WEBVTT - EITM interviews Brad Meltzer 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:00.720 How are you, brother? 0:00:01.000 --> 0:00:02.720 I am doing great, sir, how are you? 0:00:04.680 --> 0:00:07.880 I am good? Because we are going tonight to the 0:00:07.880 --> 0:00:08.640 World Series. 0:00:09.360 --> 0:00:12.000 Okay, Well, isn't it going to be shocking when you 0:00:12.000 --> 0:00:13.760 get there tonight and there's no game going on? 0:00:15.000 --> 0:00:17.040 Well, I mean I'm leaving tonight. I didn't mean like 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:17.680 this way. 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:18.280 Whenever I go. 0:00:20.960 --> 0:00:22.800 Wait a minute, So you're going to Toronto for the 0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:23.480 World Series. 0:00:24.640 --> 0:00:25.680 So here's a bit. 0:00:26.200 --> 0:00:29.240 Every year since my son is little, I make a 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:31.600 bet with him he can pick a team that's in 0:00:31.640 --> 0:00:34.240 the bottom half of the rankings in baseball. Wait a minute, 0:00:34.320 --> 0:00:37.560 I feel like you before I've told you this story. 0:00:37.600 --> 0:00:39.839 I've told you privately. I maybe on the air. But 0:00:40.240 --> 0:00:42.640 and if he pick if that team makes the World Series, 0:00:42.680 --> 0:00:45.199 I'll take him. And it's an impossible bet because you're 0:00:45.200 --> 0:00:46.760 taking like one of the worst teams and trying to 0:00:46.760 --> 0:00:48.320 make it into the best. It never worrid. He's been 0:00:48.360 --> 0:00:48.760 doing it for. 0:00:48.720 --> 0:00:51.639 A dozen years nothing, and two years. 0:00:51.440 --> 0:00:53.800 Ago he picks the Texas Rangers who go to the 0:00:53.800 --> 0:00:55.680 World Series. I'm like, this is the most expensive bet 0:00:55.720 --> 0:00:59.600 I've ever made. Now, and so the game's one and 0:00:59.680 --> 0:01:03.120 two are always during my daughter's parents weekend. So we 0:01:03.160 --> 0:01:05.640 can't go to one and two. I get tickets to 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:07.160 Game six, but the. 0:01:07.160 --> 0:01:08.200 Rangers win in five. 0:01:08.800 --> 0:01:10.959 Last year, I get tickets to Game six and seven 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:14.720 and the Dodgers win in five. And so this is 0:01:14.760 --> 0:01:17.120 the third year. I'm trying to complete this bet for 0:01:17.200 --> 0:01:19.920 three years now, and finally there's a game six and 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:21.040 we are going to Toronto. 0:01:23.200 --> 0:01:26.680 Dude, that is awesome. That is freaking awesome. 0:01:28.000 --> 0:01:31.160 It's so good because my son is like, he's almost 0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:33.880 happy when it keeps going, because he just loves watching 0:01:33.880 --> 0:01:36.160 me being tortured trying to get tickets to Game six 0:01:36.200 --> 0:01:38.920 and seven, the two hardest tickets every year, three years 0:01:38.959 --> 0:01:39.360 in a row. 0:01:39.400 --> 0:01:45.440 Now have you been to I've never been to that 0:01:46.160 --> 0:01:50.240 stadium for a baseball game. And that that entire city 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:52.640 is going to be nuts tomorrow night. 0:01:53.800 --> 0:01:55.600 Well that's why I was happy that one last night, 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:58.520 because I'm like, this place is going to explode. It's 0:01:58.560 --> 0:02:01.480 you know, obviously, I'm so excited. We went to We 0:02:01.520 --> 0:02:03.320 went to the Cubs the first time they were in 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:06.280 the World Series, and even though they lost the first game, 0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:08.960 it regularly when we were there, it was like the 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:11.799 place it was the best game I've ever seen because 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:15.200 