Michelle Obama

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Hey, everyone.

Welcome to another episode of Good Hang.

I am Amy Poehler, and I'm very excited to introduce our guest today.

It is Michelle Obama.

Wow, we talk about some really cool stuff today.

We talk about HGTV and how much we love it.

We talk about the time that I drooled in front of her.

We talk about bedtime.

We talk about allergies, which is what I currently have right now, which is why I'm sounding so sexy and sophisticated.

But

before we start this episode, we do what we always do, which is we ask someone that knows our guest really well, or is a fan of our guest, or is familiar with our guests' work, to give me a question to ask them.

And who better to ask about Michelle than her older brother, Craig?

So Craig Robinson is joining us, the co-host of their new podcast, IMO, in my opinion.

So let's welcome Craig Robinson to the studio.

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Everyone, I'm very, very excited to have Craig here, who

is Mrs.

Obama, Michelle Obama's brother.

Do you call her Mrs.

Obama?

See, this is what I mean.

You just quickly make me laugh.

I only call her Mrs.

Obama when I'm mad.

Yeah, exactly.

When you're, or yes, when you're, when there's a formal request.

And, and, and I don't call her that.

I call her, I don't even call her Michelle.

I call her Mish.

That's right.

I heard that, Mish.

So it's been that way for, since she was a kid.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And you guys are close in age.

We're 20 months apart.

And let me, I wanted to back up and say, you know, every time we have somebody on our show, they're trying to figure out what to call her.

And it's really entertaining to watch people either say Mrs.

Obama or the first lady or

and she wants them to she wants them to call her Michelle.

Okay, good.

But if anybody asks me, I always say call her Mrs.

Mrs.

Obama.

It's funny though, you know what, what it, what that brings up for me is in an interesting way is, and kind of what you guys do in your podcast, which I love so much, is there's like the public version of everyone.

Everyone has a front-facing version of themselves, and then they have the family version of themselves.

And like doesn't matter how what changes in your life yeah you're the family version you're pretty much your whole life yes and you're the oldest I am the oldest shout out to the oldest I'm the oldest too

and the oldest hardest job it's tough noblesse oblige I know I know my mom had favorites and I was okay so you were your mom yeah the brother the boy is I was the one I was the one and Mish always

jokes about the fact that my mom lived in the White House.

She went on all of these wonderful trips, state dinners and all that.

And all she wanted to know is, when's Craig coming?

Pisses her off.

I love it.

So as the eldest child, we know the responsibility we have.

Absolutely.

I have a younger brother.

Okay.

And he's three years younger.

And

you guys have the same situation I have, which is just like, boy, girl, you know?

So you grew up together, but apart.

Like, you know, you had, you were this, you were together all the time, but you probably had different friends, different interests.

Like, you didn't have to share a lot.

Well, did you?

We actually shared a lot.

Oh, okay.

We shared toys, we shared a bedroom.

Okay.

We shared a bedroom from the time I can remember until I got to high school.

And my parents were like, all right, we got to get this big dude his own bedroom.

But we used to have beds that

that the heads were head to head and it was a little table in between.

And then when we got a little older, my grandfather built in the same room a paneled tea so we had separate bedrooms yeah but the it didn't go all the way to the ceiling so we could hear each other and then we had a playroom in the front for the two of us and we would spend hours at night just talking and laughing.

Is it tough being so tall?

Because I feel like you have to be nicer than maybe you want to be sometimes.

Sometimes, sometimes you do, but it is great being tall, except in a couple of situations like airplanes and buying clothes off the rack.

It's really hard.

Yeah.

But for the most part, it is.

It's so good.

It's so good.

And you know what people do to you when you're tall?

They assume you are in charge and are smart.

Yeah.

They're like, come on.

They're like, finally, a real leader is here.

Yes.

Yeah.

Yes.

Yeah.

Unfortunately, we can make mistakes

in society.

You know what I'm talking about?

What do you mean?

I don't know.

I trust every tall person in government.

But no, it's really fun.

But I do, you know, every now and then I'd like a cute pair of shoes instead of a size 15.

But

what?

15?

15.

15.

It's embarrassing, but I'm used to it.

I'm used to it.

But if you notice,

when we sit together, you are taller than I am because my torso is very short.

It's all legs.

It's all legs.

It's all legs.

That's why the plane is a

nightmare.

