TDS Time Machine | Women's History Month

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Music

As you should know, March is Women's History Month.

The month...

That's right.

The month when all historic female heroes drink for free.

For more on this, we're joined by our Senior Gender Issues correspondent, Desi Lightick, everybody.

Thank you.

What does Women's History Month mean to you?

Well, Trevor, during this month, I like to celebrate the stories of impressive women that have been overlooked.

It's not his story, it's his story.

Took me forever to come up with that.

You know, Desi, I've honestly have learned so much already this month about women who have done great things in history.

Okay, yeah. But you see, everyone pays attention to the women who did great things.

But no one speaks about women who did bad things.

For example, everyone's heard of Benedict Arnold, right?

He was the general who betrayed America during the revolution.

The greatest treason in our history, up until Tristan Thompson.

But you probably haven't heard of Benedict's wife Peggy Ship and Arnold.

Now, she was actually the one who encouraged him to turn on America and help plan his treason with British officials.

You know, it's like they say, the couple that betrays together stays together.

And there is nothing hotter than treason's ex, trust me.

I don't even know what that means.

But that is really fascinating, Desi.

I had no idea about the role that she played.

Oh, of course she did. You're a man.

I didn't know either. I saw it on a Snapple cap at lunch today.

That's a weird Snapple cap.

Yeah. Here's another one.

We all know who Alexander the Great was.

The ruthless king, bloodthirsty conqueror, sideburns aficionado.

But he only got to do all of that because of a woman, his mom, Queen Olympias.

She wanted her son to be king so bad, she had her husband and his other wife assassinated.

She's schemed so her child could have a better life, like a Macedonian aunt Peggy.

You know, actually Olympias inspired me to break into my son's school

and destroy the other kid's science projects.

Sorry, someone trashed your volcano, Timmy, but I too am raising a king.

Desi, you can't break into a school and vandalize children's homework.

Oh, wow. Trevor, you're going to tell a woman what she can and can I do with her body?

Wait, no, no, no. What you did was a crime.

Well, you know, you know what else used to be a crime?

Women voting, huh? Right, ladies?

Yeah.

But you know what, I'm glad you brought up crime because women can do that too.

People always talk about machine gun Kelly, one of one of the most notorious gangsters during prohibition.

But nobody's ever heard of his wife, Catherine Kelly.

She helped him scheme. She helped plan his kidnappings.

She even gave him the gun he was named after.

You know, before her, everyone called him finger guns, Kelly.

Wow, this is really fascinating. You're opening my eyes.

Like, even when it comes to bad things, we tend to erase the contributions of women from history.

Yeah, and it's still happening today. Just look at Facebook.

Fake news scandals, helping Russia spread propaganda.

They even sold all our dick pics to Steve Bannon.

And every time something goes wrong, people blame Mark Zuckerberg.

But their COO Cheryl Sandberg deserves just as much credit.

Everyone's dragging his name through the mud.

I am so sick of people refusing to say something bad about women on the internet.

Desi, it almost sounds like you admire these bad women.

I admire all women.

But there is one woman I admire above all.

She is my number one evil heroine.

I mean, I guess heroines the number one evil heroine.

But this lady comes close.

Trevor, when you think of pirates, you think of Blackbeard, Captain Kid,

or whoever's de-captain now.

But the most successful pirate of all time was actually a woman.

Jung Yeesau.

In the 1800s, she had 80,000 sailors, 1500 ships,

and took more pirate fortune than Johnny Depp's lawyers.

But get this.

When the Chinese Navy finally caught her, she talked her way out of jail,

got Amnesty, and then opened a casino.

Boom!

She went from being a criminal tyrant to a legal casino owner.

A move historians call the reverse Donald Trump.

So remember, everyone, on Women's History Month isn't just about breaking the glass ceiling.

It's also about throwing someone through it and getting away with it.

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In the last few decades, women have made big strides in the workplace.

We're no longer getting harassed while wearing big ugly shoulder pads.

It's 2023.