every pitch was like it was the end of the universe, 0:02:15.280 --> 0:02:18.160 and and I love that atmosphere. It's so fun to 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:18.800 be a part of. 0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:21.680 Oh dude, oh you got to send pictures. I can't 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:22.920 imagine what that's going to be. 0:02:23.080 --> 0:02:26.079 Like, yeah, no, no, it's gonna be good. Where and 0:02:26.080 --> 0:02:28.720 and and you know, our our kids all the all 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:31.880 the animators for our kids TV show based on the books, 0:02:32.200 --> 0:02:35.000 they're all from Toronto, so all like, you know, for 0:02:35.040 --> 0:02:37.840 a month now, they're all freaking out, and I'm like, 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:40.600 let's let's not get crazy until you guys get there, 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:43.760 and then you know, after that, you know, nearly twenty 0:02:43.800 --> 0:02:45.799 inning game, I'm like, everybody, calm down. 0:02:45.840 --> 0:02:47.080 And then suddenly they're. 0:02:46.800 --> 0:02:49.440 Like, do not tell us to calm down. You should 0:02:49.440 --> 0:02:50.120 not come down. 0:02:52.160 --> 0:02:54.840 Well, dude, good for you. Oh I'm so excited for you. 0:02:54.960 --> 0:02:56.120 I'm so excited for you. 0:02:56.200 --> 0:02:56.399 Yeah. 0:02:56.560 --> 0:02:57.960 All right, I got a couple of things that I 0:02:58.040 --> 0:02:58.880 need to get into. 0:02:59.000 --> 0:03:01.840 And before I get to Moan Biles, can I start 0:03:01.880 --> 0:03:05.640 with a different im book if you don't mind, please, 0:03:06.280 --> 0:03:09.000 I thought of you, and I can't. It feels like 0:03:09.040 --> 0:03:11.200 it was a week ago. Was probably closer to a 0:03:11.240 --> 0:03:13.680 month ago, but I thought of you when the news 0:03:13.720 --> 0:03:16.920 broke about Jane Goodall, I thought of you immediately. 0:03:19.040 --> 0:03:21.680 Yeah. She was so special, you know, she was the 0:03:21.720 --> 0:03:24.400 first famous person when we were when we started the 0:03:24.440 --> 0:03:27.760 im series. She was the first one that was alive 0:03:27.840 --> 0:03:30.280 that we ever did a hero of. And we wrote 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:32.880 to her and said, hey, can you help us? And 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:35.280 again the series was just getting started and she was 0:03:35.320 --> 0:03:38.440 like yep, and we were like what you know? And 0:03:38.840 --> 0:03:40.880 she was so nice And let me tell you one thing. 0:03:41.360 --> 0:03:43.480 You know, she did pictures with with you know, I 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:45.600 am Jane Goodall, you know, and did all the stuff. 0:03:45.640 --> 0:03:47.520 But what I love, and I've never told. 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:50.440 This story, is when we were doing the book, there's 0:03:50.480 --> 0:03:52.200 a moment when she was little, she used to love 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:55.280 putting dressing her dogs up with real clothes. It was 0:03:55.320 --> 0:03:57.880 just fun for her as a little girl. And we 0:03:57.960 --> 0:04:00.440 put that in the book. And then when she was 0:04:00.480 --> 0:04:02.320 proofing the book, she said, can you do me a 0:04:02.360 --> 0:04:05.440 favor though, and take out that part about me dressing 0:04:05.480 --> 0:04:08.320 the dogs in clothes? And I said, wait, but didn't 0:04:08.320 --> 0:04:10.920 you do that? She says, I did, She says, but 0:04:11.000 --> 0:04:12.400 it's not good for the dogs. And I want to 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:13.800 always do what's best by the animal. 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:15.560 And I love that, like even ninety. 