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The Oprah Podcast

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The Oprah Podcast
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  • The Oprah Podcast

    Maria Semple: “Go Gentle” | Oprah’s Book Club

    14/04/2026 | 50 mins.
    This year marks the 30th Anniversary of Oprah’s Book Club and we are celebrating with her 122nd selection: Go Gentle by International bestselling novelist Maria Semple. Her other books include Today Will Be Different, Where’d You Go, Bernadette and This One is Mine. Go Gentle follows the whimsical life of Adora Hazzard, a Stoic Philosopher and solo middle-aged mother who is raising her teenage daughter Viv on New York’s Upper West side. Adora believes that fulfillment and happiness come from loving life as it is and letting go of what is beyond one’s control. Her well-ordered life is upended when she meets a mysterious, handsome stranger at the ballet. Romance, black market art deals and international intrigue ensue. Maria Semple’s signature wit, humor and the unexpected plot twists are the reason this gripping page turner is Oprah’s Book Club selection for April 2026. Oprah is joined by listeners from across the country who have read the book who have questions for Maria Semple.

    BUY THE BOOK:

    https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/797319/go-gentle-by-maria-semple/

    Chapters:

    00:00:00 - Welcome Maria Semple, author of ‘Go Gentle’ 00:02:45 - What is stoicism?

    00:05:30 - Creating the main character Adora

    00:08:03 - Many genres woven into the book

    00:09:30 - Events from Maria’s life

    00:11:30 - How Maria finds her characters

    00:14:00 - The idea of the coven

    00:16:20 - Was the coven a plan B?

    00:18:40 - The goal is to love yourself

    00:19:40 - Maria on writing TV comedy to fiction

    00:22:40 - Learning to trust her voice

    00:23:40 - Do you need a guiding philosophy to survive?

    00:25:00 - How Maria practices stoicism

    00:27:20 - Theme: Love whatever shows up

    00:29:45 - Adora struggles with her weight

    00:32:00 - Which version of Adora did Maria start with?

    00:34:35 - Mother/daughter tension

    00:36:00 - Adora’s blindspot

    00:37:50 - Stoicism and motherhood

    00:40:30 - Oprah’s favorite quotes

    00:44:30 - What Maria hopes readers take away

    Follow Oprah Winfrey on Social:
    https://www.instagram.com/oprahpodcast/
    https://www.facebook.com/oprahwinfrey/

    Listen to the full podcast:
    https://open.spotify.com/show/0tEVrfNp92a7lbjDe6GMLI
    https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-oprah-podcast/id1782960381
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  • The Oprah Podcast

    How to Navigate Life’s Big Transitions with Oprah and Bestselling Author Jim Collins

    07/04/2026 | 1h 3 mins.
    Oprah talks with the international bestselling author of Good to Great, Jim Collins, to discuss his groundbreaking new book What to Make of a Life. Drawing on ten years of research, Collins offers a data-driven answer to one of life’s most enduring questions: What do we do with this one precious life we’ve been given and how do you know what you’re truly meant to do? Collins explores how to navigate life’s “cliffs”—periods of great transition that leave us disoriented and how to find direction in the midst of mental fog. Oprah shares her own journey through 'the fog' and how she found her way out. Collins also offers practical guidance for anyone confronting a major career transition. This is a conversation for anyone, at any stage of life, seeking greater clarity, direction and meaning.

    BUY THE BOOK!

    What to Make of a Life, published by HarperCollins and written by Jim Collins, is available wherever books are sold.

    https://www.harpercollins.com/products/what-to-make-of-a-life-jim-collins?variant=44343300227106

    00:00:00 - Welcome Jim Collins, author of ‘What to Make of a Life’

    00:03:19 - Why Jim started writing the book

    00:06:50 - Every life has a cliff

    00:10:25 - Cliffs can take many forms

    00:14:30 - Self compassion for the cliff

    00:19:00 - Oprah’s many revelations while reading

    00:22:44 - Oprah on her encoding

    00:25:00 - Oprah cold calling Toni Morrison

    00:30:20 - How to deal with the fog after the cliff

    00:35:22 - What holds people back

    00:36:45 - How to embrace the tumult and the calm

    00:44:10 - The color of your fire changes

    00:47:00 - The relationship between work and money

    00:50:40 - The competence-doom loop

    Follow Oprah Winfrey on Social:

    https://www.instagram.com/oprahpodcast/

    https://www.facebook.com/oprahwinfrey/

    Listen to the full podcast:

    https://open.spotify.com/show/0tEVrfNp92a7lbjDe6GMLI

    https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-oprah-podcast/id1782960381
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  • The Oprah Podcast

    Oprah with Belle Burden on the Collapse of Her 20 Year Marriage & Her Bestselling Memoir

