Back Row with Amy Odell

Lawyer and The Fashion Law founder Julie Zerbo makes her Back Row pod debut to discuss the latest Phia scandal. The startup, founded by Bill Gates's daughter Phoebe Gates and her Stanford roommate Sophia Kianni, was just found to be taking credit for affiliate sales it did not drive. People are calling it "fraud" but is it, really? Can the Gates name and a slew of celeb founders help them sail through this unscathed?

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

02:32 Phia's origin story and Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kiani's Stanford beginnings

09:16 The first scandal: Fortune's report on Phia's data collection

16:17 The second scandal: Bloomberg's cookie-stuffing investigation

19:18 Explaining cookie stuffing — and the Honey/PayPal lawsuits

27:23 Did Phia's investors do proper due diligence?

36:22 Could this be fraud? The legal answer

43:15 Does Phia's celebrity halo make it bulletproof?

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Veteran fashion journalist Dana Thomas returns for Fall 2026 couture awards! We talk about the hat wars at Dior, the wildest shoes, and the Chanel chicken bag that seems like it can't carry more than a pill or two.

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CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction

03:18 What "couture" actually means

08:08 Award: Most Viral Front Row Celebrity

10:49 Award: Best Front Row Celebrity

13:37 Award: Best Couture Handiwork

16:58 Award: Best Shoes

20:18 Award: Best Bags

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Taylor Swift married Travis Kelce at Madison Square Garden — and nobody's seen the photos yet. Will Vogue get them? Will anyone? Amy Odell is joined by veteran celebrity journalist Justin Ravitz (former Executive Editor at Us Weekly and Rolling Stone) to count down 13 burning questions about the wedding of the year — 13, of course, because it's Taylor's lucky number.

From the Dior couture ceremony looks to the guest list chaos (Zadie Smith? Wayne Gretzky? No Kardashians?) to whether this whole thing might end up as a theatrical release, Amy and Justin go through it all.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction

02:50 #13 – What did she get talked out of?

06:23 #12 – What did Travis Kelce wear?

10:52 #11 – How close were they with their guests, really?

22:08 #10 – What was in the guests' NDAs?

25:33 #9 – Who leaked the wedding photos?

28:19 #8 – Were there religious elements? Was Adam Sandler ordained?

30:45 #7 – Did anyone try to slip them a gift?

37:27 #6 – Were there brand or corporate sponsors?

38:59 #5 – What were her cats doing?

40:54 #4 – Whose idea was the TT logo?

42:22 #3 – What celebrities were invited and said no?

44:57 #2 – Who was deliberately not invited?

51:59 #1 – Will the wedding be a theatrical release?

58:47 Final thoughts
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RoseMarie Terenzio and Liz McNeil — authors of ⁠JFK Jr.: An Intimate Oral Biography⁠ — return to the Back Row podcast in honor of Love Story's likely Emmy nominations. Terenzio assisted JFK Jr. at George magazine, and McNeil has covered him at People since the 90s, so they know what the show creators don't.

We cover what we didn't get to last time: Daryl Hannah's bombshell New York Times op-ed, what the show got right and wrong about Carolyn Bessette's distress over the paparazzi, the plane crash, and whether Jack Schlossberg is the next JFK Jr.

Chapters:

00:00 — Intro

04:00 — The actor who played JFK Jr. called RoseMarie

08:30 — Daryl Hannah's bombshell NYT op-ed

14:30 — The wedding: how reporters found out

23:30 — Was Carolyn really depressed and homebound?

28:00 — The plane crash: what actually happened
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Get 15 percent off Edie Parker with the code AMY15: https://edie-parker.com/

Brett Heyman launched Edie Parker as a luxury handbag business. Her acrylic clutches became a hit with Met Gala-going celebrities. Despite her success with accessories, she decided to pivot to a uniquely challenging industry: legal cannabis.

She talks about what she learned working in Gucci PR during the Tom Ford era, why she entered the cannabis business, and the stigma she's still fighting.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction

01:30 From Gucci PR to Founding Edie Parker

07:30 The Kate Hudson Met Gala Bag That Started It All

11:00 Why She Pivoted to Cannabis

13:00 Why You Have to Be Vertically Integrated in Every State

15:00 The Stripes That Are "Too Appealing to Children"

20:30 What Trump's Rescheduling Order Actually Changes

28:00 Celebrity Campaigns: Pat Cleveland, Gabby Windey, and More

35:30 Why No Institutional Investor Will Touch Cannabis

39:30 Did the Cannabis Pivot Scare Off Handbag Customers?
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