Holly Rizzuto Palker and Sam Field chat with Kerry Docherty, author of Selfish, about finding quiet moments of creativity, ambition, and why putting yourself first isn’t always selfish.

What does it mean to be good? What are the consequences of doing what we want? Who determines what is selfish?

These are the questions that haunted Kerry Docherty—the cofounder of Faherty brand, mother of two, and wife—as she realized she was giving away too much of herself: to a marriage with her college sweetheart, to the fast-paced family startup, and to a growing household that demanded attention she didn’t always want to give. Determined to feel seen—as an artist, activist, poet, romantic—she began to steal simple moments for herself, replacing her to-do lists with poems, pushing the business toward the things she cared about, and widening her circle of creative friends. However, as she leaned more deeply into her passions and purpose, she found herself veering into an ambiguous relationship with a musician, a potentially destructive direction that would seriously test her marriage.

With incisive observation, biting humor, and searing honesty, Selfish details Kerry’s twisting, sometimes conflicted journey to self-understanding. It chronicles her efforts to reconcile capitalism with her own heart’s desire, her complicated family dynamics, her struggles with motherhood, and her efforts to rediscover parts of herself buried under other people’s expectations. Her example invites us to demand to be seen, do what we need to do, and dare to put ourselves first—and shows how doing so can actually be a gift to others. Selfish is both a love letter to the Self and an unapologetic call to action for women everywhere to meet their own needs.

Kerry Docherty cofounded the lifestyle clothing brand Faherty with her husband and his identical twin. A graduate of Yale University and Pepperdine Law School, she is passionate about community building, sustainability, and creativity. Kerry is also the author of the children’s book Somewhere, Right Now, featuring art by New York Times bestselling illustrator Suzie Mason. She lives with her husband and two children on the New Jersey shore, where she is constantly looking for sea glass.

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Holly Rizzuto Palker and Amanda Fields chat with Sona Movsesian, author of The World’s Worst Mom, about parenting twins, normalizing vulnerability and finding her voice as a comedy writer.

Have you ever wondered if you’re completely failing at parenting? In The World’s Worst Mom, Sona Movsesian delivers a funny, candid, and refreshingly honest look at the gap between the idealized version of parenthood and the messy reality. After chronicling her experiences working for Conan O’Brien in The World’s Worst Assistant, Movsesian turns her attention to the chaos of raising children.

Packed with laugh-out-loud stories, tongue-in-cheek survival tips, illustrations and comics, the book captures the everyday absurdities of modern parenting. Along the way, she shares personal anecdotes, behind-the-scenes moments with Conan O’Brien, and reflections on how her self-proclaimed shortcomings as an assistant may have prepared her for motherhood. The result is a relatable reminder that no parent has all the answers—and that finding humor in the madness might be the best coping strategy of all.

 Sona Movsesian is a former executive assistant turned author, podcaster, and media personality. She began as Conan O’Brien’s personal assistant in 2009, and was featured on his show on many occasions, including a televised trip she took to Armenia with O’Brien for his Conan Without Borders travel series. Since 2018, Movsesian has been a co-host of the hit podcast Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, and in 2022 she released her book The World’s Worst Assistant, which became a New York Times bestseller. Her second book, The World’s Worst Mom, will be released in early September. Movsesian lives in Los Angeles with her husband and twin sons.

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Amanda Fields and Holly Rizzuto Palker chat with Andrea Louie, author of Chinese American Mothering: Toy Len Goon’s Legacy and the Myth of the Model Minority, about her grandmother’s 1952 U.S. Mother of the Year Award.

Her most recent book is Chinese American Mothering: Toy Len Goon’s Legacy and the Myth of the Model Minority. In 1952, Toy Len Goon, a Chinese immigrant widow who raised eight children while running their family laundry, was selected as U.S. Mother of the Year by the American Mother’s Committee of the Golden Rule Foundation. In Chinese American Mothering, Andrea Louie—the granddaughter of Toy Len Goon—argues that her grandmother’s selection for this honor can only be understood within the context of shifting representations of Chinese Americans during the Cold War era, and the accompanying assumptions about the strategic role that positive representations of Chinese Americans could have in extending U.S. influence to Asia.

Andrea Louie is a professor of anthropology at Michigan State University, where she is also affiliated with the Asian Pacific American Studies Program. She is the author of Chineseness Across Borders: Renegotiating Chinese Identities in China and the United States and How Chinese Are You?: Adopted Chinese Youth and their Families Negotiate Identity and Culture.

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Chinese American Mothering: Toy Len Goon’s Legacy and the Myth of the Model Minority