Al Roker

This week on Thanks Dad, Ego sat down with Emmy-winning weatherman, broadcaster, and journalist Al Roker! To start, Al shares the best acting advice he’s ever been given, and it might surprise you. Afterwards, he says thanks to his wife, Deborah Roberts, and his family for always supporting him, especially over the last few years. Ego and Al joke about having kids, The School of Hard Knocks, and the powerful lessons about failure that Al learned from his father. Al even reveals the nickname he tried giving himself in high school that didn’t stick. Finally, Ego and Al bond over Red Lobster and give a lucky listener some wise advice.

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Wow, what a day, what a life. Thank you guys
for listening, for all the people who are listening consistently,
Thank you. I love you. I really appreciate you, because honestly,
what are we even up to? But I'm so glad
you tune in and it means the world to me.
I gotta tell you what's on the top of my
mind right now. Poop, but specifically of the dog variety. Guys,
we can't leave it on the sidewalk. We can't leave

(00:31):
dog poop on the sidewalk. I guess that's all I
want to say about the matter. How crazy is it
that people are just leaving their dog poop? And I
understand running out of bags and such, but we got
to get resourceful. I've once used the like disposable cozy
on a coffee cup to scoop up dog poop up
and this was like last week, really creative about how

(00:53):
I'm gonna get dog poop up when I don't have bags.
But we can't just be leaving dog poop on the
sidewalk because someone's gonna step in it and that's going
to ruin their day. And then gum spitting out gum
on the sidewalk. Someone's gonna step in it, guys, and
that's gonna ruin their day. Neither of these things, thankfully,
have happened to me in recent memory. But let's all

(01:13):
do our part. These are the things that matter to
me today. I'm talking to someone incredibly exciting. I cannot wait.
I think it's gonna be super fun. I know him,
you know him, you love him. I'm excited for this one.

(01:34):
I have to introduce you first, because this is huge
for me personally.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
Let's see how you feel when it's over.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
Okay, all right, we'll gauge at the end, all right,
but I right now feel it's huge. I feel it
will only be huger. Is that a word?

Speaker 2 (01:47):
I think it is.

Speaker 1 (01:48):
I made it up because people are making words up now.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
Stuff.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
Six seven.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
Had to say, Well, the dictionary folks like western, like
the word of the year stopping. Yes, yeah, you're looking
to you. You don't look to us.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
They're like, no, we're taking cues from you to the public.
Maybe we should start making up words here, and maybe
then they'll pick up a cue and there'll be a
word in the dictionary that you made up, and that
would be kind of cool. That would be that that
would be that it's just something to consider, but I
should introduce you for because that's how podcasts work. I heard, Okay,
the word on the street is I got to introduce

(02:28):
this legend. My next guest, who is here before me
now is Emu winning weather man, broadcaster and journalist. You
know him from the Today Show. You also love him
from the Today Show, and if you're as lucky as
I am, you love him from run Ins as well.
It's Al Broker. Hello, Hillah, I'm good, I'm good, I'm good.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
I'm trying to get more than twice. Then it sounds
like you're trying to convince not just me but yourself myself.
I'm like, how are you?

Speaker 1 (02:57):
I'm good? Boom Okay, he believed did That's good acting
advice as well.

Speaker 2 (03:02):
A lot of the best acting advice I ever got
it was from Jason Alexander. I was doing a behind
the scenes of Seinfeld years and years and years ago,
and I said so and they were gonna put me
in the show to do it. I said, I need
some advice. What do you what do you think? He
goes from years of doing soap operas, Here's what I've
learned no matter what somebody says to you, your reaction

(03:24):
should be who farted?

Speaker 1 (03:27):
Works in internally?

Speaker 2 (03:29):
Internal in you, so that just say say something to.

Speaker 1 (03:34):
Me, all right, my goodness, the traffic outside was a
disaster today. Non verbal as well. I love that. I'm
gonna you know what, I could stand to do that,
like if I ever get worked up and I don't

(03:55):
want to respond right away. So this is an acting advice.
You could also take it into life because it means
you're just kind of mute, and yes it is. You
just go. If you if we were in conflict and
you're coming at me and I just go, that would
make someone really upset. If I was on the receiving
end of that, though, I would be very upset. Did
you get a reaction? And that's effective. I'm so happy

(04:15):
you're here.

Speaker 2 (04:16):
I'm happy to be here.

Speaker 1 (04:17):
I have to ask you off the bat, because this
is what we do the podcast out who or what
do you want to say? Thanks to?

Speaker 2 (04:24):
Uh? Who?

Speaker 1 (04:25):
Do you know what?

Speaker 2 (04:26):
I would say? Thanks to? Thanks to my wife, Deborah
Roberts and and and my family because you know, about
three and a half years ago I had a major
medical issue and they both Deborah, my daughter Leela, my
brother Chris. You know, they were fierce advocates, you know,

(04:46):
for me, and and and one of the greatest gifts
they gave me was that at no time did I
know how actually sick I was in that Like my
brother who's in the healthcare field, is saying, you know,
you you to start making plans because this might go
very well, may go the other way. Uh. And and

(05:06):
but I really do think they saved my life that
and knock on wood or press particle.

Speaker 1 (05:13):
Board, Uh, don't out us.

Speaker 2 (05:16):
I don't know it's it's it's very wood like. But anyway, Uh,
you know, they really gave me the wherewithal to survive.
And listen, I'm very fortunate I have good health care
and so. But you know, but I would say thank
you to my wife and my family.

Speaker 1 (05:33):
That is incredible and shout out to them.

Speaker 2 (05:36):
There are days there I think they regret.

Speaker 1 (05:38):
That we should have let them go.

Speaker 2 (05:41):
Would it have been that bad? No, because I always say,
you know, if that had happened, if the worst had happened,
you'd be this hot widow. You know, uh, you know,
you already have kids. So there's some older rich guys
looking for you know, some arm candy ready to go.
Don't either way it was a win win for her.

Speaker 1 (06:01):
Don't say this, don't say we're gonna just say thanks
to ok, we'll go with thanks that she chose you
as she chose me, and she chooses you every day.
Is that marriage? That is?

Speaker 2 (06:13):
You know what marriage is? Tell me, actually marriage is
and I don't mean this as a negative. Marriage is work,
you know, but any relationship is work, you know someday
I mean your boyfriend, girlfriend, your kids. It's work, you know,
But if you care about these people, then you put
in the work.

Speaker 1 (06:31):
Okay. I hear people say all the time that it's work,
And people say it all the time, yes, what does
the work look like? Honestly? Because somebody might be in
a wrong relationship and they're like, it's work, it's and
then somebody else will say to them, well, it's not
supposed to be that kind of work or it's not
supposed to be that hard, and people another person will say, well,
relationships are hard, and so it's all quite confusing. And
I know it's case by case, but how would you

(06:54):
describe the work?

Speaker 2 (06:55):
Well, I think it's look, I think it's it's like everything.
You know, you're kind of grate on a curve, you know,
it's you know, yeah, I mean, but you're hoping at
the end of the day or the end of whatever,
you know that that the good times and what makes
you happy and this person makes you happy far outweigh
the times where you want to.

Speaker 1 (07:12):
Just sometimes you want to kill them. That's true. It's true.

Speaker 2 (07:17):
And and and anybody anybody who says differently that they
there have not been moments where they wanted to kill
their significant other is lying.

Speaker 1 (07:27):
I'm just sorry, Okay, I appreciate that. I always when
I hear people saying my partner and I don't fight
at all, I'm like, I think that's bad.

Speaker 2 (07:34):
That's right, you're going to end up dead.

Speaker 1 (07:37):
They're not fighting because one day it's all going to
come out.

Speaker 2 (07:39):
And because it's and I don't know, in your relationship,
but it's never about the thing. It's about what came
before the thing.

Speaker 1 (07:48):
Isn't it's crazy. We're all actually just children, yes, walking
around in adult bodies, and the sooner you realize.

Speaker 2 (07:55):
Which sounds like a horror movie, it does.

Speaker 1 (07:57):
Maybe all right, thank you for the idea. Maybe we
co write it.

Speaker 2 (08:01):
Okay, we'll co wrete, they will ep it exactly. I'll
have your people call.

Speaker 1 (08:04):
My Okay, no problem, we'll do that offline. Here. You
did you always know you wanted to be married?

Speaker 2 (08:10):
I don't know. I you know, I never gave it
any thought. I just you know, listen, were you a playboy? Well? No, okay, no,
here's no, here's the deal. I mean I was a guy. Okay,
tell the truth. I am going to tell you the truth.
I want to give you a little backstory.

