Support Your Village with Regina and Reina King

On this week’s IMO, Regina and Reina King join the show to talk about their bond as sisters. The two share what it’s like to be Los Angeles born and bred, their early forays into child acting, and how they have been grieving the loss of Regina’s son, Ian, who died in early 2022. Have a question you want answered? Write to us at imopod.com http://imopod.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  My mother had read that in China, they discipline their kids by kneeling on rice. So she said, you can kneel on rice for 10 minutes, or we take a break and you get the rest of these licks.

• 0:12Michelle Obama?

  Dag, that's just, that's commitment to the lick.

• 0:16Speaker 00

  And Raina was like, I'll take the rice. I'll take the rice. And I was like, I just knew. I was like,

• 0:20Speaker 02

  If only I knew.

• 0:21Speaker 00

  I said, I should have just got the rest of the rice.

• 0:23Michelle Obama?

  Like, you could have been finished.

• 0:25Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 0:25Michelle Obama?

  How about your mother researching Asian punishment? You know, I mean, it's like that.

• 0:32Speaker 00

  A teacher.

• 0:33Michelle Obama?

  She's like, let me find some real good stuff.

• 0:36Speaker 00

  Punishment don't work.

• 0:38Michelle Obama?

  Right, right.

• 0:44Speaker 00

  This episode is brought to you by Theraplu.

• 0:50Craig Robinson?

  Hey, little girl.

• 0:51Michelle Obama?

  Craig Robinson, what's happening with you? I like your sinks. I have those.

• 0:56Craig Robinson?

  You have these?

• 0:57Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, I do.

• 0:58Craig Robinson?

  Elevens in black?

• 0:59Michelle Obama?

  No, not the same. But I have that style, that high top, that leather.

• 1:03Craig Robinson?

  Elevens are what they are, not the size.

• 1:05Michelle Obama?

  Okay, I didn't know that. I don't know what things are called.

• 1:08Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, I see that.

• 1:08Michelle Obama?

  It's like, no, I don't wear an 11.

• 1:12Craig Robinson?

  Especially not a men's 11. Geez.

• 1:17Michelle Obama?

  Oh, my goodness.

• 1:19Craig Robinson?

  What's going on?

• 1:20Michelle Obama?

  You know, excited that to be here.

• 1:24Craig Robinson?

  Yes.

• 1:25Michelle Obama?

  Excited with our guest that we will introduce at some point.

• 1:29Craig Robinson?

  I know. We gotta have some LA flavor for a change.

• 1:31Michelle Obama?

  I know. It's really good. I got a whole lot of LA questions. Because LA is a mystery to me, you know? It's always like, what, what does it mean to grow up here? But anyway, we'll get into that. But I'm happy that you're here, that we are together.

• 1:44Craig Robinson?

  We are.

• 1:45Michelle Obama?

  And you are enjoying, but we haven't had dinner yet. I don't know. We, we got a busy schedule, so I don't even know if we'll get a chance to, to even chill for a bit.

• 1:56Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, I might have to whip something up at my Airbnb.

• 1:59Michelle Obama?

  Right. I don't, what do you, well, okay, what do you think you're gonna cook?

• 2:04Craig Robinson?

  I don't know. We might, we might, I might have to go shopping and get some groceries, so I can, Erin and I can.

• 2:10Michelle Obama?

  You can't even say that with a straight face. Like, look at you.

• 2:14Craig Robinson?

  But if I wanted to, I could.

• 2:15Michelle Obama?

  You're not gonna leave here right now and go to the grocery store.

• 2:18Craig Robinson?

  Because it's, it's, it's late, but I might, I might do that. Before we leave.

• 2:22Michelle Obama?

  Okay.

• 2:23Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, yeah, but.

• 2:24Michelle Obama?

  So is it a good, high-end kitchen in the place that you're staying? Is it a chef's kitchen kind of situation?

• 2:30Craig Robinson?

  No, no, no, it's not a chef's kitchen. It's a, it's a, it's a regular kitchen, but it's got everything you need. And, um, you know, these trips, it's really hard because we put in a lot of time during the day to, to do a meal at night, but, um, Erin and I are enjoying the weather here and we're staying up later. So maybe, maybe we'll, I'll whip something up.

• 2:53Michelle Obama?

  Well, anyway.

• 2:53Craig Robinson?

  We've got, I can't, we're so excited for our guest here.

• 2:57Michelle Obama?

  We've got siblings. Famously siblings who have done everything all over the place. I love these two.

• 3:05Craig Robinson?

  And for a long time.

• 3:07Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, Raina and Regina King, sisters who are, you know, own Hollywood, own the industry, killing it on, on so many levels.

• 3:18Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, well, let me, let me give them a proper introduction. Regina King is an Academy Award-winning actress and a director with a 40-year career, widely regarded as one of Hollywood's most versatile and dynamic creators. She is also the founder of Me and You, a wine label established in honor of her son Ian. Reina King is an actress and producer who has worked in entertainment for decades, both in front of and behind the camera. As an actress, her credits include Scrooged and Shirley. Regina and Raina are sisters and co-founders of the production company Royal Ties,

• 4:01Craig Robinson?

  a company recognized for developing projects across genres with depth, range, and cultural relevance.

• 4:10Michelle Obama?

  All right.

• 4:10Craig Robinson?

  So without further ado, Regina and Reina King.

• 4:14Michelle Obama?

  Come on into the I'm O scene. How y'all?

• 4:21Michelle Obama?

  He was a cue the.

• 4:26Michelle Obama?

  Okay, we gotta get one of those.

• 4:30Speaker 02

  Especially with this basketball hype.

• 4:34Speaker 00

  Y'all so short.

• 4:35Michelle Obama?

  I know, I know. That's what people say when they meet us. So can you put some heels on?

• 4:41Craig Robinson?

  You can't tell how tall we are when we're sitting.

• 4:44Michelle Obama?

  We have short torsos, lots of legs.

• 4:47Speaker 00

  You really, yeah. She actually has a short torso and longer legs. But long, short legs.

• 4:55Michelle Obama?

  And long in relation to other things. Well, you guys, thank you. Thank you for being here. Thank you for having us. How y'all liking LA?

• 5:05Craig Robinson?

  Oh, man. Why don't I live here?

• 5:07Speaker 00

  I don't know.

• 5:08Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 5:08Speaker 00

  Would you want some of that vitamin D in your life?

• 5:11Michelle Obama?

  I know. Gotta have that vitamin D. I mean, you heard me say, like, you know, we spend a lot of time in LA. We record IMO here. Our daughters live here. Our higher ground productions are here. But it seems like everybody we meet are transplants. I mean, rarely do I meet people from LA. And I, you know, I'm trying to get a sense. I'm still trying to get a sense of the city. Talk about, what was it like? What is it like to grow up in LA? I mean, does it, is it all Hollywood palm trees and?

• 5:42Speaker 00

  No. Well, I also feel like, you know, there's, LA is so big.

• 5:48Michelle Obama?

  It is.

• 5:49Speaker 00

  Huge. So like, when you talk about LA County, you have people that grew up in Santa Monica, and that's their whole life. And that's a whole different lifestyle than from us that grew up in Windsor Hills. That, you know, Windsor Hills and Baldwin Hills, you know, that's all adjacent. So that, all of those kids, all of those people have a similar lifestyle. And you grew up and you heard the stories about Ray Charles lives over here.

• 6:14Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 6:15Speaker 00

  I can Tina Turner. Socialize with people, Ladera. Yeah. Yeah.

• 6:19Michelle Obama?

  Well, you talk about, it sounded like the Windsor, what is?

• 6:24Speaker 00

  Windsor Hills.

• 6:24Michelle Obama?

  Windsor Hills. Uh, multi-income, mostly African-American. What was the vibe of your neighborhood?

• 6:34Speaker 00

  I don't know what it is now. It's probably not mostly African-American now.

• 6:37Michelle Obama?

  Well, nothing. It's been gentrified.

