Janine Rubenstein, PEOPLE Every Day
[0:01]Hi, this is Ziggy Owens, and you're listening to the award-winning podcast.
[0:05]Moms don't have time to read books.
[0:07]And speaking of books, I have two of my own books coming out this spring and summer.
[0:12]Princess Charming is a picture book, which debuts on April 19th, and bookends, a memoir
[0:18]of love, loss, and literature.
[0:20]Comes out on July 1st, and it is truly a labor of love.
[0:24]I hope you'll pre-order, order, and join me on tour as I go across the country.
[0:28]You can find out more at zibbyowens.com, or bookendsmemoir.com, and you can follow me
[0:35]on Instagram at zibbyowens, because I always post about everything.
[0:38]Enjoy the show.
[0:41]Hey, everyone.
[0:42]I need your help.
[0:43]If you love this podcast, you will love my children's book.
[0:47]It's called Princess Charming, and I am really trying to drum up pre-order sales.
[0:52]You might not know this, but before a book comes out is actually a really important time
[0:55]for the whole book's trajectory.
[0:57]So please pre-order Princess Charming, which comes out April 19th today.
[1:03]Just stop what you're doing and go do that, please.
[1:06]When it arrives on April 19th, you can give it to a loved one in your life, a niece,
[1:11]a grandchild, a child, a student, a kid walking by on the street, anybody.
[1:17]But if you could do this, here is my offer.
[1:20]If you email me your receipt showing me that you bought the book online somewhere
[1:25]and pre-ordered it, email info at zibbyowens.com.
[1:30]That's info at zibbyowens.com, and I will pick 10 people to do a special giveaway project
[1:37]award to from my new Bonfire merch store, which you should also check out, which is the
[1:44]Zibbyowens Media Bonfire store, where you can get all sorts of cool t-shirts and tote bags
[1:49]and author sayings and all sorts of great stuff.
[1:52]So what I say, 10 of you are going to get a special care package of your choice from
[1:57]the Bonfire store, and I will pick at random from all of you who pre-ordered the book.
[2:02]So if that wasn't clear, go pre-order Princess Charming.
[2:06]Again, it's called Princess Charming.
[2:08]It's my debut picture book.
[2:10]It's really cute and great and it's illustrated by Holly Hatham.
[2:14]And then after you get the receipt, screenshot it or for it to me at info at zibbyowens.com
[2:21]and you will be entered to win one of 10 exciting care packages.
[2:26]So go off in order.
[2:28]Thank you so much.
[2:29]Bye.
[2:30]Janine Rubenstein is the host of the People Every Day podcast and editor at large for People
[2:35]Magazine.
[2:36]Welcome, Janine.
[2:37]Thank you so much for coming on Momstone of Time to Read Books.
[2:40]This is so much fun.
[2:41]Thank you for having me.
[2:42]I'm excited.
[2:43]So, as I was just chatting with you about, usually I have authors, but I'm so excited
[2:48]to have you on A to talk about your book picks.
[2:51]But B, as a fellow podcaster of People Every Day.
[2:55]And C, as somebody who started out picking the books, essentially, for people magazine
[3:00]in the mail room or whatever.
[3:01]So I want to hear that whole thing about how people picks books and I want to hear
[3:06]about your whole journey to hear and everything.
[3:10]There's so much to talk about.
[3:11]Well, I'm a talker.
[3:13]Good.
[3:14]Oh, that's great.
[3:15]But yeah, I have been at People for over 10 years now, a little over 10 years.
[3:20]And I started off as an editorial assistant under the fabulous Kim Hubbard, who is all things
[3:26]books at People Magazine.
[3:28]A lot of people think like people has a book section.
[3:31]Yes, we do.
[3:32]And it's fabulously curated by Kim Hubbard and has been for years.
[3:36]And I was the one who was opening up all those packages from Random House in England and
[3:42]you name it and just going through sorting.
[3:45]We had a massive bookroom and I would drown in it every single day, but kind of loved
[3:51]it at the same time.
[3:53]I was able to kind of flat some things for her and say, this is really interesting.
[3:58]It's where I found my first love of Game of Thrones this long before anyone cared about
[4:04]the show.
