Speaker 1: My microphone is right here, Rita on either side of
Speaker 1: the microphone or two screws. Tighten the screws and the
Speaker 1: microphone will face you. Yeah, I'm tightening them up. Now
Speaker 1: you can say you were screwed. Listen, Allen, this is
Speaker 1: a family show. Who is going to be on our
Speaker 1: podcast today? Today we have Will and his mamma. Will
Speaker 1: is the chief operating officer of I Heart Radio podcasts.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, we'd better really be good today. We're
Speaker 1: working with that boss is okay, we have to be
Speaker 1: specially good today, Allen. Listen. Even the boss has a mamma.
Speaker 1: Everybody has a mammo, Grandma, Nana, you name it, Bobby, Zada, Nona, right,
Speaker 1: Will mamour poll Duke through again by one point? Date
Speaker 1: that North Carolina, so you can burn the bitches. What
Speaker 1: a game? I hope you are. It was something else,
Speaker 1: but I pulled them through. Okay, tell them my sweet
Speaker 1: girl that we wanted by mamma. While we're waiting. How
Speaker 1: did Duke look yesterday? Oh, Duke, they did great. They
Speaker 1: did their free throws. They really did great. Now. I
Speaker 1: like Georgia cause I went to the University of Georgia,
Speaker 1: but I like dude, cause you went to Duke. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's right. So if you want to know about what
Speaker 1: Mammo locks, I like those grandkids. Now, your kids are okay,
Speaker 1: but the grandkids now they're just really really special, special special.
Speaker 1: It's true. My name is will and I'm joined by Nadine,
Speaker 1: more commonly known as Mamma to those of us in
Speaker 1: the family or anyone else who knows her. She is
Speaker 1: ninety four years old and she lives in Birmingham, Alabama.
Speaker 1: I actually don't know the agent because I was the
Speaker 1: baby cousin and the family, so I just knew from
Speaker 1: day one that she was mamma. But it is not
Speaker 1: an uncommon name for grandmother in the Southeast. Will Oh,
Speaker 1: he's just the best. I tell you what. I remember
Speaker 1: when he was born, he was cutest little thing and
Speaker 1: he's been that way all of his laugh just so cute.
Speaker 1: Energy is the first word that comes to mind, and
Speaker 1: it's contagious no matter what you're feeling, like when Mamma
Speaker 1: wants to do something, it's impossible to say no. When
Speaker 1: I picture Mamma's house, the first thing I imagine is candy.
Speaker 1: We each have our favorite candies that she knows she
Speaker 1: needs to put out, whether it's peanut Eminem's for one
Speaker 1: of my cousins, whether it's yes, the disgusting circus peanuts.
Speaker 1: I will confess I love circus peanuts. I understand that
Speaker 1: other people find them disgusting, but Mamma knows that I
Speaker 1: like them, and so she always has very stale circus peanuts,
Speaker 1: which are when they're at their best, if we're being honest.
Speaker 1: She's done this my entire life, and I love it.
Speaker 1: I remember when I told him to swim. I thought, now,
Speaker 1: you know, he's just really good at this, and he
Speaker 1: got really good and dive off the diving board and
Speaker 1: high diving board. I thought, this little boy's gonna do
Speaker 1: a lot of things. He's just real sharp. He and
Speaker 1: his buddy Mango decided to do a magazine. They got
Speaker 1: the magazine and published it. She's talking about mental floss. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was a great magazine. They had a lot of
Speaker 1: fun doing it. Later he went to my Heart Radio,
Speaker 1: so I think he hangs out there some. Now. I
Speaker 1: think he likes that company's pretty good. Yeah, it is
Speaker 1: pretty good, Mamma. Mammo taught him a lot, and Mammo
Speaker 1: did modeling and I taught him how to model. That's
Speaker 1: a quite so cute, that's quite a good looking. Mamma
Speaker 1: was always a unique grandmother. She was always moving at
Speaker 1: a pace faster than all of us. There was always
Speaker 1: an energy that to this day puts all of us
Speaker 1: to shame. Like I really believe that if you told
Speaker 1: her she was going to get out there on the
Speaker 1: golf course today with some you know, LPGA professional golfers,
Speaker 1: she would see no reason why she couldn't jump out
Speaker 1: there and just compete with them, right that, just because
Speaker 1: she believed she could. Well, we never did tell him
Speaker 1: about And they're taking you a little dog to school.
