Monica Lewinsky vowed to use her voice.
"You're looking at a woman who was publicly silent for a decade," she said in the opening lines of her viral address to a Vancouver TED Conference crowd in 2015. "Obviously, that's changed,"
Since then, Lewinsky, 53, hasn't stopped speaking up.
Now, she's having a breakout 2026 for her debut lifestyle podcast "Reclaiming." In March, she received a Webby nomination for best podcast host alongside Katie Couric, Keke Palmer and Mel Robbins ("Good Hang with Amy Poehler" won.) Earlier this year, Lewinsky accepted a Gracie Award honoring excellence in programming by, for and about women. In August, the podcast notched 430,000 views and 17,000 viewing hours on YouTube.
"What I'm hoping in this space is that it's
an exchange and that people feel that they'll trust me to show different sides of themselves," Lewinsky told USA TODAY.
In 2014, Lewinsky began slowly taking back the narrative that surrounded her early career. That year, she penned an essay, "Shame and Survival," about her life story published in Vanity Fair, after what she refers to as her "Dark Decade," a reclusive post-Clinton affair period from roughly 2004 to 2014.
Last year, she launched "Reclaiming," which has 10 million all-time downloads and features Lewinsky in conversation with both A-list celebrities and lesser-known names.
The return hasn't come without criticism. Shortly after its premiere, conservative commentator Megyn Kelly said, in part, "If you are going to launch a podcast, go for it. But it's like this is her only thing. What has she done since then?"
Past guests include Lewinsky's real life BFF Alan Cumming, Oscar winner Allison Janney, seven-time Olympic gold medalist Allyson Felix, actress Gabrielle Union and pop star Miley Cyrus, who opened up to Lewinsky about her famous family's lasting feud – the octet's own "Dark Decade."
"Even though it's called 'Reclaiming' and people have a sort of topline note of what they think of a reclaiming story, I like to say, 'We go deep, but it's not heavy,'" Lewinsky said.
The series topped Rolling Stone's 10 best podcasts of 2025 and also landed on The Guardian's year-end list.
Lewinsky's story 'in the bones' of 'Reclaiming'
Before "Reclaiming," Lewinsky waded back into public life. After her TED talk, she became a Vanity Fair contributing editor and an anti-bullying activist. She participated in an A&E "Clinton Affair" documentary in 2018 and produced the 2021 season, "Impeachment," of Ryan Murphy's FX anthology, "American Crime Story."
Both projects recounted how Linda Tripp, a colleague of Lewinsky, who was then in her early 20s, surreptitiously recorded 20 hours of their conversations for over three months. The recordings led to an intense, traumatizing investigation by federal agents that poked into an intimate relationship she shared with former President Bill Clinton.
In 2021, she produced an HBO documentary, "15 Minutes of Shame," with MTV's "Catfish" co-host Max Joseph in 2021. Lewinsky also launched a production company, Alt Ending.
The debut "Reclaiming" episode in February 2025 traced Lewinsky's reflections on the global scandal that upended her life. In conversation with producer Elna Baker, she shared how her "own reclaiming story is in the bones of this show."
Lewinsky said the podcast is inspired by a mentality shaped by the same type of cultural push toward mindfulness and recognition of modern trauma.
"It is about always coming back to ourselves and we lose that connection sometimes in tiny ways for seconds, and sometimes in really large ways for years," Lewinsky said earlier this month.
Lewinsky invited "Impeachment" stars Beanie Feldstein, who portrayed her, and Emmy winner Sarah Paulson, who played Tripp, to appear.
However, much of the podcast goes beyond the past.
Who has appeared on 'Reclaiming?'
On the show, comedian Josh Johnson of "The Daily Show" recounted losing his father. Holding back tears, Netflix's "Queer Eye" fab five member Tan France recalled opening up about his sexuality to his mother and siblings. But lighter moments have been captured, too. Lizzo taught Lewinsky about twerking. And there's occasional cussing.
Cosmetics giant Victoria Jackson, a Lewinsky friend who created the Original No Makeup Makeup product line, appeared on the podcast in August 2025.
Lewinsky and Jackson discussed Jackson's rise from infomercial early adopter to beauty mogul who recounted a harrowing assault on "Reclaiming." Jackson said in September, "For me, so much of where I am in my journey as well is really reclaiming kind of my narrative."
Lewinsky's dream guests? Former first lady Michelle Obama, which she previously shared with Vanity Fair, as well as ultra-private singer Tracy Chapman.
"What it seems like from the outside is she is able to answer a question for herself that is one I've been asking myself a lot and I think we don't ask ourselves or define for ourselves enough, which is 'What is enough?'" Lewinsky said of Chapman.
The podcast has received financial support from Peloton, the wellness company, and rideshare giant Uber.
No 'gotcha' questions: 'It's wrong'
Lewinsky said she has the final say before "Reclaiming" episodes are released: The podcaster listens to and watches each edit. If a guest wants something removed after a taping, the "Reclaiming" team honors their request.
"I think it's wrong to ask people to come and be vulnerable and give me an hour of their time on the record, you know, quote unquote, and then set them up for a gotcha," she said.
Lewinsky, who was executive producer of the "Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox" on Hulu, knows what it feels like being questioned in an interview chair.
Guests aren't compensated, but participants are asked to share personal details on camera, Lewinsky said. Occasionally, she reaches out personally to clarify statements made during a taping.
"Sometimes people go, 'No, thank you for catching that,' and other times the bolder guests will go, 'That's exactly what I meant,'" Lewinsky explained.
Lewinsky's own public return came before the global #MeToo and star-studded Time's Up movements in 2017, which explored gendered power dynamics in the workplace and exposed the inappropriate and often illegal behavior of powerful men.
Simmons University Professor Suzanne Leonard, an expert on gender, said that "Reclaiming" arrived during a time when it can once again be easy for celebrities and everyday people to lose their own narratives.
"I would argue with the oversaturation of media and climate, it's so easy to lose control of your own image, and that's not just for celebrities," Leonard said. For Lewinsky, the scandal and bullying she experienced led to years of lost agency – personally, professionally and financially.
Sarah Banet-Weiser, dean of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, said women involved in scandals are often rendered invisible. "That means economically as well," Banet-Weiser said, adding that "one of the things that gives a woman more power ... than anything else is financial independence."
'The whole point'
In May, Lewinsky accepted a Gracie award for audio podcast host (lifestyle) for "Reclaiming" from the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation at a gala in Los Angeles.
"It's a belief that the most interesting parts of us come from continuous loops of finding our ways back to ourselves," Lewinsky said in her acceptance speech. "I believed that real, honest conversation could bring people closer together. And it did."
Oprah Winfrey, Maria Shriver's Sunday Paper, Lewinsky's friend Jamie Kern Lima of IT Cosmetics and ABC's Deborah Roberts were among her fellow national digital media award winners.
She sat down for this interview on Sept. 2 and, weeks later, two victims of public shaming appeared on "Reclaiming."
Former Fox News journalist Gretchen Carlson, who accused the network's founding CEO Roger Ailes of assault, and Oscar winner Ariana DeBose, panned for a BAFTAs performance over the pond, were interviewed by Lewinsky for respective episodes.
"The whole point of me doing things and other people reclaiming and coming back is that the more we see it out in the world, the easier it is for other people," Lewinsky said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Monica Lewinsky reclaimed her life. Her podcast tries to help others do the same