Speaker 1 (08:27):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (08:28):
Here. So it's it's nineteen seventy, no, nineteen sixty eight,
sixty seven, sixty eight, and I'm a black kid living
in Queens. I'm overweight, and there's a special on NBC,
an animated special that comes out by a certain stand
up comic called Fat Albert heard of it. Yeah, so

(08:52):
that airs my life is over. Oh and I'm hoping
that maybe by some flu nobody at my school saw
this this special.

Speaker 1 (09:03):
But back then there were like five stations. I yet
like and that's not to aid you, Okay.

Speaker 2 (09:13):
I walked into the into the school yard at Saint
Catharine of Sienna and Saint Auban's Queeze, and I heard
this hey, hey, hey, and so give that pretty much
followed me into high school. So there wasn't a lot
of let's put it this way, the ladies weren't coming
after this.

Speaker 1 (09:32):
Hey, okay, okay, little did they know what they were
missing out?

Speaker 2 (09:39):
And that's what I and okay, here's some here's some
advice for the ladies out there. The single wood.

Speaker 1 (09:45):
Tell tell all, right, now.

Speaker 2 (09:47):
You can go for the really good looking guy. M
but at the end of the day, odds are after
thirty years of marriage or so, they're going to be
falling apart.

Speaker 1 (09:58):
Those looks fade.

Speaker 2 (09:59):
It's fades.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
It looks fair.

Speaker 2 (10:02):
Deborah, on the other hand, reversed, engineered it.

Speaker 1 (10:04):
She had a vision.

Speaker 2 (10:05):
She had a vision. I was three hundred and forty
pounds when we got married, and now I look like this.

Speaker 1 (10:11):
Okay, so it ends up, it sure does. You can't.
You're so you advise them to have visions.

Speaker 2 (10:18):
See the diamond.

Speaker 1 (10:20):
Oh yes, go for the one, because let's face.

Speaker 2 (10:22):
It, you ladies like to you look at us as
an apartment to be decorated or renovated.

Speaker 1 (10:27):
Yeah, I actually yes, to be honest, you have to go.
Do you like the bones? Do you like the bones?
Of the house. My real estate agent taught me that
when I was buying my house, because I kept being like,
I don't like this, I don't like that, and he's like,
you have to like the bones and the location, and
so it's think about the bones. I like it. But
the thing is everyone's got bones.

Speaker 2 (10:46):
Yeah, but some bones are better than others.

Speaker 1 (10:48):
That's facts. That's true. I guess every time bones, bones
be bones.

Speaker 2 (10:52):
Some bones are don't even know what that means.

Speaker 1 (10:53):
Bones are bad. But I like people. We'll figure it
out in due time. Maybe by the end of this
I'll mull out of my head and I'll sort that out.
So Deborah had vision, how old are you guys when
you guys get together?

Speaker 2 (11:04):
Uh, I was, let's see, well, we've been married thirty years,
so I was.

Speaker 1 (11:09):
I was forty one. Okay, and I won't say she was,
but okay, that's not our business. She's not here.

Speaker 2 (11:15):
Somebody will tell her. I said that, okay, and I
will kill you.

Speaker 1 (11:20):
You will kill her, she will kill Okay, got it.
It would be well within her right.

Speaker 2 (11:24):
Honest exactly that, you know, your honor. My client's husband.

Speaker 1 (11:29):
Went on Thanks Dad went on.

Speaker 2 (11:33):
What a podcast and gave her eight Well, case closed.

Speaker 1 (11:37):
Dismissed, and you know it would be nice views and
listens for me. Yeah, I don't know, Deborah, consider no,
but we love youse. I don't want that to happen.
So you were forty, so you hadn't been really dating
much before then. How did you know?

Speaker 2 (11:51):
Well, this was I will to be honest, this was
my third marriage. Okay, so but this one is stuck.

Speaker 1 (11:58):
So this one stuck. What feels different if I may
ask about this marriage beyond it sticking versus the other
two marriages.

Speaker 2 (12:06):
You know, listen, every everybody has their their issues. But
I think this, you know, it was I think because
we did put in the work. You know that that
you know in the you know, the old saying go
and get stuff, the tough get going. Well, you know,
I mean listen, there were moments where we could have said, ah,
to heck with this, you know, and even you know,

(12:26):
kids or no, but you say, you know what, at
the end of the day, you know, this is my
ride or die. So you know, let's just you know,
and and let's face it, do you really want to
go back out there?

Speaker 1 (12:40):
Well that's been the argument for some of my friends
staying in relationships. I mean, they're young, are not married,
but they'll be like, I just don't want to get
back out there and start over with someone.

Speaker 2 (12:50):
And you know, you love this person, you care about them,
you have a life with them. So you know, I mean,
which which would you rather do? Invest in? Somebody that
you know loves you and you love them. Now listen,
if there's an issue, then that's that's that, and you've
got to make a decision. But otherwise, you know, I

(13:12):
would much rather invest in what I've already got than
try to find a bigger, better deal, you know.

Speaker 1 (13:19):
Yeah, And that sounds mature, by the way, that.

Speaker 2 (13:20):
Sounds I'm old.

Speaker 1 (13:22):
Yeah, you know, don't say that.

Speaker 2 (13:25):
It's like, okay, so my baby brother, yeah Chris is
almost seventeen years younger than me. And I would look
at my you know, they're they're six kids, and I'm
my next oldest is my sister, and we would look
at my parents and say, they're letting this kid get
away with murder. He's doing it whatever he wants. And
finally I said to my mother, so, what's what's the deal.

(13:47):
She retired.

Speaker 1 (13:48):
That's what happens. I'm the youngest, by the way, yeah,
we had to put ourselves through college.

Speaker 2 (13:57):
He got a free ride in a car.

Speaker 1 (14:00):
You want to be the you want to be the
youngest kid. You want to be the youngest kid.

Speaker 2 (14:06):
You got to be the responsible one, exactly.

Speaker 1 (14:08):
And you're kind of like a surrogate parent, even if
you have both of your parents. I feel like I
don't envy the oldest.

Speaker 2 (14:13):
That's your job.

Speaker 1 (14:15):
Know, then you become you were, you kind of a
parent to the other you know.

Speaker 2 (14:19):
In fact, my mom when I was in college, my
mom was sick for a little bit, and and so
I volunteered. I took my brother Chris, who was at
the time was like two and a half almost three.
I took him to college with me for a month.
I actually potty trained him.

Speaker 1 (14:36):
Oh, oh my gosh, that's the responsibility.

Speaker 2 (14:39):
On the upside, he was a chick magnet.

Speaker 1 (14:41):
Really, it's like a dog, a small exactly, guy with
a small dog.

Speaker 2 (14:46):
He was like a bijeon with a fro. It was great.

Speaker 1 (14:50):
Well, so also that's part of why we thanked Chris earlier.

Speaker 2 (14:53):
Exactly exactly, paper trained it.

Speaker 1 (14:57):
Yeah, that's amazing thing. Well, so you did you like
being the oldest though? It's the responsibility aside.

Speaker 2 (15:05):
I think because you know you could get while you
know your your your baby siblings were somewhat spoiled. You know,
you kind of had control so that you could kind
of they were sort of your servants do.

Speaker 1 (15:20):
That to go get the remote, lots of go get
the remote.

Speaker 2 (15:23):
Oh look, I'm so old. It was changed the channel remote,
the remotes.

Speaker 1 (15:29):
I mean, that's god bless, I can't hold.

Speaker 2 (15:33):
The antenna the antenna shop shop stop right.

Speaker 1 (15:38):
There, from your throne, from your throne, directing.

Speaker 2 (15:41):
That from my from in our living room with my
mother's plastic covered couch of course held off in the summer,
of course, it's.

Speaker 1 (15:51):
Like that, but going on a leather seat in a
car in the summer, that has him Oh my gosh.

Speaker 2 (15:56):
It was funny. After my my dad had passed earlier
and then my mom had passed, were getting rid of
the furniture, and this mid century Danish mustard yellow couch
was as fresh as the day it was purchased because
it had never it had never been exposed to air,
to the elements it was in that plastic cheating.

Speaker 1 (16:13):
I'm thinking, let's bring plastic back onto the couches of
the furniture persons.

Speaker 2 (16:17):
Forget about bringing sexy back, Bring plastic.

Speaker 1 (16:19):
Back, bring plastic bat on it?

Speaker 2 (16:23):
You know, yeah, no funny. So if you're trying to
fool around on the couch, you know your parents can
hear you.

Speaker 1 (16:28):
If I'm upstairs, I'm doing that as a parent to
make sure.

Speaker 2 (16:31):
So let's ask it. So, are you gonna have kids?

Speaker 1 (16:34):
Oh my goodness, al Oh my gosh, I don't know
you for a second, hearts.

Speaker 2 (16:41):
Let's let's back it up. Do you want kids?

