Katharine Hepburn, Old Hollywood and Performed Authenticity: Priya Parmar's The Original

This week, I talk with Priya Parmar about The Original, her fictionalized portrait of Katharine Hepburn’s early life and Hollywood reinvention, diving into how academic rigor, obsessive research, and creative intuition shaped the book.

We discuss:

Priya’s transition from academic and PhD research into fiction writing—and how scholarship still shapes her creative process
The accidental Google rabbit hole that led her to Katharine Hepburn’s hidden early struggles
A fascinating look at 1930s Hollywood as a surprisingly progressive, image-conscious, and socially fluid ecosystem
Fame, performed authenticity, grief, reinvention, and how public myths are intentionally built
Behind-the-scenes insight into writing historical fiction about a real woman whose voice, image, and legacy are already iconic

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Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba