E. Jean Carroll on writing, grabbing joy, and beating Donald Trump in court

Bad On Paper

Becca Freeman

Skincare, Beauty, Society & Culture, Comedy, Advice, Books, Arts, Careers

4.9 • 4.1K Ratings

🗓️ 20 August 2025

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We are SO excited for this week’s conversation with journalist E. Jean Carroll! We chat with her about why she decided to write her book about her experience in court against Donald Trump, her 30-year tenure as an advice columnist, and more!

E. Jean Carroll is the author of five books, including a biography of Hunter S. Thompson, and the New York Times bestselling book NOT MY TYPE: One Woman vs. a President.

Obsessions

Becca - U Beauty Proem perfume

What we read this week

Becca - The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

Olivia - Writers & Lovers by Lily King, NOT MY TYPE: One Woman vs. a President

This Month’s Book Club Pick - The Knight and The Moth by Rachel Gillig (have thoughts about this book you want to share? Call in at 843-405-3157 or email us a voice memo at [email protected])

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, everyone back to Bat on Paper podcast. I'm Becca Freeman. And I'm Olivia Mentor.
0:23.1	And we're very excited to have an incredible guest with us today. We're going to be talking to E. Gene Carroll, who you might know from her 30 years as an advice columnist at Elle. And you might also know her as the winning party in the Trump sexual assault trial.
0:38.9	So we are very excited to talk to her and kind of get into everything from her career to her cats to this trial.
0:48.5	I am more excited about this episode than I think I've been about almost any episode in a really long time, certainly interviews.
0:55.7	So I'm really looking forward to this. Okay. But before we get to E. Jean, tell me your high.
1:01.1	I had the most lovely, restorative, fun weekend from start to finish. On Friday night, Jake and I stayed in,
1:13.8	which we used to religiously stay in every Friday night and cook and just do nothing. But it's been a long time since that's happened. So we stayed in
1:20.2	and made pasta. It is fun. I also like staying in. So we stayed in on Friday. We made dinner. I think afterwards,
1:30.4	like, we just went to bed early. We read our books on the couch for a while, like side by side.
1:35.4	It was really relaxing. And then the next day, we went to brunch at a new restaurant with friends.
1:41.6	There was goats. It was like on this farm. It was really amazing and
1:45.2	beautiful. If you're in the area, it's called 10 Barnes Farm. I think they're only open until
1:50.1	about October because it's outside, but that was amazing. And then that night, Jake and I went to a
1:57.0	local restaurant to get Mexican food. And then we saw this movie that I've been dying to see called Weapons,
2:02.6	which is from the same director and writer as the movie Barbarian,
2:06.8	which is one of my favorite movies of the past few years.
2:09.4	It's like this blend of horror and comedy that I really like.
2:15.5	And it was a wild ride.
2:18.7	But it was like the exact right movie to see in the theaters because it's,
2:22.9	there are jump scares, but it's also really funny.
2:26.2	You're laughing with a bunch of people.
2:28.0	You're kind of getting scared together.
	...

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