Speaker 1: You are the perfect example of a woman that has
Speaker 1: constantly reinvented herself as someone who has consistently one upped herself.
Speaker 1: You don't allow anything to stop you, You don't allow
Speaker 1: anything to tell you no. And I respect and admire
Speaker 1: that so much about you, and I want other people
Speaker 1: to see that.
Speaker 2: I want other women to see that in themselves.
Speaker 3: I'm very excited today to introduce our guests and Jaday
Speaker 3: because each year the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue is a
Speaker 3: must have for many of us who appreciate the beautiful, talented,
Speaker 3: and inspirational women who grace the pages and are looking
Speaker 3: for the most unique and fashionable swimwear. And this year,
Speaker 3: Sports Illustrated, for some unknown reason, asked me Martha Stewart
Speaker 3: to be one of the cover girls. And I am
Speaker 3: extremely flattered and extremely excited, and we'll talk about all
Speaker 3: of the preparation I had to go through to get
Speaker 3: into those nine different bathing suits.
Speaker 4: But first published.
Speaker 3: In nineteen sixty four to fill an editorial void in
Speaker 3: early winter, the issue has become a cultural phenomenon.
Speaker 4: MJ.
Speaker 3: Day is the editor in chief of this iconic publication
Speaker 3: and works tirelessly to keep its readers intrigued, MJ joins
Speaker 3: me here at Samsung eight three seven on my podcast
Speaker 3: to talk about her road to Sports Illustrated, what it
Speaker 3: takes to make the Swimsuit Issue, and who is on
Speaker 3: the current cover.
Speaker 4: Welcome to my podcast, MJ.
Speaker 3: After spending two very hectic days with you in the
Speaker 3: Dominican Republic and having time to recover a little bit,
Speaker 3: I did actually recover, I think from that ruralwind job,
Speaker 3: and I hope you've recovered. But you've been doing twenty
Speaker 3: some models. How many pages actually is the Swimsuit Issue?
Speaker 2: I think it's about one hundred and forty yeah, and then.
Speaker 4: We how many different bathing suits?
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, hundreds hundreds, yeah, hundreds, if not close
Speaker 1: to a thousand, oh yeah.
Speaker 3: And all different from last year. That nothing is the same.
Speaker 3: It is a high fashion issue. And the model some
Speaker 3: some repeats, but many many new faces that are familiar
Speaker 3: but gorgeous, including you, Martha Is.
Speaker 4: Including me.
Speaker 3: Well, let's see, let's give one picture of me in
Speaker 3: a bathing suit.
Speaker 4: Yeah, let's show, let's show everybody.
Speaker 3: These are called frames, these TVs that you can program
Speaker 3: with your own photographs. You can program them with fine
Speaker 3: art spetacular.
Speaker 4: I know they're fantastic.
Speaker 2: I need this in my life and high gorgeous.
Speaker 4: Oh I love that photograph.
Speaker 2: Look at your legs. Those are pilate legs right there.
Speaker 4: They are.
Speaker 1: That is I mean, everything is working like that hair,
Speaker 1: that make up that environment. That screams sexy Martha Stewart
Speaker 1: to me at that smile, look at that fit.
Speaker 3: Oh that was a beautiful house too, with that greenery
Speaker 3: and the white and the very tropical interior.
Speaker 4: It was an amazing place.
Speaker 3: And Ruven Afanador, who first photographed me in the early
Speaker 3: nineteen nineties for my own magazine but not in swimsuits,
Speaker 3: took all these beautiful photographs and he was so fun to.
Speaker 4: Work with extraor so fun? Would he have another one
Speaker 4: to show?
Speaker 2: Absolutely?
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, this one sexy red Marilyn Monroe ish
Speaker 3: kind of pose in front of that beautiful stone wall.
Speaker 3: That was that was pretty.
Speaker 2: How beautiful are you here? You are?
Speaker 4: Is that Norma Kamali?
Speaker 2: That is?
Speaker 4: Oh, she's a friend and I've been wearing her bathing
Speaker 4: suits for many, many years. Those fabulous sunglasses and that
Speaker 4: fabulous body glove suit.
Speaker 2: Fantastic.
Speaker 3: See that's more the kind of suit I wear right
Speaker 3: and sometimes it comes all the way up to my
Speaker 3: neck and down to my wrists.
Speaker 2: I love this one.
Speaker 1: I feel like the photo is going to like it's
Speaker 1: just iconic body glove.
Speaker 2: This says everything about you to me.
Speaker 1: You're like chic, you're modern, your care free, you're exuberant,
Speaker 1: You're just like.
Speaker 2: All the things. Look at that water, I'm like looking
Speaker 2: at you.
Speaker 3: And they were pouring water over my head making me
Speaker 3: soaking when I was dunking constantly for that photograph, and
Speaker 3: the photographer was in the water with his cameras up
Speaker 3: to his chest, as were the technicians.
Speaker 4: Everybody's were you in there? Yes?
Speaker 2: I was. We baptized you.
Speaker 1: That's when you got your official baptism into sports illustrated
Speaker 1: swim see right there.
Speaker 4: Well that's what you call it.
Speaker 3: Well you studied political science. How in the world did
Speaker 3: you go from political science to the media business, in
Speaker 3: the publication business.
Speaker 2: Well I did.
Speaker 1: I was a probaly sign major. I was actually almost
Speaker 1: a double major with English, and my mother told me,
Speaker 1: you're never going to get a job as an English major,
Speaker 1: so you better, you know, you better do something that's
Speaker 1: you know, more marketable, and so I graduated from Mary
Speaker 1: Washington College as a poly sci major and with an
Speaker 1: almost double major in English.
