← The Ebro, Laura, Rosenberg Show
The Ebro, Laura, Rosenberg Show
50.) CC Sabathia Talks Jersey Retirement + Lena Waithe on "Trinity" + Family Matters (3/6/26)
01:12:08
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- [00:00]
Ebro Darden
Zootopia 2 is coming home to Disney. Let's go get ready for a new case.
- [00:05]
Laura Rosenberg
We're the greatest partners of all time.
- [00:06]
Lena Waithe
New friends Gary the snake and your
- [00:09]
Issa Rae
last name the snake Dream team and
- [00:11]
Ebro Darden
new habitat Zootopia has a secret reptile population. You can watch the record breaking phenomenon at home. Disney Zootopia 2 streaming March 11th on Disney. Rated PG. And right now you can get Disney and hulu for just $4.99 a month for three months with a special limited time offer. Ends March 24. After three months, Plan Auto renews at $12.99 a month term supply. Thirty years ago, blinds.com broke the mold
- [00:33]
Lena Waithe
and made custom window treatments easy for everyone. Over 25 million windows later, we're celebrating by giving our customers up to 50% off site wide during our anniversary sale.
- [00:43]
Ebro Darden
Whether you DIY it or want a pro to handle everything from measure to install, blinds.com has you covered.
- [00:48]
Lena Waithe
Shop online, access real design professionals and get free samples. Thank you for 30amazing years.
- [00:54]
Ebro Darden
Shop the anniversary sale now through March 11th and get up to 50% off site wide@blinds.com.
- [01:01]
Laura Rosenberg
just don't call it a podcast. The Ebro Laura Rosenberg show. Okay, that's Laura Styles. That's Rosenberg, and I'm Ebro. You got it on the Ebro Laura Rosenberg experience.
- [01:20]
Ebro Darden
Fox Friday. Here we are like you dream about. We made it.
- [01:24]
Laura Rosenberg
Fox Friday. Emails, family matters, and we start the show. Friend of the show. I mean, a friend in real life.
- [01:31]
Ebro Darden
No, real life friend. This is perfect for Fox Friday because he's a real life friend.
- [01:35]
Laura Rosenberg
There you go.
- [01:36]
CC Sabathia
Yeah.
- [01:36]
Ebro Darden
And he's. He's a hall of Famer.
- [01:37]
Laura Rosenberg
Yes. I mean, you know what I'm saying? Cy Young award winner multiple times.
- [01:42]
Ebro Darden
The number in pinstripes getting retired. He's heading to Monument Park.
- [01:46]
Laura Rosenberg
The hall of Famer, CC sa What's happening? Northern California zone.
- [01:52]
Ebro Darden
What up, Cece?
- [01:53]
Fetna
Hi, Cece.
- [01:54]
CC Sabathia
What's good, fellas? What's good? Morning.
- [01:56]
Laura Rosenberg
Morning. So, sir, what are those magnificent trophies behind you? We got to start with this backdrop.
- [02:03]
Ebro Darden
We've never seen a backdrop like this.
- [02:04]
Laura Rosenberg
Never have I ever.
- [02:07]
CC Sabathia
These are Warren Spine trophies. It's a. It's a trophy that's given to the best lefty in the big league. So I think I won it 2007, 8 and 9. I won it three times. It's a pretty cool trophy. They give it to you. They give it away in Oklahoma City. You have to go down there and it's not really like. It's not like the Cy Young people don't vote on it. It's just the best stats. It's, you know, whoever's got the most win, strikeouts, innings, pitch. And it just kind of like, you know, it goes that way and it's, it's a cool. They have a really big 30 foot statue of him outside of the convention hall where you get this, this thing and then they give you a cool trophy. So it's probably my favorite. Wow.
- [02:46]
Laura Rosenberg
I mean it, it was something I never, I learned. I didn't even know this existed.
- [02:50]
Ebro Darden
Had you heard of this Rosemary, the Warren Spawn trophy? I actually, I'm sad to say I don't think I did.
- [02:54]
Laura Rosenberg
That's, that's.
- [02:56]
Ebro Darden
Now hold on. What's the actual S when you win the Sigh Young. What do they actually give you?
- [03:00]
CC Sabathia
They give you like a little plaque. I wish I had it in here, but it's up in Cooper Town now. Cuz they, they came and raided our trophy case to take it up there. But it's like a, it's like a, it's not as cool as this. It's just like a little plaque and it's got, it's got a hand on there with the baseball. But these are, these are definitely my coolest trophies.
- [03:18]
Laura Rosenberg
So I reached out and, and asked the team if you could come on today because we are on the precipice of them retiring. 52 for the Yankees. And so I wanted to, you know, first of all, just salute you bro, as somebody who's just a great human being, somebody who I've had the honor of being friends with in the real world. I know you, I know your family and it's. Y' all are all just great. I know your mom, bro, like, it's crazy like. And you're getting your number retired. So I just, that was really all I wanted to have you up here was to thank you for being you and to salute you for all your hard work and, and didn't. And then just hear from you. How does it feel?
- [04:00]
CC Sabathia
Nah, I appreciate it because I mean, I think, you know, you know, you've been. You and Rosenberg and Laura really have been a part of the journey since we got here in, in 2008. And you know, to be, to be completely honest, I think everybody knows the story by now, but I didn't want to come here. Like this wasn't my first choice. I, you know, it was so much drama going on with the Yankees and the media drama and everything, you know, that you have to deal with playing here. I just thought it would be easier to Play on the West Coast. I'm from Cali, from the Bay. I wanted to play in Anaheim or LA and just thought it would be easier. And. And I never gave myself room to thought to think about, what if I succeeded here? What if I. You hear so many stories about free agents coming here and not being able to handle it. You saw Randy Johnson walking down the street and getting into it with the camera guy, and that's all, you know, as a visitor, you know, outside looking in. And so I was just like, I don't. I don't want any of that stress. I want to go out and I just want to play baseball. And, you know, having a chance that off season to sit down with Cashmere and him really convinced me and Amber that this would be the best place for. For us to raise our family, for me to, you know, grow my legacy. And, man, he couldn't have been more right. You know, 17 years later, I'm still. Still in the same house we moved in in December 2008, and just super excited to. To be a part of this organization for the rest of my life and have my number retired. I mean, when you. Like I said, when you come here, you see all the names and the numbers, the Whitey Fours, Mickey Mouse, Babe Ruth, and you never think that you would be able to live up to being able to get in the Miami Park. I think you can put up numbers anywhere to get into the hall of Fame, but to be able to put up numbers and have, you know, the Yankees recognize your number is one and want to be retired is something that I could have never thought about and super surreal. So I'm just excited for it.
- [05:40]
Laura Rosenberg
I. I just also would love to. To point out to the audience, too, as somebody who also comes from the same area that cece comes from, when you move here, there is that. That stigma, right. Like you think of New York, but I don't think what people are able to articulate until you're here is also the amount of love that people have when you work hard in this city.
- [05:59]
Ebro Darden
And if you.
- [06:00]
Laura Rosenberg
And if you succeed, even it succeed or fail, if they see you working hard and giving it your all, they might talk a little ish to you, you know what I mean? But there's always love. I don't know if Cece, was that your experience too?
- [06:13]
CC Sabathia
1000% feel like, you know, the fans appreciated everything that I gave out on the field every fifth day, and. And I think that's, you know, the biggest thing I think that they appreciate about me is being A good teammate and going out competing every fifth day, no matter what the result was. I think people understood every time I went out, I wanted to try to win. I was doing everything I could to win. And like you said, I think you don't, you don't see that flip side of the coin, right? When you think about New York and coming from California, and I had played in Cleveland and Milwaukee, two small markets where, you know, when I was in Milwaukee, I lived in a cul de sac and people were dropping cookies off in my front door. Like it was a completely different, you know, thing that I thought I was coming into. And, you know, Cash was like, no, we have that here. Like, we. You can live in a. A nice community and raise your kids and do all these different things. And he was so convinced that it would work here for me that when we were doing the negotiations, he was like, listen, I'm so, you know, I'm so bullish on this, and I know that you'll love it here. If you don't like it after three years, you can leave. But I promise you that you guys are going to want to stay here and you're going to love it. And he couldn't have been more right now.
- [07:16]
Ebro Darden
Now, I agree with Ebro's point that people will, in New York will respect the hard work, but there is no question that, that 2009 championship made it even easier for people to love you like you. Because we've been talking about this on, on Don Hahn and Rosenberg on espn. And when we, when we talk about you, you're the perfect storm. Like, you have, you have longevity there. You have the awards, you have, the champions have that, that grit, you know, that willing to sacrifice a half a million dollar bonus to throw at someone because you need to stand up for your team. You sort of have all of those different things. How important do you think the, the World Series piece is, though, with this fan base that cares so much about championships?
- [07:59]
CC Sabathia
Man, you know, when you come here, that's all you hear about is the championships. And you know, every spring training you come in and you want to win a championship, but I didn't realize how much it actually means. And I remember the night that I signed my contract. We went, I went to dinner, and then that night we went to the 4040 with Jay Z. Juan Hov was there, Juan was there. Me and OG got really close at, you know, during that time, Peck was there. And I remember sitting there and. And Juan was like, you need to win a championship right now. And I'M like, what are you talking about? Like, I got seven years here. We got a great team. Everybody's in their prime. Like, I got some time. He was like, no, I'm telling you, you better win right away or these people gonna be on you. They're gonna be on you. And, you know, having a chance to. To get that championship, the first year in the new stadium, the ball still be alive. I think it just like. Like, you. I mean, like everybody said, just took a huge weight off my shoulders and was able to just go out and continue my career. But the championship was something that I was really worried about. I thought for my, you know, my career. I was like, man, you're going to be like Karl Malone or Charles Barkley, have all these numbers and never have a ring. That's what I was thinking to myself before I came to New York and, you know, just didn't know how important that.
- [09:11]
Ebro Darden
That and baseball is.
- [09:12]
CC Sabathia
Easy, like, how much it means to
- [09:14]
Ebro Darden
me if you're a basketball player, like, it. It's like, and you're a dominant basketball player, you can reasonably say that person should win a championship because they're so dominant on their team. In baseball, you could be a great pitcher, bro. You pitch every five days like you're going to do the best job you can to do. But it's so easy to be a great ball player and not be able to affect defense or affect offense, depending on the player you are. Do you ever talk to, like, Judge, who at this point is so incredibly beloved, and last year in the playoffs, I think really had his best playoff run as a Yankee. But are you ever able to impart anything on to Aaron Judge to kind of help deal with that, get a championship? You know, pressure?
- [09:55]
CC Sabathia
There's really nothing you can do. There's really nothing you can say, right, Like. But except winning championship. I feel like the one person that can really talk to him or understand kind of what he's going through is Alex. Like, Alex came here in 2004, put up incredible numbers. One, two MVPs. And it didn't matter until he, you know, hitting the playoffs in 2009. And, you know, like everybody says, if he doesn't come up clutch like he did in that. In. In all of those series, we don't win. So, like you said, Judge had his best playoffs last year, and I think he just need to continue to hit in October, and one of these years they'll end up, you know, raising that trophy. But. But the only person I feel like that can kind of relate to what judge is going through is Alex.