Now we're getting harassed while wearing super cool big shoulder pads.

Needless to say, corporate women still face challenges.

When it comes to the CEOs of the largest companies, women are still vastly underrepresented.

There are currently 38 female CEOs at the S&P 500.

And women CEOs are 45% more likely to be fired than their male counterparts.

There's also evidence that women who are appointed to the top job

aren't necessarily set up for success.

High level women are often promoted during a time of crisis.

It's a phenomenon called the glass cliff.

Women who negotiate are 67% more likely than women who don't.

To receive feedback that their personal style is intimidating to aggressive or bossy.

When women have a child, their earnings decline for each child by 4%.

Whereas men, there's a fatherhood bonus and they actually earn more.

When they have children, it's called the motherhood penalty.

That's right.

It's really hard to be a woman in the corporate world.

And they didn't even mention the fact that the office is always so freaking cold.

It's no wonder women have to work harder.

It's the only thing that will keep us warm.

With all the challenges women are facing in the workplace,

I thought it was important to offer some mentorship to the next generation of female leaders.

Take a look.

Hi, everybody.

Hello.

Hi.

My name is Desi.

And today, I'm going to tell you how to climb your way to the top of the corporate ladder just like the boys.

And sometimes it means playing dirty.

And sometimes it's going to be an uphill battle.

All right?

Look to the person to your right.

Now look at the person to your left.

Okay, we're still learning rights and rights.

By the end of today, only one of you will remain.

Eveline, yes.

We don't want to be boys, but we should be like the boys.

Not in a way that we're like the boys, but we're going to be like,

and power women, and we're going to get streams accomplished.

Then we're going to get money.

Then we're going to put in our bank account and get more money.

Yeah, because you worked for it.

And I think what is the key takeaway is that we want to beat the boys.

Yeah, but we want to fill our pockets with money.

Okay.

Who in here knows what a CEO is?

Big No!

Big!

Nobody knows.

Beat, you're up.

You want to be a CEO?

Um...

Sure.

Do you know what a CEO is?

Yeah.

Chief Executive Officer.

I have no idea.

The boss.

So, like, you know how a teacher is the leader of the classroom?

Oh, yeah.

and they're in control of everything happening in the classroom.

Oh, yeah.

It's just like that, except they don't have to pay out a pocket

for office supplies.

So, okay.

Part of making it to the top of corporate America

is knowing how to negotiate for yourself.

Do you know what that means?

No.

No.

What does it mean to negotiate?

Oh.

Okay, the most important thing about negotiating for a raise

is that you're touting your accomplishments.

What chores have you been doing lately?

Have you been adding value to your family?

Have you been, say, helping your brother tie his shoes?

That's mentorship.

I don't know how to tie shoes.

Do you know how to slip on a pair of pumps?

Yes.

And it doesn't matter.

Okay, do any of you want to be mammies?

Mommmies?

No, no, no, no, no, no.

I'm a mammy.

I'm a mammy.

That'll be $40,000 up front.

Oh.

What do you mean?

It's called the mommy tax.

Nobody has that kind of money.

What about $9,000?

I like the attempt to negotiate, but no,

it's a hard and fast 40 grand.

Whoa.

Okay, there are two types of CEOs.

Has anyone here heard of Elizabeth Holmes or Anna Delby?

Is Anna Delby the person who is pretended

to be like a Russian airy chair, whatever?

Why, yes, she is.

You're my prize student.

Here's the lesson we learn.

You only know the names of the women

who have done illegal things.

Okay.

Bell, congratulations.

You are now our new CEO.

You now get to clean up the mess

of the previous CEO matrix.

What?

But you said being a CEO is good?

Yes.

It is, but it's not always fair.

I'm keeping the bag, but I'm not paying it that out.

And that is how you negotiate.

Why are you clapping?

I know a lot of men might think women's history

doesn't affect them, but it turns out

women throughout history of the men's favorite things.

For example, Trevor, what's the number one thing

that men can't live without?

I'll give you a hint.