[4:05]It was like season one or two.
[4:06]We had like all of the DVDs like on the table scattered.
[4:10]No one wanted them.
[4:11]I read the graphic novel and then I started reading some of the other books in the bookroom.
[4:15]Don't tell her I was doing that.
[4:16]I became obsessed and went and grabbed the previews off of the table and then made my entire
[4:22]family obsessed before the world was obsessed with Game of Thrones.
[4:25]So that's my claim to be.
[4:27]But no, it was just way back for once again in the room where you started all the books
[4:32]because I tried to sort books all the time too.
[4:35]How did you sort it?
[4:36]Was it by pub date?
[4:37]Was it by what?
[4:39]Was it alphabetical?
[4:40]It was by genre and it was also by pub date.
[4:45]So like we had to, you know, we're weekly.
[4:49]So whatever was coming up that we could, you know, time to that issue had to be front
[4:54]of the room.
[4:55]She had to be able to see if there were post-its everywhere.
[4:57]You know, if there was a lot of buzz, I kind of put it even more towards the front.
[5:01]If it was something I just thought was super interesting, I would flag it with a different
[5:05]kind of note and be like, Kim, just take a look, humor me.
[5:08]So it was a whole, the whole shebang.
[5:12]I wasn't the only one in there, but that was my main job for like my first few months.
[5:17]I was also working on the crime team and the human interest team doing a lot of the hard
[5:22]news and it was just such a good introduction into it almost felt like a newspaper even
[5:30]though we're in magazine because we did everything and we still had like a really pretty
[5:35]quick turnaround.
[5:36]Not a newspaper turnaround.
[5:37]I didn't have to have everything in by 3 p.m. or you're fired, but it was fast paced.
[5:41]So I got to touch on everything and I really feel like Kim was just such a great editor
[5:47]to come up under and from there I went on to report crime and then move over to the entertainment
[5:54]team after the world went even more to crap and I couldn't deal with talking to people
[5:58]on the worst days of their lives anymore.
[6:01]So yeah, it was a TV writer for years and then I became the music editor for years.
[6:06]And now I am editor at large meaning I kind of do more of what I want, but also host
[6:13]of our podcast people every day as you mentioned.
[6:16]So I've had a run through the people ecosystem.
[6:19]Well, that's amazing.
[6:22]I love that.
[6:23]Yes.
[6:24]And people every day I was listening to a few recent ones, but Linda Angelista and the
[6:28]sag awards and everything.
[6:29]So sometimes even though you start it, you don't do every interview on the show, it's
[6:35]like you're doing a, like you're the anchor and then you've sent it out to the reporters.
[6:39]Yeah, I think of me as the babarro of napkin, but yeah, it's like we really try to tap
[6:47]into just our on the ground, great knowledge of the entertainment space mostly.
[6:53]Yeah, we are a trusted source in that wild, wild zoo that is entertainment.
[7:00]And we're able to just pull on all of that expertise from so many different angles,
[7:04]but we also do like I said, the crime and you know, those human interest stories that
[7:08]really pull out your heartstrings.
[7:10]So I think that's why I've actually been here as long as I have because you can't really
[7:14]get bored.
[7:15]You're able to kind of be flexible and have a hand in all the different types of stories
[7:19]that you want to tell.
[7:20]So yeah.
[7:21]I mean, with all of these physical magazines shutting, like not believe I'm so sad about
[7:28]I actually really like girl.
[7:29]I like to hold things.
[7:30]I like to read things.
[7:31]I come believe it.
[7:32]Thank you.
[7:33]Tell your younger friends.
[7:34]I know.
[7:35]I know.
[7:36]I know.
[7:37]I know.
[7:38]It's true.
[7:39]I guess I mean, I don't really have any young friends, but I'll tell the younger listeners who
[7:42]are listening.
[7:43]Tell the younger.
[7:44]I'll tell my kids.
[7:45]I can't.
[7:46]I can't tell the magazine.
[7:47]So I like we always, you know, that's like a big treat sometimes.
[7:50]Yeah.
[7:51]My stuff is gifts.
[7:52]Like here.
