Jurnee Smollett

Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky

Prufrock LLC

Self-improvement, Society & Culture, Education

4.8 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 7 October 2025

⏱️ 70 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week on Reclaiming, Monica is joined by award-winning actor Jurnee Smollett for a conversation about ancestry, resilience, and the radical act of finding joy in the present. Jurnee reflects on the “blood memory” carried through generations, the lessons of her mother and grandmother, and the responsibility of bringing truth to the screen without succumbing to trauma. She shares the spiritual practices that help her quiet her inner critic, the balance of parenting without shame, and the resilience forged at the intersection of her Black and Jewish heritage. Together, she and Monica explore feminine strength, the complexities of history, and how art can heal what feels impossible. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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.
0:18.9	I remember being on set and I was standing near this oak tree.
0:26.5	And I just looked up and I thought of like, oh, all of the things that this oak tree has seen, it has been here for over 200 years.
0:34.1	Yeah.
0:34.7	And I heard Billy Holiday strange fruit. And I thought of all the beautiful bodies
0:41.0	who have seen this tree as their last image. And all I did was I prayed for the ancestors to use me
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2:00.8	Journey, welcome to reclaiming.
2:03.5	Journey, welcome to reclaiming.
	...

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