Pod Insights IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson IMO Live: Give Your Parents Grace with Quinta Brunson About this episode Emmy-award winning actress, producer and writer Quinta Brunson joins Michelle and Craig for a conversation during the opening of the Obama Presidential Center. Quinta talks about her early days in comedy, how she broached the topic of her career with her parents, and reveals the one surprising situation that gives her imposter syndrome.
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Transcript 16,277 words · 4 speakers
Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
0:00 Speaker 00 I worked on Kim Poehl.
0:01 Michelle Obama? Oh, yeah.
0:01 Speaker 00 As a P A.
0:03 Michelle Obama? I missed that in your book.
0:04 Speaker 00 I don't know if I was in there. I don't know. I did. It was like, it was their first episode, actually.
0:09 Michelle Obama? Wow.
0:09 Speaker 00 And I was a P A. And through that, met a producer.
0:12 Michelle Obama? P A is a...
0:13 Speaker 00 Production assistant.
0:13 Michelle Obama? Production assistant.
0:14 Speaker 00 And...
0:15 Craig Robinson? She does a podcast now. She's in the business.
0:18 Speaker 00 Yeah.
0:19 Michelle Obama? I'm just, you know, all the lingo, P A.
0:22 Speaker 00 I was a P A.
0:23 Michelle Obama? You know, production assistant. And then I, that producer...
0:28 Speaker 00 Shut up.
0:35 Michelle Obama? This episode of I M O is brought to you by United Airlines and Chase Home Lending. Oh, wow. It's everybody we know.
0:44 Craig Robinson? Can we, can we go back out and come in again?
0:47 Michelle Obama? I know. It's like, I'm gonna be like, hey, what? Oh, what? You're here, Sandy. What's going on?
0:54 Michelle Obama? Well, you guys, welcome to I M O. But this is the very first event that we're holding here in this amazing auditorium. Isn't it beautiful? Wow.
1:10 Craig Robinson? And I'd just like to thank all of our friends and family who are here. And a special thanks to United Airlines, who sponsored this episode for us. And...
1:24 Michelle Obama? Shout out to our sponsors.
1:26 Craig Robinson? Yeah, but you know, you know, I'm a, I'm actually a million mile flyer.
1:30 Michelle Obama? I didn't know that.
1:31 Craig Robinson? I know you didn't know that. That's why I'm telling you. There's no way you're gonna catch me. You can't...
1:35 Michelle Obama? Probably not.
1:36 Craig Robinson? You can't fly that much commercial anymore.
1:38 Michelle Obama? Probably not. Well, congratulations. Congratulations.
1:41 Craig Robinson? Go catch up to me.
1:43 Michelle Obama? But you guys, this, we are excited. This is a big week. This is the opening of the Obama Presidential Center. And we thought that it would be a good thing to do is to have a wonderful chat. We've got a room full of amazing young girls who are participating in our Girls Opportunity Alliance.
2:08 Michelle Obama? And I think we have the perfect guest today who's gonna join us. And she is, Craig is supposed to do the introduction, so.
2:18 Craig Robinson? Just like always, she's trying to take over the whole thing. And see, all of my cousins and my relatives are here. Look, Mike is over there cracking up, cause he's like, there she goes again, taking over.
2:30 Michelle Obama? Sorry.
2:31 Craig Robinson? Well, Quinta is a creator, writer, actor, and executive producer of ABC's hit mockumentary, Abbott Elementary. Right on.
2:49 Craig Robinson? And, you know, the Robinson household, that's, we're back to Appointment TV now. That's a big show.
2:55 Michelle Obama? I'm glad you're letting the boys watch a little TV. Just happy for them.
3:02 Craig Robinson? Quinta Brunson is the first solo black woman to win the Emmy for outstanding writing for a comedy series, and the first to earn three Emmy nominations in a single year for writing, acting, and producing in the comedy category. So without further ado, let's welcome our.
3:22 Michelle Obama? A big Chicago welcome.
3:24 Craig Robinson? Our, our, our, our good friend now, that we got to meet her in the back, Quinta Brunson.
3:41 Craig Robinson? Oh, so glad you're here.
3:53 Craig Robinson? Alrighty.
3:54 Michelle Obama? Hey, girl, hey.
3:55 Speaker 00 Hi, Mrs. Obama.
3:58 Michelle Obama? I know, I told you to call me Michelle, so you're gonna have to figure that out.
4:02 Speaker 00 I asked in the back, I said, what do I, do I say Mrs. Obama? Do I say Mimi? No. Michelle, Michelle, Michelle.
4:10 Michelle Obama? Everybody in this room, I mean, it is truly full of friends and family. They don't know me as Michelle Obama. They know me as Meesh or Shell or Michelle. So you're part of the family now.
4:22 Craig Robinson? Hey you.
4:23 Michelle Obama? Hey you over there. Well, thank you for being here.
4:27 Speaker 00 Thank you for having me. This building is gorgeous.
4:31 Michelle Obama? It is beautiful, thank you.
4:33 Speaker 00 I didn't get to see it being built, as I'm sure all the Chicagoans, you've been riding past this, but it was absolutely breathtaking to me from the outside. In the car, I just, I said, what is this huge piece of art that got installed? I didn't even realize that this was the Presidential Center. So it's just, it's gorgeous and congratulations.
4:52 Michelle Obama? Thank you so much.
4:54 Speaker 00 It's really beautiful.
4:55 Michelle Obama? We are so excited to share this space with the community because it's more than just an archive of Barack's presidency. It is really a declaration of hope. It is a community space. There are recording studios here for young people. This auditorium is available for the community. There are gardens here. There are 19 acres of public new park space created. There's a big gymnasium across the street from Hyde Park High School, which is across the street, a full professional-sized basketball court, because you know, Barack had to have basketball.
5:36 Speaker 00 I respect that.
5:37 Craig Robinson? Did you say Craig?
5:38 Michelle Obama? I did say Craig. We do that. I call Barack Craig. He calls Kelly Meesh, Leslie Meesh. We do all that. But, so we're very proud of it and happy to share it with the city and with the world. And I know you're gonna take a tour before you get out of here, maybe? Or you'll come back for a tour?
5:58 Speaker 00 Yes, I was supposed to take a tour. Before this, but as you know, getting here was a
6:06 Michelle Obama? Yeah.
6:07 Speaker 00 There was weather in the Midwest and so I am here on two glorious hours of sleep.
6:14 Michelle Obama? Look at it.
6:16 Speaker 00 And you know what? I was tired. I know where I'm coming. I want my energy to come back and everything. And as soon as we got outside and saw that building, there was really, I'm not kidding you guys, like a warmth and positivity. My driver even was, he was so hype about it and he's here from, he's from Chicago. My security was like, what in the world? It's just, it's really stunning and I think there's a good energy radiating out of this place for sure. And seeing these lovely faces brighten my day, coming out. Hi, girls.
6:49 Speaker 00 Hi, beautiful.
6:50 Craig Robinson? Quint, you spent some time in Chicago.
6:52 Speaker 00 I did.
6:53 Craig Robinson? How long ago was it that you spent some significant time here?
6:56 Speaker 00 Oh, man. It was, okay, so if I do, 15 years?
7:04 Craig Robinson? What?
7:04 Speaker 00 Yeah, which is crazy because I'm like only barely 17, but you know.
7:09 Michelle Obama? It's like you were, you were seven when you came.
7:12 Speaker 00 It was wild, running the Chicago streets. No, I think like 15 years. I started coming out while I was in college. I might be wrong on the math. I'm a writer, not a mathematician. I don't believe, and I don't think about the past too often, so I'm not sure. But I started coming out when I was in college and I was taking classes at Second City.
7:32 Speaker 00 I had a boyfriend at the time who was going to Columbia College.
7:35 Michelle Obama? Tell us more.
7:38 Craig Robinson? She didn't wait. She didn't wait, did she? She just go right in.
7:40 Speaker 00 I said, instantly, I don't want to talk about.
7:42 Craig Robinson? She went right in.
7:44 Michelle Obama? You brought him up.
7:45 Speaker 00 I did.
7:46 Michelle Obama? Okay.
7:46 Craig Robinson? See, that's the lawyer in me. She's pointing out that you brought it up.
7:49 Speaker 00 That's why I was scared of him.
7:50 Craig Robinson? Right through the door.
7:51 Speaker 00 Okay, so there was some guy.
7:53 Michelle Obama? You were visiting.
7:54 Speaker 00 No, he's a significant part of my past, but that's, that's, because you know what? It brought me here. And I came out to visit him once and saw that Second City was just right next door. And it was kind of like my dream place. I would go watch, I'd watch SNL every night and I eventually looked up where all these people. How they learned to do this. I started to figure it out. They had to have known each other. They had to have developed these skills. And a lot of those people went to Second City. So I started coming out just to take like a week intensive course. It was all I could afford. I could afford a Southwest ticket and a week long course.
8:35 Michelle Obama? But you were West Philly.
8:36 Speaker 00 Yeah, so I was in Philly.
8:37 Michelle Obama? Yeah.
8:38 Speaker 00 I was, oh, West Philly in the house.
8:42 Speaker 00 Oh, my people. What are you guys doing here?
8:45 Michelle Obama? We can't, we'll get into it later.
8:48 Speaker 00 I was in Philly. I was using my little money. I taught dance classes. You know?
8:56 Michelle Obama? We're in Chicago. People gonna be involved in this conversation.
8:59 Speaker 00 I love it.
9:00 Michelle Obama? I love it. Girls love me more. We're gonna get to the dance classes.
9:03 Speaker 00 I love that. I taught dance classes for like $25 a class. And at a dance school in Philly. And I would take my little money and buy a ticket and spend the rest of my little money to go to Second City and take a course.
9:21 Speaker 00 I really had to use my own money because I did not tell my parents. They would think that I was on campus at Temple.
9:29 Craig Robinson? Wait, so you were commuting to Chicago?
9:32 Speaker 00 I like the way you put it. Not sneaking, but commuting to Chicago. Thank you, Craig.
9:37 Craig Robinson? Without your parents' knowledge?
9:39 Speaker 00 No.
9:39 Craig Robinson? Oh.
9:40 Speaker 00 Which don't do that.
9:41 Michelle Obama? Don't do that. That's where we go. We'll talk about that later.
9:44 Speaker 00 We will talk about it. But yeah, you know, classic girls sneaking off and doing improv.
9:54 Michelle Obama? Common story, just like mine.
9:56 Craig Robinson? At least it was something positive.
9:57 Speaker 00 It was something positive.
9:59 Michelle Obama? But you were, because you grew up in a pretty strict.
10:04 Speaker 00 I did.
10:05 Michelle Obama? Environment. You're one of.
10:07 Speaker 00 One of five.
10:07 Michelle Obama? Five.
10:08 Speaker 00 Last of five.
10:09 Michelle Obama? Tell us about.
10:11 Speaker 00 Little Quinta.
10:14 Michelle Obama? And your name, Quinta, number five.
