Author Scottie Jeanette Madden: "The Brighter the Light, the Darker the Shadow"

Dennis ventures to the edge of the Santa Monica wilderness to the home of author, speaker and TV showrunner Scottie Jeanette Madden to discuss her new cookbook/memoir Recklass In the Kitchen, a Year of Light, Laughter & Love…Oh, and Food! as well as the charity holiday dinner she's hosting on December 21st. She talks about how, in the years before she transitioned, cooking was her solace and saved her life. She also talks about some of her holiday favorites, like serving pumpkin soup out of actual pumpkins for Halloween, her Christmas Eve dinner party that doesn't mess around and what it means to be a ninja valentine. She explains what it's like to do a Ted Talk and why she thinks it's important to emphasize gender dysphoria when she's giving speeches. She recalls what it was like to be working on the book during the same period that she was losing the love of her life to cancer. Other topics include: cooking shows on TV, her family's 'F 'em" ethos, how transitioning has impacted her TV career, embracing the color pink, and why it's cool to be part of the Benevolent Brotherhood of the Brick Wall. www.zuzubean.com