0:04:15.360 --> 0:04:19.440 Years old, she's still always on message, like never ever. 0:04:19.640 --> 0:04:22.480 It was so nice and I was just like, of course, 0:04:22.520 --> 0:04:26.200 so obviously when she passed away, all of us, you know, 0:04:26.400 --> 0:04:28.120 I was emailing with her whole team and we were 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:31.280 just like, I mean, she's a legend, the best. 0:04:31.279 --> 0:04:32.479 Now then you know. 0:04:32.520 --> 0:04:34.640 The other thing that I thought was really nice is 0:04:34.800 --> 0:04:36.960 they like when they announced her funeral, it's going to 0:04:37.000 --> 0:04:39.880 take place at the National Cathedral in DC. 0:04:40.240 --> 0:04:44.159 I like that me too. I mean too, I feel 0:04:44.160 --> 0:04:46.840 like I feel like that's you know, there's like a 0:04:48.240 --> 0:04:51.520 she's she's she's on that mount rushmore of like people, 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:54.160 you know, like not presidents, but just like people who 0:04:54.400 --> 0:04:55.599 truly changed the world. 0:04:56.120 --> 0:04:58.240 I think that's a good thing. I love that. I 0:04:58.640 --> 0:05:01.080 don't know, I actually didn't even know. That's fantastic. 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:03.279 Yeah, I like that, and I agree with you. 0:05:03.560 --> 0:05:07.120 It just shows how big she is and how important 0:05:07.200 --> 0:05:10.040 she was that that's where they're holding her funeral. I 0:05:10.080 --> 0:05:12.960 loved when I saw that. Anyway, let me switch gears. 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:14.159 Let me get to Simone Biles. 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:14.440 First. 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:17.320 Remind me I read the book, Brad, But remind me, 0:05:17.880 --> 0:05:19.839 how did we get to Simone Biles? 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:24.080 So it's a good question. You know. They a couple 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:26.320 of years ago, they said, hey, we want you to 0:05:26.320 --> 0:05:28.840 do Simone Biles. But you know, everyone puts together different things. 0:05:28.839 --> 0:05:31.640 And at the time, I was like, no, her story's 0:05:31.680 --> 0:05:34.520 not done yet. She just walked away from the Olympics. 0:05:34.520 --> 0:05:36.839 I was like, you know, I'm glad she stood up 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:39.320 for her mental health, but but there's no ending to 0:05:39.360 --> 0:05:42.200 the story yet. She needs an ending. And then when 0:05:42.240 --> 0:05:43.960 she won the gold medal, I was like, well, let 0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:45.719 me look into this. Let me just look into what 0:05:45.800 --> 0:05:47.719 her story is. I really didn't know it very well 0:05:48.120 --> 0:05:49.800 because I thought it was about like, oh, you get 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:51.680 knocked down and then you get back up right. And 0:05:51.720 --> 0:05:54.680 I was completely wrong. I was just wrong. Like what 0:05:54.800 --> 0:05:58.880 I realized her story was is I wanted to do. 0:05:58.920 --> 0:06:00.800 I knew this I came about as I knew I 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:02.680 wanted to do a book about mental health. I was 0:06:02.720 --> 0:06:04.480 just looking at my own kids and looking at all 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:08.960 my friends' kids, and our kids today are suffering. They're suffering, right, 0:06:09.040 --> 0:06:10.800 I mean, it is not the same as when we 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:14.000 were growing up. You know, social media has wrecked these kids' 0:06:14.000 --> 0:06:16.280 self esteem. If you have a kid today of a 0:06:16.279 --> 0:06:19.760 certain age, there's like anxieties off the charts, and I said, 0:06:19.760 --> 0:06:22.080 who can I do? And it was Simone Biles whose 0:06:22.160 --> 0:06:24.960 name kept coming up. And then that's what the book. 0:06:25.040 --> 0:06:27.600 I said. I don't care about the gold medal. I 