You're listening to Math and Magic, a production of iHeart Radio.
And those guys, they actually looked at the July issue that I had prototyped and they said, 'This is fabulous, but what would you do next July?' And I said, 'Well, living is a limitless subject.'
Welcome to iHeart. We're doing a live episode of my podcast, Math and Magic, and we're here celebrating a great friend of mine who has got her 100th book. Congratulations, Martha!
I think I met Martha on about book number two or three. We were trying to remember how long it's been. She is a podcaster with us as well as being probably the most famous and influential lifestyle brand. Indeed, she is one of those one-of-a-kind people. Martha, she is also author, TV host, product creator, and she was even the first self-made female billionaire.
Martha's life reminds me of that old Chinese proverb: 'Those who say it can't be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.' Martha has always been that risk-taker who has completely ignored the conventional wisdom and wins again and again and again. Books, catering, TV show, or magazine—she was, by the way, even in the Paris Olympics. Anybody see that?
It's interesting if I think about Martha, and I've known her a long time. Why is she so successful? One, she has this incredible vision, but she also has a tenacity and she has a way of bringing new ideas, doing it a different way, but she brings it over the finish line again and again. Martha, welcome!
Thank you very much, Bob Pitman.
Before we dig in, I want to do a little feature we call 'You in 60 Seconds,' and it's sort of a lightning round style.
Who makes these things up?
I make these up. Come on, come on. Okay, so here we go. You ready?
Do you prefer cats or dogs?
Early riser or night owl?
West Coast or East Coast?
Streaming video or podcast?
I think I'm an extrovert.
Good. I actually, I have never ordered in ever.
No, I'm going to tell you how it works.
Christmas or Thanksgiving?
Cool. Okay, about to get a little harder. Favorite luxury vacation?
That's a good one. And the last one: the piece of technology you can't do without?
All right, let's get started. You and your book. First, did you ever think you were going to wind up writing 100 books?
Yeah, you did. Yeah, it's just a minor goal.
So tell us what makes this book different. What's the theme and the idea and the vision of Martha: The Cookbook?
This is the book. It's called Martha: The Cookbook. It's a hundred of my favorite recipes—not all, I mean, I have a lot more favorite recipes, but a hundred of my favorite recipes. And it's nice because it incorporates not only a really good, authentic, and well-tested recipe, but also a lot of archival photographs that people haven't seen before, as well as sort of backstories for each of the recipes. And it's sort of hitting a chord this year, I think, with the documentary that came out, and it came out big time. It's a very, very nice book. And I do have a—can I brag one minute, please? I was just called before I came here tonight, and it has reached number one on the New York Times bestseller list before it even got into the bookstores. Isn't that great?
That is fantastic! Congratulations! Come on, give it a big round of applause.
I want to ask you just a little bit about the cooking part. You've cooked meals for me over the years. You were at my 40th birthday, and then you cooked for me my 41st birthday. But it seems so effortless, and you always do this at East. I've been at your house, and it's just like things happen. How does that happen? What is the secret to that?
It's just being relaxed, I think, and being able to do such a thing and to be interested in doing such a thing. I love to cook, love to entertain. I have made a company on those subjects, and it's just part of my lifestyle. And it's always fun to have friends over. It's always fun to see what they respond to and what they like.
