Joy 101: Robin Arzon

Summary

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Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb – “Joy 101: Robin Arzon” (July 6, 2026)

Episode Overview

In this uplifting episode, Hoda Kotb welcomes Robin Arzon—well-known Peloton instructor, marathoner, author, and motivational force—for a deep dive into the pursuit of joy, resilience, and reinvention. Robin shares her extraordinary journey from a shy child to a high-powered attorney, through a life-altering hostage experience, and out the other side as an empowerment leader and mother. The conversation explores acts of kindness, courage in the face of trauma, career “repotting,” motherhood, relationships, and practical approaches to everyday joy.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Ripple Effect of Kindness (00:10–08:12)

• Hoda’s Elevator Story: Hoda opens with a touching story of unexpected kindness from a stranger who gifted her salted caramel donuts after a brief elevator chat.
  • “Being on the receiving end of an act of kindness and also one that someone’s not waiting to see your reaction to was amazing. And it changed me.” – Hoda (01:42)
• Teaching Kids Quiet Kindness: Hoda emphasizes teaching her children to do good without expecting praise.
  • “Don’t wait for the ‘atta boy’…Do the thing, walk away.” – Hoda (03:15)

The Collective Effervescence of Joy in New York (08:12–10:36)

• City Energy: Hoda and Robin marvel at the electric, joyful spirit of New York amid diversity.
• Giving the Benefit of the Doubt: Robin notes how New Yorkers are “giving each other the benefit of the doubt” and that “friction is needed for expansion.” (08:49–09:17)
  • “The city is steeped in friction, but I believe that friction is needed for the expansion.” – Robin (09:02)
  • “If New York City can work, then the world can work.” – Hoda (09:20)

Childhood Roots & “Staying Weird” (10:01–14:19)

• Robin’s Early Years: She describes being painfully shy and living in a bustling, multi-generational Puerto Rican–Cuban household.
• Mother’s Advice: Robin shares the best advice she’s received:
  • “Just stay weird because otherwise your people won’t know how to find you.” – Robin (11:55)
• Community as Support: Cousins and extended family formed her safe space.

Law Aspirations, Shyness, and a Turning Point (13:05–17:31)

• Academic Drive: Robin excelled academically and pursued law, influenced by her father.
• Debate & Narrative: Her joy in debate and narrative led to law school, but also to explore storytelling.
  • “I like to know what is right and what is wrong. In law school, it was revelatory to me to wrestle with that…there’s a lot of ways to tell a story.” – Robin (13:34)
• Homecoming Queen Revelation: Being unexpectedly voted homecoming queen helped her see herself as a “bridge builder.”
  • “I realized I had so many different groups of friends… I’m like a bridge builder.” – Robin (16:07)

Trauma and Transformation: The Hostage Story (21:29–28:19)

• The Incident: During her senior year at NYU, Robin was held hostage at gunpoint in a wine bar.
  • “Time slows down when you’re in those kinds of traumas… I was my only companion.” – Robin (23:03)
• Humanizing the Perpetrator: She intentionally spoke in Spanish, seeking connection and calm in chaos.
• The Aftermath: PTSD and fear followed, but therapy, routine, and eventually running enabled her to process the trauma.
  • “Therapy and a longer to-do list as a distraction was a bandaid for like 18 months. Running became enough of a pressure release for me to start to process it.” – Robin (27:32)

Running as Spiritual Healing & Career Reinvention (28:19–37:33)

• Rediscovering Self Through Movement: Robin started running, completed 27 marathons, and describes endurance events as “spiritual reckoning.”
  • “There’s a spiritual reckoning that happens…You just have to face yourself. For better or for worse, usually for better, those experiences heal me, push me.” – Robin (29:38)
• Leaving Law for Passion: She left a successful legal career to pursue running, writing, and later, fitness instruction—despite cultural/family expectations.
  • “Coming from an immigrant background…they were both super supportive and also like, ‘are you insane?’” – Robin (33:36)
  • “Networking is planting seeds.” – Robin (31:28)
• Peloton Origin Story: A manifestation ritual (vision board), cold-emailing Peloton, and trusting instinct led to her breakthrough role.
  • “It wasn’t like I had this lockstep vision…You’re just creating it out of thin air based on values and gut instinct.” – Robin (36:17)

On Family, Joy, and Spiritual Partnerships (38:14–47:32)

• Daily Joy: Finds peak joy in intimate home moments and in personal athletic milestones.
  • “There’s the joy that is through discomfort and then there’s joy that I try to be super present in as it relates to my family.” – Robin (39:28)
• Love at First Sight: Robin met her husband, Drew, and knew within three days they’d marry.
  • “He said everybody else looked like they were in black and white, and I was in Technicolor.” – Robin (43:48)
  • *“Were you—when he proposed, was it an easy yes?“ “Yes. I said yes immediately. I was so certain.” – Robin (44:27)
• Motherhood Journey: Navigating IVF, early delivery, and finding meaning in chaos.
  • “I was like, I’m contracting? First time pregnancy, I didn’t know what I was doing. The doctor looks at my husband: ‘Today seems like a good day to have a baby.’” – Robin (46:22)
• Work-Family Balance: Chooses projects that align with her values so as not to “resent the time away from my family.” (48:28–48:38)

Project Swagger, Wellness, and Joyful Aging (49:03–51:30)

• Project Swagger Podcast: Robin describes her new podcast focused on mindset and practical wellness for busy women.
• Vitality Tips: Shared actionable wellness advice:
  • “Lift heavy, heavy, heavy, three times a week—non-negotiable.” – Robin (49:57)
  • “Rattling the age cage…What decision would you make if you were twice as bold and twice as confident?” – Robin (50:32, 51:21)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Kindness: “Do the thing, walk away. Someone will have that story they’re gonna tell over and over again because you did them a solid and didn’t wait around to see the thank you.” – Hoda (04:10)
• On Self-Discovery & Fitting In: “Your people won’t know how to find you if you don’t stay weird.” – Robin (11:55)
• On Trauma and Moving Forward: “I was really aware that something wrong happened to me, but I didn’t want my primary identity as a victim.” – Robin (28:12)
• On Joyful Aging: “You should be rattling the age cage. What decision would you make if you were twice as bold and twice as confident?” – Robin (50:32, 51:21)
• On Mary's Oliver’s Poem: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” – Hoda, quoting Mary Oliver (53:44)

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Timestamps of Significant Segments