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:31.599 care about this advocate for her mental health. And man, 0:06:31.760 --> 0:06:33.960 do our kids need a mental health kid's book more 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:34.360 than ever? 0:06:34.760 --> 0:06:36.760 And you know what's interesting, Brad is like you said, 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:39.719 you didn't know her story. And I feel like Simone 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:45.080 Biles is so famous and Simone Biles is like such 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:47.840 a star. And then I realized when I was reading it, 0:06:47.880 --> 0:06:50.520 I don't know her story. I know her as an olympian. 0:06:51.000 --> 0:06:53.640 I know her as the olympian that had to take 0:06:53.640 --> 0:06:56.520 a break from the sport for her mental health. And 0:06:56.600 --> 0:06:58.680 I know her as an olympian or a gymnast. I 0:06:58.680 --> 0:07:01.600 should say who came back and then and then shocked 0:07:01.600 --> 0:07:03.920 the world and did it again. I didn't know her 0:07:04.000 --> 0:07:06.600 story from when she was a kid. I didn't know 0:07:06.680 --> 0:07:09.920 that at what is at three years old? Her mom 0:07:09.960 --> 0:07:12.320 and her dad or her mom rather takes her to 0:07:12.440 --> 0:07:15.320 foster care and she ends up with a foster family 0:07:15.360 --> 0:07:18.120 until her grandparents are able to come get her with 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:19.480 her and her silly I had. 0:07:19.280 --> 0:07:23.960 No idea, and that you know, we the letters that 0:07:24.000 --> 0:07:27.280 were getting from families already, the book's been out like 0:07:27.320 --> 0:07:31.040 two days from foster families. I'll read you another one 0:07:31.040 --> 0:07:32.680 when we gets to the mental health part. But like 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:35.800 they're so emotional. And when she goes and lives with 0:07:36.160 --> 0:07:40.560 our grandparents, you know, she's officially adopted at six years old, 0:07:41.120 --> 0:07:43.600 and she goes to her grandmother's like is this I mean, 0:07:43.640 --> 0:07:46.640 I can call you mom and dad now, And she's 0:07:46.680 --> 0:07:49.280 so excited by that possibility that she goes up to 0:07:49.360 --> 0:07:51.600 her room and she just practiced it, you know. 0:07:51.560 --> 0:07:54.080 Say mom and dad, mom and dad. Those words are. 0:07:54.280 --> 0:07:57.600 So meaningful to her. And then she runs back downstairs. 0:07:57.600 --> 0:07:59.360 She's like mom, dad, you know, and they're like yeah, 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:01.080 and they're like, you know, what's going on to the 0:08:01.080 --> 0:08:04.080 mown and she's like nothing, and she just runs back upstairs. 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:06.400 And it's like, I call the mom and dad, and 0:08:06.520 --> 0:08:09.280 I know that there are kids that are going to. 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:10.120 Read this book. 0:08:10.400 --> 0:08:13.480 That that page is the most important page in any 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:15.840 book I've ever written, by the way they suddenly they're 0:08:15.880 --> 0:08:16.400 not alone. 0:08:16.480 --> 0:08:18.360 I wrote it down. I was like, it's the greatest 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:19.040 page in the book. 0:08:19.320 --> 0:08:22.240 It is by far that that whole scene where she 0:08:22.320 --> 0:08:25.080 goes downstairs and for the first time she says mom 0:08:25.160 --> 0:08:28.240 and dad and they answer, it's the greatest page in 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:28.640 the book. 0:08:28.680 --> 0:08:30.480 I mean, listen, the rest of the book is good. 0:08:30.320 --> 0:08:32.000 And there's a lot of good stuff in there, but 0:08:32.080 --> 0:08:33.640 that page is so powerful. 