It starts with the B.

You whip him out during spring break.

Boops.

Beer.

Yeah, beer.

No, no boobs is a brand of South African beer.

Okay.

Well, beer is a $530 billion industry,

mostly thanks to men.

And who can blame them for loving beer

with all those macho ads full of sexy women

desperate to have sexy sex?

Ooh, grandpa, your social security check is so big.

But it turns out Mesopotamian women were the ones

who invented this man juice.

Wait, sorry, no, that doesn't sound right.

This man flew it.

Yeah, that's better.

But it's true.

7,000 years ago, beer was considered a gift from a goddess.

And only women were entrusted with making it,

which is why I no longer pay for beer when I go out.

And so signing my bar tab, I just write, you're welcome.

That's actually a really cool thing.

I mean, not you stealing drinks, but the invention of beer.

Yeah, no, and that's not all.

A woman helped create one of the things men think

they can do when they're drunk.

Kung Fu.

Society has always told us that it's meant for men,

and pandas.

But guess what?

Bruce Lee, the most famous Kung Fuer of all time,

got his whole style of Kung Fu from a woman.

In the 1700s, a nun by the name of Ingmoi

developed her method after teaching a female student

how to fight off a creepy guy.

These days, you can just swipe left.

But back then, you had to literally swipe left.

That's, yeah, that's so amazing.

Wow.

I didn't know all of these things.

I didn't know all of the women's history,

but I didn't know that a nun helped invent Kung Fu.

Well, I mean, it's not that crazy.

Nons are badass.

Remember that nun in the 90s who took down

one of Reno's biggest mobsters?

And she still had time to teach her choir some Motown Classics.

Isn't that suspect?

Yes, my favorite documentary.

And speaking of fighting, it was this woman,

Lisa Meitner, who discovered nuclear fission.

I'm sorry, does you?

Nuclear fission?

What is that?

Oh my god.

Seriously?

Trevor, you don't know what nuclear fission is?

I mean, everyone knows it's when you fission the nuclear,

you know, whatever.

The point is her discovery of nuclear fission

became the basis for all nuclear weapons.

So without her, there are no nuclear bombs.

And without nuclear bombs, world leaders

would have no way of proving how big their dicks are.

Oh, no.

Oh, no.

Oh, no.

Oh, no.

Absolutely.

Fellas, the next time you're butt-chugging a PBR

or start a bar fight or drop a nuke,

remember all of the women who made it possible and honor them

by not doing any of that dumb shit in the first place.

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MUSIC

Today is International Women's Day.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

And here's how the world's top feminist organization

is celebrating.

Mattel is also celebrating International Women's Day

with seven new role models.

The new Barbie lineup was inspired

by the likeness of female leaders in STEM fields

from around the world.

The company hopes the role models,

including former YouTube CEO, Susan Wajiski,

and UK Space Scientist Dr. Maggie,

Adam and Polkop will inspire the next generation of girls

to pursue their passions, despite women being

underrepresented in STEM fields.

This is so important.

Kids learn so much from their toys.

They play with it.

You want them to have scientists, dolls, and CEO dolls

that can scissor each other.

LAUGHTER

Come on, this story.

We turn to Dezi Leidick.

Dezi.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

How's your International Women's Day going?

Well, thank you for asking.

It started out so great this morning,

the random guy who usually yells,

nice ass instead yelled,

I respect your nice ass.

LAUGHTER

And this is why we march.

LAUGHTER

So, yeah, I was feeling pretty good.

I mean, at least until I saw this Barbie story.

Wait, you don't like these brand new Barbies?

But they're so accomplished.

They got scientists and they got a YouTube CEO.

Oh, yeah.

Equally great role models.

You could be a scientist who helps humanity

or you could design a YouTube algorithm that says,

hey, kids, if you like Peppa Pig, you'll love QAnon.

LAUGHTER

OK, that's fair.

But some of them adopters and engineers

and one of them is a professor.

Yeah, I know.

They're all so successful.

