Wide World of Women

A podcast not to be missed.

Amy's parents stopped by .

Enjoy:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5oBFmbIoW9Y4UCAGY9tPEE?si=B4YtDGp4SoODTDA22_6nkQ

If you want something more normal, singer/songwriter Rachel Platten was a guest the night after she did a show and there was a mini-Matchmaker type podcast if you want to check those out. Just use the same link on the Spotify URL above, and do a simple search, and it will take you right there.

Without getting too deep in the weeds, the last 21 minutes of the podcast with Amy's parents in town is definitely worth listening. All I can say is that we got a deeper insight into how their on-air chemistry was very apparent during the late summer and deep into the early winter in 2022.

The delusion of these people, and their thirst to remain somewhat relevant, is hilarious to me.
If they are not the living definition of “yesterday’s news,” I don’t know who is.

On March 14, they attended an intimate gathering at Soho House in their first major public appearance since they were fired from ABC News.

This is part 1 of the unedited conversation:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/55IzHgXW35BwQXUdJZoB8d?si=NvLazsFGRtWBCwRotcpXQQ

Part 2 dropped on Wednesday afternoon, which you can see the link in the next post.

Part 2, very fascinating conversation and the surprising stats about the irony of their past marriage and their divorces occurring almost at the same time:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0AKmMfpXo8S6M5ZKswt715?si=NB992_uuSju5ZkP7KITUaQ

Following Sunday's thoughts about Father's Day, where both Amy and T.J.'s dads offered up some kind thoughts came this array of topics from late Tuesday night:

Amy Robach having lots of anxiety issues, namely with her heart having "palpitations" while on a run. Devoted viewers on GMA know very well how she underwent a heart procedure, and definitely caused a lot of anxious moments for both her family and her millions of fans around the country.

But one thing that they are both looking forward to is racing their first time in the Chicago Marathon on the early morning on the second Sunday in October.
Unlike in New York City, this marathon is mostly contested in neighborhood streets in the North and a bit in the Northwest suburbs. Scores of local businesses and apartment dwellers cheer on the runners. and a few local news trucks follow behind several Chicago Police cars to follow the leaders of the pack and other runners throughout the 26.2 mile course that ends in the parking lot at Soldier Field.

Towards the end of the pod, they talk about Justin Timberlake's legal troubles, the Surgeon General is hoping that Congress can pass a law to add a warning label (similar to Richard Nixon ending all tobacco ads airing on TV and radio in 1970) for the epidemic that is teenagers using social media upwards of four hours a day, if you can believe it. Algorithms looking to entice people on Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram for example are causing lots of hurt and in some cases tragic statistics all resulting from bullying and always comparing other people as opposed to thinking about yourself in the way we grew up in the basic cable/pre-Internet era.

They also pay tribute to the late Friday night news that Basketball Hall of Famer and longtime analyst on TNT's Inside The NBA in Charles Barkley announced his retirement following the playoffs in the 2024-2025 season (where most media analysts have the belief that TNT's 35 year run covering the NBA will end and their package will return to NBC for the first time since the 2001-2002 season.)

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2WJRNqWmWfiRbBbQF0num8?si=2fb55b47427a4666

Who You Gonna Call?

One of the original stars from the 1984 blockbuster hit movie Ghostbusters, that's who.

Remember Ernie Hudson, who had one of the supporting roles alongside Bill Murray, Dan Akyroyd, and the late Harold Ramis and what they did in keeping NYC safe?

Well, Hudson is 78 and according to the description in their podcast is as vibrant and healthy as ever.

The pod lasts just over an hour, which dives into more of his secrets to having a successful marriage.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/75wm2uI8vII3kZjBCrOUK9?si=47qsfp5VS2W9ioEhU1n2qQ

A very short podcast, but a great one as Amy and T.J. report from across the ocean in Italy where they mostly discuss their interesting (and sometimes crazy) circumstances once they landed in Europe:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4mJFOoZAkgy9VMucM95X2u?si=01876fda55014440

Late on Sunday night (probably recorded early in the day considering the time zone difference is in Italy), Amy And T.J. talked about how scant the news is in Italy over the assassination attempt of former President Trump on Saturday evening. Eventually, they did find out through only one news site that they were able to gain access via a laptop.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1Ka5F58BZsL9EjSqZEHOFG?si=74d2049cf6204251

But they devoted more time to the celebrities that lost their lives who starred in movies, home videos, and television programs spanning from sexual topics for women overcoming many of their fears in the 1980's, along with one of the true heartthrobs of the small screen with Fox's breakout primetime hit Beverly Hills 90210.