Speaker 2: But I had always been a creative at heart.
Speaker 4: And which was the first magazine you worked for?
Speaker 2: In Style?
Speaker 1: In Style Magazine. I was hired right out of college
Speaker 1: as an intern and in Style, and.
Speaker 4: That was an exciting magazine.
Speaker 3: That was a time inc magazine which dealt primarily with
Speaker 3: fashion and beauty and the most gorgeous models and action.
Speaker 3: It's a very action packed magazine.
Speaker 2: Yes, it is. It was. It was such a great
Speaker 2: time to work there. It was when it had just started.
Speaker 1: It just spun up from people actually, and so they
Speaker 1: were sort of like a fledgling standalone at that point.
Speaker 1: And so I got in on the very ground level
Speaker 1: and it was really really great learning experience too.
Speaker 4: And did you write to or just no Style?
Speaker 2: I was actually in marketing, I believe that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So I was hired as a marketing assistant and
Speaker 1: always wanted to get into editorial. But that's a tough
Speaker 1: nut to crack, you know, without any kind of like connections,
Speaker 1: which I had none at the time. So I maneuvered
Speaker 1: my way, you know, into the editorial side. Because Sports
Speaker 1: Illustrated is also a timing or was a timing brand, Yes,
Speaker 1: and so I was able to kind of troll the
Speaker 1: job postings internally.
Speaker 2: So while I was in Style, you know, as an intern,
Speaker 2: I found this place.
Speaker 4: Were you drawn to the Sports Illustrated franchise right away
Speaker 4: or are you a sports person?
Speaker 2: No, I'm not a sports person at all.
Speaker 1: But I did love to travel and I did want
Speaker 1: to travel, and the job hosting said that you had
Speaker 1: to be willing to travel extensively. And when I saw that,
Speaker 1: I was like, well, let me check this out and
Speaker 1: see what it has to offer.
Speaker 2: And then I didn't even know it was for the
Speaker 2: swimsuit issue.
Speaker 4: Oh and it was a year round job for one issue.
Speaker 2: Yes, a year round.
Speaker 3: It takes an entire year to create this extraordinary franchise,
Speaker 3: extraordinary issue which probably made made a lot of money.
Speaker 4: For Sports Illustrated.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's done well over the years, for sure. It
Speaker 1: definitely is like a marquee property.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 4: I think it was like the biggest grossing magazine of
Speaker 4: the year for Sports Illustrated.
Speaker 2: I would guess so.
Speaker 3: But you followed in the footsteps of some legendary editors.
Speaker 3: Julie Campbell, who was the kind of the mother of
Speaker 3: Sports Illustrated swimsuit. She created the look, she ushered in
Speaker 3: the era of the supermodel. And how important was.
Speaker 4: She to you?
Speaker 2: Julie is such an inspiration to me.
Speaker 1: She actually recently passed away this year, but I've had
Speaker 1: a relationship with her really ever since I started. She's
Speaker 1: very motherly to not just the models that were part
Speaker 1: of the brand, but also the women that worked there.
Speaker 2: It was her baby.
Speaker 1: She created this and really labored with it and so
Speaker 1: really looked after the people.
Speaker 2: Then that sort of shepherded it after her.
Speaker 3: Would you say the issues have changed drastically since Julie Campbell?
Speaker 2: I wouldn't say drastically. It's grown exponentially, for sure.
Speaker 1: When Julie was there, it was it was an insert
Speaker 1: in the regular Sports Illustrated weekly, and then it became
Speaker 1: a standalone while she was there, in a calendar and
Speaker 1: a television show, all of which it still is now.
Speaker 1: And then the platforms, the different digital platforms evolved out
Speaker 1: of that, and social media and events, and you know,
Speaker 1: there's so many things now that exist differently than you
Speaker 1: know when it first started. But I think it's like
Speaker 1: the natural evolution of growth of the brand.
Speaker 3: So the magazine is still a paper magazine, yes, But
Speaker 3: is the readership bigger online or in the in the
Speaker 3: printed issue?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 1: Online, for sure. It reaches billions of people globally. You know,
Speaker 1: there's actually quite a bit of content, additional content on
Speaker 1: our digital platforms as well.
Speaker 3: So how many of the printed issue would you be
Speaker 3: doing of this swimsuit? People have asked for autograph copies?
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, my family all they.
Speaker 4: All want to Not that I'm supposed to tell anybody about.
Speaker 2: It, you can try friends in a family.
Speaker 4: Now that we're talking about it publicly.
Speaker 3: On I'm going to need I'm going to need a
Speaker 3: little box of these signs.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we're gonna have to order a few I think
Speaker 1: million more with you on the cover, Martha, I I
Speaker 1: can't even begin to tell you how excited I am
Speaker 1: for this.
Speaker 4: It's so exciting. How has it evolved. You've done a
Speaker 4: lot of new things. I mean, you had a transgender
Speaker 4: model on the cover last year. You've had your.
Speaker 3: I think was it your issue one of your issues
Speaker 3: that had the first black model on the cover.
Speaker 2: Tira Banks was on a double.
Speaker 1: She was on a double a cover on a double
Speaker 1: under Julie Campbell and then under Elaine Farley was the
Speaker 1: standalone Tyra Banks issue.
Speaker 4: That was a fabulous that was a very important She had.
Speaker 3: Her TV show right in the same studio on twenty
Speaker 3: sixth Street that I had.
Speaker 4: Oh ye, she was amazing.