Speaker 1: Tell him about that, Mamma. When you wanted to do something,
Speaker 1: you didn't ask permission, You just did it. He was
Speaker 1: in school and I took him a little shepherd dog.
Speaker 1: He named it Sports. Fittingly, the dog's name was Sport,
Speaker 1: which felt right for a dog from Mama. So I
Speaker 1: was in third grade. I think my parents had no
Speaker 1: idea about this. And Mama pulls up to the elementary
Speaker 1: school with a Shetland sheep dog and just straight up
Speaker 1: walks in the school during the middle of lunch, and
Speaker 1: of course all the kids just go wild because here's
Speaker 1: this puppy. But that kind of summarized mamma. So you
Speaker 1: didn't tell mama, know, and so we just had a puppy.
Speaker 1: After that, I was a very sweet dog. We'll see,
Speaker 1: that's what mammals do. Oh, I loved it. I just
Speaker 1: was wonderful. Is that adorable? Ninety four? The mind and
Speaker 1: the mouths are terrific. And that Southern accent, it just
Speaker 1: gets me. And can you imagine the inspiration she gives
Speaker 1: these grandkids. Her energy, her outlook, her free spirit terrific.
Speaker 1: I loved everything except that he's a dukie because I
Speaker 1: come from three generations of tarts. I know, I know,
Speaker 1: But you gotta love her. Even if she went to
Speaker 1: your Shia, Ellen, if she went to Yeshiva University, you
Speaker 1: would love her. She's got that kind of a personality.
Speaker 1: Read it. You know, she is very very much like
Speaker 1: many of the grandmothers that I met when I used
Speaker 1: to go down and visit my in laws in North Carolina.
Speaker 1: There's something very special about Southern grandmothers. They have no filter.
Speaker 1: There's a Jewish expression bus is often longest, often sung,
Speaker 1: and that means what's in your heart on your your
Speaker 1: longest on your tongue. That's how these Southern grandmothers are terrific. Listen,
Speaker 1: I'm going to be ninety two, and I wish I'll
Speaker 1: have our energy if I ever get to ninety four,
Speaker 1: If you don't all have to kill you, well, well,
Speaker 1: at least finished our grandmother podcast. I promise I will
Speaker 1: be here as long as I can. If I was
Speaker 1: a Mammo, I'll be here. What energy and what inspiration?
Speaker 1: And it's so cute the way he really enjoys everything.
Speaker 1: That love has a sound. It's so sweet. Oh God,
Speaker 1: and man that I heard it. What is mental floss?
Speaker 1: I heard of it, but I don't know how I
Speaker 1: heard of it. Listen, I have a son in law
Speaker 1: a dentist, and my daughter to dental floss. Mental flaws.
Speaker 1: That's all I know's dental floss. I don't know anything
Speaker 1: about mental flaws. I have nothing to narrow up here.
Speaker 1: Oh God. We learned something every day, and if we
Speaker 1: can remember it for the next day, we're thinking that
Speaker 1: learning it is one thing, remember learning another. Okay, we're
Speaker 1: ready with part one. Most outstanding Lady Pilot. I can't
Speaker 1: wait to hear this. This looks like a woman that
Speaker 1: can do anything and everything. One of my favorite things
Speaker 1: about your ma'm as you've always decided if there was
Speaker 1: something you wanted to do, you just did it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know. I just decided to model, and I
Speaker 1: modeled everywhere. Then I decided one flyer planes. So I
Speaker 1: took lessons and learned to fly, and then I learned
Speaker 1: to Banjoe oh, and I played the piano. All took
Speaker 1: lessons and I love singing. And Will has a beautiful voice.
Speaker 1: When he was in school, you sang a solo and
Speaker 1: it was really pretty well, thank you. And Penny Rose
Speaker 1: has a beautiful voice. She does. Do you have any
Speaker 1: favorite songs that you like to sing? One of them
Speaker 1: a lot so well, and I did so well. It
Speaker 1: was the National Anthem. I can do that one just
Speaker 1: about perfect. Yeah, I agree, I've heard you sing it before.