Speaker 1 (16:43):
Do I want kids? I do want kids. But you
know what I decided, I had an epiphany yesterday. It
might be garbage, I want kids. I'm excited by the notion.
I believe now I'm so responsible that I understand what
the commitment is, and the commitment seems reckless. Go with

(17:04):
me to sign up for that is that it's a
positive reckless. Some type people will describe love as reckless.
I feel like Alicia Keys has a song called reckless love.
It doesn't have to be negative. I know it has
a negative connotation.

Speaker 2 (17:19):
Reckless can be just giving in, giving in, giving in.

Speaker 1 (17:23):
And I feel like that's what having a kid would be.

Speaker 2 (17:25):
Now, okay, here's what do you have a dog?

Speaker 1 (17:28):
I do have a dog, okay, and.

Speaker 2 (17:30):
That dog is basically a perpetual three year old. Yes, yes,
you love that dog.

Speaker 1 (17:35):
I do love the dog, okay, kid. I think, well,
it was practice for me, Yes, really it was. I
got him as a puppy, I trained him and on
my own. I was a single dog mom. My mom
was an actual single human mom, but I was a
single dog mom. And I was like, this is a
lot of work for one little puppy. And you're allowed
to leave the puppy for ten minutes or something to

(17:55):
go get milk outside. But I'm like, it's shocking to
me how much work it is. To people don't talk
about puppies and how much work they are, but I
do think it's practice.

Speaker 2 (18:05):
However, the good news is eventually, if you have a child,
they will, in theory, become self sufficient. And I have three, yes,
and they're they're varying levels of self sufficiency. I love,
I adore them. I love them. Yes, But there are
times my dad had a saying, I can't miss you

(18:26):
if you don't leave, you know, and and you know,
get out of my get out. It's good to see you,
and you can you can do whatever you want, just
don't do it here. We've had our time. Now my
oldest I'm thrilled to see because she's got a baby now.

Speaker 1 (18:42):
So oh, grandparents, grandparents? Is that just the best?

Speaker 2 (18:46):
It's great. I have no need for my children.

Speaker 1 (18:48):
Now with that, okay, unnecessary?

Speaker 2 (18:54):
Do you have to prove to me that I should
love you well?

Speaker 1 (18:59):
Which of the kids is the most self sufficient of
the three?

Speaker 2 (19:01):
By the way, I am not gonna say that.

Speaker 1 (19:05):
I get you.

Speaker 2 (19:07):
Almost was comfortable. I was about to say that.

Speaker 1 (19:10):
It means I haven't done my job. No you have.

Speaker 2 (19:12):
It's just I've been doing this longer.

Speaker 1 (19:14):
Oh that's true. Okay, okay, okay, I'm going to try
to get you. I'm gonna try to get This is
a gotcha podcast? What are your kids listening? Go? Dad said,
I'm his favorite. I know I can't get you to
say which one is your favorite? But you didn't say
you prefer self sufficiency.

Speaker 2 (19:29):
I said, level, here's here, here's here is the truth.
It It goes up and down. They are in their
own way, each self sufficient and then but that at
the end of like as my dad said, and it's
funny because I do my dad wasn't perfect, you know,
but he was a great I think he was a

(19:49):
great dad. He's very nurturing. He was one of those
guys that before the whole he would have been if
he was growing up now, he would have been considered
like a metrosexual. He was very in touch with his his.

Speaker 1 (20:01):
He had a high Oh great.

Speaker 2 (20:03):
Yeah. And he once say to me, I don't care
how old you get, You're always my kid. Yeah. Yeah,
And and but he had this kind of gruffle and
I call my mom. I said, where's dad. You know,
he's on his way out to Cleveland to see your sister.
She needs some help or something. And that was that.
So I think, you know, you're there. You just the

(20:24):
job is just to be there, I think, until they
need you, you know. Yeah. I don't offer advice until
ask Okay, you know.

Speaker 1 (20:35):
Because even when you have an opinion as a dad and.

Speaker 2 (20:38):
You're seeing, unless there is some sort of harm that
could happen, either physically or emotionally, you know, financially whatever
that otherwise, I think, listen, there's a whole group of
kids now what okay, the group now that's in their twenties,
what are they called gen z gen Z gen Z

(20:59):
Those in their twenty was the early thirties. You know,
they were raised with it. They were getting the trophies
for everything, and then you know we were helicopter parents,
you know our parents. Okay, where did you grow up?

Speaker 1 (21:13):
Baltimore?

Speaker 2 (21:14):
Okay, Balmer? Okay. So here in New York City. You look,
go to a playground. Now everything is padded and safe,
and you know it's just when I was going. When
I went to the park, they were like monkey bars.
They were basically galvanized pipes stuck into cement.

Speaker 1 (21:36):
All right, yeah yeah, and.

Speaker 2 (21:39):
You climbed to them. If you slipped, you were like
a pachinko ball bing bang binging and you hit cement grassfhul.
You went on the slides, it was stainless steel baking
in the sun. You know, the seesaw what sick he

(22:00):
came up with that? So that your friend you're up
at the top, they got off bad. Now you look
at this playground, so there is it's a safe space.
Learn the school of hard knocks.

Speaker 1 (22:11):
Yes, so you you're like, you let's make mistakes. Yeah,
I do think that's important, but some people, I do
think you learn more when you make the mistake yourself.
I think more is to it resonates the lessons.

Speaker 2 (22:23):
My mom was was one of those that I'll never forget.
Deborah came to me once and she said, you need
to talk to your mother because well she's not letting
the kids win at checkers. Oh no, you have that
conversation because when we're kids, a game night on Friday,
scrabble stuff like that. It was like we had there
was a four four letter minimum and we had a

(22:45):
three minute egg timer.

Speaker 1 (22:46):
You know, so there was just Oh, your parents weren'tletting
you guys win.

Speaker 2 (22:49):
Oh no, no, no.

Speaker 1 (22:50):
It's like we're playing you're playing against adults.

Speaker 2 (22:52):
Yes, and you want to play?

Speaker 1 (22:54):
Yeah yeah, Buttercup, I respect it. Were you close to
your dad?

Speaker 2 (22:59):
Yeah, yeah I was, you know he was. He was
a New York City bus driver for most of my
It was funny. I think everybody each child has a
different parent.

Speaker 1 (23:09):
Okay, yeah, I think depending on.

Speaker 2 (23:11):
Where you fall. You know, my dad, my Al Roker Senior,
was a bus driver. We were kind of like we
were literally the Honeymooners, except with kids, because we lived
in Brooklyn from and then we moved to Queen's We
moving on up.

Speaker 1 (23:26):
Which one do you rep Brooklyn or Queens.

Speaker 2 (23:28):
I think I spent most of my time in Queen Queens,
but I love Brooklyn so but you know, I still
own the house we grew up. But you know, he
was he was a bus driver. He was a blue cup.
By the time my baby brother came up, he had
moved into management at the MTA. But I always maintained
I had the more fun dead because I would get

(23:49):
to go when I was off from school. I would
ride the bus with him for eight hours. We'd go
to the Goodies luncheonette. He would get an egg, cream
and sandwiches and buy comics, and I see the same
people who had gone home, had gone to work coming home.
It was it was the best. Whereas my brother only
knew this, this guy who worked in an office. Best
best he got was to to be on a to

(24:12):
work the Xerox machine. I used to sit there with
this when bus drivers made change you know, the money
machines were going. I still have my dad's change maker.

Speaker 1 (24:20):
You do incredible. I mean, to get to go around
the city with him, there was some of your most
cherished memories. Yeah that sounds so special.

Speaker 2 (24:28):
Yeah, I mean, you know he was up. He was
based in Brooklyn, you know. So he was His route
was on Flatbush Avenue, you know, and it was, yeah,
it was, it was, you know, it was I thought,
and Deva thinks I kind of gilded lily a bit,
and I probably do, but you know, it was it
was a good time, you know, and uh, you know,
And and so I learned a lot from him. He was.

(24:49):
His thing was I I had a bad report card
in high school and I thought he was going to
blow up when he gets home. I mean, this is
going to be ugly. And again he gets and you know,
my mother gives him the report card and he looks
at it, and he looks at me and he says,
if this is the best you can do, then I

(25:12):
guess there's not much I can say. Oh it isn't. Yeah,
I'm really disappointed.

Speaker 1 (25:18):
And walk upstairs and how did that make you feel?

Speaker 2 (25:21):
I felt like crap and got the grades up. And
you know, because let's face, I think half the time,
three quarters of things we do to please our parents
and press our parents to make them think they we've
done a good job. So but but he he was
the two things I remember that he would always say.

(25:41):
He always ended every conversation with I love you. And
he was a guy who would admit a mistake and
say sorry, you know, and I try. I don't always
do it, but I try to remember.

Speaker 1 (25:54):
That, Yeah, that is high eq, especially for a different time,
because I feel like that's something people are just sort
of figuring out now.

