Mama Mooch & Me On Mother’s Day

0:05Hello, I'm Anthony Scaramucci and this is Open Book, where I talk with some of the brightest minds out there about everything surrounding the written word, from authors and historians to figures in entertainment, neuroscientists, political activists, and of course, Wall Street. Sorry, I can't resist. Before we get into today's episode, if you haven't already, please hit follow or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a review. We all love a review, even the bad ones. I want to hear the parts you're enjoying or how we can do better. You know I can roll with the punches, so let me know.

0:38Anyways, let's get to it.

0:46With Mother's Day approaching this weekend, it was only right to dedicate the whole episode to my mom, the one and only Marie Scaramucci. Now, usually my guests on open book must have written something. It could be a book, a script, an article, or even a tweet. My mom hasn't done that, but if you've been listening to this show, you know that she's sitting on a bestseller, and thank God she hasn't written one. And let me tell you this, we'd have to publish it after I'm gone, that's for sure. So for our Mother's Day show, let's open the book that is Mrs. Marie Scaramucci.

1:32Hello? All right, you ready for the show, Ma? Yeah. You got to shut down the TV, though. It's too loud. I am. I am. I am. It's a stand. All right. So this is, you're on the air. Okay, Ma, you ready? This is your Mother's Day special. Happy Mother's Day, Ma. Thank you, baby. All right. So how long did it take me to drop the bottle? How long was it? Five years old. I was five years old. I was still drinking out of the bottle. What do you think that's about, Ma? I don't even like big boobies or anything like that. So what do you think it's about? Well, you were attached to the bottle. I was attached to the bottle?

2:08I wouldn't give it up no matter what? I wouldn't get it up. And then we had to throw it on the ground and said that it was broken and took you out to show it to you. And then you stopped taking the bottle. Okay. All right. So, but did you like being my mom, though? Or was it a fun experience? Or did I drive you crazy? No, you were a good child. How about the day when I was about five or six years old, I pulled everything apart in the toy room and you flipped out and you took a raw meatball. You were rolling the meatball in the kitchen and you started against the wall. Yeah, you started screaming at the top of your lungs.

2:45You were cursing at me in Italian. And then you hurled the meatball and it stuck to the wallpaper in the kitchen. You remember that or you don't remember that? And then you picked up the can and broke my finger. Oh, that's right. Yeah, I dropped the can on your finger. Yeah, I remember that. You dropped this tomato can on my finger. I remember that. Ma, why didn't you like school? Tell the truth. Well, you didn't really like going to school, right? Well, I was a little edgy because I liked to horseback ride and drive a bike and do crazy things for my era. You know, I used to smoke. You weren't allowed to smoke if your mother was an immigrant.

3:20Right. You know, I was not so smooth. It was edgy. Right. When I say bike, it was a motorcycle. I'm not a two-wheeled bicycle. Okay, but then you had overprotective brothers, right? So you had your... They were wonderful brothers. Very, very... I never argue with my... I was their little sister. Right, well, you had a 10-year difference between Uncle Sal and you and 12 years with Uncle Tony, basically, right? Absolutely, yeah. Okay, all right. So they were protective? Very protective. And at the end, my oldest brother had cancer. He had anthriotic cancer, and he stayed at my house during the day.

3:58He had to go home at night because it was a little jimbo-jimbo here. But I had him here for 15 months, and he survived 15 months with it. And my other brother had lunch here every day, and we were very close. We were done motorcycle riding together. My oldest brother was Peacemaker, and my other brother was a little edgy like me. How come I didn't get a middle name, though, Mom? Because the priest didn't hear it. Your name would have been Anthony James, but he didn't hear it. But you could have put it on my birth certificate, no? I guess. I didn't know any better, I think. I don't know. Everyone has a middle name but you.

4:33Right. I'm just Anthony's family. But Anthony's a very strong name, though, because St. Anthony is my patron saint. And I love the name Anthony. Well, we've got a lot of Anthonys in the family, right? Yeah, my mother's father was Anthony, and my brother Tony was Anthony. Your son is Anthony, and you're Anthony. Right. You have nephew Anthony. My nephew Anthony. We have a lot. A lot of Anthony's, yeah, but no middle name for me, Ma. I got a little chipped, right? I don't think you got chipped because look at how you become with the name Anthony. So it was okay? And who you are. I see. So you had three children, Ma.

