Interview with Lydia Moynihan
Lydia Moynihan is a reporter with the New York Post.
Saunas and Martyrs
Contents
Max Raskin: You have a hot take on saunas?
Lydia Moynihan: A hot take. Oh, that's a good pun.
It fits with the whole RFK Jr. thing — I'm excited to see these ancient things that people have been doing for years finally come back in vogue. I recently went to this communal sauna in New York, which has gone super viral, and it's $50 a session. You show up, and it's the coolest, most good-looking, trendy people going in and out of the sauna, hanging out. It's like the new bar, essentially.
MR: It reminds me of the Jeff Goldblum line in Annie Hall when he calls up his guru and says he forgot his mantra.
LM: That's fair — especially since we've lost so much of our religion and communal religion — I think people are looking for that experience.
MR: I know you went to King's College. I know that because you just told it to me. That’s a religious school — do you have any religious practice today?
LM: I'm Christian – but the brand of Christianity I grew up with was infused with a lot of fear and shame. I have been deconstructing that, understanding how to have a personal relationship with God as opposed to just going to church and being lectured to.
MR: What denomination did you grow up?
LM: The evangelical church. I remember growing up we read the book God Has a Wonder Plan for Your Life: The Myth of the Modern Message which had a lot of fire and brimstone. I’d always hear about Foxe’s Book of Martyrs — and be asked ‘if somebody put a gun to my head, would I be prepared to stand up for Christ?’ The idea that I would be persecuted was a lot to process as a 10-year-old. The anxiety that came with that undercut actually having a relationship with God. So then when I got to New York, I realized you can be a Christian but also have a life you love with a lot of joy.
The Lion & The Mouse & The Reporter
MR: As a reporter how do you stay in touch with people? How do you keep track of sources?
LM: I have an Excel spreadsheet. My old boss, Charlie Gasparino, passed along one his other producer had made as kind of a starter Excel spreadsheet. It was mostly just people – we call them rent-a-quotes – who you could call, and they would comment on something. People who wanted their names in the paper. But then, as I progressed, I added more significant players to that.
There’s that Aesop's Fable of The Lion & The Mouse. The lion spares the mouse, and the mouse says, "Oh, I'll make it up to you." And then, sure enough, the lion gets trapped, and the mouse chews him out of this net that's covering him.
As a reporter, I've had some of those moments where there are important people who have been very kind to me, and then later I've been able to help them navigate challenges like with the press.
MR: Do you keep notes peoples’ birthdays and things like that?
LM: Occasionally. Especially for the election, I made lists of people who I found helpful — if there was a story I was working on I’d refer to that list and make sure I contacted every person on it because otherwise you forget.
I think the answer really is to call as many people as you can each day.
MR: Do you love working for the Post?
LM: It's very relevant. It’s one of the last places where people still return your calls. It was exciting when I first got here because I remember calling and leaving a message at a prominent CEO's phone number and then five minutes later, he called me back.
MR: If anyone could pick up your call right now, who would it be?
LM: Elon Musk. Probably the most powerful person in the world.
MR: Who are you most proud to have interviewed?
LM: Barry Diller, Eric Schmidt, Bill Ackman. This is the interesting thing — the most important people are also the most responsive. I texted Eric because I was able to get his phone number, and I asked him about an interview, and literally, within 10 minutes, he called me and was ready to talk.
MR: That’s like this quote attributed to Ben Franklin, “If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it.”
LM: Never underestimate the power of The Post.
MR: Do you write your own headlines?
LM: I will make suggestions and if they’re good enough sometimes they’re accepted. But typically it's the editor who writes the headline and frankly that spares me a lot of grief because the headlines can often upset people and I often don’t want to be responsible for that.
MR: Have you heard the John Mulaney bit on it?
LM: Think about what you click on though? The reality is sensational headlines exist because people click on them.
MR: Who’s your favorite columnist of all time in any paper?
LM: I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Cindy Adams. I’m so impressed by people who have been in the game for decades are still with it.
