Kerry Washington

24:49These airplanes would fly by when I was a kid, and I would always want to be on those airplanes. Like, where are they going? I wanted to be on those planes, like explore other places and have adventures. And when we were filming our song, we were stealing shots on the A train in Far Rockaway, close to Kennedy Airport. And I remember sitting on the train and a plane going over and thinking, nope, there's nowhere else I want to be. I want to be right here. How cool. Doing what I'm doing. You can't put me on a plane right now. I am like in, this is it. This is it. I'm in the pocket. That's such a cool feeling.

25:22I mean, you kind of wish it for everybody. You do. That whatever they're doing, they realize like, this is exactly what I want to be doing. I wish that for my kids. I wish it for myself even like project to project. Because sometimes you sign on for something and you're like, oh, this is exactly what I thought it would be or better. Like this is better than I could have imagined and it feels so good. And sometimes you're like, what time is lunch? Yeah. I know. When did you first? Not that we're lucky. We're super lucky to be doing what we do. We're blessed. I think it's really hard. I think it's as hard as coal mining.

25:52I think acting is harder than brain surgery. I don't know why more actors don't win the Nobel Prize. Yeah, I agree. Because we bring peace. When people talk about brain surgery, I'm like, try acting. Honestly? Seriously, for one day. Because I'm like in your brain doing surgery. Exactly. Metaphorically. You know what I mean? Yeah. Multiple patients a year. Who's starving now? See what I mean? Do you see what she does? It's brilliant. Okay. Yeah. Tell me when you first heard about Scandal, was it written for you? I mean, Shonda, one of one. She's one of one. What an incredible... Phenom of a human.

26:37Yeah, phenom. Truly. So it was an idea out there that you heard about. And did you feel like I have got to get that? So, you know, there's been a lot of talk. When Scandal came out, a lot of the headlines were like, Like, this is the first time that a black woman is leading a network drama in almost 40 years. Like, it hadn't happened in my lifetime. I'd never seen it. Crazy. A network drama. So you can imagine that when word on the street was that there was a show that was starring a black woman that was going to be on ABC. Like, people went crazy. Everybody wanted to read for it. And God bless Shonda.

27:10She was like, I didn't have the heart to say no. So she read everybody from like 15 to 85. Everybody wanted to be Olivia Pope. She read everybody. She met with tons of people. I heard about the project and I was really a film actor. It was that time when like film actors were starting to do television. You had done Spikes movie. I had done. Chris Rock movie. I had done Ray. You had done Ray. I had done Last King of Scotland. Yes. Great film. So I was like, I was like the good luck charm. Like if you hire me to play your wife, you'll win an Academy Award. Forrest Whitaker, Jamie Foxx. So I, I wasn't hesitant to do television because I was starting to see that there were these incredible women like Glenn Close was doing damages.

27:51And you know, you were starting to see it that there were opportunities for women to play antiheroes and have like more rich experience in television and movie stars were doing more TV. And so, so I wanted to read the script. I was like, if it's great, I'll consider it. And I read it and I was like, oh, I'm, I, it was one of those things where like I threw the script across the room. Cause I was like, this is, I have to play her. It's for me. Like, no, I have to, the unfortunate thing where there were like 10 And other actresses who felt the same way. And so we all auditioned and auditioned and auditioned.

28:22And did you have to come in and come in and come in? I met with her first. Because I was at a certain place in my career, I could do a meeting first. Sure. So I met with her. And I remember getting off the elevator and there was a huge sign that said Shonda Land. And I was like, oh, I don't know about this. Right. Like, it's your land. Right. Like, what does that mean? Right. I have a country I live in. Yeah. You always want to be careful when people say their own name too much. You know what I mean? Yeah, you never know. And then I sat down with her and I was like, I'm in. Yeah. Like I will give up my citizenship to live.

28:54We're in this land of yours. It was just, I loved her. It's interesting. You have to play a character who has to kind of like take care of other people. Yeah. And do you feel like in playing that character, you learn anything about how you take care of other people in your life? Like, are you a fixer? I could and almost did write an entire book on the things I learned from Olivia Poe. She taught me. Tell me a couple chapters. So much. The biggest thing was she, and I feel like you'll really understand this, she taught me how to be a number one. Like at work and in my life. She taught me how to like step into leadership and not shy away from it and to be team captain, to not be afraid of it.

