Emmy-winning actress, producer, author, and transgender rights trailblazer Laverne Cox joins Monica this week on Reclaiming for a live taping at the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival in Seattle. With her new memoir, Transcendent, out in the world, Laverne opens up to Monica about what it means to finally tell her story in her own words—from childhood trauma and self-worth to fame, healing, and the complicated cost of visibility. She retraces her path from growing up in Mobile, Alabama, where homophobia taught her early lessons about shame, to finding freedom, community, and creative purpose in New York City. Laverne reflects on how, after nearly 20 years spent struggling as a working actress, Orange Is the New Black changed everything, making her the first openly transgender person nominated for an Emmy in an acting category. Together, she and Monica explore vulnerability, the difference between being seen and being safe, and how Laverne continues to reclaim dignity for trans people everywhere.

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Queer Eye star, fashion entrepreneur and producer Tan France joins Monica this week on Reclaiming for a vulnerable conversation about identity and belonging. Tan retraces his path from growing up as a gay, Pakistani, Muslim kid in England, to building a wildly successful fashion business designing modest clothing for Mormon women in Utah. He takes us back to the accidental Queer Eye audition he never really wanted—one he only attended in the hopes of making gay friends—and how that reluctant yes launched him into global visibility. Tan also shares what it was like to have his coming out accelerated by the show’s premiere, forcing deeply personal conversations with his traditional Muslim family. Together, he and Monica explore the emotional cost of being seen before you feel ready, the power of humor and how Tan has reclaimed fashion, family, and fame on his own terms.

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Emmy-winning actor, writer, and creator Lena Waithe joins Monica on Reclaiming this week for a philosophical conversation about storytelling as a path to empathy and social change. Lena charts her journey from creating groundbreaking television like The Chi, co-writing  Netflix's award winning Master of None and more recently co-producing Cats: The Jellicle Ball on Broadway. She opens up about the profound impact of attending her first silent meditation retreat at 40 and how this daily practice has brought her life into focus. Together, Monica and Lena explore queer representation in the arts, the strange elasticity of time, and the singular magic of theater.

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Serial entrepreneur and digital marketing icon, Gary Vee joins Monica on Reclaiming this week for a candid conversation that pulls back the curtain on his early investments in some of the biggest digital platforms of our time — including Facebook, Twitter, Venmo, and Resy, the wildly popular restaurant reservation app he co-founded. Though often seen as the patron saint of “hustle culture,” Gary reveals the counterintuitive philosophies that actually drive him: kindness as a competitive advantage, patience as the true engine of success, and radical accountability as the antidote to victimhood. Expect a raw, provocative, and surprisingly vulnerable conversation that goes far beyond marketing tactics — offering a masterclass in building a life, not just a business.

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The most decorated American track & field athlete in history, Allyson Felix joins Monica this week on Reclaiming for a conversation about what it takes to turn a moment of rejection into a movement. Allyson retraces her path from a shy, 'head-down' competitor focused solely on winning medals to the powerful advocate who risked everything to challenge a corporate sponsor system that penalized women for becoming mothers. She opens up about the isolating experience of hiding her pregnancy from Nike, negotiating her job security when her pregnancy became public, and the terrifying condition that threatened both her life and her daughter's. Allyson reveals how that confluence of personal crisis and professional injustice ignited her voice, leading her to walk away from a sponsorship, publish her groundbreaking New York Times op-ed, and ultimately build her own footwear company, Saysh, from the ground up. Expect a conversation filled with quiet determination and hard-won wisdom. * Since we taped this episode, Allyson made the exciting announcement that she’ll come out of retirement to compete in the 2028 Olympics is Los Angeles

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This week on Reclaiming, we’re playing one of our all time interviews with comedian, writer, and host John Oliver— a candid and thoughtful conversation about comedy, shame, and the power of laughter. John and Monica first connected in 2019 when she was interviewed for Last Week Tonight and she shares how that moment ultimately became part of her reclaiming journey. They explore the ethical tightrope of making jokes in a world full of gray areas and how humor can be both a coping tool and a way to call power to account.John shares what really surprised him about interviewing the Dalai Lama and the unexpected way His Holiness threw him off balance. With wit and depth, he and Monica dig into the weight of public shame, the risk of accountability, and why, for John, getting into trouble might just be the point. (And they use the C Word quite a bit!)