5:07Who was the cutest baby? Go ahead. Tell us the truth. You're on the air, Ma. Who was the cutest baby? Yeah, of your three. I never looked at, they were all different. All my children were different looking. So you're like a communist mother, right? You're like a communist mother. You want to treat everybody equally, right? Absolutely.

5:30I just got a Mother's Day card from my niece that's so moving that I should read it to you so it can go on the air. All right, go ahead. You can read it, Ma. Go ahead. Let's hear your Mother's Day card. Wait a minute. Hold on. It's really something, though. A special Mother's Day message for you, aunt. Family is made up of special people in your life, the ones you know who will always be there for you in countless ways. They pick you up when you fall. They laugh when you have good times. They cry when you have bad times and give you an endless love and encouragement and praise. You are one of those special people in our family.

6:08And this message comes to you and so much gratitude is felt for you today and always because you're a wonderful aunt, an amazing mother and an incredible person. Wishing you the happiest Mother's Day. Love always, Maria. Okay, that's very nice, no? Very nice. Very, very nice. All right. But let me ask you this, Ma. What did I want to be when I was growing up? Like, what did I want to be? What was my dream? Do you remember? I don't remember exactly. You had a few dreams. But what did Mrs. Rahm say to you when I was in the second grade? I was going to become a black man. You were going to go to space.

6:40I was going to become an astronaut, right? Astronaut. Yeah. And he actually wrote it in your memoir or something about you being an astronaut. You were definitely. She had a little yearbook, and she said you would watch me go into space, because that's when the space program was hot, right? And I was like seven or eight years old. You were in second grade. So let me ask you this question. Have I ever disappointed you? Never. Honestly, though, never once? I didn't even smoke. Never once. I mean, I never did anything, right? I didn't smoke pot. I didn't take drugs. Nothing, right? No, never. Yeah, I wasn't into it all.

7:13I thought that was bullshit. I never got why people were into that stuff. When you were graduating from Harvard Law, you asked me to quit smoking because I smoked. And you said you would never come back again if I didn't stop. You said I was moving to California. I said if you didn't stop smoking, I was moving to California. You would never hear or see me again. I had to threaten you. And I did stop because of you. Yeah, I remember that. You know, you were like a chain smoker. I was a victim of your secondhand smoke my entire childhood. All right, so let me ask you this, though, Ma. You probably don't remember this because it's so long ago, but I failed differential calculus when I was in the 11th grade.

7:54Do you remember this or you don't remember? I do remember that. Yes, you got an S. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Were you mad at me? No, I never. I was like easy breezy. All right, that's true. You were actually easy breezy. You told me not to go to college. You were so nuts. You were like, all right, whatever it is, it doesn't matter. You told me it didn't matter to you, right? It didn't matter. No, I was easy breezy. I tell you, I was edgy. So I wasn't like a cuckoo mother. I just slept my kids. I threw my life into my children. I really did though. Let's go to your dating, Ma. So when did you start dating?

8:29How old were you? Tell the truth now. You're 86. How old was I? Yeah, were you 14? I was like 14 and a half. 14 and a half. Yeah. I don't know. Okay. So what was going on, Ma? Were they Italians? Who was making the move on you back then? I had a lot of kids making the move on me because, you know, I shouldn't be conceited. But when I was young, I had a lot of people making the move on me. And I ended up with Ricky when I was that age. Right. That's your first love. Yeah, that was my first love. And then I was with him for a while. And then your father came into the picture and he was he conned me into going with him.

9:05Conned you into going with him. Yeah, well, thank God for that. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here. So that's that's good. I'm glad that the con worked. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. What is one thing that you haven't done that you wish you have done? One thing that I haven't done? Right. You've been to Italy a few times, right? You went to go see your mom's people in Italy. That was fun, right? Absolutely. I took you once, right? That was fun. A lot of fun, and they're very kind, very humble, and beautiful people. Well, what's some things that you wish that you had done that you haven't done? What do I wish that I haven't done?