F**k those Barbies.

F**k them all.

F**k them all.

Yeah, it's bad enough.

Barbie was always hotter.

Now, she's smarter than me, too.

LAUGHTER

I want a doll that makes me feel bad about my body, not my mind.

So you're saying we should get rid of these Barbies?

Well, no, I'm not necessarily.

But why can't we also have some mediocre Barbies

who don't make us feel pressured?

Right?

Not...

APPLAUSE

...mediocrity.

Not every Barbie has to be a girl boss.

Let's have a Barbie who's a paralegal at a midsize law firm.

Or one who works the lunch shifts at a just salad.

There is nothing wrong with Barbies

who are just trying to make it through the day.

APPLAUSE

But aren't Barbies supposed to be aspirational?

No.

No, Marlon, they're not.

Give me a Barbie who's OK with letting 5,000 emails pile up

in her inbox.

OK?

The Barbie who spilled coffee on her shirt

but knows she can still get another day out of it

if she puts a blazer on top.

LAUGHTER

The Barbie who spends her Friday nights in bed,

binge-watching Vanderpump rules, Duncan Carrot sticks

into a jar of peanut butter and letting her kids drive themselves

to Taekwondo for the love of God, stop judging me, Marlon.

LAUGHTER

I wasn't, but those do feel very specific.

You're specific.

LAUGHTER

My point is,

they don't all have to be rock stars.

You think every Ken is a Nobel Prize-winning aeronautical engineer?

No, he's just a man with a car and a pubic mound.

And we all accept him.

That's what I want, the dream of every woman

to be as successful as an average white man.

LAUGHTER

APPLAUSE

That doesn't sound like women achieving their dreams.

I'm sorry, are you man-splaining my dreams to me?

LAUGHTER

On International Women's Day?

No.

What?

No, I wouldn't dare.

No, kind of, I feel like you want to.

I swear I was not.

I think.

Desi Lodic, please, everybody.

CHEERING

Recent studies show that women are more likely to be hurt

and car crashes.

And Jordan, the reason is obvious.

Now, women are bad drivers.

That is that.

What you said, it's what you said.

It's sexism.

Sexism.

Yeah, sexism.

And now, the auto industry is finally starting

to do something about it.

When it comes to designing crash test dummies,

researchers say it's time to get smarter.

This is the average female.

Engineers in Sweden have developed a dummy

based on a woman's body.

More narrow shoulder area and a wider hip area.

It's also lighter and has a lower center of gravity.

All things experts say are important to consider

when testing collisions at high speeds.

Wow, what a surprise.

The cars are designed to be safe for crash test dummies

and the dummies are designed to represent men's bodies.

Although, to be fair, it's not just the dummies.

The study also revealed that right before a crash,

men tense up while women usually whisper,

sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry.

I will say, I'm glad they're finally making changes

to the dummies.

But if we were worried about accuracy,

let's go all the way with this.

Why not fill the car with half-eaten takeout containers

and a hockey stick that was left in the back seat

for the last three months, no matter how many times

you told them to bring it in the f***ing house?

Let's see what happens when that hits a wall

at 60 miles an hour.

Sorry, Jordan, it's been a tough week.

No worries.

Thanks again for a drive made of hockey practice.

Yeah, no problem.

So thanks to the scientists and congrats

on designing a mannequin that men won't dream

about having sex with.

Right, right, right, totally, totally, totally,

definitely, so spot on, spot on, spot on, spot on.

Can we move on, please?

Yeah.

Zootopia 2 has come home to Disney Plus.

Let's go.

Get ready for a new case.

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New friends.

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Zootopia 2, now available on Disney Plus rated PG.

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Why?

I guess tonight is a legendary photographer

whose powerful new collection of career-spanning work

is called Women.

Please welcome Annie Leave of It.

Woo!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

I don't know how I got talked into this.

How did we talk you into this?

No, not this.

I still am trying to figure that out.

This is, yeah.

Well, you'll be asking yourself

for the rest of this interview.

