Welcome to Never Before. I'm your host, Janet Mock.

Today's guest has been called The Poster Child of White Feminism, a racist and classist,

and admitted molester, and simply the worst.

But people who know and love her call her Lena.

Yep, Lena Dunham, the creator of the HBO series Girls, a writer and actress and

an unrelenting advocate for reproductive rights.

Lena is also the executive producer of my show Never Before and My Friend, like Laugh Out

Out Loud, Texting Daily, Sleep sleep over, clothes swapping, friends.

And we're also the kind of friends who check and challenge one another.

So today on Never Before, I have an honest conversation with Lena about everything,

every controversy, every learning moment, and every apology.

I've always been curious about what accountability looks like when you mess up so often and so public.

And I go there with Lena as we discuss some of her greatest public fuck-ups.

Like the time she perpetuated a racial stereotype about black men through the football player O'Dell Beckham Jr.

Or the time she wrote about exploring her younger siblings in other regions when they were kids in her memoir,

not that kind of girl. Or the time she said on her podcast, Women of the Hour, that she wished

she had an abortion in order to destigmatize abortions. I know. I hope you're still listening,

because we get to the good she's done,

like her fearless work on behalf of reproductive rights

and her desire to use her access and her white girl privilege

to create more space for women's stories.

You may even get some tips about crafting the perfect public apology.

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