Speaker 2: She's so incredible. What a superstar she is.
Speaker 4: She.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So we've we've tried to really progress the brand
Speaker 1: and help, you know, move women forward.
Speaker 4: What was the most what was the most controversial issues?
Speaker 1: So I like to think about the conversations that come
Speaker 1: along with these very important covers. And there was a
Speaker 1: lot of conversation about the Ashley Graham cover when she
Speaker 1: first appeared, because she was the first plus size model
Speaker 1: that had appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated and
Speaker 1: on a lot of mainstream media publications as well.
Speaker 4: And she's very forward about her plus size.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, she's she's an advocate. Yeah, she's an absolute advocate.
Speaker 1: She's very proud, you know, of her body. She's very
Speaker 1: proud of what she represents. And you know, she really
Speaker 1: wanted this, you know, to be able to reach as
Speaker 1: many people as possible and talk to speak to inclusivity,
Speaker 1: you know, which is really important. So that was a
Speaker 1: really big moment for the brand, And I think Lena
Speaker 1: Bloom's cover was a very important cover as well. She's
Speaker 1: a black transwoman that we featured back in twenty twenty one.
Speaker 1: And you know, really like so many of the covers
Speaker 1: are critical, I think, to having different conversations about who
Speaker 1: we are as women.
Speaker 3: Well, it's especially in a sports magazine to have the
Speaker 3: transgender woman, very unusual because many colleges are banning transgender
Speaker 3: women from sports teams, and it opens up a huge conversation.
Speaker 3: Is there a lot of backlash.
Speaker 4: On that one or not?
Speaker 1: You know, it's funny because we reach so many people.
Speaker 1: The issue is always dissected heavily, and you know, there's
Speaker 1: going to be people that celebrate what we do, and
Speaker 1: there's going to be people that pick it apart.
Speaker 2: No matter who's on.
Speaker 4: The cover, They're going to pick me apart.
Speaker 2: Oh, they're going to love you, aren't that They're going to.
Speaker 4: I'm really going to be the oldest person ever on
Speaker 4: the cover of Sports.
Speaker 2: Oustri Are and you never looked better.
Speaker 4: The oldest person. Can you believe that it's only eighty
Speaker 4: one years old? For God's exactly?
Speaker 1: And that's what that's That's the whole point. I think
Speaker 1: it's important. It's important for I mean you to.
Speaker 2: Me, Martha.
Speaker 1: As you know, I've already professed my undying love and adoration.
Speaker 1: I'm total fangirl of you, and I say it loud
Speaker 1: and proud here. But you know, you are the perfect
Speaker 1: example of a woman that has constantly reinvented herself as
Speaker 1: someone who has consistently one upped herself. You don't allow
Speaker 1: anything to stop you, You don't allow anything to tell
Speaker 1: you no. And I respect and admire that so much
Speaker 1: about you, and I want other people to see that.
Speaker 2: I want other women to see that in themselves.
Speaker 3: Well, what was fun about the whole episode of being asked,
Speaker 3: first of all, was would I do it? And I
Speaker 3: didn't hesitate for a second. What I thought to myself
Speaker 3: was what do I have to do to make sure
Speaker 3: I look good in those bathing suits? I mean, you know,
Speaker 3: there's a little flab here and a little wrinkled there,
Speaker 3: and you have to make sure you take care of
Speaker 3: all that. I had only two months, yeah, from the
Speaker 3: time you asked me to the shoot day, the shoot
Speaker 3: day down in the Dominican Republic, so I had to
Speaker 3: really get on the exercise. I always exercise, but I
Speaker 3: really went to Pilate's three or four times a week.
Speaker 3: I ate a lot of salads, a lot of green
Speaker 3: juice for two months, no drinks at all, no wine,
Speaker 3: no drinks, nothing.
Speaker 4: Oh wow.
Speaker 3: And I had you know, I had my regular facials.
Speaker 3: I even got a spraychann which I never do.
Speaker 2: Oh you did, I did.
Speaker 4: I got a body wax. I waxed my whole body,
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh.
Speaker 3: And then I got a spray tan about a week
Speaker 3: before we went to the Dominican.
Speaker 4: I got a spray tan. But it worked, it did,
Speaker 4: It worked, and I and I really didn't feel uncomfortable
Speaker 4: that whole day, being you know, primped and prodded and
Speaker 4: paraded and paraded, Oh my gosh. And I just hope
Speaker 4: nobody was laughing and saying, oh, look at her.
Speaker 2: She tried to look like trust me, Martha. No one
Speaker 2: was laughing. We were all in absolute just awe and
Speaker 2: love of.
Speaker 3: You because it was a hard day because we had
Speaker 3: nine changes and change of venue several times during the day.
Speaker 4: In and out of the.
Speaker 3: Oh that pool was icy cloth. The only thing, the
Speaker 3: only thing. When I look at the pictures, I was
Speaker 3: only in one piece suits.
Speaker 4: So I was a little. I was a little sad
Speaker 4: about that, but there's always next year.
Speaker 2: Okay, come back for bikinis next year. I am not
Speaker 2: what I'm done with you.
Speaker 1: I have to say, though, in defense of the one pieces,
Speaker 1: I love a one piece. I actually find them more
Speaker 1: visually interesting.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I was looking at photos of Gizelle in the current
Speaker 3: Vanity Fair magazine.
Speaker 4: Great and oh she had that Versace.
Speaker 3: Bathing suit on with the hood and the long sleeves
Speaker 3: and real zip down.
Speaker 4: I'm looking for that bathing suit. Can you get me
Speaker 4: that bathing suit.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll find that bathing suit.