No, OK.

Well, just pick me up wherever I start to, you know.

Oh, my God.

Things start to fall out of sight of my mouth.

Shitting me.

You're an absolute dream.

I am, you are a legendary photographer.

Well, I love this show and you're amazing.

Well, thank you.

Thank you.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

And we're waiting for you to have your own show.

Oh.

Tell John that.

Did you hear that?

Paramount?

John?

Paramount?

I just want to make sure we were rolling on that.

Annie's a legend.

So we do what she says.

OK.

Oh.

OK.

That's very kind of you to say.

I, your work, it was so important to me coming up.

I remember vividly seeing the Demi Moore photograph

being very pregnant.

And it was just the most jaw-dropping exquisite photo.

At that time, I had never seen pregnant women

being shown like that.

It was like always with the laundry basket covering

their bellies as though it's a shameful secret.

And there she was just standing in her beauty and power

and strength.

No, we really didn't know what we were doing when we did it.

I mean, quite honestly, I, in fact, I was sent out by

Van Afer to do a cover.

And they said, well, unfortunately, Demi's pregnant.

So you'll have to come in tight and do what you can.

You know, the best you can.

And I happened to know Bruce and Demi

and his photograph them before and then some private pictures

of them when she was pregnant with their first child.

So at the end of our cover sitting,

I said, do you want me to photograph you,

nude with the second baby?

And she said, sure, that'd be great.

And then I was looking at her and I was thinking,

this is kind of interesting.

This could be, this could be, maybe if you cover yourself

in the right places, this could be

brought up back to New York.

And it was Susan Sontag, actually, who said,

this is really important.

And we went to Tina Brown and we made sure

Demi was comfortable with it and we did it.

And it was funny because we said, how do we talk about this?

You know, what did we do?

We didn't quite know what we did and it turned out

to be so important.

What's interesting is Rihanna, of course,

who, I mean, I don't know if we could pull

that picture up.

We do, we have, I mean, good God, come on.

I mean, you know, I mean.

Applause.

I mean, you know, she took it to a whole new place.

Oh, yes.

She didn't.

No, just, you know, when I was pregnant,

I thought that's what I looked like.

Turns out I looked like I was just having

a severe allergic reaction for nine months.

I mean, it's such a moment.

It's such a beautiful photo.

I mean, first of all, she announced

that she was pregnant with her second baby

at the Super Bowl and the third one

with, you know, at the Met Gala.

So I mean, the way she walks around, you know,

it's so beautiful.

I mean, she's so smart, such an interesting person.

And I've tried to write about photographing her,

but you just get sort of taken in.

I mean, she's really mesmerizing.

She's just, she's just an amazing person.

And it's what you pull out of your subjects, too.

You're known for doing...

No, I feel like I'm dragged behind a car with...

With a...

Oh, come on.

You know, with her, she's amazing.

She's so smart.

You're known for doing an immense amount of research

on your subjects.

What does that look like?

Are you reading up on that?

You've done research, too.

I've noticed.

You've done a very good job.

Well, thank you.

That's very kind.

But how does that look like for you

when you do not touch shadowing or...

You know, it's just...

I don't understand why people don't think

they don't do research.

I mean, you have to.

I mean, you have to know what...

Who you're walking into see and...

And how they've been photographed before

and who they are and what they do.

I mean, I love...

I always think I'm photographing more...

Not so much what someone looks like,

but what they do and who they are, you know.

The thing that I find as...

That's common in all of your photos,

particularly in this book, which we're going to get to,

is that you're not just showcasing a woman as being beautiful.

And they are. They're all beautiful.

But it's like you have a way of illuminating their superpower,

whatever it is that they have,

whether it be strength or depth or intrigue

or a sense of humor.

Is that something that is planned out for you

or does that happen in the moment?

You just have to be there to see it.

You know, I...

It's interesting, because I'm not too sure myself,

you know, what it is that I'm doing.

I'm pretty direct, and, you know,

I stand on the shoulders of so many great portrait photographers

that I have it in the back of my head,

how I'm seeing something.

