Remembering Dolly Parton's Musical and Philanthropic Legacy

**Kara Swisher** (0:11)
Dolly Parton died last week after more than 60 years delighting us with her music performances, quick witted interview appearances, big blonde wigs, boob jokes, her books, movies, theme parks, and probably most importantly, the legacy of philanthropy that will continue long into the future. She was a planner and a hard worker, so she made sure of that. There are only three contemporary heroes I revere and Dolly was at the top. So I wanted to talk about her life and legacy with some of the smartest women I could think of.
Later on, we'll have country artists, Chely Wright and Rolling Stone culture writer, Marissa Moss to talk about Dolly's musical impact. But first is a professor of sociology and certified Dollyologist, Tressie McMillan Cottom, who's a wonderful writer about Dolly and we share a great love of country music. I'm excited to talk to her. I think it's important to talk about our heroes.
We talk so much about what we don't like in the world and everybody likes Dolly, but it's more than that. It's more than something we can agree on. The way she lived her life was a map for the rest of us, even if we can't reach it. It's really important to talk about what she means and what she's going to mean to the future because I have a feeling she'll continue to have an enormous impact. So stick around.

**SPEAKER_2** (1:33)
If you're looking to hire, you need Indeed.
With Indeed sponsored jobs, you can spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Less stress, less time, more results. Listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to help your job get the premium status it deserves at indeed.com/podcast.
Just go to indeed.com/podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. indeed.com/podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs.

**SPEAKER_3** (2:17)
Support for this show comes from Odoo.
Running a business is hard enough, so why make it harder with a dozen different apps that don't talk to each other? Introducing Odoo. It's the only business software you'll ever need. It's an all-in-one fully integrated platform that makes your work easier. CRM, accounting, inventory, e-commerce and more. And the best part? Odoo replaces multiple expensive platforms for a fraction of the cost. That's why over thousands of businesses have made the switch. So, why not you?
Try Odoo for free at odoo.com. That's odoo.com.

**SPEAKER_4** (2:58)
We're all feeling it, getting pulled in a million directions. In a world full of distractions, focus is increasingly hard to find. And when you're needing to reset and refocus, you'll want something revitalizing. Pure Leaf Mental Focus is a new line of sparkling, real brewed iced teas made with naturally occurring caffeine from black tea and added L-theanine to help support attention and focus without the sugar or calories. And it's available in two delicious flavors, peach and raspberry.
Time for a tea break. Time for a Pure Leaf. Try it yourself. Check out the product locator at pureleaf.com/finddashus.

**Kara Swisher** (3:44)
Thank you for coming on On.

**Tressie McMillan Cottom** (3:46)
It's a real pleasure to be here.

**Kara Swisher** (3:48)
So Dolly Parton was 80 years old and she herself had talked about her health issues for months, so it's not a shock. But it still felt like a shock because she was quite vibrant in those communications and had that aura of being sort of eternal in a lot of ways. The outpouring online has been extensive, and it's all new kind of stuff.
First, what was your experience on hearing that she had died?

**Tressie McMillan Cottom** (4:15)
I'm a university professor by day, it's my day job. And I was in a research meeting and we just opened the meeting. And you know, you open the laptop and I hadn't turned on the Do Not Disturb just yet, which meant I saw the text message from my editor and it was just two words, Dolly died.
It immediately ended the meeting. Everyone understood, by the way, I went back to apologize everyone later and they were like, Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Like this is important. Everyone understood that something really significant had happened. And I also really appreciate how many people thought it would be significant to me. But I think a lot of people felt that way, that this is something that had happened to them, which I just think speaks to Dolly's ability to make us feel like we are in a relationship with her.

**SPEAKER_6** (4:59)
You know, parasociality is weird.

**Tressie McMillan Cottom** (5:02)