Ironically, they all passed away in four consecutive days:
Shelley Duvall, Richard Simmons, Dr. Ruth, and Shannen Doherty.

What an impact each of them had on American society in their own individual ways. Whether you are a horror movie fan, exercise/fitness nut who overplayed Sweatin' To The Oldies on those VHS tapes, or purchased the Playboy magazines when Shannen was on the cover twice in March 1994 and December 2003...they will never be forgotten.

The first minute should be all you need to know , so sit back and strap it down.

Enjoy:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2IhRqhaqbxfUOKKVI9RmcC?si=t516ViI-SDGVK9Bd1Z84sQ

Tea In Paris

Well, technically Amy and T.J. made it back to the USA safely earlier in the week.

The big news here is that every day during the Paris Olympics, they will be dropping a new podcast at around 9 a.m. Eastern time.

Figuring who's reading along with myself are very busy doing other things that occupy a good chunk of our time, this will be the only time I will update this section until after the Games are over in mid-August.

The only highlights were hearing their reactions on how they pulled off doing the entire Opening Ceremony without any practice time, all in the rain.

Also of interest was hearing them talk about their 20 years covering past Olympics for ABC News starting from Athens, Greece in 2004 to Amy being surrounded by noisy sounding bees in 110 plus degree heat at night in Tokyo (the 2021 COVID Games).

Remember to check them out on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean, or wherever you get your podcasts:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Ry5fxVKsdLLNDc3EK1DVW?si=e981a8f1019348f0

Only fitting on the final recap of what was the 2024 Paris Olympics that Amy and T.J. did two podcasts, the first one solely on the controversy involving Simone Biles and whether she will keep her bronze medal after that technical error in the final judging that bumped her from fifth to third place replacing the one woman from Romania.

As I said last month, here are my general thoughts on what they saw with the Peacock Gold Zone package (reacting in realtime, priceless)--of which I hope will become the norm going forward.

Among the happy moments like two wedding proposals and the heartbreak of what happened with the one boxer from Algeria having to defend herself after hundreds of trolls on social media made fun of her.

As for what we all saw...week one had the criticism of the one drag routine performed at the Opening Ceremony. They were also amazed at how they pulled it all off in the driving rain and how they managed to pull off the athletes slowing moving down the river (with absolutely no practice time to showcase to the world was impressive, to say the least.)

Besides the continued domination in the swimming pool, Amy's father came in really handy since he is a microbiologist. He said that with the River Sienne being plagued with e.coli, the chances of catching many diseases would impact the rest of their lives even if they dared just to enter the river, let alone swim in it. But as it turned out, numerous reports said there were was no e.coli with numerous tests conducted by French health officials (similar to what goes on here with the EPA). Several viruses managed to get some of the swimmers in the end, largely due to them breathing into the plagued water. One factor that might have added to the viruses could have stemmed from the one huge rainstorm towards the time that leg of the triathlon ended up being pushed back a day.

Week two not only had them discussing the fastest man in the world in Noah Lyles only finishing with bronze (so much for putting labels on people like we treat quarterbacks that don't reach the Super Bowl). And did Team USA not worry too much after being down big in their semifinal game against Serbia in men's basketball? As long as you have Stephen Curry on your team, all was great.

Finally, what closed out this morning was how a NASCAR pit crew and Tom Cruise himself crashed the closing ceremony. Amy also mentioned that every athlete in most countries that earned a medal will earn money--mostly in the five figure range. To put that into context, they earned less than the six to seven figure range many college football and some basketball players receive just to stay in school--especially with the increase in football roster sizes that the NCAA made official a few weeks ago, all thanks to everything that is NIL (earning money off their name, image, and likeness.)

And my biggest takeaway is how early they managed to wake up each morning to watch the Games, since they were six hours ahead of Eastern time when they started each day in the early overnight hours. This might be just filler on my part and not related to the subject at hand, but they will resume getting the extra two hours of sleep every day (except if they feel like watching replays of this Olympics or any other televised Olympics from past Games).

Outside of a brief interruption in their daily recaps, they had an interview with Dru Hammer, the mother of Arnie who has been dealing with legal battles regarding cannibalism and the allegations of sexual abuse between days 12 and 13.

Well, I guess it is back to their twice a week late night podcasts discussing what they think is important news to follow (hint with this being a Presidential election year will probably be the primary focus for the next 90 plus days.)

I can imagine the comments people left on their Instagram or on Apple Podcasts. But this is what I thought during the entire Olympics and we can finally turn our attention to Los Angeles--all things Hollywood and two of the four newest college teams entering the Big Ten Conference.