0:08:35.040 --> 0:08:37.240 No, and listen, That's why I gave it its own page. 0:08:37.280 --> 0:08:39.600 I was like, you know, I think you know in 0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:41.600 these biographies, you know, you can be like I'm going 0:08:41.640 --> 0:08:43.439 to give the big page to the gold medal. I'm 0:08:43.440 --> 0:08:44.880 going to give the page where she learns to do 0:08:44.920 --> 0:08:46.800 a flip. When we have those pages is fine, but 0:08:46.800 --> 0:08:49.520 I'm like, no, this is the most important part. Like 0:08:49.800 --> 0:08:52.040 I stretched that part out because I'm like, there are 0:08:52.160 --> 0:08:55.280 kids out there that are just like, where's a book 0:08:55.280 --> 0:08:57.360 where the hero looks like me? And I don't mean 0:08:57.480 --> 0:09:00.240 like skin color, I mean like they have my life. 0:09:00.440 --> 0:09:02.760 I'm a foster child. I was, I don't know who 0:09:02.760 --> 0:09:04.280 my parents are, or I do know who they are, 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:07.120 and they let me go, and I was like, no, no, no, 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:09.160 this this is where we're going to help some kid, 0:09:09.559 --> 0:09:11.800 and this is a permanent memory. And I care more 0:09:11.840 --> 0:09:14.760 about that one kid, you know, than all the kids 0:09:14.800 --> 0:09:16.720 are going to buy no offense but for the gold 0:09:16.720 --> 0:09:17.520 medal like that is. 0:09:20.000 --> 0:09:21.319 And then you know the other thing. 0:09:21.320 --> 0:09:24.240 And I tell you this, I always love at these 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:26.800 moments of trying to go through the book and trying 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:30.840 to figure out if that didn't happen, would we get blank? 0:09:31.520 --> 0:09:33.160 And like when when? When? 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:35.840 When she's really really young, like I think like four 0:09:35.920 --> 0:09:40.079 or five or whatever, if that trampoline and listen, she's hiding, 0:09:40.240 --> 0:09:43.360 She's all over the place and she's like running around 0:09:43.400 --> 0:09:47.439 and if that trampoline isn't in the backyard, do we 0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:48.840 get some moan biles? 0:09:50.360 --> 0:09:52.960 I mean, the thing is, I think we like, let's 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:53.800 just talk about it, right. 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:55.120 So she goes to live. 0:09:55.200 --> 0:09:58.160 In this new home and in the backyard is a 0:09:58.240 --> 0:10:01.080 full trampoline and she's like, you know, they're like you 0:10:01.120 --> 0:10:03.760 want to try it? She's like, are you kidding? Runs 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:07.040 Chris Elliopolis draws one of the most beautiful pictures I've 0:10:07.040 --> 0:10:09.640 ever seen him draw, which is her, you know, in 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:11.840 the air, her braids just all you know, like a 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:15.760 rainbow around her, and obviously that's where she starts figuring 0:10:15.800 --> 0:10:18.439 out what she loves. I do think we still get 0:10:18.480 --> 0:10:20.640 it because there's and I didn't make up any moment 0:10:20.679 --> 0:10:22.160 in this book. You know, you can see her on 0:10:22.200 --> 0:10:24.679 her bunk beds. When she'd be on the bottom, she 0:10:24.720 --> 0:10:27.679 would grab the slats on the top and then use 0:10:27.720 --> 0:10:32.640 them as monkey bars. Right like she is, she's doing gymnastics. 0:10:33.160 --> 0:10:35.959 I don't care if there's a trampoline. Gymnastics will be 0:10:36.080 --> 0:10:39.400 done in this house. And and you know, obviously she 0:10:39.440 --> 0:10:41.240 event I think the bigger moment is even when she 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:42.920 walks into that gymnastics place. 0:10:42.960 --> 0:10:45.840 But oh that tumbling john the tumbling gym where the 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:49.040 person's like, you got a membership. She's six years old. 