• 6:39Speaker 02

  Well, the people that lived in the house that we grew up in when you were doing the

• 6:43Speaker 00

  I don't know. I went and knocked on the door. They didn't answer.

• 6:46Speaker 02

  Oh.

• 6:47Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 6:47Speaker 02

  I'm wondering what, I mean, I don't know what race they are. But I would say middle class and upper middle class.

• 6:53Speaker 00

  Yeah, we grew up predominantly black.

• 6:56Michelle Obama?

  Yep.

• 6:56Speaker 00

  You know, there might have been one white woman on our street at the end of the block.

• 7:05Craig Robinson?

  Oh.

• 7:07Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, really.

• 7:08Craig Robinson?

  I mean, come on.

• 7:10Speaker 00

  Well, you didn't see her much.

• 7:11Michelle Obama?

  Well, did you know her name? Was it Mrs. Such and Such? You didn't even know her name?

• 7:15Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, it was like the shoe key house or something, was it?

• 7:18Speaker 02

  In my mind, I keep thinking Ms. Gert, but Ms. Gert was black.

• 7:21Speaker 00

  No, Ms. Gert was my babysitter.

• 7:22Speaker 02

  Your babysitter.

• 7:23Michelle Obama?

  Yeah. Was she old, older?

• 7:25Speaker 00

  She was an older woman, yeah. But she didn't like talk or interact much unless somebody was on her grass.

• 7:32Michelle Obama?

  On her lawn.

• 7:34Speaker 00

  On her lawn.

• 7:35Michelle Obama?

  Get off my lawn. I'mma call your mother.

• 7:38Speaker 00

  We just trying to play.

• 7:39Michelle Obama?

  Ball just rolled up here. We had to get it. We had to get it. Was it working class? I mean, did you know your neighbors? Did you grow up like playing up the streets?

• 7:50Speaker 02

  We did.

• 7:51Speaker 00

  We had a lot of kids on our street. And you know, what happened to that? Like, kids don't go outside and play. Like, there's no... Like, when's the last time you saw a kid with a cast on their arm?

• 8:05Michelle Obama?

  That's right. That's a good point. You know what I mean? Everybody's all vacuum sealed.

• 8:09Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 8:10Michelle Obama?

  Right. Yeah, no, we're scared of the outside. I mean, you know, like, I remember when we were in Chicago. The girls growing up, we did grow up in a neighborhood where there were a lot of kids. But it is true, nobody was just letting their kids go out to play.

• 8:24Speaker 00

  Mm-mm.

• 8:25Michelle Obama?

  So I found that our girls didn't know the basic. Outdoor play games like how to jump double dutch.

• 8:31Speaker 02

  Double dutch.

• 8:32Michelle Obama?

  So me and my friends, one day we decided these little black girls, they have to know how to jump double dutch. But, so we organized, this is what mothers do. Because how you learn how to jump double dutch is that you got your rope, you went outside, you found somebody to turn and a game happened, right?

• 8:50Speaker 02

  Yeah, yes.

• 8:50Michelle Obama?

  But the girls didn't even know where to begin. So we did it, the mothers, and then we realized, well, you know.

• 8:57Craig Robinson?

  That's why people aren't doing stuff, because the mothers are doing it.

• 9:01Michelle Obama?

  Well, the plan, the plan was to teach them so that they go outside.

• 9:06Craig Robinson?

  Okay.

• 9:06Michelle Obama?

  But the challenge, did you all jump double dutch growing up?

• 9:09Speaker 02

  Yeah, we did, we did.

• 9:10Michelle Obama?

  You know, the key to double dutch is that you have to have two people that can turn.

• 9:14Speaker 02

  Yes, well, well. That's why we probably didn't do it as often.

• 9:18Michelle Obama?

  Right.

• 9:18Speaker 02

  Because I don't think everyone on our block of the girls.

• 9:21Speaker 00

  Or even at school, you know, because we played, we played double dutch, um, jumped double dutch, played double dutch. Jumped double dutch at school and, you know, certain people like, oh, I can't stand when she turns.

• 9:33Michelle Obama?

  I know. They, we called it, she's double handed.

• 9:36Speaker 02

  Double.

• 9:36Michelle Obama?

  Now, I don't know what that meant, but yeah, girl, you double handed.

• 9:39Speaker 00

  It means you can't turn.

• 9:40Michelle Obama?

  Because you can't turn.

• 9:41Speaker 02

  Like not being on beat.

• 9:42Speaker 00

  Or did you guys ever like have like the super long rope that someone would wrap it around their back?

• 9:48Michelle Obama?

  Oh, yes.

• 9:48Speaker 00

  And remember?

• 9:49Michelle Obama?

  Oh, yeah.

• 9:50Speaker 00

  Yeah, that's when you knew she could turn.

• 9:52Michelle Obama?

  She knows how to do it.

• 9:54Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 9:54Craig Robinson?

  I read where you all put on your own little shows. Nobody's doing that either.

• 9:59Speaker 02

  Mom, there's a fly in my suit.

• 10:01Speaker 00

  What's that?

• 10:02Speaker 02

  Excuse me, there's a fly in my suit. We have to book a place.

• 10:05Speaker 00

  Yeah, and we used to put them on, um, and yeah.

• 10:08Speaker 02

  In the living room, right in front of the furniture that we weren't supposed to sit on.

• 10:13Speaker 00

  That we would sit on when mom wasn't home.

• 10:14Michelle Obama?

  That's right.

• 10:15Craig Robinson?

  Did it have plastic on it?

• 10:16Speaker 02

  They did not. But she had a best friend. That had a lot of plastic on a blue couch. And she had blue, for Christmas, she had a blue, it used to kind of freak me out.

• 10:28Michelle Obama?

  The tree.

• 10:28Speaker 02

  The blue Christmas paper and, oh my god.

• 10:31Michelle Obama?

  There's a lot of blue.

• 10:32Speaker 02

  Flots.

• 10:33Michelle Obama?

  Flock tree.

• 10:34Speaker 00

  Uh huh.

• 10:35Speaker 02

  It was, it was a bit much.

• 10:36Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 10:37Speaker 02

  It was a bit much. I just remember those summertime sliding on that plastic.

• 10:41Michelle Obama?

  Or, or sticking.

• 10:42Speaker 02

  Sticking to the plastic.

• 10:43Michelle Obama?

  Or the plastic will wear out and there'd be a slit in it.

• 10:47Speaker 02

  The slit.

• 10:48Michelle Obama?

  And it would cut you.

• 10:49Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 10:49Michelle Obama?

  It's like, nah, this couch is dangerous. It's clean.

• 10:53Speaker 02

  It's clean.

• 10:53Michelle Obama?

  But it's, but it's deadly.

• 10:55Speaker 00

  It's deadly.

• 10:55Speaker 02

  I don't want to go over there now.

• 10:57Craig Robinson?

  I don't want to go there.

• 10:58Michelle Obama?

  Sitting on the couch.

• 10:59Craig Robinson?

  And how, how old were you then? Cause I'm trying to figure out.

• 11:02Michelle Obama?

  Yes.

• 11:03Craig Robinson?

  How early you all thought y'all were gonna be actors.

• 11:06Speaker 00

  I don't think we really thought that we were gonna be actors. You know, it was like, you can act like you're somebody else. You can be something else and we had been doing it all the time at home.

• 11:16Speaker 02

  We've been doing it, and, and I mean, the, this, the roller skating and someone saw us.

• 11:22Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 11:22Speaker 02

  And, and asked us if we would, um.

• 11:24Speaker 00

  Tell the story, Raina.

• 11:25Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, what do you mean roller skating and somebody asked you?

• 11:28Speaker 02

  Our, our mom.

• 11:29Michelle Obama?

  We were at our mom's friend's with the blue couch.

• 11:31Speaker 02

  The mom's. Shut up, mom.

• 11:36Michelle Obama?

  We love your couch.