Speaker 2 (26:01):
He was He was like this big hugger, you know. Yeah,
and I didn't and I just thought that was normal
until like I'd go to family gatherings and I see
my uncle champ or something. Oh hi uncle, Oh hey, hey.

Speaker 1 (26:15):
Okay, did your dad get a lot of warmth? Then
it sounds like such a warm individual.

Speaker 2 (26:18):
Did you get a lot of Yeah, well, you know, yeah, listen,
it was the depression all that stuff, and but you know,
I think he grew up and he was My grandmother
was a single mom with the three kids. Uh my grandfather,
you know, had was mentally ill and so she was

(26:39):
really left to raise and had immigrated from the Bahamas
and uh, but you know, it was a it was
this house that we used to love to go to,
you know, and that was the era when families lived together. Yeah,
my my my aunt, my dad's sister lived with her
family with my grandmother. My mother's uh sisters lived with

(27:00):
her parents, you know, so, so it was great because
then you got you go over. There was always a
great meal. You'd always see your cousins. And let's face it,
cousins are like the better version of siblings.

Speaker 1 (27:11):
Yeah, I really, I really.

Speaker 2 (27:12):
Because you don't get you got no emotional bag.

Speaker 1 (27:14):
Yeah, and we're not like we're not we're not tussling
over things day today. It's like I see you the
holidays or I see you on the weekends. It's yeah, cousins.
Cousins are fun. If you don't have cousins, man, you
gotta get a.

Speaker 2 (27:27):
Cousin adopted, cousin adopted. Maybe we should start that.

Speaker 1 (27:31):
We'll start that so.

Speaker 2 (27:31):
You know those commercials to see from the dogs or whatever. Yes,
there are children, Yeah, don't cousins. We want you to
donate for less than thirty cents a day, you can
donate a cousin to a cousinless child.

Speaker 1 (27:47):
I think we should get that started. That's gonna go online,
I think, or someone's going to steal the idea. If
you don't activate quickly. You're a junior. Yes, how did
it feel to be a junior? Did that feel like pressure?
Or pride.

Speaker 2 (28:01):
I get pride. I was. My full name is Albert
Lincoln Roker Junior. The reason I've got Lincoln in my
name is that my dad was born on Lincoln's birthday,
so my mother, my grandmother named him. But you know,
I always thought it was kind of kind of fun.
You know, it's like kind of almost like a cheer
Albert Lincoln.

Speaker 1 (28:19):
It's a good name. I'm like, that's the name.

Speaker 2 (28:22):
Then I tried when I was in high school, I
tried to be cool. I said, I'm going to call
myself Link.

Speaker 1 (28:26):
You know, how did that? It didn't catch on? How
many people did you get to call you link?

Speaker 2 (28:32):
Nobody?

Speaker 1 (28:32):
Nobody? Okay, it was just an idea.

Speaker 2 (28:34):
Just kept trying link and then well what was he
talking about? And I went to a military school here
in Manhattan. Okay, so you had a name tag. It
was your last name. So for the longest time, people
just call me a roker.

Speaker 1 (28:47):
Okay, do you prefer do you have a preferred nickname?

Speaker 2 (28:50):
Just al Yeah? You know, because Albert, you know, only
only really my siblings and close childhood friends know my
full name. And now because yes, because my mother would back.
That was back in the day where your mother would
go out on the front stoop and.

Speaker 1 (29:09):
Call, oh, yes, ow bad, And if.

Speaker 2 (29:12):
You didn't quite hear, there was like this chain, you know,
like somebody could heard your mother. I think your mom's
calling you.

Speaker 1 (29:20):
Oh that's nice. Community exactly what it takes a villain.

Speaker 2 (29:35):
But also the problem was back then, if one of
your neighbors saw you messing up, they had carte blanche to.

Speaker 1 (29:41):
Give you a spanking. Did you get spankings from your neighbors?

Speaker 2 (29:45):
A couple of swats on the behind?

Speaker 1 (29:46):
Just a little? What were you doing? Do you remember
any recollection of what kind of trouble you used to.

Speaker 2 (29:49):
Get I don't recall, but it was it was probably
I used to get in trouble. I would mimic people
and neighbors and things like that, and just you you
didn't do that, Yeah, I did. In Catholic school, I did.
I used to draw caricatures of the nuns and somewhere
appreciative and.

Speaker 1 (30:10):
Sometimes not so much. Did you always know you wanted
to be a dad?

Speaker 2 (30:15):
I don't know that. I I don't know that I
always wanted to be consciously, but I think I was
cut out to be I think you know, I mean
I enjoy it. I really do. I mean, I like
being a dad. My parents had three biological kids, three
adopted kids.

Speaker 1 (30:36):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (30:36):
Two of my kids are biological, and my oldest, Courteney,
is adopted. And at the end of the day, I
enjoy it. I mean, you know, there's especially now. I
mean because I look at my co anchors Savannah and
Craig and Chanelle and Dylan, and and they've all got

(30:56):
these little kids and they have no lives.

Speaker 1 (31:00):
This is what I mean.

Speaker 2 (31:00):
I might have grown up and I just say I
did this, and then how do you have time?

Speaker 1 (31:08):
That's what I mean. This is what I mean. It's
it's such it's such an endeavor and such a responsibility.

Speaker 2 (31:15):
Right now you are I mean, you've got a dog. Yes,
you don't have children, and so on the one hand,
you don't have that emotional component. But on the other hand,
you have all the time in the world and plenty
of disposable income.

Speaker 1 (31:28):
Yeah, and that's really nice. That's what I mean to go.
I would like to trade that for children. It's just
an interesting choice. And that's where I say it's a
little reckless. You gotta go, you gotta not overthink it,
and you gotta just go. I'm gonna dive, I'm gonna
do it. I've always wanted to have kids. I don't
know if there's ever like a right time.

Speaker 2 (31:48):
There is no yeah, there's no right yeah.

Speaker 1 (31:50):
Some of the people I know who are my peers
who have children are sort of like kind of got
my my husband and I got pregnant or I wasn't
planning in this timing, but here we are and love
my kids like I think.

Speaker 2 (32:03):
I think our parents had like when you're the youngest,
how old roughly, how old was your mom when she
got to bring it with you with the oldest with
the oldest?

Speaker 1 (32:12):
Quick math, quick math, let's say twenty two or twenty three?

Speaker 2 (32:16):
Yeah, so how old is your mom?

Speaker 1 (32:17):
Now? My mom is? Oh ow math? Dang it? Okay,
Karen's hey, my mom is because I'm like that means
how old is my oldest sibling? Which literally don't know?
But let's let's call I know he won't listen though,
It's okay, okay, it's okay. He will never hear this.
Maybe you will maybe somebody knows, yes, and then send
it to him. You know, your sister's how old you are?

(32:38):
But I would say she's in her Okay, hold am
I she's like sixty seven?

Speaker 2 (32:42):
Okay, sixty seven. Yeah. But here, So here's the deal.
Our parents got married younger and had kids, bang those
kids out, and now their lives are their own.

Speaker 1 (32:53):
Yeah. Yeah, you know it's a nice.

Speaker 2 (32:56):
But now a lot of young men and women waiting
till their thirties, it's true forties to have their kids. Yeah,
and now you're old parents, and so you're gonna run.
They're gonna run in and you can say, okay, you're
going to run into the case where there's like this
little kid and there people are like, is that her daughter?

Speaker 1 (33:21):
Grad? You know?

Speaker 2 (33:22):
And so like when I had when I had coordinate,
you know, oh your grand babies, I'm gonna check you
right into the pe in the grocery store. Oh she's
so Goodeah, I hold your granddaughter.

Speaker 1 (33:34):
Don't do that. Yeah, you know. But here's the thing. This,
my entire generation has seemingly just done everything later. We're
getting married later. Do you know what's going on in
my generation with dating?

Speaker 2 (33:47):
I try not to.

Speaker 1 (33:48):
Okay, good for you, I'm going to be honest.

Speaker 2 (33:52):
I could care less.

Speaker 1 (33:53):
Lucky you. It's a jungle out here, it's a jungle.
I'm you know what I'm gonna report to you. It
is that to jungle out here.

Speaker 2 (34:01):
My middle girl is getting married and I'm so thrilled. Yes,
but she's twenty seven. Okay, so she's you know, I.

Speaker 1 (34:07):
Mean, there's a thing apparently like millennials kind of messed
something up in terms of partnership, is my understanding. I've
been loosely reading articles about this, loosely like big Skin
read the yeah, some light research and no, no, no,
I don't my own research where I read the first

(34:27):
sentence of every paragraph and then say, I read the article,
and then gen z, they're back to dat. They're back
to wanting to like. I don't know that they're dating
because of social media, because I've done some college shows
and discovered by pulling the audience that they're not dating
the college I don't know, and I asked them, why

(34:48):
are we not dating? Do you want to be dating? Yes?
Are you dating?