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:52.320 She's six years old inside the tumbling gym, and the 0:10:52.400 --> 0:10:54.719 director of it is like, uh, you could just stay here, 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:56.679 like you do whatever you want here, Like she was 0:10:56.760 --> 0:10:58.400 amazing what she was doing in there. 0:10:59.480 --> 0:11:01.079 Well, what they do is they have like one of 0:11:01.120 --> 0:11:02.880 those big one of the giant ropes that come down 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:05.000 from the ceiling and they're like, listen, if you want 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:07.760 to climb the rope using just your arms, put your 0:11:07.840 --> 0:11:10.480 legs straight out, give it a shot. You probably won't 0:11:10.480 --> 0:11:12.959 get far. Button She's like but and she's all the 0:11:12.960 --> 0:11:15.640 way to the top and they're like what And you know, 0:11:15.640 --> 0:11:18.080 They're like, six year olds are not supposed to be 0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:22.560 able to do that. And the coach is like, who's 0:11:22.600 --> 0:11:24.800 that and they're like, that's the one I'm telling you about. 0:11:24.840 --> 0:11:25.120 And yeah. 0:11:25.160 --> 0:11:27.360 Then they're like, you have a membership. 0:11:27.360 --> 0:11:31.679 Here's the blockbuster card, come back every day. 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:34.400 But like, I was so glad to read that stuff, 0:11:34.440 --> 0:11:38.960 because again, I know of Simone Biles when she became famous. 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:42.040 I don't know her upbringing, but that gets me too. 0:11:42.080 --> 0:11:45.480 There's another part here, Brad where and this is the 0:11:45.520 --> 0:11:48.680 other place, like as impactful and as important to me 0:11:49.360 --> 0:11:54.360 as that foster fan or calling her her grandparents mom 0:11:54.440 --> 0:11:59.040 and dad. Is where she says, at the age of nine, 0:11:59.480 --> 0:12:03.920 she was diagnosed with anxiety and ADHD at the age 0:12:03.960 --> 0:12:06.840 of nine. How great. I mean, listen when I say 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:09.000 how great is that? Not that not that she has 0:12:09.040 --> 0:12:12.280 anxiety in ADHD, but that she was she had parents 0:12:12.280 --> 0:12:13.400 that were interested that. 0:12:13.840 --> 0:12:16.079 That took notice and then got her diagnosed. 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:21.439 We know ADHD very well in my family, and it 0:12:21.480 --> 0:12:23.800 was obviously I did not know that about her when 0:12:23.800 --> 0:12:27.040 I started writing the book, and of course I was like, no, 0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:29.280 this is it, and I'm going to read you this 0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:31.000 is a letter. It's actually going up on our social 0:12:31.040 --> 0:12:33.720 media later tonight. But this is this is the first 0:12:33.840 --> 0:12:35.880 letter I got when the book came out the day 0:12:35.960 --> 0:12:38.600 came out, and it said this. It was like, dear Brad, 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:40.240 not sure this will reach you, but just want to 0:12:40.240 --> 0:12:42.400 say a wonderful I Amsmo bilesis and this is what 0:12:42.400 --> 0:12:44.600 it says. It says, we had a rough week over 0:12:44.600 --> 0:12:47.560 here with my daughter who's in third grade, being laughed 0:12:47.600 --> 0:12:50.400 at on the bus in tears. But when she saw 0:12:50.440 --> 0:12:54.080 that Simone had ADHD like her, she let up and 0:12:54.200 --> 0:12:55.880 she said, thank you for writing this book. 0:12:55.920 --> 0:12:56.480 We needed it. 0:12:56.800 --> 0:12:59.120 We have all your books, but this is definitely our favorite. 