Molly Jong-Fast on the Fleeting Nature of Fame

Through her sharp and biting political commentary—whether as host of the podcast Fast Politics, as a special correspondent for Vanity Fair, or as a political analyst on MSNBC—Molly Jong-Fast has, over the past decade, become something of a household name. But, as the daughter of the once-famous author and second-wave feminist Erica Jong—whose 1973 novel Fear of Flying catapulted her into the literary limelight—she has actually been in the public eye for much longer, decades before this more recent notoriety of her own making. Jong-Fast’s latest book, the searing, heartbreaking (but also, at times, hilarious) memoir How to Lose Your Mother, is in some sense an effort to take her story back after being in the shadow of her narcissistic, too often out-of-reach mother for so long. It’s also a book about aging and frailty, and an extremely difficult, gut-wrenching year: In 2023, Erica was diagnosed with dementia, right around the same time that Molly’s husband learned he had a rare cancer.

On the episode, Jong-Fast talks about her own actual fear of flying, in addition to her mother’s book of the same name; 27 years of sobriety and how her time in A.A. has transformed her life; and the importance of confronting the vicissitudes of aging and one’s passage through time.

Special thanks to our Season 11 presenting sponsor, Van Cleef & Arpels.

Show notes:

Molly Jong-Fast

[4:28] “Fear of Flying” (1973)

[4:28] Erica Jong

[4:49] “How to Lose Your Mother: A Daughter’s Memoir”

[7:53] “Spartacus” (1951)

[7:53] “April Morning” (1961)

[7:53] “The Immigrants” (1977)

[9:15] Lee Krasner

[10:04] Susan Faludi

[10:04] “Backlash” (1991)

[12:09] “Fear and Flying Erica & Erotica in Connecticut” (1980)

[12:09] “Fanny” (1980)

[14:57] Marty Seif

[18:26] Special Guest: Erica Jong (2023)

[19:39] Pan Am Flight 001

[21:11] “The Year of Magical Thinking” (2005)

[21:11] “Notes to John” (2025)

[26:54] “The Sex Doctors in the Basement” (2005)

[36:46] “Normal Girl” (2000)

[38:52] Jacob Bernstein

[38:52] Carl Bernstein

[38:52] Stalin Peace Prize

[46:05] Michael Tomasky

[48:55] Hazelden

[49:57] “How Molly Jong-Fast Tweeted Her Way to Liberal Media Stardom”