June 5, 2025 • 5 mins
MSNBC host and former White House Communications director Nicolle Wallace talks new podcast and more!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
On with Maria a little bits. Mario Lopez join me
right now on zoom. Former White House Communications director in
current MSNBC anchor Nicole Wallace. How are you, Nicole? Hi there, I.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Can see you without my glasses. I'm gonna take them off.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Oh nice, nice, I took I took mine off, so uh,
we're won the same right there.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
I'm I need glasses years old.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Yes, no, I get it, I need I wouldn't be
able to read anything right now. Congrats, you're getting into
the podcast game. I'm yeah. Your new show the Best People.
You're talking with people outside of the political world that
inspire you.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Right.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
That's fun. So people like Doc.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Rivers, Jason Bateman, Sarah Juska, Parker Daniels, Jimmy jam It's
really fun.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Wow, I liked it. Collected diverse group right there. Now,
these people obviously are not politicians, But are you talking
politics with your guests?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Well, you know, I would have been happy to talk
about anything of these people. I think the theme that
runs through all of them is I am a fan
of all these folks. But the most of the conversations,
at least at one point, turned to politics like they
do in normal life. But then we jump right back
to other things. And I think what I realized at
(01:16):
the end of it is that maybe what we do
is more artificial. Right. We just talked politics for an
hour or two, and in people's lives it's you know,
I've got one kid with tennis elbow and another one
who I have to send a timer to get them
off their iPad. What do you think about this issue?
And so I think the podcast is maybe more reflective
of where politics falls in our normal lives. Right.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Oh, I got the timer with the iPad too.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Does it work mine? Like out out program? The time limit? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (01:47):
No, he puts it in himself and then he knows
that when the times of the times up. What's the
most interesting thing you've learned from this process? And from the.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Guests asking me to choose among among my children? I mean,
Jimmy jam is someone that I met when I had
tried or hope to make a Weird of the World
for Ukraine, and we didn't end up creating an original song,
but I got to meet him and I was so
nervous just to talk to him on the phone. And
this was a couple of years ago now, So when
(02:16):
I got of doing a podcast. I thought of doing
something that Jimmy jam might say yes too. So when
I got to interview him for the podcast, I just
loved all of his stories about working with Janet Jackson
and about the creative process of making music, and he
talked about he knew Michael Jackson and worked with Michael
Jackson on a song, and I think some of his
(02:39):
stories really were the most amazing to hear.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Yeah, I'm a huge fan of his. That's very cool,
so cool, And of course you still host your daily
show on MSNBC as well, Deadline White House.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
You enjoying that.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
How it must be a lot of fun these days.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
It's never boring, and it's like, you know, at this point,
we just sit there and wonder and hold up a
mirror to what has happened that day. I think a
lot of people know how they feel about the parties,
and so there's enough happening that we just try to
stay on the news, and a lot of it is
not normal. I mean, I worked for Republicans of other
(03:15):
Democrats and a lot of what were happening. What's happening
is almost beyond the old sites and sort of into
a new arena. So it's really cool, it's really fun.
We have a lot of regulars who keep it real,
and the show's a real treat you.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
I menagined you worked for Republicans. I remember we worked
with the George W. Bush administration, And for people who
may not be familiar, what exactly does the White House
Communications director do?
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Well? I think some of these jobs are different now, right,
Like I have that job before Twitter, if you can
even imagine that, you know. And I think it's probably
advantageous that we have politicians now that do some of
their own communicating. But I'm you know, was from an
era where we a lot of it was planned and organized,
(04:00):
and we planned interviews with journalists and we plan speeches.
And it feels like a relic to even describe what
I did now because there's a lot more direct access
to all politicians. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
No, absolutely get entertaining at times. You're also a mom
of two. Your youngest is like a year and a half, right.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Yeah, I have a baby, baby a baby Easyvidually, I
just was ordering a sushi for my son, he's thirteen,
and it's really fun. I'm a modern family and we
have a really good time. Mysembly's travel baseball so my
daughter spends every Sunday at a doubleheader for thirteen year
old travel Baseball, and she thinks that's all babies do.
(04:43):
So you know, we won't.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Tell her that's a sophisticated palette at thirteen down in sushi.
I didn't even know what sushi was at thirteen.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
New York City, kid, Right, you're in New Yorker, exactly exactly,
he asked me a couple weeks ago. He said, you know, mom,
all the great restaurants are down to out. I kind
of look at Yeah, he's a.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Bit of a food that's very cool, all right, he's
got good taste. Really nice catching up with you, and
congrats on the podcast. Everyone be sure to check it out.
