Duologue with Leslie Heaney

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How to Actually Use a Travel Advisor: Corey Cook’s Playbook Sep 24, 2026

Show notes

Corey Cook has been planning trips professionally for years, from teen adventures in Morocco to African safaris to the multi-family ski weeks that used to be reserved for the ultra wealthy. Leslie sits down with her old friend (nicknamed Quad since their boarding school days) to find out what a travel advisor actually does, and why so many people are finally using one.
Corey walks through the questions she asks every client before planning a trip, her favorite family and teen destinations right now (Morocco, Portugal, Costa Rica, London, Paris), and why a growing number of Americans are flying to the Alps to ski instead of paying Telluride prices. She also breaks down how to survive the most expensive week of the year to travel, the hacks she uses to get clients into Prague, Budapest, and South America instead of getting priced out of the Caribbean, and the simple rule that guides everything she does for a client: always ask.

Find Corey Cook at Fifi and Hop.
(00:00:00) Intro and welcome, Corey's "Quad" origin story
(00:03:00) From travel blog to travel advisor, Corey's background
(00:05:00) Best family and teen destinations, Morocco, California, dude ranches
(00:14:00) Costa Rica, London and Paris for teens
(00:18:00) The case for Portugal, Lisbon, Porto, the Douro Valley, Madeira
(00:21:00) Budget friendly picks, Vietnam, Thailand, Montenegro and Croatia
(00:23:00) Ski trips, Telluride versus skiing in Europe
(00:26:00) Ski and city combos, the Dolomites and Venice, Japan
(00:28:00) Surviving holiday travel pricing
(00:31:00) South America for the holidays, Argentina, Cartagena and Baru
(00:40:00) Insider tips, booking direct, always ask, hotel preferences
(00:45:00) The questions Corey asks every client before planning a trip
(00:46:00) Corey's pricing model and making travel advising accessible
(00:49:00) Corey's favorite trip ever, African safari
(00:50:00) Outro and teaser for a future couples travel episode

Thanks so much for listening! If you loved this conversation, please rate, review, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, it really does help other listeners find the show. For more from Leslie, including exclusive essays and behind-the-scenes takes on every episode, subscribe to the Duologue Substack.

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The Pirate Queen: Ariel Lawhon on 400 Years of Complex Women Sep 17, 2026

Show notes

Ariel Lawhon's new novel, The Pirate Queen, is out now, and it brings Grace O'Malley, a sixteenth century Irish noblewoman who became a legendary pirate, mother, and rebel, roaring back to life. It's the same instinct that shaped Ariel's earlier novels Codename Helene and I Was Anastasia: find the real woman that history left out, and let her tell the whole story.

In this conversation, Ariel tells me how she stumbled onto Grace's story at four in the morning, why she structures her novels around the maiden, mother, and matriarch phases of a woman's life, and what it actually takes to write women who get to be complicated at every age. We also get into her writing process. She's a self-described plotter who wrote her first novels in fifteen minute windows while raising four sons, and she keeps a running file of future book ideas, cleverly titled Possible Book Ideas, where stories can sit for over a decade before their moment finally arrives. She gives us a first look at what's next too: a Western she's calling Lonesome Dove, but for women.

The Pirate Queen is available now wherever books are sold.

(00:00:00) Welcome and introduction to Ariel Lawhon
(00:04:38) Growing up off-grid in Taos, New Mexico
(00:09:23) Her first novel and the friend who introduced her to her agent
(00:11:52) The email she sent with only a third of a manuscript
(00:14:08) Finding Judge Crater's story by accident
(00:16:33) Research and source material, and being on her sixth novel
(00:23:34) How every book idea has found her by accident
(00:25:51) The Frozen River and her 13-year-old file of Possible Book Ideas
(00:28:05) Plotter vs. pantser: writing in stolen time while raising four sons
(00:30:21) On inspiration: "the muse has to find you working"
(00:32:41) Why she's drawn to women with verve
(00:35:06) Writing older, more complex women into fiction
(00:37:29) Discovering Grace O'Malley at 4 a.m.
(00:39:49) Balancing Irish folklore against the English historical record
(00:42:02) The letter to Queen Elizabeth I and the meeting itself
(00:44:23) What The Pirate Queen is really about
(00:46:48) Teasing the next book: The Devil's Rope

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Pick up The Pirate Queen wherever books are sold!