10:16 Speaker 00 Yes, my name means fifth because my parents didn't expect me and so they just.
10:23 Michelle Obama? She was one of those, oh yeah, we met, yeah, we did, we did.
10:27 Speaker 00 Yep.
10:27 Michelle Obama? The, your next oldest is, what's the age difference?
10:31 Speaker 00 Eight years.
10:31 Michelle Obama? Yeah, you were oops.
10:33 Speaker 00 Yeah, any, you guys got any oops, any?
10:37 Craig Robinson? No.
10:39 Michelle Obama? We have big generations. Craig's had two sets of kids.
10:43 Speaker 00 Okay.
10:44 Michelle Obama? Right, so there, there are big age gaps.
10:47 Speaker 00 Okay.
10:47 Michelle Obama? And the cousins are close.
10:49 Speaker 00 Is it just you two?
10:50 Michelle Obama? Just us.
10:50 Speaker 00 That's cool.
10:51 Michelle Obama? And a whole bunch of cousins.
10:52 Speaker 00 I love that.
10:53 Michelle Obama? Everybody's here.
10:54 Speaker 00 I love cousins.
10:55 Michelle Obama? Probably half this audience is a cousin.
10:57 Speaker 00 Really?
10:58 Michelle Obama? Oh, yes.
10:59 Speaker 00 I love that. That's, so, okay, no, let me.
11:02 Michelle Obama? Okay, back to you. This is about, don't be, don't flip it around.
11:05 Speaker 00 I know, I'm trying to flip it so I don't have to talk about it.
11:07 Craig Robinson? I like how you flip that right to us.
11:10 Speaker 00 Could have been a journalist.
11:12 Michelle Obama? But you're one of, one of five.
11:13 Speaker 00 One of five. I was the, the youngest and yeah, my, my brother closest to me was eight and eight year difference, sorry. And it was cool because I grew up really, really, really cultured. I think that's the best way I can put it. My parents are in their seventies, I believe they're 73. And my oldest sibling is 53. And my sibling closest to me is 45, is that correct? Yeah. And so, growing up, my brothers and sisters were already living life and passing down life to me.
11:57 Speaker 00 And my parents as well. I recently was talking about this, but I grew up with my parents' music, so.
12:07 Speaker 00 My music was Stevie Wonder and Al Green. And, and even their oldies, like very old doo-wop songs by groups I don't know the names of.
12:19 Michelle Obama? Did they listen to jazz? We were big jazz.
12:21 Speaker 00 Huge jazz, household. And then my brothers and sisters were taking in so much. I mean, my brother was watching WWE. So I was this little girl coming to school, asking people if they could smell what the rock was cooking. And everyone was like, what is wrong with you? Why do you, why are you into that? And then my sisters were into like, you know, they, they were into Conan and Friends and like late night TV. But also my sister took me to my first concert, which was an Usher concert. She just, she, she liked me.
13:03 Speaker 00 She pulled me around like a little doll and she was always just taking me with her to things because she liked me. But I was always the youngest kid in the room. So I think.
13:13 Michelle Obama? Did you feel like you were trying to keep up? Or did you like being the baby?
13:18 Speaker 00 I liked it. It didn't seem strange to me. And I would get to school and share all the things that I thought were normal with my classmates. And I remember in, in kindergarten, I was four, everyone else was five. And I remember talking to them about like Luther Vandross and the children.
13:38 Michelle Obama? And what would you say? What were you telling the people about Luther?
13:42 Speaker 00 I would, you know, I would talk about mu- music.
13:45 Michelle Obama? It's a great music to fall in love to.
13:47 Speaker 00 Yeah.
13:49 Michelle Obama? By the sandbox.
13:52 Speaker 00 I was like, yeah, these are the, the songs, right? You guys know this song, right? And they're just like talking about smiley face from Nick Jr. And.
14:01 Michelle Obama? You're like, these babies.
14:02 Speaker 00 Yeah, seriously. But I, I'm so happy that I got so much culture. And it definitely was the case with television because, you know, my parents had me watching their shows, plus their oldies. And my brothers and sisters had me watching everything from. Ace Ventura, to Kings of Comedy, to SNL, to Mad TV, to Living Color, for every shows like Rock, but then also shows like the West. I just got so much funneled into me and I'm really grateful for that. So like if I have kids, I kind of want to do the same kind of setup, like one really old one, one really young one. Cause I think the young one keeps the older ones young too.
14:47 Speaker 00 Yeah.
14:48 Craig Robinson? Really good point.
14:49 Speaker 00 Yeah.
14:49 Craig Robinson? Really good point, really good point.
14:52 Michelle Obama? So were you always the show, show kid? Because you were the youngest, were you performing all the time?
14:59 Speaker 00 They made me.
15:00 Michelle Obama? Let the baby sing.
15:01 Speaker 00 Oh, yeah. No, they made me like their little jester for sure. It was, um, Quinta, do this line from Martin. Cause they just thought it was funny.
15:11 Michelle Obama? What was the line?
15:12 Speaker 00 Oh, it's so dumb. There was one, I just saw the episode again recently and I was like, oh, this is where they came from. It was a man at the DMV. It's just, it's very silly stuff. I don't know, but there was an episode where someone, well, Martin gets a new job. He's, um, he's doing a TV show now instead of the radio show. But one of the irate audience members goes, and where's Oprah? And for some reason, that was something they had me say just all the time at three. And constantly reciting, you ain't got no job, Tommy. And Living Color, they really enjoyed making me do the character Wanda,
15:56 Speaker 00 who Jamie Foxx played.
16:00 Michelle Obama? Say a little, your little seven year old impression of Wanda?
16:04 Speaker 00 I mean, I'm talking four.
16:05 Michelle Obama? Oh, my God.
16:06 Speaker 00 Just learned to talk and they are making me. And then they made me do not fun stuff. Like there were three floors to our house and this was back in the day. You had one remote and it worked like all the TVs. And so, or maybe we had more and we just lost them. That's probably more likely what happened. So they, my sisters would make me go all the way to the third floor to get the remote and bring it down.
16:29 Michelle Obama? You were just the gopher.
16:31 Speaker 00 Yeah, I was a gopher. Those were the, um, and then there were fun perks. Like they forgot to tell me stuff a lot of the times. I came so late that they. Family stuff, like family secrets. Like, I didn't find out my oldest brother had a different dad until I was 16.
16:46 Michelle Obama? Oh, yeah.
16:47 Speaker 00 And it was just because they forgot to tell me.
16:50 Speaker 00 It was just, like, so normalized at that point.
16:54 Speaker 00 So I was like, just don't.
16:56 Craig Robinson? Quinta, were your parents funny? Because...
16:59 Speaker 00 They are to me.
17:01 Craig Robinson? Yeah. I just, you have this natural way, comedic way about you.
17:07 Speaker 00 Why, thank you.
17:07 Craig Robinson? And I'm just...
17:08 Michelle Obama? It's a good thing.
17:09 Craig Robinson? Yeah. Yeah, well, we always talk about how our parents were funny.
17:14 Speaker 00 Yeah.
17:15 Craig Robinson? They were funny people.
17:16 Speaker 00 Right.
17:17 Craig Robinson? But your parents, I mean, your household sounds like it was just a blast.
17:24 Speaker 00 I think there's this beauty in people who are just dangerously authentic in themselves. And then there are observational people like me who are taking it all in. And, you know, my sister is one of the funniest people in the world to me. She would never get up on a stage or, you know, even pursue acting. But her natural rhythm is just hilarious because she's so authentic, to a fault. I can't get her to reel it in sometimes. But I appreciate that about her so much. And I think my parents are the same way. My mom is just the funniest little lady, and she doesn't see it.
18:01 Speaker 00 We were texting while watching the finals, and she was really upset about Wimpy Yama pushing Jalen Brunson to the ground. And she was like, "This lanky man, my goodness." I said, "Mom, that's, like, so funny that you're so mad."
18:19 Michelle Obama? This lanky man.
18:21 Speaker 00 I said, "Well, they used to bully Wimby, so, you know, now..." She was like, "Well, it must stop." And she sent the stop emoji. And that was just so funny to me.
18:30 Michelle Obama? Where'd you get that?
18:31 Speaker 00 A hilarious little lady. But you know what's funny? The first time I met you, Michelle, it feels weird. I want to say Mrs. Obama.
18:39 Michelle Obama? You're doing just fine.
18:39 Speaker 00 Okay, yeah, Mrs. Obama. You cracked me right on up. You really did.
18:44 Michelle Obama? What did I say to you?
18:45 Speaker 00 I'm not going to say what you said, but you were just so funny. And I don't know if you remember, but I literally fell off my rocker laughing. I was, you, so just people's natural, just...
18:58 Speaker 00 I don't know, personhood is like.
18:59 Craig Robinson? Are you sure it was her?
19:00 Speaker 00 It was her. I was cracking up.
19:03 Michelle Obama? Other people think I'm funny. But your, your mother was a school teacher.
19:08 Speaker 00 She was.
19:08 Michelle Obama? Your father managed parking lots.
19:10 Speaker 00 Parking lots, yeah. He managed parking lots at a company called Parkway, my Philly people.
19:15 Michelle Obama? Okay, shout out to Parkway.
19:17 Speaker 00 I mean, it's the bee's knees in Philly, you know? And I was what they call a parking princess. And by they, I mean me. I called myself that because I could park anywhere in Philly, you know?
19:30 Michelle Obama? Parallel parking?
19:31 Speaker 00 I, I can't.
19:33 Craig Robinson? No, she's talking about she could park at any parking.
19:35 Michelle Obama? Oh, you literally, oh, sorry.
19:37 Speaker 00 Yeah. In a parking lot, I wouldn't.
19:38 Michelle Obama? See, but that's how I think, if you're the princess, that means you can literally park.
19:42 Speaker 00 I'm not good at parking.
19:43 Michelle Obama? Oh, well, then, you don't, you don't get the title.
19:45 Speaker 00 That was the crazy part about it. I don't enjoy driving, but I had like the juice. My friends would call me and be like, oh my God, I'm downtown. Do you think your dad can get me in? I'm like, yeah, let me call my dad real quick. It was great.
19:58 Speaker 00 It was so cool.
20:00 Michelle Obama? You were living like, what was, what was your neighborhood like? What was school like?
20:06 Speaker 00 My neighborhood?
20:10 Speaker 00 That's a good question. My family did a really good job of making me feel like I lived in, in like full house, you know? Like, you know, I didn't know that outside, my neighborhood was more like the wire. I wasn't really that aware.
20:28 Michelle Obama? I think everybody here can relate.
20:31 Speaker 00 Something I really love about Chicagoans and feel a kinship there.
20:36 Michelle Obama? We all thought we were rich.
20:38 Speaker 00 And, and I think that's kind of like a testament to a really good family. And it wasn't protectiveness, it was you're, you're a child and.
