We Gotta Talk: News, Issues, and Beauty for Women

Hi all, this week's podcast is an audio reading of a Substack post I put up today, in honor of the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. It's a piece both personal and forward-looking, reflecting on who we were as Americans 25 years ago, and wondering where we are headed next.Click HERE to read the post and subscribe to my Substack.

What does our skin actually need after 40—and how much of what we’ve been told about aging is just really good marketing?In this episode, I’m talking with celebrity esthetician and skincare founder Angela Caglia, who has spent 30 years working hands-on with women’s skin, including some very famous faces. Her client list has included Barbra Streisand, Amal Clooney, Helena Christensen, Alexandra Daddario and more.Angela has a refreshingly simple philosophy when it comes to aging--less is more.We talk about what physically changes in the skin during our 40s and beyond, why she thinks women are overdoing it with skincare, and the rise of regenerative beauty—including the science behind her human stem cell-derived skincare line.Angela also shares some advice that may make you rethink your entire routine: why many women over 40 should consider not washing their face in the morning, what she recommends instead, and why she believes we don't necessarily need the long lineup of retinol, vitamin C, hyaluronic acid and peptide serums we've been conditioned to buy.But this conversation goes much deeper than skincare.Angela opens up about being told by a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon—at just 52—that she needed a facelift, and why that experience made her question the increasingly aggressive way cosmetic procedures are being marketed to younger women. We talk about the pressure to look perpetually young, the influence of social media, and why sometimes the most powerful anti-aging advice is simply learning to look in the mirror and appreciate the face staring back at you.We talk:What actually happens to our skin after 40Why shifting hormones, collagen, elastin and sebum matterThe biggest mistakes Angela sees women making with skincareWhy she believes many routines contain too many activesWhat “regenerative skincare” actually meansExosomes, growth factors and human stem cell-derived skincareWhether regenerative products can replace retinol and vitamin CAngela’s surprisingly minimal morning skincare routineWhy she tells many women over 40 to skip the morning cleanseHer preferred approach to sunscreen—and the SPF she personally usesWhy she recommends oil cleansing at nightThe beauty treatments and trends she thinks women should approach cautiouslyThe push toward younger facelifts—and Angela’s own experience being told she needed oneWhy she thinks fillers may be falling out of favorThe danger of chasing unregulated beauty and wellness treatments abroad“Skin listening” and learning to stop comparing your face to everyone else’sWeight training, walking and the wellness habits Angela prioritizes at 54Starting her company at 45 and building it into a multimillion-dollar businessWhy she believes it’s never too late to start something newI tried--and LOVED--the Angela Caglia Cell Forté Serum, which you can find here!

Antisemitism is often treated as something that belongs to another time and place—Nazi Germany, the Holocaust, or centuries-old persecution in Europe. Moreover, it's also often framed as something only Jews should worry about.But historian Pamela S. Nadell argues that antisemitism has a much longer—and much more American—history than many of us realize... and history shows us that its poison often bleeds into other communities, as well.Pamela is an award-winning historian, professor and the Patrick Clendenen Chair in Women’s and Gender History at American University, and author of Antisemitism, an American Tradition.In this episode, we trace antisemitism from its centuries-old roots to its evolution in America—and ask what that history can teach us about the moment we're living through now.We talk:How antisemitism evolved from medieval Europe to early AmericaThe Rothschilds, Henry Ford and the rise of antisemitic conspiracy theoriesHow antisemitism became embedded in American institutions and cultureWhy post-WWII America became a relative “golden age” for American Jews—and what changedThe Tree of Life massacre, October 7 and today’s “high tide” of antisemitismWhat Zionism actually means—and when anti-Zionism crosses into antisemitismAntisemitism on college campuses and across the political right and leftHow social media gives centuries-old antisemitic ideas new lifeWhy antisemitism is never just about Jews—and what its rise can tell us about a societyYou can find Antisemitism, an American Tradition—winner of the 2025 National Jewish Book Award for American Jewish Studies—HERE.