But, you know, I'm not alone.

I'm like, I'm there with the other person,

and it's a very psychological situation.

They have to sort of come to terms with themselves

and how they imagine they want to be seen.

I think we, especially as I get older,

I really want us to look as best as we can look

whoever we are.

I mean, it's hard to explain.

I can't explain it.

No, you did.

You did.

I want to talk about your drive,

because you talk about coming up as a young photographer,

having a verb in this insatiable drive.

Where does that come from?

Is that because you came from a big family, one of six?

No, it's like I came from it.

I mean, I think I just, you know,

it sounds very corny, but I love what I do.

And I've been doing it a long time,

and I've had incredible vehicles to ride on to work with,

you know, starting with Rolling Stone magazine,

and then Banny Fair, and then Vogue.

And, you know, I just, I love what I do,

and I love photography more than anything in the world.

And, you know, I studied, you know, Cardi Razzan,

Robert Frank, and became interested in, you know,

the world of, you know, Helmut Newton.

And I mean, there's just a great, so I don't know.

I just, my brothers and sisters seem to have the same problem,

might have.

They're all, we're all, you know, very, very,

kind of workaholics, I guess, you know.

Kind of.

Well, let's work down, yeah.

What was it like coming up as a young photographer

being in a very male-dominated field,

probably often being the only woman in a room?

I wasn't really aware of it as much.

I use it to my advantage, because I, you know,

no one really took me seriously or thought, you know,

you know, that, you know, that I could do anything.

You know, so you could kind of wander around.

I mean, the early work was repotage and,

and more journalistic, and so you could really be somewhere,

and no one really paid you any attention.

And I love it.

And then as I got better known, I got a little harder, you know.

But only my subject was walking up to me,

and starting to talk to me.

And I said, no, can you just please stay on the other side

of the room, you know, or be?

You do your job.

I'll do my, you could wear a mustache.

It's going to cover, you know.

Just a little disguise.

I want to talk about this incredible collection.

It's a two-volume series.

So I have an incredible publisher fight in that lets me kind of

do kind of what I want to do more or less, you know.

And what happened was, as Hillary Clinton had come to me

over a year ago and said, we want to commemorate

the original women's book from 1999.

And then I thought, well, that's incredible.

Maybe it's out of print.

Let's reprint it.

And so I'm going to show you.

So it's too cool.

We have some.

It's too cool.

But it's also not only will you feel strong, look at these photos,

but you actually will physically get strong.

It's a little.

It's a little too.

You have, it's really important to get these babies

out of the box.

It is.

Build that upper body string.

It's true.

But so we reproduced and reprinted the exact first

volume, which was with students on tag.

And by the way, it's funny, but I wasn't too sure.

I wanted to do a book on women.

I thought it was too broad of an idea, too big, too.

I didn't see how we could do it.

And then I went out to Las Vegas and did those photographs

for the showgirls.

Yes.

And we have those.

We can put them up.

Yeah.

You have to rub out some parts, right?

Oh, yes, slight blurs.

But what was amazing is it turned me around.

I went back to New York and I set the Susan.

Let's do the book on women, because we

don't know what we look like.

You know, we, it was a surprise.

So this book, we just totally shrunk it a little bit.

And we reprinted exactly the way it is.

It's kind of like a, it's not really a time capsule,

but it's really a moment in time.

And, but I thought, you know, why aren't we, why don't I,

done all this works since 1999 on women.

I mean, never want to separate women from men.

It's just that women's stories need to be told.

Yes.

And we have a lot of stories of men.

And it'd be nice to have, we need more stories on women.

Yeah.

Thank you.

So look who I got to glorious sign them.

And Shimamanda.

And Shimamanda wrote a beautiful passage, both of them

wrote beautiful pieces for this book.

I just want to reference in the showgirl series.

What was so spectacular about that when you look at the photos

they're side by side, you have the woman,

you have the showgirl in her makeup and her costuming

and the version that she presents to the world.

