The First Edition Of Lenny Has Dropped With Lena Dunham’s Full Hillary Clinton Interview

After a week full of teasers and clips of the pair talking about feminism and being adorably awkward pals in front of the camera, Lena Dunham’s released her full interview with Hillary Clinton. Over a sprawling 3,000 words, they cover the budding Democratic Presidential Candidate’s college years, career, and anxieties around the major turning points in her life. And, it’s all nestled amongst a bunch of other goodies — the interview is the centrepiece of the very first issue of Lenny.

Announced earlier this year, Lenny is a newsletter run by Dunham and her Girls collaborator Jenni Konner alongside a bunch of other legendary ladies. With a mission statement to be something like “Rookie‘s big sister” or “Goop meets Grantland“, it’s designer as a response to the noisy, viral nature of much online discourse and intended to lead the way for more considered and diverse feminist discussions.

“We have been lucky, as creators and as women, to have had our voices heard,” Dunham and Konner wrote in the welcome letter today. “We began making our television show, Girls, in 2010, and ever since we have had a regular outlet for our hopes, fears, deeply held beliefs, and ill-fitting shorts. This has been a gift. But having your voice heard can also be frustrating, full of moments where one is wilfully misunderstood, sees misogyny in action, or feels attacked for telling their truth. We wanted to create a space where new voices were safe to speak loudly about issues they care about. We want those voices to inspire you, envelop you, and even anger you.”

“Mostly, we want a snark-free place for feminists to get information: on how to vote, eat, dress, fuck, and live better.”

Though neither Hillary Clinton nor Lena Dunham could reasonably be classified as a “new voice”, the creators took the time to justify Clinton’s inclusion in the first issue. As a strong woman who has rejected gender stereotypes over her life and now actively campaigns for the rights of other women in a traditionally male-occupied space, they state Clinton is iconic of many of the aims of the project.

“We are pro-choice liberal women who recognise that ‘feminism’ means many things to many people. But whether you agree with Hillary’s politics or not, she represents something beautiful and all too rare: a woman choosing to say ‘no thank you’ to societal expectations.”

Outside of this, the first issue brings a column called Out Of Print which highlights the work of women whose creative exploits have been under-recognised; a piece about queer weddings and visibility; a fashion column tracking the production and popularity of denim; and a column produced in collaboration with Planned Parenthood called Rumours I Heard About My Body. Like a grown-up Dolly Doctor, that last one covers all the things about women’s health you were weirdly never taught in high school and still anxiously Google from time to time.

All in all, it’s a great debut effort! Though the Dunham/Clinton combo is about as White Feminism as you can get, the issue also features equal contributions from queer women and women of colour (also writing about women of colour), and it’s simply a great read.

If you like the idea of learning about strong women redesigning Harlem in the 1960s or graduating from salmon packer to possible President of the United States, head over to Lenny now.

Excited to be part of @lennyletter's first issue! Read Hillary's interview with @lenadunham: http://t.co/MTOp7YMZ1S pic.twitter.com/UcrkdYZFYv

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 29, 2015

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It’s not clear if Lenny are going to release the full Clinton interview footage, but here are some of the other clips from throughout the week:

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Feature image via Lena Dunham/Instagram.