20:49 Speaker 00 You, you deserve to, to live in a nice environment. But yeah, one day I was outside and I was like jumping rope with
20:58 Michelle Obama? Double Dutch.
20:59 Speaker 00 My girlfriend, Double Dutch, with my girlfriends. And then there was like a drive by.
21:04 Michelle Obama? Oh, yeah.
21:05 Speaker 00 And that happened. And we just ran behind the, um, the, the, on my porch, there was like a little barrier. We had a, uh, what do you call it? Outdoor porch. And then we like stood up. And then this kid I knew came limping down the street and blood dripping from his leg. And I was like, man, that's so crazy that, that happened to him. And then I was like, wait, could that happen to me? And then I remember that being a moment of, ooh.
21:31 Michelle Obama? How old were you?
21:33 Speaker 00 It was summer. I was outside by my, I probably was about
21:40 Speaker 00 12, I would say. Yeah. Cause we moved out of that neighborhood when I was 14. But they did a good job of making me feel like it wasn't as tough as it was. Cause it was a rough neighborhood, but.
21:50 Michelle Obama? Did having the older brothers and sisters, were they kind of your protectors? Or were you kind of like? I know you, you knew that you had to be able to throw some hands. I know you write about that.
22:00 Speaker 00 Yes, I knew, I knew, I needed to know how to fight. And I, I do know how to fight.
22:06 Michelle Obama? Or just like, by the way.
22:08 Speaker 00 Really well.
22:09 Michelle Obama? Just so it happens.
22:11 Craig Robinson? You look like somebody who could fight.
22:14 Speaker 00 Thank you.
22:14 Michelle Obama? Quinto messed up some. It's like.
22:17 Speaker 00 I don't like, I think. Right now?
22:20 Michelle Obama? Quinn. Right now, right this second? It's just like, that, that wasn't the look I was going for.
22:24 Speaker 00 I can take multitudes, I guess that's good. Yeah. No, yeah, they, they knew how to fight. We never fought each other. And we weren't fighters, you know? Fighting, I don't want to fight. But you have to if you need to in a city like that. Once again, girls, I'm just, I don't feel like, don't, don't fight. It's not, if you can resolve it in other ways, please do it. Yeah.
22:48 Michelle Obama? That's true.
22:49 Speaker 00 That's true. I've only been in like two physical fights and I'm very proud of that.
22:54 Michelle Obama? Yeah. And a lot of people haven't been in one, but.
22:59 Craig Robinson? Somebody's clapping for the fight.
23:01 Michelle Obama? That's good, that's good.
23:03 Speaker 00 I feel like you guys should take the reins now. This is why I don't want to do this.
23:06 Michelle Obama? No, we love this, we love it.
23:08 Craig Robinson? This is great.
23:16 Craig Robinson? This episode is brought to you in part by United Airlines, Chicago's hometown airline where good leads the way. So, Mish, I have to ask, when you're on the plane coming back to Chicago and you catch a glimpse of the skyline over Lake Michigan, what comes to your mind?
23:36 Michelle Obama? That's my favorite part of the flight. I mean, I try to make it a point to stop everything that I'm doing and make sure that I'm looking out the window. Because I don't know about you, but I try to outline where we are. You know, because the beautiful thing about Chicago, it's a grid system and it's an easy, one of the easiest cities to get around in.
23:59 Craig Robinson? Yep.
23:59 Michelle Obama? And you can sort of track your whole neighborhood, right? So I try to find out, where's the house? Do I see mom's house? Do I see where you guys used to live? Even though it's a little bitty dot, it's just exciting.
24:12 Craig Robinson? You have an idea. No, I feel, I feel that. I feel that same way. Every time I land at O'Hare, there's this specific moment where I just exhale. Like, okay, I'm back. This is where it all started. And even after traveling the world, I still think Chicago is one of the most beautiful electric cities on the planet. And that feeling never gets old. Do you have any special feelings about the city like that?
24:43 Michelle Obama? Oh, my God, it's the exact same thing. I mean, I have traveled the world and my heart is still in Chicago. It is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The Grant Park and now Jackson Park is gonna be just as beautiful because, you know, shameless plug, but the Obama Presidential Center is gonna be a part of that skyline. The lakefront is amazing. I mean, it's just such a livable city. And when it's not freezing cold, which is the summertime, it's alive with so much going on. Festivals and art museums and great shopping and some of the best food you can have.
25:25 Michelle Obama? So, yeah, Chicago is still my favorite city in the country, probably in the world.
25:32 Craig Robinson? And United is part of that. They've been part of this city for 90 years, shaped by the same grit and work ethic Chicago is known for. Meech, what does home mean to you?
25:44 Speaker 00 I've learned that home isn't about the house you're in. It's about the people who are in the house. Right? So we've had to learn, you know? Leaving Chicago, our hometown, to start a new life in Washington and living in the White House. And one of my fears was that it wouldn't feel like home. But the best thing I learned was that home is wherever family is.
26:09 Craig Robinson? Well, Chicago is forever our hometown. And as Chicago's hometown airline, United Airlines can connect you to the world with more destinations than any other airline, on more new planes with screens at every seat, Bluetooth connectivity and bigger overhead bins. Book your next flight on the United app or at united.com.
26:39 Michelle Obama? Now, your parents were wonderful role models to you. There was a lot of love. But there was a period where you were going through some contentious times with your mother in particular.
26:53 Speaker 00 Oh, yeah.
26:54 Michelle Obama? Can you talk about that? Because I bet there isn't a girl in this room who isn't mad at their mother right now. Even the 60-year-olds.
27:04 Speaker 00 I know. And you know, it was in college really where I, once again, didn't know what she was trying to protect me from.
27:14 Michelle Obama? Yeah.
27:15 Speaker 00 And that's where we started having issues. We were so solid before that. But in college, it just felt like she was holding on for dear life or she didn't trust me. And I just didn't understand. I was doing, like I said, I was doing improv. And I wasn't doing drugs. I was, well, I wasn't, I wasn't doing anything bad. I wasn't doing anything bad.
27:38 Michelle Obama? You weren't doing anything illegal technically.
27:41 Speaker 00 Yeah. I wasn't doing anything bad.
27:43 Michelle Obama? Anything that everybody else wasn't doing.
27:44 Speaker 00 I was a really good kid, so I just didn't understand. And my mom, and I got into it one day after, when I was getting out of the car, she was dropping me off at a friend's house. And I just really, I was... Never disrespectful, but I asked her like, what is going on? What is your deal? Like, you did this, you raised me, you made me who I am. Why are you trying to stop? What, you know, is inevitable. And, you know, I wasn't looking at her as a full human being. It's kind of similar what I'm talking about where like you get to see the full America. Therefore, you understand it. That's why it's important to learn it. I wasn't seeing the full picture of my mom. I was just looking at her as a mother, but not as a full human being who had lost two siblings
28:26 Speaker 00 to drugs and alcohol and, you know, was just trying to protect me from a rough world. But I just didn't understand because she was a dancer and everything and she like lived the life.
28:40 Michelle Obama? Because you, you went to temple, but you lived at home. You didn't live in the dorms.
28:47 Speaker 00 I, I found my way to live in the dorms.
28:51 Michelle Obama? Yeah, well, you, you snuck your way into the dorms.
28:54 Craig Robinson? Wait, explain this.
28:55 Speaker 00 I commuted my way into the dorms. I like what you're saying. I, I had a, there was a friend who, the first day of school, her roommate, I guess, dropped out. I don't know what happened to that girl, but she never, I hope she's okay. But we never told the, we never told the school and I just moved in.
29:16 Michelle Obama? Oh, why not?
29:17 Craig Robinson? Okay.
29:17 Speaker 00 I always found my way. I was like a couch surfer, hobo, just moved around campus, stayed on friends' couches.
29:24 Michelle Obama? Where did your parents think you were?
29:26 Speaker 00 I would tell them that I was staying on campus, but there was resistance to that. And I was just like, I'm not doing anything. I was watching, do you know the show Tim and Eric? Are you guys familiar? No.
29:37 Michelle Obama? What is that?
29:38 Speaker 00 A show on my age. I was watching.
29:39 Craig Robinson? Tim and Eric.
29:40 Speaker 00 I was watching like SNL and comedy shows with my friends on the couch, but that, they were just were not, my mom in particular was really not happy. We, we got over that hump and I'm happy that we did. It took a lot of discussion and communication because I was determined to have a good relationship with my mother and she was determined to have a good relationship with me. And I think if two people are just determined to work it out, it can eventually work, but it took some time. I mean.
30:07 Michelle Obama? But I think the point you make about seeing your parents as whole people.
30:11 Speaker 00 Yeah.
30:12 Michelle Obama? I remember distinctly when, we always had a great relationship with our parents. We were a close knit family, all aunts and uncles and cousins. They believed in talking to us about things, but I think our parents did the opposite. They were like, kicked us out. They were like, go try some things, don't stay so close. You know, they had the same fears, you know? But you grow up with your parents and all the adults around you as heroes, right? Because they're so wise. But then one day, as you grow up, you realize, oh, man, dad's got some issues, right?
30:50 Speaker 00 Yeah.
30:51 Michelle Obama? And then you.
30:57 Michelle Obama? And the same thing.
30:58 Craig Robinson? And she wonders why I was the favorite.
31:02 Michelle Obama? But you also see it happening from your kids, when you have kids.
31:07 Speaker 00 Yeah.
31:07 Michelle Obama? When you start, when you know.
31:09 Speaker 00 Yeah.
31:10 Michelle Obama? You've got to go through that period.
31:12 Speaker 00 Yeah.
31:12 Michelle Obama? Where you start growing up.
31:14 Speaker 00 Yes, yes.
31:14 Michelle Obama? And then you start realizing what the world has in store.
31:19 Speaker 00 Yeah.
31:19 Michelle Obama? And what your parents are really struggling. And I'm talking to all you young people here who may be mad or struggling with the adult figures in your lives. It is hard to see those people as real, whole people with a set of fears and set of challenges and limitations. And a lot of times, parents don't talk about the hard things.
31:41 Speaker 00 No, I mean, and they don't want to. You're a kid.
31:44 Michelle Obama? But it helps, though.
31:45 Speaker 00 It does, yeah.
31:47 Michelle Obama? It helps.
31:48 Craig Robinson? But to the parents' defense, sometimes they're just afraid.
31:56 Michelle Obama? Totally.
31:57 Craig Robinson? And they're afraid for you because they think you don't know what's coming.
32:03 Michelle Obama? Yeah.
32:03 Craig Robinson? And that's where I thought our parents did a really good job because we found out later how really afraid our parents were to let us go on trips with a basketball team when you're 13 years old.
32:17 Michelle Obama? Yes.
32:18 Craig Robinson? Or.
32:19 Michelle Obama? Go out of the country.
32:20 Craig Robinson? Go out of the country for the first time by herself when she's in high school.
32:24 Michelle Obama? Yeah.
32:24 Craig Robinson? Or, you know.