    31/03/2026 | 1h 7 mins.
    It’s the new memoir that has captured the attention of women and as Oprah describes, “everyone is talking about it." From the outside, Belle Burden seemed to have the perfect life: three thriving kids, a happy marriage and a summer home on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. Then, one day, she gets a phone call that shatters everything she believed to be true about her marriage and her life. Oprah sits down with Belle to talk about the devastation that followed the shocking end of her marriage and how she slowly rebuilt her life into something better than she could have imagined. Drawing on revelations shared in her New York Times bestseller, Strangers: A Memoir of a Marriage, Belle tells Oprah how her prestigious family pedigree couldn’t protect her from the pain of divorce. She also explains how sharing her story has empowered her to become the person she was meant to be.

    BUY THE BOOK!

    https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/760850/strangers-by-belle-burden/

    Vote now to support The Oprah Podcast for the Webby Awards

    https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2026/podcasts/individual-episode/interview-or-talk-show

    00:00:00 - Welcome Belle Burden, author of ‘Strangers’

    00:03:30 - Belle learning of her husband’s affair

    00:12:10 - After learning of the affair

    00:16:00 - Being told she was crazy

    00:17:48 - Telling their kids

    00:25:00 - The search for why

    00:26:15 - Is divorce worse than death?

    00:27:40 - The shame of being left

    00:30:35 - Why she wrote the NYT essay

    00:34:00 - Her path forward

    00:35:35 - Why she wrote the book

    00:36:30 - What she hopes her book gives other women

    00:38:50 - Her prenup

    00:42:36 - Belle’s mother Amanda joins

    00:46:15 - He didn’t want joint custody

    00:49:20 - What she had to do every day

    00:53:30 - How she feels now

    01:01:22 - Belle on her book

    Follow Oprah Winfrey on Social:

    https://www.instagram.com/oprahpodcast/

    https://www.facebook.com/oprahwinfrey/

    Listen to the full podcast:

    https://open.spotify.com/show/0tEVrfNp92a7lbjDe6GMLI

    https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-oprah-podcast/id1782960381
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
  • The Oprah Podcast

    Oprah & Tech Leaders on What AI Means for Your Job, Health, Family & Future

    24/03/2026 | 1h 14 mins.
    Artificial Intelligence is already woven into our daily lives, but do we really know the consequences? Will it transform our lives for the better or will its unchecked power cause us harm? Who is controlling it? Oprah, experts and an audience explore what’s been being called a tectonic shift in human society. Oprah speaks with Academy Award–winning filmmaker Daniel Roher about his new documentary The A.I. Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist, in theaters on March 27th. The film is a powerful look at this rapidly advancing technology and the many ways it will impact society. Oprah is joined by Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin of the Center for Humane Technology, who break down what AI really is, who’s building it and why some experts are sounding the alarm. Futurist Sinead Bovell offers insight into how AI could reshape everything from work to global power dynamics. We also hear from people whose lives have already been transformed by AI from finding emotional connection through chatbots, to business profitability, to confronting the impact of deepfake images and when using chatbots as therapy can have fatal consequences. It’s a candid, thought-provoking conversation about the extraordinary possibilities of AI and the potential dangers. The experts offer practical ways we can prepare and how to hold the companies deploying the technology accountable.

    WATCH THE MOVIE: https://theaidocgetinvolved.com/

    The A.I. Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist is an eye-opening documentary about artificial intelligence, unpacking what it is, the risks, the possibilities, and practical ways to prepare for its fast advancement. It premieres in theaters on March 27th. The companion site, theaidocgetinvolved.com, serves as a hub for action, offering curated resources to help people learn AI, track policy, explore cutting-edge research, and stay informed through trusted voices like Hard Fork and Your Undivided Attention. More than just a film, it’s a call to action inviting viewers to move from awareness to agency by supporting advocacy groups, deepening their understanding, and actively shaping a more responsible AI future.

    00:00:00 - Oprah intros The A.I Doc

    00:05:30 - Welcome Daniel Roher, Director of The A.I. Doc

    00:12:23 - Welcome Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin

    00:15:38 - Why A.I. is so powerful

    00:17:00 - The dangers of the A.I. race

    00:17:40 - Why A.I. can’t be stopped

    00:21:10 - How A.I. could eliminate humans

    00:24:45 - Lack of regulation

    00:26:30 - Social media was a test run for A.I.

