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Back Row with Amy Odell

Amy Odell
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  • FASHION & BEAUTY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Fashion, style, celebrity and culture. Insider knowledge. Outsider honesty. Humor included.

  1. 1 DAY AGO • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Before the Carpet Became a Content Farm: Revisiting 'The First Monday in May'

    To get Back Row newsletter access included with your Premium subscription, sign up at https://www.backrow.net/subscribe. How does Met Gala doc ‘The First Monday in May’ hold up 10 years after it first came out? On this episode of the Back Row podcast, Amy sits down with television expert and podcaster Kate Casey of "Reality Life with Kate Casey" (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reality-life-with-kate-casey/id1154758766) to rewatch ‘The First Monday in May,’ a time capsule of 2010s fashion culture and canceled celebrities. Amy and Kate discuss Anna Wintour's commitment to her Starbucks venti and those necklaces she always wears. Plus, Amy digs into her 'Anna: The Biography' reporting to reveal what the film left out. Follow Kate on ⁠Substack (https://katecasey.substack.com/)⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠ (https://www.instagram.com/katecaseyca/), and of course, ⁠her excellent podcast⁠ (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reality-life-with-kate-casey/id1154758766)! CHAPTERS: 02:20 – How ‘The First Monday in May’ Got Made 09:20 – The Story Behind the Alexander McQueen Exhibition 12:40 – Anna Wintour is an Outfit Repeater 17:20 – Anna’s Venti Starbucks Cup 27:00 – Could the Met Pull Off ‘China Through the Looking Glass’ Today? 33:50 – The Canceled Celebs Featured in the Doc 43:50 – Looking at Table Settings with Baz Luhrmann 47:10 – Karl Lagerfeld’s Cameo 56:30 – The Strategy Behind the Met Gala Carpet 1:04:00 – How Well Did the Documentary Age?

    1hr 8min

  2. 6 DAYS AGO • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    4 Fashion Assistants Share Their ‘Devil Wears Prada’ Stories

    This is the audio version of ⁠the Back Row newsletter⁠. 'The Devil Wears Prada 2' is almost here! In the 20 years since the first movie came out, how much has fashion's treatment of assistants really changed? Here from four current and recently employed assistants who describe being asked to replant flowers with bare hands, having to leave the building when someone started throwing shoes, "constant emotional berating," and much more. CHAPTERS: 2:31 - "You Don't Even Call Dogs This Way" 5:36 - "The Glamour Is Gone, But the Abuse Isn't" 8:32 - "It's Not Acceptable to Openly Bully Someone" 10:57 - "It Was Constant Emotional Berating"

    13 min

  3. 20 APR

    Met Gala 2026: The Bezos Backlash, Devil Wears Prada 2, and What It All Means for Anna Wintour

    The 2026 Met Gala has three storylines running at once: Jeff and Lauren Bezos as lead sponsors, The Devil Wears Prada 2 opening the Friday before, and Anna Wintour doing more press than she has in years. Amy sits down with Chantal Fernandez of The Cut to break down all of it — plus predictions for the night. 0:00 Intro — Why This Met Gala Is Different 1:14 - Meet Chantal Fernandez 5:42 The Theme: "Costume Art" & What It Actually Means 8:01 - The Real Story Nobody's Covering: The New Costume Institute Galleries 10:17 - How Met Gala Exhibitions Became Museum Blockbusters 12:35 - How Themes Actually Get Chosen (and Who Funds Them) 14:02 - Anna's Role: Making Exhibitions Commercial 19:00 - Why the Met Gala Gets More Criticism Than the Oscars 21:14 - What Brands Actually Get Out of Spending $350K on a Table 24:26 - Can You Even Boycott the Met Gala? 28:06 - Lauren Sanchez, Schiaparelli & the New Ultra-Rich Aesthetic 30:16 - Breaking Down the NYT Lauren Sanchez Profile 32:56 - Graydon Carter's Perfect Quote 40:14 - Fashion Is Losing Power — and the Bezoses Are a Symptom 44:01 - Anna's Devil Wears Prada 2 Marketing Blitz: Smart or a Mistake? 49:19 - Predictions for Met Gala Night 52:49 - Will Devil Wears Prada 2 Be Any Good? 54:10 - Outro Partner message: Go here: https://beehiiv.link/8yrisv and use the code AMY30 to get 30 percent off a subscription to beehiiv. Links & Resources 📰 Back Row Newsletter: https://www.backrow.net/  📸 Amy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/instamyodell/ Mentioned in this episode:  ↳ Chantal's VIC story ↳ Amy’s recent Met Gala reporting  ↳ NYT profile of Lauren Sanchez by Amy Chozick ↳ Chantal’s 2024 Met Gala story  ↳ Charlotte Cowles’s story asking Anna if she’s retiring Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    55 min