Speaker 4: That bathing suit.
Speaker 2: Martha wants the Versace. We got Martha, the Masacci.
Speaker 4: It all says the great bodies.
Speaker 2: Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, honestly, like I it's so many
Speaker 1: different types of bodies.
Speaker 4: But you know, sure she's very You're not gonna say.
Speaker 2: No, but it's true.
Speaker 1: I mean you have like Oh Macpherson and Heidi Klum,
Speaker 1: who were coined the body, you know, and then you
Speaker 1: have somebody like kay Upton, who is you know, got
Speaker 1: like this incredible body. You have Ashley Graham who's like
Speaker 1: this incredible curvy body.
Speaker 2: You know. I just there's it really is. There's so
Speaker 2: many beautiful body and the Genners.
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, like there's everybody. It's everybody's so like
Speaker 1: wildly unique and special.
Speaker 2: It really is, like.
Speaker 3: And what really interests me is even with a whole
Speaker 3: mecho movement, sports illustrated swimsuit issues continued right through that
Speaker 3: whole time.
Speaker 2: Well, because you know how many women look at this magazine.
Speaker 3: Yes, a lot, a lot, And I thought that was
Speaker 3: great that you continued on, not intimidated by Oh women,
Speaker 3: women just can't show themselves like that anymore.
Speaker 4: They can't do this, they can't do that.
Speaker 2: Why not, Well, exactly, why not?
Speaker 1: Because you're proud of how you look, Martha, and that's
Speaker 1: why you're in this magazine and you're rocking those swim suits,
Speaker 1: because you've worked hard and you are so proud of
Speaker 1: your body, and you also are.
Speaker 3: Well, what I'm proud of is not not so much.
Speaker 3: You know, it's not a show off kind of proud.
Speaker 3: I've taken care of myself. I actually pay attention to
Speaker 3: my good health. I think if you look good, you
Speaker 3: feel good, right and you and you also are good.
Speaker 4: You're healthy and it shows.
Speaker 3: It shows in the glistening skin in the in the
Speaker 3: pink cheeks and the you know, the nice hair. Everything
Speaker 3: can't be like that unless you've worked at it, at
Speaker 3: least in terms of diet and exercise and seeing the
Speaker 3: right doctors, you know, making sure that you're a.
Speaker 2: Healthy person, right, you take care of the whole.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And this encourages people to do that.
Speaker 3: And I hope that the one thing I hope that
Speaker 3: comes out of this for me is that I am
Speaker 3: encouraging other women who are are getting on, you know,
Speaker 3: getting a little older, that they realize that, you know,
Speaker 3: you start getting old the day you're born, exactly.
Speaker 4: But you don't have to show it, right, right, you
Speaker 4: know you do, and you don't have to.
Speaker 3: Give into it when I get comments about, oh, you know,
Speaker 3: she better stop using but I don't use bowtox except
Speaker 3: a little bit in my neck. I hate botox except
Speaker 3: for here because it really helps.
Speaker 2: Right, right.
Speaker 3: And and when people say, oh, she better stop with
Speaker 3: the bowtox and she better stop going to the fillers,
Speaker 3: you know, you don't have to do all of that
Speaker 3: either if you're good healthy And I have good genes too,
Speaker 3: so right, yeah, the genes.
Speaker 1: You have beautiful genes that's Polish.
Speaker 4: You have that polish, polish skinning, polish. Good couple exactly.
Speaker 3: So the SI issue has taken the readers all over
Speaker 3: the world. How do you choose locations? I was I
Speaker 3: was curious about that, having been to Madagascar in the summer,
Speaker 3: I wanted to go there, and then I understood that
Speaker 3: you had already been there. You go on all the shoes,
Speaker 3: do ye lucky? Do I know what's your favorite look
Speaker 3: at locale?
Speaker 2: I have a couple.
Speaker 1: I think an article would be one. It was the
Speaker 1: most incredible experience ever. I love Turkey. I think Turkey
Speaker 1: is one of the most beautiful countries on herd.
Speaker 4: Did it gorgeous?
Speaker 2: It's so incredible.
Speaker 4: What does that have to do with bathing suits?
Speaker 2: It's a beautiful just that you know you're gonna be
Speaker 2: out in the dottery.
Speaker 4: Did you take the plunge?
Speaker 2: I didn't take the plunge?
Speaker 4: I did? I went you did took the plunge?
Speaker 2: You know what? That's my Lafe's biggest regret not taking
Speaker 2: the plunge.
Speaker 4: Well was about a three second plunge.
Speaker 3: They just jump off the boat and you come right
Speaker 3: back out in a bathing suit. In Antarctica, with the
Speaker 3: icebergs floating all around you. I think it's a beautiful place.
Speaker 2: You want to know what's so sad? I'll give this
Speaker 2: little tidbit to you.
Speaker 1: I didn't take that plunge because I didn't want to
Speaker 1: wear a bathing suit in front of the cameras because
Speaker 1: they were filming it. And that was a really big
Speaker 1: disappointment I have in myself and that experience I never
Speaker 1: got to have because I was too conscious.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna wear a bikini next
Speaker 2: time and film it and put it on Instagram.
Speaker 3: And I want to see that issue because I don't
Speaker 3: remember that. I don't remember the the Antarctica shoot.
Speaker 1: It was was Kate Oupton. She was on the cover
Speaker 1: and we were down there for like a.
Speaker 4: Week shooting beautiful there.
Speaker 2: Everyone. If anyone could ever have the opportunity to go,
Speaker 2: they should go.