Speaker 1: What made you decide you wanted to go learn how
Speaker 1: to fly and be a pilot. I just thought, the
Speaker 1: sky is so beautiful up there, and it is when
Speaker 1: you get up there flying around. It's so pretty up there,
Speaker 1: and I thought, I believe I want to go try
Speaker 1: that out. The one that taught me to fly talked
Speaker 1: the Blue angels and thunderbirds, and he was great. He said,
Speaker 1: you don't ever have to worry about flying because I
Speaker 1: taught you to fly. So my husband Charlie Rose, just
Speaker 1: to clarify, we are talking about my grandfather Charlie Rose,
Speaker 1: not the Charlie Rose that everyone might have known from television.
Speaker 1: He got back and he said, what are you doing.
Speaker 1: I said, I'm learning to fly. What I said, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's a lot of fun. Well, I think I'll go
Speaker 1: up there to the airport and see what you've checking into.
Speaker 1: And he said, you know what, that's the most fun
Speaker 1: thing I've ever done in my life. He love flying.
Speaker 1: You got pretty good at it, didn't you. Oh yeah.
Speaker 1: We got in the Civil Air Patrol, hunted down to
Speaker 1: aircraft it any time day, night, and I got Most
Speaker 1: Outstanding Lady Polot for Alabama twice. The one reason is
Speaker 1: we found a guy at Late Martin. His plane went
Speaker 1: down in the lake and I knew how to find him,
Speaker 1: so we found him. So that's how I got Most
Speaker 1: Outstanding Lady Polot. Were you scared the first time you
Speaker 1: ever flew? No? No, no, no, I wanted to go fly.
Speaker 1: It was great. You just laying that airplane just ship.
Speaker 1: It's just great, much of fun. Never scared, you were fearless,
Speaker 1: and then you get up there in the sky and
Speaker 1: it's so pretty. I know this one instructor said, night,
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna fly with you today. I said, come on, well,
Speaker 1: we're gonna do some different turns and spins and stuff.
Speaker 1: I said, you're gonna do what I'm gonna do. You're
Speaker 1: flying with me, and come on. So we went flying
Speaker 1: all around. Next day, I was home fixing my face
Speaker 1: to go the airports, and they called me and said
Speaker 1: that that instructor died that day. He was in with
Speaker 1: the student and the student crossed the plane and killed him.
Speaker 1: Now that's tragic. Did that make you scared to fly anymore? No? No, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: no no, it's just an accident that happened. Yeah. She
Speaker 1: is amazing, amazing, amazing, the mind, the energy. Me. I
Speaker 1: get on a commercial plane and I'm hold in the sides,
Speaker 1: and then she becomes a pilot with no fear, with
Speaker 1: such confidence. I thought I was terrific because I could
Speaker 1: drive a stick shift. I'm calling Jeff Bezos and he's
Speaker 1: got the astronaut that goes into the sky. She's got
Speaker 1: to be one of his passengers. She's unbelievable. She is terrific,
Speaker 1: and she should have there's an expression till a hundred
Speaker 1: and twenty right. My mother used to say that's right,
Speaker 1: and that southern accent that gets me all the way.
Speaker 1: It's just so infectious. It's really cute. I think that
Speaker 1: men who are married to women like that sort of
Speaker 1: go along with the flow, and it sort of gives
Speaker 1: them permission to do these things. She's the kind of
Speaker 1: a woman it doesn't matter if her husband agreed or disagree.
Speaker 1: She's gonna do what she's gonna do no matter what.
Speaker 1: If he didn't like it, he wouldn't fly. But she's infectious.
Speaker 1: She brings all these things into a person's life and
Speaker 1: you go along with it. I mean, see how the
Speaker 1: woman lives. She's doing something right, that's for sure. She's very,
Speaker 1: very tough. Absolutely, we have to thank Will for letting
Speaker 1: us listen to him and his relationship with Mamoir. It's
Speaker 1: really special. It's very special, made my day. Gotta be
Speaker 1: one of my favorites. We have to take a break
Speaker 1: now because I'm getting a permanent dent in my head
Speaker 1: from these headphones. I feel like my heart Radio should
Speaker 1: pay for us to go to the beauty Paula after
Speaker 1: having these headphones on all day. It's worth it. Anything
Speaker 1: is worth it for our care. Your Grandmother Podcast. I'm
Speaker 1: back and my dentist fixed. But now I'm putting the
Speaker 1: headphones on again. Annie. Here we go again with a
Speaker 1: brand new dent Part two. Lingerie for Doctors, Ellen, This
Speaker 1: sounds intriguing somehow. I have a feeling that she does
Speaker 1: mind a life of linger or something. She does everything else.