29:39That whole like, it's my name on that door. Like she taught me to not be afraid of that because I always thought, I mean, I had this role model of Jennifer Lopez, but I was like, I'm not that like I'm not that pretty and I don't dance like that. And I just I thought I'm never going to be the kind of actor who's like on the cover of magazines. I'm just going to I my goal was to have a career where I could pay the bills, do a few commercials a year, do a lot of theater and just live a happy artist life. So she really taught me like to not be afraid to step into more. Yeah. And that was extraordinary.

30:14And yes, I think there was, there is with her, I don't know if she taught me how to be a fixer. I think I brought a lot of that to her. Like it was written that way. I don't mean to say I invented it, but I already understood the need to want to make things around me better and to help people and to like, that's in me. It's a

30:42maybe a little bit of my own codependency. Like there is something in me that wants to help other people. I mean, even that joke I made about like, if you hire me to play your wife, you'll win an Academy Award. Like I do take a lot of pride in the fact that I think when I go home at night, I want to know not only that I did my best work as an actor, but I take a lot of pride in helping other actors do their best work across from me in the scene. Like I want my scene partner to be like, whoa, I didn't know I, you know, oh, you can do things to like push each other and make it better. And like that idea of the water, we all rise together.

31:18Like I love that. I love helping people win. I think that's the best thing about TV is like when you're locked into a part that you love and with people that you love, like I know you love Tony and you love your cast. Like you're in a marriage. You're really in like a long marriage where you have to like each other. Yes. Yes. It's family. It's really interesting because this is like what the fans don't want to hear. But I really am so grateful for the healthy relationships that I was able to have also with the men on that show, like Scott Foley and Tony Goldwyn. Like, I love their wives. They love my husband.

31:53Like, there's so much. Okay, well, let's talk about this. Yeah. Let's talk about this. Because what's underneath about this is people ship you guys all the time. Ship us so hard. And we, by the way, we like to fuck with people. Like, I post stuff all the time with Tony. And that's how you can tell everyone's secure. Yes. That's how you can tell. That's the key. because you can tell that everybody's feeling totally fine and enjoying it and because when people don't do that then you can't fuck around that's the scandal hey no but i mean it's it is it's like what that's what the sense i got from um watching you two work together and um and full disclosure we talked to tony for this podcast what what did he tell you I'll tell you tell me all the things I love him so much I know if he said anything bad I'll kill him and did he tell you that he likes my husband better than he likes me because that's the truth well I'm obsessed with your husband I am too Nandi was so funny on the Kroll show by the way he's so good on the Kroll show he's so funny he's really funny I love him yeah and okay so you're saying like you guys were able to have a healthy working yeah appropriate platonic relationship where you're able to discover these characters together and enjoy the fact that people love them together.

33:11Yes. I love that people ship them. I love it. I love it so much. I love that people get into arguments like, oh, Lake, oh, Litz, all that stuff. I love it. And I love that, you know, that we gave people romance, you know, that we gave people escapism, that we made people think, that we made people feel. I love all of that. You had two kids while you were doing your show. Yes. I also had children when I was doing a show. It's very hard. Isn't it wild? I, by the way, never really, I don't think I really knew that. I mean, I never really sunk in that you, you were. Oh, because my kids were being hidden behind boxes and Prada bags.

33:47So you had them both though. You were, you had, you were pregnant and gave birth on both, with both during show? Yes. Dang. Yes. That's hard. That's hard. I'm just going to, that's all. I have no question. Because it's a thing. It's a thing. But also I was so, so blessed because Shonda also had young kids. And we built a playroom on the lot. And Viola had a daughter and How to Get Away was on the same lot. And so we had this playroom. Like I had my kids at work with me all the time. That's awesome. I figured out how to nurse during, you know, camera turnarounds. I was like, I need 15 minutes. Get on.

34:27And I just, I loved it. I love my, my kids are set kids. They're set kids. They, they are comfortable on a set, which is important because I went with my mom when she was teaching. I went to her office and I would sit in her lecture halls and I want them to know that what I do is work, that I'm, that I'm working, you know? Okay. We talked to Tony. Yes. Okay. Oh yeah. How did I forget? Okay. What did he say? I mean, he's, he's your biggest fan. And you know, there's so many things about you that like, you know, he, I mean, we talked You talked about like the fact that you're the amazing activist that you are, the way that you stay engaged with the world, the way that you make sure that you use your currency for good and how important it is to you and how impressive it is to people.