Speaker 4: It's really special.
Speaker 3: On So, how important are the exotic locations. I think
Speaker 3: they're very important.
Speaker 2: I do too. I think they're very important.
Speaker 1: And you know it differs year to year, but the
Speaker 1: location really adds an element to the composition of the photo.
Speaker 4: This year, besides the Dominican Republic, where else did you go.
Speaker 2: We went to Puerto Rico, we went to Dominica.
Speaker 4: What are the goals that you have for every issue
Speaker 4: that you publish?
Speaker 1: I mean, for me specifically, it's about empowering women, and
Speaker 1: it's about platforming women and conversations that really kind of
Speaker 1: liberate how we've been traditionally taught to think about ourselves.
Speaker 1: And I'm happiest when I'm encouraging conversations to be had
Speaker 1: about how people think of themselves and of others.
Speaker 2: As women.
Speaker 1: There's so many things right that we are kind of
Speaker 1: railing against, whether it be in career or personal or professional.
Speaker 1: You know, there's just so many things that we contend with,
Speaker 1: and appearance is one of them. And you know, I've
Speaker 1: heard too many times from women that oh, i'm a
Speaker 1: certain age, I can't do this, or I'm a certain size,
Speaker 1: or I can't do this, or you know, I didn't
Speaker 1: do this, so I can't do this, And for me,
Speaker 1: I find that to be the most ridiculous thing to say,
Speaker 1: And I hate I hate it for women that they
Speaker 1: feel that way, because you know, and you, for me,
Speaker 1: are the perfect example of someone who's never allowed themselves
Speaker 1: to be put in a lane or in a box,
Speaker 1: and you continue to surprise us at every single corner
Speaker 1: and every single path you take. And I want women
Speaker 1: to see that in themselves and that as a possibility.
Speaker 4: My dad.
Speaker 3: The advice came from my father. He was a very handsome,
Speaker 3: lovely man, father of six now and I remember asking him.
Speaker 3: I'm saying, Dad, do you think I can do it?
Speaker 3: He said, you can do.
Speaker 4: Anything you choose if you put your mind to it.
Speaker 4: And that's what he said.
Speaker 3: He didn't say, oh, you're fabulous, you're beautiful, he doesn't
Speaker 3: see He didn't say things like that. He said, put
Speaker 3: your mind to it, and you can do it. And
Speaker 3: that really helped me tremendously because I developed a kind
Speaker 3: of a fearlessness. And I think that that's what women
Speaker 3: have to develop within themselves, a fearlessness that that will
Speaker 3: take you to other places, try things, do things, go
Speaker 3: to places you've never dreamed of going to. And when
Speaker 3: people ask me my favorite place to go, and I
Speaker 3: always answer, now, it's where I haven't been yet.
Speaker 4: Love that you know I haven't been there.
Speaker 3: Yet, And because there's so many more places to go, yes,
Speaker 3: and I don't want to, I don't want to repeat, right,
Speaker 3: So I mean, I just won't go to the same
Speaker 3: old South of France every single year.
Speaker 4: There's so many other places to.
Speaker 2: Go, right, And is that to me?
Speaker 4: That exactly?
Speaker 3: I love the South of France by the way, She's like,
Speaker 3: just kidding, no, but it's true.
Speaker 2: It's like that.
Speaker 1: That is one of the most I think limiting, you know,
Speaker 1: behaviors that we exhibit. It is saying that, you know, oh,
Speaker 1: I'm comfortable, I'm just going to continue to do the
Speaker 1: same thing when you know, yes, it's a little risky,
Speaker 1: it's a little uncomfortable, but then you push yourself and
Speaker 1: you get to a place that you never ever ever
Speaker 1: thought you could end up being.
Speaker 2: Like on the cover of Sports Illustrated sup Suit And.
Speaker 4: I told my daughter Alexis, who's you know, pretty critical?
Speaker 4: She said, cool?
Speaker 2: No, I love it?
Speaker 4: Is that nice?
Speaker 2: Yes, I was so please.
Speaker 4: She didn't say mother, what what the hell? She just
Speaker 4: said cool? She was so great.
Speaker 1: It's so true though, because I sound like a broken record,
Speaker 1: but I really want to hit it home for women
Speaker 1: that are listening out there, is that that we are
Speaker 1: our own biggest limitations, you know.
Speaker 2: And your dad's advice was spot on.
Speaker 1: It was and it's applicable anywhere, to anything, to anyone,
Speaker 1: you know, and you're living.
Speaker 2: Proof of that.
Speaker 3: And my advice to everybody out there is that that
Speaker 3: evolution of yourself is most important.
Speaker 4: You have to evolve.
Speaker 3: I always say when you're through changing through, But it's
Speaker 3: also about when you stop evolving, when you stop trying
Speaker 3: new things. That's when you wouldn't have the nerve to
Speaker 3: pose for pictures and the Sports Illustrated exactly.
Speaker 2: You know what you're going to do for other women
Speaker 2: out there.
Speaker 1: You're going to liberate a whole mindset by being partiety,
Speaker 1: I hope.
Speaker 4: So how have the prerequisites for swimsuit models changed over
Speaker 4: the years or have they?
Speaker 1: I mean, I think they have. Back in the day,
Speaker 1: you know, you used to really just cast for appearance only,
Speaker 1: And now I mean, I know how I cast. I
Speaker 1: cast for the entire package. I cast for the mind,
Speaker 1: I cast for the voice, I cast for the goals,
Speaker 1: I cast for the achievements, you know, and appearance is
Speaker 1: really tertiary to all of those things, lots.
