Matt Lewis’s Background Pictures

“Who is the woman in the picture behind Matt Lewis?”

This is the question I get more than any other after I appear on cable news shows like Morning Joe, or a popular YouTube video.

To answer your question, the poster of the woman smoking is one of my favorite writers, Joan Didion.

If you’re interested in learning more about Joan Didion, I would especially recommend her collections of essays, The White Album and Slouching Towards Bethlehem.

Although my background changes, other photos behind me include Cal Ripken, Jr.’s 1984 Topps card and a photo of Barney Fife and Thelma Lou from The Andy Griffith Show (autographed by Betty Lynn).

One great thing about having a home studio is that you can decorate your backdrop and personalize it a bit. Sometimes, for example, I will have a sign about my alma mater, a Father’s Day gift from one of my sons, or a Baltimore Orioles baseball cap.

I think this is a really fun development (thanks to the proliferation of technology like Zoom). My guess is that more commentators will start adding personal touches to their backdrops in the future.