The Monday Media Diet with Meg Daly

On the Underline, 1440 Digest, and PictureThis

Meg Daly (MD) is mother of WITI pal Alex Daly, and currently working on an amazing project in Miami called the Underline. We’ve happy to have her with us. -Colin (CJN)

Tell us about yourself.

I am an entrepreneur, marketer and now leading a non-profit organization creating The Underline: a 10 mile, 120-acre project transforming dead land below our elevated train into a park, trail and community space.

In my 20s I drank the Kool-Aid that women can do it all and had 2 kids, ran my own company and had no social life. I didn’t know it at the time, but in the 80s and ‘90s I did something seemingly radical: I pioneered a safe haven for women to work with flexible, forgiving hours, and competitive pay based on trust. All I asked is that they got their work done and done well.

Describe your media diet.

It is funny you call it a media diet, because after this most recent election, I am literally on a media DIET! I am in search of voices that report the facts and don’t tell me how to think or feel (especially if it is fueled by fear).

I like a morning email newsletter called 1440 Digest, I take morning walks and listen to NPR podcasts and on Sundays, indulge in The New York Times and the Miami Herald’s local news and editorial sections.

What’s the last great book you read?

Before going to Provence, France I re-read A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle. It is delicious, even the second time around!

What are you reading now?

I am reading two books about strong (and in some cases tragic) women: When Women Ran Fifth Avenue by Julie Satow and Capote’s Women by Laurence Leamer.

What’s your reading strategy when you pick up a print copy of your favorite publication?

I am a sucker for bestseller lists working under the assumption that if lots of people bought it, it is probably good. Also, reading is a luxury for me and I literally hate finding out I bought a bad book 100 pages into it.

Who should everyone be reading that they’re not?

More long-form investigative reporting! This is a lost art-form because readers want to get the truth in 280 characters.

What is the best non-famous app you love on your phone?

I LOVE “PictureThis.” As a park, plant and flower lover, this app let’s me take a picture of the plant and it identifies it by common and botanical name. It also tells me how to care for it if the plant is in my yard.

Plane or train?

Train. My grandfather was a train conductor. When he died, my widowed grandmother had a lifetime free train pass and took us by train from Miami to Indiana or Georgia to visit family. It was such a leisurely, vista-rich and hypnotic way to traverse the country.

Tell us the story of a rabbit hole you fell deep into.

The first book my mom ever gave me was Betty Crocker’s cookbook for kids. The very next day, my family forced down disgusting cubed steaks that were dredged in flour and overcooked to the texture of jerky. But I was hooked, I literally and figuratively devoured 1970s issues of Gourmet and Bon Appetit like some ready racy novels.

My sister and I worked in the kitchen and served my mom’s many dinner parties. My happiest memories are around a dinner table, where there is laughter, conversation, delicious food and a wine buzz.

In my 30s I discovered the Silver Palate Cookbook, delighting in the hand-drawn illustrations by the co-author Lukins, and the many exotic ways to cook the lowly chicken.

Which leads me to my rabbit hole: Barefoot Contessa. I own every cookbook and have seen hundreds of her shows making everything look “easy” but delectable. And, when she picks the fresh herbs from her own kitchen garden, I am ga-ga, wishing I too lived in the Hamptons and could giggle while cooking with friends. I have made so many of her main courses and salads, that my family is begging me to enter the 2020s and mix up the menu with something from Alison Roman and Melissa Clark.

We’ll see. After all she is, “the Contessa.”