The Many Lives Of Martha Stewart

[DanaK]

Quote

A young female stockbroker breaking barriers on Wall Street in the 1960s; an innovative caterer from a farmhouse in Connecticut; a female self-made billionaire and media mogul; and an Alderson Federal Prison Camp inmate – these and more are The Many Lives of Martha Stewart. This four-part CNN Original Series will air over two consecutive weekends, launching with two episodes on Sunday, January 28 at 9pm and 10pm ET/PT on CNN. The final two episodes will air the following Sunday, February 4 at 9pm and 10pm ET/PT.

The Many Lives of Martha Stewart traces Stewart’s explosive rise to success, her staggering fall from grace, and her momentous comeback to the limelight, establishing herself as one of the country’s most fabled figures. Her brand became one of the most profitable, yet polarizing, in the world – and that was before she was investigated for insider trading. Weaving together never-before-seen images from Stewart’s past, rich archival footage including from Stewart’s numerous sit-downs on CNN’s Larry King Live, and exclusive interviews with Stewart’s former employees, colleagues, fellow inmates, and closest confidantes, this illuminating series pulls back the curtain to reveal the woman behind the legendary lifestyle icon.

Full press release https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2024/01/03/cnn-unravels-the-many-lives-of-martha-stewart-in-new-cnn-original-series-premiering-sunday-january-28-at-9pm-et-pt/

Trailer

 

[CAM]

Did anyone watch?

[MerBearHou]

9 hours ago, CAM said:

Did anyone watch?

Shoot, I forgot!  Will somehow find it on rewatch.  I’ve followed Martha since her Entertaining book first came out in 1982.  She is a force of nature!

Edited February 11 by MerBearHou

[CAM]

37 minutes ago, MerBearHou said:

She is a force of nature!

She most definitely is. If you have Max, it might be on there. Thought it was well done 

[DanaK]

This will stream on Max starting March 12

[Bastet]

As famous as Martha Stewart is, I didn't know much of anything about her background, or even the trajectory of her career, prior to watching this, so found it interesting.  Someone who's going to spend four hours a day on a train to complete her college education after relocating for marriage is someone who's not going to let a string of clueless male executives determine her career.  I cracked up at the K-Mart guys thinking she'd just lease her name and likeness without exercising creative control.

I cannot imagine working for her back in the catering days - or ever, probably - but that was some truly beautiful food they put out under her exacting standards; no wonder they moved into such high-profile gigs.  She had the right philosophy -- listen to what the client likes and wants, and then give them something that suits them but is better than they could have ever imagined.

Of course as her business took off her husband left her for someone far less powerful, closer to their daughter's age.  Original, dude.  I like how she said (prior to the whole prison thing, of course) the divorce was the worst thing she ever went through, but after it she went on to do something more important than any one marriage.  It's no surprise, since she wound up with an empire, but this documentary effectively showed how smart and savvy she is.  She's a lot of things, some not all that appealing, but no one can ever deny her that.

(And, dear lords, did I like the women in journalism pointing out you take most male CEOs and no one even knows whether they're married or divorced, but Martha constantly got asked if she was missing something by not having a mate, if she was intimidating to potential suitors, etc. -- questions men simply do not get asked.)

I guess whether one idolized her or was infuriated by her came down to what you thought her message was:  All of this is how women should run a household, or Any of these projects you want to do, here's the very best way to do them.  (I fell into neither camp; I had mad respect for her being the first self-made female billionaire, but, yeah, it felt a little weird that it was from pushing a narrative of hyper-domesticity.  [The media didn't help with this, no surprise; she was referred to as a "homemaker" a lot, as if she wasn't a businesswoman, and it was a while before I learned she'd started as a stockbroker.]  Yet, while I thought the tedious nature of some of her projects was rather ridiculous, I liked that she did a variety of them, not just those stereotypically done by women, and that she didn't just do them for the magazine/show -- I get Alexis being annoyed by her half-assed birthday cake, but love that what Martha was busy doing was shingling a roof.)

