Rosebud in NYC - Fran Lebowitz
From Rosebud with Gyles Brandreth by Gyles Brandreth / Plain Jaine Media
June 5, 2026 · 60 min
About this episode
Gyles Brandreth interviews Fran Lebowitz about her life, experiences, and views on New York culture.
Leading up to the 250th anniversary of American independence, Rosebud is giving you a series of interviews recorded in New York City. Our first is with the sharpest observer of New York life - the wit, conversationalist and writer, Fran Lebowitz. In this brilliant interview, Fran tells Gyles about her family, who moved to the US from Russia and Eastern Europe to escape the Jewish pogroms. She talks about her happy childhood, cycling on her "freedom machine" around her pretty hometown in New Jersey, where her father owned an upholstery business and her mother had aspirations to be Fred Astaire's dance partner. She tells Gyles about being punished for being a chatterbox at school, about knowing she was gay from a young age, and about moving to New York to become a writer. She talks about Andy Warhol and being paid to write porn. She talks about smoking, the internet, and her enormous collection of books. Finally, Gyles awards Fran a medal from the Oscar Wilde Society, in recognition of her brilliance as a talker. As you might expect, this is a fabulous conversation. It's well worth your time. Enjoy this. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
People in this episode
Host: Gyles Brandreth
Guest: Fran Lebowitz
Topics covered
- American independence
- New York life
- childhood memories
- writing
- cultural commentary
Keywords
- Fran Lebowitz
- Gyles Brandreth
- New York
- writing
- cultural commentary
- Oscar Wilde Society
- American independence
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Oscar Wilde Society, Acast
Places: New York City, New Jersey
More episodes of Rosebud with Gyles Brandreth
- Rosebud in NYC - Christine Baranski · June 12, 2026 · 1h 6m
- More Rosebud in NYC - Graydon Carter · June 9, 2026 · 1h 2m
- More Rosebud - Gyles's Diaries episode 42 · June 2, 2026 · 59 min
- Will Self · May 29, 2026 · 1h 7m
- More Rosebud - Matt Haig · May 26, 2026 · 1h 18m
- Anne-Marie Duff · May 22, 2026 · 60 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Rosebud with Gyles Brandreth podcast page.