The Interview - Dodai Stewart
1. What is your favorite thing right now?
I love tarot and fortune telling, and just got these Art Oracle cards – you draw one and get some life/work/inspiration advice. Tonight I really wanted to draw a Warhol, a Koons, a Basquiat or an O'Keefe but instead I pulled a William Blake: “Hell is hypocrisy on earth. Vision requires not sight but spirit. Madness in life, genius in death.” Thanks? I suspect soon my favorite thing will be Rihanna’s new Fenty Beauty line, which drops later tonight.
2. If money (and access) was no object, what would you buy today?
A unique, historic Manhattan townhouse that has a roof deck, a backyard, a garage, a screening room and space for all my friends… And a matching property in L.A. (with a pool).
3. Have you ever gone on a pilgrimage?
I’ve made many journeys to many sacred places… into the Mojave desert with no destination and a selfie stick, to the top of Maunakea for a tour of the stars, to Southern University in Baton Rouge to see the building named after my grandfather, to the Griffith Park Observatory in the Hollywood hills, where Sal Mineo made eyes at James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause.
4. What is your Kryptonite?
If it’s shiny, I can’t resist it, be it tin foil, diamonds or Raf Simons silver Adidas. And I hate myself for getting unglued, gobsmacked, addle-pated and giddy around pretty boys with cheekbones you could slice a ham on.
5. What is your favorite time of day?
Twilight, especially when it’s purple. But I also love magic hour.
6. Do you have a go-to “power” song?
If I’m down Rihanna’s “We Found Love” brings me back up. But when Björk sings “I’m a fountain of blood in the shape of a girl” in “Bachelorette,” I feel tapped into the power flow of the universe.
7. What is your happy place?
The Temple of Dendur.
8. If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be?
Josephine Baker in Paris circa 1925 or Eartha Kitt circa 1967.
9. What do you think you do best?
Imagine.
10. What is something you do to cheer yourself up?
Look for photos of 1970s conversation pits.
11. What is the best advice you’ve ever been given?
“Never complain, never explain.” Also whenever I got overwhelmed my late great mom would say, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time."
12. Who would you like to see interviewed here?
Rachel True. Rihanna. Caitlin Doughty. Danyel Smith. Eve Ewing. Megan Abbott. Frank Waln. Nikole Hannah-Jones. Kelis. Joan Collins.
Dodai Stewart is the editor in chief Splinter, a digital news and opinion site that is part of the Gizmodo Media Group. She was previously the deputy editor (and one of the founding editors) at Jezebel.com, and has written for various publications, including Entertainment Weekly, New York Magazine, Glamour, and The New York Times. Though she was born in the South, she was raised in New York City, attended the Bronx High School of Science and went on to be a screenwriting major at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. A pop culture junkie whose writing often focuses on issues of race and gender in entertainment, she currently lives in Manhattan with a misanthropic chihuahua.
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