The quote towards the end of their final "Tea In Paris" series was this:

T.J.:
"It was a nice break from, I guess, fighting about a lot of things and being on the same team by rooting for all of our athletes. At least we were together for that."

Amy, after covering the Olympics for 20 years--first at NBC before moving to ABC:

"I mean, the only time I haven't enjoyed the Olympics is when politics have gotten involved...when it's just about the sports and about competition, yeah, and rooting for not even just your home country, but for athletes fromj all countries, it's just been a unifying experience and a fun moment.

T.J. replies: "And I'm going to miss it."

Back to the usual weird (and sometimes sad) topics after their daily refreshing coverage where they sometimes gave listeners a blow-by-blow of some of the key events that were taking place live, with it already being afternoon in Paris when fans were watching in the early morning hours.

Among the topics they covered were:

An interview with 17 time Paralympic medalist Oksana Masters talking about losing her legs while being in an Ukranian orphanage, then moved to the U.S. to be raised by a single mother--and look what happened after that.

Astrophysicist Johnathan McDowell talking about what has been happening with the group of astronauts that left planet Earth in June, but there is no hint from NASA on when they might return. He will shed some insight on what he knows, so it might be worth a listen.

The Bennifer split and thoughts of the completed DNC (in a separate podcast) were all sandwiched between how T.J. celebrated his birthday and what the description said simply as, "with a blast from the past in the form of a surprise card from Amy."

Of the four shows, that is the only one that I think is worth checking out:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0vavajd43LJbufucZMEUfZ?si=_2Vakv9jShWUEncNCeihmQ

Amy and T.J. are empty nesters.

That's right, the youngest of their two daughters is off to college--but first, Annalise is off to Spain for a short time and then will try to settle in while watching the ticking possible gasket coming loose of a coach in "Prime Time" himself in Deion Sanders at Colorado.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3d465kXqIZx0OazbLwgaqh?si=uMhL_GuBTqi8QTLUlTfOxQ

Here is a first, I sent a recap just minutes after hearing their latest talk from Wednesday night about T.J. never have been in an auto-pilot relationship.

You know the story, the husband and wife get so busy at work (and yes, Amy mentioned about their time as colleagues and that "We love to work".)

In the 14th minute, T.J. says, "The relationship has to come first."
In the 19th minute, Amy talked about not having adequate communication during their vacation. "It's a purging process, a cleansing process", especially for the ladies experiencing a first day on vacation.
They also are thankful that they love having no stress while making sure their time in the air is smooth and the traffic flows when they are traveling in their car.

They clearly realize without the ladies around that their lives are going to be different, in a way.

"The opposite of love is not hate, it's not anger...it's a difference."
Communication is key, no matter who we are dealing with and how we try to adjust in hoping they get what they want out of life since leaving ABC News on not so great terms.
Thank goodness for transcripts, because the last 10 minutes was mostly silence or just stuff that we were waiting for them to say, but I am sure it made some sense towards the end.

Enjoy one of their shortest podcasts, 28 minutes not including the commercials:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7I2onNJrNlaqVyPMQ7P231?si=Ru-v40BBSzyZVaBSeTtJUg

Want to tickle some funny bones?

As the replacement to the late, great Phil Hartman from SNL fame is on the podcast, Darrell Hammond also talks about his very lengthy struggle with mental health. Also, he talked at length about the fact that he does not have a favorite character that he portrayed going back several decades.

And he is planning to hopefully do a Part 2 sometime down the road:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/39xWhIzSHBn8YviAeYqF9r?si=8ebe583b2d884384

Amy and TJ are launching a Mon-Fri podcast called Morning Run which will be more showbiz based.

That Morning Run podcast also deals with hard news that they always talked about during their many years covering national headlines.

Here is their first daily podcast, along with a separate podcast featuring an interview with former actor turned podcaster Jodie Sweetin:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7f1PO9RVq9mVxhEsblOZXs?si=i8STCUFGTuWZNQkwqTFpEw

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5avYbY15EUlLn1fuvyhH60?si=6mfoUycaRO-LbNY3X0WJLg

Another day, another different podcast.

This time around, it is "Welcome to I Do, Part 2". Amy and T.J. are joined by Jennie Garth and Jana Kramer on this podcast "focusing on love, resilience, and second chances."

Sounds like more gossip related data.
Hard pass on my end--just tap Mark as Played on your Apple Podcasts and Spotify apps and wait until the next major story on a future Morning Rundown that might be worth discussing.

Also of note, reality TV stars realize it's not all fun and games. Wait until you hear what Karamo Brown went through during his stint in the early years of MTV's "The Real World". In a word, nasty things happened.