• 00:10–04:10: Story of donut kindness and secret generosity
• 08:12–10:36: The joy and solidarity of New York City
• 11:55: The “stay weird” life lesson
• 16:07–16:29: Becoming a bridge builder and surprising herself
• 21:29–28:19: Hostage ordeal and aftermath, reframing trauma
• 29:38–30:59: The spiritual side of marathon running
• 32:00–34:12: Leaving law, taking career risks, familial pressure
• 36:32–37:33: Vision board manifestation and Peloton audition story
• 39:18–39:59: Small family joys and athletic accomplishments
• 43:48–44:36: Instant connection with her husband
• 46:01–46:42: Dramatic birth of her daughter, Athena
• 47:33–48:23: Releasing the pressure to “do the next thing”
• 49:03–51:21: Project Swagger, wellness philosophy, “rattle the age cage”

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Actionable Wisdom & Takeaways

• Small, anonymous acts of kindness can become life-altering for the recipient.
• “Staying weird” is essential for finding your true people and path.
• Self-talk can be our fiercest enemy or greatest ally, especially in moments of adversity.
• Life-defining events don’t have to define you as a victim – healing can mean reclaiming and transforming your story.
• Reinvention at any age is possible—be bold, plant seeds, and follow your gut.
• Practical joy is found in mundane moments—at home, in movement, in presence.
• Rattling the “age cage” means living more boldly, regardless of the number.

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Episode Closing

Hoda ends the episode by reflecting on Robin’s story with admiration—her capacity to turn trauma into transformation, the blend of discipline and whimsy, and her relentless optimism. She shares Mary Oliver’s poem “The Summer Day,” emphasizing the call to live your “one wild and precious life.”

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For more mindset transformation and practical joy, check out Robin’s podcast [Project Swagger] and follow her inspiring journey on Peloton and beyond.

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Transcript

[Host]

Foreign.

[Hoda Kotb]

So today I have something on my mind because I've been feeling that there's tons and tons of kindness that I'm noticing. And you know what's weird about kindness? Once you notice it, you see it everywhere. It's one of those things and you don't forget it. So this happened to me a while ago and it stuck with me. And it's one of those stories that I think to myself, like, it was a small thing, but it changed how I viewed things. So I was coming into my Upper west side apartment one day, and it was like one of those long days, and I hopped in the elevator, and this girl hops in the elevator with me, and she's wearing like an Oscar the Grouch hat, like, pulled down with like two eyes on top. And she was holding a box and kind of looking at the ground. And I go, oh. I go, God, that smells good. I said, what is? And she goes, oh, they're donuts. They're salted caramel. I was like, oh, my God, salted caramel. Like, there's nothing better than salted caramel donuts. And I'm just making conversation. She kind of keeps her head down, mutters a couple words, and then hops out on her floor. And then I hop out on my floor. So I forgot about it because it was a 10 second conversation. So the next day I come back to my apartment building and the doorman says, oh, you have a. And I was like, oh, okay. And I see the box and I recognize it. It's the same one that the girl had. And there was a note attached, and it said, hi, I was the one wearing the Oscar the Grouch hat in the elevator. You are admiring the donuts, the salted caramel, and the ones I had were already spoken for. So I went to Brooklyn and bought these for you. Okay. She went to Brooklyn and bought some salted caramel donuts for me, someone who she never met. And I thought to myself, being on the receiving end of an act of kindness and also one that someone's not waiting to see your reaction to was amazing. And it changed me. My best friend's name is Karen Swenson, and she. I think she's part saint, personally, but she does things like that all the time. I remember we were eating dinner together and she got up to go to the restroom, and I watched her walk over to the waitress, past a table full of. It looked like people who were in the armed services and they were wearing their uniforms. And she walked by, whispered something to the waitress and came back and sat down. And then I see the waitress walk over to that table, say something to them. The guys look around and say thank you, and walk out smiling. And I said, did you. Did you pay for that table? And she said, I don't know. Like, she'll never admit that she's done something like that because she thinks if you say it, then it sort of takes away the yay part of it. So one of the things I started trying to do with my kids was when we go out somewhere, a diner or whatever, spot somebody at a table, or preferably someone who's sitting alone, but spot somebody and go to the waitress, pick up her tab, and don't say a word. And my kids are always like, why can't we tell her? It's like, because sometimes you do things just because, not because of what someone's going to say or what someone's going to think, just because. So sometimes it's good to do things just because. So that's what I'm going to try to continue with my kids. Don't wait for the A. Don't wait for the Atta girl, the atta boy, or, wow, you did that for us. Who cares? Do the thing, walk away. And someone will have the story like I have about those salted caramel donuts. Someone's gonna have that story that they're gonna tell over and over again because you did them a solid and didn't wait around to see, like, what the thank you was. So I think life is pretty cool when we live that way. My guest today lives that way. Her name is Robin Arzon, and she is. I know her as a peloton instructor, but let me tell you something. That isn't even 1/100th of what Robyn does and what Robin is about. Robin has led this life that is so fascinating, that is filled with determination and the kind of person who doesn't quit, the kind of person who sees joy around every corner. I mean, you're not going to believe what I'm going to tell you right now, but this is something that happened in Robin's life and changed it. Robyn was enjoying a night out with friends at a wine bar. A guy with a gun walks in and uses Robyn as a human shield. Okay? She has this guy with a gun holding her hostage. What follows from that moment, which, I mean, she obviously survived, and it was a terrifying thing. And many people would have reverted into themselves and had. That would be their defining story of their life. That's not Robin's defining story. That's when her life changed. That's when she took a step outside of herself. That's when she made different choices. When you know your life has margins, you make different choices. You don't stay on the same old tired path. You say to yourself, wait, I have limited time here. What am I going to do with my time? Well, Robin has taken that time and turned it into something magical. I cannot wait for you to hear my my conversation with Robin Arzon.

[Robin Arzon]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Hoda Kotb]

Guaranteed Human Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb is presented by CVS.

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[Robin Arzon]

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[Hoda Kotb]

First of all, can we just say, because of the timing of this podcast, go New York.

[Robin Arzon]

Go New York, go.

[Hoda Kotb]

Have you ever felt the electricity in this city like you feel right now?

[Robin Arzon]

The collective effervescence? Like, I mean, it's so appropriate to be, you know, on a podcast that centers Joy because you walk around the streets of New York City, and I don't know what it's like to live in a small town in, like, middle America, but I think if you put a little bit of that kindness and that.

Yeah, I say that the city is. We're giving each other the benefit of the doubt.