It's called The Best of People, which is available to
stream everywhere where you get your pods. Nicole, thanks for
checking in.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Thank you so much. It's really nice to see you.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
You too.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Take care of
Speaker 1 (05:24):
With Mario Lopez
On with Maria a little bits. Mario Lopez join me
right now on zoom. Former White House Communications director in
current MSNBC anchor Nicole Wallace. How are you, Nicole? Hi there, I.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Can see you without my glasses. I'm gonna take them off.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Oh nice, nice, I took I took mine off, so uh,
we're won the same right there.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
I'm I need glasses years old.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Yes, no, I get it, I need I wouldn't be
able to read anything right now. Congrats, you're getting into
the podcast game. I'm yeah. Your new show the Best People.
You're talking with people outside of the political world that
inspire you.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Right.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
That's fun. So people like Doc.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Rivers, Jason Bateman, Sarah Juska, Parker Daniels, Jimmy jam It's
really fun.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Wow, I liked it. Collected diverse group right there. Now,
these people obviously are not politicians, But are you talking
politics with your guests?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Well, you know, I would have been happy to talk
about anything of these people. I think the theme that
runs through all of them is I am a fan
of all these folks. But the most of the conversations,
at least at one point, turned to politics like they
do in normal life. But then we jump right back
to other things. And I think what I realized at
(01:16):
the end of it is that maybe what we do
is more artificial. Right. We just talked politics for an
hour or two, and in people's lives it's you know,
I've got one kid with tennis elbow and another one
who I have to send a timer to get them
off their iPad. What do you think about this issue?
And so I think the podcast is maybe more reflective
of where politics falls in our normal lives. Right.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Oh, I got the timer with the iPad too.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Does it work mine? Like out out program? The time limit? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (01:47):
No, he puts it in himself and then he knows
that when the times of the times up. What's the
most interesting thing you've learned from this process? And from the.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Guests asking me to choose among among my children? I mean,
Jimmy jam is someone that I met when I had
tried or hope to make a Weird of the World
for Ukraine, and we didn't end up creating an original song,
but I got to meet him and I was so
nervous just to talk to him on the phone. And
this was a couple of years ago now, So when
(02:16):
I got of doing a podcast. I thought of doing
something that Jimmy jam might say yes too. So when
I got to interview him for the podcast, I just
loved all of his stories about working with Janet Jackson
and about the creative process of making music, and he
talked about he knew Michael Jackson and worked with Michael
Jackson on a song, and I think some of his
(02:39):
stories really were the most amazing to hear.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Yeah, I'm a huge fan of his. That's very cool,
so cool, And of course you still host your daily
show on MSNBC as well, Deadline White House.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
You enjoying that.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
How it must be a lot of fun these days.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
It's never boring, and it's like, you know, at this point,
we just sit there and wonder and hold up a
mirror to what has happened that day. I think a
lot of people know how they feel about the parties,
and so there's enough happening that we just try to
stay on the news, and a lot of it is
not normal. I mean, I worked for Republicans of other
(03:15):
Democrats and a lot of what were happening. What's happening
is almost beyond the old sites and sort of into
a new arena. So it's really cool, it's really fun.
We have a lot of regulars who keep it real,
and the show's a real treat you.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
I menagined you worked for Republicans. I remember we worked
with the George W. Bush administration, And for people who
may not be familiar, what exactly does the White House
Communications director do?
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Well? I think some of these jobs are different now, right,
Like I have that job before Twitter, if you can
even imagine that, you know. And I think it's probably
advantageous that we have politicians now that do some of
their own communicating. But I'm you know, was from an
era where we a lot of it was planned and organized,
(04:00):
and we planned interviews with journalists and we plan speeches.
And it feels like a relic to even describe what
I did now because there's a lot more direct access
to all politicians. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
No, absolutely get entertaining at times. You're also a mom
of two. Your youngest is like a year and a half, right.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Yeah, I have a baby, baby a baby Easyvidually, I
just was ordering a sushi for my son, he's thirteen,
and it's really fun. I'm a modern family and we
have a really good time. Mysembly's travel baseball so my
daughter spends every Sunday at a doubleheader for thirteen year
old travel Baseball, and she thinks that's all babies do.
(04:43):
So you know, we won't.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Tell her that's a sophisticated palette at thirteen down in sushi.
I didn't even know what sushi was at thirteen.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
New York City, kid, Right, you're in New Yorker, exactly exactly,
he asked me a couple weeks ago. He said, you know, mom,
all the great restaurants are down to out. I kind
of look at Yeah, he's a.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Bit of a food that's very cool, all right, he's
got good taste. Really nice catching up with you, and
congrats on the podcast. Everyone be sure to check it out.
It's called The Best of People, which is available to
stream everywhere where you get your pods. Nicole, thanks for
checking in.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Thank you so much. It's really nice to see you.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
You too.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Take care of
Speaker 1 (05:24):
With Mario Lopez
Host
Mario Lopez
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