are told about ambition—and how to design a life that actually fits
• What her volleyball career taught her about winning, feelings and how to take up space
• Why women in their 50s are calling it the "F.U. Fifties"—and what that really means
• What she teaches her daughters about ambition, self-trust, and body image.
• A behind-the-scenes look at her Nike shoe deal (the first of its kind for a woman)
• Wellness hacks she swears by (including the real reason she started drinking coffee at 45)
• The feminist contradiction she's still wrestling with
• How marriage to Laird Hamilton has challenged and inspired her
• The quiet power of consistency, mentorship, and saying no without apology

Follow Gabby here.

Listen to The Gabby Reece Show here.

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