• 11:39Speaker 02

  And we, um, we were at her house, we were roller skating. And this woman saw us that lives up the street. And that ended up being Betty Bridges, Todd Bridges' mom.

• 11:51Craig Robinson?

  Oh.

• 11:51Speaker 02

  And said, you know, they should join, you know, my acting class. And that's kind of how it started. I don't, I don't even think I know.

• 12:00Speaker 00

  Well, no, Raina's, first she was like, uh, was talking to us and you know, stranger danger.

• 12:05Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 12:05Speaker 00

  So Raina was like.

• 12:08Michelle Obama?

  It's like, where are you coming up to us?

• 12:10Speaker 00

  And then she told us to go get our mom and Raina was like, mom, this lady outside for the talk.

• 12:16Speaker 00

  She had to give it all its detail of the moment.

• 12:20Michelle Obama?

  Thank you, Regina.

• 12:22Speaker 00

  To keep it all the way real.

• 12:23Michelle Obama?

  That's right.

• 12:25Speaker 00

  And.

• 12:26Michelle Obama?

  See, so that's what you think about LA, you know? It's like you could be roller skating in your little matching outfit and all of a sudden, you know.

• 12:34Speaker 02

  You're on.

• 12:35Michelle Obama?

  You're an actress.

• 12:36Speaker 02

  You're an atmosphere.

• 12:37Michelle Obama?

  See, that's what the kids on South Side of Chicago think happens when you grow up in the hood in LA. It's like, well, that's how you become a part of the Brady Bunch. You gotta live in LA. So what was going on with school at the time? I mean, were you still in?

• 12:53Speaker 00

  We were still in public school. So like basically you have a set teacher. And our mom was like, both, both studios wanted our mother to put us in.

• 13:03Michelle Obama?

  Studio school.

• 13:05Speaker 00

  Well, you, you go to studio school when you're shooting.

• 13:07Michelle Obama?

  Okay.

• 13:08Speaker 00

  But they want you to enroll in like a small school that's. Almost like homeschool, but. Yeah, that, that is familiar with this type of. Industry, entertainment, homeschool. Great. And mom was like, absolutely not. So if you want these girls, we gonna figure it out.

• 13:24Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 13:25Speaker 00

  And we both ended up having really great teachers. And I really, Kathy Cyrus was just absolutely amazing. And she, I wanted to take French. She started learning French. She, so just in the correspondence, they went up, she went up to the school to meet all of my teachers. Cause by then I was in high school.

• 13:44Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 13:45Speaker 00

  And, um, and then when the season was over, be back at. And you were like a head of the class. Oh, yeah. So I was causing havoc.

• 13:54Michelle Obama?

  Right.

• 13:55Speaker 00

  When I got back to.

• 13:56Michelle Obama?

  Right. It's like, I know it all.

• 13:59Speaker 00

  Yes. Yeah.

• 14:00Michelle Obama?

  Yeah. How was the, how did it feel coming out of that world, being on TV? And then going back into a normal. High school life, were you guys recognized? Were you known as being those girls that, you know?

• 14:16Speaker 00

  Yeah, I think people just knew that that's what we done. Because I don't know how it is in Chicago, but you go to schools that are connected to your area.

• 14:26Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 14:26Speaker 00

  So, you know, all of those kids I went to junior high school with, but part of them I went to elementary school with. So, they had been seeing us being doing background work.

• 14:38Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, they wasn't new.

• 14:39Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, so they weren't tripping.

• 14:41Speaker 00

  No.

• 14:41Speaker 02

  It was, yeah, it was the obvious. Like, you couldn't wait to get back to kind of the public school, that kind of friend group. It was much harder for me, uh, what's happening now, because I was the only child on the show.

• 14:54Michelle Obama?

  Oh, yeah.

• 14:55Speaker 02

  You know, there were no siblings, there were no people in the building. So, it was just me and the set teacher.

• 14:59Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 15:00Speaker 02

  So, we used to bump heads.

• 15:04Michelle Obama?

  Okay, what's the story? Who had to get called, who told off who?

• 15:09Speaker 02

  Um, yeah, my mom got called a couple of times.

• 15:15Speaker 02

  But I, I think I was, because it's just me and this one adult, and there's no other person to kind of bounce anything off of, so I found myself like challenging her.

• 15:27Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 15:27Speaker 02

  I learned a little French, too.

• 15:33Speaker 02

  But so it, it, that was tough. So, for me, it was a big yearning to get back

• 15:38Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 15:39Speaker 02

  to school where there are more kids. Like, uh, any show where there may have been two or three other kids, it's like, oh, there's gonna be four people.

• 15:49Michelle Obama?

  Oh, wow.

• 15:50Speaker 02

  And on set today with the, with the set teacher. So, um, I was really excited to get back to the regular swing of things. And, and I was coming back further ahead than, because it was fifth grade for me, because I was 10, and I was further ahead than where they were.

• 16:09Craig Robinson?

  10.

• 16:10Michelle Obama?

  Wow.

• 16:10Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm.

• 16:11Michelle Obama?

  Wow.

• 16:11Craig Robinson?

  And you guys are four years apart.

• 16:13Michelle Obama?

  Four years apart.

• 16:14Craig Robinson?

  Have you always been close?

• 16:16Speaker 02

  Hmm.

• 16:17Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, all right.

• 16:21Michelle Obama?

  It's like now, we're like.

• 16:22Craig Robinson?

  That was right on time.

• 16:25Speaker 00

  I think we've always been close, but we, it took me, when I moved out the house, the, when our relationship started becoming like.

• 16:36Speaker 00

  My other half, but I think it was, we've always been close. Like, I could talk about my sister, but you can't talk about my sister. You know, like, that's always been, and we always played together. We always, remember we used to play Mel's Diner in the backyard?

• 16:54Speaker 02

  We did, and make the mud pies. Mel's?

• 17:00Speaker 02

  Kiss my crib. But there was, because I was younger, that, you know, she didn't want me around. You know, I'm getting on her nerves. I wish she would just go back, and I'm like, I'm not going anywhere, you know?

• 17:12Michelle Obama?

  And keep it up. Keep it up. I mean, this is the younger sibling, and I see it with our two daughters. It's like, Millie and Sasha, three years apart. They've always been close, but that three-year difference feels like a chasm.

• 17:27Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 17:28Michelle Obama?

  Until you're older. But Sasha, like me, I was always gonna keep up, you know? You were not leaving me behind.

• 17:35Speaker 02

  You're not leaving me behind.

• 17:37Craig Robinson?

  I was inclusive with her. It wasn't like, oh, no, you can't come with me. I was like, well, come on then. Let's go. And it would be, we're playing baseball, we're playing running bases, hide and seek, whatever it was. If she wanted to go, she could come.

• 17:53Speaker 00

  But do you think part of that is because you guys are brother and sister?

• 17:57Michelle Obama?

  I do think that dynamic is different. You know, there's just, well, because our spaces could be separate. Like, I could come along, but I didn't always want to come along. Because it was like, okay, it's a bunch of crusty boys. Maybe I want to play with my dolls over here. But with my daughters, it was like, they were pretty much on par in terms of what their interests were and the friend group of girls. You know, they were just all running as a pack. And so, little sister was gonna, you know, it's like, I can do this. So, in that respect, I think Sasha grew up faster. Just by keeping up.

• 18:37Michelle Obama?

  You know, she had to, even though she wasn't there yet, she was gonna be there.

• 18:43Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 18:44Michelle Obama?

  And without the emotional tools, you know, necessarily, right?

• 18:50Speaker 00

  But I know, I think you're literally explaining our dynamic. Like, Raina grew up faster, definitely.

• 18:56Michelle Obama?

  Yep.

• 18:57Speaker 00

  Definitely. She thought she was, she knew she was grown.

• 19:01Speaker 02

  And yeah, I was able to spread that, spread my wings with that more when she wasn't around.

• 19:06Michelle Obama?

  Yes.

• 19:06Speaker 02

  So by the time I got to high school, I was like, mm.

