Why We Need Gina Barreca Right Now

On this podcast, I get to talk with so many great people. And today is super-great because I get to introduce to you a woman who is funny and fierce and on fire: Gina Barreca – author, professor, humorist and feminist.  Gina has appeared on the Today Show, CNN, BBC and Oprah. She's also appeared on "American Masters" and "This American Life." Her work has been published in most major publications including the New York Times. Her blog for Psychology Today has over 8 million views and counting. Author of eleven books and editor of seventeen others, she is an important voice for our time. People Magazine called her "smart and funny." Ms. Magazine notes her "characteristic wit and wisdom." And the Chicago Tribune raves, "Barreca learned to do what any sassy smarty-pants would: challenge stale ideas and press buttons." Today we will talk about how Gina got her start in the "humor business" how women use humor differntly than men why it's imporntant to make stories out of painful moments how NOT to use humor and why humor is more important now than ever We will touch on a few of her books, but the real gem of the collection, the book I can't wait to talk about, is her latest book: GINA SCHOOL.  GINA SCHOOL comes out on October 7th, 2025. If you'd like to pre-order a copy, simply follow the link to Mac's Backs-Books, my favorite indie bookstore here in CLE: https://macsbacks.com/book/9781960456410  NOTE: Mac's Backs-Books will notify you when your copy is available or it can be shipped directly to you.  ABOUT GINA BARRECA Gina Barreca's classic on women's humor, They Used to Call Me Snow White But I Drifted, was followed by Perfect Husbands (And Other Fairy Tales), Sweet Revenge, Babes in Boyland: A Personal History of Coeducation in the Ivy League, and It's Not That I'm Bitter, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Visible Panty Lines and Conquered the World. Author of eleven books, she's also the editor of seventeen others, including Don't Tell Mama: The Penguin Book of Italian American Writing, and the Fast Women series for Woodhall Press. Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of English Literature at the University of Connecticut, Barreca has been published by the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the LA Times, Cosmopolitan, Forbes, The Chronicle of Higher Education and the Harvard Business Review. You can find her in the Library of Congress or in the make-up aisle at Walgreens.