I didn't pay any attention at the time to the details of the insider trading thing; I'm in the market via a mutual fund, 401(k), etc. but I don't mess with individual stocks and discussion of that sort makes me tune out in a hurry.  I just knew someone associated with her engaged in insider trading, and in the investigation into that she got nabbed for lying to the feds.  I didn't even remember that she'd gone to trial rather than plea bargained.  I figured whatever the details of what she did, the punishment for it was to make an example of her and knock a powerful woman down in a way equally and even lesser powerful men usually escape. 

So this time I paid attention.  The loss she avoided by selling when she did, on the advice of the shared broker, was $45k?!  THOUSAND?  I always thought a lot more money was at stake.  Given her personal connection - the gross old guy who's guilty as hell of insider trading was dating her daughter - she probably knew an FDA decision was impending, but even if she didn't, as a former stockbroker, she'd know something huge was up when the guy wants to dump all his own company's stock, and their shared broker is tracking her down on a plane to suggest she do the same.  Taking her actions in the best possible light shows the hubris of the rich and powerful.  Gross.  And then she lied when asked.

What an arrogant, stupid set of decisions.  If she'd told the truth, she could have just paid a fine she'd have never even missed and avoided the whole thing.  I now see the little time she got she deserved -- if this case existed in vacuum, but that it doesn't is where the injustice still lies.  It's that far greater injustices against exponentially less powerful people are rampant that keeps me from getting fired up about this particular one.

I also did not realize she'd accepted the sentence rather than appealing and just did her time to finally go ahead and get it over with.  (And I didn't know until seeing footage of that press conference how many pets she had, and I can never hate someone who loves and properly cares for animals.)

I liked hearing from people in the prison and the town in which it's situated (I had no idea they'd shipped her off rather than letting her serve close to home, but, again, that happens to a lot of people, including people whose families do not have the means to visit them in those locations, unlike Alex going five times in the first two weeks).  There's something that tickles me about Martha being assigned to clean and, being tall enough, cleaning the top of the door jambs, which no one else had ever touched, as that's where I start - along with the tops of the doors, since they're almost always open - when it's time for my monthly dusting (yes, monthly, so I suppose Martha would be appalled; some things I do weekly and I clean the kitchen counters daily, but cleaning is largely a monthly thing) and I'd never thought about that being something most don't do.

LOL at Martha sending a note to the the next highest profile inmate, by way of a microwave baked apple with smuggled ingredients, suggesting they meet, and at Martha's dorm not winning the Christmas decorating contest.  And at the prison food feast they managed to send her off with.  Nice tidbits, and appropriately counteracted with pointing out she did nothing to speak about the plight of the incarcerated.

I also got a chuckle at the savvy of making her release footage all about the prison-made poncho she wore.  But, again, it drove home the discrepancies -- some of which she suffered from (gender), and some of which she benefited from (race and wealth).  There was a recent terrific documentary on the women of hip-hop, and part of it explored how being arrested/incarcerated was street cred for male artists, but hindered or even doomed the careers of female artists.  Martha's white privilege made her prison time a plus in her comeback, and she ran with that in a truly masterful way.  Props to her, but not without acknowledging most women, even white women if they're not rich and powerful, are significantly disenfranchised for life by imprisonment.

I didn't know The Apprentice happened; I guess I caught up with her comeback later.  I also didn't know she'd done a roast, and been so well received for her vibe.  But I loved her show she wound up doing with Snoop Dogg; is that how they met?

And LOL at sending Daniel Boulud CBD gummies for Valentine's Day.

On the cover of Sports Illustrated at age 81?  I mean, a dubious honor to be sure, but to do it at that age is notable.  How did I miss all this?

Things like that are why I'm glad I watched, despite not having a particular interest in her.  I'm not surprised she didn't participate, but I also think it was fairly well done.

 

[chessiegal]

I'm so sorry I missed this. Maybe they will air it again? I was working in a federal forensic lab at the time of the stock scandal and was aware of what was going on with the work the Secret Service lab was doing (it's a small world with the federal labs). Ink analysis for the win.

And yes, what a piddly amount of money considering what she was worth.