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Surviving 9/11: Tim Grant's Story From the 105th Floor Sep 11, 2026

Show notes

Surviving 9/11: my friend of over thirty years, Tim Grant, is speaking publicly for the first time about what happened to him that morning. Tim was on the 105th floor of the South Tower at the World Trade Center — one of only a handful of people who made it out from that floor and above. In this conversation, he walks me through that day minute by minute: the heat and fireball when the first plane hit the tower next door, his decision to leave his desk immediately rather than wait for instructions, and the more than one hundred flights of stairs he descended, which grew far more crowded and much slower once the second plane struck his own building while he was already partway down, around the 60th floor. He also describes his desperate attempt afterward to reach his fiancée from a payphone with no cell service working. Twenty-five years later, Tim opens up about what came after — the funerals, becoming a father, and how that morning has shaped the way he's lived every day since.

(00:00:00) Intro
(00:03:31) Tim's morning on September 11th before anything happened
(00:07:09) Feeling the heat from the first plane hitting Tower One
(00:09:55) Tim's decision to leave his desk immediately
(00:13:08) Descending to the 78th floor with Rob and Tom
(00:18:00) The second plane hits Tim's own building
(00:25:01) Reaching the bottom and the devastation outside
(00:44:03) Life after 9/11 — funerals, family, and moving forward
(00:47:58) Tim's message on what he wants us to remember

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Building a Fashion Empire and a Life in Jackson Hole with Lela Rose Aug 06, 2026

Show notes

Fashion designer Lela Rose has spent almost thirty years building her ready-to-wear and bridal label. But when she left New York for Jackson Hole, Wyoming, she opened something completely different — a tiny log cabin store called Lela Rose Ranch. In this episode of our summer travel series, Lela shares her story and her full guide to Jackson Hole, from the best hikes to a night out at the Cowboy Bar.

(00:00:00) Intro
(00:00:14) Lela's 29 years in fashion and how she got started
(00:03:55) Neiman Marcus, quality control, and early lessons
(00:05:25) From ready-to-wear to bridal
(00:11:47) Leaving New York for Jackson Hole during COVID
(00:08:27) Opening the Lela Rose Ranch log cabin store
(00:22:09) What to pack for Jackson Hole
(00:22:23) Where to stay and where to eat
(00:35:06) Best hikes and outdoor adventures
(00:27:04) Entertaining outdoors and her two books

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The Ultimate Newport, Rhode Island Travel Guide with Nick Mele Jul 29, 2026

Show notes

Nick Mele has spent his whole life in Newport, Rhode Island — and turned his eye for that world into a career photographing it, in a style Town and Country refers to as "the Slim Aarons of our time." He's also the photographer behind the book A Newport Summer, his love letter to the place he grew up. On this episode, Nick shares where to stay, where to eat, and the local-only spots most visitors never find — everything you need for a perfect Newport summer weekend.

(00:00:00) Introduction

(00:35:55) Where to stay in Newport

(00:40:27) Where to eat and drink

(00:44:56) Cliff Walk and Rejects Beach

(00:47:20) Mansions, Newport Film, and museum culture

(00:52:30) Festivals, car shows, and Coaching Weekend

(00:56:22) Family-friendly spots outside town

(01:07:00) Outro

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From Hotel Guest to Hotel Owner: Building The Colony & The Hedges with Sarah Wetenhall Jul 17, 2026

Show notes

Sarah Wetenhall had never worked in hospitality when she and her husband decided, almost on a dare, to buy The Colony Hotel in Palm Beach. She joins me to talk about turning decades as a guest into two of the most in-demand boutique hotels in the country, and what it took to build The Hedges Inn in East Hampton next.