[7:53]My friend.
[7:54]Like, look, I have so many friends.
[7:55]They're like, what?
[7:56]What's going on?
[7:57]And my son, he's, like you said, he still loves highlights.
[8:00]Like he gets in the mail and he just gets so excited and he goes to the couch and then
[8:03]you don't hear from him for like an hour.
[8:06]But so they're you're not alone.
[8:08]They are still out there, especially thankfully for people because people are definitely
[8:13]still reading the actual print pages of our magazine.
[8:17]But times a change in man and people want to listen to their news and click on their
[8:23]news and do all of these other things and we've been able to kind of say, okay, let's
[8:30]do that.
[8:31]People dot com.
[8:32]Yeah.
[8:33]People every day podcast.
[8:34]What do you need?
[8:35]We're out here giving it to you.
[8:36]And I don't think, you know, people, the magazine is going anywhere in print anytime soon.
[8:41]It better not.
[8:42]I mean, come on.
[8:43]I know.
[8:44]What are you going to do at the airport?
[8:45]What?
[8:47]What if you have to go to the doctor?
[8:49]What are you going to do?
[8:50]So, you know, when I was little, I used to cut out the little squares in the upper right
[8:54]hand corner.
[8:55]Do you remember how they're always used to always used to be a square in the upper hand
[8:59]corner of people?
[9:00]Yeah.
[9:01]And that was my collection.
[9:02]People were like coming into school.
[9:03]And what do you collect day with like minerals or something.
[9:05]And I was like, I have the upper right hand corner of people.
[9:09]I can see.
[9:10]Oh my God.
[9:11]Pretty.
[9:12]Pretty.
[9:13]Pretty.
[9:14]I had black bar.
[9:15]That was, that was my collection thing.
[9:18]But I tell you right now, like people, essence magazine, all of the things that were in that
[9:24]little magazine role in my, my grandmother's bathroom, do you remember those?
[9:30]Yes.
[9:31]Yep.
[9:32]I totally do.
[9:33]I totally do.
[9:34]Oh my gosh.
[9:35]So you said a few minutes ago before when we were chatting that the last book you read was
[9:39]Will.
[9:40]Yeah.
[9:41]That was met.
[9:42]Which actually I have not read.
[9:43]So I've heard amazing things about that.
[9:44]Like tell me about that book and what else is on your nightstand or what you're reading
[9:48]these days.
[9:49]Will Smith's memoir.
[9:51]Oh my gosh.
[9:52]Well, I read it because I had to to the point of the title of this podcast.
[9:57]It's very hard for me to find time next.
[10:00]read these days, but I was doing a story on the memoir. And it just took me by surprise.
[10:07]I thought it was going to be one of those celebrity memoirs that says what they want to say and
[10:12]and doesn't really go there. And it went to there in so many ways that almost at times I was like,
[10:18]don't go there, don't go there. About his relationship with Jada and just the ups and downs and
[10:26]all of that. And then his relationship with his kids and just talking about Willow pushing
[10:33]back against him and just how he had to see himself with his overbearing father that wanted his
[10:39]kids to be as, you know, dogged and successful and entertainment as he was. And they were like, look,
[10:45]dude, chill. Same with Jada and his acting career having to like deal with that. It just pulled back
[10:53]the veil, you know, on the smiths in a way that, you know, we just never have had and specifically
[11:00]with him as well, like the trauma that he had as a kid growing up and what he saw, you know, he witnessed
[11:06]his father like brutally abuse his mother and that just stuck with him for so long and it created
[11:13]that he always felt like a coward because he didn't defend her. And he said he built up his entire
[11:18]persona and all the action heroes and everything that he's done, his jokes was all to kind of
[11:23]like hide the scared little boy that was in the bathroom. Yeah, it was, oh, it was so much more
[11:29]than I thought it was going to be. So I was very happy that work made me read that time.
[11:37]Wow. Okay. You just sold me on that book. Thank you. You're welcome.
[11:42]And there's more than there's more than that. I'm sure I know. I hope it wasn't too many
[11:46]spoils, but yeah, it was perfect. Thank you. And what else are you looking forward to reading?
