January 12, 2023 • 37 mins
Bryan Cranston joins Katie Couric to talk about the surprise second season of his Showtime drama, “Your Honor,” premiering Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023. If you haven’t seen the first season, the story, about the lengths parents go to for their kids, seemed pretty well wrapped up. Bryan talks about why he wanted to return to this tormented character and the ways in which he still draws from Walter White. Bryan also shares advice for people just starting out in the often crazy movie business, and confides in Katie about his own plans for when he’ll call it quits.
Listeners: This is the last episode of the regular Fall 2022 season of Next Question with Katie Couric. The podcast will take a brief hiatus and return March 23. But don’t stray too far! Katie will be sharing some live events and special bonus episodes right here in the Next Question feed. For more, go to KatieCouric.com and sign up for Katie’s daily morning newsletter, Wake Up Call.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
I'm Katie Curry and I'm Brian Cranston. And this is
next question. I think I have a future. Yeah, let's
try it again, um, this time a little per year.
That's right. My guest today is Brian Cranston. Those of
you who haven't been living under a rock, note that
(00:23):
Brian is a force, a performer, is comfortable on screens
large and small, as he is on a Broadway stage.
But more than anything, honestly, he's just an all around
good human being, and as I found out during our conversation,
also an avid reader of Wake Up Call. I get
(00:44):
your newsletter every morning you open it, more importantly I do,
I read it all the time. So friends, be like
Brian Cranston, informed and entertained with wake Up Call. That's
our daily news letter, delivered Monday through Saturday in your inbox,
(01:04):
bright and early. In it, we break down the top
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It's like a one stop shop for smart, dissy people
like you and Brian Cranston. Okay, done, with the shameless plug,
(01:27):
Let's get back to business. Bryan Cranston, and welcome back
to the podcast. How are you're looking very scruffy these days?
You've got a big beard going. What's that about? You know,
it's it's about. I'm doing a second season of Your
Honor for Showtime, right, which did incredibly well. By the way,
(01:47):
I loved Your Honor, but I read recently it was
like one of the biggest shows on Showtime in a
long time. Yeah, they tell us it was the highest
rated UM series they ever had, so that's pretty good.
And so they wanted to do another one, and and
I said, I'd like to do another season, but only
(02:11):
if we follow in an honest, authentic way where that
character would go. Because it seems to me, with all
due respect Mr Cranston, that this series did not exactly
lend itself to a second series. I mean, things tied
up pretty neatly, very traumatically. I might add I don't
want any spoilers here, but I had a hard time
(02:33):
when I heard there was going to be a second season.
I thought, how are you going to do that? I
thought the same thing because it ended tragically, which is
not which is a not a the wrong way to
end that first season. Um, And then I thought, well,
if the first season was about a man losing his
(02:54):
sense of principles and dignity and integrity, can the second
season be about redemption? Is? And I think our society
is yearning for that to actually stand. Where does forgiveness
exist in our in our society now? It seems so coarse,
(03:15):
it seems so vitriolic. You know that that, you know,
we we've had people who have been leading this country
who believe that forgiveness and and apology are signs of
weaknesses in the human character. And I don't believe that.
I believe it's actually a strength. And in fact, you've
(03:36):
been pretty vocal if I recall about sort of cancel culture,
haven't you? Well? I did you? Did you get a
little hot water that baron? Well, you know what happened.
I was doing I was doing a play in London
and I had a film coming out. So the BBC
wanted to do an interview with me, and I said okay,
(03:57):
And they said they're gonna want you to talk about uh,
President Trump, And I said okay, And they're gonna want
to talk about the Me Too movement. I said, okay, Um,
all of which you know, it's it's a wake up
call in many regards for both of those issues. The
question came to me, do you think that M. Kevin
(04:17):
Spacey can resurrect his career? And I was taken aback
a little bit about that, about that directness, and then
I realized the association the BBC is asking that because
Kevin Spacey was the artistic director of the old VIC Theater,
right And uh, I said, I don't think so. But
(04:39):
if he does a lot of personal work on himself,
if he really goes into therapy and really gets to
the root of what was causing this behavior of his
and not in a two month dude ranch kind of
thing in Colorado, but a real earnest attempt to figure
things out, and if he if he showed genuine contrition,
(05:05):
maybe in five to ten years, UM, society would accept
him back if he did all that work that did
I did. Um. We were in a redlining situation at
the time where they thought I was trying to defend him,
(05:25):
but really I was trying to look at a bigger
picture of our society. Where does it all fit? And
so when this idea to possibly do a second season
of Your Honor came along. I thought, I think this
might help people people who live in despair and in pain. Um,
how do they cope? How can they find a pathway
(05:49):
to the rest of their lives? And I think it's
a service. You personally went through it yourself. You had
to figure out a path to get through so that
you can be strong again. And I'm I'm marvel at
your ability to be able to do that. You mean,
from from the death of my husband. Yeah, you know.
(06:12):
I think also this sort of public shaming, which I
didn't experience, but but certainly many high profile figures have. Uh.
Sometimes it's definitely warranted. But I think you're right at
what point is can there be or should there be redemption?
(06:34):
And I don't know the answer to that, but I
think that's such a a topic that's so right for
exploration and and getting back to Your Honor can for
people who haven't seen the first series, and I urged
them to do so so they can see the second
series when it comes out. Can you just basically give
us the nutshell of this character because I found him
(06:57):
so fascinating. Michael days Otto is a Superior Court judge
in New Orleans, Louisiana. He has a seventeen year old son,
and his wife was a photojournalist who was murdered a
year earlier. Through a course of of the remembrance of
(07:20):
the day that she passed, my son, who was distraught
and it is an asthmatic, gets into a a car
accident and he hits a young boy on a motorcycle.
He panics and leaves the scene of the accident almost immediately,
feeling guilty and realizing he's made a mistake, and he
(07:42):
confesses to me, his father, what happened. And after receiving
that devastating news and dealing with that by itself, I
convey to him that we need to do the right thing.
We need to turn you in and be responsible, because
if you don't do that now, you will forever be
(08:03):
damaged by that decision. So I go to turn him
into the police um and I'm going to hire a
lawyer for him and and see how things end up.
And what happens is that at the police station, I
noticed the parents of the boy who died in that
car accident, and they are part of the most violent
(08:29):
and dangerous UH mob in all of Louisiana, and I know,
or at least I feel I know that that man,
if he found out my son killed his son, he
would go and kill my son within the structure of
the um of course system. So I make an immediate
(08:51):
decision not to turn my son in. From that point on,
everything unraveled deeper and deeper. It's not the crime, it's
the cover up. And I found the character so fascinating
because of all these sort of ethical lapses and how
one leads to another, to another to another. And I
(09:12):
don't know, I'm obsessed with characters who are guilt ridden.
I don't know if you remember that movie Bob Roberts.
I think it was called and it was with was
that Tim Robbins, And I think he commits a crime.
And the idea of doing something and being like having
to hide that and feel this overwhelming, overflowing guilt. I
(09:38):
have nightmares about that. I don't know why those characters.
I think that's my biggest fear, like not doing something
wrong but having to hide it because you feel like
you'll be exposed. Yes, of course, but but when you
think about it, that's one of the wonderful things about
human beings is that we do carry guilt and we
we do have that because we are we are an
(10:00):
made to that, we're social animals. We want to strive
to do what is best. I really believe that. And um,
when when we explore in this season of Your Honor,
the idea that my character is is going through despair
and grief, Um, I think it's a valuable thing to
(10:22):
it and the movement that he makes. I had to
really convince the people at show time. It's like, trust me,
I think this will work. But you wanted to do it. Yeah,
you wanted to do it. Well, I wanted to do
that if if they weren't saying to you, this show
did so well, we need a second season. They did,
(10:43):
And I said, I will do a second season if
I can do this with that character. Got it, But
otherwise I don't have to do another one. Now. How
(11:05):
is Michael different from Walter White? And are their similarities
in their characters because they are they are sort of
at their core good people who because of circumstances, become
bad people. Yeah. Well, I think I think what what
Walter White taught me is that nothing is black and
(11:27):
white in the pun But um, there's a lot of
gray area. I don't think human beings are just one
thing we have. We have good qualities and we have
bad qualities. We have things about us that we're proud
of and things that were I need to improve in
this area. Hopefully they're not criminal. But but that's human beings. Um.
(11:51):
The difference, and well, the common denominator is that Michael
Desiatto and Walter White were played by the same person,
So there's always going to be a through line of that,
does Michael we're tidy Whitey's he does not. He does
not he's a boxer. Yeah. Um. But the difference is
(12:17):
is that the attempts. We we want to see characters
attempting to do the right thing at the best of
their ability. But if they're damaged and troubled people men
in this case, uh, then they may not be capable
of doing the right thing at the right time. Always,
(12:39):
and it's always about sort of how one bad decision
can change everything in an instant. You've said you're attracted
to damage characters who still have some manner of humanity
and decency within them despite their flaws and shortcomings. So
I guess that does describe Michael and Walter I think
that's the and those are the kinds of characters I
(13:01):
get offered is to play really damnage, you're such a
nice guy. How is that? Well? I can I can relate.
I mean, I'm here are such why you are human?
But I mean I don't know you that well, but
I would say you're incredibly decent and um and and
(13:21):
morally upstanding individual. You know, I feel like you have
certain values that you adhere to and you know you've
got I don't know, and you've here before have played
pretty wholesome characters prior to breaking bad. So you know,
how how come we're just now seeing this the darker
side of Brian Cranston. Well, when you when you think
(13:44):
of it from a standpoint of dramatic narrative, the most
interesting things to play are damaged people. We don't want
to see in our dramas. We don't want to see
people do all the right things all the time. They
would never make it into a show or a movie,
right because it's not interesting. So there's going to be
(14:05):
a turn. There's going to be uh problems in that
person's life that they are either capable or incapable of overcoming.
And that's that's what makes drama so fascinating. You're the
happy beneficiary of this national obsession I think with crime
and sort of thrillers and who done it? And I'm
(14:27):
curious what you think about that whole trend, because everything
seems to either be based on true crime or a
fiction fictionalized version of some kind of terrible event. Well,
I know, I am more interested in the human element
of it and whether that takes me in the genre
(14:48):
of crime or a medical or whatever the main areas
of interest are. I'm always interested in the story. Does
the story where he resonate with me and and so
you look at you look at Breaking Bad. And Breaking
Bad was a story of a man's plight and struggle
(15:09):
through this horrific prognosis of of a limited life, and
he wanted to set his family up for after he's gone,
and and so he elicited a lot of sympathies of that. Yeah,
it's just his decision making UM and and also an
(15:31):
indictment of the health system that a fully employed teacher
needs to have a second job in order to pay
for the special needs son and his care. UM. So
and then you have UM your Honor, which had the
(15:52):
concept of what would you do to save the life
of your child? And if you ask any parent, it's like,
I would do anything to save the life of my child.
I would do anything. And I asked people, would you
become would you willingly become a criminal if you knew
that by doing so you would save the life of
your child? Yes? I would. Okay, then we take it
(16:14):
a step further. Would you allow an innocent person to
be hurt or killed in the line of saving yours?
You know? And then all of a sudden, oh, you
can't go back. My character can't retrace his steps and
clean it up and make good on something. His spiral
already started and he is in this mess. And that's
(16:37):
what to to echo your point is that we have
to try to make the best decisions at that time
that you can. My character didn't have the luxury of thinking,
what are the repercussions of this initial decision. I remember
that scene where he's watching the family. I think he
was in the parking lot. Uh, Michael was, and he
(17:00):
thought he made that split second decision. Nope, this isn't
going to happen. We're not going to do the right thing.
And the rest of the series obviously unfolds, and he
gets deeper and deeper and deeper, and to you know,
lie begets lie begets lie. Um. I love the series,
and I think it was critically acclaimed. I think it
(17:21):
got a lot of nice reviews. But you don't read
reviews ever, ever, ever, ever. I did, um up until
about seven eight years ago, when I read a couple
reviews about a movie that I did that I thought was, Oh, well,
(17:42):
that doesn't that's not helpful to me. Um, what movie
was it? Well, I don't want to I don't want
to throw this reviewer under the bus. Oh, go ahead,
we like to do that here on next question. We
like to throw people under the bus. Come on, Brian. Especially,
it sounds like this person me deserve it. Yeah, because
(18:04):
this person was lazy and claimed certain things that an
easy little research into it and this person would have found,
oh I'm wrong about that and about this. And so
I found the laziness of that to be irritating. And
(18:26):
I also realized and and so I said, I don't
think reading reviews helps me at all, And so I don't.