- [10:40]
Fetna
Cece, I know right now we're celebrating you, but I wanted to take a moment to highlight and celebrate all the incredible work you and your wife do with your foundation. So I wanted to. I wanted to have our audience just kind of get a. Get some info from you, like some of the amazing things you guys have done and what are your plans for the year?
- [10:57]
CC Sabathia
Yeah, so me and my wife, Amber, we started. And my mom, really, we started a pitch in Foundation 2006, like, in our living room in California and just wanting to give back. You know, we started off wanting to do a field renovation in my hometown. We always did a backpack giveaway, I think, you know, for me, you know, as soon as I, you know, got drafted and, you know, thinking about my hometown of Vallejo and thinking about the kids and just thinking about my situation growing up in the Boys and Girls Club, I wanted to do something to help kids, you know, that. That came from. And look the way I look. So we started the backpack giveaway right away, servicing all the kids in Valle. And then we wanted to expand into giving, you know, baseball fields. When I grew up, the. The baseball field was the most important thing and. And biggest thing in our community. The whole crest. The whole community would be out at the park, and I. And I wanted to highlight that and just turn our field around. And that's kind of how it started. We started with renovating that field, and then we've been renovating fields from California, you know, across the country, in Ohio, in the Bronx. And, you know, this year we just continue to, you know, keep doing more. You know, hopefully, you know, we will. We. Absolutely, absolutely. Doing a backpack giveaway. That's one of our staple programs. We do the Christmas Caravan and. And, you know, whoever needs help with their Little League or teams or anything like that will be there to. To kind of pick up the slide.
- [12:18]
Laura Rosenberg
I'm a scrape together my nickels again this year and. And donate like we try to do every year. But this year, we got to put the Ebro Laura Rosenberg show on the golf carts.
- [12:27]
Ebro Darden
Okay. You want to get a sponsor on the golf?
- [12:30]
Laura Rosenberg
Oh, yeah. We gotta scrape our little nickel. You know, take all our little money we get from the super chat, throw that on the. You know, to get on a golf cart.
- [12:38]
CC Sabathia
On a golf cart.
- [12:38]
Ebro Darden
I can go up there and shoot 115.
- [12:40]
Laura Rosenberg
I mean, listen, I. I do, like, 125. You know what, Cece, now I saw. Speaking of golf, I saw you hobbling around on your Instagram. What's happening with, with that. Because just a couple of months ago, you was barefoot on a golf course somewhere.
- [12:55]
CC Sabathia
Yeah, man, I had a knee replacement surgery at the end of January. Something that I knew that was coming. Something I knew I was coming during my playing career. You know, the doctors would, you know, keep telling me, you know, you keep shooting this thing up, you keep going out and pitching on it, you know, it's going to be wrecked. So, you know, arthritic knee. You know, I have been out on the golf course the last four or five years, every single day, and kind of just took my toe, took his toll on my knee, so got it replaced. I'm moving around pretty good now. This is kind of like my first week back into, you know, being outside and excited to just kind of be moving around again.
- [13:30]
Ebro Darden
Yo, cc, can you tell me a little bit about your relationship with Sam Allen and any other Negro League players I know, like, with the players alliance, you've been getting to do some cool stuff. And I know the, the Negro League and dear to you. So what can you tell us about Sam Allen and some of the other players you've gotten to get to know?
- [13:46]
CC Sabathia
Man, Sam is just full of personality, man. Anytime he's in a room, he lights up the room. He's so much fun to be around. And, you know, I just love to hear his stories. I love to hear about when he was growing up, when he was a kid, what baseball meant to him. And, you know, for me, I always, you know, growing up in Cali and in. In the Bay Area, I was always wondering why I love baseball so much. Like, why do I have this baseball iq? Why can I watch a whole game? Why am I so into Dave Stewart? All these different things, Vita Blue, all these different players, and it's because it's in our DNA. Like, I. I thought the. I thought the Negro Leagues was some backyard league where these guys were, you know, the MLB was doing them a favor by integrating, and it wasn't. These were the best players in the world. Satchel page in the 20s and 30s had a plane where they would fly around and. And play all over the world, you know what I'm saying? So these were the LeBron James and the. The biggest stars in the world at that time, you know, playing the game of baseball. And not until I walked into that Negro League museum did I understand and realize that. So I feel obligated and I feel like I always need to pay homage to those guys that, you know, paved the way before me. And Sam is just one of, you know, one of those guys in a long lineage that I feel connected to, of, of why I love this game
- [15:01]
Laura Rosenberg
of baseball and how has the work been going? You and I have talked about this several times because I'm always asking cece about like, like you said, the baseball fields in black neighborhoods. And you know, because when I was growing up, it was a Little League. You know, people play baseball. I went to high school with Derek Lee, who, you know, went on to win a chip and do things.
- [15:18]
Ebro Darden
And we've watched, we've watched the amount of American born black players go down,
- [15:22]
Laura Rosenberg
down, down and down. What is that, what work is going on there? Because I know that's also something you've been trying to figure out and even working inside the league, I don't know if you're still doing that work, but happening with that.
- [15:35]
CC Sabathia
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you know, Rosenberg brought it up. The Players alliance is something that's huge and, and you know, trying to make sure our community is, gets back in, into the game of baseball. I think for me, you know, growing up, like where we, like I keep saying growing up in, in the Bay, there was no way in this climate today that I would make it in baseball. You know, you have to have a lot of money to play this game. You got to be able to travel all around the country. Scouts don't come out into little pockets to see kids anymore. You have to be able to get to Atlanta, get to one of these big tournaments to be able to get seen. And you know, that, that probably would have been in the cards for me. So, you know, with tpa, with the Players alliance, we're trying to make sure that, you know, people can stay in their community, grow up and play the game of baseball and still be able to have a chance. I think, you know, again, I just, I always go back to thinking about my journey if I would have had to, if being a good baseball player. Now you have to leave your community as a black kid to go play in different, you know, tournaments or different things like that. I never left Vallejo growing up to play. All my friends played the game. Their dads was the coaches, my dad was the coach. So I think for tpa, we're trying to get back in these communities and have the dads and the uncles and the grandfathers be able to pick up the slack and be the coaches for these kids so they don't have to leave their community to be able to enjoy this game and play this game. So, you know, it's, it's, it's a lot that. Of work that we need to be, that needs to be done. But I think we're on the right track. And, and if you just look at the grassroots and the amount of kid black kids that are playing and have access to the game, you know, through tpa, through some of the stuff that we're doing at mlb, you know, I think, I think we're starting to put a little dent in it.
- [17:17]
Laura Rosenberg
Is there anything we can do as fans? Is there, you know, supporting the Players alliance or things in local communities? Is there some community outreach that may be reaching out to the Players Alliance? If there's a community watching right now that needs support, Absolutely.
- [17:32]
CC Sabathia
Reaching out to the Players Alliance. Players alliance.org if it's any little league coaches, any baseball coaches, any, any men that love the game of baseball that want to get out and coach these kids, you know, we, we, we love that. I think, like I said, you know, baseball is like a, you, you need like an older mentor. You need somebody to take you out to play catch. My dad would take me out, my uncle would take me out. So we need mentors. We need. I would love to connect with the Boys and Girls Club and, and kind of drive, you know, the game of baseball through that. Me and Curtis Granderson had a league through Kips Bay that was free. You know, we supply all the equipment, gave them nice uniforms. Yankees against the Mets. We played all summer and then we had a championship, you know, in August through the tpa. Two years ago, we did Friday Night Lights where we had a league that was free. The Yankees helped us. It was right, right across the street from, from the Bronx and Yankee Stadium and they played every Friday night under the lights. So just these, these type of little leagues where we can make it free and get these kids involved and, and have the community activists, the people in the community be the coaches and be present. You know, I think it's, it's going to make a huge difference.
- [18:41]
Ebro Darden
You know, Cece, I know we got to let you go and, and we're so excited for you for September to celebrate you. Um, it's been, let's be honest though, it's been a year of celebrating, Cece. We're celebrating this, man. The year long celebration from Cooperstown to the Bronx. And it's been a blast to watch Bro Celebration Sabathi. That's facts. But Cece, listen, you and I, you and I both have a tough thing that we now both share a thing to deal with. We have to find a way to go to sleep at night, knowing that Phil Mushnick does not approve of us.
- [19:14]
Lena Waithe
It's.
- [19:14]
Ebro Darden
Are you okay?
- [19:17]
CC Sabathia
Who is Phil Mushman? I've never heard of this guy until the other day. Never in my life. And I just thought it was hilarious that, that, you know, he was able to write this art. I didn't even get the chance to read the article because it's not buying a paper. I don't know who's buying. I don't know, buying content at the New York Post to help to. To listen to Phil Mushnick, but that is hilarious. No.
- [19:38]
Ebro Darden
So you. So I think you will be able to sleep.
- [19:40]
Laura Rosenberg
Wait, Tama, I'm not up to the time. I know Phil Mushnick hates him. That's the only reason I know Phil must never even heard the name before. Rosenberg helps market this guy. So what do you do to see.
- [19:50]
Ebro Darden
So he. So first of all, he's been hating things for legitimately, I think close to 50 years in your post.
- [19:55]
Laura Rosenberg
Okay.
- [19:55]
Ebro Darden
Like, he just hates things like he hated WWF wrestling, hated Vince McMahon. Hey, he's just like a. He's a very. He has some moral. He's a moral high ground kind of guy, except his morals are in question. In this case, though, again, I only saw that the headline because I'm not going behind the New York Post paywall either. I just saw what cece saw, though, which was like, the Cece Sabathia going into Monument park shows how low the standards have gotten for Yankee baseball.
- [20:23]
Laura Rosenberg
Based on what it's like, wow. Nah, that's trolling. Before trolling was a thing.
- [20:28]
CC Sabathia
No, he's crazy. It's hilarious, man. I think. I think he does that to get under people's skin. I guess. Like I said, I've never met that guy. He's never been around the clubhouse. So for me, I don't have any respect for anybody that can write an article or do or say something to do something that doesn't come in the clubhouse that's not around. So it's hard for me to listen to whatever sports radio around here in New York. Then I know that this guy has no information. He has no. You know what I mean? Like, it's just him having opinion. We might as well have a show talking about on WFA and talking about whatever, you know what I'm saying? Like, it's pretty incredible how you can just really have no credentials, never be around a clubhouse, and people listen to what you say.