And, you know, some guy, I mean, if I could afford like one of those fancy sports cars, I wouldn't be able to fit in it.

You should have like a business card that says, I'm all legs, baby.

People would be like, oh, wow.

I've never heard that, and it's the funniest thing I've heard.

That's great.

I'm all legs.

Wow, he's all legs.

You know, so you know, those kind of people.

All legs.

I've got what I would give to be all legs.

If I was all legs, it would just be legs up to my neck and then a head, and that's it.

Okay, so we have this.

We're doing that.

We do this thing here where we kind of talk to somebody before we talk to our guest about any questions that you think I would be, you know, the right person to ask

today.

Anything big or small that you think I should ask your sister?

Yeah, so I was thinking about this because I watched your show and I was absolutely thrilled to be here.

So I was thinking about what would be a good question for you to ask her.

Because, see, my sister is, when she gets asked a question, you ask her, what's the one thing?

She gives you six things.

I was like, we didn't ask for six things.

Give us one thing.

So maybe if you do it, she might obey.

Okay.

I would say, ask her, what is the one thing

that she would share with the rest of the world

that our parents gave her?

So let me rephrase it.

What is the one thing that our parents gave you, Michelle,

that you would like to share with the rest of the world?

One thing.

And if she starts to do two things, I go, eh.

You can say, see, your brother was right.

You said you were going to give her.

You said you were going to give

15 things.

you can you make up whatever number feels good at the time i can't wait did you ever coach michelle on any team

no ma'am are you kidding she can't be coached she's uncoachable she's not coachable no i'm just kidding i i you only time i coached her is when we were playing together yeah does she you know sometimes as the oldest sometimes i have a younger brother so and no He doesn't always want to hear my ideas.

Isn't it?

Isn't that like, and I have good ideas.

Not only do you have good ideas, but he probably thinks he has good ideas.

Of course.

But he wants you to listen to his idea.

And he'll listen to my idea if it comes out of someone else's mouth.

Sounds like we have the same sibling.

But

if it's not said by me, he'll he'll, but sometimes he doesn't want me to like tell him anything.

Oh, listen,

it was perfect yesterday.

I was glad we were

on set.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And there were four people left around and we were talking about something.

And I said something to my sister.

and as soon as I said it she gave me a look and then three minutes later she said the exact same thing.

Fortunately our four camera people over there were cracking up because

I was like I just said that.

What is going on?

She said it again yeah.

It's a little that little sister thing.

It is true she will tell you that it was hard growing up being the little sister because she used to be Craig Robinson's little sister and now I'm Michelle Obama's big brother and it is way easier being Michelle Obama's big brother.

Way easier.

Yeah.

It's nice to have a big brother.

I always wanted an older sibling.

Didn't you?

Don't you wish you had an older sibling to take care of you, Craig?

All legs.

All legs, Craig.

All legs, baby, is here to be your older sibling if you need one.

Oh, my God.

I am here.

I am here for it.

You can always reach out.

And also, don't you wish, when the last thing I'll finish up with, is you're a two-kid family.

I am too.

Don't you wish there was one more sibling so you could talk about the other sibling too?

Just one more.

Just occasionally you could call up and go, that's funny.

I never thought about that, but that is a great idea.

I'm sure my younger brother wants that.

Just one more person.

Well, Mish always wanted, she wanted like the Brady Bunch family.

Yeah.

I was happy with the way our setup was.

Yeah.

But that was because I was the oldest and the favorite.

So

we don't know.

We're not worried about that.

But that's a great, that is a great take.

I hadn't thought about that.

Just one more.

But then what about what happens when it's two-on-one?

And you can get a dud.

The third one can be a dud.

We know that, you know, you're playing with fire.

Like, you guys did really well.

We were

successful and interesting, smart, curious people.

The third one could have been.

You never know.

We'll see.

We'll ask.

We'll see.

Okay.

I am so appreciate you coming here.

Thank you so much.

And congrats on your podcast.

Thank you.

In my opinion, which we're going to talk about today.

And I think we got everything we need, right?

Are we going to do our switcheroo?

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Okay, I want to start with allergies because.

and I feel some people are she's emotional.

It's like no, I have allergies.

I want to start with allergies too because I have allergies too.

Bad out here in Los Angeles.

Yeah, I got off the plane.

Did you take anything for it?

I take allergy medicine every day.

Does it trip you out?