[SpinQuest Advertiser]

Ooh.

[Robin Arzon]

And I think that that's something that we've lost.

[Hoda Kotb]

Say that again. Yeah, let's talk about that.

[Robin Arzon]

Right?

So it's like, you know, the person in front of you is rushing.

Like, you give them the benefit.

You know what, they're probably trying to get home to their kids or they have an important meeting. You hold the elevator door a little bit longer. You, you know, and I think that

that little bit of, you know, the city is. Is steeped in friction.

Like, that's just kind of what we do. But I believe that, like, that friction

is needed for the expansion. When we layer on collective effervescence and

a little bit more

belief in each other. Yeah, it's like there's no more perfect place.

[Hoda Kotb]

You know, when I moved to New York, I remembered thinking to myself, we're in a 1 mile swath of land, and in this tiny mile sits people from every country, every background, every religion, every everything. And I thought to myself, if New York City can work, then the world can work. Absolutely everything can work. And watching us now is beyond all of the things I love seeing a Wall street dude in a Patagonia vest high fiving a guy on a truck who's high fiving someone who they would never have interaction with. I mean, that's what Joy is.

[Robin Arzon]

Absolutely.

[Hoda Kotb]

All right, let's talk about you. Because I selected you for this podcast for a reason. So I've watched you. I've watched you on the peloton bike. I've listened to you speak and I thought to myself, this girl. At first I said, this girl must have had this charmed life. Nothing ever happened. She's so carefree. And it's the opposite of that, actually. So I want to talk about you as a little girl. For starters. Tell me, did you come into the world optimistic? Did you come into the world with belief that, yeah, I can do. I can do things?

[Robin Arzon]

I mean, my mom really modeled it. I think maybe it's partially genetic.

We are a little bit wired to

see things through rose tinted glasses.

My dad actually isn't like that at all.

And then I think I have a

little bit of, you know, his sass

and my mom's optimism.

And I was deeply, deeply shy as a kid. Like, I wanted to just be as beige as possible and like blend into the wallpaper. And it was my mom, actually. You know, I was in a Montessori, you know, preschool. And the, the instructor, the teacher came over to my mom after school one day and was like, hey, you know, she.

She doesn't speak to anyone. Like, we think you might have to

get her tested or something. And you know, this is before.

This is the 80s.

This is kind of before we really had an awareness of people being on the spectrum and things like that. And my mom was like, you know,

I just trust my kid to follow

her path and I'm not gonna then now over.

And she's a doctor, right?

So she's like, I'm not gonna over diagnose this. Yes. Let's just like, let her rock. Let her cook.

And when I was a preteen, I

remember, and I really had followed that

trend all through elementary school, super, super shy. And when I was a preteen, you

don't want nothing more than to fit in.

[CVS Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Robin Arzon]

And my mom told me the best advice I've ever received was just stay

weird because otherwise your people won't know how to find you.

And I was like, okay. So I actually started incorporating color and I wear yellow in my toughest peloton rides.

And that, like, yellow fixation really started as a teen when I started being

like, okay, like, maybe the world can see me.

[Hoda Kotb]

So who did you turn to when you were. Because kids have funky things going on. Who, who was your person?

[Robin Arzon]

I think my person really lived in my cousins. Right.

So I grew up in a Puerto

Rican and Cuban household, multi generations, all in one house.

I mean, it was the kind of like open door policy where you might

have somebody who's just like visiting from.

In Puerto Rico, Cuba, Argentina, Espana. Like, you didn't know who I was. Like, are they my brother, my cousin, my aunt? Like, I true. Half my childhood, I didn't even know my true connection with half the people in my house. I just knew, like, they were family.

[Domino's Advertiser]

They were you.

[Hoda Kotb]

They were your people.

[Robin Arzon]

So my cousins, I grew up with a whole crew of cousins all within, like, five years up or five years down from me. And they became.

[Hoda Kotb]

That's your world.

[Robin Arzon]

Yeah.

[Hoda Kotb]

I mean, when you're. You're. You're super smart. Obviously, you went to nyu, you graduated top your class or.

[Robin Arzon]

Yeah, magna, you know, whatever that is.

[Hoda Kotb]

Magna cum something. So what was the goal here? What was the goal? What'd you want to do with all that?

[Robin Arzon]

So I knew I wanted to.

I wanted to practice law since I was a kid.

My father was an attorney when I

was growing up, and he was a law professor. And I remember him grading law exams on.

In blue books.

And it's interesting now with AI that they're going back to blue books. I'm like, whoa, this is a remix.

But, yeah, I always was fascinated by.

I'm a Virgo.

I like a rule.

I like a list.

I like to know what is right and what is wrong. And I think in law school, it

was very revelatory to me to wrestle with that and be like, actually, there's a lot of ways to tell a story. And that. It was in law school that I started becoming fascinated with narrative and storytelling. And so that kind of informs a lot of what I've done since practicing law. But the, you know, in college, the goal was definitely, like, slay a law firm job.

[Hoda Kotb]

Was it more your dad? Was that more the reason, or did you really love all of that stuff you were soaking in?

[Robin Arzon]

I just loved wrestling with it.

I remember being on the debate team in high school and just having a stack of facts and being like, how

can I make this make sense?

[Domino's Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Hoda Kotb]

So were you when you. You talk about being painfully shy. Were you happy when you had to go to school? Did you want to go?

[Robin Arzon]

I loved school.

Like, I love books.

I love syllabus.

I love. I mean, I honestly, like, my husband makes fun of me because I was the kid who get their syllabus in July for school and, like, start reading the books before Labor Day. Like, who does that?

[Duracell Advertiser]

You?

[Robin Arzon]

I am. I was so into that. I. I loved school.

[Domino's Advertiser]

So it.

[Robin Arzon]

Being in the classroom, I adored, but it was like the small moments of. Oh, I remember like, like, like the moment carrying your tray to a cafeteria table and not. No, no, I hated it.

You hated it, because it was the moment where you had to, like, insert

yourself into a social situation.

Like those moments, like walking into the playground and being like, am I going to go here?

Am I going to go here?

And I wasn't, you know, I have to say, like, it wasn't like I had some tortured childhood where I was

made fun of all the time, but I create in my own head, I created these tensions.