- [21:09]
Ebro Darden
Now, did you for the guys that were in the clubhouse, even the ones that you didn't like because obviously there's some big time Yankee writers, always have been. Did you, what was your relationship like with those guys and did you gain respect for the ones who they might talk nasty, but then you'd see them sitting in the clubhouse the next day,
- [21:28]
CC Sabathia
Thousand percent, Thousand percent respect for Joe Sherman. Joe Sherman. To write something about you and then come stand right next to your locker the next day. You know what I'm saying? That that's the guy that you got to give respect to. Whoever else is writing an article that you've never seen, that I've never ever met in my life before, and I played there 11 years and I'm still around, I still work for the organization. I mean, it just, it makes no sense to me. But like I said, I mean, WFAN is full of those people, which is insane to me.
- [21:56]
Laura Rosenberg
Well, I, I, I also don't understand if, if, if I come to a town and I'm speaking on behalf of cece, I come to a town, I give it my all, I get. I literally give my whole body to this thing, get my family. I'm here. We win and we win games and I'm in games. I'm reliable, I'm durable. I'm here.
- [22:12]
Ebro Darden
And your heart and soul kind of player. I mean, I've been looking for CC's heart ever since he left in my,
- [22:17]
Laura Rosenberg
I'm in it guys hat, Yank down, sweating through my hat every night, doing my thing and we're winning. We, we want a chip, guys.
- [22:24]
CC Sabathia
Yeah, I know.
- [22:26]
Laura Rosenberg
Did our thing. What's to not like it?
- [22:29]
Fetna
People can't take it.
- [22:31]
CC Sabathia
I understand Yankees, you know, history and the names back there and like I said when I first got here, you look at Monument park and you never think that you're going to ever do anything that will live up to, you know, being in Yankees, Monument Park. But you know, if I look at my career as a totality and if I, if everything was here in New York, then it would be no problem with me going into, into Monument park. If you look at my whole career. So it's one of those things where, you know, I didn't grow up in Yankees, so I understand the frustration from people, but I'm excited because I understand the history and, and even like just thinking about free agents that's coming to New York, I think it may be only me and Reggie that are the ones that ended up in Monument park signing the free agent deal. So I think you're right. That's special to me too.
- [23:16]
Laura Rosenberg
Listen, cece, we're proud of you, man.
- [23:18]
Ebro Darden
It's awesome, bro.
- [23:20]
CC Sabathia
Appreciate it.
- [23:21]
Laura Rosenberg
We appreciate you. Thank you for joining our program today. Send our love to the family, man, and we'll catch up with you soon.
- [23:28]
CC Sabathia
Yes, sir.
- [23:29]
Laura Rosenberg
I won't be able to keep up with you anytime on the golf course.
- [23:32]
Ebro Darden
No, no, definitely.
- [23:34]
Laura Rosenberg
I don't retire. Professional athlete. This whole thing with you being on the golf course every day when I. I scroll right past you. Honestly.
- [23:41]
Ebro Darden
Yeah, no, it's too much.
- [23:42]
CC Sabathia
What else are you riding the bike, though. I can't. I can't keep up with you on. I tried that. I can't keep up with you on the bike. It's the same thing on the bike.
- [23:48]
Ebro Darden
No, you can't. No, that's. That's a lot, a lot of time on the bike. But you Pekas,
- [23:55]
Laura Rosenberg
I'm sick of y'.
- [23:55]
Issa Rae
All.
- [23:56]
Laura Rosenberg
Hey, have fun, guys.
- [23:59]
Lena Waithe
Thanks.
- [24:01]
CC Sabathia
All right. Appreciate it.
- [24:02]
Lena Waithe
Peace.
- [24:02]
CC Sabathia
Love.
- [24:03]
Laura Rosenberg
Listen, man, great guy, man. I love that guy.
- [24:05]
Ebro Darden
Who's better than Cece Sabathia, bro. How are we going to get in the building, though? Because I don't want to bother him that day.
- [24:09]
Laura Rosenberg
Okay, but we got to be there for the. For the.
- [24:12]
Ebro Darden
But he has so many people who are going to hit like, right, you know, we're friends with him, but I'm not.
- [24:17]
Laura Rosenberg
He's got.
- [24:17]
Lena Waithe
I'm not.
- [24:18]
Ebro Darden
Come on.
- [24:18]
Laura Rosenberg
But you could get ESPN plug.
- [24:20]
Ebro Darden
I think.
- [24:20]
Laura Rosenberg
I think you could buy his press. Can you?
- [24:23]
Ebro Darden
No, I get kids. Although. Okay, but if it's a big day, it may be Michael K likes you. Okay? Like, oh, no, he do it for you. You know what?
- [24:31]
Laura Rosenberg
I'm have you say he hates you now, right? You guys got beef or something?
- [24:34]
Ebro Darden
It's be.
- [24:34]
CC Sabathia
It's bad.
- [24:35]
Lena Waithe
It's bad.
- [24:36]
Laura Rosenberg
No, yo, listen, no, this is, this is. How much of a clown this guy, our friend Rosenberg is?
- [24:42]
Issa Rae
What?
- [24:42]
Laura Rosenberg
How are you beefing with a legend? Michael K. Michael K moves on to. Into his, like, you know, heyday, working the best shift on the radio. What is it, midday, chilling 10 to 1 or something?
- [24:52]
Ebro Darden
No, 1 to 3.
- [24:54]
Laura Rosenberg
1. Showing up at 1, off at 3. Dream job. That's probably why he's beefing with him, Laura. Because you're jealous.
- [25:01]
Ebro Darden
You get the day over 3 o'. Clock. No, I forget what I said about him. Oh. What happened was I had. I worked with Joe Tessitor at wwe. Tess is a big play by play guy. And I was saying, I said in an interview or something, I said, Joe Testator may be the best point guard I've ever worked with.
- [25:20]
Laura Rosenberg
Like as leading a Show.
- [25:21]
Ebro Darden
Yes, but. So you could be offended, too. So many people could be offended.
- [25:24]
CC Sabathia
But I don't.
- [25:25]
Laura Rosenberg
I don't know, Joe. And I don't believe you because you just say stuff.
- [25:28]
Ebro Darden
So I meant. I meant tv. I was really referring to what we. That's kind of specific thing where you're, like, being hosted at a TV desk. It's not the same as how I worked with Michael. It's just not the same thing. Okay, but like, when I said it K. Either someone wrote about it and then K saw it, or K heard it. I forgot. And K just did what he did. Like he. But he always does gets on the radio. Peter's no Good in Great. Oh, you think you want to be with Joe Tessitore.
- [25:55]
Laura Rosenberg
Blah, blah, you know, and just made it, yo, Michael. I love no Good in Great.
- [26:00]
Ebro Darden
I don't even think he said that.
- [26:03]
Laura Rosenberg
And talk your ish. Talk your ish Mike.
- [26:07]
Ebro Darden
And then so I went back at him, and it's just so funny. Like, we work so hard at ESPN New York. We try to put on a good show every day. If WFAN farts, it gets an article in, like, you know, the New York Post, the different places.
- [26:19]
Laura Rosenberg
That's legacy media.
- [26:20]
Ebro Darden
Legacy media. We're new. And when we do stuff, the only thing that gets written about is me and Michael K. Having a fugazi beef. Article after article of us going back and forth. Literally, I'm seeing him, and I'm like, you know, I was like, should we take a picture together now?
- [26:33]
Laura Rosenberg
You shouldn't be saying that. It's.
- [26:35]
Ebro Darden
Oh, I did. I said it was fugazi. I said it was fugazi at the time. I said, you guys are idiots for covering this.
- [26:40]
Laura Rosenberg
It's not kayfabe. It's real.
- [26:42]
Ebro Darden
We're not even. We weren't even really pretending for it to be real. It just is what it is.
- [26:46]
Laura Rosenberg
He's like, michael K. Hates Rosenberg. And that's all there is to it. Our next guest on the show.
- [26:51]
Ebro Darden
It'll work.
- [26:52]
Laura Rosenberg
Our next guest on the show, Lena. Can you hear us? You are on the Ebro Laura Rosenberg show.
- [26:57]
Ebro Darden
Make sure we can hear Lena, too. Hi, Lena.
- [27:01]
Fetna
This episode is brought to you by Redfin. You're listening to a podcast, which means you're probably multitasking, maybe even scrolling home listings on Redfin, saving homes without expecting to get them. But Redfin isn't just built for endless browsing. It's built to help you find and own a home with agents who close twice as many deals when you find the one You've got a real shot at getting it. Get started@redfin.com. own the dream.
- [27:29]
Lena Waithe
Your little one grew three inches overnight. Adorable. Also expensive. Sell their pint sized pieces on Depop and list them in minutes with no selling fees because somewhere a dad refuses to pay full price for the clothes his kids will outgrow tomorrow. And he's ready to buy your son's entire wardrobe right now. Consider your future growth. Bird budget secured. Start selling on Depop where taste recognizes taste. Payment processing fees and boosting fees still apply. See website for details. What's up? What's up? I hear y'. All.
- [28:01]
Ebro Darden
Hey, hey, hey.
- [28:02]
Laura Rosenberg
What's happening, fam?
- [28:03]
Fetna
Hi, Lena.
- [28:05]
Lena Waithe
Everything. How are y'? All?
- [28:07]
Ebro Darden
Really?
- [28:07]
Laura Rosenberg
The question, what's not happening, fam?
- [28:09]
Lena Waithe
I know, I know. I mean, look, I'm in Baltimore. I'm doing a play. Yeah, that's what's happening. That's what matters.
- [28:14]
Laura Rosenberg
Well, let's get right to it then. Let's talk about your new stage play. Yeah. Your playwright stage play taking debut. Baltimore center stage is called Trinity. Talk to us about it.
- [28:24]
Lena Waithe
Yeah, you know, Trinity is an experience for sure. I know y' all in New York, we only train right away, you know what I'm saying? I highly recommend.
- [28:32]
Laura Rosenberg
I like that train.
- [28:32]
Ebro Darden
That Baltimore Penn station is light work.
- [28:35]
Lena Waithe
You said what?
- [28:36]
Ebro Darden
That Baltimore station is light work.
- [28:37]
Laura Rosenberg
Baltimore Penn Station of Baltimore is easy.
- [28:41]
Lena Waithe
I love how they saying this right now. Cut to. By the time the 15th roll around, they're like, yo, we weren't able to play.
- [28:47]
Ebro Darden
Honestly. It's far, Lena. You know what I mean?
- [28:51]
Lena Waithe
They're like, you're like, that's easy, that's light, that's.
- [28:54]
Laura Rosenberg
I got a toddler at home. It's tough to me.
- [28:56]
Ebro Darden
Yeah, we got toddlers out here, you know, Lena.
- [28:58]
Lena Waithe
We got kids, you know. Exactly. That's why y' all should come. Cause, like, I'm childless by choice, right? And there's a scene in the play where you go get to play with these things called what ifs. Like, what if we had a baby and it's something that we thought we wanted and then we realized it's nothing that we wanted. It's something we thought we were supposed to do.
- [29:18]
Laura Rosenberg
Oh, that's facts.