Speaker 2 (34:51):
No?

Speaker 1 (34:51):
Why not? And then they all go fear of rejection.
They're too scared, So then.

Speaker 2 (34:56):
They're alone.

Speaker 1 (34:57):
They're alone, all of them, all of them seemingly. Of course,
we can't make blanket statements.

Speaker 2 (35:03):
That's that's yeah, almost as sad as that plant in
the corner. It's not real, you know, I don't know
that anybody's gonna think it is.

Speaker 1 (35:14):
No, is it too green?

Speaker 2 (35:15):
It's shoe something I have to get.

Speaker 1 (35:18):
I'm gonna I'm gonna lay down the law about the
way that.

Speaker 2 (35:21):
It's too perfect, that it's to a plant that looks
like you.

Speaker 1 (35:25):
Gotta get some burn, like a little sunny burn, a
little tripled leaves. These are very green. I hadn't looked.
I'm boring you so much. You're checking out the planet.
Here's the dam.

Speaker 2 (35:35):
I'm a New Yorker, so your head is a situational
awareness all times. Okay, I'm always looking.

Speaker 1 (35:42):
Do you know what's behind you?

Speaker 2 (35:44):
There's another plant?

Speaker 1 (35:45):
Okay, there's another but on the wall, there's a shelf.

Speaker 2 (35:48):
There's a shelf exactly.

Speaker 1 (35:49):
Okay, but you do that already.

Speaker 2 (35:51):
Yeah, So I just.

Speaker 1 (35:55):
You know. I'm from Bottimore. And I also like to
say that I keep my head on the swivel lot
of times, and I know what's going on around me.
I also say I'm hard to surprise, but I don't
know that that's actually true. In retroge, when I.

Speaker 2 (36:05):
Look like you would be easy to surprise.

Speaker 1 (36:07):
Come on, now, why would you say that about you?

Speaker 2 (36:09):
Just do?

Speaker 1 (36:10):
Do? I? Just wait? Tell me? Try to articulate this
for me, because.

Speaker 2 (36:17):
I think you're very focused here mm hmm, but like
you really had to think about that plant.

Speaker 1 (36:24):
Because I hadn't even looked at the plant.

Speaker 2 (36:26):
How many of these have you done?

Speaker 1 (36:28):
But this is I've never been in this studio.

Speaker 2 (36:30):
So even more the reason.

Speaker 1 (36:34):
I should have been, like you give sound advice.

Speaker 2 (36:36):
I feel like, again, that's how I've gotten seventy one.

Speaker 1 (36:40):
Let's call you wise, I mean old, It's not bad.
What skills would you say that you gained from your
father you have tried to instill in your children, because
right now I'm like, I need to be paying more attention.
I think I pay attention, but I don't, and you've
done that for me today. So thank you.

Speaker 2 (36:59):
Don't be afraid to make a mistake. Okay, that that
that you're you know, it's you and well, on a
more serious note, one of the things he told me
saying this that as I was, you know, going to
high school and college, that you are going to have
to work twice as hard and be twice as good

(37:19):
to get half as far and I've taken. And plus
you know he was from the Bahamas, my mother was
from Jamaica.

Speaker 1 (37:25):
You know.

Speaker 2 (37:26):
You know they're you know, working three jobs, you know,
And that's and that's what I tell you. You got to work.
That's not a guarantee, but it certainly is more of
a guarantee than if you don't.

Speaker 1 (37:39):
Yeah, you know, I think that's I've heard that advice.
I think it rings so true. I can speak to that,
but I I think that's an important thing to instill
in your children, for them to know that that's the case.

Speaker 2 (37:53):
You're not listen, You're not going to get everything right.
You're going to screw up. You're going to fail. Yeah,
you know, I said, yeah, listen, I do weather. That's
somewhat science based. I I uh, No great invention, no
great creation, no great anything advance has been made on

(38:14):
its first shot. That happens.

Speaker 1 (38:16):
Yeah, when they make a mistake, what does it look like?
Have they ever come to you and like, I really
screwed up here? And how have you navigated that? As
a dad?

Speaker 2 (38:23):
For it's like, well, what what did we do? What'd
you do? Okay? How could what would you do differently?
What's what's the next thing you know, but you know
by the same token you know you. It's one of
the things my dad used to say to me, goes, listen,
no matter what you've tried to get away with, no
matter what you how you thought you were going to
get over I tried. It didn't work for me, not going.

Speaker 1 (38:47):
To work for you, you know.

Speaker 2 (38:48):
And and then you as as you get older, you
do realize how smart your parents are.

Speaker 1 (38:53):
They really do know stuff they know, they actually know,
and you think they don't get it that whole Like
Will Smith's parents don't understan. I just don't understand Song.
I think about a lot because I'm like, actually, they
know some stuff.

Speaker 2 (39:04):
They are Every kid thinks that their parent has no
idea what you're there, they are thinking, they are feeling
we didn't come out fully formed.

Speaker 1 (39:16):
They went through the same stuff, had those experiences, so
you know that.

Speaker 2 (39:21):
I think that's the uh to try to show some
sort of empathy and also but also, I'm not your friend.

Speaker 1 (39:30):
Okay, this is something I've asked guests in the past.
Is it important for you to feel like your kid
or is it important for you to have your kids
feel like you are a friend to them?

Speaker 2 (39:39):
Yeah, I'm not your dad said, I'm not your friend,
I'm your father. Yeah, this is not a democracy. You know.

Speaker 1 (39:46):
Have you ever told them to do something and it's
like they might ask why, and you go because I said, so,
oh yeah.

Speaker 2 (39:51):
Yeah, defor's kind of a well give them an explanation. No.
First of all, that that erodes my authority. Just I
want I want blind devotion.

Speaker 1 (40:04):
It's a bit of a dictator ship exactly. Okay. I
you know, in my mind, as a person who doesn't
have children, I'm always like, I can't wait when I
have a kid to be like, talk to me, why
don't you want to do that thing?

Speaker 2 (40:21):
No?

Speaker 1 (40:22):
No, And then I see some people whose parents did
do that to them, and I go, I don't know
that that's the way either.

Speaker 2 (40:28):
Yeah. One of the things I every now and then
I do violate my rule and I'll say something to
Courtney with with my granddaughter's guys, don't don't ask her
what she wants. Tell her this is what you're eating.
Do you want this or do you want that?

Speaker 1 (40:44):
No, there was none of that for you.

Speaker 2 (40:47):
And my kids and Courtney, Leila nor Nick were given.
They ate what we ate. It was no making two.

Speaker 1 (40:56):
Three don't you like that? Yeah, that is fascinating because
I also it was I love your reactions to that.
What parents are doing that every night? Yeah, this isn't
a restaurant.

Speaker 2 (41:07):
And that's the see and that's why because I said so,
because it's easier. Yeah, Okay, As I said, I love
my children. I will lay down my life for my children.
But on the other hand, I want to make my
life as easy as possible.

Speaker 1 (41:22):
Okay, all right, I love this. Now you're it's because
I said so for you, and that's kind of the
way you've navigated parenting in that regard. Now, is does
any part of you or did any part of you
worry that they might then have blind devotion to authority
and not question authority or were you like.

Speaker 2 (41:37):
Because eventually they grow up and they realize, oh he's
an idiot, you know. Uh and no. But but I
think like a puppy. Yeah, they need parameters, they need
a crate, they need to be trained, and then once
they know, then you can let them off the leash. Sure,
when they you know that they're not going to stick

(41:59):
a fork and they fair enough.

Speaker 1 (42:02):
But when I see when I when I'm like out
in public and my dog's being wild, and I'm like, stop. Sit.
You can see people uncomfortable with you, you know, demonstrating
authority with the dogs.

Speaker 2 (42:15):
Well they're they're uncomfortable with it until the dog starts
to take a whizz on their shoes, you know. I mean,
there is nothing to me. Well, I shouldn't say nothing.
I hate when people say, you know what the worst is.
I said, I can give you whatever you're going to
tell me. You can give you ten ten things worse. Yeah,
so stop, but when you're and listen, I've traveled with
my kids when they were small. I want a parent

(42:36):
if I if some parent is with their kids and
letting the kid run rough, shot, just go crazy, or
they're on the plane and the kid is like being
obnoxious and the parent is making no effort effort to
control that child, then it's like you're a failure. That's
how you are a failure.

Speaker 1 (42:55):
Do you do have to make an attempt? I think
it's it's it's it's helpful to everyone see you attempt. Yeah,
and then I think you deserve tons of empathy.

Speaker 2 (43:04):
And and in fact, I was on a plane I
don't about six months ago, and the kid behind me
was kicking the seat and kept kicking the seat, and
finally I got it and I turned. I said, ma'am,
could you I said, I've traveled with my child. I
know it's tough, but could you make it at least
an effort to be so that he knows how to behave?