[Hoda Kotb]

By the way, I think this is so interesting because if someone's listening and has a kid, who is that kid? Sometimes you think, well, is this child going to go down this path and be this way? Well, clearly something happened to you because you went from that girl to this girl. Was there a moment in high school, in college, where you just cracked out and said, you know what? I don't, you know, I'm. I'm gonna be. I'm gonna be who I am. Weird. All the things your mom suggested, I

[Robin Arzon]

remember, you know, there was a pivotal moment, and it kind of feels like

a 90s Rom com or something, but I was super unexpectedly nominated for homecoming

queen in high school.

And I was like, homecoming queen.

Like, I wasn't, like, I didn't, you

know, I had friends, but I wasn't like the most.

That one, you know, beloved girl in school.

And I was like.

And then I realized it's because I

had so many different groups of friends.

Because I, I was truly friends with

like the sporty kid and the nerdy

kid and the yearbook kid and the.

And I was the after school participant.

Like, I wanted to sign up for everything.

And I was like, oh, I have a lot of different groups of friends. I'm like a bridge builder.

And I ended up winning home and queen at Abington Senior High School. And that really was a turning point for me because I was like, I had.

I didn't see myself that way at all.

[Hoda Kotb]

So when it was the. There's probably what, three of you waiting when they call out the person. What did you think when they, when they said your name?

[Robin Arzon]

It was like, it was the first time I had won anything. It was the first time I had

been seen for anything.

I mean, truly, like, I, I'm such

a. I really am an introverted, like, energetic, energetically.

And.

But it was, that was in that

moment that I was like, oh, it's both. And like, I can, I can step

on a stage and learn to be

[Hoda Kotb]

literate in that boy and to be somebody who doesn't expect it, who finds yourself there. Okay, so did being in the spotlight make you feel good? Did it make you feel weird?

[Robin Arzon]

I think especially then it was both, yeah.

But also I was able to see

myself through the community's eyes a little bit.

I was like, oh, there's so and so and there's so and so.

And the reason, you know, it's, you know, those voting things are really just like a numbers game. And I was like, oh, the reason I won this wasn't because I'm so grand or special, it's because I cast a wide net. And that was interesting to me.

[Hoda Kotb]

So you're like, oh, this is part of my thing. I'm going to tell you something super weird. So in high school I was very similar to you. And it was homecoming and they nominated Cameron Demaine, gorgeous. Margie Ianni, gorgeous. Somebody else gorgeous. And me, I was like, I was like, My brother was like, what?

[Robin Arzon]

Why?

[Hoda Kotb]

I go, I actually don't know. I don't know. And then they said, my brother, I still remember my brother was there, my dad was working, my brother was there with me and he goes, where do we go when we lose? I go, I think we go left, I think, because that's what I was thinking because he was always worried about like, where do we go? How do we get out of here? And literally they called my name. There was a picture of my brother looking at me like, shock her. And me too. Like me. And you realize because true. When you are in sports with the popular kids, with the after school kids.

[CVS Advertiser]

That's interesting.

[Robin Arzon]

Wow, that's such a power.

[Hoda Kotb]

I wonder how many people have something similar who wound up in this way. Because you can't just be in a narrow lane, you've got to broaden out.

[Robin Arzon]

Correct.

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[Hoda Kotb]

Presented by CVS hey, it's Ryan Reynolds

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[Glenn Washington]

There's a reason they say snap judgment changed the sound of storytelling. The stories, the music, the voice in the dark heard on NPR stations across the country. Time called it one of the best 100 podcasts ever. The kind of stories you can't wait to tell somebody. Snap Judgment from kqed New episodes drop every Thursday wherever you get your podcast.

[Hoda Kotb]

One of the things about your story Sorry, I didn't know this. Maybe I'm the only one. And I want our listeners to know this story too. You're in a wine bar. Please tell me the story because I feel like in everyone's life there is a singular moment and we all have many of them. But this one in particular that could either break you as a human being or transform you into something else. Either you're going to go down a road that's going to be dark and terrible, or you're going to take this and turn it into something. Tell me about what happened in the wine.

[Robin Arzon]

So I was in. I was at nyu.

I was entering my senior year at

nyu, meeting girlfriends after my internship. I was working at a law firm at the time. It's Friday afternoon or Friday early evening. And I go to meet them at

this wine bar in the East Village. It's still there. It's called Barvaloche.

Very cute Italian wine bar. They serve, like, tapa or like pizza or whatever. And I was the. I was sitting in the first stool closest to the entryway, and I hear gunshots.

A man walks in saying that he'd been shot.

And I look, I'm looking at him like, is this. Because this is kind of when those prank shows were very popular and, like, reality TV was kind of very pervasive.

And I are starting to become very pervasive.

And I thought, is this like a

TV show or something? Like, this feels so bizarre.

But then the man walked in.

The perpetrator walked in with the gun,

you know, saying that people were going

to leave in body bags. That was the first sentence that he uttered when we walked in there. And I was like, okay, this is not a joke.

And time slows down when you're in those kind of traumas. Like if, you know, hopefully nobody's ever been through that, but, you know, a car accident, something like somebody's in a hospital.

Like, you start. You. Your body is. Your processing speed is literally different, chemically different.

And I.

It was the first time that I

was confronted with self talk.

Like, we.

We've had. We all have self talk, you know, right. 60 to 100,000 thoughts a day.

Yeah.

But in that moment, I was.

I was my only companion.

And I was. I remember talking myself through, like, he

basically snatched me from the stool into this back dishwashing area.

[Hoda Kotb]

Where he took you?

[Robin Arzon]

He grabbed me.

Yeah.

So I was like his mate.

There were probably like 15, 17 people in the bar.

And it was a narrow walkway, so the entryway was the only way out and the only way in, only way

out of this, you know, establishment.

And so he grabbed everybody, ran back

into that kitchen, which was a dead end.

[Hoda Kotb]

Oh, God.

[Robin Arzon]

You know, except for like a tiny little window. And he grabs me.

And I remember speaking to myself, thinking,

just saying like, my first refrain was, this is really happening.

Yeah, this is really happening.

Like, this is really happening right now. And then time slowed down even more, and I. I mean, I remember having

super panicked breath, but at some point, you just deal with what's in front of you. Like, it.

It's not just some heroic thing.

Right.

It's not like.

And all of a sudden, I, you

know, was 10ft tall, and I was super brave.

I wasn't. I was just dealing what was directly in front of me. And what was directly in front of me was this man holding a gun, a sword.

[Hoda Kotb]

Oh, jeez.

[Robin Arzon]

Kerosene covered us in kerosene. Had me.

Had me tie people up with zip ties.