0:12:59.160 --> 0:13:02.240 And again those moments where a kid can see themselves 0:13:02.640 --> 0:13:04.840 that ADHD moment again, you can see what I you know, 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:06.520 what I did there is. I'm like, you get your 0:13:06.520 --> 0:13:08.720 own page for this. This is not something we mentioned 0:13:09.120 --> 0:13:12.240 in the timeline, you know, And she says, you know, 0:13:12.360 --> 0:13:15.360 looking if you look at that page I have sometimes 0:13:15.360 --> 0:13:18.400 Simone Biles will break the fourth wall and talk to 0:13:18.440 --> 0:13:20.840 you directly as the reader, right, And it says on 0:13:20.880 --> 0:13:23.240 that page to be your best, you need to feel 0:13:23.280 --> 0:13:27.439 good about yourself. And that is what kids who are 0:13:27.559 --> 0:13:30.760 going through that stuff don't understand at that young age. 0:13:30.800 --> 0:13:34.560 And here's Simonbiles breaking the fourth wall and saying, you're okay, 0:13:34.600 --> 0:13:36.640 exactly as you are. You know, you have worth and 0:13:36.679 --> 0:13:39.560 you're worthy of being loved. And I don't care if 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:41.560 you're you know, in third grade or you're, you know, 0:13:41.640 --> 0:13:44.079 fifty years old. We all need that message. 0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:46.280 Hey, you talk about like certain moments in the book 0:13:46.280 --> 0:13:48.280 getting their own page and not just being part of 0:13:48.280 --> 0:13:51.240 a timeline or just kind of telling the story when 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:54.200 you talk about her withdrawing from the Olympics. Right, so 0:13:54.240 --> 0:13:58.160 now fast forward that we're we're Olympian Simone Biles and 0:13:58.240 --> 0:14:02.960 she withdraws from the Olympics, and it talks about the 0:14:03.120 --> 0:14:04.120 public reaction. 0:14:05.360 --> 0:14:06.839 That page is pretty heavy, dude. 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:10.920 Yeah, it is the one that we were like, you 0:14:10.960 --> 0:14:11.440 should see. 0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:12.199 It was heavier. 0:14:12.559 --> 0:14:16.840 Like what she says about her time is she feels 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:21.280 like all the words that everyone calls her publicly are 0:14:21.360 --> 0:14:27.160 on her face. So failure, quitter, loser, terrible, embarrassment. And 0:14:27.240 --> 0:14:29.840 so we had we did exactly what she says when 0:14:29.840 --> 0:14:32.600 she talked about it publicly, is we put all those 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:35.080 words on her face and it was devastating. 0:14:35.560 --> 0:14:36.680 I was like, we were like we. 0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:40.160 Can't do it, and Chris then very smartly put those 0:14:40.200 --> 0:14:43.040 words all over the page and she's just, you know, 0:14:43.240 --> 0:14:45.200 has a peer coming down and she's crying as you 0:14:45.240 --> 0:14:49.800 feel it, and I think, you know, you cannot understand 0:14:49.840 --> 0:14:52.600 what she comes back from until you understand what she's 0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:56.600 been through. And that is a you know, sometimes the 0:14:56.600 --> 0:14:58.000 internet's really fun and funny. 0:14:58.000 --> 0:14:59.040 We can make a good joke, and. 0:14:59.000 --> 0:15:01.440 Sometimes it is the ruless most you know, and we 0:15:01.480 --> 0:15:06.480 are as a society ruthless, and we were ruthless with her, 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:09.480 and when no one understood even at the time, because 0:15:09.480 --> 0:15:11.680 they were like, oh, you're a quitter, you quit the Olympics, 0:15:11.920 --> 0:15:15.160 and then you forget that that story came out about 0:15:15.200 --> 0:15:17.720 sexual abuse for all these gymnasts. Yeah, right, and then 0:15:17.760 --> 0:15:20.120 you forget that Wait a minute, she went through that too, 0:15:20.920 --> 0:15:23.480 and we don't we don't talk about that part, right 0:15:23.560 --> 0:15:25.360 like we obviously in a book