From its debut in 2008, Philip Galanes’ “Social Q’s” has been a huge hit. Galanes says he is constantly amazed by the hundreds of emails from around the world that are sent to “Social Qs” each week. Many are filled with stories he could never make up— from an Episcopalian woman who pretended to be Jewish to meet a cute guy on JDate; to a man who went home with his girlfriend for a long weekend and left wildly infatuated with her identical twin sister. Like their parents and grandparents who wrote letters to “Ann Landers” and her sister “Dear Abby” decades ago, all are seeking advice. “Speaking of Ann Landers,” says Galanes, “Her daughter sent me one of the first fan letters I ever received. She said her mother would be proud of me.”
Damon Winter
below: President Obama, actor Bryan Cranston, and Philip Galanes in the White House.
In 2013 the success of “Social Q’s” gave way to a monthly, front-page Sunday Styles column called “Table for Three.” “That column has been one of the highlights of my working life,” says Philip. “It grew out of my frustration at reading one too many ‘canned’ profiles of media-savvy public figures who know just how to give nothing away in an interview.” Adding a third person—Galanes himself—in the mix with two high profile individuals who share a common thread makes everyone less guarded. And, readers are treated to frank, and often very revealing, conversation. Among the column’s 35 published interviews, “Table for Three” has featured Philip in conversation with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and feminist Gloria Steinem discussing women’s equality; President Barack Obama and actor Bryan Cranston talking about absentee fathers; President Jimmy Carter and author Jacqueline Woodson on the African -American experience; Barbara Bush and Cecile Richards on social activism and being first daughters; and actors Viola Davis and Edie Falco discussing painful childhoods. When asked how he gets some of the world’s most high-profile personalities to sit down and talk with him, Philip says, “Persistence—with a dash of relentlessness. But making anything good requires that, don’t you think?” While he retains a select number of entertainment industry clients, Philip is enjoying the life of an advice columnist. “There are days when I open my email and find 100 new “Social Qs” questions (and 50 complaints about last week’s answers) and I want to shout ‘Can’t all of you readers pull on your big-boy pants without me?’ Then I think of what real work is, and I feel very lucky, indeed.” //
63