The New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd has been asking the sharpest questions in journalism for over four decades. She is the one who gets A-listers, presidents, and icons to say things they probably shouldn’t. In her new book “Notorious,” she pulls together some of her most surprising, funny, and brutally honest interviews. It is like eavesdropping on history – with attitude.

“Notorious” is Dowd at her most fearless and funny. The stories are full of messy, awkward, real-life moments you don’t usually see in glossy profiles. Here are a few standouts.

Paul Newman Was Over Being a Sex Symbol

Maureen Dowd, now 73, sat down with Paul Newman in 1986, just before “The Color of Money” came out. He was about to win his first Oscar, but he didn’t act like a guy chasing trophies. He cracked jokes about his looks, squirmed when asked about his “blue-eyed” appeal, and made it clear he didn’t want to be remembered for being hot.

Dowd / IG / Paul Newman was laid-back but sharp. Dowd’s profile shows a man who would rather talk about racing cars than acting.

He hated being called pretty. He thought it was a curse. That is what made the piece so great. Dowd let him be real, not legendary.

Uma Thurman Didn’t Hold Back

In 2018, Maureen Dowd talked to Uma Thurman, and the interview exploded. Thurman was clearly still furious – rightly so. She told Dowd about two awful things that had haunted her for years.

The first was Harvey Weinstein. He tried to assault her. She managed to get away, but the memory still burned.

Then she dropped another bomb: Quentin Tarantino made her drive a car on the “Kill Bill” set that she said was not safe. She crashed and got seriously hurt. Dowd didn’t interrupt. She let Thurman speak, in all her anger and heartbreak. The result? A raw, powerful piece that felt like justice, or at least a start.

Jane Fonda Regretted Saying ‘No’ to Marvin Gaye

In 2020, Maureen Dowd asked Jane Fonda one of those questions only she could get away with: “Did you want to sleep with Che Guevara?” Fonda’s reply was unexpected. “No, I don’t think about him,” she said. Then she dropped a much juicier regret: Marvin Gaye once made a move, and she turned him down.

Dowd / IG / Jane Fonda was married at the time, trying to line up musicians for political work with her then-husband Tom Hayden. But Marvin Gaye apparently had a crush. “He had my picture on his refrigerator,” she said, laughing.

Dowd, always ready with a smart crack, asked if he used the line sexual healing. “I needed some,” Fonda replied, “but he didn’t say that.” It is the kind of exchange you only get when someone knows how to ask just the right thing.

Elon Musk Got Weird

No book about wild interviews is complete without Elon Musk. Maureen Dowd sat down with him, and the conversation swerved in every direction. He talked about his fear of AI, his love life, and space travel like they were all one big soap opera. Musk is famously slippery in interviews, but Dowd managed to catch him off guard.

What makes this story stand out is that Dowd didn’t try to make him look good – or bad. She let him be strange. She let the silence hang when things got awkward. That takes guts. You walk away from the interview not totally sure what Musk’s deal is, but absolutely sure you just read something real.

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