Speaker 1: She could be doing that too, who knows, Maybe she's
Speaker 1: starting med school. It could be. Mamma, you always dressed
Speaker 1: so well, and all of my friends in high school
Speaker 1: would always comment on it because you'd always have some
Speaker 1: sort of leather or something like that on that looked
Speaker 1: really good, and they called you leather Mamma. Do you
Speaker 1: remember this. I started to wear a leather jacket today.
Speaker 1: That's so pretty, Saint John. Yeah, you've always liked getting
Speaker 1: dressed up and being very fashionable. Have you been like
Speaker 1: that your whole life? We'll see. That's how I got
Speaker 1: into modeling, because I act it soil. I love shorts shorts.
Speaker 1: Somebody sus modeled Lingerie for Doctors. The doctors wanted to
Speaker 1: just say the outfits for the women in a model
Speaker 1: lingerie for um, that was fun. Where you at the
Speaker 1: doctor's office for this, No, the doctors came to a
Speaker 1: place in Coleman. Oh. We had All Steak there that
Speaker 1: was famous and they had a big place upstairs, sort
Speaker 1: of like a doctor's convention or something. So the doctors
Speaker 1: came to the restaurant to watch the model and got it.
Speaker 1: You remember the All Steak restaurant, of course I do.
Speaker 1: They're famous for their orange rolls. It was much fun.
Speaker 1: I'm a member of the International ninety nine Lady Pilots
Speaker 1: and I modeled bathing suits for the International ninety nine
Speaker 1: convention for the ladies. What do you like about modeling?
Speaker 1: And what do you think makes you good at it?
Speaker 1: It was just fun. They'd just say, give her the runway.
Speaker 1: She don't even need any instructions. I just liked the model. Well,
Speaker 1: how did you get into it? At first? Just people
Speaker 1: ask me to model because they thought I'll do soil
Speaker 1: on it. He knows how to model. She's just saying
Speaker 1: that he's mom and good. You watch him walk, he's good.
Speaker 1: I didn't know that my fancy walk came from you, Mamma,
Speaker 1: I should have done that all along. That is so,
Speaker 1: this woman is a piece of work. She is absolutely
Speaker 1: the most adorable. I would love to be her friend.
Speaker 1: What kind of doctors that most that go to see
Speaker 1: laundry rate kind of weird? I don't know if I
Speaker 1: would go to that kind of adopt It frightens me
Speaker 1: a little bit of such busy doctors they got time
Speaker 1: to go see a woman modeling laundry, don't know. Let's
Speaker 1: put it this way. If that restaurant was exactly kosher,
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know, but I would love
Speaker 1: to see her today. I bet you she's stunning. Don't
Speaker 1: you love to go to lunch with her? Areta? Absolutely,
Speaker 1: We're going to have to speak to Will and have
Speaker 1: her come to New York City and we all have
Speaker 1: to go down to visit with her. What else can
Speaker 1: we expect from her? I think that she is a
Speaker 1: woman of many parts and that we are going to
Speaker 1: be surprised over and over and over again. Right, we're
Speaker 1: only up to part three, and we're shocked. Part three
Speaker 1: the white horse Ellen guaranteed she's an equestrian of a
Speaker 1: white horse. So far, she's flown a plane, and she's modeled,
Speaker 1: and she brought a dog to school. So I don't
Speaker 1: know where that horse was. That horse is coming into
Speaker 1: the picture. Listen. For all we know, she was in
Speaker 1: the Olympics with the horse show. You never know. I
Speaker 1: don't know what to expect from what we're going to see.
Speaker 1: We've always talked about how you believed you could do
Speaker 1: anything and had a positive outlook on life. Where do
Speaker 1: you think that came from. I was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Speaker 1: Then my mother and dad is separated, so I was
Speaker 1: with my grandparents. And Grandma was a lot like this
Speaker 1: Laura Bell book out. She went to New York and
Speaker 1: took piano lessons, and she loved the Bible. She read
Speaker 1: that Bible through and through and through and through. She
Speaker 1: was great. She was a real funny person. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: Grandpa's book out was a lot like that. He had
Speaker 1: a lot of land and we had a grocery store,
Speaker 1: of filling station, and amusement park. We had a little
Speaker 1: motel too. Yeah. We even had races there and had
Speaker 1: entertainers to come into the place and sing, dance or what.