Speaker 3: Of things that you told me on the set. It
Speaker 3: made me feel easier because you are You're very gentle
Speaker 3: and kind on the set, even when you're pushing my boom,
Speaker 3: souprangling you, oh God.
Speaker 4: Man handling or woman handling.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna guild these hands. They've passed Martha's boobs. I'm
Speaker 1: guilding them.
Speaker 2: Choosing the covers, I locked everything in. Yeah, okay, yeah,
Speaker 2: I am you are one of on a cover.
Speaker 3: I hope so oh, jug and Rubin.
Speaker 4: Rubin came with quite quite a few. He had a
Speaker 4: lot of ideas, which was great, yes, because we weren't
Speaker 4: struggling to find situations and he took us to the
Speaker 4: right locations. Did he do a day of scouting or
Speaker 4: a couple of days before?
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
Speaker 1: Ruven is one of the most consummate professionals ever.
Speaker 2: He his his.
Speaker 1: Approach to photography is so special and unique to him.
Speaker 1: I always say he paints the picture in his mind
Speaker 1: before he actually takes it, so no detail is left.
Speaker 3: And he knew how to He knew where he wanted
Speaker 3: me to stand against that stone wall and on a
Speaker 3: stairway going up going Oh, he was above me and
Speaker 3: I was coming up a stairway.
Speaker 1: He really has a visionary He imagines it and then
Speaker 1: he executes it.
Speaker 2: It's incredible how.
Speaker 4: Many different photographers that you use this year.
Speaker 2: For different photographers.
Speaker 1: I had a couple of people, do you know the
Speaker 1: is shoots several shoots, Yeah, because I like to stick with
Speaker 1: I really do have a very tight knit group of
Speaker 1: photographers that I like to work with because they understand
Speaker 1: the brand, they understand me, they understand what I'm looking
Speaker 1: to get out of people.
Speaker 2: And it's those like those trusted colleagues.
Speaker 4: That how many years have you been doing the issue now?
Speaker 3: Twenty six Yeah, twenty six years creating one of the
Speaker 3: most fabulous, fabulous magazine issues ever. I mean that is
Speaker 3: it's an incredible and such diversity and such originality and
Speaker 3: such and you want to look at every picture. You
Speaker 3: turn the page, you look, you turn the page, you look,
Speaker 3: you study.
Speaker 4: Are all issues online now?
Speaker 2: Yes?
Speaker 1: Everything is also online imprint and online, So you actually
Speaker 1: get quite a bit more online, I bet, which is
Speaker 1: very exciting for more at over to a sidear.
Speaker 3: And not only not only do we spend a day
Speaker 3: taking photographs, we spend a day the next day doing
Speaker 3: a video.
Speaker 4: And I liked the video very much. It was very
Speaker 4: well edited.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and the research that you did into the pictures,
Speaker 3: family pictures, professional pictures, it was it was very cleverly done.
Speaker 4: I liked it.
Speaker 2: I loved watching it. I loved learning all about your chickens. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I had no idea. I knew you had so many chickens,
Speaker 2: but I didn't know how many.
Speaker 4: Did you see them on the Today Show?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 3: Oh, I had my silkies. On the Today Show we
Speaker 3: were doing a segment on chicks and hens, the succulents,
Speaker 3: sum vivums, and they wanted me to bring my chicks also,
Speaker 3: so I had a lot of baby chicks, the cutest chickens.
Speaker 3: I got so much mail because of those chickens. Are
Speaker 3: you working already on next year's issue?
Speaker 1: Yeah, we already are starting the process. It's our big
Speaker 1: sixtieth next.
Speaker 4: Year, sixtieth. Oh, I wish I had waited.
Speaker 2: So then, no, you're coming back with that bikini shot.
Speaker 2: Come on, you're alumni.
Speaker 3: I'll take a snapshot at the end of at the
Speaker 3: end of my workout. How many more months I had
Speaker 3: to do?
Speaker 2: You're you're an addict now, though, Come on, I know
Speaker 2: I am.
Speaker 4: I have.
Speaker 3: I have the best trainer, Janice, she is so great,
Speaker 3: and I go, but I go at a quarter.
Speaker 4: After six in the morning.
Speaker 2: Well, you don't sleep.
Speaker 3: I religiously. Go, I have not missed a session. She's
Speaker 3: she's incredible. She's there and you know, if somebody's there
Speaker 3: waiting for you in a studio she got up to
Speaker 3: train me, I'm gonna go there.
Speaker 2: Well, let me tell you it's working.
Speaker 4: It works.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: It gives you a very nice straight back, strong shoulders,
Speaker 4: very nice legs, and the horseback riding doesn't.
Speaker 2: Hurt, right all that core.
Speaker 4: Yeah right, but that's really good too.
Speaker 2: You need to start.
Speaker 1: You need to do the marthas you're at workout. That
Speaker 1: needs to be the next Oh god, come on.
Speaker 3: But so you've decided to only partner with adverts who
Speaker 3: move the needle forward in these issues?
Speaker 4: Yes, what does that mean?
Speaker 1: So we started an initiative last year called pay with Change,
Speaker 1: and essentially we're putting our money where I'm out there,
Speaker 1: and we're asking our advertisers to do the same. And
Speaker 1: so we will not accept advertising from a brand that
Speaker 1: does not have an initiative to move women forward, whether
Speaker 1: it's in the public sector or internally within their own organization.
Speaker 2: That's good, and yeah, it is, it's really good.