32:27 Craig Robinson? Send you off to a school. I went to high school right around the corner here, Mount Carmel High School.
32:31 Speaker 00 Yeah.
32:32 Craig Robinson? You know, you know, mostly white school.
32:34 Speaker 00 Yeah.
32:34 Craig Robinson? I've got a couple of friends here who I've been friends with ever since then. You know, they were afraid of all of that. And I, you know, I want some of these, these young girls and young people in here to just have a, you know, we're always talking about giving people grace. We never give our parents the grace because.
32:52 Speaker 00 Yes.
32:53 Craig Robinson? Um, and, and sometimes it's too much, right? Like, yeah, Meesh and I always talk about how parents these days try and curate this perfect existence for their children.
33:06 Speaker 00 Yeah.
33:06 Craig Robinson? So there is something in the middle there.
33:09 Speaker 00 Totally.
33:09 Craig Robinson? You can't be too afraid that they can't do anything. And then you can't protect them from everything.
33:15 Speaker 00 Absolutely. There's a good book I'm reading. It's a, it's a tougher read, but I'm getting through it called The Anxious Generation.
33:22 Craig Robinson? Oh, yeah.
33:23 Speaker 00 And it speaks to that so well. It is speaking specifically to technology, social media. But it's true that each generation is gonna try to create perimeters based on what they experienced. My parents, look, they survived. And I mean, they made their way through the crack era. Where they were losing friends through the AIDS era, losing friends, watching people disappear left and right. You know what I mean? So of course, they're trying to protect their children from the things that they've seen. I'm gonna try to protect my kids from the things that I've seen. And they're probably gonna look at me like I'm crazy. Because those problems probably still, they probably won't exist in the same way.
34:08 Speaker 00 That's right. Or, you know, I hope they won't anyway. I think the internet is our big painful thing that my generation's dealing with. But, you know, to your point though, you're right. How much they're afraid of. And I realize it more and more as I get older. If you're fortunate enough to get older, you, you get it. You start to thinking about having, having kids of your own or having kids of your own. And you're just like, I don't even know how my parents had five children.
34:42 Speaker 00 When this, my mom's a teacher. I don't know if you guys heard, they don't make that much. And my dad was managing parking lots. It don't make that much either.
34:50 Michelle Obama? He was a king of parking, but still.
34:52 Speaker 00 He was a king. But we're talking about a combined salary of maybe over a little over a hundred grand. Five kids, I'm doing all right, I think. And I'm still like, if I have one, I'm like, oh, my God. I can never stop working. I have to, I don't know, how am I gonna do it? How am I going to do it?
35:12 Michelle Obama? But that's the thing that we constantly have to remind ourselves. Cause we talk to young people like, I don't know if I'm ever gonna have kids. I can't afford it. And, you know, our parents were the same way. My mother didn't work until I went to high school because she wanted to be home. She wanted to be involved in the PTA. She wanted to look out for us. She wanted us to be able to come home for lunch. And so that meant we were living off of one, my dad was a city worker, right? He was a shift worker. And so what that generation did was that they lived small, right?
35:46 Speaker 00 Yes.
35:47 Michelle Obama? And then they, they didn't place a whole lot of value in the stuff we had. Right? And they didn't feel responsible for us having, so they didn't feel guilty. Right? I mean, one of my father's favorite sayings was never satisfied, never satisfied. If you had something good on your plate and you were looking for the next thing. He was like, see, that's the problem. You know, you gotta learn how to be satisfied with what you have.
36:17 Speaker 00 Satisfied and grateful.
36:18 Michelle Obama? And social media is kind of putting forward
36:21 Speaker 00 Oh, boy.
36:22 Michelle Obama? all the things you don't have and should want.
36:25 Speaker 00 To your point, that my dad, I was on the phone with him two days ago. And he was talking about what his dream was. He dreamed to have a family. That was his dream. And he accomplished it. And then it was keeping that family taken care of, no matter what that meant. Working jobs that he didn't want to until he got the one that was good. He was, and, and that was so special to me because it was so.
36:51 Speaker 00 Big to him, seemingly small to other people. And then another point to like, the internet. And I feel like we're often trying to impress people who aren't even in our community, who don't even know us. And the way I was brought up, we were, you know, a part of a religious community. Our neighborhood, our literal neighborhood community. And my dance school was another community. My father was in the carpenters' union and he was a part of a music group. And these were the people we wanted to impress, our actual communities.
37:36 Speaker 00 And I think that made for a healthier environment. But now that we have gotten into the habit of impressing people who don't even know we exist, it feels like a disconnect between what's really needed at home and what we think we need to show people. And I'm saying this not as a judgment, but as someone who's grown up through that is now trying to actively reject it. And it's hard. I struggle. I'm like, I have to actively like, put down this thinking.
38:11 Craig Robinson? That's a great point, because I was thinking about all the things I wanted to talk to you about. We're not going to get to all of them, but one of them was, you got your start on the internet before folks were like, online like that.
38:26 Speaker 00 Yeah.
38:27 Craig Robinson? Right? Can you talk about what you were thinking and how that all evolved? Because first of all, I'm too old to know. I didn't really get to know you until I saw Abbott Elementary. And then we started doing the background work. And I was like, whoa, you've been doing stuff for a very long time and at a young age. Can you talk about how, what was your mindset? How did you say, well, I'm going to do this and then I'm going to put it online? Was that a, a plan? Or was it just sort of an outlet?
39:01 Speaker 00 It was an outlet. I talk a lot about the importance of craft. I just was practicing comedy. And the internet...
39:10 Speaker 00 I was actually staunchly against it at first. I had zero respect for YouTubers. I thought, I was not on board. I respected the stage and I respected writing and television, but I did not respect the internet. And then what happened was Instagram, look, social media, Facebook, how far back do I go?
39:32 Michelle Obama? Yeah, really.
39:32 Speaker 00 It's really hard. MySpace was the beginning of it. It's so hard. MySpace was like really the beginning of it, but we didn't know what was happening to us. I want to be clear about that. We were just kids using the internet. We didn't know. We were basically being indoctrinated into our social lives changing forever. Right? So that MySpace happened. And like, Facebook happened next. And Facebook, this is back when you had to have a college email to sign up for it. And that became the second iteration of you living your life online. You know, like, it wasn't just your friends in the classroom. It was your friends here. And then, when I came to Chicago, actually, I started having friends on Facebook in Chicago,
40:16 Speaker 00 which expanded my internet living, you know? The beginning of like, I don't know, just a network of people online. And then, Facebook had video. And I would make really silly videos with my friends for no one. That was the goal. It was just like, just for me and my friends. And then I started a little teeny talk show on Facebook. None of this is big stuff. It just was kids messing around on the internet. And I would interview someone for silly. The first episode of that show is when Barack, he wasn't elected yet. He was about to get elected. I made up a rap and I said, Barack, Barack, you rock my socks. I don't know what else I said. It was so dumb. I'll show you. But it was, it was so silly just being in the dorm, being silly.
40:59 Speaker 00 And then it expanded to Chicago because I would come out here and visit my boyfriend, and he was in a music group, and I interviewed them. And then the series started getting popular on Facebook. And so, that was kind of my first way into like, alright, there's something to creating here. Then Instagram happened. Now, once again, just making silly videos for my friends. This is before you could share. Because I feel like some of us in here remember, it was just for you and your friends. And then I made some silly videos. But then I woke, I went to sleep, woke up and they were getting a lot of comments from people I didn't know.
41:41 Speaker 00 And looking back, I'm not even sure how, because it wasn't easy to share a video then. There was no share link. I'm not even sure you could like copy the URL to paste and send to someone. So it was complete word of mouth. And that was really interesting to me.
41:56 Michelle Obama? Was it scary? Was it exciting?
41:59 Speaker 00 It was exciting. It was, I didn't know to be scared yet, because once again, didn't really know what was happening.
42:06 Michelle Obama? And did your parents know?
42:07 Speaker 00 No, God, no. They didn't even, my parents still to this day don't.
42:11 Michelle Obama? I don't know how to, you know? I remember when Malia and Sasha were starting to ask for stuff. And then I was like, I'm supposed to be monitoring this.
42:19 Speaker 00 Yeah.
42:19 Michelle Obama? But I don't even know what it is. So I'd get mad, like, give me your phone.
42:22 Speaker 00 No.
42:23 Michelle Obama? And I'd be like, open it.
42:28 Michelle Obama? Now take me to the site.
42:31 Michelle Obama? I don't even know what I'm looking for, but I'm gonna find it with your help.
42:36 Speaker 00 That is hilarious. See, this is what I mean. That is hilarious. So, no, they had no idea. And then I started making more of those Instagram videos and they started going viral. And then I would put some of them on Vine, which no longer exists. And people would pick them up.
42:51 Michelle Obama? Exactly. Thing, everybody's all like, oh, Vine.
42:55 Speaker 00 And I was, it was all just happening and I was, I was broke. I was working at Apple, but man, I was dead broke. My money went straight to rent. I had no money.
43:06 Michelle Obama? Was this when you were in LA?
43:09 Speaker 00 Yeah, I had made it to LA by that point, yeah.
43:10 Michelle Obama? Well, also talk about how you got to LA, because eventually you just, you just left. You, like you were secretly staying in the dorms? You secretly took your little self to LA to live? Talk about that.
43:26 Speaker 00 I knew I wasn't gonna get away with that. I had to tell my parents. I was soft launching it to them.
43:34 Speaker 00 So I went out to LA. I was like, I'm gonna go. Some of my friends are out there from Temple. They're doing the Temple, um, the Temple program that they have in LA. I'm gonna go, I'm, yeah, I'm doing that. Mind you, at this point, I'm flunking out of college. I had a bad breakup with that, yeah, the Chicago boy and it broke me. Okay.
43:52 Michelle Obama? Don't, don't do that.
43:53 Speaker 00 Don't do that.
43:54 Michelle Obama? Don't let some-
43:54 Speaker 00 Do not do that. It broke me.
43:56 Michelle Obama? Sorry, boy, break you.
43:58 Speaker 00 Don't do it. I thought I was, I, I, I thought I was like going back to school, but I was like heartbroken.
44:02 Michelle Obama? Yeah.
44:02 Speaker 00 It was a very emotional girl and just like was devastated. And then I was like, I'll, I'll go back to school. I am gonna go back to school, but they didn't know at that point that I was like not doing well.
44:15 Michelle Obama? You were undercover flunking.
44:16 Speaker 00 Undercover flunking.
44:17 Michelle Obama? You were such a little undercover girl.
44:19 Speaker 00 I know. Not anymore. That was a hard life to live. I didn't, I didn't, I didn't like that. I was, and I wasn't a good liar, so it was-
44:28 Michelle Obama? Seemed like you were, Quinta.
44:30 Speaker 00 No, I was good at half truths.
44:33 Michelle Obama? Uh huh.
44:34 Speaker 00 And living what is called a double life.
44:36 Michelle Obama? Oh.