Speaker 1: And that's where I grew up. Now, did you work there.
Speaker 1: Oh sure. I worked in the grocery store and go
Speaker 1: fill up the car and old fashion store and station. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's pretty neat. That's a long time ago. I remember
Speaker 1: you telling me about the property there, about you having
Speaker 1: a white horse horse. Yeah, I liked that horse a lot.
Speaker 1: I came down the highway on that horse riding it.
Speaker 1: But I was in a hurry going down the highway
Speaker 1: and his big old bus coming by, and I gave
Speaker 1: him a little kick and he threw me off. Well.
Speaker 1: I had two brothers, one of them was Jim. Jim
Speaker 1: said that she's dead. Well, I wasn't dead. I didn't die,
Speaker 1: but I was upset with that horse. Yeah. Did you
Speaker 1: ride it again after that? Of course I did. So.
Speaker 1: You talked about Charlie Rose, who was my grandfather. We
Speaker 1: called him Papa. What was it that made you like
Speaker 1: him so much? He was one of the finest people
Speaker 1: that you'll ever meet. In fact, Will is a lot
Speaker 1: like him, and so is his daddy. And he was
Speaker 1: just a fine person, real intelligent person. Everybody loved Charlie Rose.
Speaker 1: He died in nineteen ninety. With Harry set Loukima, we
Speaker 1: went to Lahoya, California, and they said they cured it,
Speaker 1: but we got home in seven days later he was dead. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's not very good thing to catch. Yeah, it was
Speaker 1: a tough time for sure. Papa was kind of a
Speaker 1: larger than life figure in all of our lives. It
Speaker 1: was definitely a period of shock and of course great sadness,
Speaker 1: but also a thankfulness for everything that we've got into
Speaker 1: experience with Papa. Do you remember when you first started
Speaker 1: going on dates with him? What was that like? He
Speaker 1: went to school at Georgia and he came to my
Speaker 1: school to teach and to coach the basketball team, and
Speaker 1: I was on the basketball team. Well, my granddaddy says,
Speaker 1: I don't know about that little guy that's coming to
Speaker 1: see you. I don't know about that guy. His daddy
Speaker 1: gave him a brand new little car, and he came
Speaker 1: flying in that little car, and Grandpa thought, well, he's
Speaker 1: a pretty little thing, you know, come flewing in there,
Speaker 1: brand new car and young guy out of college. I
Speaker 1: get it. He probably just didn't quite trust him at first.
Speaker 1: Did he end up liking him? How did Papa win
Speaker 1: him over? Oh? Yeah, he locked him after a while.
Speaker 1: He was always the funniest person, just real fun Papa
Speaker 1: had a habit of because they lived out in the country,
Speaker 1: he just decided when he got home he would wear
Speaker 1: nothing but his underwear. And so he just whether he
Speaker 1: was outside, inside wherever, so people would pull up the
Speaker 1: visit and there he would be in his underwear. And
Speaker 1: so I decided I would do the same thing, and
Speaker 1: so we just played outside doing that and just had
Speaker 1: a blast. Papa is pretty cute. He was hilarious. We
Speaker 1: just fell in love and really had a good time
Speaker 1: together all the years we were together. Oh what a
Speaker 1: nice background will is coming from. It's a real love story.
Speaker 1: From beginning to end, this has been a love story.
Speaker 1: And could you just see him walking outside in his underwear?
Speaker 1: I mean, what a nice heritage he has. I was
Speaker 1: thinking the same thing. I think this is a wonderful family. Really,
Speaker 1: they live, they savor their lives and everything. Could you
Speaker 1: see her with the white horse running down? It reminds
Speaker 1: me here of that movie with Sander Bullock riding away
Speaker 1: on a horse. Every time she'd ride away and a
Speaker 1: horse to get married. That was the Runaway Bride or
Speaker 1: something exactly. But so I could just see Memo on
Speaker 1: this white horse running away. Oh my god, you're so special. Well,
Speaker 1: she's much older than you. I'm not riding a horse,
Speaker 1: and I'm not flying in a plane, that's for sure.