35:14I mean, you have been working tirelessly for a long time and talking to people about what matters to you and what matters to this country and what matters to the world. How do you stay engaged right now, Keri? It's tough. It is really tough. And people are feeling super fatigued. And really feeling numb and checked out. Yeah. And feeling disconnected and feeling discouraged. How are you staying connected and not opting out? Any advice? You know that toxic positivity thing that people talk about? Well aware of it. Yeah, right. Oopsie. I don't want to do that. I know. I mean, I don't want to. But this is not that.

35:52No, I don't think it is. But it is. You're right. It's always like you don't want to be like, it's going to be great. I mean, it's great. No. No. Some things are really horrible right now. Y 'all, it's bad. Yeah. But I also don't want to bury my head in the sand. Yeah. Because I think it's really important to stay open-hearted and to ask myself, what am I willing to do? Because that's changed also. Like, I think every day, each person and every day, there's a different level of what we can give. So I keep trying to ask myself, like, what am I able to do today? And some days it's like march for six hours for no kings with my entire family and make seven posters and do it all.

36:36And some days it's like I want to donate$5 to a community organization. You know, like there's different. But to not do nothing. To really, like, ask of myself to not do nothing. Because we can all be doing something. And, you know, it's time, treasure, or talent. Like no matter who you are, you have something you can give and it can change over time. But I think we all have to be leaning into solution, like in little ways even. The other thing I just want to commend you on is, and it's definitely from a social media perspective, is you also make things seem fun. Oh. And I know that that word fun can feel like, I don't know, not weighted enough.

37:19Yeah. It isn't important because when you ask people for their time, their energy, it's really hard. I mean, people have really complicated lives. Yeah. And when you ask them to join into something, if it looks like it's a drag, they're like, I'm already pretty sad. Yes. Yes. You know, like so true. Like I'm going to take care of my family and like, I hope those other sad people are also hanging on, but I'm sad too. Yeah. But there's something about the way I find in how you talk about things and like and and like thinking about Tony showing up for things is a good example of that. Your instinct to want to make it interesting for the like just this idea of like, how can I involve people is it's not an easy thing to do.

38:06So I would say two things about that. One is that I learned from two extraordinary women, Eve Ensler, who wrote the vagina monologues and Jane Fonda. And I used to be on a board, like the board, the V board, we called it for the vagina monologues, which went from being a play to being a global movement to end violence against women. And those two women really throughout my life have taught me that when you're feeling isolated, alone, and afraid, if you plug into community and community activism in particular, but when you plug into community, into like baking bread for somebody else or making cookies or driving somebody else's kid to school or just checking on a girlfriend who you haven't heard from in a long time.

38:46long time. Like plugging into community actually helps you feel better. Like it, it being a part of something bigger than you actually is like a balm for your soul.

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39:32Tony talked also again about like your incredible mothering. One of his questions was... Oh, he had a question? Yes. About taking questions. Okay, good.

39:46So you've directed. No, no, no. Go ahead. That is, by the way, you shouldn't take a question. Don't take a question. Just be like, I'd rather not answer. No. I remember doing one of our first, it was like our first all cast appearance on Good Morning America with the Scandal cast. And none of them had done a lot of press before. Right. And I had done all these movies. And so I was like, you guys, here's the number one thing to remember. Because they came into the green room and they were like, something was going on with Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt or something. and they came in the green room and they were like, do you mind if we ask you?

40:19And I said, we'd rather not talk about that. And the whole cast was like, oh. Oh, you can say that? So I said, you guys, no matter what anybody asks you, just say what you want to say. I always say that to people. Just say whatever you want to say. Answer whatever question you want. Yes, you have your own agenda. If someone says you've had, you know, there's difficult things going on at home, you can go. I mean, I think at the end of the day, what's important about us as a community. There you go. Just answer whatever you want. That's it. That's right. It's your interview. The person forgets what they even asked if you're good enough.

