Anderson Cooper | Bad Sport

Summary

The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert

Episode: Anderson Cooper | Bad Sport
Date: October 16, 2025
Guest: Anderson Cooper
Host: Stephen Colbert

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Episode Overview

This episode presents a sharp and timely mix of Stephen Colbert’s signature satirical monologue and a deeply personal and insightful conversation with Anderson Cooper. They explore recent political news, the state of press freedom, the complexities of war reporting, and Anderson Cooper’s ongoing work addressing grief in his podcast, All There Is. Cooper offers reflections both professional (on reporting and journalistic ethics) and personal (on loss, empathy, and the nature of grief), making for a layered and intimate discussion.

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Key Topics & Highlights

1. Satirical Political Monologue and Current Events

Timestamps: 01:03–12:32

• Donald Trump’s McDonald’s Habits:
  Colbert opens with a comedic monologue lampooning Trump’s fast-food preferences, referencing anecdotes from RNC Chair Joe Gruters about Trump mixing menu items on Air Force One.

  "After nine months, it feels like we're about to give birth to an unvaccinated porcupine." — Stephen Colbert (01:16)

• World Cup and Boston:
  Jests made about Trump’s apparent threats to move World Cup matches away from Boston, highlighting the absurdity of the President attempting control over FIFA’s decisions.
• Young Republicans Group Message Leak:
  Discussion of Politico’s exposé on offensive messages from GOP youth leaders. Colbert delivers pointed commentary on their lackluster apologies and the tendency to excuse harmful behavior.

  "No, folks, no, it's true. When I was in Cub scouts...me and my troop invaded Poland. It did not go well." — Stephen Colbert (06:26)

• Government Shutdown and Congressional Inaction:
  Colbert satirizes Congressional delays and Speaker Mike Johnson’s refusal to swear in new Rep. Adelita Grijalva, tying it to broader issues of legislative dysfunction and the possible suppression of the Epstein files.
• Pentagon Restrictions on the Press:
  Recent attempts by the Department of Defense, under Pete Hegseth, to impose strict controls on journalists get particular attention. Major media outlets, including CNN and Fox News, refused to sign new restrictive agreements.

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2. Interview: Anderson Cooper on Press Freedom

Timestamps: 13:58–18:12

On New Pentagon Rules for Journalists

• CNN and Fox News Both Refuse Compliance:

  "So, no, of course, CNN is not going along with it, nor is Fox News, Pete Hegseth's former employer, which is lovely." — Anderson Cooper (14:56)

• Reporting “Lies” and Government Transparency:
  Cooper fiercely defends the role of the press, debunking the idea that reporters at the Pentagon behave recklessly, calling such claims “a lie."

  "It is important that you have people asking questions...many forms of patriotism, and telling the truth is one of them." — Anderson Cooper (15:13)

• Discussing the Consequences of Restricted Press:
  Emphasizes the press’s role in exposing government misinformation, referencing the Vietnam War and false casualty counts.

  "The American people deserve to know things...spoon feeding you the information... is an incredibly dangerous thing." — Anderson Cooper (17:02)

• Colbert’s Observations on Workarounds:
  Jokes about how barring journalists from the Pentagon just means they’ll meet sources elsewhere.

  "You can still just talk to these guys at a Starbucks, right?" — Stephen Colbert (17:37)

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3. Reporting in Conflict Zones & Perspective on War

Timestamps: 18:43–23:08

• Ceasefire in Israel and Gaza:
  Cooper provides context on the current ceasefire, hostages and prisoners, U.S. military involvement, and the fragility of the peace process.

  "What President Trump accomplished is remarkable and deserves credit for it. Absolutely. This is phase one of a ceasefire." — Anderson Cooper (19:18)

• On-the-Ground Reporting:
  Cooper recounts his start in war reporting and the importance of “soft eyes” to retain empathy and perspective.

  "No matter how many times you’ve done this...you can’t compare one tragedy to another." — Anderson Cooper (21:52)

• Empathy and Bearing Witness:

  "If you are jaded or you think, oh, I’m this experienced person... you have no business doing that job." — Anderson Cooper (22:43) Colbert asks Cooper to clarify “soft eyes,” leading to a moving reflection on not succumbing to emotional numbness.