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Emmy-winning creator and star of the TV series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Rachel Bloom joins Monica this week on Reclaiming for a revealing conversation about turning your personal trauma into creative expression. Rachel retraces her path from childhood OCD and early career love triangles, to creating Crazy Ex-Girlfriend—a show that brilliantly dismantled romantic-comedy tropes and reclaimed the "crazy" label with a raw, honest portrayal of mental illness. Expect a conversation brimming with intellectual curiosity, radical candor, and a masterclass in how to find the perfect punchline for your deepest pain...plus Rachel dishes on her latest role in The Devil Wears Prada 2.

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Actress, entrepreneur, and 90s icon Jennie Garth joins Monica this week on Reclaiming for a conversation about surviving global fame, reclaiming your purpose, and the profound power of choosing yourself. Jennie retraces her path from a quiet horse ranch in Illinois to the center of a cultural phenomenon as Kelly Taylor on Beverly Hills, 90210. She opens up about the personal cost of that fame—developing crippling anxiety and agoraphobia at the height of her success—and how she has since reclaimed the toxic “rivalry” narrative with and her 90210 female co-stars Jennie reveals how a single line from a 90210 script became the mantra for her second act, and how a pivot at 50 offered a different kind of healing than her acting career ever could. Expect a conversation brimming with surprising vulnerability, hard-won wisdom, and a roadmap for how to reclaim your own story, no matter how the world has tried to write it for you.

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Emmy-nominated writer, actor, and co-creator of the critically acclaimed series PEN15, Anna Konkle joins Monica this week on Reclaiming for a conversation celebrating how dark humor can get you through almost anything. Anna retraces her path from a chaotic childhood to co-creating PEN15—a show that lets everyone process the tragicomedy of adolescence. She opens up about a five-year estrangement from her father that ended abruptly when she became his sole caregiver in his final months, and about the ways she’s been able to recategorize her mom—from a source of eye-rolling to a source of admiration. Anna reveals why now was the time to explore grief and reconciliation in her debut memoir, The Sane One, and how the solitary act of writing offered a different kind of healing than collaborative television. Expect a conversation brimming with laughter, warmth and tragicomic story swapping between Monica and Anna.

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Renowned intuitive and bestselling author Laura Day joins Monica this week on Reclaiming for a pragmatic and enlightening conversation about turning trauma into a superpower and reclaiming intuition as a practical tool for living. Laura recounts the harrowing story of her traumatic childhood—caring for her younger siblings amidst profound neglect—and explains how the hyper-vigilance she developed to survive became the foundation for her intuitive gifts. She reveals the 16-year journey to writing her most definitive book, The Prism, and shares why her core philosophy is "proof over belief," a principle that earned her the title "The Psychic of Wall Street.” Listen for a masterclass in how to stop looking backward to heal, why the answers are rarely "inside you," and what it takes to reclaim your future by making one small, targeted change today.

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Writer, director, and creator of the groundbreaking HBO series Girls, Lena Dunham joins Monica this week on Reclaiming for a candid, profoundly self-aware conversation about surviving public scrutiny, turning pain into art, and the radical act of reclaiming your own story. Lena retraces her path from becoming the “voice of a generation” at 24 to enduring a decade of public dissection, and ultimately to consciously building a quieter, more protected life as a writer and director. She reflects on the surreal experience of Girls being re-evaluated by a new generation and reveals why now felt like the right time to write about the physical and emotional costs of fame in her new memoir, Famesick. Along the way, Monica and Lena forge a powerful connection over their shared experience of becoming global symbols of female controversy—having their bodies and sexualities  treated as public property—and the long, difficult work of taking back the pen to write their next chapter. Expect a conversation brimming with unflinching honesty, confrontational humor, and a powerful lesson in what it means to find your voice, lose it under the weight of public opinion, and rebuild it stronger on your own terms.

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