Podcast Summary: “Maury Povich and Connie Chung Love Each Other to Death”
Pablo Torre Finds Out | The Athletic
Date: December 4, 2025
Host: Pablo Torre
Guests: Maury Povich & Connie Chung
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This episode is a captivating, candid, and often hilarious joint conversation with Maury Povich and Connie Chung—media legends, longtime spouses, and cultural icons. Hosted by Pablo Torre, it dives into their enduring marriage (complete with its current ups-and-downs), their separate and intertwined careers in media, reflections on the state of journalism and news, and some unexpected stories, including smoking the “Connie Chung” strain of cannabis. It's a rare, behind-the-curtain examination of public and private lives, legacy, and love, told with honesty and wit.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Setting the Scene: Marriage, Podcasts, and Spades (02:24–07:07)
- Format: Maury arrives first and Pablo explains the structure—first Maury, then Connie, then both, then just Connie.
- Current State: Maury jokingly admits, “We are in the we don’t like each other stage right now...We love each other to death, but, quite frankly, there are times we do not like each other. And I think this is one of those times.” (04:41)
- Career Life: Both guests are described as hyper-accomplished and busy, which contributes to their occasionally fraught dynamic.
- Noteworthy Detail: Maury and Pablo teamed up and “beat the draws off” Nick Cannon in a game of spades, joking about Cannon’s prolific personal life:
- Maury: “He's some entrepreneur...he is huge.”
- Pablo: “The guy is in all fields. Prolific.”
- Maury (laughing): “Especially when he’s counting up his five-year-olds and three-year-olds.” (07:26)
2. Gambling, Integrity, and Sports (08:09–12:15)
- Discussion: Pablo and Maury riff on gambling in sports and the temptation for athletes to influence outcomes (“the incentive is so appealing”).
- Maury’s Legacy: Athletes, including Shaquille O’Neal and NFL players, would bet amongst themselves about the outcomes of Maury’s paternity reveals, sometimes refusing to leave the locker room before seeing who the father was.
- Maury: “They want to get out on the field, and they won’t come out till they find out who the father is.” (11:32)
3. Connie Arrives: Marriage Dynamics in Real Time (12:19–14:44)
- On-Screen Dynamic: Upon Connie’s entrance, the “we don’t like each other” motif continues with playful barbs.
- Connie: “That’s absolutely true, Pablo. I had a few meltdowns with Maury this past weekend.” (10:45)
- Maury: “Why do you like him [Pablo] so much?” Connie: “He is really smart. He’s cool. He’s got a sense of humor.” (14:47)
- Mutual Respect: Despite the sparring, both express underlying respect for each other's accomplishments.
4. Careers in Journalism & Shifts in Media (16:21–24:01)
- Maury as History Buff: Maury describes his interest in political and economic history, currently reading “1929.”
- News Culture Change: Connie critiques the shift from fact-based reporting to opinion-dominated news. She laments the loss of editorial independence and the negative impact of corporate acquisitions on journalistic standards.
- “The paradigm has completely changed in news and we have so much opinion that the truth doesn’t hold value anymore.” (20:30)
- About CBS: “CBS has now been taken over thanks to greedy owners...their greed has caused the venerable CBS to actually disassemble.” (21:28)
- Autonomy & Watchdog Role:
- “We reporters are watchdogs of government. It’s our job to report information that is not fed to us.” (22:47)
5. Confronting Power: Trump, Loyalty Tests, and Newsroom Integrity (24:10–29:36)
- Connie’s 1990 Trump Interview: Pablo revisits Connie’s adversarial interview with Donald Trump, and the fallout—Trump later publicly mocked her and returned cut flowers she sent to get his attention regarding a news story.
- “She sent me roses afterward. And I won't tell you what I did with the roses...I sent her back the stems.” (Trump, as cited by Pablo, 25:26)
- Courage Across Eras: Connie and Maury reflect on loyalty tests in journalism, with Maury recalling his break from sports reporting after being asked by a coach, "Are you with us or against us?"
- Modern Parallels: Both see direct lines between then and now—politicians discrediting reporters, organizations muzzling their journalists, and the industry’s struggle to remain adversarial.
6. The Private Becomes Public: Quarrels, Respect, and Roles (29:36–31:35)
- Maury on Being 'Mr. Chung': “For 40, almost 41 years, I’ve been Mr. Chung. Okay, I admit it...I’ve been Mr. Chung ever since, and I accept it.” (29:43)
- Name Identity: Connie teases, “No, no, no. I’ve been Mrs. Povich for a long time, too.”