• 19:11Speaker 00

  It's like, you can't tell me anything.

• 19:13Speaker 02

  These youngins don't know.

• 19:14Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 19:14Speaker 02

  These other 15-year-olds, they don't, they don't.

• 19:17Speaker 00

  I've been around the block.

• 19:18Speaker 02

  Yeah, I've been around the block.

• 19:19Michelle Obama?

  These children, oh my god.

• 19:21Speaker 02

  I'm 15 with the mind of an 18-year-old.

• 19:24Michelle Obama?

  I've seen some things. Bring me a drink.

• 19:30Speaker 02

  Oh, wow, that's good.

• 19:41Craig Robinson?

  I have been traveling a ton between my IMO recordings and my day job at the National Association of Basketball Coaches, as well as my kids' teams. This travel has afforded me the opportunity to visit some new places and meet some new people. And last year's travel was so good, I've actually been able to enjoy my time on the road. That's because I've been booking stays on Airbnb. You've heard me talk about how much I love that I get to stay in a real neighborhood. This helps me feel at home and settled, in addition to being able to explore my surroundings. And during these trips, it clicked for me. My place is just sitting there, empty.

• 20:23Craig Robinson?

  Meanwhile, someone else could be getting that exact same sense of ease and connection from my home that I just got from theirs, and I'd be making a little extra money without lifting a finger. I'd never really thought about hosting in that way. It's not a big production, it's simply opening your door to someone who wants a meaningful stay while your home quietly works for you. And if you live in a city people are always trying to visit or have to travel to for work, trust me, there are folks out there looking for a space that feels warm, familiar, and lived in. Your home might be that place and it might be worth more than you think. Find out at Airbnb.com/host.

• 21:06Craig Robinson?

  This episode of IMO is brought to you by Theraplu. Theraplu, makers of fast-acting cold and flu relief, believes everyone deserves the right to rest and recover when they're sick, no matter where they live or how much money they make. When I was coaching, if I got sick, I found it hard to choose between taking time for myself to rest and heal and showing up for my family and my team. Luckily, I had the ability to take paid sick time when I really needed it, but not every American has that option. In 2021, Theraplu launched the Rest and Recover Fund and they've committed more than $1 million to provide micro grants to families and individuals,

• 21:49Craig Robinson?

  helping offset the cost of taking a sick day for those that don't have coverage. Everyone should be able to prioritize their health without risking their ability to put food on the table. That's why Theraplu is committed to keep fighting because rest and recovery is a right, not a privilege. Learn more or help someone apply for the fund at Theraplu.com/RightToRecover. This episode of IMO is brought to you by Indeed. You know, I've been thinking a lot about careers lately, especially in a job market like this. One thing I've learned is that you really have to think outside the box when it comes to your path. Nothing about my own journey has been linear. I've made pivots, followed my curiosities,

• 22:35Craig Robinson?

  leaned into the strengths and skills I had at the time, and somehow, all of that kept opening doors I never would have pictured for myself. And honestly, being willing to evolve made my whole career feel more dynamic and rewarding. The roles I ended up loving weren't always the ones I initially imagined. They were the ones that aligned with who I was becoming. But let's be real, the process of finding those roles... It can feel like a second job. I remember stretches where searching, applying, waiting. It was exhausting. That's why I love what Indeed is doing with Career Scout. It's designed to make the whole process faster, easier, and a lot more intentional.

• 23:20Craig Robinson?

  Career Scout actually looks at your skills and interests and sources opportunities you might not have even realized were a fit. It's like having your own career coach working behind the scenes, helping tailor your resume, matching you to roles that align with your strengths, even supporting you with interview prep. It takes something that can feel overwhelming and makes it manageable. And honestly, if I had Career Scout earlier in my career, it would have saved me so much time and helped me tap into my strengths more quickly. It's a game changer when you're ready for that next step. Indeed's mission is to empower people to use their skills

• 24:00Craig Robinson?

  to find better work, and Career Scout is their latest innovation to help you do that. The future of job searching is here, and it's called Indeed Career Scout. Try it today in the Indeed app.

• 24:20Michelle Obama?

  So when did it click? Did it, you know, because there's also the shadow of the older one, right? Because I would also tell Malia, right? You grew up unshadowed, right? You grew up and everything you did because you were performing for us was wonderful. And it's like, wow, say more. Oh, look at what you've done. That's so smart. You can read now, right? Well, the younger sister has the older sister going, you can't read yet? Right. It's like, that's not how you say that. Yeah. Let me just do it. Let me just do it. Let me, you know, and so I would have to explain to her, do not step on my other child. I love you both, but you cannot try to parent her because you don't know what you're doing.

• 25:04Michelle Obama?

  You are just, you are seven. You're seven. Right. You know, you don't know what's happening. But I saw Sasha come into her own as Malia, you know, moved on. So it was like that tree, you know, moved away. And so the light got to the younger one. Did you feel that way? I think so, yeah. I definitely.

• 25:27Speaker 02

  It was when she moved out.

• 25:28Michelle Obama?

  Mm-hmm.

• 25:29Speaker 02

  I mean, it really was, that was, I'm running this house now.

• 25:34Michelle Obama?

  Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

• 25:35Speaker 02

  I've got, you know, it was, I definitely did come into my own. I felt like I had the space and not thinking about it then, but things that I actually had learned from her. And now I can exercise that in my own world amongst my own group of friends.

• 25:56Michelle Obama?

  Without somebody judging it, going, that's not how you do it.

• 26:00Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, that's not how you do it, exactly. The idea when she moved out and having, then she also, her apartment became kind of a

• 26:10Michelle Obama?

  Haven.

• 26:10Speaker 02

  Safe space.

• 26:11Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 26:12Speaker 02

  That was then on this next level, still learning and maturing and still able to experience it with her.

• 26:23Speaker 02

  So, yeah, that's, and she had a car.

• 26:28Michelle Obama?

  Uh-huh, yeah.

• 26:29Speaker 02

  I mean, there were little perks there.

• 26:31Michelle Obama?

  Right.

• 26:31Speaker 02

  Because she moved out pretty young, she moved out at seventeen.

• 26:33Michelle Obama?

  Okay. Talk about, talk about that, what precipitated the move?

• 26:39Speaker 00

  I was ready.

• 26:39Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 26:40Speaker 02

  She wasn't watching nobody, no more of anybody else's dishes than she did use.

• 26:45Speaker 00

  I was, that's, I mean, quite literally. You know, like I need out all day doing my own thing and then come back home and I gotta wash they dishes?

• 26:55Michelle Obama?

  Uh-huh.

• 26:56Speaker 00

  Oh, I said, oh.

• 27:00Speaker 00

  So, um.

• 27:01Michelle Obama?

  And you had an income from your.

• 27:03Speaker 00

  Exactly, exactly.

• 27:04Speaker 02

  That she could afford to.

• 27:05Speaker 00

  Yeah, so I was like, so mom, I'm moving out.

• 27:11Michelle Obama?

  Mm-hmm.

• 27:12Speaker 00

  And getting a tattoo.

• 27:14Michelle Obama?

  To say, those, you did that?

• 27:17Speaker 00

  I mean, it's like that. Just bam, boom, bam, boom. Well, because she'd been saying, no tattoo, no tattoo. I don't know why you want to mark pretty skin, no tattoo. And I'd graduated high school, you know.

• 27:30Michelle Obama?

  So how did that conversation go over? What did mom say? And were you in the other room, Raina, listening?

• 27:37Speaker 02

  I'm sure I was close by.

• 27:38Speaker 00

  No, yeah, Raina's always close by.

• 27:41Speaker 02

  Wow.

• 27:42Speaker 00

  I don't ever remember any pushback because I really did not want to go to college. And I applied because my mom's a teacher and that just wasn't gonna happen.

• 27:53Speaker 02

  That was happening.

• 27:54Speaker 00

  And I got in.

• 27:57Speaker 00

  So there was nothing, you know, I'm working, I'm going to USC.