- [29:19]
Lena Waithe
And it is a. It's a very. There's a lot of laughter. That laughter is sometimes very uncomfortable because of the truths that we're talking about while holding a fictitious baby that's crying. But yeah, but Trinity is really about how our relate. Our platonic relationships, our romantic relationships are directly affected by how we were raised. And. And it's about going back to the beginning and figuring out what our mothers and our fathers taught us about love and how we should show up in it and how we decide to be loved. And it's about those three different relationships, those parental, platonic, and romantic relationships. That's the trinity.
- [29:56]
Laura Rosenberg
That's the trinity. I love this conversation. I love that. And I love. I love challenging. A lot of people get very uncomfortable and don't want to walk into that conversation. So I love that you're doing this in the. In a stage play version. What's been the feedback?
- [30:09]
Lena Waithe
The feedback has been quite amazing, you know, people. Because the thing is, it's hard for people to know what they're walking into. So every day we do a show, we always say, oh, another unsuspecting audience not realizing they walk into two. It's a bit of a therapy session, but it's funny, it's entertaining. There's really great music. I handpicked all the songs. We have a trendy playlist. It's like a Stevie Wonder song that very few people have heard or know about. There's some Kehlani in there. There's some Leon Thomas, there's some Elmine, there's some Duke Ellington. It's a lot of, you know, music helps us tell the story, as y' all know.
- [30:45]
Laura Rosenberg
And.
- [30:45]
Lena Waithe
And there's projections and there's lighting, and it's a very futuristic stage. And there's only three people on stage. It's myself, an actress, Courtney, another actress, Fetna. It's a three hander. And that's it.
- [30:58]
Ebro Darden
Just the three of y'.
- [30:58]
Lena Waithe
All. This is interesting.
- [31:00]
Ebro Darden
Wow. How did you end up. Why did you decide to go back on stage and to Baltimore? Like, how did we actually land on this decision for where you are right now, all the success in television, film, et cetera? Why this now?
- [31:14]
Lena Waithe
Well, I appreciate the question. First of all, since I've never been on stage before, this is my on stage debut. So this is my first time acting on stage. It's my first time writing a play. And I think that really speaks to the fact that I have done television. I'm continuing to do it. Season eight of the Shy. Our final season's coming out this summer.
- [31:29]
Laura Rosenberg
Summer.
- [31:29]
Lena Waithe
We're filming right now. So we're transitioning, you know, out of that. That era, that journey. And obviously film has been really good to me as well. But, you know, I think with everything, with all the screens and everybody, so there's so much happening and so much going on in theater. Pulling out your phone is like pulling out a cigarette on an airplane. Yeah, it is ill advised.
- [31:52]
Issa Rae
Right, right, right, right, right.
- [31:53]
Lena Waithe
And so that's something I really appreciate. That's what I love about theater. Like, you literally have to turn your phone all the way off because you don't want to be that person in the middle of a long, dramatic monologue and your phone goes off. So you have to be present. And I think theater is something that's always been how we told stories, and it's always been how we kind of come together as communities. And so the cool thing about theater is that it forces us to gather, it forces us to turn our phones off, and it forces us to be present. And so that's why we're doing theater. I'm just finding a new mountain to climb.
- [32:24]
Fetna
Lena, talk about the hard work, because every day you gotta get on that stage and give 100%. It's not like, you know, when you're shooting a TV show, you get. You wrap up the scene, great. Everyone move on. No, you have to give 100%. And that person who bought a ticket, sat down, is expecting, you know, for the first time. They're seeing you for the first time, but they're expecting their money's worth. So I just wanna. I want you to talk about that pressure.
- [32:52]
Lena Waithe
No, I appreciate that question. And the truth is, it's 80 minutes, no intermission, and we're on stage the whole time. And so it. It is. And it's interesting because when we had our, you know, you have previews and you have opening night, and then, like, critics come, and then artistic directors of New York theaters come. People always say, oh, by the way, Debbie Allen came. You know what I'm saying? Carrie Mae Williams came.
- [33:12]
Laura Rosenberg
Yeah, I was gonna shout out some of the names that have slid through this spot because the. The celebrity list looking nice. And even the celebrities who bought tickets for the community. That's amazing.
- [33:20]
Lena Waithe
Correct, Gail? Shout out to Gayle King.
- [33:22]
Laura Rosenberg
Yeah.
- [33:22]
Lena Waithe
Appreciate her very much. Shout out to Jada Pinkett. Appreciate her. Cory Booker pulled up as well. And also as well as the mayor of Baltimore. I just talked to the governor as well. He's pulling up, too. You know, it's just been really a beautiful thing. But the truth is, it doesn't matter if it's three people in the audience or if it's like, you know, a person, you know, for a congressman, a governor, a critic, it does not matter. Everybody's the same. No one is above, no one is below. Anyone and so for me, I have to give it my all, because the work is so. It's just. I'm on an assignment. It's mission work. Like, when y' all get up every day and come do this, and y' all took it to YouTube, y' all like, no, this is. We're not going to let somebody tell us no, that's right. And so I'm not going to let nothing deter me from giving a just my all. Like, and I am laying myself there. We say there's emotional nudity in the play, and there is. We're getting very vulnerable. We're getting very real. So I'm not going to hold back. I'm not going to give it my everything. The same thing goes for my two castmates. So it doesn't matter what day you come, you matinee open tonight or the last night, we're going to give 100% every single performance. Because we. We are. We are. We're worthy of that, and so is the audience.
- [34:34]
Laura Rosenberg
How much of what's happening on this stage and in Trinity? Because often I've heard seen playwrights. We've had a good relationship with Lin Manuel Miranda throughout the years. And watching him even early days when he came and wrapped Hamilton raps to Rosenberg, and we was like, why is bro rapping about Alexander Hamilton? And then it sounds nuts. And then we went to the play and was like, wait a minute, this is kind of fire. This was the raps he was saying in the hallway. But a lot of times y' all are working through material, and this is helping you form other things while you're doing this live thing. Is that also a part of this process for you?
- [35:12]
Lena Waithe
Well, yeah. I mean, right now, the script is frozen. We've been. We workshopped it. We've been working for, like, two years. So we workshopped it, you know, in Baltimore. We did a workshop in New York. We had two new workshops in New York. And then obviously, during the tech and rehearsal process here, we cut things, we edit things, we move things around. And now we're at a place where it's like, oh, this is the show. This is airtight. It feels right. The reviews have been really beautiful. Like, literally, these are some of the most beautiful reviews I've ever read. And that there's. Not only do they get the work, but they're seeing things in the work that I didn't even see. And. But they're also being really kind. One of the reviews called the work generous. And that, to me, is the kind of compliment I want in my career. And I think that's because it is that there's no ego. I'm listening to the Village. If somebody has a better idea than me, then so be it, you know? Or if I'm like, what about this? Like, no, that's wrong. Or I'm nervous about that, but let's try it and say, and that's really what's happening in theater. You know, there's no. It's not about, oh, how do I keep everybody's attention from their phone? But I am keeping your attention. It's swift. It's like you can't be misaligned. You lost. So it's the kind of thing where you really gotta be locked in. And people have been so present with us and so vocal and so just a part of the journey. The audience is another cast member for us.
- [36:22]
Laura Rosenberg
That's beautiful, Lena. We've been a part of, you know, honored to be a part of your journey and know you since you first came on the radio show for the show Shy man, when this whole thing started, you know, ramping up for you. And now the shy is ending. Can you. Can you talk about how that feels? As you know, this is one of your original babies.
- [36:39]
Lena Waithe
Yeah, I know, I know. It's so interesting. I mean, you guys know something about transitions, and I think, you know, we're. Our tagline is the Shy says goodbye, season eight. And I think, you know, and I've never done like a. A last season of a show before. I've never written the last episode. I've never filmed the last season. So I'm also go back to the set and touch the set and give that speech that you kind of need to do. But I think for me, I'm just in a space of gratitude to have been on for eight seasons, to have grown so much over the course of the series, and to have watched these actors grow so much. Robert Townsend is currently directing an episode of the show 805 right now. So it definitely also feels there's something about, like, when the legends and the icons come, whether it be to the set it as shy or to the play. For Debbie Allen to come to the play and be so, so impressed and so moved. And for Robert Townsend to come to. We were just on the table read with him and for him to say, I've been a fan of the show and I'm so honored to be here. There's something about that for me, I think you guys can relate to that in that we are people that know we aren't new.
- [37:37]
Laura Rosenberg
That's right.
- [37:38]
Lena Waithe
We know that what we're doing isn't something that we've kind of pulled out of our hat. And I do know in the. In the hip hop world, in certain areas, they're sort of like, I did it first. You know, I'm the first one. Nobody's done this before, and in my space, I'm the opposite of that. It's like I have done nothing first. There have been so many people that have come before me that are the reasons why I am here right now, why I do what I do. So for me, I just want to pay homage to, you know, someone like Felicia, who did Soul Food, the series on Showtime, where we wouldn't be here were it not for that show. I wouldn't be here were it not for Debbie Allen, so. Or Susan Fells Hill or Shonda Rhimes or the Yvette Lee Bowsers or Mario Brocket kills. For me, I'm just really grateful to them for doing what they did. For me to come along and have a show that could run eight seasons and for me to have the career that I've had with this show. But the shy is something that will never be forgotten. It'll always be with me. And I'm grateful to the audience that has just. The shy family that's rocked with me since day one.
- [38:29]
Ebro Darden
Well, and she'll never forget because after eight seasons, that means that checks lasting forever. You know what I mean? How can you forget?
- [38:36]
Lena Waithe
I don't know, man. Look, look, I don't know if I need the. The firebomb on that because, like, the money is different now. There's no real. Like, the syndication is different, bro. Like, I'm telling you, like, it might be you played yourself because the truth is, like, you know, congratulations. Like, seriously, it might be you play yourself because with the streaming and whatnot and like, the. The. The syndication checks aren't what they used to be. It's not like, oh, your show airs on TBS now, or, oh, you get paid for reruns. It's not that kind of party. I still got to go to work. I may be on YouTube with y'. All.
- [39:06]
Laura Rosenberg
Listen, we here.
- [39:07]
Ebro Darden
We got.
- [39:08]
Laura Rosenberg
And by the way, it's a great place to be. I ain't gonna hold you. With the way the landscape is changing and. And the way things is.
- [39:14]
CC Sabathia
The.
- [39:15]
Laura Rosenberg
The. We are honored to be in this space and have an audience. And I. I was listening to the names you were rattling off that, you know, made it possible for you to have a. Eight seasons On. On with the shy. And what I found myself thinking while you were saying that was just about the ability to withstand in a world where either saying unpopular things, telling unpopular truths, and doing things like a maverick, like, you've done it.
- [39:43]
Lena Waithe
It.
- [39:43]
Laura Rosenberg
It. It's hard. You know what I mean? And. And it's because people came before you and created some space. I think we feel the same here, too. And thanks for acknowledging that transition that we're in right now, because just continuing to show up to a space with people you love and have an audience is super valuable. And even what you're doing in Baltimore, right, where you were just talking about Westmore coming to the show and the mayor of Baltimore coming to the show and having that community embrace you, and that's also a community in transition. Like a lot of people, if you haven't been paying attention, what's going on in Maryland, what's going on in Baltimore, you know, for you getting out there and engaging with that community and bringing them out with their families and then talking about trauma and triggers of parenting on stage and catharsis kind of way, and then by, like, that's all powerful stuff. And to have community responding to that, you know, it's got to feel beautiful and salute to you for that.