Speaker 1: And you know, it's been really interesting because we found
Speaker 1: advertisers and partners like Mabelin have these incredible initiatives that
Speaker 1: really don't get as much conversation around them or notoriety
Speaker 1: as they deserve, and they're really doing incredible things. And
Speaker 1: by creating this initiative, not only do we encourage more
Speaker 1: brands to look inward in that capacity and do things
Speaker 1: to empower women, but also we're able to highlight and
Speaker 1: celebrate brands that are doing really impressive things. So it's
Speaker 1: been a really fulfilling initiative for us, which is great.
Speaker 4: So I'm anxious to see all the advertisers.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and so moving the needle forward, that's a strong statement,
Speaker 3: and you find that more and more companies are doing that.
Speaker 2: Yes, I do.
Speaker 1: I think consumers really want to be associated with brands
Speaker 1: that do good and they feel that their money is
Speaker 1: not only you know, buying a product that they want,
Speaker 1: but that money that they're spending is also kind of
Speaker 1: reinvesting back into society. And I know, I like to
Speaker 1: see my money spent that way and give given an opportunity,
Speaker 1: I'm more inclined to do that, you know.
Speaker 2: So I do. I see a lot of a lot
Speaker 2: of participation.
Speaker 4: That's very good, and the criticisms that the Swimsuit Issue
Speaker 4: objectifies women. I mean, that's what it's supposed to be doing, right.
Speaker 2: I wouldn't say objectified well sells a bad word.
Speaker 1: Well, it depends on how you consume it, you know,
Speaker 1: I think, like I think for me, what I find
Speaker 1: is like men and women look at pictures in this
Speaker 1: magazine and on this website and across this brand, and
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's our job to you know, re
Speaker 1: educate people as how they're going to consume this. No
Speaker 1: woman is ever done in the Swimsuit Issue because they're like,
Speaker 1: I'm going to do this.
Speaker 2: For the boys. They're doing it for themselves.
Speaker 1: They're doing it because they feel good, because they think
Speaker 1: it's a great career, because they think there's you know,
Speaker 1: there's definite benefits and a platforming and they can get
Speaker 1: their messaging out.
Speaker 2: But I would say to those critics, no, like you're
Speaker 2: you're wrong, Like think about this differently, Like, think about
Speaker 2: the women that are participating for exactly how you talked
Speaker 2: about why you were motivated to do it.
Speaker 1: That is, most women when they come to this brand,
Speaker 1: they want to be seen differently and they want to
Speaker 1: be heard, and we give them a voice in addition
Speaker 1: to taking some really dropped dead gorgeous photos of them.
Speaker 3: In twenty nineteen, you featured a woman in a BURRKINI
Speaker 3: unless you're the first transition model.
Speaker 4: So what was behind these these decisions?
Speaker 1: Just inclusiveness or absolutely absolutely like I am really on
Speaker 1: a mission to broaden the conversation around acceptance and beauty
Speaker 1: and inclusion. And women exist in many different shapes and
Speaker 1: sizes and forms and levels of modesty. And you know,
Speaker 1: just like we say, you don't have to be modest
Speaker 1: to be respected, it's okay. Also if you are modest
Speaker 1: and you still want to rock a swimsuit, you know,
Speaker 1: working with Helema for the issue, you know, she brought
Speaker 1: something very important to life, and that is that many
Speaker 1: modest like practicing how che wearing Muslims are not able
Speaker 1: to swim and they can get into very dangerous situations.
Speaker 2: Because of that.
Speaker 1: So by like introducing a burkhini to people that are
Speaker 1: that do practice modest dressing, you're not only giving them
Speaker 1: an opportunity to enjoy a part of life that they've
Speaker 1: never had access to, but they're also then able to
Speaker 1: learn how to swim and take care and protect them
Speaker 1: selves and experience a whole different level of confidence and
Speaker 1: you know, self preserverance that they wouldn't have known about
Speaker 1: it if they didn't even know this Borkhini existed.
Speaker 3: You know, well, I have a family member who has
Speaker 3: a special religious restrictions against going into the water unless
Speaker 3: you're fully closed.
Speaker 1: Not to mention people with any type of skin condition
Speaker 1: that can't take a lot of light or have exposure.
Speaker 2: You know, there's lots of reasons why. You know, more
Speaker 2: coverage and being aware of more coverage options are important
Speaker 2: to know about.
Speaker 4: You know, when you see the nude picture of the
Speaker 4: beautiful model who has bit al igo.
Speaker 1: Yes, Whitny whitty she actually shot for the issue. We've
Speaker 1: shot her, Yes, she's been in the issue. Her beautiful
Speaker 1: skin is really like I look at that, and she
Speaker 1: looks at her skin, and I think she treasures it
Speaker 1: because it makes her unique.
Speaker 2: It makes her the stunning version of herself.
Speaker 3: That she is, the stigma of discoloration like that could
Speaker 3: be so harmful, right, and yet she has helped so
Speaker 3: many people.
Speaker 1: It's celebratory as it should be because she's a stunning, stunning,
Speaker 1: stunning woman.
Speaker 4: What are you going to do for the sixtieth anniversary.
Speaker 2: That's a big that's a big question. A lot of stuff.
Speaker 4: Hopefully you have to have sixty people in it.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, I think there's a lot of cool things
Speaker 2: that we could do.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of you know, stories to be told
Speaker 1: and things that we can revisit and things that we
Speaker 1: can look forward to.
Speaker 4: Well, the magazine business is kind of a mess right now.
Speaker 2: It's a tricky one.