The Smell of Success
MR: Are you a normal person or not a normal person?
LM: I think I can come across as normal. But I'm a little OCD. I grew up outside Portland, Oregon too, which is very crunchy.
I was homeschooled, and I’ve realized the things that a lot of my peers are into, I am not. like I don't love group activities.
MR: And you say no seed oils?
LM: Yes.
MR: What else? Do you drink?
LM: I do. I mean, I talk a big game when it comes to health, but I eat much more sugar than I should. I am always trying new things though – a new magnesium brand, a new creatine brand, probiotics. I have multiple red lights that I try and use every day.
MR: What do you mean red lights?
LM: It was developed in the '60s and NASA has used it to help astronauts recover. It’s a way of regenerating your cells. You can use it for your skin. Actually I sprained my ankle recently, and I toggled between icing it and using red light.
MR: And what red light did you buy?
LM: I have Celluma. And then, I have HigherDOSE.
I interviewed RFK Jr., and I’m really excited for him to get in there because it would be helpful to have guidance on what’s effective because it is so hard to know what is important and what is just something a snake oil salesman is hawking. I feel like I've wasted so much money on things like natural deodorant. I've probably tried 30 different natural deodorants at this point.
MR: And which one did you settle on?
LM: Lavanila and Lavalin. But I don't know how much longer I can do this, because even now I'm sweating.
MR: My pet theory is that deodorant makes you sweat more.
LM: Really?
MR: It makes you smell worse because your body overcompensates.
LM: I've gone through phases where I try and do natural deodorant. Antiperspirant (deodorant with aluminum) is what keeps you from sweating actually but natural deodorant doesn't keep you from sweating.
I started trying to wear natural deodorant during covid lockdowns and shortly thereafter I visited my cousin. She picked me up from the airport and asked, "Are you wearing natural deodorant?"
I was like, "Yeah."
And she goes, "You shouldn't."
MR: Should I put that in that you're smelly?
LM: No.
MR: I won't.
LM: You could edit that out.
MR: I will edit that out. Yeah. But it might be endearing. People might like that.
LM: Okay. You could put it in.
MR: If you’ve tried 30 different deodorants you’ve probably tried 30 different other things. What else have you gone down rabbit holes on?
LM: I did the clay mask every day for my underarms with apple cider vinegar.
MR: For your underarms?
LM: Yeah.
MR: So you really have a little bit of an anxiety about your smell?
LM: It would be anxiety if it was unfounded, but my boyfriend will tell me I need to put on deodorant.
MR: What’s the best clay mask?
LM: Either Kaolinit or Aztec clay. I ended up just getting the premixed clay without the apple cider vinegar and it also has charcoal. It's supposed to draw out impurities, but who knows.
MR: What about non-health products? Are you particular about the water you drink?
LM: I try and only drink water that's in glass.
Apps and Devotion
MR: Are there any apps that you use that you’d recommend that most people haven’t heard about?
LM: Yuka. You can look up any product you're using, and it breaks down what ingredients it has and what ingredients are toxic. Even healthy products have 50 ingredients, and it's hard to know what is or isn't bad for you.
MR: You're on the finance beat, but it seems like you should be on the health beat.
LM: It's funny. In college, I worked at a health and beauty company and what I found is it was actually the most stressful working environment I’ve ever been in. And it was hard to feel like the stress was actually justified when you were just talking about how to stay on top of brow trends.
MR: Do you have any strong views about your own personal finance? Do you use Robinhood or something?
LM: My friend actually just got me on Wealthfront, which is great because you can link all of your apps to it.
MR: Do people often ask you to give them financial advice?
LM: More than I think should. Look, I'm not an expert. If I was, I would be a billionaire with a yacht on the coast of Greece. But I have found it is exciting to invest because you actually see returns. And I like that.
Initially, I just had my money in a savings account and now that I have done a better job of actually allocating my money and putting most of it in the market, it encourages me to spend less because I see how much of a return I'm getting. And that's the only way to actually get rich — to get a good return on your money.