Like make you feel?

No, it doesn't.

But I find that when I get off of it,

you know, you have to build back up.

So I just stay on it.

We travel so much.

We're everywhere all the time.

So you never know.

It's spring somewhere.

Something's blooming.

Have you ever done a neti pot?

I have done that, but I don't do it.

I've done it, but it doesn't make a huge difference.

I mean,

I like Nasenex.

I like the nose spray.

I love the nose spray.

I do that every day.

I don't know if there's a limit to how much you're supposed to do it, but I keep it.

I'm sure it's on the bottle somewhere.

I should look at that bottle.

I haven't looked at that bottle in years.

It's funny that we talk about allergies because I lost my voice a a couple of days ago and I had a real, it was like a living stress dream that I would not have my voice for this podcast.

And now you and I are both doing podcasts.

That's crazy.

First of all, it's thank you for being here.

Thank you for having me.

Michelle Obama.

And also, I haven't seen you in a second.

You look incredible.

Thank you.

I know that that's not as important, but you look incredible.

Thank you.

It's called peace of mind.

You look hot.

Sorry, bro.

So let's say that again.

Okay, okay.

I know it's early in the day.

But yeah, we're both doing jobs now where we have to talk a lot.

Lots of talking.

How's it going?

You know,

my mom passed last year, but she would say, this is exactly what you should be doing because I talk a lot.

We talk in our family.

Yeah, I've noticed that.

The Obama family.

Everybody talks.

Malia, Sasha, we all have many opinions.

Yes.

And we share them openly.

So why not have a podcast where I'm sharing my opinion?

Well, when we saw each other, I mean, I have such, I have many, many memories, of course, of getting to do, luckily, getting to do a bunch of things with you.

And one of the most fun things is when you came and did Parks and Recreation.

So it was cool.

I was just, my, my assistant, who's young, she's a baby.

We were just saying, I was saying in the car right over.

I said, I haven't seen, I don't think we've seen, seen each other since Parks and Wreck.

And she was like, you were on Parks and Wreck.

I was like, yeah, I'm kind of a big big deal.

I mean, okay, do you have a memory of that day?

I'm sure you didn't because you were probably the middle of your work day, but I have a very strong memory about something.

It was a blur because the thing is, is like, I'm not an actress and I'm running lines and trying to figure out.

I mean, you can't be a good actress on top of everything else.

But I was nervous.

I was like, you know,

I want to get it right, but I want to be myself in a natural way.

So it was very much a blur.

What do you remember?

Okay, well, I do remember the very first take.

Uh-huh.

So, yeah, we were busy.

We were like hitting a bunch of places that day.

You were perfect.

You got your line.

You hit your mark.

You said your line.

And my character, Leslie Knope, is supposed to be overwhelmed by seeing you.

And I, Amy Poehler, was also very jazzed.

And I went to say my line and I drooled.

Do you not remember?

I'm so glad you don't remember.

I full-on drooled.

Did I say something about you?

Did I notice you drooled?

You were total pro.

You just were like, you just looked like, okay, maybe this is the choice.

And then director Yelled Cut, Mike Schur, whoever, Morgan Sacket, whoever was directing yelled cut.

And I was like, did I just drool?

And you're like, you did.

You did.

That happened.

So

that happened.

I don't know if I saw it.

Yeah.

And I was.

What happened?

Why?

I have a very active salivary glands do you really I do okay like when I go to the dentist

just talking and drool comes out of your mouth now that those are some active glands active glands they're right now they're

not controlling right now

and so yeah when I go to the dentist they're always like whoa easy yeah

they have the extra large suction tube for you they've got an Amy tube you're joking but they do do they really they have to put it in two tooth this is this is this is some teeth right here totally breaking here heavy drooler and needs special special dental supplies

and I don't like the dentist I've talked about this well not if you have drool issues so I remember doing that to you just to make you feel better well you did you did I figured well she's drooling so I can't get any worse what could I do wrong

as long as I just stand up straight

you'll be good I do not remember the drool.

Oh, my God.

But I'm going to think about that.

Yeah,

I want you to always associate that with me now.

But it was such a fun, that was such a fun time

because not only was I getting to do the job that I loved, but it was a time when it felt like everybody wanted to stop by and be part of the show that was about public service.

And it was a different time

where there was this

ability or lightness, I think, in many ways to just put a bunch of different people together in a room and they don't agree and they still find a way to work together.

