Monica Lewinsky - ‘I would have liked a more normal life’

Monica Lewinsky is an activist, podcaster and producer. At the age of 24, Lewinsky, a White House intern, found herself in the eye of a global scandal. She was subjected to a mass public shaming - losing her livelihood, her anonymity and the future she had once imagined for herself. Now, 51 Lewinsky has garnered a new generation of admirers, who with the advent of social media and shifting cultural tides, have rightly reinterpreted the shocking way she was treated. Her podcast, which launched earlier this year, is called ‘Reclaiming’ and features interviews with guests who are in the process of reclaiming their own narratives, just as she was forced to do. She joins us to talk about her experiences with shame, her perfectionism and why the pain she went through has given her purpose. Elizabeth and Monica answer YOUR questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content ✨ IN THIS EPISODE: 00:00 Intro 01:32 Early Life and Career 03:12 Reclaiming Her Narrative 06:17 Reflections on Turning 50 11:19 First Memory of Failure 18:40 Struggles After the Scandal 23:12 Navigating Post-Scandal Job Search 23:58 The Fragility and Vulnerability of Public Scrutiny 25:03 Media Obsession and Public Perception 25:59 Surviving the Media Onslaught 27:16 Reflections on Love and Power Dynamics 30:22 The Impact of Betrayal and Somatic Therapy 35:50 The Handbag Business Venture 40:12 Lessons Learned and Final Thoughts Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com All episodes in June are brought to you by @arlalactoFREE - all the taste, easier to digest. Listen to our bonus episode brought to by ArlaLactoFREE with Vicky Pattison here: https://link.chtbl.com/VickyPattison 🌎 Get an exclusive 15% discount on your first Saily data plans! Use code [howtofail] at checkout. Download Saily app or go to to https://saily.com/howtofail ⛵ I have an upcoming one-off show at Cadogan Hall on 21 Sep for my new novel One of Us. Full show details here: https://www.fane.co.uk/elizabeth-day Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan Mix Engineer: Matias Torres Studio Engineer: Gulliver Tickell Assistant Producer: Suhaar Ali Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot Executive Producer: Carly Maile How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices