Gayle King

The ‘Our Way’ gang welcome Skip’s dear friend Gayle King to the show. Together they reminisce about their first meeting in Hartford (where Gayle was the local reporter) and their respective journeys to Hollywood and beyond. The TV icon opens up about how she began her broadcasting career, shares memories from her favorite interviews, and reveals how she kept her cool during her infamous sit-down with a heated R. Kelly. She also recalls the moment her 50+ year friendship with BFF Oprah Winfrey began — and why it involves a snowstorm and some underwear. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Our Way with yours truly Paul Anka and my buddy
Skip Bronson, is a production of iHeartRadio.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
I had a great interview with Jay Z recently, because
Jay doesn't give interviews, and I begged and groveled the
same with Bruce Springsteen. It took me five years, but
I find if you're persistent and not obnoxious. You know,
I've always heard no spelled backwards is on, So I
take that as game on. And so if you just

(00:30):
just be persistent and be patient and people can feel
that from you, things will often work out.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
Hi, folks, this is Paul Anka and my name is
Skip Bronson.

Speaker 3 (00:45):
We've been friends for decades and we've decided to let
you in on our late night phone calls by starting
a new podcast, and welcome to Our Way.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
We'd like you to meet some real good friends of us.

Speaker 3 (00:56):
You're leaders in entertainment and.

Speaker 1 (00:58):
Sports, innovators and business and technology, and even a sitting
president or two.

Speaker 3 (01:04):
Join us as we asked the questions they've not been
asked before, tell it like it is, and even sing
a song or two.

Speaker 1 (01:11):
This is our podcast and we'll be doing it our way. Hello, Skip, Hey,
what's going on? I'm so happy man. The hockey is

(01:32):
into the finals NHL. Now, all these teams are so good.
You know, it's now who's got the best goalie? But
I'm in heabit, you know, Canuck, Canuck. I'm just having
the best playoff hockey. There's nothing playoff nothing. Those guys,
I mean, they're in such great shape and it's like

(01:53):
ballet on ice, and the games are so good. And
and my Rangers, you know, you love the Rangers that
I think they got the shot this year. You know,
it's just so cool.

Speaker 3 (02:05):
Man.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
Anyway, my buddy, we have a buddy of yours coming on.
And I'm so excited about Derek Gail King. But you
know I was thinking about it, you know, because you
gave me the history on it the other day when
we had lunch. You know, your relationships, even with Gail,
who you go back to Hartford, as you explained to me,
you know, the the importance of friendships and then the

(02:30):
payback of it and the giving and the solid foundation
that it's on, you know, for you to pull her out.
You know, not that anyone's going to say no to you,
but when I really respect the friendships that you have, well,
even ours, you know, we talk about it every now
and then, and you know, my philosophy on it. I
wish they'd teach it in schools. But I'm really excited
that you got Gail to do this because I think

(02:51):
she's just an amazing human being, forget about woman, and
I'm looking forward to it to him.

Speaker 3 (02:58):
Yeah, I first met her in the eighties. You know,
I was living in Hartford. I was real estate developer,
built the tallest building. You know, people knew who I was.
But she was our local newscaster. She was the go
to person every night. Ironically, her co anchor was Offen
Meeka Berzhinski in Hartford. It is Hartford sort of like
a farm team for the majors of markets like New York.

(03:21):
But Gail really made that transition and we just, I
don't know, we hit it off and we just remained friends,
and we've gotten closer and closer and closer over the years.
And during COVID, you know, I would talk to her
or text with her certainly every single day, and you know,
and she's just a wonderful person. And her friendship with
Oprah is extraordinary. I mean they're just best friends like forever.

(03:46):
Is that, you know, the initials BFF. But I'm the
same way with you. I mean, my relationship with you
is more important to me than people know. And even
more important than you know is when I've had difficult times,
first call ball Anca every single time, whether it was
you know, through my divorce or you know, when I
had that bankruptcy in ninety one. I think the important

(04:09):
thing about friendship is consistency. You know, it's not somebody
that's sort of a friend and then they're not a
friend and then oh yeah, I got a call so
and so again. But when you have the kind of
relationship that you and I have, it doesn't matter to
me that you're a celebrity. I don't care about that.
I mean, I care about your career and I get
excited every time I read a review about one of

(04:30):
the shows that you've done and how well people react
to it. But just the you know, the friendship that
we have just so important.

Speaker 1 (04:38):
Could keep calling. And I care a lot that I'm
a celebrity. I don't think you'd be talking to me
if I wasn't. But no, no, I love you. I
love you, and I think that tomorrow it's going to
be so cool, And I think we're going to be
very respectful in terms of let's say, Oprah. You know,

(05:00):
I think this woman's got her own mantle now and
I want to know about her and everything she's doing,
and if it comes up. I think that because I
think for years there there was always the connection and
you know, she started as an assistant. I think I
read somewhere and I think we know what to do
with it tomorrow. I think it'll be a lot of fun.
I think she's just that kind of person.

Speaker 3 (05:21):
She's very, very open. She's she's not a shrinking violet,
by the way, and this is a this is not
a criticism, it's positive. She just loves to talk. I mean,
she's a great communicator.

Speaker 1 (05:34):
Nothing wrong with that. And the friends we know, let's
take a breath and we're out of the conversation.

Speaker 3 (05:39):
Absolutely well, she's right in there. But you know what,
you know something, she's just such a doll. I just
love her death. She's just great. You know.

Speaker 1 (05:46):
It's you know what's cool, skift is it? You know
we've been doing this now for a stroke or two.
Is that we're able to sit back and let people
talk because so many others, without naming they just talk
talk talk, and then they'll never let the guests talk.
And you know, we've kind of got that rhythm going
and I love that, just sitting back and really hearing

(06:09):
what a guest has to say.

Speaker 3 (06:10):
Yeah, it's been great. I mean I think of guys
that we've had, like Billy Bush, they start interviewing us,
which is great. You know, it's just their natural way
of doing things. You know, they're because the keyword curiosity.
I think that's the common that I'm.

Speaker 1 (06:25):
Oh all my life, right, I've been curious.

Speaker 3 (06:27):
You have to be curious, very curious about things you
really want to and it's not an intentional process of
wanting to learn. It just comes naturally because of our
natural curiosity that we have. And we have so many
things in common. But this is going to be great
having Gail. It's terrific. I'm just excited about it. You're
always either at an airport or heading for an airport.

Speaker 1 (06:49):
I'm marvel heading, I'm heading there.

Speaker 3 (06:51):
You go. All right, man, So I'll talk to you.
I probably won't talk to you until tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (06:56):
You won't talk to me till an hour from now.
Hey did I tell you an hour ago that?

Speaker 3 (07:05):
Hey, did you hear that you're my speed by every day.

Speaker 1 (07:10):
Oh yeah, you got a speed though, you sure do
all right, I take care of I love you. I
love you too.

Speaker 3 (07:23):
There's my girl.

Speaker 2 (07:24):
Hi, Skippy, Hi, how are you hi?

Speaker 1 (07:27):
Paul? Hi?

Speaker 3 (07:28):
Yeah, No, I can't believe we're doing a podcast together.
I was doing the mouth the math this morning, thinking
about for our days back in Hartford, and we've actually
known each other and been friends for more than thirty years. Wow.

Speaker 2 (07:41):
And guess what, Skippy, we're still not old.

Speaker 3 (07:44):
I know we're not, definitely not.

Speaker 1 (07:45):
We don't use that word, Paul.

Speaker 2 (07:47):
What word do we use?

Speaker 1 (07:48):
We use older?

Speaker 2 (07:50):
Somebody guys said the other day vintage. I don't like
that either.

Speaker 1 (07:53):
We use older. You never use the word old.

Speaker 3 (07:57):
You know what? I do like what Paul? And my
mut friend Steve Wynn, who you've met with me, has
a great line. He says, no matter how old the
container gets, that voice in your head that talks to
you never gets older. It's still about twenty one or
twenty two years old.

Speaker 2 (08:13):
So true. That is so true.

Speaker 1 (08:15):
And Skip was so excited about today, Gail. We've had
some fun people on.

Speaker 2 (08:20):
But I know I'm excited too.

Speaker 1 (08:22):
He's been reving up he's been revving up and telling
me and talking because we talk about five times a
day all the time.

Speaker 2 (08:29):
He says nice things about YouTube ball.

Speaker 1 (08:32):
Well he has good judgment. He's got good judge.

Speaker 2 (08:34):
Yeah he does.

Speaker 3 (08:35):
He does so for the people that don't know. When
I grew up in Hartford, Connecticut, and Gail in the
mid to late eighties and into the nineties was our
local newscast caster on WFSB, the CBS television affiliate Channel
three in Hartford, eyewitness News.

Speaker 2 (08:55):
Skippy. I was there from nineteen eighty one to nineteen
ninety nine.

Speaker 3 (08:58):
Wow, Like I said, I'm wise.

Speaker 1 (09:01):
I was there from nineteen fifty seven to nineteen sixty four.

Speaker 2 (09:05):
There you go.

Speaker 1 (09:06):
We used to go up to Hartford to break records.
It was New York, Hartford, Chicago. If you want to
break a record, you know, you guys are a little
younger than I am, but Hartford was the stop.

Speaker 3 (09:17):
Gale. I would say, like the commercial, You've come a
long way, baby, you really have. What a career you've created.

Speaker 2 (09:24):
And I used to interview you because Skippy was he
was mister big, he was, he was demand in the
city of Hartford. Oh, mister Bronson, is it possible to
do an interview.

Speaker 3 (09:36):
Today the big fish in the small pond. But har
Hartford is a great place to be from as opposed
to being.

Speaker 2 (09:43):
I think so too.

Speaker 3 (09:44):
But it was pretty great then, you know, with the
Hertford Whalers. There was a great energy. It was the
insurance capital of the world, you know, just to had
a lively community. I've lived in West Hertford, which you
know had all the great restaurants, so it was fun
back then.

Speaker 2 (10:00):
I agree.

Speaker 3 (10:00):
I have to say, I know you haven't been back.
I haven't been back in at least five years, and
probably no, it's got to be at least ten years.
But I'm going to try to get back this summer.
My parents are buried there, so I'll go back and
pay them a visit.

Speaker 2 (10:16):
No, I would like to. I was on the plane. Yes,
So I went to Japan guys earlier this month. Last
month in April. It was my first trip to Japan.
So we went on a girls trip as me, Oprah
favorite daughter, Kirby and Ava du Verney. But the point
I'm making is I was on the plane and a
couple said, Hi, Gail, we're from West Hartford and we
remember when you were on the news, and I said,

(10:38):
I haven't been back there and so long. They said
you should come. It's really changed West Hartford Center. You
wouldn't recognize it. So I have a great affinity for
your former town because I always wanted to live in
West Harford, Paul. I always wanted to live there, but
that was that was where the rich people lived. Paul,
and I used to dream one day of living in
West Hartford.

Speaker 1 (10:58):
So yes, I am through that too. You know, Gail,
how did you like my favorite country in the world.
I was there when I was seventeen years old.

Speaker 3 (11:07):
Japan.

Speaker 1 (11:07):
Wow, and I've been going for the last fifty years.
I just got back a few months ago. Isn't that
the most incredible city and country that you've ever visited?

Speaker 2 (11:17):
Not only that, So we went to Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka.

Speaker 1 (11:22):
Paul.

Speaker 2 (11:22):
This is the thing I noticed in terms of service.
You know, we're so used to tipping, and you would
try to give a tip and they would say no, no, no,
absolutely not. We went to see the cherry blossoms. Well, guys,
this was the first time in ten years that the
cherry blossoms didn't bloom when they're supposed to bloom.

Speaker 1 (11:39):
Oh they didn't.

Speaker 2 (11:40):
Nope, they did not.

Speaker 1 (11:41):
Wow, that's unusual.

Speaker 2 (11:42):
So everywhere we'd go, so it became a joke of
me taking cherry blossoms and vases because that's how we
saw them. But they said in ten years, with climate
change and all of that, so they went into full
bloom a week after we left. I was so bummed.

Speaker 1 (11:56):
Oh that's a shame.

Speaker 2 (11:58):
But still the experience to be in the country, to
be with the people. We're all glad that we got
to go.

Speaker 1 (12:04):
Yeah, they're great people.

Speaker 2 (12:05):
Excise me. Have you been to Japan?

Speaker 1 (12:07):
You must it?

Speaker 3 (12:08):
Yeah, Edie and I went, actually with our mutual friends
Debbie and Allen Grubman. You took the high speed train
from Tokyo to Osaka. Did you do that?

Speaker 2 (12:16):
No?

Speaker 1 (12:17):
The bullet train.

Speaker 3 (12:18):
Yeah, the bullet train. It is the most extraordinary experience.
And when you compare our country and our infrastructure and
our RAS system, I mean, it's just it's it makes
you sad actually because you see what can happen. But
when those trains that go like, you know, three hundred
miles an hour, the most extraordinary time of the trip

(12:39):
is when you pass the train going in the other direction.
The whole thing. It just moves, you know, you just
shake from one side to the other. You just get
a real sense of the speed. Yeah, it was great.

Speaker 2 (12:50):
No, we didn't get to do that, but everybody says
that that's what you need to do to go and
go buy the train. Also, it's so many people, guys,
but I felt totally safe there. Number One, they don't
have guns, they don't have real true crime the way
we have it here. So even though you're around so
many people, it's also not as loud as it is here.

(13:12):
It's quiet, it's clean, it's clean, and I felt really safe.

Speaker 1 (13:16):
Everything is clean, service is clean. The hotels are the toilets.
Have you ever seen anything like those toilets? I mean
you could eat off the floor.

Speaker 2 (13:24):
I know, I know.

Speaker 1 (13:25):
I loved it over there. It was just it's kind
of country I go to where I'm the tallest guy in.

Speaker 2 (13:29):
The country, the tallest guy in the country.

Speaker 1 (13:34):
I had my own train in nineteen fifty eight, I
was touring. I had my own train. I had five
six records on the charts. First time out of Canada,
where I was born. Gail and I get my own
train and we're traveling throughout the country on this train. Well,
I had never in my life experienced such a life change.
And we'd go do concerts and I I'd visit some

(13:55):
of the hospitals because when I was there, there were
still bombs in the ground and there were still you know,
there are people with no arms, no legs, and I
was visiting these hospitals. But for all the years I've
been going there, it's it's it's a it's it's a
great country that's left that's kept the promise. When you
think of Asia and after we made the agreement with
them after the war, they take care of their elderly.

(14:17):
They're on top of everything that goes on in that country.
There are good people, that's.

Speaker 2 (14:23):
A good way to put it. And they have great
respect for the elderly too. I mean just the whole
culture is yes, big time, big take a lesson from them.

Speaker 3 (14:32):
Speaking of respect. So when we went to Kyoto, you
know you're supposed to stay in a Riocan Yeah, and
so Alan Grubman was like, oh my god, you know
he only wants to stay in four seasons hotel.

Speaker 2 (14:44):
Well, I'm not mad at that, Skippy, that's right.

Speaker 1 (14:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (14:49):
We stayed at the Aman Those Aman hotels are also pretty.

Speaker 1 (14:52):
That's the new one. That's beautiful. It's a brand new
hotel with the great present. They're really nice, great prices,
prices through the room.

Speaker 2 (15:00):
Yes, yeah, I know, I know.

Speaker 3 (15:02):
I'll tell you where you wouldn't have stayed this riocon.
We pull up in front, so Edian Debbie staying in
the van analysais. Wait a minute, let's you and I
better check this out. So we walk in and look
at this thing. I mean, forget four seasons. It wasn't
a one season. This was so they showed it was winter.
They showed us down the hall. They said, well, this
will be your room. What no suite? Yeah, this will

(15:24):
be your room. This will be your room. And let
us show you where the bathroom is down at the
end of the hall.

Speaker 2 (15:29):
Oh, you had to share a bathroom?

Speaker 3 (15:31):
Alan. Then I turn around, we get back in the van.
Let's go.

Speaker 2 (15:37):
Any seasons, any season will do.

Speaker 1 (15:40):
That's right, Paul, Well, I had one of those little rooms.
But they had this beautiful little wooden toilets just off
of the room with just one of the mats in
the room. There's no furniture, and that's an experience when
you don't have a bed. You don't have anything whatsoever
in the room. Wow, But you do have a bathroom
and you've got a squat. It's not the toilet that
we know. It's just a little hole on the ground

(16:01):
and there's a couple of little bars where you can
see how well you can hold your body, Paul.

Speaker 2 (16:06):
That wouldn't work for me with bad knees.

Speaker 1 (16:08):
Doesn't work for anybody with good knews not for me.

Speaker 3 (16:12):
Well, when you were performing there, weren't you amazed that, Like,
if you're singing Diana, you know, any of the you.

Speaker 2 (16:18):
Know, your greatest Diana, Oh my God, you.

Speaker 3 (16:21):
Know, and put your head on my shoulder or puppy
love whatever. They know the words in English, right, the
Japanese audience, they.

Speaker 1 (16:27):
Know all the words in English, and they can't talk
to you. But then I could sing put your legs
on my shoulders. They wouldn't know the difference. But they
were just amazing people to sing to. You know. The
whole front of the stage is littered with flowers and kimonas,
and they're just the most gracious people all the time.
And I was amazed when I went back up shooting

(16:47):
my documentary. So we went down there and the people.
They haven't changed. It's a great testament to that country.

Speaker 2 (16:54):
Do you still like performing?

Speaker 1 (16:55):
Do you still I love it? I do just what
I want to do. I do X amount of days
a year, and I do it because I enjoy it.
And listen, you can't stop doing something you love. Gail
forget age and all that bologne.

Speaker 2 (17:10):
I agree.

Speaker 1 (17:11):
If you love it, you gotta do it because it
keeps you active, keeps you young, keeps you doing what you.

Speaker 3 (17:15):
Love to do.

Speaker 2 (17:16):
I feel that too. Listen, guys, do you know Walter
Cronkite had to retire from CBS at sixty five? Well,
had retire. He didn't have a choice, and he didn't
want to go either. But I'm sitting there at sixty
nine not even kind of thinking about retiring, and I
just marveled that that, you know, he had no choice.
And now all of us who are over sixty five

(17:38):
still feel I still feel so young at heart. You
must feel this too, don't you.

Speaker 3 (17:42):
Guys?

Speaker 1 (17:42):
You look young at heart, Your energy is young. And
we're in a day and age now we're in two
or three years. With what's coming down the medical pipe,
we could live to over one hundred. There's all kinds
of amazing things evolving, and if you're staying healthy and
taking care of yourself, there's no reason to stop.

Speaker 2 (17:59):
Well. I used to say, if I could just live
till eighty, i'd be really happy. Now I'm like, oh,
let's keep maybe ninety, you'll.

Speaker 1 (18:07):
See a hundred gale. I started out as a kid
in Canada. I worked at local newspaper. I wanted to
be a journalists because in school I was like winning
awards for my writing and I was typing seventy words

(18:28):
a minute and short end and all that stuff until I
got wise and took music. But I worked at a
local newspaper because I wanted to be a journalist. But
in the fifties, you know, there wasn't a lot where
you could go and learn about journalism. Is that something
that you always wanted to do? What age did you
get interested in that?

Speaker 2 (18:44):
No? No, no. I majored in psychology in college, so
I was going to be and I think I would
have been good at this a child psychologist or a psychiatrist,
because I've always liked listening to people's problems and giving
unsolicited advice, which I still do, so I thought i'd
be really good at that or I would be good
as an attorney arguing my case. But when I was

(19:06):
in college at University of Maryland, I was working at
a little camera store next to a TV station and
one of the muckey muck said, you have such an
outgoing personality, such a good boys. Have you ever thought
about TV? Blah blah blah blah blah. No, actually I haven't. Well,
we have an opening. It's an entry level position. Would
you be interested? And I said, well, do I have
to work nights or weekends? He said, well, a note

(19:27):
to self, when someone's offering you a gift, the correct
answer is thank you, not do I have to work
nights or weekends? He goes, well, that's an unusual question,
but no, you don't. Would this be to your liking? Anyway?
The first time I walked in the news room, I
was hooked. And I've been hooked ever since I was
a junior. I was a junior in college and I've
been hooked ever since.

Speaker 1 (19:47):
Isn't it wonderful to see how it's evolved though? Yeah,
changes on the landscape, let alone, let alone women's position
now in the world. You know, as a father of
five girls, I'm biased but I was telling Skip the
other day, brought up the Beyonce country record that's out. Yes,
it just a talented person that happens to be a woman,

(20:07):
and right now they dominate the music scene. And our
really wishes they were just artists and we don't have
to qualify that they're women. But it's really close to
that now, and you must really be gratified to see
how that's emerging. I'm sure, oh very much.

Speaker 2 (20:25):
You know, there's still work to do, but yes, I
mean just the fact that I'm sitting there at CBS
in the position that I'm in. But let's talk about
Beyonce's new album. Have you heard it yet, Skippy? It's
so good.

Speaker 3 (20:36):
I've heard it, and I have to tell you last
you know. I was at the iHeart Music Awards recently
and oh they had on the stage speaking of women,
powerful women. How about this? They had Share Share Beyonce
and Meryl Streep gave Share the award. Stevie, oh wow,
I Wonder gave Beyonce her award. But they want awards

(20:56):
that were given by And I'm sitting there and I'm
looking before Stevie Wonder came out, and I'm sitting there
in the audience and thinking, there's arguably the greatest actress
of all time, Meryl Street. With Cher and Beyonce together
on the same stage. I mean, it was it was
mind blowing.

Speaker 2 (21:15):
Oh how was that show? I wanted to go so
badly lucky you incredible.

Speaker 3 (21:19):
The show's you know, Justin Timberlake openand who worked with
Paul did the opening of the new Fontaine Blue in
Las Vegas with Justin Timberlake.

Speaker 2 (21:27):
But oh we love him.

Speaker 3 (21:29):
Yes, he sang and danced and did his whole thing.
And then Jelly Roll, whose music I really wasn't familiar
with him. He's on my playlist now. This guy was incredible.

Speaker 2 (21:40):
He's got a song called save Me.

Speaker 3 (21:42):
He performed it at the iHeart Music Awards.

Speaker 2 (21:45):
People were crying. He did it at Clive Davis's party
for the Grammys and people in the room were weeping.
He's got an amazing backstory. His album is good too.

Speaker 1 (21:54):
Yeah, he's a good artist.

Speaker 2 (21:55):
Yeah, we're doing something with him.

Speaker 3 (21:57):
Yeah, oh great. Our mutual friend John Sykes got his
great seats of course, so we had a blast in
him oh stage after and you know, so everybody and
it was a lot of fun and also Jared Leto,
who like us, is a survivor of the Rising Sun yacht.
He was there and we visited with him for a while.

Speaker 2 (22:16):
Oh man, that's the show. I saw it on TV
the other day the day after. I thought, God, I
wish I could have gone to that.

Speaker 3 (22:23):
It was great.

Speaker 2 (22:24):
Ah, lucky you, lucky you.

Speaker 3 (22:26):
And our friend, our friend David Geffen is in town.
I had breakfast with him.

Speaker 2 (22:29):
Did he go to the iHeart He did.

Speaker 3 (22:31):
Not, but I was talking him about. I said, I'm
going to be with you today, And I said, Gale
and I share a lot in common. And one is
your boat is our happy place.

