Alanis Morissette Opens Up About Rage, Motherhood, and Reclaiming Wholeness on Call Her Daddy
Alex Cooper sat down with the iconic singer-songwriter for a wide-ranging conversation that touched on fame, trauma, postpartum depression, and the liberation that comes with age.
“I’m the breakup anthem that I wrote”
At 21, Alanis shattered records with Jagged Little Pill, selling 33 million copies and winning five Grammys. But behind the anthems was an introvert terrified of vulnerability.
I’m a poodle inside a black stallion. It’s like the black stallion’s lovely and awesome, but the poodle — the nervous system, you know.
She admitted that songwriting was “terrifying” because once a song is released, “it’s not mine anymore. Then it’s yours.”
On mentoring the next generation
Alanis recently performed “Ironic” on stage with Olivia Rodrigo and emphasized the importance of supporting young women in the industry.
There’s nothing better than supporting young people in being who they are and not having to figure it out in their 80s.
She recalled wishing for mentorship in the mid-’90s: “I was like, ‘Will there be some mentor, some group of women who kind of rush in and scoot me up?’ And the answer was a hard no. But now it’s a hard yes.”
That Sex and the City moment
Alanis revealed she pitched the idea for her character to kiss Carrie Bradshaw.
“I reached out to them and I said, ‘Might it be a nice time for Carrie to experience a lesbian moment?’ And they said, ‘Why yes, we were thinking the same thing.'”
On the significance: “Anything that opens up and pulls us out of the locked binary is a loving act, I think.”
Starting a record label at 13
When asked how she had that level of confidence as a child, Alanis credited her parents.
My parents knocked the confidence one out of the park. Definitely saying you can do anything you want. That’s a big one.
Her parents had no industry background but told her: “Go for it, Alanis. You’re going to crush.”
Male-dominated rooms and burning her journal
At 14, Alanis found herself in rooms full of “12 men in suits” signing contracts she didn’t understand.
I would run upstairs to my room and cry. I remember I burned my journal in the fireplace just thinking, this is the end of a normal life for me.
When Cooper asked why she burned it, Alanis laughed: “Because I talked about all these people I had crushes on and I just didn’t want anyone to find that out. Meanwhile, it’s like full gold in there. Platinum.”
“You ought to know” and leading with anger
Alanis explained why she insisted on releasing “You Oughta Know” as the lead single despite label hesitation.
I had too much energy to not have that be first and then that I could speak to effortlessly.
When her team said the record was “a little caustic, a little intense,” she fired back: “If you want a Dan Steely record, why don’t you sign a Dan Steely?” (They corrected her: “It’s Steely Dan, you freaking idiot.”)
On the backlash: “There was terror and resistance, but that’s just normal. I mean, what’s new on a Tuesday?”
The Rolling Stone cover: “Angry White Female”
When Cooper asked about the infamous 1995 Rolling Stone headline, Alanis was unfazed.
Great. Whatever you need to call me. I know you have to call me one thing because you can’t possibly hold space for the multitudinousness that is all humans. So yeah, you want to pick one? Anger’s great. Go. I don’t care.
She added: “I loved it because I got to talk about feelings and anger. It’s the best.”
Websites plotting her murder
Alanis casually dropped that hate went far beyond critical reviews.
There were websites constructed to figure out how to murder me most elegantly.
She noted that artists she respected spoke “disparagingly” about her at the time, though some — like Sheryl Crow and Courtney Love — later apologized.
The presupposition on the planet was that there’s one throne only Alex can sit in the throne. Everyone else, you fail, you lose, you’re ugly. That’s patriarchy. That’s scarcity mindset.
The former business manager who stole millions
When Cooper asked how she discovered the theft, Alanis said: “Something felt weird. A woman’s intuition.”
I just kept going into the new business manager’s office over and over and saying, ‘I need more information because something’s up and I don’t know what.’
Her husband eventually spotted inconsistencies in the paperwork. At the sentencing hearing, the judge was a woman — which Alanis called “really actually quite corrective for me.”
And you all wonder why we’re angry. Yes. And that’s just the iceberg tip.
Dating, fame, and invisibility
Alanis opened up about how fame amplified her loneliness.
Someone’s sitting across from you telling you how much they admire you, how much you’ve been a catalyst in their life, how much you’ve validated, empathized, uplifted, all of those things. Amazing, right? The greatest. And you’re not seen because it’s not about you.
On being raised in narcissism: “My existence meant beholding other, being supply for narcissism. I don’t even exist. There’s not even a person here.”