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4. Grief, Healing, and Anderson’s Podcast

Timestamps: 23:08–29:31

• About All There Is and Its Expansion:
  Cooper is launching an expanded, year-long season of his podcast and a new interactive streaming show to further conversations on grief.

  "Grief can feel so lonely...the things I’ve learned that help are talking about it and listening to the experiences of others." — Anderson Cooper (24:36)

• Personal Impact and Sharing Stories:
  Cooper shares how connecting with listeners about grief has changed and, in his words, saved his life.

  "It’s only now in the last two years, by feeling this grief...that I’ve been able to feel joy." — Anderson Cooper (27:30)

• The Gift and Burden of Empathy:
  Stephen asks Cooper how he copes with the emotional toll. Cooper describes both exhaustion and profound meaning in his work, referencing his own family’s losses.
• Coping Mechanisms & Lightness:
  To close, Colbert asks about how Cooper decompresses, prompting a revealing or humorous exchange about watching the ultra-violent series Gomorrah.

  "It's this incredibly ultra violent crazy show about the Italian mob. It's so good though, I find it diverting." — Anderson Cooper (29:15)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Press Freedom:

  "Telling the truth is one of them [forms of patriotism]." — Anderson Cooper (15:17)

• On Reporting from War Zones:

  "You have to see things, I think, with soft eyes every time." — Anderson Cooper (22:09)

• On Grief and Joy:

  "By not allowing myself to feel the pain of it, I also didn’t allow myself to feel joy…because you can’t have one without the other." — Anderson Cooper (27:23)

• On Continuing Relationships with Lost Loved Ones:

  "The good news is you can still have a relationship with somebody who's died. And I have a relationship with my dad that's extraordinary." — Anderson Cooper (28:24)

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Key Segments & Timestamps

| Segment | Timestamps | |----------------------------------------|----------------| | Monologue and news jokes | 01:03–12:32 | | Pentagon/Press Freedom with Cooper | 13:58–18:12 | | Israel-Gaza Ceasefire | 18:43–20:31 | | Anderson's War Reporting Perspective | 20:31–23:08 | | Conversation on Grief/Podcast | 23:08–29:31 |

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Tone & Style

The episode embodies Colbert's witty, incisive satire and Anderson Cooper’s thoughtful, earnest storytelling. Moments of levity (fast-food jokes, press freedom quips) are balanced with profound personal revelations about witnessing tragedy and navigating grief.

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Summary for Non-Listeners

This episode is a deft blend of political humor and substantive discussion, shifting seamlessly from riffing on current events to a raw, genuine conversation about journalism, empathy, and confronting loss. Colbert’s probing questions and Cooper’s openness create a moving, worthwhile listen that explores both the existential and everyday challenges of working in media and living through personal tragedy. The honest talk on grief and the strategies for coping—and even finding new joy—provide an especially resonant takeaway.

Transcript

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[Stephen Colbert]

Welcome. Welcome one and all. Friends, Romans, countrymen, to the late show. I'm your host, Stephen Colbert. Ladies and gentlemen, we are. Check your. Check your calendars. We are almost nine months into the second Trump presidency. And after. I agree. Because after nine months, it feels like we're about to give birth to an unvaccinated porcupine. Wow. Just every day he finds disturbing new ways to undermine our norms. Today we got a humdoozy of a dinger because the RNC chair spilled on the wild way Trump eats his McDonald's order. So not by mouth is it with his neck. Now, the man, the man who saw Trump eat and live to tell the tale is RNC chair and shaved groundhog Joe Gruders. Mr. Gruders was on some podcast where he spilled the McBeans about our Mc President.

[Joe Gruters]

So when he gets on a plane on one visit when I was with him, he had hot fries waiting for him from McDonald's and I got my fries at my chair. But he had his fries handed to him right when he got on the plane.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yes, he needs his McDonald's fresh and piping hot. And he apparently pulls his filet o fish straight out of the fryer, which is why his hand looks like that but can't wait. But the true insanity came when the conversation turned to how the President likes to consume his entrees, plural.

[Joe Gruters]

And then he had a filet o fish, a quarter pounder and a Big Mac. And I think he combined two of them.