Speaker 2 (22:40):
It is a special experience. And and Paul, it's called
the Rising Sun like Japan.

Speaker 1 (22:46):
Yeah, so I know the boat. Well, we passed each
other when I'm over there on Steve Wynn or Dennis
Washington's boats. We all hang in the same area.

Speaker 2 (22:54):
Well, I will say this, Paul, it's very nice to
have friends that have both.

Speaker 1 (22:57):
It's so cheap, it's wonderful. I don't have my own boat,
would never own a boat. Airplanes are another matter, but boats,
there's no way.

Speaker 2 (23:06):
It's very nice to have friends that have boats and
allow you to come and play.

Speaker 1 (23:09):
Yes, exactly.

Speaker 3 (23:10):
So I was watching your morning show recently, as I
do literally every morning, your show, CBS Mornings, and you
had Maurice Ashley on, who you know, the world famous
best player.

Speaker 2 (23:23):
Oh, yes, he's the first black grand what is it
grand Master of chess?

Speaker 3 (23:27):
Yes, yeah, he was phenomenal.

Speaker 2 (23:29):
Do you play chess?

Speaker 3 (23:31):
I don't. My sister, my late sister was, at the
time of her death, the reigning United States Women's American
Bridge champion.

Speaker 2 (23:39):
Yeah, I've tried chess, Paul, do you play chess?

Speaker 1 (23:42):
I was working in Vegas about forty years ago. I
played chess with a lot of show girls.

Speaker 2 (23:46):
Oh, I've just I've tried, guys, I've tried, and yeah,
some pieces move sideway, some move backwards. The black does this,
and the white does something, and I just but this guy,
Maurice Ashley, who was so good, he said that the
mistake people made, you know, because he's teaching five year olds.
He said, people just try to explain the whole game

(24:08):
to you, and what they should do is just concentrate
on one piece at a time, master that and know
what that does and then move on, which made a
lot of sense to me. Normally, whenever it's been explained
to me, somebody gives me the whole thing all laid out,
and my mind just starts. I feel like my head's
gonna friggin pop off. But I would like to know
it because said it helps with your patience, with your acuity,

(24:31):
with your thought process, engaging in strategicy. So strategy copying
George was because I loved it when he said, tratejery.
But I would like to I now actually would like
to learn how to do it.

Speaker 1 (24:43):
My eighteen year old son they played all the time,
him and his posse. They played poker, and they played
chess and they're really into it. Who did who my
eighteen year old son, Ethan.

Speaker 2 (24:53):
So you have five daughters, five daughters.

Speaker 1 (24:56):
And I have an eighteen year old son, Yes, eighteen
year old son, which is another story.

Speaker 2 (25:00):
But this young ball, there's a story there.

Speaker 1 (25:03):
Paul's going, believe me, he has the stuffed he just go,
go go. But they played chess and they listen.

Speaker 2 (25:10):
Robert de Niro and Al Pacino late seventies early eighties,
just had a baby and I did an interview with
Robert de Niro shortly after the baby, and I just thought, well,
so were you surprised and he goes, no, we planned it.
I was surprised to you they had planned that they
wanted this baby. He goes, no, no, no, this is
not an accident. I went, wow, I'm impressed.

Speaker 1 (25:32):
Keep some young.

Speaker 3 (25:34):
So if I if I can just circle back one
last piece about Maurice Ashley. So you know, I'm a golfer,
right and I work with a golf instructor, golf psychologist,
doctor Bob Rotella, who's the world famous instructor, and he
always talks about with putting. He said something that resonated
with me, which is, it's about the process, not the result.

(25:56):
Just make sure your process is right. Sometimes the ball
will go in and some times it won't. It's not
about the result. And that's what Marie's.

Speaker 2 (26:03):
That struck me too when he said that.

Speaker 3 (26:05):
Playing bridge and other aspects of life, and he used
the same words. He said, well, it's about the process,
not the result. And I saw you the way that
resonated with you when he said that.

Speaker 2 (26:16):
Yeah, that hit me too.

Speaker 3 (26:17):
I just love the way in your interviews there's real
empathy and a genuine curiosity and I love that about you.
You know, you always always learn it Yeah.

Speaker 2 (26:26):
You know, when I was a little kid, I was
called nosey, and I was very I didn't like that word.
I prefer the word inquisitive or curious. But I was
just always that kid who always had a million questions
about things and was trying to figure out why do
you do that that? You know, I always had questions
for people, why do you do that? What do you do?

(26:46):
Da Dad?

Speaker 1 (26:47):
Always which we got to get to r Kelly somewhere
in this hour. Yeah, I mean, how did you stay
so calm through all of that? I mean, it was
amazing what you did and how you handled it.

Speaker 2 (26:58):
But Paul, I never thought he was going to hurt me.
You know, even though he got very angry and was hitting,
I never thought he was going to hurt me. I
thought you have to be calm because I'd seen interviews
and when he gets angry, he gets up and storms out.
And my whole thought was, God, please, don'tly please if
you had seen a thought bubble, That's why I just said. Robert,
I looked at him, looked at the chair, looked at him,

(27:18):
looked at the chair to let him know, whatever this is,
I'm going to be sitting here waiting for you, and
he instantly read my body language. I didn't go to
touch him because I thought, you know, then you get
that hell. I just thought if i'd just sit here,
calmly and let him go through whatever this is, he
would sit back down. And I didn't think that he
wanted to hurt me. I was worried, Paul, that he
would accidentally hit me because he was flailing all around.

(27:41):
I was concerned about that.

Speaker 1 (27:42):
But you kept your distances. Yes, yes, yes, it was
brilliant watching it, but when.

Speaker 2 (27:46):
People are swinging, when people are swinging, sometimes distance isn't
enough love.

Speaker 3 (27:51):
I love the way you repeated his name. You went Robert,
and you paused, You paused and Robert. You gave him
the double robber pause in the middle. It was just timing,
was true. Timing was just epic.

Speaker 2 (28:08):
I was just trying to get his attention. What's funny
is they did a skit on that Guys on Saturday
Night Live, and you know, when you're in the middle
of it, you don't think of that, you don't think
of I'm creating a moment here. I was really just
trying to calm him down.

Speaker 1 (28:34):
From that amazing moment that we loved who's the most
fascinating person that you've interviewed? Someone else stood out for you?

Speaker 2 (28:41):
Well, it's always it's not necessarily famous people. I remember,
you know, the parents from the Newtown shooting still hold
a place in my heart because Kippy, as you know,
that was in Connecticut, so all Connecticut stories get to me.
I had a great interview with Jay Z recently, because
Jay doesn't give interviews, and I begged and growled the
same with Bruce Springsteen. It took me five years, but

(29:03):
I find if you're persistent and not obnoxious. You know,
I've always heard no spelled backwards is on, so I
take that as game on. And so if you just
just be persistent and be patient and people can feel
that from you, things will often work out.

Speaker 1 (29:20):
How recent was Jay Z?

Speaker 2 (29:22):
We based it on exhibition of him at the Brooklyn
Library where it was his career and so that we
did that a couple months ago.

Speaker 1 (29:30):
Yeah, I remember that at the library.

Speaker 2 (29:33):
Yeah, at the library. It just I think the exhibit
ended in October, and so we got to do it
something with him.

Speaker 1 (29:39):
Well, would you ask him now, Gail this week with
what's going on?

Speaker 2 (29:43):
Well, the whole thing, the big story now of course,
is involving Puffey.

Speaker 1 (29:47):
That's the point.

Speaker 2 (29:48):
Yes, I mean, I don't know how that's going to
turn out. Listen, the Feds don't raid your two of
your homes, the two, not one, but two.

Speaker 1 (29:58):
You know.

Speaker 2 (29:59):
I believe an indictment is coming, and when the indictment
comes out, I think that that will tell whatever this is.
I'm not even sure what this is. It's just sex trafficking.
What does that mean? What does that mean? So I'm curious,
I'm very curious.

