Back Row with Amy Odell

In this special episode in collaboration with the Power User podcast Amy Odell joins tech journalist Taylor Lorenz to trace the arc of wearable tech — from the abomination that was Google Glass to Snapchat's vending-machine Spectacles and the company's recent $2,000 flop. Also, why Meta's rollout of it's new $299 fashion-first AI glasses, odious as many find them, may end up being a smash hit.

Follow Taylor's show Power User on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube, and subscribe to her newsletter, UserMag.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro — why everyone's arguing about Meta's glasses

01:36 Turning a camera into a fashion accessory

01:55 Welcome + the "hot surveillance summer" question

02:45 Google Glass and the original abomination

04:16 Snapchat Spectacles, vending machines, and a $130 flop

06:48 GoPro and how sports normalized filming everything

08:55 Ray-Ban Stories (2021) and the "creep" problem

10:57 2025: Oakley Meta and the first AI glasses

11:55 2026: low-profile frames, rhinestones, and AI as the real sell

13:25 The influencer rollout and the decline of fashion media

18:39 Why Kylie Jenner

21:40 How phones already normalized recording everything

24:56 Fashion, plausible deniability, and getting women on board

26:20 Will they actually sell? Meta's copy machine

29:19 The anti-screen crowd may be Meta's best customer

32:14 Beyond glasses: pins, pendants, and camera AirPods

35:29 Who owns the data? Facial recognition and the scary part

37:11 Zuckerberg, Bezos, the Met Gala, and OpenAI's fashion play

39:59 Snap's $2,000 flop and why ugly tech dies

43:03 Wrap-up
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Town & Country editor Caroline Hallemann's new book is The Kennedys and the Windsors: The Story of Two Dynasties, One Born, One Made. She joins Amy to discuss the eerie parallels between these two dynasties.

Among the surprising stories in Hallemann's book: how Jackie Kennedy fought to keep wearing French designers as First Lady, why JFK Jr. wanted Princess Diana on the cover of George, the real story behind Diana's death and the ongoing conspiracy theories, and how Meghan Markle copied Carolyn Bessette's style. Plus: what Jack Schlossberg's blistering congressional loss means for the Kennedy dynasty.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

03:00 Young Jackie at Miss Porter's and her enduring fashion influence

08:00 What "American Love Story" got wrong about Carolyn Bessette

10:30 JFK Jr. launches George magazine

14:00 Why John wanted Diana on the cover

20:00 Diana's death: what actually happened

32:00 The conspiracy theories that still swirl around Diana's death

39:00 Why Meghan Markle keeps copying Carolyn Bessette's style

53:00 Is Jack Schlossberg the next JFK Jr.?

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Follow Caroline Hallemann: https://www.instagram.com/challemann/

Buy the book: https://amzn.to/4fVX8Bq
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Joy Cioci has been in fashion for 23 years — first with her own ready-to-wear and bridal brand, and for the past six years, as a private stylist to some of the wealthiest families in the country.

She joins Amy to talk about what that job is actually like: how she pulls $80-90K worth of merchandise on loan for a single client, why some of her clients refuse to play the Hermès "game," and why women spending $1.5 million a year on clothes have no idea what just dropped at Chanel.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction

4:00 Who Joy's clients actually are

9:30 How pulling merchandise on loan from stores works

11:00 Inside an $80-90K shopping trip

18:00 What ultra-wealthy people actually want from their wardrobe

21:00 Finding rare pieces no one else has

Follow Joy Cioci

📸 Follow Joy on Instagram: @joycioci

🛍️ Shop Joy Cioci: https://joycioci.com/
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Lawyer and The Fashion Law founder Julie Zerbo makes her Back Row pod debut to discuss the latest Phia scandal. The startup, founded by Bill Gates's daughter Phoebe Gates and her Stanford roommate Sophia Kianni, was just found to be taking credit for affiliate sales it did not drive. People are calling it "fraud" but is it, really? Can the Gates name and a slew of celeb founders help them sail through this unscathed?

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

02:32 Phia's origin story and Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kiani's Stanford beginnings

09:16 The first scandal: Fortune's report on Phia's data collection

16:17 The second scandal: Bloomberg's cookie-stuffing investigation

19:18 Explaining cookie stuffing — and the Honey/PayPal lawsuits

27:23 Did Phia's investors do proper due diligence?

36:22 Could this be fraud? The legal answer

43:15 Does Phia's celebrity halo make it bulletproof?

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Follow Julie Zerbo and The Fashion Law: https://www.thefashionlaw.com/
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Veteran fashion journalist Dana Thomas returns for Fall 2026 couture awards! We talk about the hat wars at Dior, the wildest shoes, and the Chanel chicken bag that seems like it can't carry more than a pill or two.

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CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction

03:18 What "couture" actually means

08:08 Award: Most Viral Front Row Celebrity

10:49 Award: Best Front Row Celebrity

13:37 Award: Best Couture Handiwork

16:58 Award: Best Shoes

20:18 Award: Best Bags

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