[11:53]Well, what I'm looking forward to reading a lot of things, because as I said, like, look,
[11:58]the sagawards were just the other day. I still, I don't know. They can't see this, of course,
[12:02]because this is audio, but I still have like old eyeliner on from that I haven't been able to get
[12:07]it's like, basically like the base coat on my face. So that'll tell you how much time I have
[12:12]in my day, but it's so much on my list. By the way, the sagawards were so glamorous. Oh, my gosh.
[12:19]It was like, and so short, like, two hours in and at like every star was there. I loved it.
[12:24]It was my favorite award show, like, I think of all time. It was amazing. And I was so happy to,
[12:31]you know, once see everyone and be around everyone. There were a lot of COVID protocols and all of
[12:36]that, but I was happy to see how happy the stars actually were and willing they actually were like
[12:43]zero egos. I feel like the pandemic, of course, has been like the great equalizer for everything,
[12:49]but it was a very different vibe. I was like, yes, I'll stop and talk to you guys. I love people. How are
[12:54]you doing? Like, everyone was just happy to be there, happy to be outside. Yeah, I have
[13:01]nothing but great things to say about this show. And that is usually not the case when it comes
[13:05]to show. Do you get nervous at all talking to celebrities or not at all? Yeah. Yeah. Definitely.
[13:12]Well, especially at shows like this, because they there's just so many different films and even
[13:18]ones that like, we try to watch everything. We do not. We cannot. It's like not humanly possible.
[13:24]For some people it is, but again, I don't have time to read books. So you just try to prep as much
[13:30]as possible. And, you know, there's a lot happening that you'll be standing there talking to,
[13:37]you know, Jessica Chastain and then, you know, Kirsten Duns pops up and, you know,
[13:44]I think she's going to, but she wants to say hi to Jessica and it's like, well,
[13:47]Kirsten, come on, join in. Let's talk. It's a lot, but you just have to kind of stay fluid and
[13:54]excited. And I'm a fan girl in general. So that always works for me. That's so cool.
[14:01]I do feel like what you're right with the pandemic. Maybe I don't know. I've started interviewing
[14:06]celebrities on the podcast and stuff. And at first, I was like ridiculously nervous. And then it's like,
[14:11]they're all just like sitting in their living room. You know, like, yeah, we're all just people like,
[14:15]I don't know. Exactly. I mean, I know that's obvious, but I didn't used to think celebrities
[14:21]just regular people. Like, some of them aren't. Some of them aren't. I will just be honest.
[14:27]Okay. Okay. Okay. Some of them are very aware that they are not just regular people.
[14:33]Okay. Okay. And they'll make you very aware of that as well. But for the Bose part, yes,
[14:39]and especially now, like, you just, you get a one, you know, I had a mess up or two on the carpet.
[14:45]And they're just like, Oh, girl, stop. Like, it's fine. It's fine. We're human. We're living. We're here.
[14:51]Love those. Okay, books. Yes, books. Okay. So there's one that, again, the amazing Kim Hubbard put
[14:58]me onto that I am looking to add to the list, the love of my life, a novel by author Rosie Walsh.
[15:04]I'm sure you've heard of this because there's. I have heard of it. Hey, I interviewed Rosie for
[15:09]Ghost in, which is her first book. Could came out a couple of years ago. So good. Did you read that?
[15:14]I did not. It was really good. I got to think Kim has Kim. Where is she? She like,
[15:20]hi, behind you. Is this like a tear. No, never drag or she's like, telling you what to say.
[15:26]She was like, you have to read ghosted, but she has this new one coming on. I was like, okay,
[15:30]fine. Because she slipped me onto another book that I did read years ago. Where'd you go,
[15:34]Bernadette? They turned the movie. And this kind of reminds just reading the synopsis. It reminds
[15:39]me of it. Like, you know, Emma is a marine biologist and her husband Leo is an obituary writer.
