Épisodes

  • Rejecting Vera Wang
    Nov 12 2025
    Vera Wang is synonymous with bridal. The designer's eponymous brand brings in a whopping $700M a year. But before launching her own company in 1990, Vera was rejected for editor-in-chief at Vogue. And before that, she didn’t make the cut for the U.S. Olympic figure skating team. Two major setbacks that left her thinking – now what? Then her dad proposed a crazy idea.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    32 min
  • How Yoko Survived Rejection: The Beatlology Interviews
    Nov 6 2025

    On “The Beatlology Interviews,” Biographer David Sheff talks to Terry about the rejection and resilience of Yoko Ono.


    Listen to more Beatlology Interviews in the Under the Influence feed.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    52 min
  • Minisode: Bat Girl
    Oct 22 2025
    Welcome to another “Minisode” – where we zoom in on individual moments or facets of rejection we’ve come across in our research. This week, let us introduce you to Yankees superfan Gwen Goldman, as we reopen a rejection letter dated June 23, 1961.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    10 min
  • Rejecting Slow Horses
    Oct 9 2025

    The novel Slow Horses by Mick Herron tells the story of a team of disgraced MI5 agents assigned to a bureaucratic dumping ground known as Slough House. They’re, by all accounts, failures – demoted from top tier intelligence to basement busy work. That is, until a kidnapping case lands squarely on their dusty desks – thrusting the slow horses into fast paced espionage.


    The irony? That book was rejected. For seven years. Then it was pitched as a television series – and rejected by multiple networks.


    To quote Slough House loser-in-chief Jackson Lamb: “They’re losers. But they’re my losers.”


    Hope you’ll join us.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    30 min
  • Rejecting Dawn Staley, Part 2
    Oct 1 2025
    In Part Two of our Rejecting Dawn Staley episode, Staley is informed of her shortcomings, it’s play abroad or die trying – and a dusty VCR tape changes her life.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    35 min
  • Rejecting Dawn Staley
    Sep 17 2025

    Dawn Staley graduated high school National Player of the Year. She went on to become a two-time National College Player of the Year. She is a five-time WNBA All-Star, a three-time Olympic gold medallist and was the United States flag bearer at the 2004 Games. As a coach, she has won three NCAA titles, four National Coach of the Year titles, and the hall-of-famer coached Team USA to Olympic gold in 2020. Yet, Dawn Staley was told basketball was for boys.


    Hope you’ll join us.


    The major source behind this episode is: "Uncommon Favor: Basketball, North Philly, My Mother, and the Life Lessons I Learned from All Three" by Dawn Staley.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    26 min
  • Rejecting Breaking Bad Guys: Bryan Cranston & Giancarlo Esposito
    Sep 4 2025

    For our first episode back, we bring you the stories of two bad guys. Breaking Bad guys – Bryan Cranston aka Walter White and Giancarlo Esposito aka Gus Fring. Both spent decades bouncing around Hollywood. Both faced major rejection. Both the least suspecting drug overlords of all time.


    ICYMI, Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan has a rejection story of his own. The pilot for Breaking Bad was rejected by Showtime, FX, TNT & HBO. Find our "Rejecting Breaking Bad" episode here.


    Hope you’ll join us.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    35 min
  • Encore: Rejecting Adam Driver
    Aug 8 2025

    Hello from our summer hiatus. We hope you’re soaking up the rays. Whether you're on the road, on the job or on the dock, we thought you might enjoy another team favourite. This week our director Callie shares how she first learned about this two-time Academy Award nominated actor in one of her all-time favourite shows.


    Adam Driver is known for his roles in films like Marriage Story, BlacKkKlansman and the Star Wars franchise as Kylo Ren. But before landing his breakout role on HBO's Girls, Driver was rejected from Julliard, turned his Lincoln Town Car around before he reached Los Angeles and was medically discharged from the Marines prior to deployment. Broke and struggling to find his way, Driver made a bold decision: to apply to Julliard again.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    39 min