Transcript
Monica Lewinsky (0:00)
You've heard her name in headlines during trivia nights as a punchline. Monica Lewinsky. She's been a major reference in pop culture since she was 24 years old when a scandal made her a household name overnight. Since then, she's fought to redefine her reputation, and now she's ready to use her experience to encourage others to take back their power too. On her new podcast, Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky, Monica Monica leads honest and wide ranging conversations about what it means to write your own narrative. Each week, guests share how they've rediscovered purpose rebuilt relationships and redefined success after their most vulnerable moments. A single incident can shape how the world views someone's life. It might be a public scandal, a viral moment, a career setback, or a personal struggle. Thrust into the spotlight through raw conversations with actors, athletes, activists, and everyday people, Reclaiming explores what happens after the headlines fade and how to find your voice when the world thinks it already knows your story. You're about to hear a preview of Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky. While you're listening. Follow Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky wherever you get your podcasts.
Olivia Munn (1:25)
Hi everyone. For today's episode, I spoke with my brave and brilliant friend, Olivia Munn. We met over a decade ago and bonded over all things.
Guest (1:34)
Woo.
Olivia Munn (1:34)
Woo. So crystals, astrology. We just got into deep, real conversation really quickly, which is kind of the way I like to do it. You probably know her as an actor and an activist, and if you're on social media, you'd also know her as the mom to adorable Malcolm. And maybe because Olivia and I are close, I knew about her struggle with breast cancer in real time. But to hear her heartbreaking and inspiring story in the details that she shared in our conversation, it meant so much to me and made me admire her even more. And for any fans of the newsroom, we went there too. So anyway, I hope you find something to connect to in our chat. And thanks for joining us on Reclaiming. So let's get into it.
Guest (2:20)
I knew that my friends and people in my life saw me as somebody that would fight back. And I had no idea, I truly had no idea that I could be manipulated and hurt that way, that I wouldn't just get out of something that was dangerous to my psyche.
Guest (2:38)
So, so many, so many women, I think, find themselves in, in different levels of relationships that are everything from psychologically and emotionally abusive to physically abusive and, and I think find it hard to leave, you know, I mean, and I think people talk more now about, you know, attachment styles and stuff and so I look back on some of my relationships during what I call my dark decade. So kind of in between 98, graduate school, whatever, and my first person essay in vanity fair in 2014. And I think, I look at it and maybe it's a story I tell myself, but I think about that. The pain I was in staying in relationships with people who didn't value me, who talked to me a certain way, that I allowed and accepted and kept going back for more. And I look at it and I think I was. I was in a deeper pain. And experiencing the pain in the relationship was actually easier. Like, I knew, I knew I had to go through pain, and that was easier than the pain of really what I was sitting on. Of both. Not only my experiences in 98, but whatever, all those experiences before it, that, that, that led to all of that.