40:47You know why? They don't know to come back. They don't know. They don't know. They don't know how to get back in there. And if they come back with like, but what I asked about, then you're like, oh, I think we're out of time. You're like, I can't. It's weird. I can't hear you.

41:04Speaking of therapy, my therapist used to say something that was always like making me laugh is when someone asks an inappropriate question, like we're talking not like reporters, but let's say like a friend or a colleague who asked something inappropriate. And if you want to stall for time, cause you know, like our instinct is to like react and go, what an interesting question. I say it all the time. I love that. I say it all the time. I'm so curious why you ask that. All the time. That's, are you just like, that's a great question. What a good, what a great question. I wonder what made you ask that question.

41:36Yeah. Can you, can you unpack that for me a little bit more? Where did that come from? Where did that question come from? And then they go.

41:47Okay. What was Tony's question? His question was your intense inner drive when it comes to you have this inner drive, which he really respects. Okay. When it comes to being a mom. Oh. Is it something you like want to instill in your children? Oh. Like, and it's kind of what we talked about. Like, like, how do you push or do you push? How do you figure out? Like, you have a very strong work ethic. I do. I'm like a longshoreman of acting. I mean, and I promise we will cut this part and not keep it in. But have you ever done the Enneagram test? You can keep it in. I've done it. I don't remember. I don't remember what it is.

42:30You're very Enneagram three to me. Really? Achiever, achiever, achiever. Oh, interesting. But anyway. I feel like Reese is, I feel like she told me she's a three. Oh, she's a big time, I would say. Whatever I am, I remember I told Rashida, and Rashida was like, oh, I don't like those. And I was like, but we're friends. And then it changed her mind. It's a very Enneagram 7 wing 6 thing for Rashida to say. Oh, see? I love this about you. I didn't know that you had this. We're cutting all of this out. Do you—now, are you an astrology person also or just an Enneagram? No, that is nonsense. That makes sense.

43:02I believe in numbers. That's total bullshit. No. numerology. No, but he was wondering if like your drive, like how do you, do you try to instill that in your kids? Do you want to lead by example? Like how do you, because I think what's underneath that and what I think is interesting is when I started with is that you can do many things well and you work really hard. How do you instill that in your children? I do. Or do you? I think about this because I feel like they don't have that thing of being from the Bronx. Right. They don't have that scrappy hustler. At least they weren't born in the neighborhood that I think produced it in me.

43:45And so I wonder where they'll find it. Yeah. I see, my kids are really resilient and I see it mostly in sports. That's like their opportunity, their place where that gets. So what kind of sports mom are you? Do you go to the games? I go to the games. And do you cheer? I do. And much to the dismay of my children because I'm like a loud cheerer. Are you a, after the game, let's say they have a game and it doesn't go well. What do you say to them? There's no wrong answer here. Really? I mean, unless you like berate them, which I know you wouldn't. I'm like, get it together. How do you, how do you like to approach?

44:27I really try to be directed by them. like I try to figure out how they're feeling about it yeah and um and ask a lot of questions I don't try to like make it better immediately I try to just like yeah if I if there was a visual metaphor for it I try to like sit on the bench with them oh that's great like look where they're looking just give it some time it's funny that you do that I find that there's a lot of good conversations when people are looking forward in the car yes with kids especially yeah walks in the car, that like thing of like, I'm just going to be here. Like, let me know. Like, was that hard?

45:03Do you feel good? Yeah. I heard a really cool thing one time again, probably just read it on Instagram. Definitely didn't read it in a book. Definitely didn't read it in a book. Heard it on a commercial on YouTube. My daughter's been saying lately, I've been like, where did you get that? And she's like, well, not to sound like you, but I read it in an article. I'm like, what article? like time for kids she's like an article but uh i read something once or again saw something one time that was like act like i loved this um metaphor act like a a small town reporter with your kids so um just repeat back to them what they just said is if you're writing it down in a small notebook it feels so hard works yes and they it was like the less questions you can ask the better so they're like that was a bad game that was a bad game i sucked i didn't play well you didn't play well like you don't say why the questions can sometimes kind of stop the because all you want them to do is talk yes oh that's so good and then if you want you can kind of like give them a headline back like so it was a bad game and you didn't play well oh wow and they're just like yeah and then pause because the coach said whatever yes the coach said like it's that's all all we we just want to be witnessed like as human beings we just want to be witnessed and heard and that's such good like i hear you i see you i'm gonna give it back to you like that's good isn't that a good way to think about it really good as opposed to what my instinct sometimes to do is like, well, you know what I would do.