[MerBearHou]

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

I'm so sorry I missed this. Maybe they will air it again? I was working in a federal forensic lab at the time of the stock scandal and was aware of what was going on with the work the Secret Service lab was doing (it's a small world with the federal labs). Ink analysis for the win.

And yes, what a piddly amount of money considering what she was worth.

It was very interesting and because they had 4 episodes, they were able to take their time, go into great detail and show a lot of material about Martha's life, both personally and professionally, that none of us would have ever seen.  I didn't see the series when it first aired on CNN, but was able to catch it easily On Demand.  It's inspiring that, with the many ups and downs of her career, Martha is still going strong at 82.  Love it.

Edited March 4 by MerBearHou

[chessiegal]

My husband and I were talking about Martha's trial at lunch today. He's a retired federal prosecutor. He has said from the get-go she should have never gone to prison. Talk about making the best of a situation. Martha is amazing. 

[Bastet]

4 hours ago, chessiegal said:

I'm so sorry I missed this. Maybe they will air it again?

I didn't watch or record it when it originally aired, so I downloaded the CNN app, logged in via my satellite provider, and watched that way.

[DanaK]

On 3/4/2024 at 11:29 AM, chessiegal said:

I'm so sorry I missed this. Maybe they will air it again? I was working in a federal forensic lab at the time of the stock scandal and was aware of what was going on with the work the Secret Service lab was doing (it's a small world with the federal labs). Ink analysis for the win.

And yes, what a piddly amount of money considering what she was worth.

It's streaming on Max now, since March 12

On 3/4/2024 at 12:07 AM, Bastet said:

As famous as Martha Stewart is, I didn't know much of anything about her background, or even the trajectory of her career, prior to watching this, so found it interesting.  Someone who's going to spend four hours a day on a train to complete her college education after relocating for marriage is someone who's not going to let a string of clueless male executives determine her career.  I cracked up at the K-Mart guys thinking she'd just lease her name and likeness without exercising creative control.

I cannot imagine working for her back in the catering days - or ever, probably - but that was some truly beautiful food they put out under her exacting standards; no wonder they moved into such high-profile gigs.  She had the right philosophy -- listen to what the client likes and wants, and then give them something that suits them but is better than they could have ever imagined.

Of course as her business took off her husband left her for someone far less powerful, closer to their daughter's age.  Original, dude.  I like how she said (prior to the whole prison thing, of course) the divorce was the worst thing she ever went through, but after it she went on to do something more important than any one marriage.  It's no surprise, since she wound up with an empire, but this documentary effectively showed how smart and savvy she is.  She's a lot of things, some not all that appealing, but no one can ever deny her that.

(And, dear lords, did I like the women in journalism pointing out you take most male CEOs and no one even knows whether they're married or divorced, but Martha constantly got asked if she was missing something by not having a mate, if she was intimidating to potential suitors, etc. -- questions men simply do not get asked.)

I guess whether one idolized her or was infuriated by her came down to what you thought her message was:  All of this is how women should run a household, or Any of these projects you want to do, here's the very best way to do them.  (I fell into neither camp; I had mad respect for her being the first self-made female billionaire, but, yeah, it felt a little weird that it was from pushing a narrative of hyper-domesticity.  [The media didn't help with this, no surprise; she was referred to as a "homemaker" a lot, as if she wasn't a businesswoman, and it was a while before I learned she'd started as a stockbroker.]  Yet, while I thought the tedious nature of some of her projects was rather ridiculous, I liked that she did a variety of them, not just those stereotypically done by women, and that she didn't just do them for the magazine/show -- I get Alexis being annoyed by her half-assed birthday cake, but love that what Martha was busy doing was shingling a roof.)

I didn't pay any attention at the time to the details of the insider trading thing; I'm in the market via a mutual fund, 401(k), etc. but I don't mess with individual stocks and discussion of that sort makes me tune out in a hurry.  I just knew someone associated with her engaged in insider trading, and in the investigation into that she got nabbed for lying to the feds.  I didn't even remember that she'd gone to trial rather than plea bargained.  I figured whatever the details of what she did, the punishment for it was to make an example of her and knock a powerful woman down in a way equally and even lesser powerful men usually escape. 