And then you have the authentic version of her,

both are beautiful.

I would argue that the authentic is more intriguing.

I think, I think this is open to discussion, you know,

because, you know, because I know you were interested

in, has a photograph changed for me over time.

And I think the showgirls, I think, they still kind of,

I'm still trying to sort of understand them on some level.

But I met them the night before in their dressing rooms

in their costumes.

And they came into the studio the next day.

Susan MacRamer came in first.

And I said, this is true.

I said, can I help you?

I didn't know who she was.

I really didn't know who she was.

And she was one of the showgirls.

And so I just was so spellbound by the fact

that the women came in, you know, out of costume

and unrecognizable from their, in their costume.

So, you know, I don't think it's two different people.

They're the same person.

It's just, you know, I'm still trying to sort it out.

But it's mesmerizing to me.

And that was the series that made you think,

oh, this could actually be a book.

That's right.

Yeah, maybe we could do this book.

Yeah.

And you also shot an incredible photograph of Michelle Obama.

Oh.

Yes.

There she is.

What?

So Michelle agreed to be in the book.

And I got a call from her office.

And she said, we've photographed for the new book.

And we got a call from her office.

And she asked if she could wear jeans.

And I said, sure.

You know, and so I had no idea what we were, you know,

sort of getting herself into.

But she's so, she's so incredible.

You know, I think she also told me she was just, you know,

driving a car by herself now.

And she was just really finding, you know, herself.

This is a woman that, the first lady that I photographed

several times for the covers of Vogue during those eight years.

So to see her as just sort of finding, refinding herself,

it was really very beautiful, very, very beautiful,

very free, very liberating photo.

And then one of your favorites from what I understand

is the photograph of your mom.

Oh, I like, I end up talking about that

because, you know, inevitably I get this question,

what's your favorite photograph?

Right.

I don't have a favorite photograph really,

but this photograph of my mom, which

was done for the first, the first volume.

Yes.

She's the age I am now.

And she was afraid of being older.

And she was nervous.

She was afraid of being photographed.

She was afraid that she was going to look older or be older.

And then we also have this problem in my family

where my mother would always make a smile for pictures.

So I was determined not to have her smile.

And so she didn't like the picture at first.

And my father said, I don't like the picture,

because she's not smiling, you know?

But it's an amazing photograph over time,

because when I look at it, I realize

it really feels like the camera is not there.

And she's really like looking at you.

There's no camera there.

And I think that's really what you want to achieve

in a portrait is there's no camera there.

Yeah.

And I also love that you said that, you know,

she was sort of the life of the party and bubbly and charismatic.

But what you loved so much about this particular photo

is that it showed her intelligence

because she was such an intelligent person.

You're doing your research, I love that.

I learned from you.

I learned from the past.

This is such an incredible collection of beautiful photos.

And this isn't, it's not just celebrities and star athletes.

You have inspiring women from all walks of life.

You have CEOs.

You have a NASA mathematician advocates.

Can I say, if you get the opportunity,

I wish I put it more in the front of the book,

the bios on which are a little hikers on these women in the new book.

They're an astounding group of women.

I mean, it could have gone on and on and on and on.

And this is just a small selection.

But there is a difference between,

we couldn't have done this book 25 years ago.

And we are really, you know, in this quiet,

roaring confidence, as Chibamanda says.

I mean, I just think we're an incredible set of people

right now as women.

And it's much different from 25 years ago.

Yes, that's reassuring, Tika.

And hopefully we continue to be more forward and do not

go backwards, whatever the White House wants to bring our way.

No, it's a tough time.

It's a tough time.

But that's what's interesting about Gloria's essay.

Is she addresses that?

Yes.

And she's lived a long life.

And she said, we're not, I have to believe it.

We're not going backwards.

That's right.

That's right.

Which is the optimism that we all need right now.

I am so grateful for your work.

Thank you for doing what you do.

I can't believe it.

I can't believe you're here.

You're absolutely right.

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