[Stephen Colbert]

Now that sounds unappealing, but in fact it's an homage to McDonaldland's short lived character, Phil. Big ol MacFish Pounder. You might remember if you're old enough. If you're old enough, you might remember his great catchphrase, I'm an affront to God catchphrase. I can't help but feel for everyone who has to fly with the President. Imagine being stuck on a 12 hour flight with an old man hotboxing you with filet o farts. This is true, I'm told. We have a clip of an Air Force One flight attendant watching Trump eat. That's the light part of tonight's monologue, when he's not crossbreeding menu items. Trump is continuing his war on America's cities. Yesterday he threatened Boston after he was asked about the city hosting games in the upcoming World Cup. Are you gonna work with or try and work with the mayor of Boston? They have several World cup games. Could those games move to cities that.

[Anderson Cooper]

Do work with the mayor?

[Stephen Colbert]

We could take them away. Great job, reporter. Stop giving the man horrible new ideas. Mr. President, would you ever consider starting a national baby fight pit where babies battle with tiny knives and the winning baby has to fight a sleep deprived chicken. Would you do that in Boston? Now, Trump can't legally World cup locations because it's up to FIFA to choose the sites. And they can't be pressured by Trump is what I would have said before I found out that Trump has hosted FIFA President Johnny Infantino at the White House multiple times and also invited Infantino to the global summit in Egypt to discuss the Gaza ceasefire deal. Now, it might surprise some people to have a sports figure at a peace summit, but remember, the key negotiator at the Camp David Accords was the Philly fanatic. There's a He got part of that peace prize. There's a disturbing story you might have heard of today from the GOP organization Young Republicans. Politico obtained thousands of private messages from young GOP leaders across the country full of offensive rhetoric. Okay, look, I know politics can be rough and tumble, but how offensive could these texts be? I mean, it's not like they wrote I like Hitler, cuz they wrote I love Hitler. That is a tough one to spin.

[Anderson Cooper]

What?

[Stephen Colbert]

I was talking about Pete Hitler and his honky tonk bluegrass band. You're telling me there's another Hitler? What did he do?

[Paramount Plus / Pluto TV Announcer]

What?

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, that doesn't sound honky tonk at all. That's just one example of 2,900 pages of text. These young Republicans also text each other an array of slurs, jokes about enslavement, disparaging comments about Jews, women, black people and other minorities. And they knew it was bad. Also texted. If we ever had a leak of this chat, we would be cooked. For real? For real. But JD Vance does not think we should be bothered about their antidex. JD Vance said kids do stupid things, especially young boys. No, folks, no, it's true. When I was in Cub scouts, about 10 years old, me and my troop invaded Poland. It did not go well. One problem with Vance's logic here about the young boys, despite their name, Young Republicans. To be a member of the group, you have to be at least 18. And some members are up to 40 years old. Because nothing says young like getting your first routine colonoscopy. Take a look. They found out who these people were, right? Sorry. They ran down who these people. Take a look at who's part of the Slurapalooza. There's guy whose girlfriend is a limited edition Magic the Gathering card, the Pillsbury Proud Boy Raccoon watching you fail to secure your garbage can, and Gimli son of groin.

[Paramount Plus / Pluto TV Announcer]

Now.

[Stephen Colbert]

Naturally, this leak has led to a lot of anger, which in turn has led to a lot of really weak apologies, like this one from New York Young Republican Chairman Bobby Walker. There is no excuse for the language and tone in messages attributed to me. I sincerely apologize, but added portions of the chat may have been altered, taken out of context, or otherwise manipulated. That's not an apology. That's like saying, you, Honor, I plead guilty of looking great in this orange jumpsuit. And to murder and news you might have missed. There's no federal government. Still. Still shut down. Still shut down. Still shut down. Republicans are refusing to cut a deal with the Democrats to fund health care, and they're also refusing to do other parts of their job, like swearing in. Representative Elect Adelita Grijalva, who won a special election in Arizona almost a month ago. Speaker Mike Johnson says he won't swear in until the House is back in session after the government shutdown ends.

[Anderson Cooper]

Nope.