Oh, do you remember those times?

I remember that.

I don't know.

That's a long time ago.

But

I was thinking about that because

there is a,

there's a,

there's a, you, you just said you're not an actor, but you are constantly speaking and performing.

And with the podcast, it's a completely different way of performing.

It's almost like unraveling.

That's right.

Getting like almost unlearning.

What are you unlearning about all this stuff that you're trying to kind of like jettison and let go of?

That you, you know, stuff you had to learn or put on.

So now you're unlearning.

That's a good question.

You know, not trying to get things so perfect.

You know, as First Lady, the eight years, even beyond,

the stakes were so high.

Right.

And,

you know, Barack and I, our team, we felt like we didn't have room to get anything wrong.

And in this setting, you know,

I can be loose.

Yeah.

I can stutter.

I can misspeak sometimes, even though I'm sure that will make news.

But I just feel like there's room to breathe.

And maybe some of that is my age.

Maybe some of that is that now that I'm in my 60s, what more do I have to prove?

How much more do I have to do?

And

let's just live.

Let's just talk.

I think women should figure it out improving themselves.

I think we should.

I think we're like, you know, like when you're in a race and you're really, really far ahead and you just want to just pause for a second to let people catch up.

It's like enough.

Enough of the improving.

It's too much.

And fellas, you know, why don't you try it?

Just, we're just, we'll just take a break.

We're going to walk a little slower, catch on up, and let's keep running.

But it's so real.

I mean, all we, I mean, we do this to ourselves all the time, which is just like, I got to get more efficient, more, more, more, more.

And I think sometimes like we should try less.

We should try more.

Yeah.

We should try.

But we, you know, you don't feel

your confidence.

as a woman, at least I didn't until now.

I mean,

and I say that out loud loud because I know that there are young women in their 30s and 40s trying to get that perfection thing right.

We always feel like we're not doing enough.

We're always harboring guilt.

Yeah.

And it's not until now that we can look back on this lifetime of accomplishments and say, look, maybe, maybe I did know a thing or two.

Maybe I can slow down.

Maybe I can take a break.

But I think we're harder on ourselves

than anyone can be.

And I agree.

I'm having those conversations with myself every day.

It's like, slow down.

It's okay.

You don't have to get this right.

You can make some mistakes, maybe.

And you've got some wisdom to share.

Finally, you know, I feel confident in the wisdom that I have to share.

That's awesome.

I mean, I wouldn't,

do you agree?

I wouldn't go back in time.

I would not.

No.

You know?

20s and 30s are really hard.

Would you trade that stomach?

I would trade the stomach and the collagen

and a little bit of the ability to stay up late.

Like, I can't believe how I stayed up so late.

You know, I never did, but.

You did?

I never.

I was always sleepy.

You know,

I just want the ass.

Are you sleepy?

Are you?

Are you sleeping?

I think the energy.

Do you love bedtime?

I love bedtime.

Tell me about your bedtime,

what time do you like to go to bed and how do you like to go to bed?

It's embarrassing.

And I, you know, I go to bed as soon as I can.

Me too.

I'm thinking about bed right now.

It's 10.30 in the morning.

I like, Barack and I wait.

I agree.

Yeah, I can't wait.

Well, Barack and I, we usually have dinner at around 6.30.

And he's a night owl.

Oh.

So if we, if we have guests, I'm good.

If I'm with people, I'm up, I'm awake, I can do this stuff.

But after we've had our catch-up conversation and we've had our together time and all of that, I'm looking at the clock and he's looking at me.

He's like, really?

It's eight o'clock.

I was like, I just, incredible.

I'm just so ready, you know?

So I'm like, I, I like, it's not you, it's me.

It's time for bed.

And I get so giddy.

Me too.

I wash my face.

I get into the cool sheets because the room has to be cold.

Yeah.

What temp are we talking about?

68.

Incredible.

Yes.

Can't be hot.

88 degrees.

You know, and then he's freezing.

He's like, just put on some socks.

Do you have a handle?

Do you have a, what kind of, do you like a tempur-pedic mattress or a nut,

and what kind of pillow situation?

I like,

I'm not sure the brand of the mattress.

I should know, but I don't.

We need to know that for your podcast.

You need to get yourself a little bit more.

If you mention it, you can get a free mattress.

I didn't even think of that.

Right.