(00:00) Introduction
(02:00) The Colony: family history & buying in with zero experience
(06:39) Deciding to buy The Hedges
(09:00) Opening The Hedges & bringing Swifty's east
(11:22) Inside the guest experience
(13:35) Local recs: restaurants, shops & hidden gems
(27:24) The Ina Garten story
(29:43) Best times to visit East Hampton
(32:00) What's next for Sarah and Andrew
(34:25) Community programming: Conversations at the Hedges
(39:10) Wrap-up

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The Unsung People Who Made Presidential History with Jean Becker & Tom Collamore Jun 24, 2026

Show notes

They never appear in the photo. They never take the credit. But without them, there’s no flyover, no Brandenburg Gate speech, no “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” For sixty years, the people behind every presidential moment have operated under one unwritten rule: what happens on the road stays on the road. Jean Becker and Tom Collamore have finally convinced 96 of them to break it.

Jean and Tom join me to discuss their new book Don’t Tell the President, a bipartisan collection of stories spanning LBJ through Obama. We get into the bicycle bell phone trick that conjured a fake presidential call, how Chelsea Clinton ended up chasing Air Force One through Moscow in a laundry van, what really went into making Reagan’s Berlin Wall speech historic, and why Bob Dole ended up being greeted by Daffy Duck and Frankenstein at what was supposed to be a campaign event.

We also go to the serious side — 9/11, Sandy Hook, assassination attempts on Ford and Reagan — and what it means to be the person who has to put a president in the right place on the worst days in American history.

Jean Becker served as Chief of Staff to President George H.W. Bush is the author of The Man I Knew and Character Matters. Tom Collamore is a senior advisor to the George and Barbara Bush Foundation, was Chief of Staff and assistant Secretary of Commerce in the George H W Bush Administration senior fellow at the Bush Presidential Library and a veteran of multiple presidential trips.

(00:00:03) Introduction
(00:01:50) How the book came to be
(00:06:31) What does a presidential advance person actually do?
(00:08:46) John the Baptist: the first advance person
(00:10:43) The bicycle bell phone trick
(00:13:00) Chelsea Clinton and the Moscow laundry van
(00:15:27) How advance changed after the Reagan assassination attempt
(00:17:44) The Secret Service relationship
(00:20:08) Robert Gates as a pre-advance person
(00:22:28) The nude beach in Martinique
(00:24:48) George W. Bush, a safari, and elephant mating season
(00:27:10) The Vatican vs. the Bush team over a backdrop
(00:29:31) Two Clinton staffers, a locksmith, and a Texas standoff
(00:31:48) The president as comforter in chief
(00:34:12) 9/11 and the shoes Brian Montgomery still can't clean
(00:36:39) Reagan's Berlin Wall speech almost happened inside
(00:39:00) Obama at Sandy Hook
(00:41:25) Bob Dole, Daffy Duck, and the campaign event from hell
(00:45:59) Outro

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Interior Design, A House in Maine, and the Secrets to a Room That Lasts with Nina Campbell Jun 17, 2026

Show notes

Nina Campbell has been one of my favorite people I have had the pleasure of sitting down with since I started Duologue — sixty years of designing the most beautiful rooms in the world and she is still the most curious, most passionate person in any room she walks into. In this conversation we talk about how she got her start working under the legendary John Fowler at Colefax and Fowler, the project in mainland China that required flying in thirty people, their own paint, and their own tea, the house in Maine that became her favorite project of her career and the subject of her book, and what it actually means to design a room for the life someone lives in it — not the life they imagine. We also get into Nina’s insider tips on paint, bedding, tabletop, and the best places to find antiques. Nina Campbell is the author of A House in Maine and the creator of fabric and wallpaper collections sold worldwide, as well as the new Nina Campbell for NEXT line.