[Stephen Colbert]

Those two things have nothing to do with each other. Thus, I sang, hey, man, I'd love to come to your child's clarinet recital, but, you know, Toyota, thon, what am I going to do? And after that, it's Happy Honda Days, then it's Crabfest. Oh, there was some teeny tiny progress yesterday when Grijalva got the keys to her congressional office, which seemed like a good start, but when she got there, she found it has no Internet, no phone lines, and no computers. Honestly, dream office. Just, I promise you, just add. Oh, oh, just add a weighted blanket and a tub of Duncan Hines chocolate frosting. I'll move in tonight. Crialva's seat was already blue, so why are they dragging their feet? Well, one Reason could be that the President was best buds with the world's most notorious pedophile. And once she's seated, Grijalva would be the final signatory needed to force a vote to release the Epstein files. Which means. Which means her signature would be even worse for Donald Trump than this one. Moving over to the Pentagon, AKA the Department of Defense, AKA the War Department, AKA the Department of Bing Strong protein powder. Macho dudes. Do you love me now? Dads. Pete Hegseth put together a strict new set of rules for journalists. A 21 page agreement that gives the Pentagon approval rights over anything reporters publish and threaten that any news organization that did not sign by five o' clock yesterday would be kicked out. Well, the deadline has passed and so far all the major media outlets have declined to sign. It is nice. First of all. Yeah, amazing. There you go. Including Hegseth's former employer, Fox News. Keep in mind he did his work there. He was weekend anchor on Fox and Friends and they won't sign his own agreement. That has got to hurt for Hegseth, though. Not as much as this. Fox News isn't the only MAGA media outlet standing up to Hag's death. Newsmax also says they will not sign the Pentagon rules document. Newsmax is out. They are the kookiest, kookiest MAGA conspiracy ding dongs out there. So far it's only two, right? So far, the only two news groups that signed on are Oan and Screaming Pantsless man on D Train. Weekly. Weekly. Never miss an issue. Never miss an issue. You won't know what he's screaming next week. Why is he trying so hard to crack down on the free press? Well, one former advisor says that for months now Hegseth has been consumed by the rampant leaks escaping the Department of Defense. Adding, if you look at a pie chart at this point, 50% of it is probably a leak investigation. Yes. In fact, we actually have this pie chart. It's 50% leak investigations. Then he drinks a whiskey drink. He drinks a vodka drink. He drinks a lager drink. He drinks a saga drink. Now we got a great show for.

[Anderson Cooper]

You tonight.

[Stephen Colbert]

Coming up.

[DSW Spokesperson]

Anderson Cooper.

[Stephen Colbert]

Thanks, folks. Please have a seat. You know, this is our first week back after a week off last week. And I went way away from the United States. And to get there I had a real problem with my flight. And nobody could get me to my flight because I'm at JFK and there's no information desk at jfk. Oh yeah, they said go to the information desk and there's nobody there.

[Anderson Cooper]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

LaGuardia's been remodeled. Newark's been remodeled. JFK is presently in worse shape than jfk.

[Anderson Cooper]

Accurate.

[Stephen Colbert]

And there was no accurate. You know what I'm saying? And so, anyway, so these two wonderful women at American Airlines, it wasn't the airline I was flying with. They just made sure I got on that flight. And I wanted to give them a shout out. Never done this before. But it was Theresa Butler, James and Ianti Lander at American Airlines. Thank you. Thank you to these wonderful women.

[Anderson Cooper]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

To American Airlines for employing such wonderful people. Yeah. Folks, my first guest tonight is the anchor of Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN and host of the podcast All There Is. Please welcome back to the Late show, Anderson Cooper. Good to see you.

[Anderson Cooper]

Nice to see you.

[Stephen Colbert]

Always nice that you come over here.

[Anderson Cooper]

Thank you.

[Stephen Colbert]

Because I know you got a gig tonight, right? You got a show tonight?

[Anderson Cooper]

I do.

[Stephen Colbert]

You got a show tonight.

[Anderson Cooper]

Okay, good.

[Stephen Colbert]

Good to see you. The people, they love the Anderson Church.

[Anderson Cooper]

They're always. You get them all hopped up.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah. I'm your opening act. Interesting day to be a member of the press. Yesterday, as I was saying in the monologue, yesterday was the deadline for news outlets to agree to new restrictions on journalists at the Department of Defense.

[Anderson Cooper]

Right.

[Stephen Colbert]

Just for the record, did CNN go along with this, by the way?

[Anderson Cooper]

I think it's the Department of War.

[Stephen Colbert]

It's actually the Department of War. The Department of War is like the sub name. It's still called the Department of War because it can't be changed without act of Congress. And so they just.

[Anderson Cooper]

They just.

[Stephen Colbert]

It's nicknamed Department of War.