- [40:34]
Lena Waithe
No, I appreciate it, and it does. It's amazing. It's been phenomenal. And I love, like, watching y' all here on this platform on YouTube, because where I do watch little stuff now, you know, So I had no issue following y' all over here at the Joy hearing. Y' all talk about your families and what's going on. You know, Rosenberg mad at his apartment. You know what I mean?
- [40:59]
Laura Rosenberg
Lena, listen, stop by the studio one day and just hang, man, for. For no reason. Yeah, pull up.
- [41:05]
Lena Waithe
Happy to. Happy to.
- [41:06]
Laura Rosenberg
That is so much appreciate you, y'.
- [41:09]
Fetna
All.
- [41:09]
Laura Rosenberg
Check for that play. Make your way down there to Baltimore if you can, or if you're in the area or something with your fan.
- [41:13]
Ebro Darden
March 15th.
- [41:14]
Laura Rosenberg
There it is. Trinity. Go look for it. Sounds dope. Yeah, Take care.
- [41:19]
Ebro Darden
That sounds really dope, man.
- [41:21]
Laura Rosenberg
Nah, listen, speaking of family, you want to get to family matters? It's time too.
- [41:26]
Fetna
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- [41:54]
Issa Rae
Close your eyes.
- [41:55]
CC Sabathia
Exhale.
- [41:56]
Issa Rae
Feel your body relax.
- [41:58]
CC Sabathia
And let go of whatever you're carrying today.
- [42:01]
Fetna
Well, I'm letting go of the worry that I wouldn't get my new contacts in time for this class. I got them delivered free from 1-800-contacts. Oh, my gosh, they're so fast.
- [42:10]
Issa Rae
And breathe.
- [42:11]
Fetna
Oh, sorry. I almost couldn't breathe when I saw the discount they gave me on my first order. Oh, sorry. Namaste. Visit 1-800-contacts.com today to save on your first order.
- [42:22]
Lena Waithe
1-800-contacts.
- [42:26]
Laura Rosenberg
Yo, we haven't replaced the. Oh, he just sent the new one.
- [42:32]
CC Sabathia
Hang on.
- [42:32]
Laura Rosenberg
It's a rare condition this day and age Reading the good news on the newspaper page Love and traditions of the
- [42:42]
Issa Rae
grand design Some people say it's even
- [42:45]
Ebro Darden
harder to find well, there must be
- [42:49]
Issa Rae
some magic clue Inside these gentle walls All I see is a tower of
- [42:58]
Laura Rosenberg
dreams Real lover that ever the scene Bow, bow, bow.
- [43:04]
Lena Waithe
Let's go.
- [43:06]
Ebro Darden
This bootleg is crazy.
- [43:07]
Laura Rosenberg
I got the new one. He just gave it to me during the show.
- [43:10]
Ebro Darden
You have it now?
- [43:11]
Laura Rosenberg
I mean, it's importing right now for the outro.
- [43:13]
Ebro Darden
We know how you. We know how you feel.
- [43:15]
Laura Rosenberg
Love an outro. Speaking of family matters, Issa in the studio today over there sleeping. Bored on the. Bored on the job.
- [43:22]
Ebro Darden
You want to bring her on? Is she saying hello or you going walk on?
- [43:24]
Laura Rosenberg
Issa, you want to say hi? It's up to you.
- [43:26]
Ebro Darden
I already got a picture of her dead asleep.
- [43:28]
Laura Rosenberg
I tried to tell her to go lay down in there, she could sleep, but, you know, she had a day off school.
- [43:33]
CC Sabathia
Hi.
- [43:34]
Ebro Darden
Hi, Issa.
- [43:36]
Fetna
I was so happy. I was like, issa is here.
- [43:39]
Ebro Darden
So how was the football experience? Can you tell us?
- [43:42]
Issa Rae
It was really good. So we were in Florida and it was a world tournament with different teams. Some from China, the Bahamas, Mexico, all over the world. Yeah. So there were like 10,000 players.
- [43:57]
Ebro Darden
What?
- [43:57]
Issa Rae
Just in my age division, there were 13, 32 teams.
- [44:01]
Ebro Darden
Wow.
- [44:02]
Issa Rae
So from different places. So the first, it was a two day tournament. So the first day it was like pool play. So we had four pool play games. My team ended up winning three out of four.
- [44:15]
Ebro Darden
Okay, so that sort of advanced you to the next round.
- [44:18]
Issa Rae
Yeah, it kind of ranked us. So we. I think our overall rank, we were like sixth. And then the championship day, we had four playoff games. And then we had the championship game, which was live on espn. Yeah. Yeah. So that was good. But it wasn't like, too overwhelming because the cameras Weren't like, all up in your face.
- [44:43]
Ebro Darden
Right.
- [44:44]
Issa Rae
They were kind of, like, from afar.
- [44:45]
Ebro Darden
Okay, so you didn't feel extra pressure?
- [44:47]
Lena Waithe
No.
- [44:48]
Ebro Darden
Okay.
- [44:48]
Issa Rae
Not really, but it was a fun experience with the team and everything, so. Yeah.
- [44:52]
Lena Waithe
Wow.
- [44:52]
Laura Rosenberg
Young Issa. So that's what she's been on.
- [44:54]
Ebro Darden
We missed you at Selassie's birthday. Yeah, but it was for a good reason.
- [44:58]
Fetna
Yeah, but we were celebrating you. We were so happy watching you on tv.
- [45:01]
Laura Rosenberg
Yeah, it's gonna be tough the next few years. It's the same. It's the same time every year. So that's Selassie's birthday.
- [45:06]
Ebro Darden
Well, you know, listen, we just got to get a breakfast. It's five.
- [45:09]
Laura Rosenberg
Big five. Is big five, Big three and four.
- [45:12]
Ebro Darden
They can celebrate before and after.
- [45:13]
Laura Rosenberg
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [45:14]
Ebro Darden
So is. Is. This is family matters. I do want to ask you. Now that Selassie is 2 years old, she's very, very cute. She reminds me of you when you were little. You were a very cute child. However, we're not with the child every day when you're around. Does. Is Selassie starting to annoy you at all? Are there any times when you go, all right, Selassie, I know you want to be with me every second, or is she just cute and adorable all. Every second?
- [45:40]
Issa Rae
Sometimes when you first see her and she's like, issa. And gives you a hug, you want to spend time with her. There's times when I'm like, can I have a hug? She's like, no. And doesn't. She doesn't want to hug you or, like.
- [45:52]
Ebro Darden
And if you feel rejected. Right?
- [45:53]
Lena Waithe
Yeah.
- [45:54]
Issa Rae
But then when you're just, like, chilling, watching tv, she wants to come cuddle up with you sometimes. So she, like, picks and chooses when she wants to be nice to you and not. And sometimes I, like, just go and chill in my room, and she wants to follow me.
- [46:09]
CC Sabathia
Oh, of course.
- [46:09]
Ebro Darden
Sounds like what Kenzie used to do with you.
- [46:11]
Issa Rae
If I recall, they, like, give her some personal stuff face, like, let her breathe, then she finally wants to hang out with you. So sometimes it's like she just picks and chooses. So when you want to hang out with her, she doesn't want to hang out with you. And when you're trying to do your own thing, she wants to follow you around all the time. But it's not really that.
- [46:30]
Ebro Darden
It kind of sounds like her dad. I'm gonna be honest with you. You want to hang with Ebro. He's gone. Can't find him. Don't know. But then you might See him, but he might cling on to you and be with you the whole time.
- [46:39]
Laura Rosenberg
What are you doing?
- [46:40]
Lena Waithe
What's going on?
- [46:41]
Ebro Darden
Because he feels, he feels uncomfortable now. He's, he's, he's up on you.
- [46:44]
Lena Waithe
Yeah.
- [46:44]
Ebro Darden
Is it awesome though? Is it been just cool having a sister cuz you were an only child for so long.
- [46:49]
Issa Rae
Yeah, it's cool. It's different because now I'm getting older and I have stuff I'm doing, so I'm away from the house a lot. So like if we were born closer in age, I probably would have like more time and be reliable to like relate with her. But now I'm getting older, she's like playing with her toys and maybe sometimes it's not like fun for me all the time. So we just have to like find a balance of stuff we're doing. But we like watch family movies.
- [47:16]
Laura Rosenberg
So that's like they got a little couch cuddle situation.
- [47:18]
Issa Rae
Yeah, that's how we like spend our time.
- [47:21]
Ebro Darden
I wonder, so what the age difference is eight years?
- [47:23]
Laura Rosenberg
No, nine.
- [47:25]
Ebro Darden
Yeah, nine years. So the catch up will be at like 20 and 30 even earlier. I mean, because honestly, even like by, by 25 and 16, they're still like, they're different but like it's a different kind of hang. Like she'll want to bring her like, oh, it's my 16 year old little sister, but they can still hang.
- [47:42]
Laura Rosenberg
You know, I gotta keep an eye on that. Take the money, Laura, Go ahead.
- [47:48]
Fetna
I said that Even when Issa's 19, she'll be able to take her places because she's not hanging out with a baby anymore.
- [47:53]
Ebro Darden
Yeah, 19. And you could take a T. Like that'll be taking someone your age right now around.
- [47:56]
Issa Rae
Yeah.
- [47:57]
Ebro Darden
So that could be when, you know, college, but by then she's going to be like an Olympian, you know what I mean? She's going to be an Olympic flag football player. Like at that point. Flag football icon, you know, that's a,
- [48:08]
Laura Rosenberg
might be like trailblazer.
- [48:10]
Ebro Darden
A trailblazer?
- [48:11]
Issa Rae
Yeah. We'll see.
- [48:12]
Ebro Darden
Oh, that's really great.
- [48:13]
Laura Rosenberg
How far do you want to take this flag football thing?
- [48:16]
Issa Rae
Okay. So it started as something like I was new, I've been seeing it. It started to like go viral. So I was like, oh, this is cool. And everyone was like, what do you want to do? I was like trying to find a sport. I was like, I'll try out flag football. It started being a thing just on Sundays for rec and as like I started to do it, join teams, develop friends. I Think the level I'm in now, I could keep going until, like, high school, like, 17. But I don't know. I'm not sure if I want to, like, go to college for it. I. I like it, but I still want to find, like, a backup, like, a corporate job, so I'm not sound.
- [48:54]
Ebro Darden
Sounds like happy, bro.
- [48:56]
Issa Rae
So I'm not just on, like, sports. Because it's a risky business. It doesn't go right. I still have a backup in something I love to do.
- [49:05]
Fetna
Wait, so what do you love to do outside of flag football?
