Alan Cumming

Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky

Wondery

Society & Culture

4.6 • 728 Ratings

🗓️ 25 February 2025

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this deeply personal episode, Monica chats with actor and Traitors presenter Alan Cumming, who shares his story of surviving an abusive childhood with a father obsessed with his hair and the lasting impact it left on him. He reflects on the power of speaking openly about his trauma, how sharing his story has helped him heal, and why he still struggles with the fear of becoming a father himself. It’s an honest and raw conversation about breaking cycles, confronting the past, and learning to move forward.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Wonderie Plus subscribers can listen to reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky early and ad-free right now.
0:06.3	Join Wonderie Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts.
0:10.3	Or you can listen for free wherever you get your podcasts.
0:19.1	Hi, everyone.
0:20.4	For today's episode, I spoke with my dear friend Alan Cumming. We met 25 years ago at a party where we were sitting in a booth and the people in the booth next to us, someone leaned over and started to touch my hair. And I said to Alan sort of quite frightened that
0:41.7	someone was petting me. And we had a moment and kind of both knew that we were going to be
0:47.2	good friends ever since then. So you probably know him as an actor, presenter, author, and host of the hit show Traders.
0:57.3	I've known Alan for so long and so intimately.
1:01.0	I wasn't surprised in our conversation when he talked about how abusive his dad had been.
1:07.7	But I was really surprised to learn that he had also been groomed by an older man
1:13.4	when he was a teenager.
1:15.0	So it was a little heartbreaking for me.
1:17.0	But I hope you find something to connect to in our chat.
1:20.1	And thanks for joining us on reclaiming.
1:32.3	Thank you to our presenting sponsor Audible. Visit audible.com slash reclaiming to find your next listen.
1:37.1	Thank you to our sponsor Reformation.
1:39.8	Visit reformation.com to see why they're my go-to for stylish and sustainable fashion.
1:47.6	I was thinking this morning. I was awake at 5 a.m.
1:50.5	Oh. Lying there, nervous. And... So this is your first one. You're popping your cherry with me?
1:55.2	Yeah, exactly. Popping my podcast post Cherry. Love. Exactly.
2:01.5	And I was thinking, I was nervous and I was thinking about two things.
2:05.4	One was, I did the math.
	...

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