we make a mention 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:27.720 of she had some coaches that were bad, and we 0:15:27.800 --> 0:15:29.960 make it so it's age appropriate, so you can, you know, 0:15:30.000 --> 0:15:31.600 if you need to tell that story with your kid, 0:15:31.640 --> 0:15:32.640 you know what page it's on. 0:15:33.200 --> 0:15:34.920 But as a as a. 0:15:34.480 --> 0:15:37.480 As a society, we we didn't we didn't mention that 0:15:37.640 --> 0:15:39.480 we just went after her throat because we didn't win 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:41.200 the she didn't win the goal for us, like she 0:15:41.240 --> 0:15:44.840 owed us something. And I again, and that page to 0:15:44.880 --> 0:15:47.680 me is that's when you realize, man, we put her 0:15:47.680 --> 0:15:48.320 through the ringer. 0:15:48.400 --> 0:15:49.240 That was rough. 0:15:49.480 --> 0:15:51.800 And by the way, Brad, where you mentioned and you're right, 0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:54.960 like it references that she had some coaches that were bad. 0:15:55.400 --> 0:15:57.920 And like you said, depending on who's reading the book, 0:15:57.960 --> 0:15:59.680 they may not be ready for that. 0:15:59.720 --> 0:16:01.760 And would be up to parents. But I will give 0:16:01.800 --> 0:16:04.000 a ton of credit to Chris. 0:16:03.720 --> 0:16:08.800 Eliopolist that little frame where it says that she had 0:16:08.800 --> 0:16:11.680 the coaches that are really bad. I mean for trying 0:16:11.720 --> 0:16:15.320 to send a message without saying the message that artwork 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:15.800 is great. 0:16:17.280 --> 0:16:19.840 Now, I mean, listen, the secret weapon of these books 0:16:20.240 --> 0:16:22.720 is Chris, right. I mean, he has this art style 0:16:22.800 --> 0:16:25.320 that's like Calvin and Hobbes meets Charlie Brown and that's 0:16:25.320 --> 0:16:27.960 all adorable and kids love it. But like there's a 0:16:28.080 --> 0:16:30.480 reason why there have been, you know, thousands of books 0:16:30.560 --> 0:16:34.120 written about Rosa Parks or Amelia Earhart or Abraham Lincoln 0:16:34.200 --> 0:16:36.920 or the Beatles. But kids gravitate to arts and it's 0:16:36.920 --> 0:16:39.280 no offense to me, it's not my writing. It's Chris's 0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:43.320 beautiful art. He makes you you know, anyone can do cute, right, 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:46.600 Chris has cute arsa. But what Chris can do, he 0:16:46.680 --> 0:16:49.240 can do heart. He can make you feel. And on 0:16:49.280 --> 0:16:51.840 that page it says, you know, and one coach was 0:16:51.960 --> 0:16:53.440 very bad for me. You know, I had coaches who 0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:55.280 were intents and coaches who were good, but one coach 0:16:55.360 --> 0:16:57.800 was very bad. And it's Simone in the shadows, just 0:16:57.840 --> 0:17:00.440 looking down. Now you have a little kid whatever. They 0:17:00.480 --> 0:17:02.200 just think you have a bad coach, but you have 0:17:02.200 --> 0:17:03.880 a kid who needs that story, and you have an 0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:07.040 opportunity now to change their life. And it's all thanks 0:17:07.080 --> 0:17:07.800 to Chris's art. 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:10.320 Hey, Brett, I hesitate to ask what I'm going to 0:17:10.520 --> 0:17:11.840 like you would? You had mentioned when we were talking 0:17:11.840 --> 0:17:14.960 about Jane good all about how she was involved and 0:17:15.040 --> 0:17:18.639 her people were involved. Has were some most people involved 0:17:18.640 --> 0:17:20.560 in the in the at least the reading of the 0:17:20.560 --> 0:17:21.520 book and going through it. 0:17:22.840 --> 0:17:25.000 So I know she's read the book. The funny part 0:17:25.080 --> 0:17:27.200 was when we were proofing it, and it's just the 0:17:27.320 --> 0:17:30.240 time and of how it worked. She finally went on 0:17:30.280 --> 0:17:33.480