Speaker 1 (30:12):
You made the point though. They they know what they're
doing and what they have, and we don't get that's
always the case. They don't fool around with.

Speaker 2 (30:20):
That, No, they don't. And then you know, they were
saying how I wasn't quite sure why they had to
handcuff his sons who were just standing outside, and then
somebody pointed out to me, well they also handcuff Felicity Huffman.

Speaker 1 (30:32):
Well that's procedure for them, Gil and others. Where they
when they go into a house, they don't know. You know,
they got a tough job, these guys, and they overreact
maybe sometime, but when they're going into a house they've
never been in, you never know. What you're going to
encounter and their safety and those in their matter. So
they have to do that.

Speaker 2 (30:50):
I mean, you know, so it is procedure, But Paul
I kept thinking, you have to handcuff Felicity Huffman, you
have to handcuff his sons who are just clearly, you know,
standing there not armed. I don't know, but I also
understand what you're saying about procedure. And that's how it
was explained to me. It doesn't matter who it is,
they have to do what they have to do because
you don't know who's in the house and what's going on,

(31:11):
exactly what they reach for.

Speaker 3 (31:12):
So on a happier note, one of the people you
interviewed a mutual friend of ours, Chris Rock. I love
the way you helped that interview was great, and you
know what I love. He's such a great guy to
Paul and I talk about this a lot. A lot
of comedians when they're not performing, they're not funny. I mean,
I can't tell you how many comedians that I've met
and then I say, wow, I'm going to be with

(31:33):
so and so it's going to be great, and go
to dinner with them, and like I'll call Paul later
that night, I'll say I was with whomever. He didn't
say one thing that was funny. I was funnier than
he was. I don't get it.

Speaker 2 (31:46):
They don't want to be on all the time.

Speaker 3 (31:48):
But Chris Rock, he is genuinely funny. He's genuinely funny,
as is Sebastian.

Speaker 2 (31:55):
I was going to say as a Sebastian.

Speaker 3 (31:57):
And you know, I'm very close to Larry, to Larry David,
we play golf together on weekends and JB's smooth plays
Leon on Curb Enthusiasm.

Speaker 2 (32:08):
He is now, he seems funny all the time.

Speaker 1 (32:11):
All the time. I just go to an emergency ward
after films. This guy is so wound up skim I
saw the other night. I said, this is not real.
They must take him right to a hospital. They're out
for two days. But he's brilliant.

Speaker 3 (32:25):
He's so funny, he is so hilarious. He just blurts
things out that you know. Larry sort of used our
screening room at our home as almost I called it
his editing bab because he showed all the episodes, you know,
before they came out, and you know, they sort of
did some editing and reworking. He was there for every
one of them and got in his wife, Shah, who

(32:45):
is just a doll. But he he comes to the house,
never comes empty handed. He just but the things that
he comes out with. So he collects classic cars. So
we walked to the front door of the house, say
to say goodbye to everybody, and he's in the courtyard.
He starts up this carr he had like a nineteen
seventy eight Maserati. Started this thing up. It was the

(33:07):
loudest thing, and all these all my environmentalist friends are like,
you know, ah, they're standing there and he just throws
it into first gear and then he pulls over and
everybody's like got their mouth open. He puts the passenger
window down and he says it's electric and drives out

(33:28):
of the driveway. He is just a beautiful man. And
here is this.

Speaker 2 (33:34):
Is what I find too about comedians. They're so quick.
They're so quick. I mean, they just observe things in
life and instantly they see things differently than the rest
of us, and they're able to process it instantly. You know,
I love Curb your enthusiasm. And the other day Bruce
Springsteen in appearance on curb.

Speaker 1 (33:51):
Your enthusiasm did very well too.

Speaker 2 (33:54):
Are they are they friends?

Speaker 3 (33:55):
Bruce and Larry No, and Alan Rubin again our friend
and you're a lawyer. Said to me, Hey, make sure
you let Larry know that Bruce Springsteen is one of
my clients. I said, guess what, he won't hear it.

Speaker 2 (34:09):
I was so curious about how that came about.

Speaker 3 (34:11):
Because Bruce Springsteen's people. Yeah, they reach out to people
and they get people that you wouldn't imagine, and a
lot of times people who you wouldn't think of. I
don't want to be on the show.

Speaker 2 (34:22):
And so they just reached out to Bruce and he
said yes, yeah.

Speaker 3 (34:25):
And by the way, he's a good actor. He was
really good. Yeah, he was terrect.

Speaker 2 (34:29):
But that was such a surprise. But I'm really disappointed
that he says this is the last season. Do you
really think that's true?

Speaker 3 (34:36):
I do, Yeah, but he's not going away.

Speaker 1 (34:40):
If it's a health issue.

Speaker 3 (34:41):
Though.

Speaker 1 (34:41):
If it's a health issue, I don't believe it when
performers say that they all give.

Speaker 2 (34:45):
It unless it's a health.

Speaker 1 (34:47):
Issue, and then they go on for a five year
farewell tour. You know by then they're ninety two.

Speaker 3 (34:52):
I can report that he does not have any health
issue and he's in great shape.

Speaker 2 (34:55):
But he so why is he pulling the plug then
when it's still so good.

Speaker 3 (34:59):
Because he just it just feels there was enough. But
he's going to do other things. Just stay tuned. He'll
be doing things. He's not going well. He's not going well.

Speaker 1 (35:08):
Sinatra said it four times, four times.

Speaker 3 (35:11):
Yeah, right, tell Gail that story, Paul, about how when
you wrote My Way for him, you have to tell Gail.

Speaker 1 (35:18):
Well, I started with those guys, Gail, back in the
early fifties. I went to Vegas at fifty eight, and
I wound up with the rat Pack and there with
guys I idolized, Sinatra, Sammy Davis, who was the most
talented of everybody, and Dean Martin, and you know, through
those years I got to know them well, but I
was still the kid. You know. These guys were twice

(35:39):
my age, but I was working for the mob like
they were, and they controlled and we had our life
and we were having frolicking and having fun. But I'd
always wanted to write for Sinatra because he was like
the guy. And I was at the Fountain Blue Hotel
in the late sixties. He was in town doing a
film called Lady AND's Event, and with the guys we

(36:01):
worked for it could have been a documentary, you know.
But he was He was very cool. And he called
me up and he said, dinner, dinner, I want to
talk to you. So I went to dinner with him
and he was with Mia Farrell, who was oh wow,
twenty one. So we're at dinner and one thing led
to another. He said, kid, I'm quitting show biz. I've
had enough. I'm tired, rat packs over doing one.

Speaker 2 (36:24):
And that's what he called you, kid.

Speaker 1 (36:25):
Yeah, we all had nicknames. Sammy had a name, Dean
had a name. I was the kid, and we're on
our bath roads because all the fun was in the
steam room when our shows were over. We won't go
into that. So he at dinner, he said I'm quitting
and I would do one more album with Don and
he said, you never wrote me a song. And I
looked at him and Mia Farrell and I said, well,

(36:47):
maybe you can do my song Poppy Love, which didn't
go over too well at that time. Yes, yes, twenty one.

Speaker 2 (36:54):
And she's sitting there, yes, yes.

Speaker 1 (36:56):
So anyway, I go home.

Speaker 3 (36:57):
Paul.

Speaker 2 (36:58):
That's one of those cases where they go read the ruined.

Speaker 1 (37:00):
By right, right right. But he was cool. He was cool.
So I go home to New York. I sit down.
In five hours, I finished the lyric of My Way,
and I fly out to Vegas the next night and
he said, kid, I love it. Two months later he
called and said from a studio in La he said, kid,
listen to this, and he played it over the phone.

(37:23):
That's the first time I heard it. I started crying
because my life changed, so did his. It was such
a big hit. He stayed for ten years, so that
to your point, he was retiring, but he stayed ten
more years because the song was huge.

Speaker 2 (37:37):
But when you finish that, because the song still, that
song still holds up still. When you finished it, did
you know that it was a hit?

