Glennon
Appearances
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Riley says that in the book, that like your mom didn't even learn the word trauma. It wasn't talked about, right?
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
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We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
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We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
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We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
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We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
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We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
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We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Make the switch to non-toxic Boca for the whole family. It's interesting because you say that there was an experience of unconditional love with like a lot of craziness around, right? Like at Graceland growing up, that it was maybe low structure, high unconditional love. And the reading experience of then seeing or watching or reading your mom then move to her mother somehow changed.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
I was reading it as the opposite. Yeah. I don't know if that's true, but it felt like suddenly there's a lot of rigidity and not a lot of love. What was that experience? How do you understand that now? Your mom going to
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Hi everybody. Oh my goodness, the conversation today. Just, I don't know, wherever you are, just like take a deep breath. And if you don't have a hot cup of tea, just you're about to feel like you do. We are sharing with you a conversation that we had with Riley Keough. And if you don't know who Riley Keough is, she is, well, she's an actor. She is a
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Mm hmm. It's just so easy to see other people's generational trauma from the outside. You know, it's interesting to be the daughter of someone who had to, by circumstance, be and look perfect and keep all of the plates in the air and then be a human being who literally is wearing the truth on her face all the time.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
When she says over and over again in the book, why does everyone tell me I look sad? She just is like a living embodiment of the truth. I'm sure it scared the shit out of Priscilla.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
It's interesting that you said that you're not like that because as I was reading your book, I was thinking about all the people that I talked to who are trying to figure out like how I'm the black sheep in my family. And it feels like you're the opposite. I wonder what it is like to be in a family where they think of themselves as pirates over and over again in your book.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
deeply feeling, thinking, spiritual person who is so lovely to listen to and learn from. She is also the granddaughter of Elvis Presley. She's the daughter of Lisa Marie Presley. And she released a book called From Here to the Great Unknown. And Potswad, what I need you to know about this book before we get into the interview is
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
They're a group of pirates. First of all, I want to know what does it mean to be a pirate? And then what is it like to be the only un-pirate in a family of pirates?
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
is that her mother, Lisa Marie, before she died, she was preparing to write a book, a memoir. And the way she was doing that was she was recording herself. Like imagine long voice memos where she's just telling her own story to herself, okay? She felt like she couldn't pull the memoir together, so she asked her daughter Riley to help her with it. Riley said, yes, I'll help you with this.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
intense and I guess like critical moment that's all I've got that's good stuff did you get there through the experience of losing your brother because to me I read your mom say the only thing I ever knew was that I was loved by my father and it definitely felt to me like the other thing she knew for sure was that she loved you guys yes definitely that there were two knowings yeah
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
And loved you well. I'm not perfectly, but people are often asking me, can I give what I haven't gotten? Is it possible? People freaking out about becoming mothers because I didn't get it from my mom. Is it possible? It feels like she pulled that miracle off in a beautiful way. She really did.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
And then Lisa Marie died. So I want you to imagine Riley then recommitting after her mother's death to finishing her mother's story and listening, sitting and listening to her mother's voice memos and listening to her mom tell her own story, all the pain, all the loss, all the trauma, all the beauty. So that's what Riley did. She sat and listened to these voice memos from her mother.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Soon after that loss, how would you describe what happened to your mom with addiction?