Speaker 1 (43:22):
What did she say to that?

Speaker 2 (43:24):
I will not repeat it.

Speaker 1 (43:26):
Oh? Oh, it wasn't positive. I'm like al Roker. I'd
be like al Roker.

Speaker 2 (43:31):
It was. It was a little less than friendly.

Speaker 1 (43:33):
It wasn't friendly.

Speaker 2 (43:34):
It was not friendly, but it did begin with friendly.
Oh again with the same letter.

Speaker 1 (43:38):
Oh f you.

Speaker 2 (43:41):
And I said you, I said, and that's a lovely
example for your child.

Speaker 1 (43:46):
Oh. Everything all around the picture had been painted. How
long was the flight?

Speaker 2 (43:52):
I was going to Chicago.

Speaker 1 (43:53):
Okay, so a couple of hours.

Speaker 2 (43:55):
But you know, listen, like the way baby's crying. Yeah,
I was like, it's okay, ear infection maybe something like that.

Speaker 1 (44:01):
You can't you can't make an effort. Yeah, yeah that is,
But that's interesting. I didn't think that story was going
to go that way. I feel like, yeah, we'd hope
for the best. We only do we hope for the best, and.

Speaker 2 (44:15):
That's you know what that's that's that's a good slogan
for parenting.

Speaker 1 (44:19):
Yes, for the best. Are you generally an optimist?

Speaker 2 (44:22):
Yeah? I think I am. Yeah, I'm an optimist with
realistic tense.

Speaker 1 (44:26):
So then maybe you're a realist.

Speaker 2 (44:28):
Yeah. But I do like to think the best of people.
I really do. Yeah, until proven otherwise.

Speaker 1 (44:35):
Such as on the plane, miss ma'am and the and
the little boy? Are you closer to so I'm not
trying to find favorites, but are you closer to any
of your children right now than the other two? Because
I feel like it goes and you know, everyone gefferent parents.

Speaker 2 (44:53):
Our youngest is in college now and he's got you know,
he's got special needs. So he's home and he's just
a sweet boy, you know, he really is, and so
I just see more of him. Leela lives in Paris,
so you know, yeah, so.

Speaker 1 (45:07):
I have to connect with her. Yes, okay, sorry, suh.

Speaker 2 (45:12):
And and Courtney and my son in law West and
the baby Sky live in in New Jersey about.

Speaker 1 (45:18):
An hour away.

Speaker 2 (45:19):
So you know, it's an ebb and flow. But emotionally,
you know, I really do think we're you know there,
it's it's pretty equal, you know, I mean, I may
see Courtney more only because I almost I almost, uh
every night FaceTime with Sky.

Speaker 1 (45:38):
Sky. You don't need Courtney gives Sky the.

Speaker 2 (45:39):
Phone once I knows how to actually FaceTime. It's when
I go to pick her up.

Speaker 1 (45:48):
Yeah, and I.

Speaker 2 (45:50):
Might even be able to circummend that by just going
to daycare and.

Speaker 1 (45:54):
Get I feel bad for new parents because I sometimes
I have two nieces and what she's once The oldest
is four, and then her little sister is too, and
I'll call my brother and sister in law. But it's like,
can I talk to the girls, how are you? You're good?
Can I talk to the girls? And then sometimes I
have to go, you know what that has to suck
as a new parrot, to be like people are calling

(46:16):
my phone solely to talk to the child. So then
I but then exactly, but then I go out of
my way. Then I go, this phone call is for you.
I'm calling now to talk to you. I am, I'm
calling to talk to you. Yeah, And we're all kind
of just looking at each other and how are you
and how are things? And the girls? Can I see

(46:37):
the girls?

Speaker 2 (46:38):
I know I did call to talk to you, but
the girls were around I want to be upset.

Speaker 1 (46:43):
It wouldn't be a bad thing. I know. I waited
to call till I knew they were home from so exactly.
So yeah, I guess it's obvious. It is obvious. Okay,
So now it's time for a segment called that's nice.
But what about me?

Speaker 2 (46:56):
Okay?

Speaker 1 (46:57):
We've talked about me a bit. Okay, but what about
me more?

Speaker 2 (47:00):
Okay?

Speaker 1 (47:01):
And this was actually the piece of advice. I wanted
to ask you how to know when you're ready to
have kids? And now I feel you. You have articulated
to me that I have a dog. I've practiced with that,
and you're never really ready. But if there is one
one sort of north star I can look to to go,

(47:22):
That's how I know I could maybe do this.

Speaker 2 (47:26):
Breaks.

Speaker 1 (47:29):
So our roker is telling me to just go get pregnant.

Speaker 2 (47:31):
Well wait, that's essentially.

Speaker 1 (47:34):
That's essentially what I'm hearing. Okay, Yeah, just get pregnant
and I'll be ready.

Speaker 2 (47:42):
How about him?

Speaker 1 (47:47):
Just pick any any does anybody? If that's the case,
maybe after.

Speaker 2 (47:50):
This well well let's back it up there, let's back
it up. Do you want to be married first?

Speaker 1 (47:56):
I'd like to be.

Speaker 2 (47:56):
Okay, are the prospects.

Speaker 1 (47:59):
I'm in a relationship.

Speaker 2 (48:00):
Okay, that's a prospect.

Speaker 1 (48:01):
That's a prospect serious.

Speaker 2 (48:04):
I would never then, have you talked about We've talked.

Speaker 1 (48:09):
About the things, all of them, children, all of it.

Speaker 2 (48:12):
Yes, he wants children. Yes, Okay, you.

Speaker 1 (48:14):
Think I should just do it?

Speaker 2 (48:18):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (48:18):
Would you officiate my wedding?

Speaker 2 (48:20):
Absolutely? I'm actually registered in the state of New York.

Speaker 1 (48:23):
Have you so many weddings? Have you officiated? Two?

Speaker 2 (48:26):
Three? Three?

Speaker 1 (48:27):
Have you? Were you more nervous doing that than perhaps.

Speaker 2 (48:30):
I got no skin in the game.

Speaker 1 (48:32):
Okay, you're supposed to act like you really care.

Speaker 2 (48:36):
I did because I got a free dinner. Wow, I
don't want them. I got a free trip.

Speaker 1 (48:40):
Do you ever get nervous anymore?

Speaker 2 (48:42):
Oh? I get I'm nervous right now. No, I am constantly.
I'm gonna here's the deal. Tell me if I think,
if you care about what you do, whether it's relationship, job, whatever,
you're always nervous. You don't want to screw it up.

Speaker 1 (48:57):
Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (48:59):
If if you were doing this or whatever it is
we do, and you're not nervous, it's probably time to go.

Speaker 1 (49:04):
Mmm. Okay that's good advice too, That's very good advice.

Speaker 2 (49:08):
I don't know if it is.

Speaker 1 (49:09):
I think it. I mean, that's your take.

Speaker 2 (49:12):
And plus the fact that if you've watched at any
given moment, I could say something that could tank this career.

Speaker 1 (49:17):
That's so true in this day and age. Anything, and
we're recording it'll live on.

Speaker 2 (49:22):
It. I feel badly in a way for the gen
Z millennial type e because you you today listen most
of us when we were in our early twenties, late teens,
early twenties, we were dopes. You know, we did things,
we said things. People grow, people change.

Speaker 1 (49:41):
And there's no real record of.

Speaker 2 (49:43):
It, and there's no record we got away with it.
And it's like now everything you say, there's a cop
there's a copy of.

Speaker 1 (49:50):
It's yea and someone you know what's always interesting that
someone's like sitting on it somewhere waiting for you to
like say, there's an actor, right, and they've been having
this like slow build of a career, your normal trajectory,
but then they land this big blockbuster film and everyone's
in love with them, and then all of a sudden,
this video clip from nineteen ninety two surfaces and you're like,

(50:11):
who was sitting on this just waiting for you? To
get to the peak or what appears.

Speaker 2 (50:15):
To be a family member.

Speaker 1 (50:17):
Oh where is the optimism out?

Speaker 2 (50:21):
Okay, okay, hey listen, that's why. That's why when a
business says we treat you like family, I run in
the are.

Speaker 1 (50:29):
You're like, no, so you don't need that olive garden.
No okay, no unlimited bread with a stick. I was
going to say, the breasticks in the Alfredo sauce out
the last time you've been you know what, I.

Speaker 2 (50:40):
Have never been to an olive garden.

Speaker 1 (50:42):
Oh that's crazy.

Speaker 2 (50:43):
I've been to a Ponderosa.

Speaker 1 (50:45):
I've never been to a ponderosa.

Speaker 2 (50:46):
Who see, I don't even is Ponderosa still a thing.
I don't even know if they're.

Speaker 1 (50:49):
Still I've never even heard of Pondera College.