I don't read reviews on when I do a Broadway
show or when I do a movie because it it's
not going to change anything. Um and I actually most
people are saying, you could have nine great reviews and
(18:49):
one bad one, and the one you're going to think
about is the bad one. Isn't a true No matter
how many things you've done and how many times you've
been reviewed or critiqued, it still hurts. I think when
people say mean things about you. You know, are you
on Twitter? By the way, Well, are you leaving Twitter?
(19:10):
I'm not. I'm not active. You're not active? But you
would you do you want to stay on it? I
haven't really given it much thought. I certainly my whole
point I I long for the chance once again to
have a respectful, logical disagreement with someone who has who's
(19:32):
more conservative than I am. I'm more liberal, but I
and I want to have that debate again and not
lose respect for each other, knowing that we're both trying
to get to an accomplishment that benefits the country. That's
that's the goal. Uh, we've kind of lost that. I
(19:52):
think we've been conditioned not to want it, given the
kind of discourse or lack thereof that is everywhere. It's
almost assigned. Well, just as compromise on Capitol Hill is
a sign of weakness. Compromise or even uh, calm discussion
seems to be a sign of weakness, openness, kind of
(20:14):
willingness to listen. It has all been kind of I think,
I don't know, people just don't want to do it.
I agree with you, And I think what I was
saying earlier, same thing, um, asking forgiveness, apologizing signs of weakness.
I think that goes along with that that our country
(20:35):
has been a come courser and and harder. And I
think if if we can contribute anything to this is
to be able to try to break down that kind
of calloused attitude and dogma and be able to step
back in and saying let's have a respectful debate on
(20:59):
what is best for our society, our country, our state,
at our city, or whatever the case. I want to
see if I can help bring the country together with
less divisiveness and more spirit of unity, that would be great. Um.
When when I see people who have integrity and I
(21:23):
want to meet them, I want to talk to them.
It doesn't matter what side of the aisle they happen
to be on. I know you don't read reviews, Brian,
(21:44):
but I did want to read this letter from Anthony
Hopkins because it was so lovely and I just made
me like Anthony Hopkins even more than I already do.
He wrote that your performance as Walter his performance. I
guess this was to you, right. Your performance as Walter
White was the best acting I have seen ever. I
(22:06):
have never watched anything like it. Brilliant. I know there's
so much smoke blowing and sickening bullshit in this business,
and I've sort of lost belief in anything, really, but
this work of yours spectacular, absolutely stunning. From what started
as a black comedy descended into a labyrinth of blood
destruction and hell, it was like a great Jacobean, Shakespearean
(22:27):
or Greek tragedy. When you've read that, you I mean,
obviously you read that he wrote, he delivered it, or
he had it sent to your house. Yeah, it was
it was dull. I was actually um in Boston at
the time doing the out of town version of All
the Way and the play you did about LBJ, right,
and we had just closed that show there and I
(22:52):
got this letter that was forwarded from We have the
same agent, and so it was forwarded from the agents,
and I read it and oh my god. But I
I am not the one to want to make these
things public, and I didn't intend to make this public.
But he gave praise to not just me, but the
whole cast, and I felt I wanted to share that
(23:14):
with the cast, and I should have said, please, don't
put this out on social media. I did not think
in those terms, and I sent it to my cast
and say, I think you all should read this, isn't
it lovely? Lovely and mind blowing? And then someone within
our cast put it out on social media and it
(23:34):
went everywhere, and that wasn't the intention. I actually cringe
a little bit because I would have rather have been
just a private, private moment. Well, having said that, what
a nice gesture and what beautiful words, and coming from
one of the best actors to ever live. And is
there so much smoke blowing and sickening bullshit in your business?
(23:57):
Please that you're saying that rhetorically? Yeah, how do you?
How do you deal with sort of the bullshit of
show biz? Same way you do? You creates and you're
not in show business, of course you are. You're in
show business. I mean, I mean is to entertain, and
(24:19):
you do you entertain? You inform. We're all in the
business of entertainment when you think about it, whether you're
creating a service or a product, we're in entertainment, and
I think the way to manage it. And what I
tell young young actors or writers or directors people want
to be in the business, get your personal life in order.
(24:40):
Get that straight. Make sure that you're in you love
the work and not the idea of some uh effect
of some result. Yes you're not. Don't look ahead it
like I'm I'm out to get fame and fortune, because
(25:01):
that's that's the fool's erind isn't it. It is, because
I wouldn't know how to approach that. Just focus on
what you do and what you love to do, and
if you're meant to get anything from that, it will happen.
So I'm you know, just you kind of you. I
think you've again I'm acting like I've known you since
(25:23):
you were five. But it seems to me that you
are very grounded and you really have never lost perspective
per se. Also, you know, you were a successful actor,
but you're huge sort of success came later in life. Yeah,
I think that's it was a benefit because you know,
I've I've been married for thirty four years and lovely Robin,
(25:47):
and we have a we have a very good life,
and but it's very very normal. And I remember when
I was on Malcolm in the Middle and I was
nominated for an Emmy and we go to the Emmys
and I'm in my tuxedo and everybody Brian brianber and
taking pictures, pictures, pictures with Robin and I and and
we're getting the limo and we're the red carpet and
(26:09):
it's all fancy Hollywood, Mollywood and uh. And we go
home and I pay the babysitter and say goodnight, and
Robin walks into the kitchen and turns her nose and goes,
oh my god, what's And she discovers there's something stinky
in the garbage and she just picks up the plastic
garbage bag and shoves it in my hands. And I
(26:31):
don't say a word because that's my job. And I
opened the back door and I'm and no, it's starting
to drip. Something is really bad in here. And I'm
holding the dripping garbage, smelly garbage bag out at arm's
length so it doesn't drip on my tuxedo and I'm
walking out to the garbage and I realized, not twenty
(26:52):
minutes ago, people were please picture, let me take a picture.
Will you have an autographer? And now I'm taking smelly
garbage out of the and I smiled, because that's it.
That's the reality of it, that's real life, that's tangible.
It's right there, smelly garbage and all. And that's what
(27:12):
I want to embrace. I want to embrace the reality
of life. And if you can create a foundation of that,
then you have room to dream and go and take chances.
But you because you always have your kind of like
an invisible tether to something that's real. And that's why
you should get sort of your personal life in order,
(27:33):
because that is really what matters, that's what counts. And
and you know, I think, I think for so many
young people who experience fame at a very early age,
we see how destructive and toxic it is. And now,
I don't know, we live in a culture where everybody
can be famous on social media for one thing or another,
(27:55):
and I worry about the impact it has on young
people and sort of getting you know, and I experienced
this myself. You know, I think you get endorphins from
external validation and affirmation and the idea that that they
their sense of self is predicated upon their the number
(28:17):
of likes or the followers. It's it's a very unhealthy
I think recipe for living life as a healthy kind
of grounded person. It's an extremely unhealthy way of life.