44:37 Speaker 00 So I was never, I, I wouldn't say, my parents like, where are you going? I'm gonna see some friends, uh, from college. I didn't say what college and I didn't say what friends. Um, so I would get away with it. But then I, yeah, when it came to LA, I, I kinda went out to test the waters just for a month. Stayed with a friend and to see if I could work. So I got to-
44:59 Michelle Obama? Work in the business.
45:00 Speaker 00 Yes. To see if it would work out. At that point, I knew Chicago, it was gonna be like SNL or bust and I didn't know if that was gonna be right for me. And I felt like LA had more opportunities. So I worked, I took a, a second city class and I got a lot of PA jobs. I worked on, um, this show, oh, Key and Peele. I worked on Key and Peele.
45:22 Michelle Obama? Oh, yeah.
45:23 Speaker 00 As a PA.
45:24 Michelle Obama? I missed that in your book.
45:26 Speaker 00 I don't know if it was in there. I, I don't, I don't know. I did. It was like, it was their first episode, actually.
45:30 Michelle Obama? Wow.
45:31 Speaker 00 And I was a PA and through that met a producer-
45:33 Michelle Obama? PA is a-
45:34 Speaker 00 Production assistant.
45:35 Michelle Obama? Production assistant.
45:36 Speaker 00 And-
45:36 Craig Robinson? She, she does a podcast now. She's in the business.
45:39 Speaker 00 Yeah.
45:40 Michelle Obama? I'm just, you know, all this lingo, PA.
45:43 Speaker 00 I was PA.
45:44 Michelle Obama? You know.
45:45 Speaker 00 Production assistant. And, um, then I, uh, that producer-
45:49 Michelle Obama? Shut up.
45:51 Speaker 00 That producer got me a job on a music video, which happened to be Donald Glover's music video, Heartbeat. And I was, so that was, I was like, okay, I can do this. I can work out here. The girl I stayed with, Brittany, she was a styling assistant, and she couldn't do a job, and she gave the job to me for a woman named Samira Nasir, who now runs Harper's Bazaar. But at the time, she was like a traveling stylist. So I went back to Philly. I said, okay, I need to get a job, and I'm going to make sure it's a job that can move me to LA. And that's how I started working at Apple, because I knew that they had a good transfer program. So I worked at Apple for a year.
46:32 Michelle Obama? So you were a tech assistant at Apple?
46:34 Speaker 00 Yeah, I was, I don't know if they exist anymore, an FRS, a family room specialist?
46:38 Michelle Obama? Never been in an Apple store. I know, I'm first lady.
46:41 Speaker 00 Well, you had like a big period of your life where you probably couldn't go places easy.
46:44 Michelle Obama? Didn't do normal, human things.
46:46 Speaker 00 Yes. That's true. You should go, lovely experience.
46:51 Michelle Obama? I probably, probably won't, probably won't.
46:55 Speaker 00 Yeah. And then I transferred to LA. I did tell my parents at that point. I was like, I am moving. I'm going to move there. And I just had to present it as a thing of, I'm not asking you, I am going. Which was really tough for me, because I had never really had that experience from my parents before. My mom was in absolute shock. And my dad, my dad was always supportive of me in a really unique way. He kind of respected my carrying on, but, so he would let my mom do the yelling, but he secretly would be like proud of me.
47:32 Michelle Obama? You'd do your thing.
47:33 Speaker 00 Yeah.
47:33 Michelle Obama? Did they know you were interested in comedy by then?
47:37 Speaker 00 No.
47:37 Michelle Obama? You couldn't say that. You're like, I'm gonna be...
47:40 Speaker 00 No, at that point, I was telling them, I'm still planning on going to school. And I was, I was gonna transfer to UCLA. I know, but it was a plan. I was like, I'll go to UCLA. So it was a fool, it was a truth.
47:50 Michelle Obama? You weren't lying.
47:51 Speaker 00 I wasn't lying. And then I got to LA and worked at Apple. But then those videos started going viral. And I said, I started selling T-shirts with like phrases from the videos on them. I was making more money than I've ever made in my life. And I'm talking $4,000, okay?
48:12 Michelle Obama? I'm ballin'.
48:14 Speaker 00 Living like a queen. I was taking my friends out to dinner and everything. It was immediately crab dinners for everyone. It was so cute. And then the money ran out. And I was like...
48:27 Michelle Obama? For the young people, that's another thing you don't do.
48:30 Speaker 00 Don't do that. Money ran out. I didn't want to make T-shirts. I was like, I feel like a T-shirt maker. That's my job now. I don't want to be a that. And so I was like, I need a job. I started doing stand-up and public appearances, but I didn't want to do public appearances and say my catchphrases on stage. That didn't feel good. And I didn't, stand-up was, I was good at it, but it was not for me. I knew it wasn't.
48:53 Craig Robinson? Why not?
48:53 Michelle Obama? Yeah.
48:59 Speaker 00 It, the lifestyle of stand-up wasn't for me. I didn't like being at the Comedy Store in LA until 2:00 a.m. I didn't like who I was becoming. Like I was starting to like smoke cigarettes and stuff just to hang out. And, and I just, it just wasn't for me. I respect stand-ups and people who are very good at it. And that is like their thing, but I felt...
49:23 Michelle Obama? But it is a tough life.
49:25 Speaker 00 Tough life. And I didn't feel like it was my version of storytelling. I always say that. I didn't want to be singular. My personal experiences, I really enjoyed fictional worlds and narrative pieces. So then I got a job. I said, it's time to get a job. So I started working at BuzzFeed at the time. And that was a lifesaver. It was...
49:50 Speaker 00 Great pay, wonderful opportunity for me to-
49:53 Michelle Obama? Can you talk a bit about BuzzFeed for people who don't?
49:56 Speaker 00 BuzzFeed was this platform that used to exist. It still exists.
50:00 Michelle Obama? It still exists.
50:01 Speaker 00 It still exists, but not like it did in its heyday. I joined at the beginning of its heyday where we were producing videos for the internet that were like, it was relatable content, taste tests, etc. I kinda came in and helped build the narrative department, so scripted videos. That was just like a dream come true. I sold shows, I learned how to sell shows there, how to... It's one thing to make a show, it's another thing to actually sell it to a platform. And so I learned how to do that. I made incredible relationships. A lot of my friends from BuzzFeed currently work on Abbott, my friend Kate, my friend Justin, my friend Garrett. They're lifelong lessons there. And there are a lot of people who did not have good experiences and their experiences are valid.
50:45 Speaker 00 I'm not one of those people. But I also think I looked at it as for what it was. It was a job for me.
50:50 Michelle Obama? Yeah.
50:50 Speaker 00 And a lot of those kids were like coming out of college and that was their first job.
50:55 Michelle Obama? Right.
50:56 Speaker 00 And they didn't-
50:57 Michelle Obama? You had had bad jobs.
50:58 Speaker 00 I had had bad jobs. I had... Worked at Friendly's, I worked at American Eagle, I worked at a dance... I worked at the YMCA in LA and that was a wild experience. It just... I had some jobs. I worked at a call center for my school. I worked at a sex phone center because I was that broke one time. I had pawned all my stuff at a point in LA just to stay there, like everything I had. And so I was like, this is a job. I get that. Even working at Apple, I understood a job. So for me, it was the best job.
51:32 Michelle Obama? That's another thing about, you know, just for kids, like taking some time to try on some things when it comes to work.
51:40 Speaker 00 Yeah.
51:40 Michelle Obama? You gotta work to pay rent, you gotta work to, you know-
51:44 Speaker 00 Yep.
51:45 Michelle Obama? So having all these experiences, so by the time you get to BuzzFeed, you're kind of an adult.
51:51 Speaker 00 I'm an adult and super appreciative. I have a 401k benefits.
51:57 Speaker 00 By the time I left there, I was making six figures. I couldn't, I never even saw that happening for myself. I was treated with respect with, especially in media. I mean, they let me do stuff that I don't, that nobody was letting no black girl do anywhere else at the time, you know? And when I would even ask them why, it would, they were like, because you're good at it. I loved that. That was so, I'm so grateful for that. That was, that was huge for me.
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56:50 Craig Robinson? Was that the first time you felt successful in your path?
56:55 Speaker 00 Yes.
56:56 Craig Robinson? Because I ask this because as an athlete and a coach, I find we learn sometimes more from our failures than we do from our wins. And I just want to get a feel for you. Did you think that all those tribulations you went through, good, bad, was it better to fail and figure out how to do it right? Or if you can avoid failing, and this is for the young people out here who think that, you know, you just sat here and did boom, boom, boom. And here, I'm at the, you know, award show, picking up my awards.
57:37 Michelle Obama? Picking up your third Emmy.
57:40 Speaker 00 Well, you know,
57:46 Speaker 00 I love that question because sports is how I look at everything.
57:50 Michelle Obama? And, oh, Lord.
57:52 Speaker 00 No, I'm sorry.
57:53 Craig Robinson? Yeah, please.
57:54 Speaker 00 I know.
57:55 Craig Robinson? The two athletes, the two, the two sports fans up here.
57:59 Speaker 00 I am one of them.
58:01 Michelle Obama? I like sports, don't I?
58:03 Speaker 00 I do. And I just, like, I just watched, actually, not Save the Last Dance, sorry, The Last Dance again, the Michael Jordan documentary.
58:13 Michelle Obama? Yeah.
58:15 Speaker 00 Oh, God, like,
58:16 Craig Robinson? Right.
58:17 Speaker 00 that kind of look at greatness is what I, that's my jam. I.
58:26 Speaker 00 Every failure is just motivation and it's just a part of the bigger picture. And so I have not considered anything I've ever done, ever, a failure. And I never will. It's not that it wasn't like, you know? Yeah. It's just part of the bigger picture. Even when I was folding pants at American Eagle, that was a part of getting me here today. When I had to pawn all my stuff, that would have been a lot of people's down moment. But for me, I'm like, this is just part of the, part of the up, part of the, this. I now look back, I had to ride past that place recently where I, where I sold my computer, which that was big. It was all I had.
59:10 Speaker 00 I sold all my clothes at that point for nothing, mind you. I mean, I didn't have like good clothes. They were from like Wet Seal, so I didn't get a lot of money.
59:17 Michelle Obama? Oh, yeah.
59:18 Speaker 00 They were, I didn't get anything for them. So that computer was a big deal. And then, but I rode past that place the other day in LA and was like, wow. Like, I'm so grateful that I can ride past and that I have that moment to see how far I've come. So I just think, I don't, yeah, I mean, like, I was talking about that documentary because they had that, that moment where the Bulls lost to the Jazz. And that could have been the it. That could have been the end of Michael Jordan as we know it. And it wasn't. It was, we'll be back next year. And that's part of the journey now. And I'm coming for you. Like, and I think that's how I kind of look at things.