46:47You know what I think you should say. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I always ruin it at the end. Yeah. You've directed a lot. You love directing. I love directing. What do you love about it? I haven't directed as much as I would like to, so I need to do more. I'm saying that here. And you walk in kind of, you've walked in other people's shows. Like you've walked in and you did Smilf, you did insecure. I love directing. What's it, what's it like to walk into a show that's already running? It's so fun. I mean, I, especially if I love the show and love the creatives and I just, I, I think the thing I love about directing is that thing I was talking about with acting.

47:25Like I love to help other, I love to help create an environment where other people can do their best work and to help push people toward excellence, to like unlock the things that are going to make other people better, whether it's set design or acting or a score, like just getting into a situation to help other people do what they do best. Yeah. I love, I love that. Yes. I love it. Yeah. And do you think you want to, I mean, have you directed a feature? I haven't. So that should be next. Yeah. I think so. Yeah. I think so. It's a lot of, it's a lot of time away from your family. So I'm like, I was just, so I did this movie with Ben Affleck, the senior, and he was like, you need to find a feature to direct.

48:06And I was like, I have to find a feature that I like enough to spend that much time away from my amazing husband and children. Have you ever heard Sarah Pauly talk about any of this stuff? The amazing director. She talks a lot about me too. And when she did Women Talking, which I thought was amazing, she talks a lot about how, you know, there's this, you know, we talk, obviously we're always trying to like write the, the imbalance of not enough female directors And there's not enough discussion about the fact that like women and with kids, it's very, you have to give up a lot of time. And that she was like hoping and kind of working towards this idea that you could have these humane ways of working where more women could direct.

48:50And she talked about that movie. What that would look like. Yeah, that she had women on her crew be able to kind of like what Shonda did, like bring kids to work, try to keep hours shorter, try to keep prep more remote, whatever it was, so that more women were incentivized. Because it is like, it's like, it's really, really hard to be away. It's a life choice. Yeah. So on this film with Ben, he likes to be home with his kids for dinner. And so we were done filming every single day by 6.37. It meant I was out before drop-off, but I was home for dinner and bedtime and homework to the point where my son was like, mom, is your part not big?

49:31Like, why are you—like, he was worried for my career. Like, why are you home every night for dinner? Did you get fired? Are you, like, pretending to act during the day? He was putting on an outfit and sitting in your car. He was like, mom, it's okay. Be honest. I was like, no, I have a really big part. He was like, oh, mom. Mom, it's okay. It's okay. There are no small parts, mom. But that's so humane. And so on Imperfect Women, it was this extraordinary experience of all three leads were all moms. Let's talk about this. Who's in Imperfect Women with you? So it's Lizzie Moss and Kate Mara and myself.

50:14I mean, most of our directors are moms. All of us. all of our producer. I mean, we, it was such a family friendly set and it was great because the show is really told from three points of view. So basically for like a third of the show, I was number one on the call sheet. A third of the show, Kate Mara was number one on the call sheet. And a third of the show, Lizzie was number one on the call sheet. So we got to all like star in a show, but we all had lots of time to like do other things. Like in Lizzie's episodes, I'm sort of a glorified extra. I'm like number six, even though I'm not, but it feels like I'm one of the ensemble.

50:51And so it was a really wonderful way to share the load of the pressure of what it takes to lead a limited series because we were, we really shared that responsibility. That's really cool. So fun. And also it's really great because you got to flex, like everybody got to do really meaty. I mean, these women, Kate Mara and Lizzie Moss are the beasts of acting, Just extraordinary talent. What a cast. I mean, I've just, we rewatched the Mad Men recently. So good. Good Lord. So good. Elizabeth Moss is. She's extraordinary. She's a treasure. She is an incredible actor. And another amazing director. She's an incredible director.

51:32I am not surprised. You, like me, you've been in the business a long time. A long time. And you've seen it change and like, and expand and grow in the way things. What was that that I just did? You just did it all day. Oh, that was a long time, baby. Remember, did you ever smoke cigarettes? So. That's a yes. Casually. I was like a weekend smoker. Yeah, you never bought cigarettes. No, never bought cigarettes. Well. Back in the day. Only for like a boy I really liked and we shared them. But I wasn't like a real. And then always it was because I would start smoking because of a character. And then get, you know, I was like kind of method with the smoking.