[CVS Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Robin Arzon]

And then I'm. Then he basically grabs me again. By this point, the NYPD are outside, and it becomes a full, you know,

hour plus long hostage negotiation between my utilizing my cell phone to the NYPD

outside and then he and I having side conversations, basically.

[Hoda Kotb]

What were you saying?

[Robin Arzon]

Well, he started speaking to me in Spanish, and I replied in Spanish. And it turns out that he was black, and either Dominican and Puerto Rico or Puerto Rican, and his wife had just died. We're talking about his family.

He was a father.

And so I remember very intentionally trying

to humanize the situation and being like, my name's Robin. Like, there are people here who also have families.

Like, you know, and.

And the people behind me started to

settle a little bit.

[Glenn Washington]

Yeah.

[Robin Arzon]

Yeah.

Like, they weren't wailing and screaming anymore once he and I were talking.

[SpinQuest Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Robin Arzon]

And it was still obviously, like, very

heavily charged, but it was. It.

It had, like, more of a hum to it. And it was in that moment that the. A woman and Margaret, who was sitting

in the wash basin slightly elevated from us, jumped him from behind. The NYPD rush in.

[Hoda Kotb]

Oh, my gosh.

[Robin Arzon]

That is how it. That's how it ends. Four people were shot, but nobody died.

Unbelievable.

[Hoda Kotb]

Okay, so you leave that horrible setting.

[Robin Arzon]

Yeah.

[Hoda Kotb]

And that's PTSD right there. That's a lifetime of I almost died. That's a lifetime of, here they come again, Someone's coming for me. It's a lifetime of that.

[Robin Arzon]

Yeah.

[Hoda Kotb]

You did something because you could have become. You could have become her, that person. Then you'd be telling me that story right now in a way that be. That was different. What did you do? How did you kind of turn the beat around?

[Robin Arzon]

Well, I was like, I want to. Whatever I got to do, I'm going

to heal from this.

Like, it was like Project Healing, which

obviously comes on its own timeline.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah.

[Robin Arzon]

But NYU was super supportive.

I went to therapy. I was back at school the next semester. And that structure really helped me, you know, trying to get back into routine,

but living in New York City.

I remember I was living in the Village at the time and the first time I was going to get back on the.

The train at the West 4th street station, like, not being able to walk downstairs because I was like, oh, I'm going to be down underground.

And like, what if I can't get out?

And there was this fear that, you

know, I still, like, I will know

an exit in every single room I'm

in the day I die.

Like, that's just now how I'm wired. But it really. So that, that was. That probably was a band aid, you know, therapy and kind of routine and a longer to do list as a

distraction was a band aid for like 18 months.

And then I was in law school. The foul, you know, the following year,

and with the acute stresses of law

school, it was like, yeah, it was just too much. It was just gonna break.

And that's when I started incorporating running. And movement became enough of a pressure

release for me to start to process it.

And I remember just having flashes of the experience. Like, I'd be, you know, running, and I started very slowly running during law school, but I would be on these runs and I would just have flashes of the experience and be like, wow,

I didn't even remember that.

And I just had to befriend myself. And I was really aware that I didn't.

Something wrong happened to me.

[Mint Mobile Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Robin Arzon]

But I didn't want to become this. My primary identity as a victim. Like, I just couldn't do it.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah. So you ran. Now, you weren't an athlete, so running wasn't your bag. But you started, you ran what, a little bit. And then a little bit.

[Robin Arzon]

Like, I ran to school, you know, from my apartment to the law school campus. And then I did a 10k and almost didn't finish.

And I was wearing, like, Keds. I mean, it was all just. The fact that I do this for a living is a joke. Like, I didn't know what I was

[Hoda Kotb]

doing at the end. You ran what, 20 plus marathons?

[Robin Arzon]

Yes, 27 marathons.

[Hoda Kotb]

27.

[Robin Arzon]

This November, New York City will be.

[Hoda Kotb]

You're running another one. You're not even done running.

[Robin Arzon]

9th New York City marathon.

[Hoda Kotb]

Girl, I thought that was a chapter in the past. You're still running marathons?

[Robin Arzon]

Yeah, I mean, I haven't done it in five years. I haven't done it since my daughter

was nine months old.

And I kind of, you know, I don't believe.

I think that we can evolve into all different chapters. Right.

It wasn't like I have to run

a marathon every year to prove anything,

but I started to crave it again. Yeah, you did. Yeah.

[Hoda Kotb]

So tell me about that. Once you've accomplished and accomplished it again and again and again, what gives you that itch to do it? Like, what's the motivation?

[Robin Arzon]

I think that there is specifically with

endurance marathons, ultramarathons, and I'm sure any endurance athlete of any kind will.

Will understand what I'm saying.

There's like a. There's like a. I mean this might be. This is gonna sound really intense.

There's kind of like a spiritual reckoning that happens when you're in that and you just have to face yourself. And for better or for worse, usually

for better, those experiences

heal me, push me, heal me. Yeah.

So I'm going back into the ring, by the way.

[Hoda Kotb]

That's pretty beautiful. Tell me about the spiritual piece of it, because that's huge.

[Robin Arzon]

You don't run from your self talk. Yeah.

And then usually I have this, this,

the arc is like, I'm feeling so good, I'm feeling so good.

And then physically it's like I'm feeling so bad. And then you start thinking, you know, then you start tuning, you know, trying to distract. And whether it's a song or whether it's a mantra, and that only goes so far. And then you get into your self

talk and then, then for me, I've

done it enough times where I start

to unpack my self talk and sometimes like this persistent inner critic comes up and usually my catharsis through that becomes

some kind of like spiritual like then it's like my self talk isn't to me.

It's kind of like to this broader spiritual conversation.

And you know, I'm not saying every 10 mile run ends with this like,

[Hoda Kotb]

but you know, but when you're right,

[Robin Arzon]

a lot of times does.

Right.

[Hoda Kotb]

It's not physical anymore, it's not emotional anymore. It's more, it's more than all.

[Robin Arzon]

Yeah, it's like a metaphysical thing for me.

[Hoda Kotb]

So corporate law, Yay. Look at you. You did all the things and you're like, you know what? I don't think so. I mean, we talk about repotting here a lot. It's like you, your roots are in deep and all of a sudden you're going to yank yourself up. Your roots are up in the air going, oh crap, man, I need. Am I going to die up here? And then you get put in this mineral rich soil, which is where you landed. Why did you pull yourself out of corporate law and tell me about how you landed?

