
Movie Views
April. 2025

BECOMING KATHERINE GRAHAM: 2025 (Included in Prime Video) Becoming Katharine Graham tells the story of a painfully shy woman's evolution from a self-proclaimed "doormat-wife" into one of the most powerful newspaper publishers of the 20th century at The Washington Post. A sweeping account of Katherine "Kay" Graham's extraordinary life and career at The Washington Post, combining her own voice with insights from legends Warren Buffett, Gloria Steinem, Don Graham, Lally Weymouth, David Remnick, Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, Richard Cohen, Lynn Povich, Susie Buffett, Sharon Osberg and others. Born in 1917, Katharine Graham-known as "Kay"-was raised to adhere to the expectation that men would have careers, and women would raise the family. Kay, like most other women at the time, abided by these societal norms. In 1933, her father, financier Eugene Meyer, bought a struggling newspaper at public auction. This struggling newspaper was The Washington Post, and it was on the brink of collapse. The paper's performance incrementally improved under her father's leadership. A product of his own times, Mr. Meyer never considered giving the "Publisher" title to his daughter, even though she had quietly participated in the initial struggle to keep the paper afloat and had worked as a journalist both in San Francisco and at the newspaper. Instead, he bequeathed the title and two-thirds ownership of the paper to her husband Phil Graham exclaiming that "no man should work for his wife." The performance of the paper grew exponentially under Phil's leadership, but his suicide in 1963 left Kay with a leaderless newspaper and four young children, forcing Kay to decide whether to take over the cherished family business herself or sell it. She took it over herself. Over the course of the following decades, Kay proved to be a vocal and incredibly important leader of The Washington Post. She worked hard to learn the newspaper business inside out, while gaining confidence in her own abilities and earning respect within the male-dominated industry. Kay had the courage to publish the "Pentagon Papers,” and stand behind the paper's historic Watergate reporting. The documentary brings Kay's own voice to the forefront, through archival footage and interviews. The film presents a nuanced portrait of Kay and pays homage to her inspiring role as a trailblazer for women in both journalism and corporate leadership. Her Pulitzer Prize winning story is sure to inspire a new generation. Gary and I lived through those momentous times and we highly recommend this documentary. GRADE A