Was Owen Thiele expecting to meet a red-bow-festooned pony named Penelope at Mikey Madison’s house? Probably not—but he rose to the occasion.Was Owen Thiele expecting to meet a red-bow-festooned pony named Penelope at Mikey Madison’s house? Probably not—but he rose to the occasion.
You may know Owen Thiele for his podcast or his breakout role on FX’s Adults, but for Vogue’s October 2026 cover launch, he took on the role of guest reporter.
Thiele’s subject? One Mikey Madison, and her extremely eventful two years, which culminated in a starring role as Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen in The Social Reckoning, Aaron Sorkin’s forthcoming and long-awaited follow-up to The Social Network.
Madison is a well-known animal lover—she’s a proud dog mom to Chihuahuas named Peaches, Birdie, and Jam—but it’s safe to say Thiele wasn’t expecting to meet her extremely noisy houseguest: a red-bow-festooned pony named Penelope, who has extremely specific and urgent lunch needs.
It takes a very intrepid journalist to conduct an in-depth interview with a horse, but Thiele understood the assignment. More importantly, he understood that you can’t get to “the real Mikey Madison” without going through Penelope. Granted, she may not have the best table manners (messily eating a plate of grass? She’s so LA for that!), but trust that she knows all the best watering holes in town.