Codependency and “going against type”
Alanis said she was attracted to narcissism “shocker” and described codependency as “a complete self-annihilation and obliteration and years of coming back into who you barely were before you began.”
On meeting her husband Souleye: “I had had my — the pattern was done and I just basically went against type, which is sometimes really scary.”
Everything in your body is like go back, go back, go back and you’re like, if we go back one more time, I’m going to lose it. So no, we have to stay the course.
Postpartum depression: “Covered in tar and underwater”
Alanis has been vocal about her experience with postpartum depression across three pregnancies — each one harder than the last.
I became another person and all the hormones are all over the place. There’s some version of menopausal flux combined with depression, invasive thoughts that are so harrowing, terrible, ceaseless, invasive thoughts, anxiety, depression, rage off the charts.
She described waiting to seek help each time: first baby, a year and two months; second, eight months; third, three days.
I was just like, ‘Oh no, I’m not doing this again.’ And I did it again.
She even toured during COVID while experiencing postpartum psychosis.
All I remember is Shirley Manson before every show, every night, she’d say, ‘We going to go on.’ And I said, ‘Shirley, tonight we go on. This is all I know.’
On the stigma: “The bummer for me inside PPD was that I was losing people’s trust in my sanity. That’s a bummer.”
Why she spoke out while still suffering
Alanis chose to discuss postpartum depression publicly while still in the thick of it.
It just was what was happening. And it was happening again for the third time. And I had heard at this point because I’d been so outspoken about it, people were — my phone was blowing up.
She recalled one caller: “Oh my gosh, my daughter-in-law, she just pulled the car over and is running down the street. What do I do? And I’m like, ‘Why is she driving? Why is she even out of the house?'”
It was amazing because it was just a yes. And then by the third time, I’m like, let me keep speaking about this because I started to realize that I was so not alone.
Menopause as “truth serum”
At 52, Alanis described menopause as liberating.
The words that fly out of my mouth that I can’t believe are flying out of my mouth. I’ll be in meetings and someone will say something and I’ll just say that’s patriarchal and then just keep talking. Or like, that’s really rude. I just — it just flies out and I can’t stop.
On the metaphor: “Often people use the metaphor that, you know, every leaf on the tree gets pulled or every stone gets turned. I’m like, no — for me, it feels like the tree itself is ripped out of the ground and the roots are everywhere.”
Butterfly with a Machete
Alanis announced her new LA residency, blending music with storytelling.
You know, the transmutation alchemically — menopause — and then this beautiful butterfly will stab you. So that is — you’re like, that’s what I was going with, Alex. That’s where Butterfly with a Machete was born.
On defying the ’90s credo:
Stay in your lane — and especially if you’re a woman, stay in the reductive one. Whatever one we ascribe to you, stay in that one. So now 2026 is all about be everything. It’s about you’re multitudinous.
Holiday album and Christmas baby
Alanis confirmed a new holiday album, inspired in part by her son Ever, who was born on Christmas Day.
Every Christmas over the last few years, we’ve done sort of one song and then as they were accumulating and I love them so much. I love singing these songs. I wrote a couple of new songs and we just made a record.
Her favorite tracks to sing: “What Child Is This?” and “Little Drummer Boy.”
What’s next for women?
When Cooper asked what Alanis wants to see women step up and own next, her answer was clear.
For me, it’s about seeing wholeness as a goal versus wellness. And wholeness isn’t always the prettiest, most linear path. Bringing things online, parts that we’ve lost or denied or cut off, bringing them all slowly online.
On her role now:
That’s what I love — supporting people, you know, if you’re going from A to B to C, wherever the freak we are, that I’m with you as you go. I mean, that’s it. And I’m doing the same thing. I’m alongside.
Closing thoughts: Two women, fully seen
All the complexity of being a human being and all the different sectors that we have to tap into and try to fill our own cups with — you are fascinating and so smart. I can’t thank you enough for opening up to me and just going there with me today. — Alex to Alanis
Alanis returned the compliment, highlighting Cooper’s own emotional range.
Oh, thanks. I’m so happy that you have such spaciousness and capacity. Your capacity is very high. —Alanis to Alex
A rare exchange: two women in different generations, both in the public eye, both having weathered scrutiny and survived — now sitting across from each other, not as icon and interviewer, but as witnesses to each other’s fullness.
Alanis Morissette’s Butterfly with a Machete residency begins November 2026 in Los Angeles.
This recap is based on Alanis Morissette’s appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast. For the full episode, click on the YouTube link at the top or listen wherever you get your podcasts.