[Robin Arzon]

Oh my gosh, what a beautiful analogy. I Call networking, planting seeds.

Because that felt better than, like, going to a happy hour and, like, pestering

people and telling them about business. But yes, during that period, I was slowly but consistently getting uncomfortable in these

races and falling in love with running.

And I was also part of a community where I call them like they would call.

They're called the New York City Bridge Runners.

They still gather in downtown New York.

And it was just a group of misfits, right?

Like DJs and artists and graffiti artists and folks who are just maybe not

considered your typical athlete.

And they were.

They really introduced me to the running

world in a way that was unconventional. And I was like, oh, I can do this.

I can do unconventional.

And that allowed me to start to write a story that was so unexpected, even to me.

And I thought, okay.

I was noticing that brands like Nike and Adidas were, you know, working with a lot of the New York City Bridge Runners and a lot of these athletes for campaigns.

And I was like, oh, there's a story here. Not only is there a story here,

there's a commercial appetite for this point

of view in movement.

So I started. I had a Tumblr initially, and then, you know, it was blogging and doing,

like, you know, freelance little articles and things for whatever publication would take me. And.

And then it started becoming branded work. And that was when influencer marketing was

kind of starting to become a thing within the marketing canon.

And I was very grateful to be

a part of it, because once I

started being able to pay my rent

with things that I loved, namely running and talking about running and taking photos

running, it became an entry point into

a brand new life.

[Hoda Kotb]

And it wasn't scary to leave law behind.

[Robin Arzon]

Terrifying, yeah, it was terrifying.

And coming from a Puerto Rican and

Cuban background, coming from an immigrant background,

my mother is a Cuban refugee.

They were both super supportive and also

like, are you insane?

Like, do you know what our family

has given up for you to have a steady anything?

And I promised them I would never

ask them for a dime. And I made good on that promise. And it was. There were a lot of leaps of faith, though. Like, I remember two weeks before the London Olympic Games in 2012, I had quit my law job, and I made these little tiny. These little tiny cards with my.

One of my Instagram photos, my Instagram

handle, my phone number and my email.

And I thought, I don't even know who I'm gonna give these to, but

these little business cards I'm just gonna

put in my back pocket.

And I was in a Nike store.

And Mark Parker, former CEO of Nike, walks in and said, hey, you have great style. You should. You should do something with that.

And I was like, funny you ask,

[Hoda Kotb]

wait, what are you talking about?

[Robin Arzon]

And then I gave my business card. And then.

And then a few weeks later, I

got a call from an agency running Nike Women.

Like, the Nike women was their client.

[HomeServe Advertiser]

Right.

[Robin Arzon]

And I got a job from the

marketing agency to work with Nike women.

[Hoda Kotb]

So you went to the Olympics?

[Robin Arzon]

I went. I slept on my friend's couch for three weeks. You went and I went.

And I talked to athletes who now, you know, I know and are my friends.

But it was like I was just

thirsty to be around it.

I would just want.

I just knew I had to be there.

[Hoda Kotb]

By the way, just that showing up, like, showing up is half of everything. The fact that you had little business cards in your pocket, you went to the Nike store. I mean, nothing's going to happen in your apartment. You know, you. Nothing is going to happen. So you knew that you were on the right path. So peloton comes from where in this equation?

[Robin Arzon]

Read about peloton. And I had done a vision board earlier that year. So I basically, I left the agency job because I realized, oh, after about six months, I realized I love storytelling around movement, especially, like, a female in

an urban environment's point of view. And.

But I wasn't seeing myself in that story. Like, this still feels divorced from what I'm experiencing. And I knew that I wanted to

be the one participating in the storytelling

directly, not, like, through somebody else's Twitter account or whatever. And even if it's an established brand.

So I had more time on my hands.

I quit the agency job, which actually was scarier than quitting the law job,

because I thought I found my perfect job. And then realizing that in quick succession

that it's not the perfect job. I was like, oh, my God, am

I just going to be this listless,

like, person who can't keep a career? And it was interesting because there was no. It wasn't. Like, I had this lockstep vision.

Like, I just had to get into this next one rung of the ladder. Like, I didn't.

Didn't even see the ladder.

You're just creating it out of thin air based on values and gut instinct. Like what? And gut instinct at, like, 28 years old, like, in the world. So that felt very untethered. And I read about.

I had done a vision board, which

is part of one of the things

that I do when I'm feeling untethered.

It's just like, let's try to grab

on to a word, a feeling, a noun, herb.

Something that will help me feel like

I'm crystallizing the vision. And in the business quadrant of the

vision board, I had a picture of

a little Apple computer and I put disruptive storytelling. And I didn't know like really what that even meant.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah.

[Robin Arzon]

But then I read the article about

Peloton and it was like, this is

going to be connected bike.

And they were going to try to

be global based in New York City. You were like this.

And I was like, this sounds like it.

Because I had been teaching at a

local spin studio simply because I was bored.

Like, I was like, I don't. I have too much time in my day.

I just need to do something with this. So I was teaching at a local

stage spin studio called Revolving Union Square, which is still there.

So darling.

But I sent a cold email to the company and to Peloton. I said it was [e-mail] and I sent a cold email and I was.

I was brought in for an audition

and I had a contract by that Friday.

[Hoda Kotb]

By the way. Your whole just your path. If anyone's listening and thinking, I don't know what to do. And you just start to do things. It doesn't the vision board just throw. Just show up, try. I mean, sending a cold email without having any connection and winding up where you are. So you, you hit all these notes. You wind up at this place. So you are in so many places. I see you on Good Morning America. I see you here, I see you there. So when were you or when are. When are you the most joyful? Like, because sometimes some of the most successful people I know are the least joyful. They're like, you know, they're always mad about something. Something happened to their million dollar mansion.

[CVS Advertiser]

They're mad.

[Hoda Kotb]

Everybody's mad. It's like, when for was that or is that time?

[Robin Arzon]

Okay, it's probably.

I can think of two examples from just this morning.

And they're very different.

The first being in what I call

like the bubble of my apartment with my kids and my family.

Like having little moments where, you know,

they're a little too quiet.

I have a five year old and

a three year old.

There were. When kids are. When young kids are quiet, it's probably bad.

[Duracell Advertiser]

Okay.

[Robin Arzon]

They're probably like writing with marker on your wall. So I walk into the room and they're read.

They're like pouring over a book together.

They're literally my daughter is reading and I say that in air quotes because she's just starting to read to my son.

And I was like.

And I like just backpedaled out of there.