    00:28:20 - Futurist Sinead Bovell on the ethics

    00:32:50 - What motivates A.I. companies

    00:34:10 - Teen was the target of an AI deep fake

    00:41:00 - How we can create change

    00:43:00 - Claude as a mental health tool

    00:48:50 - Laura Reiley on ChatGPT and her daughter’s death

    00:56:10 - A.I. helping small businesses

    01:00:00 - How A.I. saved her life

    01:05:00 - Get involved

    01:06:30 - The questions we should be asking

    Additional Resources:

    There are services and companies that provide deepfake safety training. You can find them on the internet.

    https://www.humanetech.com/

    The Center for Humane Technology (CHT) is a nonpartisan organization founded by technologists working to realign the incentives driving today’s technology so it better serves humanity. Through a distinctive approach that combines public awareness, policy reform, and technical expertise, CHT creates change by first bringing clarity to how tech systems impact our psychology and society, and then transforming those incentives through interventions like legislation, litigation, and large-scale campaigns. Its initiatives include the widely influential Your Undivided Attention podcast, policy advocacy, and hands-on technical demonstrations that aim to reduce harms from AI and social media while shaping a more humane, responsible tech ecosystem.

    TheHumanMovement.org

    The movement is fighting for a pro-human future in the face of runaway technology is already underway — from Australia, France, Spain and India announcing bans on social media for kids, to large-scale boycotts of AI companies enabling domestic mass surveillance — The Human Movement is a global force fighting to protect our jobs, our kids and our freedom from technology’s overreach into our humanity.

    Follow Oprah Winfrey on Social:

    https://www.instagram.com/oprahpodcast/https://www.facebook.com/oprahwinfrey/

    Listen to the full podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/0tEVrfNp92a7lbjDe6GMLI

    https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-oprah-podcast/id1782960381
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
  • The Oprah Podcast

    Oprah and Kristin Cabot in an Exclusive Interview about the Coldplay Kiss Cam

    17/03/2026 | 1h 7 mins.
    In a worldwide exclusive interview, Oprah talks with Kristin Cabot, the woman caught on the Coldplay "kiss cam" in the arms of her boss and CEO of her company. The video became a phenomenon, instantly going viral around the globe with more than 300 billion views. While it became the most watched video of 2025, it also changed the course of Kristin Cabot’s life. In what she says will be her one and only on camera interview about the event, Kristin Cabot joins Oprah in front of an audience in New York City to reveal details about her life and relationships in the days leading up to the concert in Boston, and how her life was impacted afterwards. She tells Oprah her reaction to the 15 seconds that turned into an infinite number of memes and opened an unstoppable floodgate of what Kristin says is never-ending judgment, mocking, vitriol and even death threats. Kristin Cabot, who was the Chief People Officer for Astronomer at the time of the concert, tells Oprah the nature of her relationship with her then boss, former Astronomer CEO Andy Byron. Kristin Cabot says, “There is a different version of me than what people saw on a TikTok video.” Oprah and Kristin also hear from audience members about their reaction to the viral video and how they were quick to judge.

    00:00:00 - Welcome Kristin Cabot of Coldplay kiss cam fame

    00:03:20 - Why Kristin is sharing her story

    00:04:51 - Kristin’s marital status

    00:07:20 - The first night they touched

    00:11:00 - Kristin and Andy were both separated

    00:21:00 - Kristin acknowledges her mistake

    00:24:40 - Realizing it was a huge news story

    00:26:45 - Why this exploded

    00:28:30 - What PR told her to do

    00:30:20 - What upset Kristin the most

    00:32:00 - What Kristin represents for other women

    00:33:00 - Andy was treated differently

    00:35:15 - How her kids are affected

    00:38:30 - When death threats started

    00:40:15 - Treatment by other women

    00:43:30 - Explaining to her kids

    00:44:37 - Does she talk to Andy?

    00:45:50 - Andy’s lack of public statement

    00:47:50 - What breaks Kristin’s heart

    00:48:20 - Kristin’s reaction to death threats

    00:50:30 - Kristin and Andy’s next steps

    00:52:45 - What Kristin wants people to know

    00:54:20 - Gwyneth Paltrow’s message to Kristin

    00:57:00 - Woman admits to judging Kristin

    Follow Oprah Winfrey on Social:

    https://www.instagram.com/oprahpodcast/

    https://www.facebook.com/oprahwinfrey/

    Listen to the full podcast:

    https://open.spotify.com/show/0tEVrfNp92a7lbjDe6GMLI

    https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-oprah-podcast/id1782960381
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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About The Oprah Podcast

The Oprah Podcast is home to all-new conversations featuring Oprah Winfrey and today’s foremost thought leaders, global newsmakers, best-selling authors, visionaries and cultural changemakers. Exploring timely themes, including happiness, resilience, consciousness and connection, the weekly series aims to help listeners on their journey to lead their best life. Oprah talks to people about what matters most to them in this moment. Every month, she will feature interviews with authors called ‘Oprah’s Book Club Presented by Starbucks’ with live audiences in Starbucks across the country.

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