[Anderson Cooper]

Yes. It's a.

[Stephen Colbert]

It's a cute pet name they have for.

[Anderson Cooper]

Yeah. Weapons. So, no, of course, CNN is not going along with it, nor is Fox News, Pete Hegseth's former employer, which is lovely. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah. Well, I didn't go along.

[Anderson Cooper]

Why?

[Stephen Colbert]

I mean, I know it might be an obvious question, but why is this a dumb idea?

[Anderson Cooper]

First of all, what Secretary Hegseth said is just a lie. He painted this portrait of sort of reporters randomly roaming through the halls of the Pentagon without credentials, bursting into classified meetings and, like, forcing their way onto, you know, Seal Team 6 helicopters for, you know. You know, the idea that that is that reporters are just wandering around and, like, trying to find state secrets by busting in and interrupting things. You know, reporters at the Pentagon who worked there, who worked there for many years, they have badges. They know the rules. No one goes into classified areas. I mean, just the portrayal of it is based on A lie. And look, we've heard far too many lies, and it's really disappointing. It's really. Look, it's important for whatever you think of reporters. It is important that you have people asking questions and you have people. I think there are many forms of patriotism, and telling the truth is one of them.

[Stephen Colbert]

So how does the press approach reporting classified material?

[Anderson Cooper]

I mean, look, there are reporters who are deeply sourced at the Pentagon and in the Department of Defense. And they know they're not reporting, you know, sources and methods of COVID operatives.

[Stephen Colbert]

They're not giving the launch codes, guys.

[Anderson Cooper]

They're not giving the launch codes. Yeah, they are. You know, they want good things for the United States. They want good things for America, too. As I said, reporters are patriotic, too, but the government doesn't always tell the truth. There is a long history with the Department of Defense during Vietnam War of, you know, making up a body count of Vietnam, of North Vietnamese killed. And, you know, it was journalists who revealed that the body count was not what we were being told. And, you know, Walter Cronkite going to Vietnam, seeing things for himself, reporting what he saw. You know, the American people deserve to know things. And if you think you want government officials, Democrats, Republicans, whoever it is, in power, if you think you want the people in power, like spoon feeding you the information and you not getting any other source of information, I think that's an incredibly dangerous thing.

[Stephen Colbert]

It's also kind of a. Also kind of. It's also kind of a dumb thing because it's. All you have to do is turn your badges. You can't go in the Pentagon. Right. You can still just talk to these guys at a Starbucks, right?

[Anderson Cooper]

Yes. There will not be an office in the Pentagon, but you can still contact. I mean, there's, you know, the reporters who've been working at the Pentagon for years are deeply sourced and people want, you know, there are people in the Department of Defense who want to talk to reporters for a variety of reasons. So it's, yeah, it's, It's a very unfortunate development.

[Stephen Colbert]

We have to take a quick break. We'll be right back with more Anderson Cooper. Everybody, stick around. Hey, everybody, we're back here with young Mr. Anderson Cooper. You've been covering the ceasefire deal in Israel and Gaza. At long last, the living hostages are coming home and Palestinian prisoners have been returned. Yeah, 20.

[Anderson Cooper]

20 hostages. The bodies of 28 were supposed to be returned. They have not yet been all returned.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, the remains of those who had died.

[Anderson Cooper]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yesterday the President said if Hamas doesn't disarm. The US will disarm them. And 200 US troops are now, they arrived in southern Israel today or yesterday, recently.

[Anderson Cooper]

Right. Centcom send 200.

[Stephen Colbert]

What is their role? That makes me a little nervous because.

[Anderson Cooper]

US soldiers in, they're not going to be entering Gaza. I mean, they're not. My understanding is that is not what is. They're supposed to help oversee and kind of monitor the ceasefire, which makes sense. I mean there's a lot of, you know, this is an incredibly. I mean, first of all, what President Trump accomplished is remarkable and deserves credit for it. Absolutely. This is phase one of a ceasefire. You know, as you saw the response in Israel, there's. And in Gaza, you know, there's celebrations, people. This has been an extraordinarily horrific two years and for the people living through it on all sides of this conflict, it has been a terrible tragedy. The hard, truly hard work is, you know, what is in the next phase and the phase after that. And that's obviously a huge unknown already. You know, Hamas is supposed to give up arms, they're supposed to give up power. They're supposed to be kind of a non political caretaker government that's going to take over Today. Hamas was executing people, streets. You know, they said there were parts of gang members, which very well may be the case. But we don't know the identity of the individuals who have been executed. But there's videos of them, you know, shooting people in the streets. So the idea that they are just going to give up power remains to be seen. What happens. There's so many moving parts to it. It's incredibly complex.

