In the Salon: a new podcast where the life of the mind meets beauty and books.
In the year 2024, a Salon conjures up images of a stylist working her beauty secrets into the hair of the patron in the chair. As someone who has participated in this mystery of feminine beautification for over 25 years, I have often observed the unique female culture that unfolds between the stylist and the patron. Indeed, I’ve done it myself. Conversations begin with politics and real estate, and suddenly someone is pouring her heart out about the hardest woes in family life. There is something about that intimate conversation where the veil evaporates, and females connect with females in a way they just wouldn’t do standing in line at the coffee shop. This is the kind of relational magic that happens in this podcast, because In the Salon is a dialogue between mother and daughter. Two daughters, in fact.
Now, add in to the mix the historical meaning of the Salon, which dates from 19th century France: a sophisticated gathering place for the exchange of ideas and philosophies ruling the day.
So imagine this:
the pathos of the female camaraderie of the hair salon +
the logos of the French intellectual salon,
situated in an ethos that values the life of the mind, glorifies the beauty of the home, and carries a bit of an unhealthy obsession with books.