Speaker 1: If I go on the M four bus on Broadway,
Speaker 1: that's the adventurous as I'm getting. Or in an Oba,
Speaker 1: my white horse is called ober and mine is called Excess.
Speaker 1: That's right. After the horse threw her off, she got
Speaker 1: back on the horse. Well, I think that that's the
Speaker 1: story of her life. That's right. But she always got
Speaker 1: back on the horse. You get back on the white horse.
Speaker 1: That's a good thing. Get back on the white horse.
Speaker 1: That's my new motto. Hard four banana pudding for Michael Jordan's.
Speaker 1: Do you think she cooked banana pudding for Michael Jordan's unbelievable.
Speaker 1: Maybe she decided she wanted to bring him something to
Speaker 1: fatten him up. Probably when he was at Carolina Ellen.
Speaker 1: She could fly a plane to heavy he was give
Speaker 1: him the banana pudding. Anything, It's possible. With Mamla. None
Speaker 1: of us were allowed to grow up without learning how
Speaker 1: to swim. Why was that so important to you? I
Speaker 1: learned to swim in a creek with my brothers, and
Speaker 1: then later I was a certified swimming struke or not.
Speaker 1: Taught everybody to swim, never did charge anybody a penny,
Speaker 1: but just wanted everybody to swim. You've kept swimming your
Speaker 1: whole life. You participated in the Senior Olympics. Oh, I
Speaker 1: want seven eight of those for the state. Do you
Speaker 1: think it helped you, Mama, with the guys that you
Speaker 1: were so interested in sports? Probably so, because I was
Speaker 1: pretty good at it. But girls like sports too. You've
Speaker 1: always taught us that. When I was a kid, our
Speaker 1: minor league baseball team here it's called the Birmingham Barons,
Speaker 1: and you were one of their biggest fans. I know it.
Speaker 1: I fixed ice cream in banana, putting everything for those Barons,
Speaker 1: and they loved it. I remember when Michael Jordans came. Yeah,
Speaker 1: this was in his two year break from playing basketball. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So the Chicago White Sox have a minor league team
Speaker 1: in Birmingham, and so he came to play for the
Speaker 1: Birmingham Barons, and that is, of course Mamma's team. And
Speaker 1: I liked Michael a lot. I made his children, and
Speaker 1: Michael and I were pretty good buddies. It was funny
Speaker 1: because Michael Jordan would pull up and have a parking
Speaker 1: space that I'm not kidding was a few spaces down
Speaker 1: from Mamma's. And then you just see them talking as
Speaker 1: he was walking into the stadium. She'd be there early
Speaker 1: because she'd be preparing some of the meals before the game,
Speaker 1: and it was pretty cute, this tiny older lady with Michael,
Speaker 1: and I really do believe that he would probably remember
Speaker 1: Mamma even this many years later. His wife and children
Speaker 1: was NiFe. Did come into the stadium with me, and
Speaker 1: so I sent him some stuff when he went to
Speaker 1: another place, and he really thanked me. In fact, the
Speaker 1: newspapers in the magazines came to talk to me about him,
Speaker 1: speaking of which I don't know if you remember this, Mamma,
Speaker 1: but when you were at a Baron's game one time,
Speaker 1: they had a contest to see who could bark the
Speaker 1: loudest to win some free dog food. You won the
Speaker 1: dog food. But the best part about it was you
Speaker 1: didn't have a dog at that point, and so you
Speaker 1: came home with all this dog food. I don't know
Speaker 1: what I did was so the only team I can
Speaker 1: think of you liking more than the Barons would be
Speaker 1: Duke Basketball. Oh, I like them, and coach k is
Speaker 1: so nice. In fact, I'd send some instructions to the
Speaker 1: daughter to tell the team how to play, and she said,
Speaker 1: Coach Kate, listen to everything. I said, what was some
Speaker 1: of your advice to them? Well, I just tell him
Speaker 1: to practice. When I sang solos, my instructors told me
Speaker 1: to practice, practice, practice, and wait a minute, you practice
Speaker 1: some more. You will never make a mistake. You'll do
Speaker 1: it perfect. So I told the team that practice those
Speaker 1: free throws and then you will do great. You can
Speaker 1: lose your game on those free throws. I think it
Speaker 1: was maybe last year he called and wished me happy
Speaker 1: birthday on my birthday. Coach Kate did, he did. I
Speaker 1: thought that was pretty neat, Mamma. It's coach k Happy
Speaker 1: nine three birthday, Holy Mackrow, Happy birthday. Mamma's approach to
Speaker 1: celebrities is the same as it would be with anyone
Speaker 1: like it's a fearlessness and I love this. We should
Speaker 1: all be like this. She's a larger than life character
Speaker 1: and so when you meet her you can't help but
Speaker 1: want to chat with her. We were at a charity
Speaker 1: event one time and Charles Barkley was there across the
Speaker 1: room and Mamma decided she wanted to go meet Charles Barkley,
Speaker 1: and we thought, well, Mama, he's very busy. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of people over there talking to him. Let's see
Speaker 1: if we can make that happen later. And I swear
Speaker 1: it was like we turned our backs. She's across the room,
Speaker 1: in front of the line of everybody else, arms literally
Speaker 1: around his neck. This man is, you know, probably six
Speaker 1: ft seven. He's a tall guy, and she's not. She's
Speaker 1: probably five three five four, and she has her arms
Speaker 1: wrapped around his neck. He's leaning over there, basically face
Speaker 1: to face. That's just always been the way she worked.