[15:45]And, you know, he kind of finds out once she gets sick, he starts to like, dig into her past and
[15:50]finds out that, you know, she is not at all who he thought she was. And she's still very much
[15:56]loves him. And so it's just this whole mystery that's tied up. So it gives me that Maria simple,
[16:02]where'd you go, Bernadette, but not as silly. Like a little more earnest than that. So I'm looking
[16:07]forward to getting that one. And then also one that it's probably going to be right at the top of my
[16:14]list is always with you, always with me. So this is a children's book by Kelly Rowland and
[16:20]educator Jessica McKay. Oh, I heard about this yesterday. Yeah, I just got pitched this yesterday.
[16:26]Yeah. Of course, singer Kelly Rowland, diva, Kelly Rowland and Jessica McKay. It's a beautiful
[16:32]children's book that's coming out in April that follows a working mom and her kid and how she
[16:38]provides just comfort and and sues that separation anxiety that honestly that they both feel as
[16:44]we know as working moms to be a part, you know, because mom has got to work and I cannot wait for it.
[16:50]I want it for, I have two little ones. I have a six year old and 18 month old. Oh, 18 month old.
[16:57]Yeah. Yeah. And I totally had that with Reece. So when he was, you know, going off school and I had to
[17:03]go back to work and and I honestly just got breastfeeding my youngest and and that was its own
[17:09]separation anxiety that I got over. So I can't wait. And it's just like an old to working moms, man,
[17:15]like we need it. I wrote this whole essay when I stopped nursing my third child. I think that's
[17:22]when I, yeah, when I, and I had, I was like sitting in pan cotidian with like ice packs in my
[17:27]spot. Yes. And I remember, I remember sitting in my big kids were at school and I was like,
[17:32]this is one of these moments. It's the last time I'll ever do this and I won't have kids anymore.
[17:37]Did it. Anyway, two months later, I was pregnant and then I ended. It had my son. Anyway, I was like,
[17:42]you know, ridiculous that I even wrote the thing. But yes, oh, I like literally had her in my
[17:49]arms the last morning and I was like, this is it. And she was like, with my nipple in her mouth,
[17:55]Oh, no. Oh, my God. Yes. That's why you don't have time to read. Oh, my gosh, you have such a little
[18:03]one. Oh, my God. No, she definitely keeps me busy. But I love her. That's Raimi, my little baby.
[18:11]But okay, one more that I wanted to get to because I think I needed and I think we all needed is
[18:17]read this to get smarter by Blair Amani. So I should have been in red this. This is a woman who
[18:24]I watch on Instagram all the time. This like smarter and second series that she has. And she is so
[18:31]dope. She like breaks down just the clear, simple form, you know, of the basics around issues of race,
[18:39]class, gender, disability, and more. And it came out last year, I think in October. And I love it
[18:46]because she kind of does away with that whole thing that we're in right now or it's just like,
[18:51]oh, you should know this or duh or like, why don't you know, blah, blah, blah. She's like, no,
[18:55]there's a whole huge swath of our population that for whatever reason doesn't know about, you know,
[19:02]racial inequality doesn't know about classism doesn't know about colorism or gender or LGBTQI plus
[19:10]issues. I am going to break it down in simple terms, but be very accurate and clear about why this
[19:18]is a thing and why you should learn about it and be informed in your daily life. And it's,
[19:23]yeah, like, think over those books that used to like for dummies, but more better, better written,
[19:31]not as, yeah. Love it. Okay. Excellent. Great. Well, I'm glad you told me again about the Kelly
[19:38]Rulen book. And I'm doing, actually, it's, I don't know if it will air this might air before.
[19:43]This might air after my life, but I'm doing one. It's the GMA book club of pick of the month this
[19:48]month. Oh, fun. And I'm going to do a live Instagram live with Rosie on Monday, I think next week.
[19:55]Anyway, I don't want it at all, but I am on brand. I'm on brand. Yes.
[20:00]you're great. I love it. If people have not people, if listeners have not listened to people
[20:09]every day before, are there a couple episodes that you're like, start with this or should they
[20:13]just jump into the everyday and just do it once a day? Oh, wow. Well, jump into every day and do it
[20:19]every single day. We're pretty succinct. It's fun. Like you get those headlines and you get the
[20:24]breakdown talking about like smarter and seconds. It's smarter in like about 20 minutes in terms
[20:29]of entertainment. Like you get everything you need to know from that day. You know, whatever,
[20:34]say you're going to a happy hour or, you know, you need something to just talk to your husband
[20:39]about that has nothing to do with the kids. After 18, you know, like that is what we provide.