- Bittersweet Humor: They argue playfully over names, marital roles, and Maury’s podcasting promotion skills.
7. Connie Solo: Marriage, Memory, and Media (35:36–43:04)
- Three Worst Things About Being Married to Maury (35:42):
- “He cannot multitask. He can do one thing at a time.”
- “He compartmentalizes, which I envy.”
- “He can do most sports that I can’t...If I were to play golf with him, I would want to try to beat him. And I know I can’t.”
- Maury’s 2025 Priorities: “Golf. Golf. Golf.” (36:55)
- Support System: Connie credits Maury for emotionally supporting her during the toughest stretches of her groundbreaking career.
- “Maury would pour me a stiff scotch, and we’d sit and we’d talk, and he would talk me off the ledge...He would say, don’t take yourself seriously, but take your work seriously.” (38:34)
- Legacy in News: Connie reflects on breaking barriers at CBS and how her male colleagues expected her to acquiesce as the first Asian person and second woman to anchor a major evening newscast.
8. Investigative Journalism: Pride and Frustration (41:05–51:18)
- The Mission: Connie highlights the “satisfaction” of investigative reporting and expresses concern for the declining standards in American news.
- “We gather as much truth as we can and we impart it to them.” (41:26)
- Industry Decline: Connie identifies the sale of major networks to conglomerates as the turning point when “the money we made was more important than the news we covered.” (47:13)
- Local News as a Haven: Maury founded the Flathead Beacon in Montana, which wins state awards and reports “the news straight.” (49:37–51:18)
- “The conclusion that we’ve come to is that...what you can trust are your local news [outlets].” (50:57)
9. Media, Tech Giants, and Public Trust (48:04–51:47)
- Tech Ownership: Pablo observes, “All of us fundamentally who work in media work for tech companies,” and laments values lost to profit motives and stock charts.
- Legacy: They discuss the importance of being “the good guy in the documentary” over short-term gain.
10. Lighter, Memorable Moments: “Connie Chung Weed” (53:36–57:15)
- Podcast Praise: Connie compliments Pablo’s show for its creativity and humor (53:36).
- Cannabis Anecdote: Connie divulges, for the first time, that she and Maury have tried the “Connie Chung” strain of weed after someone delivered it across state lines:
- “He [Maury] took like one or two puffs...He went, yeah, I was turned off to it. I mean, and I said, I don’t feel anything. I feel nothing...Then I started laughing. I couldn’t stop laughing.” (55:48–56:58)
- Metaphor for the Show: Pablo jokes, “That feels like a bit of a metaphor for what has happened in this episode. Maury said, ‘I’ve had enough of this woman,’ and you stayed here and got to laugh a lot with me.” (57:03)
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- “We love each other to death, but quite frankly, there are times we do not like each other. And I think this is one of those times.”
— Maury Povich (04:44) - “The paradigm has completely changed in news and we have so much opinion that the truth doesn’t hold value anymore.”
— Connie Chung (20:30) - “Don’t take yourself seriously, but take your work seriously.”
— Maury’s advice to Connie (38:46) - “The first one through the door faces the heaviest gunfire.”
— Connie on being a trailblazer (39:52) - “All of us fundamentally who work in media work for tech companies.”
— Pablo Torre (48:32)
Structure & Flow
- 00:00–02:24: Introduction & setup (skip ads)
- 02:24–10:19: Maury on marriage, career, and sports
- 10:19–14:44: Connie enters, banter escalates
- 16:21–24:01: On media, news, and CBS
- 24:10–29:36: Confronting power, Trump, industry changes
- 29:36–35:36: Marital roles, legacy jokes
- 35:36–43:04: Connie alone—marriage details, Maury’s support
- 41:05–51:18: Investigative journalism, Flathead Beacon
- 53:36–57:15: Podcast praise, cannabis caper
- 57:15–end: Playful outro and sign-off
Tone & Atmosphere
- Candid, intergenerational, and sharp. Maury and Connie don’t pull punches on each other or their professions—and are as funny as they are wise.
- Reflective, critical, but loving. Even as they critique the state of media and poke fun at each other, a genuine admiration always comes through.
Takeaways
- Maury Povich and Connie Chung remain unflinchingly honest about their relationship, professional journeys, and the industry around them.
- The tension between commercial interests, integrity, and the adversarial role of journalists is examined with the clarity of those who lived and shaped media history.
- The episode is both a masterclass in storytelling and a warm, at times hilarious, portrait of two enduring icons.
For those who want laughter, wisdom, and a tour through media old and new, this episode is not to be missed.