MR: Do you meditate? Do you pray?
LM: Not as often as I should. It's hard. It's really hard. Even five minutes is hard.
I try and do a devotional and a little prayer session every morning.
MR: Is it a set thing?
LM: I have a devotional book that I like to go through. I have a Tim Keller one and I like Joyce Meyer.
Podcasts, Twitter, and Reading
MR: Do you have a favorite podcast?
LM: I think The Daily is produced really well and does a good job making news into an interesting story. I am obsessed with Megyn Kelly's podcast – she is so articulate and intelligent I try and listen everyday.
I think the most underappreciated podcast is Potomac Watch — it's the Wall Street Journal’s op-ed podcast. Everyone who’s on the podcast is so knowledgeable and brings in the context of covering politics for decades.
MR: What about on Twitter?
LM: I have notifications set up for Libs of TikTok, Elon Musk, Scott Jennings, Jason Miller, Mark Halperin, Frank Luntz, and Ian Bremmer.
MR: What kind of music do you listen to?
LM: I'm more of an audiobook and podcast person.
MR: What audiobook are you listening to now?
LM: Intermezzo by Sally Rooney, which is kind of boring.
MR: Tell me about your book club. What are you guys reading now?
LM: Intermezzo.
MR: Are you leading your book club?
LM: Yes. I would love to do more. I think there's so much appetite right now.
MR: Are you a leader?
LM: I don't know. I feel that to be a leader, you have to be really social, and I don't think that I am.
Homeschool to Grayton Carter
MR: Why did your parents homeschool you?
LM: I think it was very prescient. They were just very aware culturally of a lot of things that were happening, and I think they were concerned about sending my brother and I to public school and that we would be indoctrinated or just face peer pressure and social trends that you have to navigate. But I also think it was a chicken-and-egg thing — I was a very awkward kid.
MR: How were you awkward?
LM: I had glasses. I had a lazy eye growing up too, actually.
MR: How did they fix it?
LM: I had to wear an eye patch and bifocals.
MR: You wore an eye patch?
LM: Mm-hmm.
MR: How did it become unlazy?
LM: You grow out of it if you train it as a kid. I always used to take my glasses off because I was always embarrassed about it.
MR: And do you have siblings?
LM: I have an older brother. He's great. We’re very close.
MR: What's the best thing about homeschooling?
LM: My mom was a teacher, so she knew how to teach us. I think the best thing is it fosters creativity, and you're able to actually learn things you want, which is I think why I love reading because we would read a lot of historical fiction and history.
The worst thing? There are things I can’t relate to in terms of pop culture. Like the Disney Channel.
MR: You were wanting to talk about The Red Badge of Courage.
LM: Exactly.
MR: Someone made an amazing observation to me the other day. All the books we read growing up — Ethan Frome, The Red Badge of Courage, The Scarlet Letter. They’re all just the shortest books from those authors.
LM: You're not reading The House of Mirth.
Now even reading a short book is an exercise. I wasn't allowed on social media or anything growing up — on the one hand, I think it was good for my attention span. On the other hand, there are all these people who were early adopters to these technologies, and it served them so well. Logan and Jake Paul, who I didn't even realize they existed until basically this weekend.
MR: Why do you think it served them well? Because they're famous?
LM: They’ve made a lot of money. They made a living from it.
MR: Is that your definition of someone being served well?
LM: That's a very good point. There are upsides though, I think is what I'm saying.
It was weird for me making that transition as a journalist where you have to have social media. I didn't view myself as a digital native, I felt like a digital immigrant. I still ask, "Should I post that?" When I first got Instagram, my best friend had to write my captions because it was like I was learning a whole new language. All these other kids knew how to interact with each other on social media.
MR: You are definitely an outsider who's pretending to be an insider, not an insider who’s trying to be interesting.
LM: Yes, I would say that.
MR: Someone who’s never read anything you’d written — what would you recommend they read?
LM: The interviews I’ve done.
MR: What’s the first one that comes to your mind?
LM: Graydon Carter.