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, everything she does there's an expression he
Speaker 1: failed from. He gets joy of seeing how do these
Speaker 1: things that are so unusual? He appreciates it. Can you
Speaker 1: imagine she's telling coach k practice practice. She's an influence
Speaker 1: on whoever she meets. How many kids could say my
Speaker 1: grandmother made a banana putting for Michael Jordan's all right,
Speaker 1: I'm taking off the headphones. I have to fix my
Speaker 1: hair because I'm going to walk my dog and maybe
Speaker 1: i'll meet a neighbor. Read it's a look. It's definitely
Speaker 1: a look. We're back, doggies walked, We're ready to go,
Speaker 1: and another dent and now we have come to the
Speaker 1: last part, Part five. Just do it. Oh, I'm so sorry.
Speaker 1: This is the list part. I could go on with
Speaker 1: her forever, but let's just do it. Ellen, there was
Speaker 1: something I was thinking about that was a little bit
Speaker 1: unrelated to all of this. So you remarried. You remarried
Speaker 1: a man named Jim, one of my favorite people. If
Speaker 1: you remember, at Christmas one year, you gave Jim a
Speaker 1: very special gift that was in a frame and all
Speaker 1: the grandkids were there when you gave Jim this special portrait.
Speaker 1: Do you remember this? I'll have one in the bathroom
Speaker 1: now and it is a real nice portrait. It is nice.
Speaker 1: When she and my mom were at a museum, there
Speaker 1: was a nude and she thought this was so interesting,
Speaker 1: and she asked my mom if my mom thought nudes
Speaker 1: were appropriate. This was when my grandmother was in her seventies,
Speaker 1: and so my mom says, yes, that's appropriate, of course,
Speaker 1: thinking about like an artist. So fast forward to Christmas
Speaker 1: Eve and we're all sitting around opening gifts and everything,
Speaker 1: and she hands this gift to Jim and Jim opens
Speaker 1: it up and his face turns beat red, and we're like, Jim,
Speaker 1: show us what it is. And Jim just looks at us.
Speaker 1: He's like no, and we were like, Jim, come on,
Speaker 1: and he shakes his head again and Jim turn it
Speaker 1: around and show us, and so he finally turns it
Speaker 1: and it is a nude portrait of my grandmother holding
Speaker 1: a son hat over her breast. Can you describe it?
Speaker 1: What is it like? It's just a picture of me
Speaker 1: with a black thing across it and shows your arms
Speaker 1: and all. This is real, pretty picture. Let's show it
Speaker 1: to you when you go home. Yeah, I know I
Speaker 1: remember it, but just think what would I like to
Speaker 1: do tomorrow. Hey, let's go do it. I don't care
Speaker 1: if it's raining, snow and sleet, and let's go do
Speaker 1: it anyhow. Don't let little things bother you like that,
Speaker 1: Just do what you want to do. I do think
Speaker 1: a lot of that inspiration played into the way that
Speaker 1: her grandkids have all tried to live our lives, whether
Speaker 1: people starting a company, whether in the case of Mangush
Speaker 1: and me starting Mental Floss and feeling like there's no
Speaker 1: reason we shouldn't go try to do this, even if
Speaker 1: we have no experience in starting a media company, even
Speaker 1: if we're college kids. Just do whatever you want to do,
Speaker 1: as long as you're not hurting anybody. Just God help you.