9:42I wish I never gave up driving a motorcycle. They didn't have helmets in my day. And I used to love the wind to blow my hair. Okay. All right. Well, I'm glad you gave that up. My year 86, so that would have been a little rough. Although I do have pictures of you at age 80 driving around in the sidecar. Absolutely. Yeah. No, you couldn't help yourself because you're a little nuts. Yep. All right. Let me. And I was in a Maserati. What's the car that Uncle Sal had? a Ferrari you had a Ferrari a Ferrari and we would go down 1968 Ferrari I remember the car we would race the car I was a little nuts you got you got stopped by one of my friends about five about five years ago you were doing 85 on West Shore Road and you got stopped by one of the poor Washington police they thought you were nuts I know I know and I love the Maserati you bought me because the noise of the sport button sounds like a bike and I love that feeling you also like that I pay for the gas for that car because that car is like It's not a conservationist car.

10:40Let's put it that way. It's not a Tesla. But you got caught speeding. How old were you when you got caught speeding? Am I, 82? Yeah, maybe something like that. Yeah, it was probably four years ago. The cop was like, Mrs. Scaramucci, what are you doing? But you talked yourself out of it. You didn't get the ticket. I didn't get the ticket. I said, no, you're not going to be the first one to give me a ticket, are you? I never got a ticket. I always talked myself out of it. Yeah, that's true. But I mean, okay. What do you do, Ma? You put the car on sport mode because you like the sound of the car, right?

11:09I love the sound of the car. I just drove it today. And I just love it. I absolutely love the car. And you listen to country music while you're in the car? All the time. I love country music and I like Andrea Bocelli. I like country music and Andrea Bocelli. Have you met Andrea Bocelli? Yes, I did. Because you had me at Madison Square Garden when he sang. And we went in the back and he took a picture with me. Absolutely. And then you went with Amelia, my daughter, sang with him at the Hunt and Fish Club, right? You went and saw him there, right? Yeah. Yes, I did. I love him. I think he's fantastic in personality and singing.

11:47What about Julio Inglacia? You had the hots for him, too. I loved him, too. Yeah, no, I know that. We had to listen to that nonstop when I was growing up. I remember that. I like music. My mother had music on in our house all the time. And she used to love the opera. And I do like some of the opera. I like Luciano Faberati, too. Did you ever meet him? Yes, I did. I met him in, what's that hotel in New York? It went out of my head. No, it was the Pierre Hotel. The Pierre Hotel, and Sam Apococo threw a party there, and he was an invited guest. And he was very burly and big, and they took a picture of me with him.

12:25I can't find it today, but there was a picture of me and him. You liked him? Yes, I loved him, yes. He was more of an opera than Andrea Bocelli, but Andrea Bocelli is the second best. Ma, one of my favorite memories of you is when I was getting a tour at Harvard Law School, you decided to go with the scale that was in the gym was an antique. It was like from the 1850s and there was a red velvet rope around it and it said, do not touch. What did you do, Ma? I stepped on it. See how much I weighed. Yeah, you were on a diet at the time. The guy was trying to give us a tour of the school, and you just, but you didn't care.

13:04You just unclipped the rope, and you got on the scale and started moving the ancient weights to see how much you weighed. You remember doing that? I really did that. Yeah. No, I remember you doing it. That's the edge to me, though. How about when you thought Harvard was in Hartford? Do you remember that? You thought we were going to Connecticut? That was really being a jerk, though. No, come on. That's okay. You thought we were going to Connecticut. When you passed the law exam and I was in Brooklyn and in center row and you looked at me and you said, there's my mother. Yeah. Yeah. You had to come.

13:36Yeah. I remember that. All right. Let me ask you, Bob. We're going to go to a lightning round now. Okay. You ready? Mother's Day lightning round. What's your favorite food, Ma? My favorite food is Italian food. Okay. So any type of Italian food, right? Right. It's Italian food because my mother was from Italy, and I'm not too much into meat. I only like meatballs or sausage, no other meat. Right. No, I know that. What about brujol, though? You like the brujol, right, or no? My mother made it, yeah. Okay. What is your worst habit, Ma? My worst habit? Yeah. Well, I'm a little overpowering to my children.