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
And then she filled in the blanks, literally. She wrote, the book is made up of Lisa Marie's words and then Riley's words. It is the most beautiful illustration of the way that every single last one of us is trying to finish unfinished work of our parents and grandparents. In this interview, Riley talks about the beauty and pain of her mother, of her grandmother, of her grandfather, of
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
her brother Ben and losing Ben to suicide, losing her mother and all that she's learned along the way. As I was reading the book, talking to her, I think the most profound realization of listening to Riley is like she might be the granddaughter of Elvis, but this is just a family story. This is a family story of beauty and survival. So we give you Riley Keough, who is an Emmy winner.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Did it feel like she was on the precipice of something? Like when you talk about she had found the words for trauma. Yeah. And then she wanted to start grief groups.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Golden Globe and Independent Spirit Award-nominated actress. She's known for her work in Daisy Jones and the Six, which our family loved, Zola and more. She also co-directed War Pony and co-founded the production company Felix Culpa with Gina Gammel. She is the eldest daughter of Lisa Marie Presley and sole trustee of Graceland.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
It also feels very like when you say that you you can feel your mom mothering your daughter, you hear yourself singing songs to her that your mom sang to you and you can actually feel her mothering her. I just think that's so beautiful for all of us to think about. And also you're doing these grief groups. Yes. Yeah. Like you're doing it.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
That's pretty good though, 50%. I'll take it. Okay, let's end with this. I mean, I cannot, there's no, the levels that I relate to your mom is just, it's just a lot. But at one point in the book, she said, I don't, some sort of recovery program that she didn't believe in because she felt like it was too focused on the physical and that addiction is a spiritual problem.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
What was the spiritual problem? What is it? Because as an addict, I understand no addiction bad, but huge fan of the people who get addicted. I always feel like they're the most tender, truthful people who feel more than the average bear. And then, you know, here come the painkillers. Do you have any finger on what is the spiritual problem? And then what's the gift?
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Because we're always focused on generational trauma and then we don't think about, but where there is, you know, shit, there's so much beauty. So what is the gift? The shit and the gift, if you will.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Her new book, From Here to the Great Unknown, written in both Lisa Marie's and Riley's voices, A mother and daughter communicating from this world to the one beyond as they try to heal each other is available now. Riley, I just want to tell you a couple things before we start. Okay. So number one is our team told us that your team had reached out because
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Yeah, for sure. Well, Riley, you're great. If I were your ancestors, I would be so fucking proud of what you've done With your legacy. In the intro, you said something about there was a poem like Beauty Ben. Was it?
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
All right. Pod squad. We love you. We'll see you next time.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
If this podcast means something to you, it would mean so much to us if you'd be willing to take 30 seconds to do these three things. First, can you please follow or subscribe to We Can Do Hard Things? Following the pod helps you because you'll never miss an episode and it helps us because you'll never miss an episode. To do this, just go to the We Can Do Hard Things show page on Apple Podcasts
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
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We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
We Can Do Hard Things is created and hosted by Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, and Amanda Doyle in partnership with Odyssey. Our executive producer is Jenna Wise-Berman, and the show is produced by Lauren LaGrasso, Alison Schott, Dina Kleiner, and Bill Schultz.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
you had felt like there was more to talk about in your story than had been covered. At first, I was like, oh, we don't often have celebrities on the podcast. Right. And so I was like, huh. But I felt so intrigued by you because... First of all, our family watched Daisy Jones. Thank you. And I loved you. Yeah.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
And I don't mean like I loved you like, oh, you are what I just I felt like you were special. Thank you. I just thought Daisy Jones. I just like that girl. OK. Then because of that outreach, I read your book.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
I did not expect it to be what it was. which to me was the most beautiful experience of multi-generational love and pain. I just fell in love with your family and your mom. I mean, your mom's honesty, like, holy shit. I felt so inspired by it, honestly. And then you're the project of Listening to her tapes and then you filling in all of the blanks felt like what we're doing with our lives.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
It was like this meta experience. I know.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
It's such an honor. And I also want you to know that I didn't know that you were Daisy Jones until like months after I finished the book. So imagine my excitement.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Yeah. At least. Yeah. At least right. Exactly.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Well, imagine that you're on a podcast with a lot of people listening who don't know your family's story. That's funny. A few people do know your family's story. First, I think it would be wise for you to tell us your quick version of what you want people to know about your family. Okay. Before we get into... feelings and the stuff that I always want to talk about. So set the stage for us, Riley.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Who are you? Who is your family and why the book?
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
Tell us about what is the trauma in your family? Like when you think about What has happened? The sadness in her losing her father. What is the pain? What was the pain in her?
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
From the poverty, like, what do you think? Because it's very easy to just say, well, it's Elvis. Yeah. But in the book, it's very clear. This is a family.
We Can Do Hard Things
The Presley Family Legacy with Riley Keough
So your mom is little and she loses her dad, which I think. In the book, she said, I was only sure of one thing ever. And that was that I was loved by my dad. And that it really struck me like to only have one thing you're sure of and then to lose that thing. What happened next after she lost her dad?