Speaker 1 (37:44):
Did you know that I knew it was different and
very special different. Yeah, you don't. It was a spiritual
moment for me. I believe that a lot of creative
people are really sensing some kind of spiritualism in creative
and I knew that it was different than every thing
else that I'd ever written. And I was kind of
metaphorically writing it with him in mind, because I was

(38:06):
moved to the fact that he was leaving, so I
wrote it as if he were writing. But it just
came together and it hit me very very hard that
I knew it was. It was going to be something
very special.

Speaker 2 (38:17):
We all knew moved to tears. Who else has saying
it other than Frank that you thought, Oh they nailed that,
you thought, Gail.

Speaker 1 (38:23):
There's like thousands of record My favorite record was Brooke Benton.
Do you know Brook Benton? Is?

Speaker 3 (38:28):
I know?

Speaker 2 (38:29):
I know who that is.

Speaker 1 (38:30):
Yeah. You might be a little young on the edge there, Brooke,
but Brooke Benton was amazing. Nina Simone was unbelievable. The
Gypsy King Yeah, Nina Siome did a great record, and
so did the Gypsy Kings.

Speaker 2 (38:46):
I don't know the Gypsy Kings, Skippy, Do you know
the Gypsy Kings?

Speaker 3 (38:49):
Yeah, I've seen them perform.

Speaker 1 (38:51):
Do you not know who they are?

Speaker 2 (38:52):
Gale Gypsy Kings.

Speaker 1 (38:54):
Oh, my darling. You have to get their CDs.

Speaker 2 (38:57):
Now, I got to google.

Speaker 1 (38:58):
You will. They are so internationally and even here they
are so uniquely special and they're called the Gypsy You
will love their music. I found them with my friend
in France in the sixties. But they're huge, huge international act.
The Gypsy Kings.

Speaker 2 (39:15):
Okay, I see him here.

Speaker 1 (39:17):
You will love their music. It is so inspiring. They're great.

Speaker 2 (39:21):
It's g I p s Y.

Speaker 1 (39:23):
Gypsies like g y g y p s Y Gypsy.

Speaker 3 (39:27):
And you know Gail. One of my favorites, you know,
as the young person, was Buddy Holly, and Paul wrote
one of Buddy Holly's most iconic songs also, which.

Speaker 1 (39:36):
One it doesn't Matter Anymore. It was the last song
he recorded before he died in one of.

Speaker 3 (39:40):
These Yeah, it's great. It was funny one time I
was with Paul and somebody said to him, you know,
what was that song that you wrote for Buddy Holly?
And Paul said, it doesn't matter anymore, and the guys said, well,
it matters to me. That's perfect, knowl.

Speaker 2 (40:00):
But what's funny is when you did that, I thought
I thought Paul was saying it doesn't matter anymore. What
it was too, I thought the same thing. I thought
the same thing, and then I used context clues to
figure out, oh, that's the name of the song.

Speaker 3 (40:25):
But you know, okay, Paul is eighty two and he's
still out performing and eating. And I just went to
his concert here in Beverly Hills a few weeks ago,
and I first saw him perform more than forty years ago.
And I have to say, and I'm not saying it
because he's here, the show is even better than it
was then. He's got so much energy, And.

Speaker 2 (40:44):
Is it better now?

Speaker 3 (40:45):
It is?

Speaker 1 (40:46):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 2 (40:47):
So do you feel that to Paul that it's better now?

Speaker 1 (40:50):
You feel it? I live it and feel it so different.
It's apples oranges is no contests.

Speaker 2 (40:55):
But do you have more energy now than you did then?

Speaker 1 (40:58):
I've always had energy, but growing yourself, your body of
work is larger, your audiences. It's a love fest. You know,
they grow up with you, they stay with you. You paid
fifteen thousand people a night wherever you know, go all
over and you get that feedback. There's no contest.

Speaker 2 (41:16):
Do you perform in New York too?

Speaker 1 (41:18):
Perform in New York. We'll be touring in the area
in June.

Speaker 2 (41:20):
Yes, okay, Now I'm coming to a show.

Speaker 1 (41:23):
He can sun seen in Connecticut, right near your Hartford turf.

Speaker 2 (41:29):
Yeah, but you're going to be in New York.

Speaker 1 (41:31):
You said, yeah, I'll be around New York doing a
few places. You Okay, Well, we'll try and hold you
to that.

Speaker 2 (41:38):
Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Speaker 3 (41:39):
Another person who made the transition from Hartford to New
York is your former co anchor in Hertford, Mika Bersinski.

Speaker 2 (41:47):
Yeah, on MSNBC killing it over there.

Speaker 3 (41:51):
She was your co anchor on Channel three and her yep, yep, she's.

Speaker 2 (41:54):
Killing it over there. I mean, you know, we live
in such dicey times now, and she and Joe just
have a very unique voice on the air in the
morning because we're all trying to figure out how this
is going to go in twenty twenty four.

Speaker 1 (42:08):
No, I was just wondering what when she said, it's
so different today. You know, we're in an age now
where a lot of people are getting those quick clips
from TikTok. You have to have an opinion of that,
because it was never like that years ago.

Speaker 2 (42:21):
Yes, And I just, Paul, this is what I want.
I just want people to do their own due diligence.
I want people to really pay attention, because if you
just get a little SoundBite here and a little SoundBite there,
and you're influenced by that, you are not getting the
whole story. But that is how so many people consume
the news these days. And if you're only listening to
your own little silo too. You know, there are some

(42:44):
politicians who are very as I say, fluid with the truth,
don't tell the truth. And if you're just keyed in
on that. I'm very very worried about us as a country.
I'm very very worried.

Speaker 1 (42:57):
Well we and we should be, but little more optimistic
and that it's still an amazing country in this bread
basket of sure Canada, Mexico and all of that comes together.
No one's going to be better than we are. We
just have those kind of assets. But I found that,
you know, a lot of people are not educated enough
to realize they've got to get to the source of

(43:18):
what it is. They just see what's they look at
a television lines and they don't go down and dig
in and get the source of what is real.

Speaker 2 (43:27):
And that's it doesn't seem to have these problems though, Paul.

Speaker 1 (43:31):
No, they can't read up there.

Speaker 3 (43:32):
They're just.

Speaker 1 (43:35):
Canada has its own set of problems. It's a it's
a cool place to be from. Uh, you know, they
live in this in the shadow of this big elephant.
It's a great country.

Speaker 2 (43:46):
But it says I love so very Paul they're also
very polite in Canada. When you go to the Toronto
Film Festival. Yes, you know, just walking the red carpet here,
the paparazzi's like, Paul, you know you go there, they're
very And I said to the paparazzi, got god, you
guys are so polite here. And he said, Gail, we're Canadian,
which I thought was so nice. He goes, Gail, we're Canadian.

Speaker 1 (44:08):
And he's right. You know, there is a Canadian factor,
if you get I'm just telling what I think is factual.
Most Canadian artists when they come down here, and you've
seen this so many where there wasn't they all have
that Canadian thing, their upbringing, their education, you know, how
their parents really fit in most of their lives. And

(44:29):
there is a Canadian thing, and you know, we're all
very proud of it.

Speaker 3 (44:32):
I know.

Speaker 2 (44:32):
But it's just the way he said, we're Canadian. He's right,
and that said everything.

Speaker 3 (44:36):
I was in Toronto once and I saw a guy
wearing a sweatshirt and it said Canada has two seasons
hockey and no hockey.

Speaker 2 (44:46):
Is that true?

Speaker 3 (44:47):
Always one of the owners of the Ottawa Senators hockey team.

Speaker 2 (44:50):
Oh wow, back in the day.

Speaker 1 (44:52):
We we well, not too far, but we Yeah, we
brought it up to Ottawa because you know, it emerged
from as Skip said, it was a ca Adan sport
and obviously it's everywhere now but Otto, which is the capital.
We didn't have a team, so just through friends that
I knew, we arranged to have the Ottawa Senators. They're
still not doing too well.