14:13Oh, really? I didn't know that. I want... Yeah, you want to be codependent with all of them. I know. I want my children to live very close to me. I feel very secure. I had everything on my life, and it was not a plus. It kind of gives you a little bit of insecurity because you got used to being alone. I like my kids totally around me. Yep, and you like using the manipulation tactics to guilt them into things. You know, you can't help yourself. Can't help myself. You can't help yourself. Because I love my kids, and I have to have them around me so I can fuck you. But you do a better number on my brother and sister than me, though.

14:51I know your tactics. No, I think I do pretty good. You live in Manhattan. You know, you've also done a number on me, Ma. I was just trying to get your reaction. Okay. So I... Go ahead. Go ahead. No, no, go ahead. Go ahead. Let me hear. Oh, I like my kids around me. I grew up with one brother up the hill from me and the other brother around the corner. I was raised like that. And somehow, I don't know if it's going to work as much with my children, but we never argued and we loved one another and we were all different. My two brothers were extremely different. And then when my brother got sick, my middle brother paid his aid every other week, even though he would scrape up his money to pay him and I definitely every other week.

15:36That's how close we were. And the two of them were very different, but he was like, he used to keep my middle brother in control when he used to have a temper. He would say, it's not worth it, Sal. Don't do it. No, he was a calming guy. And he was a decorated veteran, got the Purple Heart, was in the Normandy invasion. He got the corps de gras from France. Yep. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha Beach. What's your biggest fear, Ma? My children moving forth.

16:10Wow. Okay. What's something that you couldn't live without? Not your children, though, but something else. What I couldn't live without? Yeah. I love my grandchildren. I'm so happy I have nine grandchildren. I don't know how people could live without grandchildren. Okay. All right. What's one word you would use to describe me, Ma? One word to describe you? Moses. Moses. Why Moses, Ma? Tell me why. Because you're very caring and you're very well lost because you work very, very hard, but you help the immediate family. And I think that's a gift. My father used to do that with his sisters and brother.

16:48He bought them all houses and you're very close behind him. All right. Let me ask you this, Ma. You always say you would want to write a book. So what would the title of your book be, Ma? You wouldn't want to know that. All right. I wouldn't want to know that. All right. It's a good title. All right. Let me ask you this, Ma. What's your favorite, Chanel or Louis Vuitton? Chanel. Tell me why. Tell me why, Ma. Well, it has more status, and I like their style better than Louis Vuitton. But I have both, and I'm very lucky because you have endured me with both. Okay. All right. My last question, Ma.

17:23What's my favorite food? Do you know? Your favorite food? Hmm? I think you like Italian food. Yeah, that's my favorite. You're right. Yeah, your Italian food. Yeah, I'm Italian person. You used to love your grandmother's source. My mother died young, but you were her little pal to shop with, and you used to sit at the table and eat her food like crazy when you were little. Mm-hmm. All right. I love you, Ma. Happy Mother's Day. I appreciate you coming on Open Book this week. All right. Love you, Ma. All right, baby. All right. Okay. Thank you.

18:02So I want to wish all the mothers out there a very happy Mother's Day this weekend. And to my own mother, obviously my wife, Deirdre, my sister, Susan, all the moms out there and all the mother figures, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, dads playing both roles. Here's to all of you. Thank you for all that you do. And I'm sending love to anyone where Mother's Day may be a difficult time for you because I know what that's about and I'm thinking of you. And I hope you enjoyed all 86 years of Marie Scaramucci right here on Open Book. Happy Mother's Day. I am Anthony Scaramucci and that was Open Book. Thank you for listening.

18:45If you like what you hear, tell your friends and make sure you hit follow or subscribe wherever you listen to your podcast. While you're there, please leave us a rating or review. If you want to connect with me or chat more about the discussions, it's at Scaramucci on Twitter or Instagram. You can also text me at plus one nine one seven nine oh nine two nine nine six. I'd love to hear from you. I'll see you back here next week.

19:17Thank you.