I think from our perspective, people of a certain age,
looking back, we didn't have that when we were young.
What do we do? How do we help this generation
(28:39):
and the younger generations to come to to realize what
is really important to them? I think you know this, No,
you know. It used to be where if you weren't
invited to a party and Monday morning you heard there
was a party. Oh, that's kind of a bummer. I
didn't I wasn't invited, which happens to me. Um. But
(29:00):
now it's instantaneous that party is happening right now because
you're seeing that you are not there. That that is
devastating to young formidable mind. Yeah, listen, I'm glad even
though they're still only twenty six and thirty one. I
(29:22):
feel really bad for parents who are having to to
deal with it, and I think they just need to
take take it away, you know, take it away and
have hours where they can be on their phones. But
we digress, Brian, we digress. Let's talk about um that
your your mescal company, and I want to know what
else kind of you're excited about these days? Are you
(29:43):
going to do well? Before we talk about mescal? And
I have to be I have a confession to make.
I know what your confession is. I don't. I know.
I know that the last time we had dinner, we're
having mescal, and you went, I don't know. Can I
have something else? I don't have, dare you? I don't.
It's too smoky for me. I just I don't have
(30:04):
a palette for it. Yeah, you know, when you grow up,
you know you'll you'll have an opportune A lot of
the good news is a lot of people do listen.
How's the company going? It's gangbusters? Really. Aaron, Paul and
I started this three and a half years ago, and
we were then like, I think there's a hundred and
twenty five or six different mescal brands in the world,
(30:27):
and we were right there with them. Three and a
half years later, we're now number four, and yeah, we
have our eyes set on being number one. It's a
nice lofty goal for it. We should say the name
of the brand for you know, shameless plug. And what
I like about your origin story, as they say, is
(30:49):
that you didn't kind of just slap your name on
a bottle. You actually did the work. You all went
to Mexico, you went on, you know, a journey to
find the best mescal. I say, I think I said
it wrong, Miscal mescal, Mescal mescal, and you really you
did the work. You know, That's the only way that
(31:10):
I wanted to do it. Aaron and I have the
same work ethic. We come from blue collar families and
we don't really know any other way, but just keep
your head down and do the do the work, put
in the hours. And whether it's mescal or your own
acting career, if you don't put in the hours and
put in the work, you're not going to be successful.
(31:31):
That's a guarantee. UM. So we went down to Wahaca, Mexico,
and we sampled almost a hundred different mescals that we
didn't have brands connected to them, and we had very
different palettes. I have, I tease him, I have a
sophisticated palette and he has kind of a a brown
(31:54):
paper bag in the parking lot palette, according to you,
according to me exactly, he know, but he he loves
a strong scotch. He loves a burning sensation. I'm not
that way. You're a smooth I want to smooth. I
want to be introduced and seduced into my spirits. So
(32:15):
you're having a lot of fun with that, right, I mean?
Where the dos umbres? And what about theater um? You
know I loved all the way. I also saw you
a network. We went to see you at a play
in a play in Los Angeles that I thought was
wonderful written by I think someone who works with my
daughter on a show called The Boys. Right, yeah, and
(32:38):
obviously you love the theater um? And and do you
have any plans to revisit something? Or why you look
at me like that? Because it's one other thing that
I can't really talk about developing something, and I know
you're gonna want me to, I can't you give me
a little bit of a hint. Yeah, it's it's going
(33:00):
to be a Broadway play. Oh well, that's good. That's exciting.
It's it's very exciting. I have a couple more hurdles
to go to before actually gets into an actual reality
of casting and these things. But um, and it's something
that is a little a bit beyond. It's it's going
(33:20):
to be a musical. And I'm not I'm an actor
that can carry a tune, but I'm not a singer.
But it's original. It's it's not a remake. No, it
is a it is a revival, a revival. Yes, well,
I'll tell you this as soon as I know, and
(33:41):
I've I've gotten the green light when to do it.
I'll come and I'll mention it to you first. Okay,
I'll get a scoop here on next question? How old
are you Brian Cranspin, I'm I'm No, you're not, You're
you're my Are we the same, mate? I'm sixty six okay,
and I'm almost sixty six. And it's so great to
(34:01):
see you like doing your thing, taking on new challenges
and you know, and and not going quietly into this
good night. You know, it's nice to do you ever
want to retire? Do you ever want to take it easy? Personally?
I don't because I think I would shrivel up and
die if I didn't work. I would, Um, my mother, God,
(34:27):
bless her. She she had Alzheimer's, and she she died
of Alzheimer's fifteen years ago now, and so the possibility
of of that in a hereditary sense is there. And
I often said, as long as I'm enjoying and having fun,
I will continue to work. If I don't want to
(34:50):
struggle to remember lines, I don't want to be nervous
and anxious about any of that. If it comes to that,
then I would retire immediately. Um, I am not going
to be the person on stage with an earpiece being
fed his lines and then I just hear it and
repeat it. Here, it repeat it. It sounds pretty good
(35:11):
to me. No, God that that that itself puts more
anxiety inducing thoughts in my head than memorizing. You know.
That's that's part of it. But if if I ever
lose the joy of performing, then I'll retire right away.
But so far, no, I love it. What a gift
(35:32):
I get. I have to constantly say, I can't believe
what I get to do. This is just unbelievable that
I get to play. I get to play for a living.
And so when Monday comes around, I'm excited because I
get to go back to work and play. Uh, it's
just that it's just the best but a great way
(35:55):
to live. Yeah, it is. I've been very fortunate. Thank you, Brian,
Thank you Katie. You can watch Brian Cranston and the
second season of Your Honors starting Sunday, June on Showtime.
And to all of my Next Question listeners, this is
actually the last episode of our regular season. We're going
(36:15):
to take a bit of a brief hiatus and cook
up something new, new topics, new guests, and before too long,
a whole new season of Next Question, and you know what,
we might even change the name. So if you have suggestions,
let us know, but don't stray too far. I have
a few live events and bonus interviews that I'll be
(36:36):
sharing with you on this very feed Until then, Thanks
so much for listening everyone, you'll hear us soon. Next
Question with Katie Curic is a production of I Heart
Media and Katie Kurk Media. The executive producers Army, Katie Kuric,
and Courtney Litz. The supervising producer is Lauren Hansen, Associate
(36:59):
producer Derek Clements and Adriana Fasio. The show is edited
and mixed by Derrek Clements. For more information about today's episode,
or to sign up for my morning newsletter, wake Up Call,
go to Katie currect dot com. You can also find
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(37:21):
the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.