Speaker 1: We're not smart enough to know what all to do,
Speaker 1: so Wendy's some help. Thank you, Mama. I'll see some
Speaker 1: money here. I guess that's for you. Maybe that's your
Speaker 1: payment for doing this podcast. Mama, i'd say put it
Speaker 1: in your pocket while nobody's looking. So. I love you
Speaker 1: so much and I'm so glad you were willing to
Speaker 1: spend some time with us today. Well, I sure enjoy
Speaker 1: being with you all, I really do. Thank you, ma'ma.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna come upstairs. This is fun. It's a lot
Speaker 1: of fun. This was a gift. I have chance in
Speaker 1: my eyes. I think that this young man has the
Speaker 1: most glorious memories of this woman who obviously has shaped
Speaker 1: his life in a lot of ways. You know. It
Speaker 1: reminds me, not not that I'm ever ever going to
Speaker 1: compare myself to her, but the one thing I always
Speaker 1: try to say is don't say no. Whatever life has
Speaker 1: to offer, take advantage of it, because that time may
Speaker 1: never come around again. And that's why they're all successful
Speaker 1: I mean, if you follow whole way, just do it,
Speaker 1: have confidence as yourself and if you want to swim,
Speaker 1: practice play bullpractice and you know what, and put that attitude.
Speaker 1: You never saw a rejection. You can't reject a person
Speaker 1: like that. There's such a love and enjoy in her way.
Speaker 1: If she's living, you have to accept it, and that's
Speaker 1: why everybody loves her. Just listening to it with such
Speaker 1: a happy time. I'm hoping he'll keep this podcast is
Speaker 1: going to be a treasure for him. And you know what,
Speaker 1: it's going to be a treasure for me when I
Speaker 1: feel down in the dump. Life is here to live,
Speaker 1: and she certainly has lived an unbelievable, beautiful life to
Speaker 1: the fullest. Don't you have nude pictures in the bathroom?
Speaker 1: Not of me? I have a little nude picture that
Speaker 1: says bath on it, because if I didn't have that picture,
Speaker 1: that would be paying on my clothes in the closet.
Speaker 1: But read it's not, you know, my picture of nudity.
Speaker 1: You would never get to see. I don't even look
Speaker 1: in the mirror. When I was young, I was okay,
Speaker 1: but now you know, pardon me, the boobs are hanging
Speaker 1: ninety two nothing is perking. I just don't look. You
Speaker 1: just don't look in the mirror that room. I don't
Speaker 1: look anymore. I only have a mirror that shows from
Speaker 1: the facetop. That's me when I put my makeup on,
Speaker 1: and that's it. So hey, Mama. There's the Big Awards
Speaker 1: every year, and this podcast called Call Your Grandmother was
Speaker 1: nominated as one of the best podcasts. Isn't that neat?
Speaker 1: Who was? This show that You're on right now was
Speaker 1: nominated as one of the best shows. Oh I lock
Speaker 1: that Call Your Grandmother is a production of I Heart
Speaker 1: Podcast Network and Superb Entertainment. Our lead producers are Shina
Speaker 1: Ozaki and Nora cb. Executive producers are Narrow Poster, Nikki Echo,
Speaker 1: and Anna Stump. Managing producer is Lindsay Hoffman. Mastering by
Speaker 1: Bahed Frasier. A theme song is by Anna Stump and
Speaker 1: Hamilton's Lighthouser. What else do you like to watch? Or reader?
Speaker 1: Those kinds of things a lot? Some of the Hallmark
Speaker 1: movies are good, they're best, the best ones. I think
Speaker 1: that they took them off the station for a while
Speaker 1: and I had a fit about it, so they put
Speaker 1: them back on, so they're on all the time. Now,
Speaker 1: what did you do to get them back on? I
Speaker 1: called them, I call the stations, and I said, you're
Speaker 1: gonna lose a lot of people if you don't put
Speaker 1: those back on. So listen to call your grandmother on
Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you
Speaker 1: get your podcasts, and don't forget. Leave us a glowing
Speaker 1: five star reviews