Just say it once.

Your house will be filled with mattresses.

Okay, I'm going to find out.

I'm going to find out.

Thanks for the tip.

Yeah, you got it.

Okay, so so you're in bed.

You've got great sheets.

What do you have on the bedside table?

What do we got?

It's a

lamp.

It's my phone chargers,

my glasses, my reading glasses,

water.

Are we still reading?

Are you a book reader?

Are you still reading?

I cannot read because I love sleep so much.

I realize if I want to read, I have to be sitting up.

Okay.

It doesn't put you to sleep.

Reading puts me to sleep.

Like, yes, it does.

Like one sentence.

I'm like, and the book.

So it's, you know, it's, then I don't remember where I am.

I don't do the, I don't listen to podcasts because I don't hear it.

I'm asleep.

My head hits the pillow.

Okay.

And I'm out.

Any sleep aid?

Like any like, even like a ginger tea, a melatonin?

I don't need an aid.

I need I just need to put my head on the pillow.

Do you wear socks to bed?

Nope.

Do not like socks.

And do you like pajamas or

nightgown situations?

It depends on how hot I am.

And we're at that stage, you know.

Sometimes I get in the bed and I'm freezing.

Yes.

And other times it's like, oh my God, take my skin off.

He's like,

the change of temperature is wild.

For any woman, anytime.

And especially when it's a lot.

It's a battle with a partner, right?

Because he's always cold.

And I'm like, do not touch.

And sometimes I wake up hot and I'll wake him up.

Did you touch the thermostat?

You touched the thermostat, didn't you?

He's like, I didn't, I swear to God.

He now knows he's afraid of the thermostat.

I said, I don't care what you do.

Do not touch anything in this room after I'm not.

Do you wear an eye shade or earplug?

No, no, no, no.

Fantastic.

Also, I want to know what's going on.

Are you a light sleeper?

No.

Do you talk in your sleep or snore?

No, let's just say that.

I don't know.

You're a really good sleeper.

I don't.

Side sleeper, back sleeper?

Light sleeper.

And now I'm at the age where I'll wake up and my shoulder's sore.

Don't get me started.

I had frozen shoulder a couple years ago.

Oh, you had the frozen shoulder.

And guess what?

Nobody knows what causes it, and there's nothing you can do about it.

You know?

Like every ailment for women in their 50s,

they're like, yeah, I guess it just hurts.

And it's like, how long is it going to hurt?

And they're like, I guess forever, maybe.

Do you do yoga?

I do yoga.

It did unfreeze.

It goes through like a period.

Yeah.

You know?

But are you, I'm doing this.

Can you do push-ups?

Yeah, i i do push-ups

uh well now i do i do them on my knees i i don't this is another thing it's like i don't need to you know do regular push-ups i have nothing to prove but i can do push-ups on my knees i can do a lot of those but you can do regular push-ups too i can but it's hard i think my arm length i don't go all the way down in fact you know who pointed that out was ellen because my first term she challenged she challenged me to a push-up competition.

I'm the first lady.

And she heard that I worked out and she was like,

so I'm on her show doing push-ups.

And I did more push-ups than her, but she still says I didn't go down all the way.

Well, that's anatomically, I don't think I really can.

My arms are very long.

Yeah.

And she's a much smaller person than me.

I was just talking to Craig about this: that smaller people, I mean, we like them.

some some of the small small people are our best friends

i don't know i don't trust what do you mean pocket people

we love them just right up under our arms they'll just fit right there condescend me a little bit

it's just your little pocket people right here right up under my arm it's like look at you down there little friend little friend So what did you and Craig talk about with height?

Well, basically, like this idea it is true in fact I heard you talking to Kylie Kelsey about it to tall women it was like it is and I was talking to Quinta recently about being smaller she's a she's a little and she's tiny

we're tiny and

yeah

you make noise when you move we do not make noise okay we don't we don't live in the woods i think i i thought i heard squeaking nope we don't squeak like squirrels okay we don't gather nuts we don't wear funny hats and do dances in the the woods.

We're regular people.

But

being a tall woman is different than being a tall man.

Well, were your parents tall?

They were not.

Really?

They were not.

My mom was maybe tall for her age,

for that generation.

Maybe she was 5'6, 5'5.

Yeah, that's not the tall.

My father was 5'9, 5'10.

No way.

Where's the height coming from?

I think it's nutrition.