I'm Katie Curry and I'm Brian Cranston. And this is
next question. I think I have a future. Yeah, let's
try it again, um, this time a little per year.
That's right. My guest today is Brian Cranston. Those of
you who haven't been living under a rock, note that
(00:23):
Brian is a force, a performer, is comfortable on screens
large and small, as he is on a Broadway stage.
But more than anything, honestly, he's just an all around
good human being, and as I found out during our conversation,
also an avid reader of Wake Up Call. I get
(00:44):
your newsletter every morning you open it, more importantly I do,
I read it all the time. So friends, be like
Brian Cranston, informed and entertained with wake Up Call. That's
our daily news letter, delivered Monday through Saturday in your inbox,
(01:04):
bright and early. In it, we break down the top
news stories of the day. We answer all of your
pressing questions, and we scour the internet for the best
entertainment tidbits, streaming recommendations, recipes, and health and wellness tips.
It's like a one stop shop for smart, dissy people
like you and Brian Cranston. Okay, done, with the shameless plug,
(01:27):
Let's get back to business. Bryan Cranston, and welcome back
to the podcast. How are you're looking very scruffy these days?
You've got a big beard going. What's that about? You know,
it's it's about. I'm doing a second season of Your
Honor for Showtime, right, which did incredibly well. By the way,
(01:47):
I loved Your Honor, but I read recently it was
like one of the biggest shows on Showtime in a
long time. Yeah, they tell us it was the highest
rated UM series they ever had, so that's pretty good.
And so they wanted to do another one, and and
I said, I'd like to do another season, but only
(02:11):
if we follow in an honest, authentic way where that
character would go. Because it seems to me, with all
due respect Mr Cranston, that this series did not exactly
lend itself to a second series. I mean, things tied
up pretty neatly, very traumatically. I might add I don't
want any spoilers here, but I had a hard time
(02:33):
when I heard there was going to be a second season.
I thought, how are you going to do that? I
thought the same thing because it ended tragically, which is
not which is a not a the wrong way to
end that first season. Um, And then I thought, well,
if the first season was about a man losing his
(02:54):
sense of principles and dignity and integrity, can the second
season be about redemption? Is? And I think our society
is yearning for that to actually stand. Where does forgiveness
exist in our in our society now? It seems so coarse,
(03:15):
it seems so vitriolic. You know that that, you know,
we we've had people who have been leading this country
who believe that forgiveness and and apology are signs of
weaknesses in the human character. And I don't believe that.
I believe it's actually a strength. And in fact, you've
(03:36):
been pretty vocal if I recall about sort of cancel culture,
haven't you? Well? I did you? Did you get a
little hot water that baron? Well, you know what happened.
I was doing I was doing a play in London
and I had a film coming out. So the BBC
wanted to do an interview with me, and I said okay,
(03:57):
And they said they're gonna want you to talk about uh,
President Trump, And I said okay, And they're gonna want
to talk about the Me Too movement. I said, okay, Um,
all of which you know, it's it's a wake up
call in many regards for both of those issues. The
question came to me, do you think that M. Kevin
(04:17):
Spacey can resurrect his career? And I was taken aback
a little bit about that, about that directness, and then
I realized the association the BBC is asking that because
Kevin Spacey was the artistic director of the old VIC Theater,
right And uh, I said, I don't think so. But
(04:39):
if he does a lot of personal work on himself,
if he really goes into therapy and really gets to
the root of what was causing this behavior of his
and not in a two month dude ranch kind of
thing in Colorado, but a real earnest attempt to figure
things out, and if he if he showed genuine contrition,
(05:05):
maybe in five to ten years, UM, society would accept
him back if he did all that work that did
I did. Um. We were in a redlining situation at
the time where they thought I was trying to defend him,
(05:25):
but really I was trying to look at a bigger
picture of our society. Where does it all fit? And
so when this idea to possibly do a second season
of Your Honor came along. I thought, I think this
might help people people who live in despair and in pain. Um,
how do they cope? How can they find a pathway
(05:49):
to the rest of their lives? And I think it's
a service. You personally went through it yourself. You had
to figure out a path to get through so that
you can be strong again. And I'm I'm marvel at
your ability to be able to do that. You mean,
from from the death of my husband. Yeah, you know.
(06:12):
I think also this sort of public shaming, which I
didn't experience, but but certainly many high profile figures have. Uh.
Sometimes it's definitely warranted. But I think you're right at
what point is can there be or should there be redemption?
(06:34):
And I don't know the answer to that, but I
think that's such a a topic that's so right for
exploration and and getting back to Your Honor can for
people who haven't seen the first series, and I urged
them to do so so they can see the second
series when it comes out. Can you just basically give
us the nutshell of this character because I found him
(06:57):
so fascinating. Michael days Otto is a Superior Court judge
in New Orleans, Louisiana. He has a seventeen year old son,
and his wife was a photojournalist who was murdered a
year earlier. Through a course of of the remembrance of
(07:20):
the day that she passed, my son, who was distraught
and it is an asthmatic, gets into a a car
accident and he hits a young boy on a motorcycle.
He panics and leaves the scene of the accident almost immediately,
feeling guilty and realizing he's made a mistake, and he
(07:42):
confesses to me, his father, what happened. And after receiving
that devastating news and dealing with that by itself, I
convey to him that we need to do the right thing.
We need to turn you in and be responsible, because
if you don't do that now, you will forever be
(08:03):
damaged by that decision. So I go to turn him
into the police um and I'm going to hire a
lawyer for him and and see how things end up.
And what happens is that at the police station, I
noticed the parents of the boy who died in that
car accident, and they are part of the most violent
(08:29):
and dangerous UH mob in all of Louisiana, and I know,
or at least I feel I know that that man,
if he found out my son killed his son, he
would go and kill my son within the structure of
the um of course system. So I make an immediate
(08:51):
decision not to turn my son in. From that point on,
everything unraveled deeper and deeper. It's not the crime, it's
the cover up. And I found the character so fascinating
because of all these sort of ethical lapses and how
one leads to another, to another to another. And I
(09:12):
don't know, I'm obsessed with characters who are guilt ridden.
I don't know if you remember that movie Bob Roberts.