  4. 13 APR

    12 Ultra-Rich People Opened Up About What Money Did to Them

    What does extreme wealth actually do to a person? Their psychology, their relationships, their behavior? New York Magazine features writer Lane Brown set out to answer that question by interviewing a dozen ultra-high net worth individuals, people worth $30 million or more. (Read his full story here.) Almost no one wanted to talk. The ones who did had never spoken about this before. Lane and Amy discuss what he found: why sudden wealth immediately isolates you, how self-made billionaires think versus inheritors, why the goalpost never stops moving no matter how much you have, and the eight-step psychological descent — mapped out by a therapist who treats the ultra-wealthy — that can turn an ordinary rich person into someone completely detached from reality. Part 2 is available to Back Row premium subscribers at backrow.net/subscribe, which includes full newsletter access. You can also subscribe through Apple Podcasts or Spotify. CHAPTERS 00:00 — Introduction 01:19 — Meet Lane Brown 02:12 — What Extreme Wealth Does to a Person 03:21 — The First Thing Money Does: Isolation 06:36 — Who Counts as Ultra-Wealthy? 07:28 — How Lane Got Mark Cuban to Talk 09:31 — Why the Rich Refused to Participate 11:22 — Self-Made vs. Inherited Wealth 13:18 — Is It All Just Luck? 14:16 — The Goalpost That Never Stops Moving 17:41 — The 8-Step Descent Into Corruption 20:23 — Do Billionaires Know People Hate Them? 23:24 — When Luxury Purchases Lose Their Thrill 27:03 — Are Billionaires Actually Cheap? 29:02 — The Tax Strategy Behind the Spending This episode was produced by Amy Odell and edited by Joyce Ciesil and Jonathan Voytko. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    32 min

  5. 11 APR • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    When Rich People Misbehave

    In Part 2 of Amy's conversation with New York Magazine features writer Lane Brown, they get into the stranger, more revealing corners of extreme wealth — the behaviors that don't make it into polite conversation. They discuss the "Buy, Borrow, Die" tax strategy that lets the ultra-wealthy avoid income taxes entirely (1:18), why so many billionaires say they'd happily pay more in taxes but won't go first (4:21), and what the election of anti-billionaire candidate Zoran Mamdani as New York City mayor signals about where we're headed (3:36). Plus: why the restaurant check is the one moment ultra-wealthy people can't escape the awkwardness of their own wealth (9:51), whether money actually erodes empathy (11:33), and the pattern Lane kept hearing about — men who get rich and trade in their wives (13:23). Part 1 is available to all listeners wherever you get your podcasts.

    17 min

  6. 10 APR

    Why Anna Wintour Did the 'Vogue' Cover

    This is the audio version of the Back Row newsletter published April 7, 2022. What on earth is Anna Wintour doing on the cover of Vogue?! A theory as to why she's leaning so hard into The Devil Wears Prada 2 promo — and what it all says about her legacy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    8 min

  7. 6 APR

    'The Devil Wears Prada' Rewatch: Was 'Vogue' Really Like That?

    How much was Vogue really like The Devil Wears Prada? Amy Odell sits down with former Vanity Fair critic and the author of the Premiere Party newsletter, Richard Lawson, to rewatch The Devil Wears Prada before the sequel drops. Amy interviewed more than 250 people to write Anna: The Biography, including Anna Wintour's closest friends and collaborators. Richard worked at Condé Nast for a dozen years — and has stories. They review the movie's origin story, break down each scene, and talk about what was totally real and what was totally made up. In Part 2 for Premium subscribers, the discuss how the movie impacted Anna Wintour's public image and how she really felt about all of it. Part 2 is available to Premium subscribers. Sign up at Back Row for full newsletter access or through Apple Podcasts or Spotify. CHAPTERS: 01:30 — The Devil Wears Prada Origin Story 05:50 — How the Film Elevates the Book 09:10 — Richard’s Real-life Andy Sachs Experience 17:00 — The Movie’s Opening Montage 20:10 — Miranda’s Arrival: “A Million Girls Would Kill For This Job” 24:50 — Andy’s Boring Boyfriend 31:00 — What was it Really Like for Assistants in the Aughts? 34:20 — Would Andy Have Succeeded Without Miranda? 36:50 — The Story Behind the Cerulean Monologue 42:30 — The Harry Potter Book: Did Miranda Want Andy to Fail? 45:30 — The Met Gala Scene 53:50 — Why the Costumes Worked Links & Resources: Back Row newsletter: Premiere Party newsletter Get Anna: The Biography Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    55 min

  8. 6 APR • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    What Anna Wintour Really Thought of The Devil Wears Prada—and How It Forever Changed Her Image

    This is Part 2 of Amy's The Devil Wears Prada rewatch, with Richard Lawson. Amy and Richard discuss how the film mythologized Anna’s public image and took her from an industry leader to a household name — and what the dehumanizing view of Anna's assistants within the Vogue office says about Anna and the workplace she managed. They discuss why Grace Coddington called the film the bane of Anna’s life (06:10), why a story from Andre Leon Talley’s memoir may just be Anna’s real-life Nigel betrayal (16:30), and how Chloe Mall’s takeover will impact Anna’s legacy (21:10).

    33 min
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About

Fashion, style, celebrity and culture. Insider knowledge. Outsider honesty. Humor included.

Information

  • Creator
    Amy Odell
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    79
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Amy Odell 2025
  • Show Website
    Back Row with Amy Odell
  • Provider
    Amy Odell Inc.

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