[Stephen Colbert]

After 30 years of. 30 years at CNN at this point.

[Anderson Cooper]

Yeah, crazy.

[Stephen Colbert]

After 30 years of CNN, you've taken so many trips to report on the conflict over there in Israel and Palestine. I'm just curious, what is your mindset? What is your goal when you go, how do you keep from being inured to what the story is and actually are able to report something new for your audience?

[Anderson Cooper]

Yeah, so I actually started, I started 30 years ago as a reporter and I couldn't get an entry level job at CBS News or ABC News. And I ended up place called Channel One, which associated in high schools. And I decided I wanted to be on air after being a fact checker there for like six months. And the director of that show made a fake press pass for me. I borrowed a video camera, like a home video camera. I bought two wireless mics at Radio Shack and I just started going to wars. And so I've been going to War zones since I was 23 or so in. I think 1991 was the first one. And the thing that I've learned over time is no matter how many times you've done this and how much horror and hate you have seen, that you can't compare one tragedy to another. And because you do a terrible disservice to the people who you are reporting on, whose experience you are trying to capture to let other people know about. And I believe you have to see things with fresh eyes every time. You have to see things, I think, with soft eyes every time. Just because.

[Stephen Colbert]

And what do you mean by soft eyes?

[Anderson Cooper]

Well, just because you've been. You know, just because I've been doing this for 30 years and I was in Somalia in the famine in 1992, and, you know, saw horrific things there. Just because I've seen that doesn't mean if I go, you know, someplace now and I see and some horrific thing has happened that I can be. I can compare one to the other. Because for the people experiencing something now, this is the worst thing that has ever happened to them. And they are allowing you to step into their lives in the worst moment of their life. Their child has died, for instance. And they want you to know their child's name. They want you to know the life that child lived. And if you are jaded or you think, oh, I'm this experienced person and you're not feeling it and it doesn't move you and horrify you, just like when you saw it for the first time, you have no business doing that job, doing this job. And so, for me, that's what Soft Eyes is.

[Stephen Colbert]

We have to take another break. We'll be right back with more Anderson Cooper, everybody. Hey, everybody. You know this gentleman? It's Anderson Cooper. Well, you have done something that I admire enormously. You have taken upon yourself to address something that a lot of people in our modern culture don't want to think about, and that is grief. And the process of grief. Not just. Not just the feeling itself, but how you work through it. Everybody, in their own ways and helpful ways people might think about their grief and also be able to hear other people process their grief publicly. You're in season four of your podcast. Starts October 28th. All there is. And I understand you have news to share.

[Anderson Cooper]

Yeah, so I've traditionally done, like, eight podcast episodes because I get kind of overwhelmed. You've been a guest on the podcast. You know, I'm prone to sort of, like, getting weepy, and so I usually end it after like, eight episodes. But this season, we're actually going to be doing them all year long, so there'll be a lot more episodes to listen to. And also we're launching a companion program which is going to be a weekly streaming interactive show about grief on the CNN mobile app, which is coming out in a couple of weeks. And it's also On a website, CNN.comAllThere is, which rolls off the tongue, sure. But it's gonna be a weekly show where I talk to people about their experiences with grief. I'll play voicemails and videos from podcast listeners. I'll interact with people in a live comment section. I just think grief can feel so lonely. I mean, it certainly has for me, but I've learned a lot from you, talking to you about it and the idea that while grief can feel so lonely, the things I've learned that help are talking about it and listening to the experiences of others who have gone through it, like you and those listening to others has changed my life. It has saved my life in many ways, and it's given me a new life. And I'm so grateful. And I want to share that with a lot of other people who are in grief. And so I like this idea, not only of doing a podcast all year long, but having, like, a weekly show. It's going to be kind of a niche thing. Obviously, I don't know, A lot of people want to be like, yeah, I'm going to watch the grief show tonight.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, I want to. Here's the thing is that, as I've told you before how much, you know, when people often say that they enjoyed our conversation, and I always say, I admire. I admire that you're taking this on.