52:09Nothing else, just the smoking. Yeah, no. Do you have any like vices right now that you try to get rid of? Anything? Honestly, so this question, like I don't like the guilty pleasure question because I feel like if I'm not killing anybody, then I don't want to feel guilty about my pleasure. That's right. My pleasure is like pleasure is good. What about your hobbies? Like, do you like fake food? No, but this I know came from. Yes. That's incredible. Ina Garten gave me that. That's amazing. Are there gifts? Should I have brought you fake food? Not at all. but I just realized something today and not to put you on the spot.

52:42It's not a psychological test. And your therapist, Julie, well, no, won't mine, but you've got three different types of burgers. And I would love to know which one you'd like to pick. And for people that are listening, we've got a candle cheeseburger. We've got a wooden cheeseburger and we've got a squishy. Oh, that she went for the squish. You know who else went for the squish? Michelle Obama. Oh! I mean, water seeks its own level. This is so satisfying. Excuse me, I'm going to have a moment. Yeah, ASMR. And I'm not going to feel guilty because it's pleasurable. Do you enjoy, do you have any like...

53:27I love dark chocolate. I'm a big dark chocolate girl. And are you like a... Hobbies? Is there any kind of knitting hobby situation? I really like kitsungi. Excuse me? I did not sneeze. Hold on. You want to Google it? Mm-hmm. While you tell me what it is. So it is the Japanese art of putting broken pottery back together again with gold. Oh, wow. It's so beautiful. Oh, wow. That looks so— The pieces are so beautiful. And so I had read about it a long time ago. And then I had this beautiful pottery that my mom and dad bought for Nnamdi and I for our 10-year anniversary. It had like a Bible verse around the edge.

54:07It was handmade. It was beautiful. And my kids were playing ball in the house and they broke it. And they, I was, I was able somehow miraculously to regulate my nervous system in the moment and not yell. I was like, oh, and they were devastated. My son was like crying. And I remembered Kitsuki and I was like, I'm going to put this back together. And so I found this private teacher. This was last year on my birthday. And I went and brought her these pieces and we put this ball back together. And the art, the philosophy of this art is that by not making the cracks disappear, but by highlighting them with gold, you actually bring beauty to the broken spaces.

54:49And you honor that the places where we are wounded and broken are what make us most beautiful. It's just so special. So it's very like meditative and beautiful. And so now my friends give me their broken plates and bowls and things. But yeah, I really enjoy that. Isn't that great, by the way? What a nice thing for your kids to also see, too. Like, we make mistakes. It's okay. And now, actually, what they say to people when they ask about it is they're like, so now we're part of the bowl, too. Because it's like, it's our anniversary bowl. Of course they had to be a part of it. Oh, that's so nice.

55:19And honestly, it reminds me of your memoir. It reminds me of Thicker Than Water, which was amazing. I mean, that was very artful, what you just did there. That was super. Kitsungi. but it does because it reminds me of what you spoke about spoke about and you spoke about you you've you've you've spoken about your experience recently learning more about your family yeah and learning um and you wrote beautifully about it about um in an attempt to kind of find your roots your your family kind of informed you like hey the the way um maybe you thought this family came to be was a little different. You've been lied to for four decades.

56:05And that you were born with artificial insemination. From a donor. From a donor. And you spoke so beautifully about it and honestly about it. And I guess my question to you is now with some time, you've kind of, the book's out, you've spoken about it. How do you like to talk about it now? I really enjoy talking about it because it's been such a healing journey for my family. Like we're in such a better place than we used to be. And we were, we kind of had a picture perfect-esque for a working class family from the Bronx. We were like as perfect as it gets. Or so we performed to be. And now there's like a real genuine closeness and authenticity and truth between us.

56:51That's so special. I'm just so, so grateful. So I really like talking about it. There's just, my mom said this thing, we were being interviewed, I think by Robin Roberts. And my mom said, you know, we're just not as afraid to hurt each other as we used to be. And that's huge. That's huge. Safety in relationship, that trust that like things are hard, but you'll get through it. I don't know. There's just like so much allowing now in our family and grace, so much more truth and grace than there used to be. I don't know. It's just such a gift my parents gave me by telling me this truth about who I am and who we are.