• 28:02Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 28:03Speaker 00

  I don't want to wash dishes.

• 28:04Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 28:05Speaker 00

  Why should I have to wash dishes? And she was like, alright.

• 28:08Speaker 02

  And she couldn't really have that conversation. How are you gonna take care of yourself? How you gonna pay your bills?

• 28:14Michelle Obama?

  Right, right.

• 28:14Speaker 02

  Well, I actually can do that.

• 28:16Speaker 00

  With the income, I heard. Then, 2007 was canceled.

• 28:21Craig Robinson?

  Regina, who apologizes more, you or her? When you all get into it?

• 28:26Speaker 02

  I'm just gonna keep looking at you.

• 28:30Speaker 00

  You think you apologize more? You think you apologize more?

• 28:34Speaker 02

  No. I don't. I think you apologize more.

• 28:38Speaker 00

  You do?

• 28:39Speaker 02

  Uh huh.

• 28:40Speaker 00

  I was actually gonna say the same.

• 28:43Speaker 02

  Oh, well.

• 28:43Michelle Obama?

  Okay.

• 28:45Speaker 00

  Cause I feel like we

• 28:50Speaker 00

  we're so sensitive to each other because like they're

• 28:57Speaker 00

  it's just hard to even just imagine doing anything without her. So when we know that we've disappointed each other, it just

• 29:07Speaker 02

  It's an unspoken apology. I think that's it. It's not really

• 29:11Speaker 00

  We both kinda

• 29:12Speaker 02

  I'm sorry, it's not really those words. It's, it's

• 29:16Speaker 00

  It's the gesture.

• 29:17Speaker 02

  It's the gesture.

• 29:18Speaker 00

  And we do sometimes. You'll call or I'll call and be like, you know, when I did and you'll go, oh Regina. And vice versa.

• 29:27Speaker 02

  That's true.

• 29:28Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 29:29Speaker 02

  I think we had a moment like that not

• 29:30Speaker 00

  Not too long ago. That's why I was like, why you look the other way? Yeah.

• 29:34Speaker 02

  Yeah, I guess it is, it is a balance.

• 29:36Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 29:37Speaker 02

  It's a, it's a balance with us with so much and so thankful to have that cause a lot of siblings.

• 29:46Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 29:46Speaker 02

  I'm sure you guys have heard. I mean, we talk to sisters and sister and brothers and they don't get along with their siblings.

• 29:53Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 29:54Speaker 02

  In that way. So I feel blessed

• 29:57Michelle Obama?

  Yes.

• 29:58Speaker 02

  to have a other half.

• 30:00Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 30:02Speaker 00

  She wrote a poem about it in high school.

• 30:04Michelle Obama?

  Oh, really? Do we have the poem? Is it still top of mind?

• 30:09Speaker 02

  We do not have the poem. Who has the book? I don't know.

• 30:12Speaker 00

  I have the book and I, didn't I bring it to you?

• 30:15Speaker 02

  Remember I took a picture.

• 30:17Michelle Obama?

  So you did a book of poems?

• 30:19Speaker 02

  My school.

• 30:19Michelle Obama?

  Okay. Oh, and it made it into the book.

• 30:24Speaker 02

  A book of poems. And the different students in, I'm trying to think what grade I was in, was it seventh?

• 30:33Michelle Obama?

  No, it was older than that. I think it was like ninth grade, I want to say. Okay, I'm wrong. All right. One second, I'm sorry.

• 30:43Michelle Obama?

  Moving on.

• 30:44Speaker 02

  I was in Regina's class and it was eighth, it was seventh or eighth grade, but they had all the students do poems and they compiled a book. And my poem was called "My Other Half."

• 30:59Speaker 02

  And it's still.

• 31:01Michelle Obama?

  I still have the book.

• 31:02Speaker 02

  She still has it.

• 31:03Michelle Obama?

  She didn't know I had it.

• 31:04Speaker 02

  And I didn't know she had.

• 31:05Michelle Obama?

  A month ago.

• 31:05Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's, I thought that was packed up, disappeared somewhere like with the yearbooks that you don't want anyone to see. But I would say those words that I spoke in that poem then are very much still fitting. Oh. And still of the time and of the moment of what we are, so.

• 31:24Michelle Obama?

  What do you, what do you think it was that your mother did to foster it? Because, you know, I think a lot of times sibling rivalry is coming from somewhere, right?

• 31:39Michelle Obama?

  Because I think it's so easy to unintentionally, as a parent, pit one against the other.

• 31:45Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm.

• 31:46Michelle Obama?

  Just because of lack of awareness or, you know, one child might be technically easier on that parent than the other. Because personalities, you know, you, parents are people too.

• 32:02Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm.

• 32:03Michelle Obama?

  And if you have more than one kid, you may click in a different way with the other. And if that's the case, maybe some of that, you know, sprinkles out.

• 32:11Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 32:11Michelle Obama?

  Um, so I just wonder if there's anything to say about.

• 32:15Speaker 02

  When you say, I mean.

• 32:16Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 32:18Speaker 02

  We were going to, you may not want to, but you're going to your sister's recital or this thing. She was always making sure we were in situations that we had to do things together. Mm-hmm. So.

• 32:31Michelle Obama?

  In addition to always.

• 32:35Speaker 00

  I like, I used to feel like Reina got away with everything. But

• 32:41Speaker 00

  says the lady to my right.

• 32:44Speaker 00

  But I feel like my mom really made sure that she treated us

• 32:53Speaker 00

  individually, different, like I, I didn't feel like I was treated like Reina and Reina didn't feel like She saw you both. Really, like, like our punishments were different.

• 33:04Speaker 02

  You didn't have the rice punishment, did you?

• 33:06Speaker 00

  What was the rice?

• 33:09Speaker 00

  I like to tell the story. Okay, please. Regina? We're calling on that now. I got the rice story. I, yes. Because Reina is probably not gonna tell it all. Yes, that's the reason why I said Ila, because I don't want you to

• 33:24Speaker 02

  I'm not throwing mom.

• 33:25Speaker 00

  Have some revisionist history.

• 33:29Speaker 00

  So, we shared a room. And Reina is clean, but Reina's messy. Okay, yes. And so, we kept getting in trouble.

• 33:42Speaker 02

  For the world.

• 33:43Speaker 00

  Yes, yes. Now, now I'm talking about as kids, as kids, as kids.

• 33:48Craig Robinson?

  You're clean.

• 33:50Speaker 00

  You're clean.

• 33:51Craig Robinson?

  You're not dirty and messy. But she's messy.

• 33:54Speaker 00

  That's a backhanded compliment, that's a backhanded compliment.

• 33:59Speaker 00

  And we kept getting in trouble for having a messy room. And it wasn't my stuff. And I'd be like, Mom, it is not my stuff, I am cleaning it up my side. And I'm kicking, then I started kicking it to her side of the room. So you see the difference. So finally, my mom was like, alright.

• 34:19Speaker 00

  Every piece of, if you don't have this room cleaned up by whatever time it was, everything that I pick up, you getting two licks. Because, you know, that's when, you know, whoopings.

• 34:29Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 34:29Speaker 00

  And it came out to like 92.

• 34:32Speaker 02

  Oh, you were, I was gonna say, she didn't need to give two licks, it was enough clothes.

• 34:36Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 34:36Speaker 02

  The lady, I'm like

• 34:39Speaker 02

  When the body was happening, I'm like, yeah, I'm like, one lick.

• 34:44Speaker 02

  When you got into the 90s, she sounded like, wow.

• 34:47Speaker 00

  What, what were we doing here? Like how you say, where was Reina? So I'm in the room and she's counting, I was like, whoa.

• 34:54Speaker 00

  Now I'm feeling bad. Like I darked on her and now it's man. And so um. She started proceeding with the spanking. And I guess my mom got tired. Rayda got tired. My mom was like, OK. You can kneel. My mother had read that in China, they discipline their kids by kneeling on rice. Yeah. So she said, you can kneel on rice for 10 minutes. Or we take a break and you get the rest of these licks.