I think it was called and it was with was
that Tim Robbins, And I think he commits a crime.
And the idea of doing something and being like having
to hide that and feel this overwhelming, overflowing guilt. I
(09:38):
have nightmares about that. I don't know why those characters.
I think that's my biggest fear, like not doing something
wrong but having to hide it because you feel like
you'll be exposed. Yes, of course, but but when you
think about it, that's one of the wonderful things about
human beings is that we do carry guilt and we
we do have that because we are we are an
(10:00):
made to that, we're social animals. We want to strive
to do what is best. I really believe that. And um,
when when we explore in this season of Your Honor,
the idea that my character is is going through despair
and grief, Um, I think it's a valuable thing to
(10:22):
it and the movement that he makes. I had to
really convince the people at show time. It's like, trust me,
I think this will work. But you wanted to do it. Yeah,
you wanted to do it. Well, I wanted to do
that if if they weren't saying to you, this show
did so well, we need a second season. They did,
(10:43):
And I said, I will do a second season if
I can do this with that character. Got it, But
otherwise I don't have to do another one. Now. How
(11:05):
is Michael different from Walter White? And are their similarities
in their characters because they are they are sort of
at their core good people who because of circumstances, become
bad people. Yeah. Well, I think I think what what
Walter White taught me is that nothing is black and
(11:27):
white in the pun But um, there's a lot of
gray area. I don't think human beings are just one
thing we have. We have good qualities and we have
bad qualities. We have things about us that we're proud
of and things that were I need to improve in
this area. Hopefully they're not criminal. But but that's human beings. Um.
(11:51):
The difference, and well, the common denominator is that Michael
Desiatto and Walter White were played by the same person,
So there's always going to be a through line of that,
does Michael we're tidy Whitey's he does not. He does
not he's a boxer. Yeah. Um. But the difference is
(12:17):
is that the attempts. We we want to see characters
attempting to do the right thing at the best of
their ability. But if they're damaged and troubled people men
in this case, uh, then they may not be capable
of doing the right thing at the right time. Always,
(12:39):
and it's always about sort of how one bad decision
can change everything in an instant. You've said you're attracted
to damage characters who still have some manner of humanity
and decency within them despite their flaws and shortcomings. So
I guess that does describe Michael and Walter I think
that's the and those are the kinds of characters I
(13:01):
get offered is to play really damnage, you're such a
nice guy. How is that? Well? I can I can relate.
I mean, I'm here are such why you are human?
But I mean I don't know you that well, but
I would say you're incredibly decent and um and and
(13:21):
morally upstanding individual. You know, I feel like you have
certain values that you adhere to and you know you've
got I don't know, and you've here before have played
pretty wholesome characters prior to breaking bad. So you know,
how how come we're just now seeing this the darker
side of Brian Cranston. Well, when you when you think
(13:44):
of it from a standpoint of dramatic narrative, the most
interesting things to play are damaged people. We don't want
to see in our dramas. We don't want to see
people do all the right things all the time. They
would never make it into a show or a movie,
right because it's not interesting. So there's going to be
(14:05):
a turn. There's going to be uh problems in that
person's life that they are either capable or incapable of overcoming.
And that's that's what makes drama so fascinating. You're the
happy beneficiary of this national obsession I think with crime
and sort of thrillers and who done it? And I'm
(14:27):
curious what you think about that whole trend, because everything
seems to either be based on true crime or a
fiction fictionalized version of some kind of terrible event. Well,
I know, I am more interested in the human element
of it and whether that takes me in the genre
(14:48):
of crime or a medical or whatever the main areas
of interest are. I'm always interested in the story. Does
the story where he resonate with me and and so
you look at you look at Breaking Bad. And Breaking
Bad was a story of a man's plight and struggle
(15:09):
through this horrific prognosis of of a limited life, and
he wanted to set his family up for after he's gone,
and and so he elicited a lot of sympathies of that. Yeah,
it's just his decision making UM and and also an
(15:31):
indictment of the health system that a fully employed teacher
needs to have a second job in order to pay
for the special needs son and his care. UM. So
and then you have UM your Honor, which had the
(15:52):
concept of what would you do to save the life
of your child? And if you ask any parent, it's like,
I would do anything to save the life of my child.
I would do anything. And I asked people, would you
become would you willingly become a criminal if you knew
that by doing so you would save the life of
your child? Yes? I would. Okay, then we take it
(16:14):
a step further. Would you allow an innocent person to
be hurt or killed in the line of saving yours?
You know? And then all of a sudden, oh, you
can't go back. My character can't retrace his steps and
clean it up and make good on something. His spiral
already started and he is in this mess. And that's
(16:37):
what to to echo your point is that we have
to try to make the best decisions at that time
that you can. My character didn't have the luxury of thinking,
what are the repercussions of this initial decision. I remember
that scene where he's watching the family. I think he
was in the parking lot. Uh, Michael was, and he
(17:00):
thought he made that split second decision. Nope, this isn't
going to happen. We're not going to do the right thing.
And the rest of the series obviously unfolds, and he
gets deeper and deeper and deeper, and to you know,
lie begets lie begets lie. Um. I love the series,
and I think it was critically acclaimed. I think it
(17:21):
got a lot of nice reviews. But you don't read
reviews ever, ever, ever, ever. I did, um up until
about seven eight years ago, when I read a couple
reviews about a movie that I did that I thought was, Oh, well,
(17:42):
that doesn't that's not helpful to me. Um, what movie
was it? Well, I don't want to I don't want
to throw this reviewer under the bus. Oh, go ahead,
we like to do that here on next question. We
like to throw people under the bus. Come on, Brian. Especially,
it sounds like this person me deserve it. Yeah, because
(18:04):
this person was lazy and claimed certain things that an
easy little research into it and this person would have found,
oh I'm wrong about that and about this. And so
I found the laziness of that to be irritating. And
(18:26):
I also realized and and so I said, I don't
think reading reviews helps me at all, And so I don't.
I don't read reviews on when I do a Broadway
show or when I do a movie because it it's
not going to change anything. Um and I actually most
people are saying, you could have nine great reviews and
(18:49):
one bad one, and the one you're going to think
about is the bad one. Isn't a true No matter
how many things you've done and how many times you've
been reviewed or critiqued, it still hurts. I think when
people say mean things about you. You know, are you
on Twitter? By the way, Well, are you leaving Twitter?
