Maureen Dowd and Todd Purdum

This conversation features Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times Opinion Columnist Maureen Dowd, interviewed by author and journalist Todd Purdum. They discuss Dowd’s book “Notorious: Portraits of Stars from Hollywood, Culture, Fashion and Tech” before a live audience at the Kentucky Author Forum. This conversation was recorded on December 1st, 2025, at the Kentucky Center in Louisville. Maureen Dowd is a columnist for The New York Times Opinion pages and a feature writer for The Times’s Styles and Arts & Leisure sections. Ms. Dowd won the Pulitzer Prize in 1999, has covered ten presidential campaigns, and served as White House correspondent during the first Bush administration and the Clinton administration. Her latest book, “Notorious: Portraits of Stars from Hollywood, Culture, Fashion and Tech,” is a captivating collection of her most compelling celebrity profiles. Todd Purdum is a veteran journalist and author who spent twenty-three years at The New York Times, covering politics from city hall to the White House, and served as the Los Angeles bureau chief. He was a senior writer at Politico and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. His most recent book, “Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television,” focuses on the trailblazer whose legacy continues to influence American culture.