• 35:26Michelle Obama?

  Dag, that's just, that's commitment to the lick.

• 35:29Speaker 00

  And Rayda was like, I'll take the rice. I'll take the rice. And I was like, I just knew. I was like.

• 35:33Speaker 02

  If only I knew that I should have just got the rest of the licks.

• 35:37Michelle Obama?

  You could have been finished.

• 35:38Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 35:39Speaker 02

  I might still have rice imprints in my knees. I felt so bad for you. Oh, my God.

• 35:46Michelle Obama?

  How about your mother researching Asian punishment? You know, I mean, it's like that.

• 35:54Speaker 00

  A teacher.

• 35:54Michelle Obama?

  She's like, I mean, let me find some real good stuff. The licks don't work.

• 35:59Speaker 00

  Right, right.

• 36:00Michelle Obama?

  So did it, was it effective? Did you clean up your mess?

• 36:03Speaker 02

  Oh, yes. I did, I did. I did once I could walk.

• 36:07Michelle Obama?

  OK, yes.

• 36:09Speaker 02

  You know, I needed a minute to compose myself.

• 36:13Craig Robinson?

  So now you all have been in this business for so long. I'd like to hear from you. What are some of your favorite projects that you've worked on? Can you say that or is it too hard?

• 36:25Michelle Obama?

  Oh, no.

• 36:25Craig Robinson?

  I want to hear that. Please say Boogaloo, please say Boogaloo.

• 36:31Michelle Obama?

  You're not racist.

• 36:32Speaker 02

  As an actress or as producers or director? Because it's, it's, it's a, there's different.

• 36:38Craig Robinson?

  I'd like to hear the whole gamut. Yes, I'd like to hear the whole gamut.

• 36:42Speaker 00

  I always say my favorite project is the one I'm working on now. Because.

• 36:49Speaker 00

  We've been blessed to have done so much that some things I don't even remember. Yeah. You know, that so that it is tough to um. I can tell you the things that people um the most uh talk to me about that they've loved is Boondocks, you know, that's like.

• 37:12Craig Robinson?

  Of course.

• 37:12Speaker 00

  At the top, um Watchmen.

• 37:16Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 37:16Speaker 00

  Um, that is Barack Obama's favorite. Is it really? It is, yes. Oh, wow. He loves that. Mm hmm. Uh, and I guess somewhere between

• 37:32Speaker 00

  227, Boys in the Hood.

• 37:34Craig Robinson?

  Mm hmm.

• 37:35Speaker 00

  And then Jerry Maguire. What about you, Raina?

• 37:38Speaker 02

  It would be um Scrooge.

• 37:44Speaker 00

  Mm hmm.

• 37:45Speaker 02

  Just cuz, I mean, Richard Donner, the director, those were like, that was a Matt and Alfie Wooder, that was Carol Kane, I mean.

• 37:54Speaker 00

  Mm hmm.

• 37:55Speaker 02

  It was um.

• 37:56Speaker 00

  Mm hmm.

• 37:57Speaker 02

  It was a, it was a, a masterclass, like I said, for a very um young girl, um Richard Donner. So I have a thing with socks.

• 38:07Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 38:08Speaker 02

  I love socks and I like new socks.

• 38:10Speaker 00

  Okay, all right.

• 38:11Speaker 02

  If I could wear a new pair of socks 365 days a year.

• 38:14Speaker 00

  Really? How many socks do you own?

• 38:17Speaker 02

  I have a lot.

• 38:18Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 38:18Speaker 02

  I actually had to buy um order online these little square boxes that have like, you know, 24 like compartments and they're stacked.

• 38:28Craig Robinson?

  Oh.

• 38:29Speaker 02

  I've got short ones, long ones, thick ones, anklets. I love taking new ones out of the package and I got that from Richard Donner.

• 38:36Speaker 00

  Oh, my gosh.

• 38:37Speaker 02

  He always had on a new pair of socks and

• 38:41Speaker 00

  Wow.

• 38:41Speaker 02

  he would donate like, cuz he would wear socks, one pair, you know, wear socks once and donate it. And I'm like, I wanna be, I just want a different.

• 38:50Speaker 00

  I'm gonna have a sock collection.

• 38:52Speaker 02

  Exactly, exactly, and I'll.

• 38:54Speaker 00

  You didn't want cars. Raina didn't want cars.

• 38:57Speaker 02

  I wanted socks.

• 38:58Speaker 00

  I want socks, designer socks.

• 39:00Speaker 02

  You know, when I wash socks. I'll look at him, I'm like, yeah, it's just time. Yeah. Yes, you know, if you, if I get three wears out of a sock. It's like, no, no, no, we are done, on to the next. I, I, I find other uses, usage, you know. To use them like the dust. The duster, dusty window seals, you know, rags, I, I actually. That new sock smell, nothing like it. It's nothing like, come in, package.

• 39:32Speaker 02

  That sounded. I missed it. But it is so right. So when they. You are so right.

• 39:39Speaker 02

  When it arrives, you're just like. Yes, exactly, I have made it, exactly. Um, so yeah, I would say as an actress would be, and to sleep with anger, just because Danny Glover, that was a bit of a masterclass too. And then as a producer, that's hard, I would just surely only because it's something that

• 40:05Speaker 02

  we have been fighting to do for a decade.

• 40:17Craig Robinson?

  You know, January always feels like that moment to hit reset, to finally stop saying, maybe one day, and actually start becoming who you're meant to be. And that's why I love Shopify. If you've got a dream, whether it's a side hustle you've been sitting on, or something bigger, Shopify makes that first step simple. So let me ask you, what's the one thing you've always wanted to build but kept putting off? And how different could your year look if you just started now? If 2026 is your year, go to Shopify.com/IMO and make your move.

• 40:53Craig Robinson?

  This episode of IMO is brought to you in part by Acorns. You know, one of the most valuable pieces of money advice I've ever gotten is that financial wellness isn't about how much you make. It's about making the most of what you have. That's something I've carried with me from my time on Wall Street to today. And that's why I love Acorns. Acorns is a financial wellness app that makes it easy to start saving and investing for your future. You don't need to be rich. Acorns lets you get started with the spare money you've got right now, even if all you've got is spare change. You don't need to be an expert. Acorns recommends a diversified portfolio that can help you weather all the market's ups and downs. You just need to stick with it, and Acorns makes that easy.

• 41:37Craig Robinson?

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• 42:17Craig Robinson?

  Acorns makes it easy to invest for your future, plan for tomorrow, and spend smarter today. Paid non-client endorsement compensation provides incentive to positively promote Acorns. Investing involves risk. Acorns Advisors LLC and SEC Registered Investment Advisor. View important disclosures at acorns.com/imo. My kitchen has never quite felt completely put together, like it's always felt like something is missing. And then Kelly and I found these striped linen cafe curtains on Wayfair, and the effect has been perfect. Once we realized we wanted some curtains, it was just a matter of typing our ideal item into Wayfair's search bar.

• 43:01Craig Robinson?

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• 43:45Craig Robinson?

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• 43:48Speaker 04

  Wayfair, every style, every home.

• 43:56Michelle Obama?

  Here at IMO, we also like to take a listener question to give our humble opinions on. And the one we have here is particularly ripe for that sibling dynamic we've been talking about.

• 44:14Speaker 04

  Hello, Michelle and Craig. I'd love your advice. I want to build a better relationship with my younger sister, but we're 27 years apart in age. She's 10 and I have a six-year-old who is one of her best friends. I feel lucky that I grew up with my older brother. We had that typical sibling relationship, and he's been the one constant presence in my life. I want my sister to have that same sense of connection, but it's harder for her because everyone around her is older and those who are closer in age to her are really her nieces and nephews. We're also very different. When I was her age, I was more of a tomboy looking up to my brother, while she's girly, loves makeup, and is already on social media. The tricky part is my dad and stepmom are older,

• 44:59Speaker 04

  so they don't really know how to set limits. For example, they let her join TikTok with no parental controls, and it's hard to even explain those things to them. Sometimes my brother and I try to guide them, but I don't want to cross the line into parenting her myself. So my question is, how do I build a stronger sister relationship with her while still respecting boundaries and not slipping into that parent role?

