Mothers and daughters
Pamela Adlon says 'Better Things' has been an exaggerated version of her life
Adlon's FX series, which just wrapped up its final season, centers on a single mom of three who's also trying to help her elderly mother and keep her acting career alive. Originally broadcast in 2019.
Andie MacDowell draws from the chaos and darkness of her childhood for 'Maid'
MacDowell plays a woman who appears to have an undiagnosed mental health disorder that leaves her in a near constant state of mania. MacDowell says she feels particularly attuned to her 'Maid' character, because her own mother also struggled with mental illness and alcoholism.
A 'Home Baked' Childhood: When The Family Business Is Marijuana Brownies
Growing up in San Francisco in the '70s, Alia Volz's family ran a booming weed-laced brownie business. "I had this understanding of my family as an outlaw family from the very beginning," she says.
Mindy Kaling Brings A New Nerd To TV, And Finds She 'Was Not Alone' As A Teen
When nerds are depicted on screen, they are often bookworms and wallflowers who struggle to stand up for themselves. That's not the type of nerd Mindy Kaling wanted to focus on in Never Have I Ever, the Netflix series she co-created with Lang Fisher.
'She Wrote Her Own Rules': Kerry Washington's 'Little Fires' Role Reminds Her Of Mom
Growing up in the Bronx as the only child of an academic and a real estate broker, actor Kerry Washington remembers her family had two cars and a dishwasher in their apartment — which meant, "in my neighborhood, in my context, we were rich."
'I Was Singing For My Life': Amy Rigby On Mixing Music And Motherhood
Amy Rigby was a sheltered Catholic teen from the Pittsburgh suburbs when she moved to New York City to attend Parsons School of Design and fell in love with the '70s punk scene.
Alex Borstein On 'Mrs. Maisel' And Being Her Family's 'Comic Relief' As A Kid
Borstein's won back-to-back Emmys for playing a tough, street-wise talent manager on the Amazon series, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She says the character reminds her of her mother and grandmother.
Daughter Of A Numbers Runner Witnessed An Underground Economy In Action
Growing up, Bridgett M. Davis' mother booked and banked bets from their home in Detroit. She writes about her experience — and the role of "the numbers" in the black community — in her memoir.
Childbirth Injury Led A New Mom To Start A Parenting Podcast 'To Feel Less Alone'
Almost 10 years ago, journalist Hillary Frank was pregnant and planning to give birth without medication or surgery — but things didn't go according to her plan.
Exiled Journalist Continues To Fight For Women's Rights In Iran
Masih Alinejad discusses her campaign against a law requiring that Iranian women and girls to cover their heads and necks with a hijab. Her new memoir is The Wind in My Hair.