- [49:09]
Issa Rae
Okay, so I'm very artsy. Like, I love arts and crafts. I've been to, like, into bedazzling things.
- [49:17]
Ebro Darden
We love bedazzle.
- [49:18]
Laura Rosenberg
Def. Not a career. It's not a career.
- [49:19]
Issa Rae
Yeah, I know.
- [49:20]
Laura Rosenberg
Maybe on Etsy. You could bedazzle on Etsy. Get your bag.
- [49:23]
Issa Rae
Yeah, I. I like paint nails sometimes.
- [49:26]
Ebro Darden
Okay.
- [49:27]
Laura Rosenberg
He's gonna be a nail tech.
- [49:29]
Ebro Darden
Nail tech's a great career.
- [49:30]
Laura Rosenberg
It could be.
- [49:31]
Issa Rae
It could be. But that's one of those risky jobs.
- [49:34]
Ebro Darden
Yeah, you don't know, like.
- [49:35]
Issa Rae
Yeah, it's a good hustle, though.
- [49:37]
Laura Rosenberg
I ain't gonna hold you.
- [49:37]
Issa Rae
It is. It's a good.
- [49:38]
Laura Rosenberg
Like, if you could build a. Build a clientele, you could. Hello, Laura, how much you paying for that set you got on right there?
- [49:44]
Fetna
No, this one's a light one, but you can charge.
- [49:46]
Laura Rosenberg
How much pay for this light one?
- [49:48]
Fetna
This one was a hundred.
- [49:49]
Ebro Darden
100. Still real money for Nan.
- [49:50]
Fetna
But there is sometimes people charge up to, like, $300 for really cool nails.
- [49:56]
Issa Rae
Yeah. So I like. I dance, I sing. I do, like, a lot of different. I've done a lot of different sports that my dad has signed me up for. Tennis, I want to try out. Volleyball. Everyone's saying I'll be good at volleyball. Yeah, I've done, like, swimming, so I.
- [50:18]
Laura Rosenberg
A lot of athletic, creative going on over here.
- [50:21]
Issa Rae
Yeah, very creative. So I like cooking. Yeah.
- [50:26]
Laura Rosenberg
So maybe you'll be a chef.
- [50:27]
Issa Rae
A chef? That's another risky business.
- [50:30]
Laura Rosenberg
Oh, yeah, it is. You got to move around a lot.
- [50:32]
Ebro Darden
Yeah, it's hard.
- [50:33]
CC Sabathia
It's hard.
- [50:34]
Laura Rosenberg
But you watch the chef shows, don't you?
- [50:36]
Issa Rae
I watch. I watch those baking shows and the chef shows, but it's also a risky business.
- [50:42]
Ebro Darden
How was. Sorry. I'm sorry. So how was the concert the other night?
- [50:45]
Laura Rosenberg
Sky. Sky.
- [50:46]
Ebro Darden
Last weekend.
- [50:47]
Laura Rosenberg
Freya Sky.
- [50:48]
Issa Rae
Okay, so Freya sky, she's great. She just starred in the summer in zombies 4.
- [50:54]
Ebro Darden
Okay.
- [50:55]
Issa Rae
It's like a little movie that all, like, the tweens are watching.
- [50:58]
Ebro Darden
Okay.
- [50:58]
Lena Waithe
All right.
- [50:59]
Issa Rae
It's kind of like a fiction. It's not like a real thing.
- [51:03]
Ebro Darden
Okay.
- [51:03]
CC Sabathia
Really?
- [51:03]
Laura Rosenberg
You don't say zombies?
- [51:04]
Ebro Darden
No, real zombies.
- [51:05]
CC Sabathia
What you're saying.
- [51:06]
Fetna
So Kenzo right now is obsessed with Descendants and zombies, so she's into it.
- [51:11]
Laura Rosenberg
Already watched Descendants for 100 years. You wouldn't stop watching it.
- [51:17]
Issa Rae
Everyone in my age, we're off Descendants now because. So the original cast in the first three movies. The original cast, everyone loved it.
- [51:25]
Laura Rosenberg
Yeah.
- [51:26]
Issa Rae
And sadly, Cameron Boyce, one of the actors, died, and they tried to do another movie without him and without the original cast. So now they're, like, still doing the franchise of Descendants, but it's not as
- [51:38]
Laura Rosenberg
good, so people bailed.
- [51:39]
Issa Rae
It doesn't have the original cast, so we're all like. We're kind of off.
- [51:43]
Fetna
Okay.
- [51:43]
Issa Rae
That's why we're on.
- [51:44]
Laura Rosenberg
So you're part of the Descendants hive.
- [51:46]
Ebro Darden
Is there a hive?
- [51:48]
Laura Rosenberg
Apparently she said we're off it.
- [51:50]
CC Sabathia
Yeah.
- [51:50]
Ebro Darden
So that implies their people.
- [51:51]
CC Sabathia
Yeah.
- [51:52]
Issa Rae
So zombies now it's, like, fictional. Apparently in Zombies 5, they're supposed to be, like, mermaids or something.
- [51:59]
Fetna
Oh, don't tell Kenzo that.
- [52:00]
Issa Rae
And they're, like, casting a mermaid. Trousseau. She starred in that. And my friends were like, oh, who is she? Because she was, like, 14, 13. After the time of filming in the movie, she was young. And then everyone find out she had some albums out, and everyone started to go listen to that. And then she just put out a new one that. That started going, like, viral everywhere. And then she. Everyone's like, oh, she's going on tour. So everyone wanted to go see her tour. And she kind of has like, those, like, poppy songs.
- [52:33]
Laura Rosenberg
This frame. Sky.
- [52:33]
Issa Rae
You talking about sky?
- [52:34]
Fetna
Yeah, yeah.
- [52:35]
Issa Rae
And she's kind of like Taylor Swift. Swift, like, giving, like, first Taylor Swift vibe.
- [52:39]
Ebro Darden
Giving early Taylor Swift.
- [52:40]
Issa Rae
Yeah, a little bit. But, like, you know how.
- [52:42]
Ebro Darden
Shake it off vibes a little bit.
- [52:44]
Issa Rae
Swift had, like, some of those guitar eps. Not sometimes she has some of those, but she also has some of the, like, poppy with the drums and the bass and stuff.
- [52:55]
Ebro Darden
Okay.
- [52:56]
Issa Rae
And then she has, like, her slow songs. So it was a. A nice vibe.
- [53:00]
Ebro Darden
A little vibe. Little vibe. So you're not obsessed, but it was vibe.
- [53:03]
Laura Rosenberg
Do you want to. So. So it was at Manhattan Center.
- [53:06]
CC Sabathia
Okay.
- [53:06]
Ebro Darden
Hammerstein to you and me.
- [53:07]
Laura Rosenberg
Hammerstein.
- [53:08]
Ebro Darden
Right.
- [53:08]
Laura Rosenberg
To the regular folks. And so, you know, it's general admission. We just had tickets. Ga. You know, I mean, we didn't have no special balcony.
- [53:16]
Ebro Darden
Right. You're not used to that.
- [53:18]
Laura Rosenberg
And so Issa's with her two girls. One of her friends, Zoe's like a Freya, super fan.
- [53:23]
Ebro Darden
She's the one who's in.
- [53:24]
Laura Rosenberg
Ava and Issa were kind of like, all right, we'll go with Zoe. And the dads, of course, were like, all right, we'll support.
- [53:30]
CC Sabathia
Right.
- [53:30]
Laura Rosenberg
For support. So we just. The dad stood in the back by the bar and we let the girls.
- [53:36]
Ebro Darden
They opened the bar for a show like that.
- [53:37]
Laura Rosenberg
Yeah, they definitely had the bar open for adults.
- [53:39]
Ebro Darden
Okay. There were some adults that adults was camping, hanging out at the bar.
- [53:41]
Laura Rosenberg
Okay, okay. But so there's a whole room of thousands of kids and some parents. Issa's friend, couple of friends ain't as tall as he, so they couldn't see. So what'd you guys do, Issa?
- [53:51]
Issa Rae
So they were like, we want to go to the front. So Zoe had a sign and everyone was putting up their signs. We're like, okay, let's go put it up. You want to do that? I'm down. But I had to, like, pull them through the crowds cuz they. I didn't want us to get lost and separated because that would be a whole thing. So I was like, holding on to their hoodies, like, making sure we didn't get lost. We tried to go in this space and it was open, so like, we'll go here. But it was the fire exit, so the security was like, you can't stand here. Like, I'm gonna need you to clear out. So we're clearing out and we ended up standing in front of these two girls. And this girl's like, um, we're standing here. And I'm like, I'm so sorry, but obviously there's people like, can you not see that? So she started to get an attitude, and I got an attitude back.
- [54:34]
Laura Rosenberg
That's right.
- [54:34]
Issa Rae
And I'm like, you are like 16 years old. Calm down.
- [54:37]
Laura Rosenberg
That's right, calm down. You ain't even supposed to be in here. You too old for this.
- [54:40]
Issa Rae
Anyway, literally turn up and this whole grown woman with her child was like, why are these kids standing in front of us? Cause you're not in the front row. There's gonna be people in front of you.
- [54:51]
Laura Rosenberg
Just talk to them. Issa.
- [54:53]
Issa Rae
Yeah, I started getting mad.
- [54:55]
Ebro Darden
Yeah. People. Okay, well, I understand. How did it resolve?
- [54:58]
Lena Waithe
What happened?
- [54:59]
Issa Rae
The girls.
- [55:01]
Ebro Darden
Wait, wait, so what happened? Yeah, how'd it end?
- [55:04]
Issa Rae
No. So we ended up moving to the side.
- [55:07]
Ebro Darden
That's okay. That's good.
- [55:09]
Issa Rae
Was this grown man sitting in front of me. And so I just let my friends have fun. I Was, like, sacrificing my fun because they were standing next to those girls, and this grown man, like, my dad's height was, like, standing in front of me, so I didn't see anything annoying. Then we ended up, like, should we go just go to the back? So we went to the back with our dads so we could still see the stage. It just wasn't as close, but it was a better view.
- [55:32]
Ebro Darden
Got it.
- [55:33]
Issa Rae
So we got to the back, and I was sweating, and it was like, I had my jacket and my hoodie and my jeans, so I took off my jacket and my scarf. So I was like, we need to
- [55:41]
Laura Rosenberg
give you all the details.
- [55:42]
Issa Rae
We need to, like, spread out.
- [55:44]
CC Sabathia
All right?
- [55:45]
Issa Rae
So we ended up going back and Roseburg, and then I was, like, all tired. And then we ended up.
- [55:50]
Laura Rosenberg
And then Issa says to me,
- [55:54]
Issa Rae
I'm not. Okay? I'm not that rat.
- [55:56]
Laura Rosenberg
Being an adult is hard.
- [56:00]
Ebro Darden
That was a quote.
- [56:01]
Lena Waithe
Yes.
- [56:02]
Issa Rae
I was, like, pushing through all these grown adults at a concert for, like, teenagers and getting into arguments with an adult and a teenager. It's exhausting.