• 45:24Michelle Obama?

  27 years.

• 45:25Speaker 04

  27 years.

• 45:26Michelle Obama?

  Well, Helen.

• 45:27Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 45:29Michelle Obama?

  I think that's shit for sale.

• 45:33Speaker 00

  I mean, if I'm being completely honest, I mean, 27 years. I mean, I think that the best you can do is remember that relationship and those things between her and her brother, that those sibling things, and try to encourage that with her son and her sister, because they're four years apart, so they actually are more like siblings. I just don't think that you should be trying to be the sister.

• 46:15Speaker 00

  I mean, you are the big sister, but you are in so many... And I mean, Craig and I can attest to this. In a lot of ways, even when you are the eldest, you do have some moments where you are kind of like, not the parent, but you're making the decision for both of y'all, you know? And so I just don't know that it's actually possible to try to not feel that bit of parental responsibility with a sibling that's 27 years younger.

• 46:55Speaker 02

  But you can try. You can try.

• 46:59Speaker 00

  You can be sympathetic to it.

• 47:00Speaker 02

  You can be sympathetic, but you know, what are those things? She said 10 years old? She said 10?

• 47:05Speaker 00

  I think she's 10.

• 47:06Speaker 02

  She's 10. So 27 years... Yeah, so, yeah. I was gonna say, what those things that a 10 or 11-year-old are into or might want to do and experience, how you can experience that with them in more of a sisterly fashion opposed to a motherly fashion.

• 47:28Speaker 00

  I think maybe also a conversation with her parents, or their parents.

• 47:32Michelle Obama?

  Mm-hmm, it really is.

• 47:35Speaker 00

  Is necessary because she's being 37 is mu- sounds like from what Helen said is that she's much more aware of the dangers of being exposed online.

• 47:55Michelle Obama?

  In a way that older and older set of parents may not know.

• 47:59Speaker 02

  Don't think of yourself as a sister, don't think of yourself as a mother. Think of yourself more of the auntie.

• 48:06Speaker 02

  That middle ground. Because the auntie-ism, the auntie helps.

• 48:13Speaker 00

  What do y'all think?

• 48:15Michelle Obama?

  Well, I was gonna have you start because you actually have kids with a pretty broad age range.

• 48:21Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, but it's six- it's 16 and...

• 48:27Michelle Obama?

  30.

• 48:29Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, well, but, well, so it's 13 and 30. 32, my oldest to my youngest.

• 48:35Speaker 02

  Your youngest, okay.

• 48:37Michelle Obama?

  So that's why I'm like, you're in it.

• 48:40Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, I'm in it, but...

• 48:41Michelle Obama?

  You're the old parents.

• 48:42Craig Robinson?

  The interesting thing with my kids are my younger kids have always viewed their older siblings as siblings.

• 48:55Craig Robinson?

  Even though they were 16-ish years older, they've always viewed them as siblings. Even now as adults, they are siblings. They treat each other like siblings and it's a real cool dynamic.

• 49:12Craig Robinson?

  So the older ones never had to sort of be the parents because we were the parents. So they could take on that sibling role. So, and, and believe me, I have used the older kids to get certain messages across to the younger kids. Because as, as you all know, it, it, you get tired of hearing the same voice over and over again. And my wife and I, they're tired of hearing us over and over again. So every now and then we'll be like, hey, talk to your little brothers.

• 49:44Speaker 02

  Same message, change the voice.

• 49:46Craig Robinson?

  Just change the voice. And, and surprisingly...

• 49:50Craig Robinson?

  It can be more effective.

• 49:52Speaker 00

  Mm hmm.

• 49:53Michelle Obama?

  So did your kids spend time in the house together?

• 49:57Craig Robinson?

  So our, really, our daughter, who is twenty nine, was in high school, was just going into high school when our two younger ones were born.

• 50:09Speaker 00

  Mm hmm.

• 50:11Craig Robinson?

  So they spent some time.

• 50:12Speaker 00

  Some time.

• 50:12Craig Robinson?

  Now, the older one had gone away to prep school and then to college. So he didn't spend much time in the house with them, but our daughter did. And as a result, those two always viewed her as the conquering hero of the family.

• 50:28Speaker 00

  Right.

• 50:29Craig Robinson?

  It's really, it's been really interesting. And she was a basketball player, so.

• 50:34Speaker 00

  Well, so was Avery.

• 50:35Craig Robinson?

  Avery was too, but they never got to see her play.

• 50:37Speaker 00

  Right, right.

• 50:39Craig Robinson?

  So.

• 50:39Michelle Obama?

  But they had those common interests, which Helen is saying they don't.

• 50:43Speaker 00

  They don't.

• 50:44Craig Robinson?

  They don't have, she has no connection other than.

• 50:48Speaker 00

  Never lived together, never.

• 50:50Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, so it just feels hard. It feels forced, that's the word I think I was, I was gonna write down. It feel, you don't want it to feel forced because it won't work for either one, especially the ten year old.

• 51:02Speaker 00

  Mm hmm.

• 51:04Michelle Obama?

  I think this is where, you know, the, the, the, the typical family construct, the titles, the names, they don't apply, right? All right, so biologically, yes, you were sisters. But I, I think Helen would be helped if she thought about the village, right?

• 51:29Michelle Obama?

  And that she is a part of the village. And what does it matter what you're called? You're a part of the village, right? Because it takes a village. And, you know, in our family, we had aunts and uncles that were ten years older than us, right? They were the younger siblings of our, our father. And, and they are ten, twelve years older than us. They felt like. Brothers and sisters when we were younger, right? It didn't really matter what the title was. There, you know, it's the thinking about everybody circling as a village to support the kids.

• 52:13Speaker 00

  Right.

• 52:13Michelle Obama?

  Right? And that that the relationship has to look a certain way. Like, you're right. The ship has sailed on a sisterly relationship between a 37-year-old and a 10-year-old.

• 52:24Speaker 00

  Right.

• 52:25Michelle Obama?

  You've had different experiences, different, you know, you're not sitting and coloring. You're not, you know, and that's OK.

• 52:33Speaker 00

  I do feel like one of the things that's really cool in Helen's situation is that she has a six-year-old. And, you know, I'm guessing we don't hear, we didn't get the breakdown of their entire family dynamic, but it sounds like the 10-year-old is the last child of the parents. And.

• 52:54Michelle Obama?

  And we don't know whether it's a stepparent.

• 52:56Speaker 00

  Of a stepparent.

• 52:57Michelle Obama?

  Whether they're staying.

• 52:58Speaker 00

  Right.

• 52:59Speaker 02

  But a six-year-old to have a 10-year-old aunt.

• 53:01Speaker 00

  Yeah. But it's kind of cool because that is like a sister. You know what I mean? And I think that there's a blessing in that, you know, in having.

• 53:17Speaker 00

  And especially, you know, being a girl, you like being the big sister, giving her opportunities to feel like she's the, she's not the baby, she's the, you know.

• 53:29Michelle Obama?

  I don't know. Again, I don't know their dynamic. No, I think that makes sense. It's like, you know, thinking about things like instead of her, Helen trying to force the relationship, it's like, what ways can you integrate your younger sister into your life that makes sense? That isn't, because you can't come in with a place of, I'm going to tell you about yourself. Like, you can't come in as the parent, right? And so that should free Helen up to be like, well, maybe I'll just be someone in her life that she knows and trusts.

• 54:04Speaker 00

  Right.

• 54:04Speaker 02

  True.

• 54:05Michelle Obama?

  If she's thinking along those lines, that takes the burden off of, let me fix this. If she can just get to the place where her little sister enjoys her.

