This week’s guest: Dana Cowin.

Dana Cowin, FOOD & WINE’s editor in chief since 1995, has been covering the world of food, wine, style and design for more than 25 years. Cowin oversees the FOOD & WINE brand, including a monthly magazine with a circulation of 925,000; digital products including the website foodandwine.com, mobile applications and iPad editions; and a books division, which publishes Best of the Best Cookbook Recipes, the FOOD & WINE Wine Guide, FOOD & WINE Cocktails and several other titles. She also serves as editorial advisor to FOOD & WINE China, the publication’s first international edition. Under her leadership, the award-winning magazine has attracted an audience of more than eight million readers with a passionate, adventurous approach to cooking, wine, entertaining, restaurants and travel. Before joining FOOD & WINE, Cowin was managing editor of Mademoiselle, managing editor of HG and an associate editor of Vogue. Cowin is on the board of directors of City Harvest, a New York City hunger-relief organization, for which she spearheads the annual “Skip Lunch Fight Hunger” campaign. She’s also on the board of directors of Wholesome Wave Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to providing access to locally grown, healthy, sustainable foods for all communities. She is a member of Brown University’s President’s Leadership Council. Cowin appears frequently on national television and shares her eating and drinking adventures on Twitter @fwscout and on Facebook. She lives in Manhattan with her husband, Barclay Palmer, a global executive producer at Thomson Reuters, and their two children.

“I view mistakes as learning opportunities and before I used to view mistakes and irritations. It’s changed my life.” [17:00]

“Every story at Food & Wine magazine starts with a coherent idea. We poke at ideas until we have something we feel will hold the readers attention, makes sense and hasn’t been done before.” [22:00]