Speaker 3 (45:13):
And we had Michael Bublay on our podcast.

Speaker 1 (45:15):
Yeah, Michael came on.

Speaker 3 (45:16):
Yeah, Oh, Paul, tell Gail what he has in the
basement of his home in Vancouver.

Speaker 1 (45:22):
He's got a hockey rink in his home, in his
new home. You know, I started with Michael. I produced
his first baby.

Speaker 2 (45:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (45:29):
Yeah, he's got a couple of kids and they're doing well,
and the one with cancer. I think that's all behind them. Yes,
he's built a great home up there. You know, the
first thing you do, you get the big check, you
get the big home. But he's got a nice rink
down in the basement. And when I was recording him,
we'd be playing outside David Foster House with a tennis
ball and two hockey sticks. That's all we did on

(45:50):
our breaks was play hockey. You know, we're nuts about
our hockey. But he's got a rink at home and
he plays, and he's.

Speaker 2 (45:57):
Close to the two of you together are good. I'll
bet your would be really good together.

Speaker 1 (46:01):
Yeah, we did a duet. He was on my Duets album?

Speaker 2 (46:04):
Is it Michael?

Speaker 3 (46:05):
Okay?

Speaker 1 (46:06):
Michael's on there, Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Willie Nelson. I
got a whole bunch of great artists on that.

Speaker 2 (46:12):
But Michael, do what's are fun? I think do what's
are fun? I like to see the combination, how you
put it together.

Speaker 1 (46:18):
I'll send you the CD. You'll get a kick out
of it.

Speaker 2 (46:21):
I can download it. I don't get it. I will, Paul,
I will actually buy it. I will spend money and
buy it.

Speaker 1 (46:28):
I would enjoy bringing it to you personally instead of
have you buy it.

Speaker 3 (46:34):
You know, Gail, you do so much in so many
different areas, and even you know your work as you
said with Oprah with her projects, and you're championing I
know you're champion a number of causes including cancer awareness,
women's empowerment, social justice. Why is that important to you?
First of all? And second ball, I think people would

(46:55):
be interested. How do you fit it all in it's
just your your.

Speaker 2 (46:58):
Unbeliefing because I I just think it's important to be
a responsible and you know, the state of the world. Really,
I'm not kidding when I say I'm very concerned about
us as human beings, and so I think whenever you
can shine a light and make a difference, we should
all do so. But see, this is what I believe
from the core of my being, that we are more

(47:19):
like than not, and that most of us want to
do good and most of us want to do the
right thing. And that really is how I lead my life.
It's not hard to be nice, it's not hard to
be kind, and I think if we could just put
that out into the world, it makes us all better
people in a better place. Yeah, I agree, that's all
I mean. The other day I had the nightmare of

(47:42):
nightmares coming back from Japan, as I'd flown out with
OPRAH to Japan and then I flew back commercial from
Hawaii back to the States. But you know, it was
problem after problem after problem with the flight. You know,
we're taken off from Honolulu. An hour and a half
into the flight, the pilot says, ladies and gentlemen, a
panel is I'm off of the engine where you have
to go back to Honolulu and oh, by the way,

(48:04):
there'll be fire trucks there, but don't be concerned. What
do you mean, don't be concerned? So it was just delayed, delay, delay,
and after a while it became comical. But I just thought,
we just all have to maintain being calm here. It's
not going to do any good to start screaming at
hollering and screaming at people. That gets you nowhere. It
gets you nowhere.

Speaker 1 (48:22):
Can't deal from emotion, can't deal from emotion.

Speaker 3 (48:25):
It's like with a doctor, when a doctor tells you
there's nothing to be concerned about, But that's when you
should be concerned. But you know, you mentioned Oprah, and
of course people know about you, know, your friendship. I
know that it was back in nineteen seventy six.

Speaker 2 (48:39):
But we've been friends since we were twenty one and
twenty two and now we're sixty nine and seventy.

Speaker 3 (48:44):
Click right away, how did you become friends?

Speaker 2 (48:46):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (48:46):
Where did you first meet Gail? So?

Speaker 2 (48:48):
We worked at a TV station in Baltimore. But this
is the thing. I was a production assistant, which is
you might imagine as an entry level position at twenty one.
At twenty two, she was one of the main anchors,
and those two normally don't hang together. But we were
both single, we were both black, we were both young,
we were both women. And one day there was a
bad storm and I couldn't get home. I was still

(49:10):
my apartment. She lived in this swanky apartment. I lived
forty five minutes away into Koma Park, into Koma Park,
paying one hundred and ten and rent, and I thought
that was a lot of money. But the roads were
such that I couldn't get home. And she said, oh,
you can spend the night at my house. But I
didn't know her well, and I go said, yeah, but
I don't have any clothes. She says, I have clothes.

(49:30):
She said I have, And I said I don't have underwear.
She goes, I have underwear, and it's clean. She said,
I only draw the line at the toothbrush. Will stop
at the drug store and get you a toothbrush.

Speaker 1 (49:40):
You know.

Speaker 2 (49:40):
I told that three years ago, and the headline in
the National Inquiry was the night I wore Oprah's underwear,
which is so stupid. But anyway, I went home that
night with her, and it was like we had found
kindred spirits. It's like when you're thirteen and you go
to a girlfriend's house for a sleepover. We stayed up
all night talking about do you I think so and

(50:00):
so is boinking? How do you feel about this? Blah
blah blah blah blah. And we had very similar life
philosophies and felt the same about certain kinds of people.
That's why it's so funny. I heard her once say
I don't believe in gossip. I don't gossip. And I
called her and said, when did that start? I mean,
so we've been friends ever since that night, and we
did click.

Speaker 1 (50:20):
But you know what's so important what she's saying skip
what lacks today? I've noticed, and they've got to teach
it in schools. The essence and the meaning of friendships
is so important if you've got good friends, let alone
a wife or a partner who must be a friend.
Kids today do not understand how important it is to

(50:42):
have friends. They've got to teach it in schools because
with this modern world. And you know you, guys, I
sense and I know that you're very very close, and
I think that she's got to be so proud of you.
I mean, you start as an assistant. Look at you now,
I mean, you're leader of the pack, and she's got
to be so proud of Yeah, she is. You've landed,
you know, because she's a very giving and open person.

Speaker 2 (51:03):
Very much so. And guys, it's not like you need
a ton of friends. Just have a small circle of
people that you can trust. That's in the world we
live in today, that's very very difficult.

Speaker 1 (51:12):
You can't you can't trust.

Speaker 3 (51:15):
Paul and I have that kind of friendship. And you
know what's great. If I'm working on a project and
it's exciting, Paul wants to hear about it, and he
because he's the greatest cheerleader, and I'm the same way
I was talking to you about. Oh you should see Paul.
I just saw his performance. Yes, it's unbelievable. And you know,
you become what you just both hit on. I think
is so important. You have to have a really great

(51:35):
friend and I'm blessed to have a few of them.
But you know, Paul is certainly one of mind.

Speaker 2 (51:41):
But guess what now, I want to go to a
Paul Anchor concert. I want to go and Paul I
would like a good seat.

Speaker 1 (51:50):
I can guarantee you that if you'd like to sit
where the drummer sits, I'll put you there. You've got it.
You're down, You're down, You're down.

Speaker 3 (51:58):
But as Paul said, he's select about what he does.
He manages his life well. But you know, even at
eighty two, he's out there killing it performing that crazy.
But yeah, you know it's funny. I was just saying
to Edie, you know when I was just on a
business trip to Florida for eight days and I can't
wait to be home and just hang out. And I
looked at my calendar. I don't have to fly anywhere

(52:21):
for three weeks. I'm like, oh my god. Paul just
came back from you know, performing on tour, and you
know he's leaving tomorrow to go to Hawaii.

Speaker 2 (52:29):
I'm like, what, Like, you're leaving tomorrow.