• 54:14Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 54:15Michelle Obama?

  Right?

• 54:23Craig Robinson?

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• 55:08Craig Robinson?

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• 55:53Craig Robinson?

  Drinkag1.com/imo.

• 56:03Craig Robinson?

  All right, so here's what I'm hearing from the three of you for Helen. Ship has sailed.

• 56:12Craig Robinson?

  That's definite. We all agree on that. But drop the labels.

• 56:17Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 56:19Craig Robinson?

  And be present. But don't parent.

• 56:24Michelle Obama?

  Okay, little Mr. Summarization.

• 56:26Speaker 00

  I mean.

• 56:27Michelle Obama?

  All right.

• 56:28Craig Robinson?

  I'm getting good.

• 56:29Michelle Obama?

  I see.

• 56:32Michelle Obama?

  That is everyone. I am O.

• 56:35Craig Robinson?

  Now I am.

• 56:39Craig Robinson?

  No, so. One more thing, because we wanted to talk about me and you.

• 56:44Michelle Obama?

  Yeah. So special on so many different levels.

• 56:49Craig Robinson?

  And so in preparation to talk about me and you, I went online to order myself some orange wine. And the bad news is it was sold out. But the good news is it was sold out, right? That's great, fantastic. But we were able to track something down.

• 57:10Michelle Obama?

  We're gonna do our own. Oh. Me and you.

• 57:13Craig Robinson?

  We got some. Look what, look what we got.

• 57:15Michelle Obama?

  You got the Syrah.

• 57:16Craig Robinson?

  We got the Syrah. We got the Syrah.

• 57:19Michelle Obama?

  This is at the end of our day, so I might just.

• 57:23Craig Robinson?

  This is, this is a. Yeah, this is a new strategy. So this is, you, we, we have never had wine on I Am O.

• 57:34Speaker 00

  Wow.

• 57:35Craig Robinson?

  So I want you to tell us about me and you. And then we will toast.

• 57:42Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, okay.

• 57:47Michelle Obama?

  Thank you, first of all. We got tissue right here, Mom.

• 57:51Craig Robinson?

  And there's some right next to you.

• 57:52Michelle Obama?

  That's okay, we had I Am O, because I'm gonna be crying too. Yeah.

• 57:58Speaker 00

  I mean, this.

• 58:01Speaker 00

  I've never gotten a chance to say.

• 58:05Speaker 00

  I want to say publicly to Malia and Sasha for being.

• 58:13Speaker 00

  Great friends of Ian's. You know, we didn't even know. We didn't. We didn't know. You didn't know they were friends? No. You know, Ian's cooking dinner and he's just telling me he's cooking dinner from Sasha. I think first it was. And so I'm just thinking it's. Some girl named Sasha. That his friend is dating. And so this feels like a, it's beautiful to be able to be sharing a bottle of Ian's wine with you and my sister. This came from just trying to find ways to.

• 58:57Speaker 00

  You hear people talk about what their kids are doing and, you know, and I. Our memories kind of stopped for a bit. And so trying to find ways to create new memories with Ian. And Ian introduced me to so many things. And one thing, and Malia and Sasha will tell you this, when Ian discovers something, he wants to share it and he wants to tell you all about it. You know, with just everything and you, you may not even like it, but you'd be like, you know what he may say, this might be something here. Yeah. And it kind of came to me that Ian, we're gonna, we're gonna make a wine.

• 59:41Speaker 00

  And so this journey started from him introducing me to orange wine. I remember the moment at a restaurant called Kiss Met. How about that? And it, you know, to shorten the story, we

• 59:59Speaker 00

  came up with this label from, I was going through one of his journals and trying to find what.

• 1:00:08Speaker 00

  Just trying to find little messages from him, you know? And saw this little M that he had drawn real small and I was like,

• 1:00:19Speaker 00

  that M, it should be the M from me and you. And so that M is the beginning of that solo. I had an artist who is an amazing artist, who created the album covers for Fleetwood Mac, the Thriller album cover. So I know that was Ian, like, yeah, look who's doing my, like, bro.

• 1:00:47Speaker 00

  And he created a font from Ian's M. And so that's how we landed there because Ian is an artist and all different modalities. And so it felt like I wanted it to be a canvas. And that's how we came up with the brush stroke and splatters because a lot of his artwork has splatters. He liked to do that on his art. And so I said I was gonna make a long story short. No, take your time. This is wonderful. Make a long story longer.

• 1:01:23Michelle Obama?

  It's worthy of, it's a long, it should be a long story.

• 1:01:27Speaker 00

  Yeah. And the orange wine sold out. And I don't know what I was expecting, but I knew that, okay, well, we need to continue on. And how do you continue in this social space, knowing that I'm gonna, we're gonna make more wine, but it takes time, wine takes time, you know? You can't rush those grapes. You can't rush those grapes. That's the beauty of wine. And so I came across this Syrah, a taste of this Syrah. My winemaker let me taste it. And I tasted it for the first time with Raina. And I was kind of concerned, like, you know, people know this brand so far with the orange wine.

• 1:02:12Speaker 00

  We still haven't reached everyone. But this Syrah is really beautiful. And Raina was like, my nephew would want this.

• 1:02:20Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 1:02:20Speaker 00

  And so we ended up doing a holiday release. And it kind of serves as a way for us to have Ian

• 1:02:34Speaker 00

  as a

• 1:02:37Speaker 00

  A embodiment of some ways of of all of those joyous things about Ian during the holidays. So it felt appropriate for this sarah to come out during the holidays.

• 1:02:55Michelle Obama?

  You know, Malia and Sasha met Ian at sort of the beginning of their lives here in LA. You know, and it's a scary time for a mother to send your kids off. I was grateful that they were living together. But, you know, when you know your your children are in a place, in a new places when they have community, you know, and and our girls are good community builders, but you don't know. I mean, they're who they are and it's LA and who are these people?

• 1:03:31Michelle Obama?

  And the and your son, your nephew, was that first bright light of connection for them here. They spoke to us so glowingly about all the things that you know that are special about him. You know, his creative mind, his openness, you know, the way he makes people feel special and seen.

• 1:04:02Michelle Obama?

  I wanna, I I think we talked briefly in a in and at the CAA conference, you know, but we were in the middle of a thing and I just wanted to, you know, tell you that his spirit is here with us. I know you all feel it, you know, we feel it. I didn't get a chance to meet him, but I feel like I'm meeting him all the time. And I just am grateful to you for raising a young man that provided that space for my girls.

• 1:04:38Speaker 00

  Thank you.

• 1:04:40Michelle Obama?

  And we are honored to.

• 1:04:43Speaker 00

  Love that.

• 1:04:45Michelle Obama?

  To toast to Ian.

• 1:04:48Speaker 00

  To Ian.

• 1:04:49Michelle Obama?

  To Ian. To to community.

• 1:04:52Speaker 00

  And I'm gonna come over there.

• 1:04:54Michelle Obama?

  To sisterhood, to brotherhood.

• 1:04:58Michelle Obama?

  This is a, this has been a beautiful conversation.

• 1:05:03Michelle Obama?

  You guys.

• 1:05:04Craig Robinson?

  Thank you both.

• 1:05:05Michelle Obama?

  You are amazing. Thank you. And everybody. Thank you, really. Me and you. Let's say. We'll let you, let us, hold on, we'll let you know. I am owed to me and you.

• 1:05:17Michelle Obama?

  This is.

• 1:05:18Craig Robinson?

  Oh.

• 1:05:18Michelle Obama?

  I love a red. Oh, yeah. Thank you. Thank you so much. For being here. Talk to you guys all the same. You know, I mean, we're building family here. Yeah. It's like, you know, we gonna, we just gonna keep crossing paths. Yeah. We were, we were, we are intertwined. Twine. I mean, we were, we were, our paths were crossing before we even knew that they were. That's right. With the, the, the, the things, the spirits that are the most near and dear to us were connecting us.

• 1:06:11Craig Robinson?

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