It's always such a joy when I can bring on a friend I know IRL who lives in my home state, so it is with great pleasure that I scheduled a Zoom hang with the critically acclaimed, wondrously creative, and darkly comedic journalist-turned-author Amina Akhtar. More of a breezy, nostalgic chat about life, Gen X, print journalism, and the '90s, than a traditional episode devoted to the movies, with the release of Devil Wears Prada 2 right around the corner, it was the perfect time to talk to Amina about the twenty years she spent working in the fashion magazine industry.

Accidentally stumbling into a full time position at Vogue after a month working as a fact checker, Amina was the assistant to Anna Wintour's second in command, and worked along with Lauren Weisberger, who no one in her office realized was secretly writing and getting ready to publish the thinly veiled satire of her work life with Wintour at Vogue in The Devil Wears Prada. Light-hearted, funny, and eye-opening, Amina shares her insights and memories, and we discuss how the film, starring Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci, and Meryl Streep, reflected and differed from the real thing.

Bio: Amina Akhtar is a novelist and former fashion editor. Her satirical first novel, #FashionVictim, drew critical acclaim. Kismet, her second book, was set in the stunning and creepy world of wellness. Almost Surely Dead, Akhtar’s third novel, was published by Mindy Kaling’s imprint. Akhtar is currently working on her fourth novel.

Akhtar has worked at Vogue, Elle, the New York Times, and New York Magazine, where she was the founding editor of the women’s blog The Cut. She lives not too far from Sedona, Arizona.

Originally Posted (3/29/26) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/154266082

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