1:00:02 Speaker 00 And even Abbott, I don't know, there was a point where I was like, I don't know if I'll ever have another good idea after Abbott. Really? I did, because it seemed so big. I was, I wrote this show and then all of a su- I was like, well, all right. And then as we've gone through it, I was like, oh, this is a piece of a larger puzzle. I don't know. Quite what's in store. I know some things, but it is part of something big. But somebody else, it's big to us and big to me. There are people who could look at, I know it's crazy to think, having a show on network TV as a, oh, I didn't make it HBO show.
1:00:40 Michelle Obama? Yeah.
1:00:40 Speaker 00 I am around people like that every day. It is nuts to me. It's nuts and so that's-
1:00:46 Michelle Obama? Never satisfied.
1:00:48 Speaker 00 Exactly. And that's where gratitude comes in for me. It's major. It's-
1:00:53 Michelle Obama? Well, that's something to also remember as you ascend. You know, you start realizing that this constant pursuit of something outside of yourself, for people who haven't figured that out, they're never satisfied. And it, you know, I've probably sat at, sat at every powerful table there is, you know, from grammar school to the G Summit, right? You, you see the same people at the table with the same issues, you know? It doesn't matter how much money they have, how much power they have, you know? If they haven't figured out this piece, you know, if they haven't figured out their process, their purpose in life, and it's so hard for kids to believe this, but they're
1:01:37 Michelle Obama? not happy, you know? And some people that are constantly grasping it more, the trillionaire, the, you meet these people and they're, they, they, they don't, they don't know how, they don't know how to build anything else except for wealth. So they're empty, right?
1:01:56 Speaker 00 Totally. And it's fascinating to see, as someone who spent a lot of time working on making sure this was straight, to watch some people that everyone knows and loves are hollow.
1:02:08 Michelle Obama? Yeah.
1:02:09 Speaker 00 Hollow, man. Like, and you, you talk to them and literally, like, you feel like you can see right through them. It's like, I don't even know why I'm having a conversation with you. I see what, it's just nothing in there. And I was watching one of my defining decom's Disney Channel original movies the other day. And-
1:02:27 Michelle Obama? Hold on one second.
1:02:28 Craig Robinson? This, this what happens, we have old, when you have, when you have old people in there.
1:02:32 Michelle Obama? I know, it's okay.
1:02:33 Craig Robinson? That I guarantee, I guarantee that's somebody old.
1:02:36 Michelle Obama? And they don't know how to turn it off.
1:02:37 Craig Robinson? They don't know how to turn it off.
1:02:38 Michelle Obama? And I go, Jesus, we were just talking about social media. Hand it to a young person.
1:02:44 Craig Robinson? Give the young person the phone.
1:02:45 Michelle Obama? To turn the phone off. But do you guys remember the movie Brink?
1:02:52 Speaker 00 The dad in that movie says something that was, that hit me so hard. And this Disney Channel movie, but he tells Brink, who's a skater and all he cares about is skating and shredding. And his dad's like, you know, skating is what you do. It's not who you are. You are. He says he's a, he lost his job, the dad in the movie, and he was a construction foreman. He said he used to introduce himself as, hey, I'm a construction foreman, such and such. Almost like who he was, was the job first. And then he falls off a ladder and hurts himself and he had to find himself again. And that really stuck with me because I'm going through that with my career right now.
1:03:31 Speaker 00 My job is not who I am. It is my work. I do care about it very deeply. But I think it's important. I mean, I know people who, teachers who care about their job very deeply. I know bus drivers who care about their job very deeply, but it's not who I am. Who I am is a good sister, a good daughter, a good friend. You know, just who are you when no one's looking?
1:03:57 Michelle Obama? And these are not just words. It's really the, the truth about life.
1:04:03 Speaker 00 Yes.
1:04:03 Michelle Obama? You know, and it's like the, the sooner that you, young people understand that, just sort of believe that truth. You know, then you can start building life from there. Right?
1:04:17 Speaker 00 We've got to get rid of social media. I don't know what to do. I, I just, I, every, but I, I don't know.
1:04:24 Michelle Obama? Well, and spoken like somebody who's built your career on, so can you talk about how you're thinking about it?
1:04:30 Speaker 00 I started to vow to destroy the very thing that created my career. You know how many times I used to, back before even, you know, Twitter became X, I used to be, I used to have dreams of going to Twitter and pulling the plug out of the headquarters. I'm so serious.
1:04:47 Michelle Obama? Yeah, yeah.
1:04:48 Speaker 00 I could feel in real time, the negative effects that it was starting to have on my peers, on my people. Not to even mention the younger generation. They got a number done on them for real. Because I at least lived life before the internet. You know, the internet didn't come into my life as a social platform until I was like 17, but.
1:05:13 Speaker 00 Man, it is, it's a doozy. I don't know what we're gonna do.
1:05:17 Michelle Obama? It's got people thinking that fame is a goal. That, like, I don't even understand what influence is in the absence of anything behind it.
1:05:27 Speaker 00 Yeah.
1:05:28 Michelle Obama? You haven't built anything. You're just sort of selling somebody else's stuff.
1:05:33 Speaker 00 It, it has its benefits for sure.
1:05:35 Michelle Obama? Yeah, for sure.
1:05:37 Speaker 00 I do think the negatives are outweighing the benefits. And so, there was a recent case, though, that, you know, was gonna be interesting, where finally someone got to court and proved, hey, same effects as cigarettes.
1:05:54 Michelle Obama? Yeah.
1:05:54 Speaker 00 Happening right here. We gotta do something. We can't keep living like this. And I know we all like joke about the algorithms, but it's really not funny that you can...
1:06:07 Michelle Obama? You can manipulate somebody.
1:06:09 Speaker 00 It's just, yeah, you know, and the sea of happiness.
1:06:11 Michelle Obama? That you're messing with dopamine and people's habits. The, the notion that a lot of these programs are using the same algorithms that they use in Vegas, you know? To get people to continue to gamble and use slots as the same sounds and the sights and the noises and the repetition.
1:06:30 Speaker 00 Absolutely.
1:06:31 Michelle Obama? It's just important for kids to understand that because it all looks so good because the, the allure of fame and notoriety.
1:06:43 Speaker 00 And the allure of community. That's another, I think more than fame, it's been this allure of community that is there, that I think there's, there's issues with that. It's now been scientifically proven that there is an issue with you thinking your community is...
1:07:01 Michelle Obama? People you don't know.
1:07:02 Speaker 00 10,000 people you don't know and have no connection with in person. And even, you know, for children to be... Growing up and the first people they are talking to.
1:07:14 Michelle Obama? Yeah.
1:07:14 Speaker 00 Are people they don't know.
1:07:16 Michelle Obama? I tell, I would tell the girls that when they started getting into it.
1:07:20 Speaker 00 Yeah.
1:07:20 Michelle Obama? I was like, it would make the same point now, they were right up the cusp and they're like you. They are so glad that they were just right on it.
1:07:29 Speaker 00 Yeah.
1:07:29 Michelle Obama? That it's not like part of their ecosystem. Sasha being the youngest is probably a little more into it. But, you know, you look up and she, you know, she's like, I got a thousand friends. I was like, I know you don't. I mean, there is, you don't, you don't know. I swear to God, I know these people. And I was like, no, you don't. And I said, and the thing you have to understand is like, now you have a thousand people who have access to you. You know, and when you're coming up in our, our day, when it was black and white TV and we used to walk to school in our bare feet.
1:08:06 Michelle Obama? But in order for you to have, people to have access to you, they had to call a phone, right? And your mother or parent would answer. And the person calling you would have to communicate and say, hi, my name is X is such and such there. And by doing that, your parent was alerted, oh, such and such is in my child's life.
1:08:28 Speaker 00 Yeah.
1:08:28 Michelle Obama? Now I am cognizant of who my child is dealing with. You might say, well, who's such and such?
1:08:34 Speaker 00 Right.
1:08:34 Michelle Obama? Tell me about that person, right? Now that buffer that is necessary of protection, just a parent going, somebody is calling my kid. Now you don't have it.
1:08:45 Speaker 00 And, and the fun, I'm so sorry.
1:08:47 Michelle Obama? No, no, no.
1:08:48 Speaker 00 The interesting part about this conversation is a lot of parents of that time, they were trying to protect their kids from outside. Outside was getting crazy.
1:08:55 Michelle Obama? Yeah.
1:08:56 Speaker 00 So it was really safe if you were on the family computer doing something. But they had no clue, they were trying to protect us from the outside, but now we know. And that court case is what they're proving, which is, no, they know what they're doing. They are getting your kid addicted. That's what they had to prove with cigarettes. Like, no, no, no, no, the marketing, Joe Camel is like a cartoon.
1:09:15 Michelle Obama? That's right, that's right.
1:09:16 Craig Robinson? Who would have ever thought watching loads of TV would have been better for you?
1:09:21 Speaker 00 I know, I'm a big, big supporter of television.
1:09:24 Michelle Obama? Yeah, so, so we were TV kids.
1:09:27 Craig Robinson? We were TV kids.
1:09:27 Speaker 00 Yeah, I was such a TV kid. I mean, I, I love, I just love TV.
1:09:32 Michelle Obama? I like that you.
1:09:33 Speaker 00 Oh, no, go ahead.
1:09:34 Craig Robinson? Speaking of TV.
1:09:35 Speaker 00 Yeah.
1:09:35 Craig Robinson? Can we talk about Abbott Elementary?
1:09:37 Speaker 00 We can. Yes.
1:09:40 Craig Robinson? So, we all, we all admit, this is, it's a great show. And, you know, I was talking to my wife and my kids about this show. And we all, like, so you got 16-year-old, 14-year-old, and adults all watching TV again, which, which had, had, had stopped happening. Everybody's sort of binge-watching everything. I, I was dying to ask you, why do you think it's such a great show?
1:10:06 Speaker 00 Well, I created it with that intention.
1:10:09 Craig Robinson? I thought you were gonna say, cuz I created it.
1:10:10 Speaker 00 No. Intention is important, though.
1:10:13 Craig Robinson? Okay.
1:10:14 Speaker 00 I created it with that intention. I would go back home, and my, my niece, she's 20, 20, 21, and my mom is 73, and I'm 36, and then we had nothing to watch together. And I really couldn't stand that, you know? I really, I just didn't like that because my parents and I grew up watching TV together.
1:10:34 Craig Robinson? Everybody watched the same show.
1:10:36 Speaker 00 Everything, everyone, and everything that we were watching was old, you know? I think a big show in our house was, later on, became King of Queens for some reason. And that became a generational show in our house.
1:10:50 Speaker 00 Cosby Show kinda fell off in the house cuz that, you know, but that would've been one, I think.
1:10:54 Craig Robinson? That would've been one.