- [56:13]
Lena Waithe
Yes.
- [56:13]
Issa Rae
And I'm like, I'm. I see why. I'll sit in the back, but.
- [56:16]
Ebro Darden
Yeah, but. No, that is true. That is why I often like the back. But you may. I think you handled it well in the end. You stood. You stood your ground. Yeah, but then when you realize these people are being silly, ultimately, what are you gonna do? You move out to. Okay. Watch the damn concert.
- [56:28]
Laura Rosenberg
Well, not only that, but. But truth be told, they got there early, which is why they were in the front.
- [56:34]
Ebro Darden
Right.
- [56:35]
Issa Rae
Girls that were arguing with us got there after us.
- [56:38]
Laura Rosenberg
Oh, so you. So then you're right to maneuver in front of them, then.
- [56:41]
Issa Rae
Exactly.
- [56:41]
Ebro Darden
If they got there after you, they don't have a kit coming. That's right. As they say. But there is a thing I noticed because when I was at Disney Paris, we wanted to watch the fireworks. There is an annoying thing with the parent with taller parents wanting to be places with their kid.
- [56:54]
Laura Rosenberg
Yeah, you gotta move because, like, now
- [56:56]
Ebro Darden
you're there with your kid, and I get it, but you're blocking all the other kids and us shorter parents, so now we can't see anything.
- [57:01]
Laura Rosenberg
Well, as a taller parent, you are supposed to try to do the right thing, which is, hey, this is my kid right here. But I'm a. Move to the back. Y' all got me, like, help me keep an eye. There's supposed to be combos happening with the parents. Right.
- [57:14]
Ebro Darden
I don't want to be in the Way.
- [57:14]
CC Sabathia
My experience, right?
- [57:16]
Laura Rosenberg
Where parents supposed to be like, yo, I know I'm blocking y'.
- [57:18]
CC Sabathia
All.
- [57:18]
Laura Rosenberg
This my kid right here. So I'm a move. So, you know, and we work together. We're supposed to work as a unit parent.
- [57:23]
Ebro Darden
Right, because they're all parents at this point.
- [57:25]
Laura Rosenberg
Exactly.
- [57:26]
Ebro Darden
So, wow, Issa, that was a great adventure.
- [57:28]
Issa Rae
Yeah, I was very adventurous. It was annoying. Some parents, like, you could see them, they were standing out to the side doing their right thing. Like, you could tell the kids probably, like, in high school with her friends vibing, and they were off to the side, right? Some parents. There was a lady standing to my left, like. But when I was standing behind the man, she was to my left, and she was, like, looking for her kid, and she was, like, shining a flashlight in my face. And she lost her kid. She didn't know where her kid was. So you gotta, like, keep control of your kid. But then also not in the way of other kids. Cause it was annoying us. And I was trying to make sure my friends were having a good time because I wanted to spend time with my friends, because I haven't seen them, because I've been in Florida.
- [58:09]
Ebro Darden
Right.
- [58:10]
Issa Rae
But then I was getting into arguments with high schoolers and a woman and her kids.
- [58:16]
Ebro Darden
It's a lot. It's a lot. I understand. That's a lot. Issa, how old are you?
- [58:19]
Issa Rae
11.
- [58:20]
Ebro Darden
When was your birthday?
- [58:22]
Issa Rae
August.
- [58:23]
Ebro Darden
So you're turning 12 in August?
- [58:25]
Laura Rosenberg
Yeah.
- [58:25]
Ebro Darden
So what can we do about you slowing down the aging thing? Can you stop?
- [58:29]
Issa Rae
I mean, I'm doing my best.
- [58:31]
Ebro Darden
I'm like, all right.
- [58:32]
Issa Rae
I'm, like, getting everything done in the time that I can.
- [58:35]
Ebro Darden
Yeah, that's all you can do.
- [58:36]
Issa Rae
I'm taking all the experience.
- [58:37]
Ebro Darden
No, I can't take.
- [58:38]
Laura Rosenberg
You're doing a phenomenal job, young lady, and we're so proud of you. And I hope you're proud of yourself.
- [58:43]
Issa Rae
Thank you. I'm very proud.
- [58:44]
Ebro Darden
We need the drop of Issa's.
- [58:46]
Laura Rosenberg
He's a nice man. Oh, yeah. Well, that's an old school drop. First time on the radio?
- [58:51]
Lena Waithe
Yeah.
- [58:51]
Laura Rosenberg
Do we have the video? The first time Issa was interviewed to. Now, should we do a side by side? Wait, you have it? It's somewhere.
- [58:57]
Ebro Darden
Oh, I thought you meant you, like, thought about it.
- [58:59]
CC Sabathia
Oh, no, no.
- [59:00]
Laura Rosenberg
I didn't think about it till right now when you brought it up.
- [59:02]
Fetna
Do you remember when. When we had to do Issa's movie reviews.
- [59:05]
Issa Rae
Yes.
- [59:05]
Fetna
That was fun.
- [59:06]
Ebro Darden
How about this? How about this shot of Issa?
- [59:08]
Laura Rosenberg
Oh.
- [59:08]
Issa Rae
Oh, my God. That's a classic.
- [59:10]
Laura Rosenberg
You got to show it to the camera. Now you got zoomed well.
- [59:12]
Ebro Darden
Oh, here we go.
- [59:13]
CC Sabathia
Here we go, Here we go.
- [59:13]
Fetna
He said it's a classic.
- [59:15]
Ebro Darden
Yo, this is a child. This is a little baby right here.
- [59:19]
Laura Rosenberg
That's her. You do?
- [59:20]
Issa Rae
Yeah.
- [59:20]
Ebro Darden
Oh, you want this one? Oh, there you go. Yo, she's a little tiny baby and it's still in my iPhone. Like, that's how recent it is.
- [59:28]
Laura Rosenberg
That was her first birthday.
- [59:30]
Ebro Darden
Yes. Is that. You remember the outfit?
- [59:32]
CC Sabathia
Yeah.
- [59:32]
Laura Rosenberg
Well, because I had that photo. You had a photo with it? She had a photo with Laura that day.
- [59:36]
Ebro Darden
Oh, here's another birthday. Always Issa. Here, switch that again.
- [59:40]
Laura Rosenberg
Was that. That's the Moana birthday. I'm dressed as Maui.
- [59:44]
Ebro Darden
Yeah, there's Eva dress.
- [59:46]
CC Sabathia
Here you go.
- [59:47]
Ebro Darden
Look over my shoulder. Bascom, go back to over my shoulder. Wrong angle.
- [59:51]
CC Sabathia
There you go.
- [59:51]
Lena Waithe
There you go.
- [59:52]
Laura Rosenberg
There it is.
- [59:53]
Ebro Darden
And then look.
- [59:53]
Laura Rosenberg
Oh, I was dressed as Maui.
- [59:56]
Ebro Darden
Yo, you look good with the long hair.
- [59:58]
Lena Waithe
I know.
- [59:58]
Issa Rae
It's a vi.
- [59:59]
Ebro Darden
No, it is a vibe. It's giving. What's it giving? I don't know what it's giving, but it's giving something. Another one.
- [60:06]
Issa Rae
It's giving like dreads, like when you have.
- [60:07]
Laura Rosenberg
Oh, when I had long hair. There you go. What's Issa doing?
- [60:10]
Ebro Darden
Issa and Bear at another birthday of Issa's.
- [60:12]
Laura Rosenberg
No, that her pool party. That's Passover.
- [60:15]
Ebro Darden
No, this is the pool.
- [60:16]
Fetna
That was at the pool party at Jerry's house.
- [60:19]
Laura Rosenberg
No, that might be. That might be Laura's house.
- [60:22]
Ebro Darden
Nah, nah, nah, it's not.
- [60:24]
Laura Rosenberg
Oh, that was Jazz. That was Jazz at Jazz's house.
- [60:26]
Ebro Darden
And that was just a couple years ago.
- [60:28]
Laura Rosenberg
How many years? What year was that?
- [60:29]
CC Sabathia
That?
- [60:30]
Ebro Darden
These are 20. 19.
- [60:32]
Laura Rosenberg
2019.
- [60:33]
Ebro Darden
July 2019.
- [60:34]
Laura Rosenberg
Well, you see, you've done a phenomenal job storytelling today. Give it up, Issa. One family matters. Do we have more new family matters or. That's family matters for today.
- [60:43]
Ebro Darden
I mean, we've done a lot today.
- [60:44]
Fetna
I know, but I do want to give a special happy birthday. Happy second birthday to Griff's little one, Hunter.
- [60:52]
Laura Rosenberg
Wait, is that today?
- [60:53]
Ebro Darden
Tomorrow. Happy birthday.
- [60:56]
Fetna
Happy birthday, Hunter.
- [60:57]
Ebro Darden
But the party's not for a couple weeks, right? Oh, cuz, they, they, they double up the party.
- [61:02]
Lena Waithe
Yeah.
- [61:03]
CC Sabathia
Smart.
- [61:03]
Ebro Darden
Wow. Two already.
- [61:05]
Fetna
I know.
- [61:06]
Laura Rosenberg
Both.
- [61:07]
Ebro Darden
Both. He has two two year olds who aren't twins.
- [61:10]
Lena Waithe
Yes.
- [61:11]
Issa Rae
Two two year olds.
- [61:12]
Laura Rosenberg
And, and, and talking about having more kids. Y' all need to relax.
- [61:15]
Ebro Darden
Talking about more. What is yo people. What is it with people?
- [61:21]
Laura Rosenberg
You got Rahsaan over there.
- [61:22]
Ebro Darden
What about it? Well, he's out of control. Well, it's out of control.
- [61:25]
Laura Rosenberg
Well, his wife is doing any day now.
- [61:27]
Lena Waithe
Any day.
- [61:28]
Ebro Darden
And I don't want.
- [61:28]
Laura Rosenberg
And Rahsaan swears he's still showing up to work. I'm like, how, bro?
- [61:32]
Fetna
Yo, are we looking at? I told him. I was like, you better be there for her.
- [61:35]
Ebro Darden
Well, hold on, hold on. He's saying that. But also, Joe is sitting here looking over his shoulder. So my guess is by force, by the way, by you. But be like, no, you're gonna chosen to keep learning, so we're prepared to keep rolling.
- [61:46]
Laura Rosenberg
Yes.
- [61:47]
Ebro Darden
Yo, man, I. I just. I guess that exponentially, it just has to get somewhat easier. Like, one seems so hard, then two's hard, but then by three, it has to start going the other direction or something. No, it has to.
- [62:00]
Fetna
My.
- [62:00]
Issa Rae
My.
- [62:00]
Fetna
My girl who has two kids, she is in shambles all the time.
- [62:04]
Ebro Darden
She has two, she has two, and
- [62:05]
Fetna
she's a stay at home mom, so it's like she has to deal with the pressure all day.
- [62:09]
Ebro Darden
I think it's when you go to three and four that it starts to get, like, now your brain doesn't even process what's going on anymore. You're just letting go at this point.