Speaker 3: I mean, Martha stewartly being magazine shuttered after thirty two
Speaker 3: years as a publication. We still have a vibrant website
Speaker 3: and lots of other things going on, but people miss
Speaker 3: that printed issue so much, and I would like to
Speaker 3: bring it back in special issues and things. We're working
Speaker 3: on that now. But what do you foresee for the
Speaker 3: magazine business.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think we're I think we're kidding ourselves
Speaker 1: if we don't, you know, to say that it's definitely
Speaker 1: we're transitioning.
Speaker 2: This industry is definitely in a state of.
Speaker 4: Transition into the digitized world.
Speaker 1: Absolutely absolutely. But however, I do think this there's something
Speaker 1: very special about the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. I always,
Speaker 1: I always, I cannot imagine a world where sports illustrated
Speaker 1: swimsuit exists and there isn't a print component to it,
Speaker 1: and you know, we'll continue.
Speaker 2: To evolve just like we always have. But whether it's
Speaker 2: a you know, do you know how.
Speaker 3: Many how many printed issues was that you sold in
Speaker 3: the best year.
Speaker 1: Oh man, in the best year before the inter internet
Speaker 1: took over?
Speaker 4: Yes?
Speaker 2: Probably well over a million.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And I remember, I mean I remember printing one
Speaker 4: point two million copies of our Christmas issue and selling out,
Speaker 4: And now a tiny, tiny fraction of that is sold
Speaker 4: on these stands. It is. It is a shame, but
Speaker 4: we have to go with what's happening. That's right. Evolution
Speaker 4: terribly important, and being able to use video cameras for
Speaker 4: pictures of a room. You can go see the whole
Speaker 4: room now instead of just one aspect of a room
Speaker 4: with a still photo.
Speaker 3: So it's interesting. I'm glad you're doing video in concert
Speaker 3: with the printed issue too. Yes, absolutely, it's so interesting.
Speaker 3: So has it changed your job a lot, this whole transition.
Speaker 1: I mean, at the end of the day, we're creating content,
Speaker 1: you know, and I think you know we've always been
Speaker 1: content creators. It's just thinking now in terms of how
Speaker 1: many different types of content we're creating that has changed exponentially.
Speaker 1: You know, it used to be just the static image,
Speaker 1: and now it's all different types. It's video as you
Speaker 1: spoke to, it's social, it's event, it's you know, there's
Speaker 1: so many different ways now we exist. But I think
Speaker 1: it lends itself, you know, to what we've evolved into
Speaker 1: as a brand, which is a place that really platforms
Speaker 1: women that are beautiful, but far more compelling and interesting
Speaker 1: and have something to say. Then you know, we're doing
Speaker 1: a disservice by just showing you a picture.
Speaker 4: You know, I have to tell you a funny little story.
Speaker 3: I have a special relationship with the University of Michigan's
Speaker 3: swim team, the women's swim team. My Massur's daughter is
Speaker 3: one of the stars of that team. So before a
Speaker 3: big meet, they call me, The whole team calls me
Speaker 3: with their coach, and I give them some pep talk.
Speaker 2: That's amazing.
Speaker 4: Isn't that fun?
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, they're gonna flip out.
Speaker 4: They are.
Speaker 3: They're going to be so happy that Martha, their mentor,
Speaker 3: is in a bathing suit. So, now that you've worked
Speaker 3: for twenty six years, what I hate to ask you
Speaker 3: you're too young to ask what a legacy? But what
Speaker 3: do you think your legacy will be in the creation
Speaker 3: of these amazing issues?
Speaker 1: I mean, I really hope it like that people look
Speaker 1: back at what we did here and say, wow, they
Speaker 1: really they really helped.
Speaker 2: Change the world for the better a little bit.
Speaker 1: My goal in life, whatever I do, is just to
Speaker 1: leave it a little bit better than I left it.
Speaker 1: And you know, given the access and the position of
Speaker 1: power that really I sit in at the helm of
Speaker 1: this that reaches so many people, like I want to
Speaker 1: use that power for good.
Speaker 4: You have two boys, no girls, No girls, and what
Speaker 4: do the boys think of the girls?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 1: Well, you know, it's so funny. I have a seventeen
Speaker 1: year old and he's so shy. He really is so shy.
Speaker 1: I brought him to a couple events with me, and
Speaker 1: he just like he turned into the little clam He
Speaker 1: really doesn't even know what to do with himself. I
Speaker 1: really do keep my life, my public life, and my
Speaker 1: personal life very separate, so there isn't a lot of crossover,
Speaker 1: to be honest. But I don't know what he really
Speaker 1: thinks of what I do. I think he's kind of
Speaker 1: indifferent to it. When he was little, though, every picture
Speaker 1: he saw of a woman in a bathing suit, he'd
Speaker 1: be like, there's Mommy's friends. It didn't matter who they
Speaker 1: were if they were in a bathing suit. Was Mommy's
Speaker 1: friends so great?
Speaker 4: Well?
Speaker 3: MJ, thank you so much for sitting down with me
Speaker 3: and for putting me on the cover of Sports Illustrated
Speaker 3: some Suit issue.
Speaker 4: I hope I can say thank you after I hear
Speaker 4: what people say about her.
Speaker 2: No, I thank you.
Speaker 3: The issue is on newsstands now and available digitally. You
Speaker 3: can keep up with MJ by following her on Instagram.
Speaker 3: Her handle is at MJ Underscore day g a Y,
Speaker 3: and the official Instagram handle for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit
Speaker 3: issue is at SI Underscore Swimsuit. Thanks MJ, You're a doll,
Speaker 3: so nice to talk to you.
Speaker 2: Thank you, happiest, thank you.