1:10:55 Speaker 00 A Different World was a big one cuz my niece really liked it and everything. But I was like, there should be more of these. And then, after I was visiting my mom, the year before she retired, and I was pushing her to retire, I was visiting her and just walking around the schools. I grew up in schools. They feel like second homes to me. So I do know them well enough to know the rhythms and everything. But visiting it in that way, after being out of school for so long, you start to see it in this really clear way. It's kinda like when you haven't seen your family in a while. And you're like, you grew up in this family, but you haven't seen them in a while, and you see them again, and then you like, see everyone kinda clearly for who they are. That's what it was like when I visited my mom.
1:11:40 Speaker 00 Her new principal was so funny and bananas. And my mom's little best friend, who Melissa in the show was based off of, was so funny to me. And my mom was so, I saw this woman who didn't wanna retire cuz she didn't wanna...
1:12:01 Speaker 00 Be put out to pasture. I don't know. Both my parents really, they're workers. They've been working their whole life. They love working. My mom loves teaching and I could feel that in her and that. So that was the heart of the show to me right there. And then my mom, years ago, had this TA, a teaching assistant, that was so young and bubbly. And I remembered, even though I was young, I remembered that woman getting on my mom's nerves. And I thought that was so funny. And so, all of a sudden, I'm like, I see Janine, I see Barbara, I see Melissa, I see Ava. My good friend from school, Gregory. He became a teacher and wound up teaching with my mom. And he and I went to school together. We went to these programs together and everything. We went to college together.
1:12:45 Speaker 00 And I really, watching him become a teacher was so interesting. And I was so proud of him and so proud of what he was doing. He was, it's again what I'm talking about, like him choosing to be a teacher was him choosing to be a role model for so many young black boys in Philadelphia. Something they desperately needed, whether they knew it or not. And so, then Gregory became clear to me. And I had a friend, Matt, who's teaching in New York, who was the most well-meaning white guy you could find.
1:13:20 Speaker 00 And I was like, Matt is, it was so funny to me. Just so earnest, nothing could get him down. You know what I mean? And I wanted to so many times, be like, Matt, you corny as hell.
1:13:31 Michelle Obama? That's everybody on the Obama campaign.
1:13:34 Speaker 00 Yes. But you know what? That corn is what helps some kids to see another day. That corny teacher is necessary. So then I got my Jacob. I was like, I have a show.
1:13:47 Michelle Obama? You do.
1:13:48 Speaker 00 I have a show. And then I just like, woke up and was like, I'm gonna make this. At the time, I was in a couple, I was in between some other deals. So I was gonna make it as an animated show first. But I was really in, I am very into animation. And so I was like, I'll do it animated. And I hadn't seen an animated documentary. But then...
1:14:07 Speaker 00 Things happen, whatever, and got the opportunity to do it live action, which led to the show. And yeah, I just, I just wanted to make a good comedy. I had no idea how it would really shine a light on education. That was not my intention, to be honest. I just thought it was a good show. And I think that's kind of the beauty of like being so intentional about one thing. Yeah. You don't even know the like blast radius that could happen. You know, I, I really wasn't thinking about any, I'm amazed by some of the impact that has come from the show.
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1:18:59 Michelle Obama? Yeah, well, you did it up. And I love the way you talk about how you weren't necessarily, you don't suffer from imposter syndrome.
1:19:11 Speaker 00 No, it's my biggest flaw. I've learned.
1:19:15 Speaker 00 I was like, maybe I should get some imposter syndrome sometime. Yeah, I know.
1:19:20 Michelle Obama? Can you talk a bit about that? What is that about? Especially when so many, there's so much conversation about people not feeling like they belong in their success.
1:19:31 Speaker 00 I feel like, if I feel like I don't belong somewhere, for me, that is a sign to leave. So I always follow that instinct. If I'm somewhere, I'm like, I don't belong here. To me, that doesn't register as imposter syndrome. It registers as, I'm not supposed to be here and I'm leaving. And peace out to the environment.
1:19:57 Michelle Obama? Yeah.
1:20:00 Speaker 00 Yeah. But if I am somewhere and I feel like I do belong there, I don't let any doubt enter because I'm here. And I look at the feeling of not belonging is more as a defense mechanism for me. Something to keep me safe. But when it comes to...
1:20:23 Speaker 00 My work or comedy or
1:20:27 Speaker 00 any of this, I don't, I don't know. I don't.
1:20:32 Speaker 00 And when I do get it, it's for the silliest things like. And even then I'm like, you're here, so you belong. And so I had it for a brief second. I think this is what imposter syndrome feels like. I was at the game, uh, not the, the game on Wednesday in Madison Square Garden. And I'm not a Spurs or Knicks. I'm not from New York and I'm not from San Antonio. I'm especially not from New York. And being in Madison, like being in Madison Square Garden, I was like, oh, man, like. I felt like, I felt like a little bit of, ooh, can I root? So I went out and got like an agnostic NBA jacket. You know? I just followed the feeling.
1:21:15 Speaker 00 I'm not, I'm not a, you know, I'm a fan of both teams. I'm just not from there. But I was like, let me.
1:21:20 Craig Robinson? So you weren't rooting against the Knicks is what you're saying?
1:21:23 Speaker 00 This was a series where I truly was.
1:21:26 Michelle Obama? You were neutral.
1:21:27 Craig Robinson? You hope both teams lost.
1:21:30 Speaker 00 I, I hoped both teams won. That would have been, after watching this season.
1:21:36 Craig Robinson? Yeah.
1:21:37 Speaker 00 Of basketball. I thought these were two, I was so happy it was these two teams in the finals. And so I just felt like, I just, it was just good basketball, which is so fun to watch. And so I, I felt, is that imposter syndrome? I felt that way, but then I went and worked on it. I got myself an agnostic jacket.
1:21:55 Michelle Obama? It's like, I'm going to the game.
1:21:57 Speaker 00 I'm going to the game. I sat down and I had a grand old time, you know? And I, I was able to lift the spirits of those around me because
1:22:06 Speaker 00 the, the New Yorkers around me threw in the towel. This is when they were down by 30. Then I was like, hey, guys, you gotta believe.
1:22:13 Speaker 00 I'm here for a good time. So and that was the beauty of it being like, no, I do belong here. There was a man next to me about to croak. He was like 97 and he was, I was like, sir, you gotta believe. You gotta believe, you gotta believe, everyone. And they're like, what is your problem? And I'm like, just having a good time.
1:22:34 Michelle Obama? I belong here.
1:22:35 Speaker 00 I belong here.
1:22:36 Michelle Obama? It's my stadium.
1:22:36 Speaker 00 So that's why I don't let it enter because I think it can block your blessing or the blessing you can be to someone else too.
1:22:43 Craig Robinson? Yeah, yeah. Well, we have some fun stuff planned at the very end that we want to get to. But before we do that, I want to talk about the field trip fund, the Quinta branch. Can you talk a little bit about that?
1:22:56 Speaker 00 I'm so excited about it.
1:22:57 Craig Robinson? Yeah.
1:22:58 Speaker 00 So I was really sad to hear that my niece and nephew, who went to school during COVID, didn't get to experience that many field trips. I immediately blamed COVID and they just were like, no auntie, like field trips just aren't happening anymore. And I was like, excuse me? They're like, yeah, it's like, there's no money for them. They just aren't that big of a deal anymore. And I was like, not that big of a deal. Field trips changed my life. Changed my life. The first time I went to New York was, New York is only two hours away from Philadelphia, but so many kids from Philly never go to New York. And it's right there, but you know, whatever. So and then we did such fun things.
1:23:43 Speaker 00 We, we went to the river and we built boats and whatever. We went to museums. We went to, sometimes it was just to the, the Independence Hall in Philadelphia and drew the Liberty Bell. But these things mattered. And so when I learned that, that really upset me. And when I found out the issue was like money, I was like, well, I have some of that. So I'm gonna try to help. And so I started talking about it with, I now have a team of people I work with in philanthropy specifically. And I was just like, what can I do? How can I help? And
1:24:23 Speaker 00 I went back to that thought of community, right?
1:24:27 Speaker 00 Yes, I could by myself, like, throw money at the problem. But there was something to the community also being able to care if they were, if they were moved to do so. And I felt like when people in Philly heard the information that I heard, which is that field trips aren't happening anymore. Because you're kind of disconnected from that if you don't have kids, that they would feel motivated to. There's not much that we as individuals can do about maybe the school buildings, which are old. Or the teachers' salaries, which need to be raised. But there, here's this main thing we can do. And so we talked about this fund where anyone can donate.
1:25:13 Speaker 00 And you will change the lives of Philadelphia students everywhere. Because field trips don't cost that much, but they do cost money.
1:25:22 Michelle Obama? Yeah.
1:25:22 Speaker 00 It, and they can go somewhere free, but they need a bus. They need transportation there. We took a lot of my field trips in school on SEPTA. SEPTA is the
1:25:32 Michelle Obama? Public
1:25:32 Speaker 00 Public transit. And, you know, because they were like, we're not paying for no school buses. We are getting tokens and getting these kids on the bus.
1:25:39 Michelle Obama? Yeah.
1:25:39 Speaker 00 And we're going to the park today. And so the teachers would come out of their pockets for that. And I don't expect, Philly is, I think, maybe the, it's one, maybe like the fifth poorest large country, a large city. And so people are not, they don't have money.
1:25:56 Michelle Obama? Yeah.
1:25:57 Speaker 00 They don't. These parents are working multiple jobs.
1:25:59 Michelle Obama? They don't have the extra.
1:26:00 Speaker 00 They don't. Multiple jobs, just trying to get the kids to school. If we can alleviate one thing for them, it'd be nice. So I launched it.
1:26:12 Speaker 00 And put 20,000 in. And was, and just told the public, like, hey, if you guys want to donate to this, you can. This is going to be here forever. In only two months, we had over $100,000. I was, I could not.
1:26:35 Speaker 00 I was in disbelief. I thought they were telling me the wrong amount.
1:26:40 Michelle Obama? Yeah.
1:26:41 Speaker 00 Because we didn't do that much press for it. You know what I mean? I kind of announced it once with a video and that was it. But people were so motivated, like I was, to learn in Philly. And I also just wanted to start small. They were like, do we want to do this nationwide? But I do believe in watering your own garden first.
1:26:57 Michelle Obama? Absolutely.
1:26:58 Speaker 00 And I don't know the situations in other cities. So I didn't want to assume that I did. But I know what's going on in Philly. So we, and it just keeps growing. Right now, we're hitting, we would like to hit a marker where at that point, basically, over time, this money will continue to be there forever. It will always be there and always grow.
1:27:24 Michelle Obama? Yeah.
1:27:24 Speaker 00 For these kids to be able to go. And it'll start next year. And teachers will be able, they don't have to apply. They don't have to prove they deserve a field trip. It's going to be there for them to grab what they need and go. And that's what I wanted too. I don't want to do the thing where you have to add more paperwork.
1:27:46 Craig Robinson? Thank you for that.
1:27:47 Speaker 00 Where you have to prove how good a school you are, how good your class is. Because that was a thing that, that was becoming a thing. And I didn't like that either of like, prove that your class deserves it. And what, like, what? It's just some kids that need to do something. That used to kind of get on my nerves with like, I don't know. It was a thing I had too, as a kid where I'm like, why is, are they better than me? Because they made a better collage, like.