Speaker 3 (52:34):
Work.

Speaker 1 (52:34):
I can't go there tomorrow, so I could be here
with you today.

Speaker 2 (52:37):
Oh thanks?

Speaker 1 (52:39):
Going down to Larry Ellison's got this Kawhi.

Speaker 3 (52:43):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (52:44):
So I'm going down with a friend for about six
days and going to hang and ero because I got
to come back. I'm in the middle of my documentary
and I'm doing a Broadway show in my life and
I've got that. You know, it takes your time up,
so you've got to get some rest in between.

Speaker 2 (52:58):
When when will your documentary be out?

Speaker 1 (53:00):
We're almost we're about eighty percent finished, finance done, and
we're trying to head for the Toronto Film Festival.

Speaker 2 (53:06):
Oh that's nice. That's in September.

Speaker 1 (53:08):
Yeah, so we're wrapping it up.

Speaker 2 (53:10):
Larry Ellison, there were rumors guys that he was going
to buy Paramount Global or buy or CBS or something.

Speaker 1 (53:17):
That was a rumor a lot of rumors out there.

Speaker 3 (53:19):
I don't know, do you have any upcoming things that
we haven't covered, like anything else that's in the work
scale that you know?

Speaker 2 (53:25):
I mean, you know, I'm just out here working really really,
really satisfied with what I'm doing.

Speaker 3 (53:32):
But I was thinking, you know, when I was talking
to you during COVID, you were just like locked in
your apartment because.

Speaker 2 (53:38):
I was really afraid. I didn't I didn't leave my
apartment for over one hundred days, so you know, they
even brought in the equipment so we could do it.

Speaker 3 (53:46):
I remember, but I was just so.

Speaker 2 (53:47):
Freaked out by it because we didn't really know what
was happening. We're going to look back on that period
and say, how in the world did we get through this?
But it is interesting how people were able to improvise
and still keep the country and still keep businesses and
still keep families going. It's extraordinary.

Speaker 3 (54:04):
And that was amazing because some people they just try
to do anything they could to get out and get
out and be about. And you were and I was
talking to you during that period and you were said, Skip,
I'm still here. I'm just locked in.

Speaker 2 (54:15):
Yeah. That was one of the rare times that I
thought God, being single sucks because at least I once
talked to a friend of mine who said, you know, Gail,
you keep talking about because I still believe in romance
and love and all that stuff. Right now, I'm currently single,
alert and available spread the word. But a friend of
mine who is married, said, you know, you can still
be married and still be lonely. I said, well, I

(54:37):
don't want one of.

Speaker 1 (54:37):
Them, right, I don't want one of them, right. But
being alone doesn't mean you're going to be lonely because
if you exactly, if you're the wrong person, it's the worst.

Speaker 2 (54:47):
Oh that's exactly right, with the wrong person or someone
that you're bored that you were bored out of it.

Speaker 1 (54:52):
I hate that word.

Speaker 2 (54:53):
I don't even be bored.

Speaker 1 (54:55):
Oh yeah, I can't even exist.

Speaker 3 (54:56):
With that word. Yes, yes, yes, But isn't it hard
to be honest to balance any kind of a personal
life with your demanding career that you have. I mean,
you're so you're working all the time.

Speaker 2 (55:07):
Yeah, but you know you would figure that out if
you had someone. That's right, It's true you would. If
you had someone, you would figure that out. But because
I take care of me myself and I I can
do many different things.

Speaker 3 (55:20):
My former neighbor in Fairfield, Connecticut is very similar, Martha Stewart.

Speaker 2 (55:24):
Oh yeah, same way.

Speaker 3 (55:25):
Yeah, with not with a guy. I would love to
be with a guy. I know.

Speaker 2 (55:29):
I saw Martha recently. We were talking about that. She
did she go online? I think she I'd be afraid
to go online and nothing, none of that worked out.
But yeah, she would too. You know, we've actually had
this conversation. I had this conversation with Shaer Share is
in a relationship right now, and she's very happy. She
is very, very very happy. He's considerably younger. And I said,

(55:50):
how does that work? How does it work?

Speaker 1 (55:54):
Easy?

Speaker 2 (55:56):
Paul, That's what she said.

Speaker 1 (55:59):
Very you know, until you're under the bed or on
the wall, it's easy. There's nothing wrong, nothing wrong with
young There's nothing wrong with the right person, the youngest.

Speaker 2 (56:10):
But Paul, I've always said, I don't want to be
a nurse or a purse's and also don't want to
be with someone who I could have possibly given birth to.
I don't mind younger, I don't mind younger. I don't
want somebody I could have given birth to. And so
and I was talking to Share about that. She's very
comfortable in her own skin and very comfortable with this guy.
So I said, listen, if it's working for you, more

(56:31):
power to you. I just was curious.

Speaker 1 (56:33):
I adore her, but she's very, very talent. She's cool.

Speaker 2 (56:36):
Yeah, I think so too.

Speaker 1 (56:38):
You know, you get into these relationships. The fallen love
period to me, has always been a farce. You can't
can't go for that. Absolutely, it's not real. You need
to come out of the other end of that honeymoon
fallen love period to where you've got a friend and
you've got some substance and you're locked, but you're so
deceived by falling in love.

Speaker 2 (56:58):
It doesn't I know, but isn't it the process. It's
nice of that it is or is that?

Speaker 1 (57:02):
Yeah, it is, Gail, but it's part of it.

Speaker 2 (57:04):
It's sustainable.

Speaker 1 (57:05):
Yeah, yes, you want sustainable. The front part is easy.
Everybody's oh yes, yeah, no, no, no, You've got to get
the rollout and land together and then you got a shot.
Because it's complicated. It's complicated, especially in the modern world.
You know, marriage was created for the nomadic race years ago.
How long did they live. We're living in modern times

(57:27):
and people are learning how to exist differently, and marriage
has a whole different The whole relationship scene is whatever
makes you happy, but living longer.

Speaker 2 (57:37):
I'm at that stage, Paul. I agree with you.

Speaker 3 (57:39):
Yeah, I'm looking at you right now, Gail. You look
better than you did thirty years.

Speaker 2 (57:44):
Really, I don't know. Oh yeah, I feel better the
only time I feel my age or my knees. So
I now think, is there a way to get up
off the toilet without going?

Speaker 3 (57:54):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (57:55):
If you can just stand up, then he is report.

Speaker 3 (57:58):
So with that, your team informed us. You have a
hard style.

Speaker 2 (58:01):
I know I have another zoom. Yeah, to be good,
thank you, thank you, to be continued. Maybe maybe I'll
meet him at your show, Paul, maybe I'll meet him
at your show. Thank you, guys, thank you so much
for asking me.

Speaker 1 (58:14):
No, we're honored to have you.

Speaker 3 (58:16):
No, thank you for doing really.

Speaker 2 (58:18):
Fun and Paul and you stay today before going to way,
Thank you so much.

Speaker 1 (58:22):
No, No, it's my pleasure. Listen. You got to make
the right moves in life. Oh why I can always
go and I've been going for years. But to do
this with you, that's an easy one. That's like, that's
a blink.

Speaker 2 (58:34):
Thank you, Thank you so much.

Speaker 3 (58:36):
And thanks for being one of my great friends. I
just love you the most. You're the great.

Speaker 2 (58:40):
Sending love back to you. Bye, Gail, Bye, Paul. I'm
coming to your show.

Speaker 3 (58:44):
See you.

Speaker 1 (58:50):
Our Way with Paul, Anka and Skip Bronson is a
production of iHeartRadio.

Speaker 3 (58:56):
The show's executive producer is Jordan Runtog, with super advising
producer and editor Marcy Depina, who.

Speaker 1 (59:03):
Was engineered by Todd Carlum and Graham Gibson and mixed
and mastered by Doug Boum.

Speaker 3 (59:09):
If you like what you heard, please subscribe and leave
us a review.

Speaker 1 (59:13):
For more podcasts on iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,