(19:10):
I'm not. I'm not active. You're not active? But you
would you do you want to stay on it? I
haven't really given it much thought. I certainly my whole
point I I long for the chance once again to
have a respectful, logical disagreement with someone who has who's
(19:32):
more conservative than I am. I'm more liberal, but I
and I want to have that debate again and not
lose respect for each other, knowing that we're both trying
to get to an accomplishment that benefits the country. That's
that's the goal. Uh, we've kind of lost that. I
(19:52):
think we've been conditioned not to want it, given the
kind of discourse or lack thereof that is everywhere. It's
almost assigned. Well, just as compromise on Capitol Hill is
a sign of weakness. Compromise or even uh, calm discussion
seems to be a sign of weakness, openness, kind of
(20:14):
willingness to listen. It has all been kind of I think,
I don't know, people just don't want to do it.
I agree with you, And I think what I was
saying earlier, same thing, um, asking forgiveness, apologizing signs of weakness.
I think that goes along with that that our country
(20:35):
has been a come courser and and harder. And I
think if if we can contribute anything to this is
to be able to try to break down that kind
of calloused attitude and dogma and be able to step
back in and saying let's have a respectful debate on
(20:59):
what is best for our society, our country, our state,
at our city, or whatever the case. I want to
see if I can help bring the country together with
less divisiveness and more spirit of unity, that would be great. Um.
When when I see people who have integrity and I
(21:23):
want to meet them, I want to talk to them.
It doesn't matter what side of the aisle they happen
to be on. I know you don't read reviews, Brian,
(21:44):
but I did want to read this letter from Anthony
Hopkins because it was so lovely and I just made
me like Anthony Hopkins even more than I already do.
He wrote that your performance as Walter his performance. I
guess this was to you, right. Your performance as Walter
White was the best acting I have seen ever. I
(22:06):
have never watched anything like it. Brilliant. I know there's
so much smoke blowing and sickening bullshit in this business,
and I've sort of lost belief in anything, really, but
this work of yours spectacular, absolutely stunning. From what started
as a black comedy descended into a labyrinth of blood
destruction and hell, it was like a great Jacobean, Shakespearean
(22:27):
or Greek tragedy. When you've read that, you I mean,
obviously you read that he wrote, he delivered it, or
he had it sent to your house. Yeah, it was
it was dull. I was actually um in Boston at
the time doing the out of town version of All
the Way and the play you did about LBJ, right,
and we had just closed that show there and I
(22:52):
got this letter that was forwarded from We have the
same agent, and so it was forwarded from the agents,
and I read it and oh my god. But I
I am not the one to want to make these
things public, and I didn't intend to make this public.
But he gave praise to not just me, but the
whole cast, and I felt I wanted to share that
(23:14):
with the cast, and I should have said, please, don't
put this out on social media. I did not think
in those terms, and I sent it to my cast
and say, I think you all should read this, isn't
it lovely? Lovely and mind blowing? And then someone within
our cast put it out on social media and it
(23:34):
went everywhere, and that wasn't the intention. I actually cringe
a little bit because I would have rather have been
just a private, private moment. Well, having said that, what
a nice gesture and what beautiful words, and coming from
one of the best actors to ever live. And is
there so much smoke blowing and sickening bullshit in your business?
(23:57):
Please that you're saying that rhetorically? Yeah, how do you?
How do you deal with sort of the bullshit of
show biz? Same way you do? You creates and you're
not in show business, of course you are. You're in
show business. I mean, I mean is to entertain, and
(24:19):
you do you entertain? You inform. We're all in the
business of entertainment when you think about it, whether you're
creating a service or a product, we're in entertainment, and
I think the way to manage it. And what I
tell young young actors or writers or directors people want
to be in the business, get your personal life in order.
(24:40):
Get that straight. Make sure that you're in you love
the work and not the idea of some uh effect
of some result. Yes you're not. Don't look ahead it
like I'm I'm out to get fame and fortune, because
(25:01):
that's that's the fool's erind isn't it. It is, because
I wouldn't know how to approach that. Just focus on
what you do and what you love to do, and
if you're meant to get anything from that, it will happen.
So I'm you know, just you kind of you. I
think you've again I'm acting like I've known you since
(25:23):
you were five. But it seems to me that you
are very grounded and you really have never lost perspective
per se. Also, you know, you were a successful actor,
but you're huge sort of success came later in life. Yeah,
I think that's it was a benefit because you know,
I've I've been married for thirty four years and lovely Robin,
(25:47):
and we have a we have a very good life,
and but it's very very normal. And I remember when
I was on Malcolm in the Middle and I was
nominated for an Emmy and we go to the Emmys
and I'm in my tuxedo and everybody Brian brianber and
taking pictures, pictures, pictures with Robin and I and and
we're getting the limo and we're the red carpet and
(26:09):
it's all fancy Hollywood, Mollywood and uh. And we go
home and I pay the babysitter and say goodnight, and
Robin walks into the kitchen and turns her nose and goes,
oh my god, what's And she discovers there's something stinky
in the garbage and she just picks up the plastic
garbage bag and shoves it in my hands. And I
(26:31):
don't say a word because that's my job. And I
opened the back door and I'm and no, it's starting
to drip. Something is really bad in here. And I'm
holding the dripping garbage, smelly garbage bag out at arm's
length so it doesn't drip on my tuxedo and I'm
walking out to the garbage and I realized, not twenty
(26:52):
minutes ago, people were please picture, let me take a picture.
Will you have an autographer? And now I'm taking smelly
garbage out of the and I smiled, because that's it.
That's the reality of it, that's real life, that's tangible.
It's right there, smelly garbage and all. And that's what
(27:12):
I want to embrace. I want to embrace the reality
of life. And if you can create a foundation of that,
then you have room to dream and go and take chances.
But you because you always have your kind of like
an invisible tether to something that's real. And that's why
you should get sort of your personal life in order,
(27:33):
because that is really what matters, that's what counts. And
and you know, I think, I think for so many
young people who experience fame at a very early age,
we see how destructive and toxic it is. And now,
I don't know, we live in a culture where everybody
can be famous on social media for one thing or another,
(27:55):
and I worry about the impact it has on young
people and sort of getting you know, and I experienced
this myself. You know, I think you get endorphins from
external validation and affirmation and the idea that that they
their sense of self is predicated upon their the number
(28:17):
of likes or the followers. It's it's a very unhealthy
I think recipe for living life as a healthy kind
of grounded person. It's an extremely unhealthy way of life.
I think from our perspective, people of a certain age,
looking back, we didn't have that when we were young.