Speaker 2 (50:52):
That was a big night out. Okay, I've been to
a Love Me a red Lobster.

Speaker 1 (50:59):
The Cheddar come on, by the way. They they have
a new CEO and I find him really funny. Oh
you know they're not bringing back He said, we will
not be bringing back unlimited in the strip and then
they asked him why, and he said, because I can
do math.

Speaker 2 (51:14):
Because that took them down.

Speaker 1 (51:15):
Yeah, I respect it, can I respect it.

Speaker 2 (51:18):
And anytime anybody says unlimited something, it's like, how good
can that be? It is a business. Yes, it's like
you if you see here's the words, you never really
want to see all you can eat sushi.

Speaker 1 (51:29):
That just made my stomach turn. That's I'm not well,
you know.

Speaker 2 (51:35):
And then you just get that and follow up with
one of those those roller hot dogs at the seven eleventh.

Speaker 1 (51:40):
Oh no, I don't and those I like a hot
dog off the girl. Every time I'd see those, I'd
be like, and they've just been sitting there, what's going on?
But if you're hungry and then a pinch, I can
see how that happens. I could see how it not
never couldn't be?

Speaker 2 (51:54):
Couldn't I take a.

Speaker 1 (51:58):
Could it be? I guess I'll. My big takeaway from
our conversation is that I need to just go get
pregnant today.

Speaker 2 (52:05):
Well I.

Speaker 1 (52:07):
Going to tomorrow.

Speaker 2 (52:09):
You know, well they're still tonight, you know, wait for night.
No listen, I just think you know, it's if if
you are in love, if you want to move, so
let me so, what what's stopping you?

Speaker 1 (52:25):
I just am a very reasonable person.

Speaker 2 (52:27):
I like, but you just said you got to be reckless.

Speaker 1 (52:30):
You got to be which is a reasonable reckless, and
it's a balance. Maybe you gotta be like reasonably reckless.
Maybe that's the key.

Speaker 2 (52:39):
If you're already in love. Yeah, if you you know,
if he has a good job.

Speaker 1 (52:44):
Yeah, you just do it.

Speaker 2 (52:46):
Yeah Nike, Yeah, okay, so you get free sneakers. Maybe
you'll get cute sneakers.

Speaker 1 (52:52):
Yeah, come on, I'll have that on.

Speaker 2 (52:55):
Suits. Come on, o kid. I could see the Instagram posts, but.

Speaker 1 (53:00):
You know what, this is the thing about it. People
are getting in relationships and having babies for the Instagram post,
and that troubles me.

Speaker 2 (53:06):
I wouldn't do that, but but I do think everything
you've laid out here, I don't understand while if we
if we do this in a year from now, you're not.

Speaker 1 (53:16):
Where you officiate my wedding. I need you to care.
I have I you know, if you afficiate my wedding.
If you afficiate my wedding, I need you to care.

Speaker 2 (53:24):
I absolutely care. I want to. I don't know what
your your significant other looks like, but I know what
you so it's you know what. In fact, and I'm
again not knowing what he looks like, but I think, yes,
I think. I think babies of of an attractive person
and somebody who's not that great looking are beautiful. Oh really,

(53:46):
it's rare that you have two really beautiful people have
beautiful children.

Speaker 1 (53:49):
That's what I think. By the way, I think, too
stunning people always have a okay.

Speaker 2 (53:55):
Looking child exactly. That's why.

Speaker 1 (53:58):
That's why my kids look great, because Deborah, oh, you're
so humble.

Speaker 2 (54:02):
You know what, I got a mirror. Okay, you know
it's not like, wait, oh, come get this.

Speaker 1 (54:08):
No, wait, no, I have to ask because you said
you if you're not nervous, that's a bad, bad sign
in your marriage of X number of years. Do you
ever feel nervous that Deborah will leave you? This is
a question for me because I'm always like, how do
you know? It feels like anyone could go at any time? Obviously,
but does that ever like occur to you.

Speaker 2 (54:29):
Because let's face it, any any anything can happen. I
don't think it will. I mean, she's kind of stuck.

Speaker 1 (54:36):
This is she stuck with you.

Speaker 2 (54:38):
She stuck it out. She stuck it out, so you know,
so I think we're we're at that point where, you know,
like the other day, I mean, we just literally sitting around. Okay,
here's this is when you know you've become your parents.
We're sitting at home. We had just finished watching Jeopardy

(54:59):
and we then queued up on the d v R Matlock,
the new Matlock with Kathy Bates.

Speaker 1 (55:06):
It's really good. Kathy Bates is incredible misery. Have you
seen it?

Speaker 2 (55:11):
Of course?

Speaker 1 (55:11):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (55:11):
Anyway, that's I still have nightmares. Yeah, this Matlock, the pilot.
The end of the pilot. You see there's a turn
you never saw coming. Okay, it's great, Okay, but that's
where we are now. You know, the idea that you know,
we should be out partying and it's over.

Speaker 1 (55:26):
One of the last times I saw you was at
a party in Paris.

Speaker 2 (55:30):
Yeah that's right, but I was working.

Speaker 1 (55:31):
You were. I was working also, you were.

Speaker 2 (55:34):
Didn't we look good?

Speaker 1 (55:35):
We looked great, fantastic. Maybe we'll put a picture at
the end. I have our selfies for That's.

Speaker 2 (55:42):
What I'm you know, listen, I just think that, uh,
there's really no reason on God's green Earth that you
shouldn't be getting married and popping.

Speaker 1 (55:49):
Out Okay, one or two, maybe even three, you.

Speaker 2 (55:52):
Know, or maybe your luck out twins right off.

Speaker 1 (55:55):
The back I don't. For me, that's not luck.

Speaker 2 (55:57):
I don't. I know several couples with twins that I've
I love each of my children. I would jump out
a window if any one of them was a twin.

Speaker 1 (56:05):
Yes, if they arrived at the same time. Because I
keep hearing this thing about like so twins run it's
sort of genetic or something. I don't know if that's
a myth, but we're gonna go with it that it
like skips a generation. And then it's yeah, triplets. My
grandmother had triplets. And can I tell you if I
had triplets, I'm saying this now, and if these future
kids are triplets and they hear this, I stand by this.

(56:27):
I don't want that. I really don't want that.

Speaker 2 (56:30):
Well, you know we should. I have one children in kindergarten.

Speaker 1 (56:34):
Huh.

Speaker 2 (56:35):
You get what you're getting. You don't get upset.

Speaker 1 (56:37):
Oh goodness, Okay, okay, out roker, you're officiating my wedding.
If I give birth to triplets, I care.

Speaker 2 (56:45):
I'll be in the hospital. I'll be in the hospital.
You don't have to come in there, but I'm not there.

Speaker 3 (56:48):
With no hopefully, here we go, here we go, Hey,
right over the pl co here we go.

Speaker 1 (57:00):
Yeah, min not talk about nightmares. Talk about misery giving
you nightmares? That would give me nightmares everything. Why is
out broker delivering my baby? I thought we can offficiate
my wedding, and now he's kicked the doctor out of
the delivery room and he's catching my baby.

Speaker 2 (57:19):
He needs a batter and I'm glench you're the oil
for the circumcision. Hey, but I only take tips.

Speaker 1 (57:27):
I'm gonna write that movie. That's a spooky movie. Okay,
Now it's not just about me. We help our listeners
on this podcast too. Ol. I have a text from
a listener, Okay, I like that behind magic, I have
a text from a listener okay, asking for advice. Oka
and okay. Here it is Hi from Baltimore City, Ago

(57:50):
and guests shout out to Baltimore. Okay, here's my question
for you guys. How much partying is okay after forty
I have friends that are forty eight years old going
to the strip club and getting drunk every weekend. I'm
forty and can barely have an occasional martini without regrets. Help.

Speaker 2 (58:09):
I think you need to get other friends.

Speaker 1 (58:11):
And it also sounds like it's one friend, because forty
eight is a.

Speaker 2 (58:13):
Specific specific age.

Speaker 1 (58:16):
That is, somebody in Baltimore City is shouting out their
forty eight year old friend who is going to the
strip club and getting drunk every weekend.

Speaker 2 (58:23):
Well, listen, I think I think they ought to just
leave that friend alone.

Speaker 1 (58:27):
Okay, it's more about that.

Speaker 2 (58:28):
Yeah, that's the friend. Because your life's okay, there's something
wrong with this person. If there's a forty eight still
going out to the slip the strip club and getting
drunk every weekend.

Speaker 1 (58:38):
Yeah, it's almost like I feel like that person should
have a child, right.

Speaker 3 (58:42):
No, no, no, no, that person should have a child,
not even a dog.

Speaker 2 (58:47):
No that person no, no, no, no, that person needs
a twelve step person.

Speaker 1 (58:53):
Fair enough, you know what. You're right, we'll start there,
stepeah no, no, no, getting okay, no no, no, yes, okay.

