Troublemaker: Jessica Mitford's Life of Principle, Protest, and Wit

The Not Old - Better Show

Paul Vogelzang

Society & Culture, Health & Fitness

4.7 • 106 Ratings

🗓️ 9 February 2026

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Troublemaker: Jessica Mitford's Life of Principle, Protest, and Wit

The Not Old Better Show, Art Of Living Interview Series

I'm Paul Vogelzang and welcome to the show, brought to you generously by Caraway: Good Looking. Clean Cooking. And just for our listeners, you can get an extra 10% off by visiting Carawayhome.com/NOB or using code NOB at checkout.

Today's guest brings us a story about someone who was impossible to ignore in life—and refuses to be forgotten in history.

What does it look like to live a life built on principles—but never lose your sense of humor?

Jessica Mitford—known as "Decca" to her friends—was born into British aristocracy. But she traded ballrooms for protest marches, royal privilege for civil rights work, and eventually became one of the fiercest investigative writers of her generation. She stood up to Congress, challenged corporate greed, and believed deeply that laughter could fuel resistance.

In this new episode of The Not Old – Better Show, I speak with acclaimed author and scholar Carla Kaplan about her biography Troublemaker: The Fierce, Unruly Life of Jessica Mitford. The book is based on hundreds of interviews and archival discoveries, and paints a remarkable portrait of a woman who challenged systems—without ever becoming grim.

We talk about Decca's legacy, her journalism, her friendships with figures like Maya Angelou, and what it means to be a successful ally. Her story is inspiring, funny, and—as Carla Kaplan says—urgently relevant.

Whether you're interested in social justice, biography, or just a good story well told, this episode is for you.

🎧 Listen at:

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Not Old Better Show on radio and podcast.
0:09.0	The show covering all things health, wellness, culture, and more.
0:13.0	The show for all of us who aren't old were better.
0:16.0	Each week we'll interview superstars, experts, and ordinary people,
0:20.0	doing extraordinary things,
0:22.4	all related to this wonderful experience of getting better, not older. Now here's your host,
0:28.1	the award-winning Paul Vogelzang. Thank you. I'm Paul Wogelzang. Welcome to the program, brought to you generously by
0:39.8	Caraway. Good-looking, clean cooking. Today's guest brings us a story about someone who was
0:47.9	impossible to ignore in life and refuses to be forgotten in history. Jessica Mitford, known to her friends as Deca, was born into
0:57.5	British aristocracy, raised in a manner, and expected to marry a Duke, have a title, and keep
1:03.8	quiet. Instead, she ran off at 19 to fight fascism. She lost a husband in World War II.
1:12.2	She buried a child.
1:14.7	And then she started over.
1:17.4	DECA became an American citizen, a communist, a civil rights activist in Oakland, California,
1:24.7	a mother again, a journalist, and somehow, one of the funniest writers of her time.
1:31.8	She took on the funeral industry in the American way of death of all things and hit the bestseller list doing it.
1:40.3	She roasted corrupt institutions with style.
1:44.0	She loved a microphone, and she believed the fight for justice didn't have to be grim.
1:50.0	Deca wrote hard truths.
1:53.0	But she also threw great dinner parties.
1:56.0	Today we speak with the woman who brought Deca's full story to life, author and scholar Carla Kaplan.
2:04.2	Her new book, Troublemaker, is more than a biography.
	...

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