57:28Yeah. It's so awesome. Well, from what I know about you is you love to laugh. I do. You do. I really do. What is making you laugh these days? What is like a way where you practice tuning out or enjoying yourself or like who, what do you watch, read? Is it a, is it, you have something. Well, I love this podcast. Does everybody say that? No, no, not enough. This podcast is amazing. Oh my God, Carrie, thank you. The big thing is my kids. Yes. Really, because now they're people. So I have one that's 20, my bonus baby's 20, and then an 11 and a nine. And they're like, now they have their own wit and it's sharp.

58:14Yeah. And I love that. Like I actually, this is, so I want to be really clear. I love when my kids get a good burn on me. But it's different. I'm not saying that I want my kids to be disrespectful. Like there's a different thing about like, like I see some of these other households that my kids hang out in sometimes where there's no discipline or respect in the house. Like that does not fly in my home. It's really important. But like a good, well-timed comedic burn, it just makes me love them more. Well, because maybe teasing is a little bit of a love language for you. I think so. Oh. Because I share that.

58:49Like a well-placed tease that is well-observed is a sign of intelligence. Yes. Your kids are paying attention to you. Yes, they see you. That they know you can take a joke. Yes. Which is important. They feel safe with me. Yes. They see me. Yes. They feel comfortable like flexing their own mental prowess. Yeah. I just love that. Yes. And they're trying to figure out what goes too far. And they're supposed to practice with you. Yeah, they are. Yeah. So I love that. And I love also that it humbles me. You know, I love that. Like, it's so not impressed with me, which I love. Yeah. Have you guys started watching any stuff, any comedy together?

59:27Because that is the age, around 8 and 11, where you start being like, oh, we can share shows. The number one show that we obsess over as a family, even so we go back and watch old episodes because it doesn't come on enough, is Amazing Race. Let's talk about Amazing Race. We love Amazing Race. It's still on. It's still on. Amazing. And it's still Phil. They're still Phil. He's still traveling the world. I've never met him. If I ever meet him, I'm going to pass out. He's amazing. He's amazing. He's amazing. He's amazing. And he races. The thing I love about watching it with our kids is, so there's all this kind of learning going on.

1:00:06First of all, we're learning geography. Right. We're learning culture. Right. We're learning languages, dance around the world, food around the world, music around the world, landmarks in important places. So there's that. You're also learning like just travel resilience because we're a big travel family. So they're learning like sometimes the hotel is closed. Sometimes you miss the train. Like they're learning that kind of stuff. But the biggest thing are these relational dynamics. Because I love when my son turns to me and he's like, he is not a good husband. Right? Like you see these teams where you're like, why is he talking to her like that?

1:00:39Or like two siblings where you're like, they do not really get along. Or two sisters where you're like, I love their relationship. They're really learning about what makes a good team, what partnership looks like, what respect. So we love them. And we laugh a lot in Amazing Race because inevitably in the first couple of episodes, there's always the people that are like, they have no business being on the amazing race. Those people have no business racing around the world. But they're having a good time and we have a good time with them. Do you, okay, do you think, when you watch Amazing Race, do you think you would do well on it?

1:01:14It was, so here's one of the really sweet things, and I don't talk about my relationship often. I know, I love Nandi though, he's so cute. It's the first show we watched together, like even when we were dating, we were watching Amazing Race. You guys would crush on Amazing. We would crush Amazing. We would. We would. We would. He has all of the physical prowess. There's so many retired athletes on there. But he has the athlete thing, and he's so smart and funny. and you have the drive. Yes. You have, you'd be the one. I'm scrappy. I've got the Bronx. I'd be in the Bronx with me wherever I go. My mother's like, why do you make everything the Bronx?

1:01:49Whenever I'm like, come over here. She's like, this is not. Well, do you watch it and think I would do well? The only thing I know I would not do well on is the running. the what? It's a race. What are we talking about? You have to run. What do you mean? Do you not run? I mean, I run okay. Sometimes it's a foot race. The foot race. Sometimes it's two teams. Like you can be so great. And then at the end, you just have to run with your bag to the next thing. It's true. That's not nice. I would kill. You would? Are you a good runner? No, but I would make myself a good runner. See, this is our difference.