[20:44]But I would say, look, top of mind, SAGO orgs. That was a fun one. If you want to go behind
[20:49]the scenes and be a fly on the wall inside the room at the SAGO orgs, so fun and figure out
[20:54]everything that was going on on the carpet. Like all of the stars that were just standing in line
[20:59]happily behind the step and repeat, like, cuddled up together. You wouldn't believe like A-listers
[21:04]just like, okay, you're, you're turned next up. It's crazy. So I would say do that one. You mentioned
[21:10]a really good one about, oh God, I'm blanking. Linda, Vangelista. Linda, Evangelista. Yes,
[21:16]that was just a longer form. That, that was a longer show. But oh my God, this is what we do.
[21:21]is our bread and butter of getting celebrities to really trust us enough to open up about just
[21:26]some of the biggest hurdles that they're going through. And to hear her roller coaster journey
[21:32]through fame and health is amazing. So I highly recommend that one. But there really is something
[21:39]for everyone. We had a wonderful episode recently about, you know, just 10 years after Trayvon Martin
[21:46]and the Black Lives Matter movement and what has been happening with a lot of the cases. And my
[21:52]people are encouraged, but also, you know, not encouraged in a lot of ways. We run the gamut and
[21:59]then you get real housewives and you get like bachelor updates and you get all of it in time for
[22:04]your, your pickup by the time you pull up at the school. You have all the information you need.
[22:09]That's, you know, it takes me about 20 minutes. Do you have pickup mic? Maybe. Maybe. I'll just
[22:14]start putting it on when I'm doing frantically doing emails before I pick them up. Yes. Thank you.
[22:18]Thank you. Love that. Amazing. All right. Well, thank you so much. This is so fun. I love hearing
[22:25]about all of your picks and your journey through people magazine, which, you know, I've always had
[22:30]this fascination with forever. So thanks for pulling back the curtain a little to let me.
[22:35]Yeah. I really appreciate it. And yeah, are you guys in the office, by the way, are you,
[22:40]are you not? I am not. I mean, I'm in the metaverse, as you can see. Yeah, I'm like, I don't know
[22:45]where you are here. I, I, I report from home. Yeah. That's your home. It looks like a full on
[22:52]studio. Right. It's a mini studio inside my home. Don't tell that. But yeah, so I, I moved, gosh,
[22:59]an August of last year from the East Coast to the West Coast, because I couldn't do it anymore.
[23:03]And set up here. And I am one of those work from homers from now honors. Amazing.
[23:10]Oh, yeah. Oh, with the setup like that. Is that your home? This is my, yeah, it's my home in my office.
[23:16]Oh, my god. That is that color coded collection is everything.
[23:23]Thank you. Absolutely beautiful. Thank you. I see it all day through zoom. I don't even turn around.
[23:28]So this is like my view.
[23:30]Really. Oh, and you ready? I love your name too. Thank you. It sure fell as best.
[23:35]But okay. Well, I still love it. I need, I need Z's in my life. I need more Z's.
[23:40]Like, as soon as I saw your name, I was like, yes, I'm going to be Zippy's show. Thank you.
[23:43]I'm delighted to do my show.
[23:47]All right. Well, thanks so much. And let's stay in touch.
[23:50]Absolutely. Thank you so much. And I'm going to put you in touch with Kim because I mean,
[23:54]I would love it. I would love it. I would love it. Okay. All right. Have a good luck.
[23:58]Thank you. Bye.
[24:00]Thanks for listening to this episode of moms. Don't have time to read books. Don't forget to
[24:04]to follow me on Instagram at zibi Owens and at moms. Don't have time to read books.
[24:08]Also sign up for my newsletter at zibiowans.com and sign up for my virtual book club and meet lots
[24:13]of authors on zoom every other week. Thanks so much to Steve and Ryan. Heck, texture sound for
[24:18]the sound editing. And thank you to Morning Moon Productions for providing this fantastic intro and
[24:23]now trim music.