Alphapussy: "Happy Mother's Day!"

Actor, musician, and storyteller Gina Gershon joins Vanessa Hope for a Mother’s Day vHopeful conversation about her fearless new memoir, AlphaPussy: How I Survived the Valley and Learned to Love My Boobs, tracing how she became an “alphapussy” in life and art. They dig into Gina’s path from Valley tomboy to Naked Angels co-founder, her iconic work in films like The Player, Bound, and Showgirls, and the wild twists of fate that led her to spar with Bob Dylan in a boxing gym and form a band with members of Guns N’ Roses. Along the way, Gina shares how she navigated misogyny, nudity, and power dynamics on big studio films, learned to own her body rather than shrink from others’ projections, and eventually reframed Showgirls as a sharp critique of “ugly America.” At the heart of the episode is a deeply moving meditation on mothers: Gina’s hard-won journey to understand, forgive, and fiercely love her mother in her final years, how learning her mom’s and grandmother’s stories helped heal generational wounds, and how honoring that complex love can free us to stand in our own power as Alphapussies!Transcript lightly edited. Podcast available on Dream of a Better World, Apple, or Spotify Get full access to Dream of a Better World at vanessahope.substack.com/subscribe