[Anderson Cooper]

Stephen was the second guest on the first season of my podcast, and it's one of the best conversations ever.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, the thing is that I admire what you're doing, but I also worry about you a little bit because we're friends. And while I admire what you're doing, I'm just curious. This is a lot to take on. You're a very empathetic person. You do see everything with soft eyes and for, you know, for podcasts, soft ears. And do you find it exhausting or exhilarating?

[Anderson Cooper]

I find it both. I've listened to about 6,000 voicemails from podcast listeners about their grief, and it's the most profound experience of my life. And I routinely call up people who have sent me direct messages, and I speak to them on the phone. I spoke to a lady two weeks ago, probably for about an hour. Her 17 year old special needs son died in her arms in her apartment. And I don't know her, but she reached out to me and I asked her if I could call her. And we spoke for an hour. These are the most real conversations you can possibly have. And to, you know, it's nice instead of people coming up to me on the street and being like, hey, can we have a selfie? You're really pale. It's interesting. It's nice to have people come up and say, you know what? I listen to your podcast, my child just died or my dad just died. And what Andrew Garfield said on the podcast really helped. That the wound is the only route to the gift. Or you talking about learning to love the thing you most wish had never happened. Which is obviously a concept that kind of blew my mind. But I didn't allow myself to grieve as a kid because I was so overwhelmed when my dad died when I was a kid and then my brother died by suicide that I shut down. And I lived for 40 years without allowing myself to feel the pain of the grief. But the irony is, by not allowing myself to. And you taught me this by not allowing myself to feel the pain of it, I also didn't allow myself ever to feel joy, true joy, because you can't have one without the other. And it's only now in the last two years by. And my voice still shakes, which I'm sorry about. But it's only in the last two years, by feeling this grief and this sadness that I've been able to feel joy. And I have a lot to feel joy about because I've got these two little boys who are just incredible. And one of them is backstage right now watching. And so it is the greatest gift. And you kind of gave it to me early on. And other people have given it to me in drips and drabs every interview I've done. And the incredible thing is the good news is you can still have a relationship with somebody who's died. And I have a relationship with my dad that's extraordinary. And I know him better now than I ever knew him when he was alive, when I was a little kid. And I feel my dad. I feel him.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's beautiful. Thank you for sharing that with us. I know that's not always easy. Thank you for doing that again. I admire what you're doing.

[Anderson Cooper]

You can edit all that stuff out.

[Stephen Colbert]

No, no, no, we'll give it. But please tell me that you end the evening with a three stooges marathon.

[Anderson Cooper]

Just.

[Stephen Colbert]

I just want. I watch it also get a few laughs.

[Anderson Cooper]

Actually, I'm not even going to tell you what I watch. You're going to be like, that's I'm watching Gamora right now. Have you watched Gamora? No. There's six seasons. It's this incredibly ultra violent crazy show about the Italian mob. It's so good though, I find it diverting. It takes me out of like my day to day life.

[Stephen Colbert]

Sure, yeah, sure. The new show is all there is live. It premieres October 30th. Anderson Cooper, thank you, Anderson. Thank you for listening to the late show pod show with Stephen Colbert. Just one more thing. If you want to see more of me, come to The Late Show YouTube channel for more clips and exclusives. Tulsa is my home now.

[Paramount Plus / Pluto TV Announcer]

Academy award nominee Sylvester Stallone stars in the Paramount plus original series Tulsa King.

[Anderson Cooper]

This distillery is a very interesting business.

[Stephen Colbert]

And we got to know the enemy.

[Paramount Plus / Pluto TV Announcer]

From Taylor Sheridan, co creator of Landman.

[Stephen Colbert]

What are you saying? If you think you're gonna take me out, it's gonna be really difficult.

[Paramount Plus / Pluto TV Announcer]

Tulsa King New season now streaming exclusively on Paramount plus this October, fear is free on Pluto tv. With horror movie collections from Paranormal Activity.

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The ring, you will die in seven days.

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Scream and from dusk till dawn.

[Stephen Colbert]

This is my kind of place.

[Paramount Plus / Pluto TV Announcer]

And don't miss the man made nightmares in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or the world ending chaos in 28 days later. Something in the blood, all the scares, all for free. Pluto TV stream now pay never.