(00:00:00) Intro
(00:02:04) Learning from John Fowler at Colefax and Fowler
(00:04:23) London's Annabelle's
(00:09:16) Opening a Shop with Mark Birley / Porto Linens
(00:11:37) Cullen House in Scotland
(00:16:06) Starting Her Fabric and Wallpaper Collection
(00:18:25) The Tree-of-Life Wallpaper Rescued from a Scottish Ruin
(00:20:50) The China Project
(00:28:00) A House in Maine and Her Favorite Client Relationship
(00:32:11) The Lavender Telephone Box Bar
(00:35:03) What She Loves Most About the Work
(00:36:54) Breaking All the Rules
(00:37:21) Signature Is Detail
(00:39:56) Lampshades and Cushions: The Shoes and Handbags of Design
(00:42:16) Different Places to Entertain and Dine
(00:44:39) Must Haves: The Embassy Story
(00:47:04) Senior Living Projects and Nina Campbell for Next
(00:51:47) Insider Tips: Argile Paint, Bedding, Tabletop, Antiques

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Reimagining Grief: Turning Unimaginable Loss Into a Movement with Kate Doerge Jun 10, 2026

Show notes

At some point in all of our lives, we will experience Grief. Thanks to my next guest, we will now have the tools to manage it when it arrives. Kate Doerge — certified grief coach, founder of Penny's Flight Foundation, and author of Reimagining Grief (out June 16th) — has lost her father, her mother, and her daughter Penny at sixteen to neurofibromatosis-related glioblastoma. And in every case, she chose light over dark, faith over fear. She reached for signs, she moved her body, she turned her pain into a foundation that has raised over $6 million for neurofibromatosis research. This episode is about what grief can look like when you refuse to let it define you — and the five actions that can help you get there.

00:00:03 Introduction

00:04:20 Kate's Losses and Her Father's Advice

00:08:55 Losing Her Mother Five Days Before Christmas

00:11:14 Rejecting the Five Stages of Grief

00:13:34 Penny, Neurofibromatosis, and the Love Cocoon

00:27:29 The Five Actions for Moving Through Grief

00:29:50 Movement and the Neuroscience of Grief

00:34:18 Signs, Faith, and Sunshine People

00:45:38 Changing the Language Around Grief

00:48:02 Penny and the Prom

00:52:37 The Book Tour and Penny's Flight Fam Jam

00:59:24 Outro

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Rewire Your Brain for Creativity in 5 Minutes with Blythe Harris & Mallory May May 27, 2026

Show notes

Most people don't think of themselves as creative. In fact, research shows that about 75% of adults self-identify as non-creative. But what if the problem isn't that they lack creativity — it's that they've been defining it wrong?

Blythe Harris, co-founder and former chief creative officer of Stella & Dot, and Mallory May, jewelry designer and illustrator, created Daily Creative to change that conversation. Their practice is built around mini-c creativity: just five minutes of creative engagement per day — no talent required, no finished product expected — that delivers measurable benefits including lower stress, improved focus, healthier dopamine, and the kind of meditative calm most of us are chasing through much more complicated means.

In this episode: the science behind why five minutes works, how Blythe's near-death experience in 1995 became the seed of Daily Creative, why perfectionism kills creativity faster than anything else, and how to start a creative practice that actually sticks — whether you're going through a career transition, entering midlife, managing kids on Zoom school, or just looking for five minutes that are genuinely yours.

Follow Duologue:

Instagram: @duologuepod

Substack: duologue.substack.com

Find Blythe & Mallory here:

📖 Daily Creative book → dailycreative.com (now back in stock!)

✉️ Free Substack with weekly exercises → dailycreative.substack.com

📸 Instagram → @blythe.harris, @mallorymay & @daily__creative

00:00 Intro

02:04 How Daily Creative started

04:25 The pandemic art class & kids on Zoom school

06:48 The Wordle model

09:17 The 75% stat & removing the drawing ability barrier