1:28:17 Speaker 00 Okay, we deserve to go. It would be like sweepstakes where it'd be like, "Want a trip to Nickelodeon Studios and prove that you're the best class." And it was like, shouldn't all kids get to go? So I'm so excited about it. Anyone here can donate. Basically, we are going to reach 200,000. And then it will self-fund, so to speak. I will be continuing to contribute to it for the rest of my life. And making sure that these teachers can just pull and these kids can never have to worry about a field trip. They've got a lot to worry about.
1:28:51 Michelle Obama? Yep.
1:28:52 Speaker 00 But they won't have to worry about being able to get, to get somewhere. And we're not trying to send kids out of the country. We just.
1:29:00 Michelle Obama? Go to the museum.
1:29:01 Speaker 00 To the museum, to New York. I actually met someone in Philly recently that 30 years old, never been to New York. It's right there. But that's the importance of like being shown you can do it once is it never seems scary again. Yeah.
1:29:18 Michelle Obama? That's the thing. Well, that's beautiful.
1:29:20 Speaker 00 Thank you.
1:29:21 Michelle Obama? So proud of you. Proud of you.
1:29:25 Craig Robinson? So we tried something new a couple of episodes ago where we had like this rapid fire.
1:29:32 Speaker 00 Yes.
1:29:33 Craig Robinson? Round. So we would love to do it with you.
1:29:35 Michelle Obama? Are you in charge of rapid fire?
1:29:37 Craig Robinson? My sister, this was my sister's idea.
1:29:40 Michelle Obama? No, no, it wasn't. I think rapid fire is for the staff.
1:29:45 Craig Robinson? It wasn't it.
1:29:47 Michelle Obama? But you're gonna do rapid fire.
1:29:48 Craig Robinson? Yes, let's do it.
1:29:49 Michelle Obama? Be rapid about it.
1:29:52 Craig Robinson? So Philly cheesesteak or Chicago deep dish pizza?
1:29:55 Michelle Obama? Philly cheesesteak. Yeah, that's a.
1:29:58 Craig Robinson? Well, what about you?
1:30:00 Michelle Obama? Deep dish. I mean, you know, because I just have to. But certain kind of deep dish, Gino's East.
1:30:07 Craig Robinson? Gino's East.
1:30:08 Michelle Obama? Not Giordano's.
1:30:08 Speaker 00 It's hard to get into it.
1:30:10 Michelle Obama? It's so, the crust is so good.
1:30:12 Speaker 00 It's really hard.
1:30:13 Michelle Obama? And that sausage layer, ugh, to die for.
1:30:15 Craig Robinson? You just need a sharper knife.
1:30:17 Speaker 00 Okay.
1:30:18 Craig Robinson? Sharp knife.
1:30:18 Speaker 00 Good to know.
1:30:19 Craig Robinson? Yeah.
1:30:19 Speaker 00 Good to know.
1:30:20 Michelle Obama? Okay.
1:30:23 Craig Robinson? Reality, reality TV or sitcom?
1:30:25 Speaker 00 The other answer, sitcom. Hate reality TV, hate it.
1:30:29 Michelle Obama? I mean, as much as I love reality TV, there's nothing like a good.
1:30:32 Speaker 00 I know. I didn't mean to talk to you about this.
1:30:34 Michelle Obama? I know. What, is it a problem?
1:30:38 Speaker 00 It fascinates me.
1:30:39 Michelle Obama? It is. That's the thing.
1:30:40 Speaker 00 I would like to have judgments, but I would never judge you on that ever.
1:30:44 Michelle Obama? It's, I consider it part of my major is sociology. It's just a study of people. And they are fascinating to me.
1:30:52 Craig Robinson? She's trying to get me, because we're doing this podcast, into reality TV.
1:30:56 Michelle Obama? He's gotta know more about popular culture. I mean, we're talking about that. He doesn't see anything.
1:31:01 Speaker 00 I watch Survivor.
1:31:03 Michelle Obama? Yeah.
1:31:06 Michelle Obama? The competition show, yeah, yeah. But still, it's, it's a sitcom.
1:31:11 Speaker 00 Do you watch Love Island?
1:31:13 Michelle Obama? Yeah, I do.
1:31:17 Michelle Obama? Yeah. Malia and Scott, that's, that's mother-daughter time.
1:31:22 Speaker 00 Okay.
1:31:23 Michelle Obama? You know, because, and they're behind. They got me hooked. And I was like, if you started the next season. And they were like, no, we're busy. It's like, oh, you need to.
1:31:32 Speaker 00 Okay.
1:31:33 Michelle Obama? You need to get some more free time.
1:31:34 Speaker 00 I re-watch old reality TV.
1:31:36 Michelle Obama? Well, what's the point of that?
1:31:38 Speaker 00 I don't know. I'm fascinated.
1:31:39 Michelle Obama? Okay.
1:31:40 Speaker 00 I'm fascinated by that time. Like, the early 2000s reality television was the purest, I think it was ever gonna be.
1:31:45 Michelle Obama? Yeah.
1:31:46 Speaker 00 So every now and then.
1:31:47 Michelle Obama? Yeah.
1:31:48 Speaker 00 I'm loving this guy clapping in the hat like, like preach. But I, I re-watch, very often I re-watch Flavor of Love, I Love New York.
1:31:57 Michelle Obama? Well, now, all those characters are coming back on the new reality. Uh, what's your name?
1:32:03 Craig Robinson? Wasn't this supposed to be Rapid?
1:32:05 Speaker 00 I know, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
1:32:07 Craig Robinson? Rapid.
1:32:09 Michelle Obama? Okay, well, you just gotta keep going.
1:32:11 Speaker 00 Yes.
1:32:12 Michelle Obama? Because we both talk a lot.
1:32:13 Speaker 00 Yes, we do, but, and, no.
1:32:15 Craig Robinson? Wawa or Portillo's?
1:32:16 Speaker 00 Wawa, I don't even know what Portillo's is.
1:32:18 Michelle Obama? Oh, Portillo's. Well, it's Chicago, y'all. Let's be nice to our guests. Be nice to our guests.
1:32:25 Speaker 00 Portillo's, I'm being set up.
1:32:26 Craig Robinson? No, no, no, no. Portillo's is a locally, regionally famous hot dog and Italian beef place.
1:32:36 Michelle Obama? It's got everything.
1:32:37 Speaker 00 Sounds lovely, I would love to try it.
1:32:38 Craig Robinson? And Wawa, for the Chicago fans, Wawa is like a.
1:32:43 Speaker 00 A magical.
1:32:43 Craig Robinson? Convenience store.
1:32:45 Speaker 00 Yes.
1:32:45 Craig Robinson? It's like a small Buc-Ee's.
1:32:47 Michelle Obama? I don't think the two, the Wawa, we had, all they had was sandwiches.
1:32:51 Speaker 00 Okay, it's not all they had.
1:32:54 Michelle Obama? I was way back in the day.
1:32:55 Speaker 00 You can get a, it's a lot there.
1:32:57 Craig Robinson? You can get everything there.
1:32:58 Speaker 00 Iced tea.
1:32:59 Craig Robinson? I think you can get a Pajmina there.
1:33:01 Michelle Obama? Okay, I haven't been to a Wawa like that ever.
1:33:04 Speaker 00 Aspirin.
1:33:05 Michelle Obama? Okay, wrap it, wrap it, wrap it.
1:33:07 Craig Robinson? One week teaching at Abbott or one week at the White House?
1:33:15 Michelle Obama? Respectfully.
1:33:16 Speaker 00 Uh huh.
1:33:17 Michelle Obama? One week teaching that at.
1:33:18 Craig Robinson? Yeah.
1:33:19 Michelle Obama? Respectfully, yeah, yeah, yeah.
1:33:23 Craig Robinson? All right, last one. Tasty Cake or Garrett's Popcorn?
1:33:30 Speaker 00 I don't even know what a tasty cake is.
1:33:32 Craig Robinson? So tasty cake is like Hostess, but on the East Coast.
1:33:36 Speaker 00 But better.
1:33:37 Michelle Obama? No, no, no.
1:33:38 Speaker 00 Oh, Garrett's.
1:33:38 Craig Robinson? I guess Quinta said, but better.
1:33:40 Speaker 00 But better, it is. Uh, I, let me just say, I do love Garrett's popcorn.
1:33:44 Michelle Obama? It is legalized drugs.
1:33:47 Speaker 00 And my.
1:33:48 Craig Robinson? The, what, what's your go to Garrett's order?
1:33:51 Speaker 00 The caramel?
1:33:52 Craig Robinson? Just straight caramel?
1:33:53 Speaker 00 Someone, one of my writers brings me a bucket.
1:33:56 Michelle Obama? You don't do the mix?
1:33:58 Craig Robinson? The caramel and cheese?
1:33:59 Speaker 00 Yes, I do that. Okay. His name is Garrett and he brings a bucket. He does, he brings a bucket to the room every year, every time he visits home.
1:34:07 Michelle Obama? And you can't stop eating it?
1:34:08 Speaker 00 Can't stop eating it. However, I'm gonna have to go tasty cake because it is just so good. I'll bring you one at some point so you can taste it, yeah.
1:34:16 Craig Robinson? You would think you didn't go to school on the East Coast. You don't know tasty cake?
1:34:19 Michelle Obama? I don't remember, but I don't remember much, y'all.
1:34:22 Speaker 00 It's very Northeast specific, yeah.
1:34:24 Craig Robinson? Yeah, it's, it's like Hostess.
1:34:26 Speaker 00 Yeah.
1:34:27 Michelle Obama? Okay.
1:34:27 Craig Robinson? But I think people on the East Coast feel like it is much better.
1:34:32 Speaker 00 Because it is.
1:34:33 Michelle Obama? Okay, okay.
1:34:34 Speaker 00 That's the reason we feel that way is because it is.
1:34:36 Michelle Obama? We're gonna be nice to you because you're our guest.
1:34:38 Craig Robinson? Quinta, thank you so much for being here.
1:34:41 Speaker 00 Thank you for having me. Thank you.
1:34:43 Michelle Obama? Thank you.
1:34:46 Craig Robinson? You really don't seem like you're working on two hours' sleep. So we thank you for that.
1:34:51 Speaker 00 It was the energy in this room, it really was. Thank you, guys, I appreciate it.
1:34:54 Michelle Obama? Was so proud of you.
1:34:55 Speaker 00 Thank you.
1:34:56 Michelle Obama? And keep it, keep it going. We are watching everything you do.
1:34:59 Speaker 00 Thank.
1:35:00 Michelle Obama? So, ladies and gentlemen.
1:35:02 Speaker 00 Thank you, thank you, guys.
1:35:03 Craig Robinson? You gotta come back and visit us again.
1:35:05 Speaker 00 I will, thank you so much.
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