- [62:16]
Laura Rosenberg
Well, you. Jazz and I were talking about another the other day.
- [62:19]
Ebro Darden
Oh, really?
- [62:20]
Laura Rosenberg
We were having a convo about why I don't think it's a good idea.
- [62:24]
Ebro Darden
Okay.
- [62:24]
Fetna
Okay.
- [62:25]
Laura Rosenberg
But when you get down to actually talking about scheduling things, See, because you can be enamored by the joy and the beauty and the whole thing of just being in the bubble of the baby. And, I mean, it is a beautiful. Let's call it. Let's get you 24 months, as gave you, 24 months of cuddling, beauty and all of the things.
- [62:45]
Ebro Darden
Yeah, I mean, you're skipping over a lot of other.
- [62:46]
Fetna
Don't look at it that way.
- [62:48]
Ebro Darden
I hear what you're saying.
- [62:49]
Laura Rosenberg
No, but that's how people's brains remember it. They remember all of the mornings waking up. They remember all of the cuddles at night. They remember all of the little baby in the cute clothes. Right. That was another thing, because we had Storage wars last weekend.
- [63:02]
Ebro Darden
So the conversation of, what are we
- [63:03]
Laura Rosenberg
getting older clothes and all this stuff. But people forget all of the scheduling and all of the things you had to sacrifice so that you could enjoy what you enjoyed. Now, if you're willing to keep sacrificing like you have no other stuff that you want to do for yourself, whomever you are, man or woman. You don't have any professional aspirations. Everything is family, family, family, and that's it. You want to be locked in that space of driving people around, getting them to their things, going to other people's things. Right. Because your friends have your. Your kids have friends, and then they have friends and then birthdays and this thing and that thing and the holidays and figuring out vacation or if you're willing to give up all of the stuff that you want to do and that. That's your life. I could see how you go, I don't mind having another kid.
- [63:51]
Lena Waithe
Yeah.
- [63:51]
Fetna
Some people really enjoy that and some people don't. Some people like me and other. Other other women in my life just want to go back to being able to do the things they love to do.
- [64:00]
Ebro Darden
Yeah.
- [64:00]
Fetna
And it's not selfish. Some people are like, oh, that's a bit selfish.
- [64:04]
Laura Rosenberg
No, it's not.
- [64:04]
Fetna
You know how many people curse people out? I'm like, no, it's not.
- [64:07]
Ebro Darden
I mean, it's either not selfish or you're villainizing the word selfish. It's that you want to have a life for your.
- [64:12]
Lena Waithe
Is it.
- [64:13]
Ebro Darden
No, it's selfish to want have a life.
- [64:14]
Laura Rosenberg
It would be. It would be selfish if you were abandoning your responsibilities as a parent.
- [64:19]
CC Sabathia
Right, right.
- [64:20]
Laura Rosenberg
And only focused on having the stuff that you want to do. That's not what you're saying.
- [64:25]
Ebro Darden
I could actually argue if I wanted to, if I was going to be that guy, I could argue that in some ways it's selfish to go the other way.
- [64:31]
Laura Rosenberg
What do you mean?
- [64:31]
Ebro Darden
Just continue. And I'm not talking about basketball. I mean, you guys, everyone's situation is different, but like.
- [64:35]
Fetna
Yeah, everyone is.
- [64:36]
Ebro Darden
But sometimes people just want to keep having kids because it seems so fun to have kids. But by the end, it's like, are you giving. Are all the kids getting the best thing, or are you being selfish?
- [64:44]
Laura Rosenberg
That's what I'm saying. I'm saying the same thing. You're not. That's not the other way. I'm saying for someone like Laura, who's saying, hey, I need to have stuff for me so that I could be the best version of me for my child, so that when I spend time with my child, I'm locked in, we're rocking and rolling, and then I need stuff for me too, so that I can be that person. Of course that's not selfish. That's just knowing what's for you.
- [65:04]
Ebro Darden
Correct.
- [65:05]
Laura Rosenberg
It would be selfish if you just have. Keep having kids because you like a certain phase of babies. Toddler but then when they get to. When they need you to drive them around and give them experiences and take them to be with their friends and have a friend group, you ain't got no time for none of that.
- [65:20]
Ebro Darden
Well, like, we had TI on this week, and when TI Was talking to us about his kids, you realize that with his older kids, all of us are parents and none of us know what he's talking about. 17, 19, 21. All of these other levels that none of us have gotten to yet. That people just act like they know they're all gonna be good. Everything's fine. Like, there are people that when their kids get to be high, teenagers are so difficult. And they spend every weekend night. Especially if you're like my insane parents. They spend every weekend night waiting for their kid to get home. My dad never slept, like, while me and my brother were in our partying phase. More of like going out, especially with my brother, where he knew my brother was probably drinking and being dumb. My dad didn't sleep on Saturday nights. Not until he heard that door slam.
- [66:03]
Laura Rosenberg
A lot of parents.
- [66:04]
Fetna
That was my mom too. No matter what.
- [66:06]
Laura Rosenberg
And then. But there's some parents who. They're not sleeping ever again. Like, they've. But they've. But there's an acceptance that they've had. Like, I have children and there's some. And their children are 40, and they need to know that their children are okay. I know people like them.
- [66:20]
CC Sabathia
Yeah.
- [66:21]
Laura Rosenberg
That are like in their 60s, in their 70s. Like. Yeah. I never really went back to, like, you lay down at night and everything is just all good unless all the
- [66:30]
Ebro Darden
kids are in the house. That's why they'll love the holidays so much. Like, if they have Christmas and their whole family's there. Yeah. They could finally go to bed. Being like, my kids are downstairs and their kids are downstairs there. Everyone is in my house.
- [66:41]
Laura Rosenberg
Yeah.
- [66:41]
Ebro Darden
But.
- [66:42]
Laura Rosenberg
And so some of that is. You have to lean in for. For people who have multiple children. Like, Rah. Or thinking about doing it. Like dawn and Griff. Don and Griff have leaned all the way in.
- [66:53]
Lena Waithe
Yeah.
- [66:53]
Laura Rosenberg
Like that. This is what they're doing.
- [66:55]
Fetna
Right.
- [66:56]
Laura Rosenberg
They are raising these children, thinking about having more. They work their jobs. They have their home, and this is it. And we're rocking for the next 20, 25 joints.
- [67:05]
Ebro Darden
I just. I will need. We're talking about it and what a timeline would look like. But I'm. As we're having this conversation, I'm literally live time having the thought that I'm like, we can't Have a serious conversation about that until we firm up, like our living situation.
- [67:23]
Laura Rosenberg
There's no, no way.
- [67:24]
Ebro Darden
There's no way. Not until we truly know, like, what comfortable. Because we're not mentally comfortable right now.
- [67:30]
Laura Rosenberg
Well, and are you sure while you guys are having this conversation, you know, first time moms, that first two years is topsy turvy of them becoming this new person.
- [67:40]
CC Sabathia
Right.
- [67:41]
Laura Rosenberg
Well, that's our mom now. And they still want like Laura's articulating. There's still this desire to get back to a thing.
- [67:48]
Ebro Darden
So Natalie deeply has that desire. But I think what she wrestles with is, should I just take the step soonish before I'm all the way back? Because am I going to want to do it again? Am I gonna want to work my way all the way back? And now we're pregnant and Griff says that's what Don's. And then I'm doing it again where she's like, maybe we should just think about doing it soon. And I can make one comeback and that's my one.
- [68:12]
Fetna
And I hear her.
- [68:13]
Ebro Darden
I can't tell her. Yeah, can't tell her what the answer is. You know, I can't.
- [68:17]
Fetna
It has to be her choice.
- [68:18]
Ebro Darden
I just know I have to firm up our other stuff.
- [68:21]
Laura Rosenberg
That's your job.
- [68:23]
Ebro Darden
That's my job.
- [68:24]
Lena Waithe
Yeah.
- [68:24]
Laura Rosenberg
Her job is.
- [68:24]
Ebro Darden
But you have a job in this, too.
- [68:26]
CC Sabathia
You.
- [68:26]
Ebro Darden
That's important. Who's that?
- [68:27]
Laura Rosenberg
You.
- [68:27]
Ebro Darden
Who is that?
- [68:28]
CC Sabathia
And you.
- [68:29]
Ebro Darden
We need to make this money. So all of these things need to be firmed up so we can feel good.
- [68:39]
Laura Rosenberg
That is the ELR show today. That was busy. Sabathia, Lena.
- [68:42]
Ebro Darden
Wait, no, the surprise guest. I don't even want to. Yo, it's it in the title, like when we post this. Because we. The live title can sometimes change. I wonder if we should include Issa in the live title.
- [68:55]
Laura Rosenberg
That's a surprise.
- [68:56]
Ebro Darden
Or that's the surprise when people get there and they'll be like, oh, because they're going to. You know, they love the. Our hardcore Fox. Love the family stuff.
- [69:04]
Fetna
They love. I mean, Natalie. Natalie came through with that one.
- [69:07]
Ebro Darden
What?
- [69:07]
Fetna
She's the one who came up with Family Matter.
- [69:09]
Ebro Darden
I mean, I love giving her credit for that because she really just like said the words. She was like, family matters. That works.
- [69:14]
Laura Rosenberg
Yes.
- [69:14]
Ebro Darden
Give it to her. No, no, I give it to her.
- [69:16]
Laura Rosenberg
Give it forever until we get the cease and desist. Then we're blaming you.
- [69:19]
Ebro Darden
Yeah, yeah. It was not too dope then. Have a great weekend, y'.
- [69:23]
Lena Waithe
All.
- [69:23]
Laura Rosenberg
Yo, listen, make sure y' all subscribe and share and do all the algorithm hustling. We need the El army. Big up. And maybe next week because I know Laura's been in the trenches. We can get a merch update. Cuz we've been busy this week.
- [69:34]
Fetna
Yes, all of the, all of the we got planned should be shipped out. If you have any issues with anything. ELR Merchant merchmail.com Yo, by the way,
- [69:44]
Ebro Darden
we didn't even mention on the air how annoying Ebro is. Last week, Laura sends us a text message at night. I mean, she's like, I'm tired. She sends us a picture of her literally in the trenches shipping shirts. Now. I literally didn't know this was happening until like a week ago. When Ebro says merch director, I literally assume like everything else, it's just making up.
- [70:03]
Laura Rosenberg
No, no, no, no.
- [70:04]
Ebro Darden
I thought he's just make saying words because he says words. Yo, she says it's the pitch in the trenches. And she's like, my back hurts. My response. Oh man, great job. Ebro's like, yo, you still in the gym?
- [70:17]
Laura Rosenberg
Yo, my man, shut the.
- [70:19]
Ebro Darden
Yo, can you just. Are you still working on your back? I'm like, she's bending over. But what exercise is she doing for this? Yo, my man, shut up.
- [70:41]
Laura Rosenberg
Don't call it a podcast.
- [70:51]
Fetna
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