Speaker 2 (59:00):
In fact, that it disturbed me a little bit that
you thought that a person should get a job.

Speaker 1 (59:03):
Well, because I'm like, there, it feels like they need
a different place to put this energy.

Speaker 2 (59:07):
They have a lot of energy therapy. It's called rehab.

Speaker 1 (59:12):
You're so right. I don't know why. Well, it's because
of my new mind of reasoning about the rate.

Speaker 2 (59:18):
You haven't gotten to that into that mindset. Yes, once
once you flip the switch that okay we're doing this,
Yeah you'll see.

Speaker 1 (59:24):
Okay, it'll happen. We'll have you been after that start. Okay,
we'll have you back. Because also the person says how
much partying is okay after forty Then they go in
to describe their own life and it sounds fine, and
so it feels like you're asking about your friend.

Speaker 2 (59:35):
I don't think it's a friend. I think it's them.

Speaker 1 (59:37):
You think it's them, and they're pretending asking for a friend,
but it's really they're the forty eight year old partying
and going to strip clubs. I mean that sounds that
doesn't sound fun to me. And I'm not forty eight. No,
I'm not forty and that doesn't sound fun to me.

Speaker 2 (59:51):
I never really went out partying. Yeah, I'm the fact
of the matter is I am very much kind of
a homebody. I the only reason I know anybody of
any significance is because of Deborah, because she likes going out.

Speaker 1 (01:00:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:00:08):
I if we were left to me, other than maybe
having some other friends over, you know, two or three
other couples.

Speaker 1 (01:00:14):
Yeah, I don't you need that balance.

Speaker 2 (01:00:16):
I don't like to go out, especially those black tie events.
Oh it's a lot, it's the worst.

Speaker 1 (01:00:22):
It's I can tell you, I got the worst things.

Speaker 2 (01:00:27):
You'll be at a black tie event with a kid
kicking your seat.

Speaker 1 (01:00:30):
Yeh goodness. And then someone says, f you.

Speaker 2 (01:00:33):
The only the only possibly good thing about those, especially
the cocktail out. If they've got pigs in a blanket.

Speaker 1 (01:00:42):
You like pigs in a blankets?

Speaker 2 (01:00:44):
Oh wow, you don't like a pig in a blanket.

Speaker 1 (01:00:47):
I don't like pigs in a blanket. No, I don't.
I don't I want my pigs.

Speaker 2 (01:00:51):
I don't.

Speaker 1 (01:00:51):
I want my pigs in a bun.

Speaker 2 (01:00:53):
I don't know that I can get you? Can I
can get you married?

Speaker 1 (01:00:57):
But yeah, because my wedding is probably going to be
black tie as well.

Speaker 2 (01:01:00):
But you could have pigs in a blanket.

Speaker 1 (01:01:01):
My boyfriend likes pigs in a blanket. Okay, so maybe
we can compromise. If the efficient and there and this is.

Speaker 2 (01:01:09):
Okay, here's the one of the secrets. Yeah, compromise, compromise
you pigs in a blanket. You can have crab cakes? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (01:01:18):
And how did you know I wanted crab cake from Baltimore? Wow, yeah,
I have. I love crab cakes.

Speaker 2 (01:01:26):
That would be my last big as your head.

Speaker 1 (01:01:28):
I know. And it's all crab meat, clump, crab me,
no filler.

Speaker 2 (01:01:32):
It's all crab me.

Speaker 1 (01:01:33):
That's how it's supposed to be.

Speaker 2 (01:01:35):
Like you could almost burrow in there and live.

Speaker 1 (01:01:38):
Yeah, it's so good. You know what.

Speaker 2 (01:01:40):
Another place I think it's closed now, but I used
to live love Old O Bricky's Crab House.

Speaker 1 (01:01:45):
Oh, I don't know if it's I don't know if
it's great.

Speaker 2 (01:01:47):
You go there, especially in soft shell crab season Yeah,
a piece of brown paper. They would dump a basket
of crabs that had been steamed. I yeah, an old
bay seasoning, a ring of fire around your mouth. You
had a wooden mallet.

Speaker 1 (01:02:01):
You just want to use papers on the table there
to clean up into the tablecloth. It's a dream I
do too. I love being from there. I remember getting
crab My mom would buy crap on the side of
the road. The crabbers would have him and put them
in a big brown bag for you. You take them home,
steam them in Old Bay Heaven.

Speaker 2 (01:02:19):
I always did for a moment feel bad for the crabs.

Speaker 1 (01:02:22):
Really well, you know, because then they are trying to cray.

Speaker 2 (01:02:28):
I mean you can't hear that, but.

Speaker 1 (01:02:31):
Scrambling, what do you say? We don't think about that.

Speaker 2 (01:02:35):
Okay, don't ruin, don't.

Speaker 1 (01:02:38):
Ruin my last meal. Well, you know what, when I
have a crab cake, I like it because.

Speaker 2 (01:02:42):
People ask that about the last meal.

Speaker 1 (01:02:45):
It's silly, but I.

Speaker 2 (01:02:46):
Know it's enjoying that. It's whatever you're getting. You know
you're not going to enjoy.

Speaker 1 (01:02:51):
You might.

Speaker 2 (01:02:52):
I don't think so.

Speaker 1 (01:02:53):
I might see. Food makes me inordinately.

Speaker 2 (01:02:56):
I'm about to strap you in and for a thousand
volts through you. But you enjoy that crab cake. It's good.
Too bad.

Speaker 1 (01:03:10):
My issue is that I would be like, that's fine,
I'm content. Give me a crab cake, lump crab meat,
and I'd be like, zap me, zap me wherever I'm
ready to go. Every time I have a good meal,
I'm like, this could be it, this could be it.
Oh yeah, good food. You fork to me. It's actually strange.

Speaker 2 (01:03:27):
But I never think, oh I can die.

Speaker 1 (01:03:29):
Now I do? That's weird? Huh seek counsel? Should I?

Speaker 2 (01:03:33):
Okay, you know, maybe we hold off on the kids.

Speaker 1 (01:03:35):
Okay, this is what I'm trying to tell you.

Speaker 2 (01:03:39):
Check up. You'll check up from the neck up, see
what's happening.

Speaker 1 (01:03:42):
I knew I could get you on my side. Oh,
it's been pure joy talking to you.

Speaker 2 (01:03:46):
It's over.

Speaker 1 (01:03:48):
Was it too soon? We could keep talking?

Speaker 2 (01:03:51):
So much of when in my career has been too soon? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (01:03:56):
I love this. I love this. It was the perfect
amount of time I could keep talking to you. I
have many I have so many other questions. A please
come back one day, okay, when you're pregnant, when I'm pregnant.

Speaker 2 (01:04:06):
After I've officiated, after.

Speaker 1 (01:04:08):
You've officiated the wedding, we will serve you pap. Yeah.
I might then have to have a second officiant though
as well. Well, then you have to meet. Well, we'll
have to talk offline. We'll plan this, will plan this.

Speaker 2 (01:04:19):
This has been peer to boyfriend's.

Speaker 1 (01:04:21):
Yes, I love that. You know that he will he will. Okay, Well,
everyone loves Albro. I'm trying to figure out about the
lady on the plane. Well, anyway, I've loved having you know.

Speaker 2 (01:04:31):
It's funny because I've had a number of altercations encounters
on the plane, and it's always when Debra's not with me,
and she says, you've got to stop traveling without me.

Speaker 1 (01:04:40):
I'm thinking, yeah, yeah, let's get Deborah on all these
flights with you twenty twenty six. That's the mission, is
Deborah on the plane? All right? Thank you so much.
Well that was my talk with the Al Roker. How

(01:05:02):
fun is he? Goodness? You know, I didn't know. I
didn't know the full scope of Al's personality. Now I've
met him, we've hung out, we've seen each other in
the wild. But I'm like, Al is a good time.
It's too bad he's a homebody. But I can relate
because I also like to be at home. And I
guess I'm supposed to go have a baby now, so
I have to go. But before I go, I should say,

(01:05:23):
if you want advice, you should call the podcast hotline.
That's what I'm calling it right now. It's five zero two.
Thanks dads. That's five zero two THHX. Dad's d A
d S. I just think about how to spell Dad's wow,
because I'm right now my mind is just on baby.
I don't know that I'm going to go get pregnant tonight. Guys,

(01:05:43):
don't worry, it's not happening. But that was his advice
to me tonight. Tonight's the night anyway. If you want advice, call,
leave a voicemail my guest, and I will give you advice.
I hope you enjoyed and see you in the next one.
Thanks Dad. Is a production of Will Ferrell's Big Money
Players and iHeart Podcasts. I'm your host, Ago wodem Our

(01:06:04):
producer is Kevin Bartelt, and our executive producer is Matt
Appadaka