So this time I paid attention.  The loss she avoided by selling when she did, on the advice of the shared broker, was $45k?!  THOUSAND?  I always thought a lot more money was at stake.  Given her personal connection - the gross old guy who's guilty as hell of insider trading was dating her daughter - she probably knew an FDA decision was impending, but even if she didn't, as a former stockbroker, she'd know something huge was up when the guy wants to dump all his own company's stock, and their shared broker is tracking her down on a plane to suggest she do the same.  Taking her actions in the best possible light shows the hubris of the rich and powerful.  Gross.  And then she lied when asked.

What an arrogant, stupid set of decisions.  If she'd told the truth, she could have just paid a fine she'd have never even missed and avoided the whole thing.  I now see the little time she got she deserved -- if this case existed in vacuum, but that it doesn't is where the injustice still lies.  It's that far greater injustices against exponentially less powerful people are rampant that keeps me from getting fired up about this particular one.

I also did not realize she'd accepted the sentence rather than appealing and just did her time to finally go ahead and get it over with.  (And I didn't know until seeing footage of that press conference how many pets she had, and I can never hate someone who loves and properly cares for animals.)

I liked hearing from people in the prison and the town in which it's situated (I had no idea they'd shipped her off rather than letting her serve close to home, but, again, that happens to a lot of people, including people whose families do not have the means to visit them in those locations, unlike Alex going five times in the first two weeks).  There's something that tickles me about Martha being assigned to clean and, being tall enough, cleaning the top of the door jambs, which no one else had ever touched, as that's where I start - along with the tops of the doors, since they're almost always open - when it's time for my monthly dusting (yes, monthly, so I suppose Martha would be appalled; some things I do weekly and I clean the kitchen counters daily, but cleaning is largely a monthly thing) and I'd never thought about that being something most don't do.

LOL at Martha sending a note to the the next highest profile inmate, by way of a microwave baked apple with smuggled ingredients, suggesting they meet, and at Martha's dorm not winning the Christmas decorating contest.  And at the prison food feast they managed to send her off with.  Nice tidbits, and appropriately counteracted with pointing out she did nothing to speak about the plight of the incarcerated.

I also got a chuckle at the savvy of making her release footage all about the prison-made poncho she wore.  But, again, it drove home the discrepancies -- some of which she suffered from (gender), and some of which she benefited from (race and wealth).  There was a recent terrific documentary on the women of hip-hop, and part of it explored how being arrested/incarcerated was street cred for male artists, but hindered or even doomed the careers of female artists.  Martha's white privilege made her prison time a plus in her comeback, and she ran with that in a truly masterful way.  Props to her, but not without acknowledging most women, even white women if they're not rich and powerful, are significantly disenfranchised for life by imprisonment.

I didn't know The Apprentice happened; I guess I caught up with her comeback later.  I also didn't know she'd done a roast, and been so well received for her vibe.  But I loved her show she wound up doing with Snoop Dogg; is that how they met?

And LOL at sending Daniel Boulud CBD gummies for Valentine's Day.

On the cover of Sports Illustrated at age 81?  I mean, a dubious honor to be sure, but to do it at that age is notable.  How did I miss all this?

Things like that are why I'm glad I watched, despite not having a particular interest in her.  I'm not surprised she didn't participate, but I also think it was fairly well done.

 

I've recorded this, but I haven't watched it yet, though I look forward to doing so.

I'll be honest, I never really liked Martha that much because of her air of exacting standards and perfectionism. I'm also not much of a crafts person so that turned me off, though my late mom was; my mom actually made a dining room table and coffee table, among other things, via a woodworking class; I don't recall what she thought of Martha Stewart

[chessiegal]

1 hour ago, DanaK said:

It's streaming on Max now, since March 12

Thanks, but I don't have Max and don't want to sign up just to watch this show.

[DanaK]

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

Thanks, but I don't have Max and don't want to sign up just to watch this show.

There are one or two alternatives mentioned above