36: BARBIE Book club with George Hahn & M.G. Lord

36: BARBIE Book club with George Hahn & M.G. Lord

Author: Jennifer Taub & Politicon LLC July 30, 2023 Duration: 1:07:47
Today is all about BARBIE. The new film, the doll, the legend. Too much hype? No, not enough. This month’s new blockbuster film directed by Greta Gurwig starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling has more than just the best one-liners “She’s everything. He’s just Ken.” It also provides theater audiences the opportunity to share howls of laughter delight about the humorous send up of the patriarchy, and also sob openly about what our lives could have been if more girl’s imaginations were able to flourish as grown women, instead of us becoming accessories, enlisted in service of the ambitions of powerful men.

Because Booked Up centers on books, our Barbie Book Club members today include M.G. Lord  author of Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll, originally published in 1994. Plus, M.G. has a fresh 3-part podcast series out now called  "LA Made: The Barbie Tapes” which includes audio from her one-on-one interviews with Barbie inventor and Mattel founder, Ruth Handler, among others. We’ll get into that. M.G. has written for numerous publications including the New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. She is an Associate Professor of the Practice of English at the University of Southern California.

Also joining the Barbie Book Club today is George Hahn. Cuter than a Ken Doll, more awesome than Allan, there is no better example of how to live an urban bon vivant life while on a bicycle than George Hahn. George – in his own witty words – “ is a self-made thousandaire playboy who wears tailored clothing, drinks coffee, talks on podcasts and occasionally writes and does TV.” You may know George from his screen roles in  “Sex and the City,” “Law and Order: Criminal Intent,” and Miramax’s “Kate & Leopold.” He also has a new podcast called Hahn: Solo and website GeorgeHahn.com that’s spelled H-A-H-N that features menswear, grooming, lifestyle essays and advice.


Contact Booked Up:
You can email Jen & the Booked Up team at: BOOKEDUP@POLITICON.COM or by writing to: 

BOOKED UP 
P.O. BOX 147
NORTHAMPTON, MA 01061

Get More from M.G. Lord:
Podcast | Website| Author of FOREVER BARBIE and several other books

Get More from George Hahn:
Twitter | Website| Podcast Hahn: Solo

Get More from Jen Taub:
taubjen on Threads| Money & Gossip  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
39: Connie Schultz: She’s every genre [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:50
Pulitzer-Prize winning writer Connie Schultz is Jen’s guest today. Connie is the author of two memoirs. Her first Life Happens: And Other Unavoidable Truths and second …And His Lovely Wife: A Memoir from the Woman Beside…
38: A PLACE FOR US with Brandon Wolf [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:57
Brandon Wolf, author of the memoir A Place for Us joins Jen on Booked Up today. Brandon is a survivor of the 2016 horric domestic terror attack at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida where his best friends, Drew Leinonen…
37: WHY SINÉAD O'CONNOR MATTERS with Allyson McCabe [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:50
Today’s Booked Up guest is Allyson McCabe, author of the deeply felt, carefully researched book, Why Sinéad O’Connor Matters, which was published in May two months before the musician’s passing. Allyson interviewed Sinéa…
35: Ben McKenzie [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:22
Jen’s guest today is Ben McKenzie, author of the new book EASY MONEY: CRYPTOCURRENCY, CASINO CAPITALISM, AND THE GOLDEN AGE OF FRAUD. In this incredibly fast-paced, relatable book, Ben, joined by journalist Jacob Silverm…
34: FANCY BEAR GOES PHISHING: Scott Shapiro [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:27:59
Jen’s guest today is Professor Scott J. Shapiro, author of the new book FANCY BEAR GOES PHISHING. That’s phishing with a PH. But Fancy with an F, as in Fancy Bear, the Russian hack. Subtitled THE DARK HISTORY OF THE INFO…
33: Kathy Griffin is back, bitches! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:06:04
Kathy Griffin is Jen’s guest today. They cover everything from her life on the D-List to her cameo in Pulp Fiction (while she was dating Quentin Tarantino) to how Donald Trump tried to destroy her, to her SOLD OUT show i…
32:  A MINOR REVOLUTION with Adam Benforado [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:08:28
This week Jen’s guest is Adam Benforado, author of the compelling new book A Minor Revolution: How Prioritizing Kids Benefits Us All. The Atlantic said A Minor Revolution is “An extremely sympathetic and worthy attempt t…
31: E. Jean Carroll and Mary Trump on their Backstory Serial [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:43
As featured in The New York Times, Mary Trump and E. Jean Carroll are collaborating with Jen on a serialized romance novel called THE ITALIAN LESSON. Mary is writing the novel, Jen is editing, and E. Jean is advising and…
30: YES, I CAN SAY THAT by Judy Gold [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:07
They kvetched, they kvelled, they talked about Hitler. Naturally. What did you expect? This week Jen’s guest is two-time Emmy-Award winning comedian Judy Gold. Judy fit Booked Up into her busy schedule. This spring she f…
29: ACCEPTANCE  by David L. Marcus [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:08:03
Today Jen’s guest is her long-time friend and Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist David L. Marcus. They talk about Dave’s latest book Acceptance: A Legendary Guidance Counselor Helps Seven Kids Find the Right Colleges –– a…