Cynthia Nixon - ‘Being brave is feeling scared and doing it anyway’

Whilst Cynthia Nixon’s versatility is beyond question, it's fair to say that she has become permanently associated with one character, Miranda Hobbs, in Sex and the City and its companion piece, And Just Like That. She won an Emmy for her performance and a generation of fans who identified with the ambitious type-A lawyer whose cynicism disguised as vulnerability has grown markedly through the decades.



Nixon is also a political activist and vocal advocate for progressive causes. She even met her wife at an education rally in 2002. In 2018, she ran unsuccessfully for the governorship of New York. More recently, she has repeatedly spoken out in support of a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. Nixon's political conscience recalls perhaps the legacy of her journalist Father Walter, who won awards for his coverage of the Civil Rights Movement.



An uplifting, smart and enlightening woman - what a joy it was to meet her.



Elizabeth and Cynthia answer YOUR questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content



Have something to share of your own? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com



All episodes in June are brought to you by @arlalactoFREE - all the taste, easier to digest. Listen to our bonus episode brought to by ArlaLactoFREE with Vicky Pattison here: https://link.chtbl.com/VickyPattison



🌎 Get an exclusive 15% discount on your first Saily data plans! Use code [howtofail] at checkout. Download Saily app or go to to https://saily.com/howtofail ⛵



Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan

Mix Engineer: Matias Torres

Studio Engineer: Sam Bair

Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot

Executive Producer: Carly Maile



How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.



Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts



To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]



Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How To Fail with Elizabeth Day is a podcast that celebrates the things in life that haven’t gone right and what we might learn from them along the way. Every week, Elizabeth’s guest explores three failures, and what these failures have taught them about how to grow and succeed, better.

We’d love to hear from you! Get in touch with Elizabeth to share your failures, problems or questions - anonymously or otherwise. She'll go through these each week with the help of her very special guests. And remember: a fail shared is a fail halved. https://forms.sonymusicfans.com/campaign/how-to-fail-uk-2023/


An Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Original Production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow @sonypodcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]

• No. of episodes: 300
• Latest episode: 2025-06-12
• Society & Culture

Where can you listen?