As a writer and playwright, Liza Powel O’Brien has tackled the complexity of interpersonal relationships through her fiction. Now she’s dealing with the matter more directly, in the form of a new podcast. In each episode of Significant Others, which debuted this month, Powel O’Brien tells the story of an indispensable person who influenced the life and legacy of someone of historical importance. (O’Brien knows something about this phenomenon; she has been married to comedian and television personality Conan O’Brien for 20 years.) Leo Tolstoy, James Baldwin, and Gandhi are among her subjects, and Powel O’Brien is often joined by guests such as Megan Mullally, Rita Wilson, and Lisa Kudrow. Herewith, she shares her key components to the good life.
—Ashley Baker
Alibi: “I was on a Zoom.”
Bag: Métier’s Incognito Cabas.
Bedtime: 9:45 p.m.
Breakfast, weekday: At Gjusta, in Venice, California.
Breakfast, weekend: My son’s sourdough waffles, made with his grandfather’s starter.
Car: An uncrashable one.
COACH: Angela Manuel Davis.
Cocktail: Russian River Valley Pinot Noir.
Cocktail appetizer: I am physically incapable of resisting a cheese cube.
Coffee: Useless Bay Dark Smuggler’s Cove Blend.
Couple: Shirley Hazzard and Francis Steegmuller.
Dinner, weekday: First Light steaks on the grill. (Sixty seconds each side, twice, then rest for four minutes—apologies to Jerry for the extreme recipe edit.)
Disguise: When I had little kids and was too tired to put on real clothes, I contemplated wearing scrubs so people would think I was a doctor instead of just a tired mom.