What do we do? How do we help this generation
(28:39):
and the younger generations to come to to realize what
is really important to them? I think you know this, No,
you know. It used to be where if you weren't
invited to a party and Monday morning you heard there
was a party. Oh, that's kind of a bummer. I
didn't I wasn't invited, which happens to me. Um. But
(29:00):
now it's instantaneous that party is happening right now because
you're seeing that you are not there. That that is
devastating to young formidable mind. Yeah, listen, I'm glad even
though they're still only twenty six and thirty one. I
(29:22):
feel really bad for parents who are having to to
deal with it, and I think they just need to
take take it away, you know, take it away and
have hours where they can be on their phones. But
we digress, Brian, we digress. Let's talk about um that
your your mescal company, and I want to know what
else kind of you're excited about these days? Are you
(29:43):
going to do well? Before we talk about mescal? And
I have to be I have a confession to make.
I know what your confession is. I don't. I know.
I know that the last time we had dinner, we're
having mescal, and you went, I don't know. Can I
have something else? I don't have, dare you? I don't.
It's too smoky for me. I just I don't have
(30:04):
a palette for it. Yeah, you know, when you grow up,
you know you'll you'll have an opportune A lot of
the good news is a lot of people do listen.
How's the company going? It's gangbusters? Really. Aaron, Paul and
I started this three and a half years ago, and
we were then like, I think there's a hundred and
twenty five or six different mescal brands in the world,
(30:27):
and we were right there with them. Three and a
half years later, we're now number four, and yeah, we
have our eyes set on being number one. It's a
nice lofty goal for it. We should say the name
of the brand for you know, shameless plug. And what
I like about your origin story, as they say, is
(30:49):
that you didn't kind of just slap your name on
a bottle. You actually did the work. You all went
to Mexico, you went on, you know, a journey to
find the best mescal. I say, I think I said
it wrong, Miscal mescal, Mescal mescal, and you really you
did the work. You know, That's the only way that
(31:10):
I wanted to do it. Aaron and I have the
same work ethic. We come from blue collar families and
we don't really know any other way, but just keep
your head down and do the do the work, put
in the hours. And whether it's mescal or your own
acting career, if you don't put in the hours and
put in the work, you're not going to be successful.
(31:31):
That's a guarantee. UM. So we went down to Wahaca, Mexico,
and we sampled almost a hundred different mescals that we
didn't have brands connected to them, and we had very
different palettes. I have, I tease him, I have a
sophisticated palette and he has kind of a a brown
(31:54):
paper bag in the parking lot palette, according to you,
according to me exactly, he know, but he he loves
a strong scotch. He loves a burning sensation. I'm not
that way. You're a smooth I want to smooth. I
want to be introduced and seduced into my spirits. So
(32:15):
you're having a lot of fun with that, right, I mean?
Where the dos umbres? And what about theater um? You
know I loved all the way. I also saw you
a network. We went to see you at a play
in a play in Los Angeles that I thought was
wonderful written by I think someone who works with my
daughter on a show called The Boys. Right, yeah, and
(32:38):
obviously you love the theater um? And and do you
have any plans to revisit something? Or why you look
at me like that? Because it's one other thing that
I can't really talk about developing something, and I know
you're gonna want me to, I can't you give me
a little bit of a hint. Yeah, it's it's going
(33:00):
to be a Broadway play. Oh well, that's good. That's exciting.
It's it's very exciting. I have a couple more hurdles
to go to before actually gets into an actual reality
of casting and these things. But um, and it's something
that is a little a bit beyond. It's it's going
(33:20):
to be a musical. And I'm not I'm an actor
that can carry a tune, but I'm not a singer.
But it's original. It's it's not a remake. No, it
is a it is a revival, a revival. Yes, well,
I'll tell you this as soon as I know, and
(33:41):
I've I've gotten the green light when to do it.
I'll come and I'll mention it to you first. Okay,
I'll get a scoop here on next question? How old
are you Brian Cranspin, I'm I'm No, you're not, You're
you're my Are we the same, mate? I'm sixty six okay,
and I'm almost sixty six. And it's so great to
(34:01):
see you like doing your thing, taking on new challenges
and you know, and and not going quietly into this
good night. You know, it's nice to do you ever
want to retire? Do you ever want to take it easy? Personally?
I don't because I think I would shrivel up and
die if I didn't work. I would, Um, my mother, God,
(34:27):
bless her. She she had Alzheimer's, and she she died
of Alzheimer's fifteen years ago now, and so the possibility
of of that in a hereditary sense is there. And
I often said, as long as I'm enjoying and having fun,
I will continue to work. If I don't want to
(34:50):
struggle to remember lines, I don't want to be nervous
and anxious about any of that. If it comes to that,
then I would retire immediately. Um, I am not going
to be the person on stage with an earpiece being
fed his lines and then I just hear it and
repeat it. Here, it repeat it. It sounds pretty good
(35:11):
to me. No, God that that that itself puts more
anxiety inducing thoughts in my head than memorizing. You know.
That's that's part of it. But if if I ever
lose the joy of performing, then I'll retire right away.
But so far, no, I love it. What a gift
(35:32):
I get. I have to constantly say, I can't believe
what I get to do. This is just unbelievable that
I get to play. I get to play for a living.
And so when Monday comes around, I'm excited because I
get to go back to work and play. Uh, it's
just that it's just the best but a great way
(35:55):
to live. Yeah, it is. I've been very fortunate. Thank you, Brian,
Thank you Katie. You can watch Brian Cranston and the
second season of Your Honors starting Sunday, June on Showtime.
And to all of my Next Question listeners, this is
actually the last episode of our regular season. We're going
(36:15):
to take a bit of a brief hiatus and cook
up something new, new topics, new guests, and before too long,
a whole new season of Next Question, and you know what,
we might even change the name. So if you have suggestions,
let us know, but don't stray too far. I have
a few live events and bonus interviews that I'll be
(36:36):
sharing with you on this very feed Until then, Thanks
so much for listening everyone, you'll hear us soon. Next
Question with Katie Curic is a production of I Heart
Media and Katie Kurk Media. The executive producers Army, Katie Kuric,
and Courtney Litz. The supervising producer is Lauren Hansen, Associate
(36:59):
producer Derek Clements and Adriana Fasio. The show is edited
and mixed by Derrek Clements. For more information about today's episode,
or to sign up for my morning newsletter, wake Up Call,
go to Katie currect dot com. You can also find
me at Katie Currek on Instagram and all my social
media channels. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit
(37:21):
the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.
Host
Katie Couric
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