1:02:24I think I would struggle with the driving. Oh, I could do that well. Yeah? We would be a good team. Okay. Because I would be like, at the end when they'd be like, run to the thing. I'd be like, you got this, Carrie. And I would go. And in the car, I'd be like, go for it. I get nervous on the highway. I'm one of those people who like, as you approach the moment where it splits, I'm like, I don't know, GPS, be more clear. I get really nervous. No, I could lock in on the driving. But the running, I know I would try as fast as I could. I would try as hard as I could. And I would just get so far behind.

1:02:59We always make the mistake of falling in love with a team that's like a father-daughter or a mother-son. And they do so well. and they're so smart and they're so on it. And then there's a foot race and you're like, it's the running. It takes them down. She's 87. They're not going to win. They're not going to win. And that is why I don't think it's fair. There's too much running in that show about racing. But also anything can, like the thing, the great, we're not going to talk about this forever, but the thing that's so magical about the amazing race and the other thing that my kids really are absorbing is anything's possible.

1:03:30True. The final challenge can be all mental. It's so true. I think you're the team who's got it, but if you can't figure out how to make that special Portuguese sausage the way, then you're done. And to the point about teamwork, when people are at their lowest point, when they're very, very stressed, their real personality comes out. It's so true. So when someone is kind and when they're kind to each other at their lowest moment, then you know they're going to be okay. Yes. We always, because we watch old episodes and we so Google, like, are they still together? Do you think they're married still?

1:04:05Did they ever get married? We're like super fans. I feel like you and Nani need to go on an amazing piece. All right. Just the two of you. Or just the two of you. But no, I can't. We can't. And like compete with all the big brother people. Remember Battle of the Network stars? I do remember that. You might be too young for that. But I do have a memory of that. There was an amazing moment in TV where all of the stars in TV had to put on really short shorts and do like Olympic events and just do track and field events and be, and it was the most famous people in TV. And they all did it. And they all, I mean, I don't even know it today.

1:04:42I would do it. You would say all but the running. I would do all but the running and I wouldn't do very well in any of the events, but I would have so much fun. I'd be a good like mouth. I'd be like, I'd be, I'd be able to trash talk. Oh yes. That's important. And that was important. In Battle of the Network Stars, there was a little bit of like, ha ha, I'm going to get you kind of thing. But insurance would never let this happen. That's true. They wouldn't do it now. No, you'd be. The teams we, that I'm proud that my kids don't like, because I got nervous they would just be focused on the winning.

1:05:14But there are like, occasionally there are teams who lie about what to do next. They're like, they figure out a challenge and then they lie to the next team. I know. And those teams. And it always comes back to Biden. That karma. Karma. Yeah. When they take the thing and they're like, don't show them the clue. That's right. That's right. They're like, oh yeah, the clue's over there. And it's really over there. And you're like, see you in hell. That's right. That's right. See you in amazing race hell. That's going to come back and bite you in the ass. Yeah. And Phil's going to be like, you've arrived.

1:05:41You're the last to arrive. I'm sorry to inform you.

1:05:48Oh, it's so good. Okay. Thank you so much for doing this. This was so fun. Thank you so much, Carrie. It was so fun talking to you. And I'm always just impressed by your range and ability to do so many things so well. Thanks for being an awesome guest. And it's just great talking to you. And I feel like I want to just plug this YouTube show, The Street That You Grew Up On, because there's great guests like Michelle Obama and Issa Rae and Sarah Paulson. And it's a great idea, this idea of just figuring out where you grew up and digging deeper. And it feels like Carrie's always trying to do that in her own life and in her characters.

1:06:30And so check that out on YouTube. And I have heard that you can get YouTube without commercials if you pay a little extra, which I'm not willing to do. So, but if you want to do that, that's up to you. So thank you so much for joining us, Keri. Thanks so much for listening to Good Hang and we'll see you soon. Bye. You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss-Berman, and me, Amy Poehler. The show is produced by The Ringer and Paper Kite. For The Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Kat Spillane, Kaya McMullen, and Alaya Zanaris. For Paper Kite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell, and Jenna Weiss-Berman.

1:07:13Original music by Amy Miles.

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