Like, do you?

That's amazing.

So glimmers like that, like just joy, like, wow.

And then the other side of it, I did a 60 minute hit run

with Bex on the peloton tread and

you know, for the first time in a long time was able to max

out the speed on the tread for a sprint, which is super, super fast for me. And I thought, oh my gosh, that's joy. Like my body can do that. There were so many moments in my

life when I never thought that was

even physically possible, not even possible.

And so there's the joy that is

through discomfort and then there's the joy that I try to be super present

in as it relates to my family.

[CVS Advertiser]

You know, those quick CVS runs we all make, they're starting to feel like more than just a stop along the way, you know, it's really about showing up for life's little moments and big ones too, and helping you feel your best along the way and making every visit feel easy, a little more rewarding and something you can feel good about inside and out. It kind of feels like CVS is becoming that place where you can take care of everything in one trip. Whether it's something you need for your health, something that makes life easier, easier, or even something that just lifts your mood. There's a mix of everyday essentials and those little feel good discoveries. So it's not just functional, it actually feels more personal and joyful. A big part of that experience comes from what you find across CVS store brands. You've got everything from everyday essentials that help you feel your best to those things you didn't even know you needed. And when you discover them, it creates those small feel good moments throughout the store in those seasonal finds, those little treats or something thoughtful you grab for yourself or somebody else. It can turn a quick CVS run into something more. Those little moments of joy can lift your day, help you feel better, and even help you feel more connected. Whether they're big or small. Visit your local CVS pharmacy.

[Hoda Kotb]

Presented by CVS.

[Robin Arzon]

Hey everybody.

[Lady Luck]

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[Glenn Washington]

I'm Glenn Washington, host of Snap Judgment, the award winning storytelling podcast from kqed. And every week Snap deals a new card. Like jumping on Rihanna's private plane or the accidental bank robber or even the man who was swallowed by a hippo.

[SpinQuest Advertiser]

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[Glenn Washington]

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[Hoda Kotb]

Can we talk about just quickly? Your husband and kids. You met your husband. How many days did you guys know?

[Robin Arzon]

Three days.

[Hoda Kotb]

And then that was it.

[Robin Arzon]

That was it.

Come on, how we met 10 years

ago this past May.

[Hoda Kotb]

But how did you, like, tell me what happened in those three days that, that you had the certainty? Because now they say you got to find out about this. You got to find out. There's like a million things. A friend once told me, you have to go through four seasons so you can see what they're like. And stress. How come three days was enough?

[Robin Arzon]

I was probably older by the standard of most dating. I was in my mid-30s and I had gone through this period where I was finally feeling some flow, you know,

on the professional end.

Felt like I'd landed at Peloton, written my first book, you know, New York

Times bestseller, all that.

And I was just like, praying when

I say, like on my knees praying, like, where is he?

And then I had to like, loosen the reins on that. And I was like, fine, I'm just going to try to become who I

[Hoda Kotb]

would date and wait, try to become.

[Robin Arzon]

I'm going to try to become who I would date. Like, just fall in love, romanticize the little things, right?

Like the cup of tea, the.

You know, you just have to like, romanticize your life. I'm so into that. And the accidental meeting of my husband. You know, my girlfriend Lynette was like,

hey, let's go out. And I don't drink.

I don't even want to be out past 9pm I'd so much rather be in bed.

But I was like, okay, girl, fine.

I'll meet you in these village.

And so we go out. My husband walks into the bar and he's. He said everybody else looked like they were in black and white, and I was in Technicolor.

And it was just truly like this lightning feeling, like, oh my gosh, that's him.

Like, my pupils were just focused on this man. And we had a date the following day. And then he takes me on Saturday

to Proposal Bridge in Central Park. He's like, you know, people get engaged.

And I was like, hahaha.

Okay.

And then the next morning, he woke

up and he got a ring.

[Hoda Kotb]

Are you kidding me right now?

[Robin Arzon]

No, no, that was 10 years ago.

[Hoda Kotb]

Were you. When he proposed, was it an easy yes?

[Robin Arzon]

Yes. I said yes immediately.

I was like, yeah, let's do this. Let's go, let's rock.

Okay.

I was so certain.

We were both so certain.

And I.

We are both very spiritual people.

We believe that we had past lives together. And then we realized all these connections,

all these things and all these beliefs

that like, you know, he was sharing

and I was sharing that we had

never really uttered to other people.

And we were like, wow, we're really.

I mean, the synergy was like, beyond magic.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah.

[Robin Arzon]

You know, and then of course, there's

tons of practical elements. I totally get like four seasons with someone that's very practical. We were kind of just like, we're all in, and then we're gonna build

on top of that.

[Hoda Kotb]

Well, you don't live your life in a practical way, which is why you are where you are in terms of the success. Your kids having children. Was that something you had dreamt of? Was that something you struggled to do? Did it come easy?

[Robin Arzon]

Tell me it was a dream.

Yeah, I had.

Drew and I had frozen embryos.

You know, we met and I was

already in my late 30s when we

really were like, okay, this is.

You know, we met and had.

We had this whirlwind romance, and then

like two years later, we had a

wedding in front of my family.

And so then things kind of took

a more traditional timeline, so we froze embryos. And it was during the pandemic that

I was like, all right, let's just do this. Let's just try. Yeah.

And thankfully, you know, Athena was able

to come to the world super healthy. She was born three weeks early.

And so that was.

That was scary.

I actually just told Her.

I just shared with her the story.

So Beyonce's song, Love on Top, was the song that I would play with

her, play for her while she was singing in utero with the little headphones that you put on somebody's belly. And she didn't move one morning. Like, she didn't respond.

And it was immediately to the doctor, and they did a ultrasound.

They're like, yeah, she's. She looks like she's okay, but you're actually contracting, and she's not doing well with the contraction.

I was like, I'm contracting.

Like, oh, first time pregnancy. I didn't know what I was doing. And the doctor looks at my husband.

He said, today seems like a good

day to have a baby.

And he looked like the Roadrunner.

You know those old school cartoons where the eyeballs fly, roll onto the floor? That was my husband. So we had a baby that day even though he didn't even have his wallet. We thought we were going to, like, brunch. Like, we didn't know what.

[Hoda Kotb]

Thank God.

[CVS Advertiser]

Beyonce.

[Hoda Kotb]

Love on Top. No, no, for real. The perception.

[Robin Arzon]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then the testing that they did

later, they were like, no, that was. You probably had, like, 12 hours to, like, make that choice. Oh, my gosh. It was very serious.

