27: Maggie Smith, You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir

27: Maggie Smith, You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir

Author: Jennifer Taub & Politicon LLC May 28, 2023 Duration: 1:06:53
This week for the book club, we have poet Maggie Smith talking about her tell-most own new bestselling memoir You Could Make This Place Beautiful.

You know Maggie from a poem she wrote in an Ohio coffee shop in 2015. That poem “Good Bones” was so deeply true and beautiful that readers passed it around. And it went viral a year or two later. Poems don’t go viral, but this one did, so much so that the unimaginable happened. First. In April of 2017, Meryl Streep read that poem, “Good Bones” at a Lincoln Center gala. But there’s a next. Next, her husband –– the father of her two young children –– the fellow writer, turned lawyer she met in a creative writing class in college. That guy. He blew up the marriage with a postcard and a pine cone. 

Joining us in this conversation is one of Maggie’s and my mutual friends, activist and writer Charlotte Clymer. You know Charlotte from her regular appearances on the Mary Trump Show. She was previously the press secretary for rapid response at the Human Rights Campaign and director of communications and strategy at Catholics for Choice.

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Get More from Maggie Smith
Twitter | Website | Author of You Could Make This Place Beautiful

Get More from Charlotte Clymer
Twitter | Website | Charlotte’s Web Thoughts Substack

Get More from Jen Taub:
Twitter | Follow the Money Substack | Author of BIG DIRTY MONEY

For anyone who’s ever finished a great book and immediately wanted to dissect it with a smart friend, Booked Up with Jen Taub is that conversation. Hosted by author and legal commentator Jennifer Taub, this podcast digs into the ideas, arguments, and narratives shaping our world, all through the lens of what we’re reading. It’s less a formal book review and more a lively, critical exploration. Episodes weave together themes from politics, culture, and current events, treating books as vital source material for understanding the bigger picture. You’ll hear Taub’s insightful commentary and analysis, often drawing connections between an author’s work and the real-world issues it illuminates. The discussion feels urgent and relevant, whether tackling a new release or a classic with renewed significance. Listening to this podcast is like joining a book club where the conversation is always sharp, informed, and unafraid to challenge conventional wisdom. It’s for readers, thinkers, and anyone curious about the power of stories to explain our complicated present.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 59

Booked Up with Jen Taub
Podcast Episodes
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