Everybody knows that in May 2023, a jury found Donald Trump liable for defaming and abusing E. Jean Carroll, and awarded her $5 million. And everybody also knows that in January 2024, another jury found Trump liable for defamation against her to the tune of $83.3 million. P.S., with interest, his payout will now total over $100 million.

But not everybody remembers—because we were guppies, and because, ahem, Print is Dead, y’all—that E. Jean is a goddamn swashbucking magazine-world legend: a writer of such style, wit, and sheer ballsy joie de vivre that she carved out a name for herself in the boys club of New Journalism, writing juicy and iconic stories in the seventies and eighties for Outside, Esquire, Playboy, and more—and then finally leapt over to women’s magazines, where she held down the role of advice columnist at Elle for, wait for it, 27 years. Elle is where we intersected with E. Jean and where we first saw up close her boundless enthusiasm and generosity for womankind.

We’ll also never forget sitting at one of the magazine’s annual fancypants dinners honoring Women in Hollywood—these are real star-studded affairs, folks—when Jennifer Aniston stood up to receive her award and started her speech with a shoutout to her beloved “Auntie E.,” whose advice she and millions of other American women had devoured, and lived by, for decades.

Here’s the truth: The woman that most of the world came to know through the most harrowing circumstances imaginable really is and has always been that fearless, that unsinkable. It’s not a persona—it’s the genuine article. And when you hear her stories about how hard she slogged away for decades to finally get her big break in publishing, listeners, you will have a whole new respect for her.

As E. Jean tells us herself in this interview, she does very, very little press. So we couldn’t be more honored that our friend and idol and the Spread’s most enthusiastic hype woman sat down after hours with us for this interview. We just hope we did her justice!

Magazines: The original influencers.

Print Is Dead. (Long Live Print!) is a podcast about magazines and the people who made — and make them. In this series, we talk to the legendary designers, editors, writers, publishers, photographers, illustrators, photo editors, and more, who conceived and produced the publications that have dominated our conversations and covered our desks and coffee tables for decades. And many who still do.

We go deep — beyond the heds & deks, captions, sidebars, pull quotes, and factoids — into the lives and careers of this astonishingly talented group of creators.

If you’re in the magazine business — if you’re in ANY business focused on content creation — this podcast is for you. We hope you’ll join us.

HOSTS

Patrick Mitchell, creator & host, is the principal and creative director at MO.D, an award-winning content design and strategy practice offering bespoke design, consulting, and turnkey solutions for media brands. He is the former creative director at Fast Company (one of the most successful media launches in history), O, The Oprah Magazine, Nylon, and Inc. Winner of two National Magazine Awards as well as SPD’s Magazine of the Year.

Debra Bishop, contributing cohost, is the cofounding art director and visual lead of The New York Times for Kids. She worked with the legendary Fred Woodward at Rolling Stone, designing special issues. She has since lead several redesigns including, More, Whole Living, and Parents. In her 12 years at MSLO, Bishop led teams that launched Martha by Mail, Martha Stewart Baby, Martha Stewart Kids, and Blueprint. Martha Stewart Kids was awarded the prestigous ASME National Magazine Award for Design. Kids and Blueprint were both awarded Magazine of the Year by the Society of Publication Designers (SPD).

Print Is Dead. (Long Live Print!)

Episode 50: E. Jean Carroll (Writer: Elle, Playboy, Esquire, Outside, more)

Magazines: The original influencers.

SPONSORS

THE SOCIETY OF PUBLICATION DESIGNERS INC.