[Hoda Kotb]

Okay, so Athena came. Did you want another child quickly after?

[Robin Arzon]

Yeah, I did. I wanted them to be within a

few years of apart.

My sister and I are five years apart, and we're very, very close now,

but our childhoods were a little disparate.

And.

Yeah, and now they're My. My son and daughter are really best friends.

Little best friends. So what.

[Hoda Kotb]

What motivates you these days to write the next book? Because, look, we were saying every time you do write a book, someone's like, when's your next one? You're like, I'm doing this on Dancing with Stars. When's the next. You're like, girl, stop. Like, I'm here right now. But what is on your list? And does having that list bring you some kind of joy?

[Robin Arzon]

You know, what's like that.

It's actually a conversation that I have with Ali Love, who I know you're close with. You know, she asked me once, how

do you want to spend every day for the next two years? And it just floored me because it

wasn't like, in 15 years.

It was like, no, like the mundane. How do you want to spend the ordinary moments?

And that really helped ground me because

I am an ambitious person, and I owe.

And I do have that ambitious flaw, I guess, of being Onto the.

Not even celebrating the win.

Right. And they're already on to the next thing.

And I recently released a cookbook in March of 2026, and so that was

a New York Times bestseller. I was so grateful for that.

And I kind of have let things breathe. And by breathe, I mean, you know, still a very robust daily schedule, but

in terms of, like, a creative process,

I'm kind of letting it breathe.

[Hoda Kotb]

Good for you.

[Robin Arzon]

Focusing on my podcast, Project Swagger, my peloton work.

I've got some branded partnerships, of course,

I've got racing, but I'm not feeling the pressure to, like, check the next

thing off the box because I never want to resent the time away from my family.

[CVS Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Robin Arzon]

And when I know I'm working on

a project that is super hard work,

requires grit, but I'm proud of the output, I can justify that time away. And when I see the friction or

I feel like, ugh, I don't want

to do it, and it's coming from a place of, like, resentment, I know

that the intention might be misaligned in terms of the choice to do that project.

[Hoda Kotb]

Tell me about Project Swagger. Because you only take things you love, so this is something you love. Tell me about this.

[Robin Arzon]

So Project Swagger is my weekly podcast,

and it's 30 minutes or less of mindset tips, hot takes on wellness. Like, just kind of trying to cut

through the noise for the busy person.

Often a woman.

Yeah.

You know, in her 30s, 40s, 50s, and beyond, who wants to. Who already knows, like, to drink the

water and have the greens and go to bed and. But it's like, how do we then

truly optimize our lives with intention rather

than getting wrapped up in optimization culture?

[CVS Advertiser]

What are some good.

[Hoda Kotb]

I mean, as we're kind of wrapping up, what are some good takeaways from that? Because I think that's so important. People listening to this are hungry for that too. And you're right, they're getting their sleep, they're eating their greens, and sometimes they still feel kind of. It's like I'm doing the things I don't feel great.

[Robin Arzon]

Yeah.

Well, two things right off the bat.

Lift heavy, heavy, heavy.

Three times a week.

Non negotiable and heavy.

Meaning that last one or two reps should feel disrespectful. And I'm a firm proponent of 20

grams of creatine a day. Creatine across.

But 20 grams?

[Hoda Kotb]

How much is in a. In one of those gum? Oh, okay. I do the gummy.

[Robin Arzon]

Yeah.

So I, I will.

Super Dose my creatine across. Yeah. Almost three or four Stanley cups.

So lots of water. You know, you definitely don't want to increase your water intake. And I think the self talk, I'm

all about rattling the age cage.

[CVS Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Robin Arzon]

And I see a lot on social media.

Or you're.

I'll meet, you know, members in the

peloton studio and I'll hear an offside

comment of like, oh, I'm too old for that now.

And that person will be like 35. What are you talking about?

I think, I think that we just have to. And I think the narrative is shifting for sure. And we have a ton of examples

now of folks who are just doing iconic things in every, every decade of life.

But it's important to watch how you can observe it.

Right.

You can see you can like a

tick tock or like an Instagram story

and be like, yeah, that person's awesome.

But then when you're in the throes

of it, yeah, you're making a choice

that you feel is bold.

It's like, oh, is this pushing the boundaries of who I am at 40

or 50 or 60? And it's like, yes, it should. You should be rattling the age cage. Like, what decision?

And this is a question that I

would related to the self talk that

I would ask your listeners.

What decision would you make if you were twice as bold and twice as confident?

Because it's like that version of yourself

is just waiting to be let out of a cage.

[Hoda Kotb]

Girl, let's end there. Love you, Robin. Let us out of our cage, girl. So don't you love Robin, Arzan? I mean, just I think about all of the hurdles that she's overcome and how she like leads with such sort of optimism, ambition, all the things I still can't get over. The fact that she was grabbed in a New York wine bar and held hostage for hours and somehow at the end of it turned that horrific experience into a life changing moment that would propel her also. You know what else I love about her? She's very disciplined. Yet she met her husband and three days later they were engaged. Okay, so you like, you gotta love a girl with whimsy. You gotta love a girl who works hard and there's discipline in there and it's all beautiful. And I think for Robin, you know, I love a poem. And for Robin, I think it's Mary Oliver for her. So this is the one that I feel like fits Robin. It's called the Summer Day. Who made the world, who made the swan and the black bear. Who made the grasshopper? This grasshopper? I mean the one who's flung herself out of the grass. The one who's eating sugar out of my hand. Who's moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down. Who's gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes. Now she shifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face. And now she snaps her wings open and floats away. I don't know exactly what a prayer is. I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields, which is what I've been doing all day. So here's the best part of this poem. You ready? Tell me, what else should I have done? Doesn't everything die at last and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? I want to read that last line again. Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? Mary Oliver we all get one wild and precious life. All right, let's live it.

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[Hoda Kotb]

Presented by cvs.

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[Glenn Washington]

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[Robin Arzon]

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[HomeServe Advertiser]

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[Hoda Kotb]

So good.

[Domino's Advertiser]

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[Robin Arzon]

No, I got it.

[Hoda Kotb]

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[Robin Arzon]

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Oh, don't be silly. You don't be silly.

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Okay.

[Robin Arzon]

Rock, paper, scissors for it.

[Hoda Kotb]

Rock, paper, scissors.

[HomeServe Advertiser]

Shoot. No.

[Domino's Advertiser]

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[Robin Arzon]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.