That's what we told them, you know.

And

because there's a whole generation of cousins of ours, with a few exceptions, we're all tall.

And our parents are kind of average.

And then

our generation of kids are a little taller.

Yeah.

And our parents, you know, who knows what remember how much milk we all drank?

You know, everything that milk in it.

But my mom smoked during her pregnancy.

You know, that was when you didn't know about smoking, seatbelts,

drinking.

She did all of that.

And we always said, you know what?

We could have been somebody had Had you taken care of yourself a little bit better.

What I like about you and what I feel is your family is like teasing is your love language.

Oh, for sure.

Same.

For sure.

Can you explain how important it is to be able to tease people that you love?

Oh, my God.

This is funny because both Barack and Craig will say that.

I don't let them tease me.

See, we have a deal, Barack and I, in our marriage, and it started very early.

It's like, I can tease you, but you cannot tease tease me.

You know, so when he does, I was like, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, wait a minute.

What's going on here?

And he's like, I'm teasing you, right?

And I was like, none of that.

Because he likes to tease.

Oh, my God.

Yeah.

But when

me, Malia, and Sasha are, all of us are together.

He doesn't stand a chance.

We

mercilessly go after him.

So yes, teasing is our love language.

And I tell him that.

I said, when I tease you, it's like me, you know, it's like a love tap.

It is, but, but it's kind of true.

It's like the more you know someone, the more safe you feel around them, the more you can poke.

And manners are for people we don't really know.

Yeah, that's right.

And it's just like, like I, for me in my family, when people are being nice, it's like, what's wrong?

Yeah.

Because, what did I do?

What did I do?

What do you want?

Well, it started with our parents.

They're both silly.

My mother went through a period of time where she would just scare us.

That was just pranks.

Just scaring, right?

She would just pop out of places.

And we're little, you know?

I mean, it was just a period.

I don't know what she was doing, but it got progressively a little more demented.

Craig will tell the story that, you know,

he was maybe 10, 12.

He's taking a shower.

We have one bathroom.

My mother goes in while he's taking a shower and lays on the floor like she's dead.

She just lays out.

Amazing.

And he turns off the shower and opens up and you just hear the, ah, ah!

And I come in and she's cracking up and he's wet with a towel.

He's like weepy.

Mom, that's not funny.

She's just like, that was pretty funny.

And then one night, and we were little when she did this, we had this voodoo mask.

It was a Halloween mask.

I mean, it was neon.

It had hair and teeth.

I don't know.

It was the middle of the night.

We had long gone to bed.

And she just walked to each of our rooms and she said, with the mask on and said, Michelle?

No.

Michelle?

No.

And woke me up.

And I was like,

and then she's like, shh, I'm going to your brother's room.

I'm like, lady,

what are you doing all day?

She's trying to keep it interesting.

That was our household.

All right.

So

we, you you know, we got it honest.

Marion is coming with the pranks.

Marion.

Can I say something about what I've read about your family, which is, and why,

if I may, like, I, you know, I didn't have the pleasure to meet your mom, but she seemed like such a loving mom.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And you're a very loving mom.

Yeah.

And I come from a very loving mom.

And I talk about it a lot.

It's a blessing.

It is.

Not everybody gets a loving mom.

Yeah.

And a loving mom is like this

warm

place to keep coming back to that.

It almost is like if you have a loving mom, you're 90% ahead of the game.

And it's tough when you don't.

And you have to find your love other places, which you do.

And you can be certainly be a loving mom if you don't have one.

But it feels like your mom was so loving.

Yeah.

And what did she teach you about being a mom?

Like when I know you're, she just passed.

Yeah.

What was

and she was, she was really with you during a lot of mothering and the White House.

Like, what did you learn from her about

a great question?

I love talking about my mom.

I love talking about my parents.

And I was so glad to have told some of her story in my second book, The Light, before she passed so that I could give her her flowers when she could see it, you know?

But my mom loved kids.

And she, I think at the core of her being was this understanding that every kid was special.

I mean, she loved us for sure, but she loved all kids that she came in contact with.

We didn't have a lot of money,

but my parents made the choice that my mom would stay home with us.

And she didn't use that time frivolously.

I mean, she wasn't just looking after us.

She would come up to school and help kids that were struggling,

teach kids that, you know, be the room mom before there were room moms because she just believed in the power and intelligence that little people, as she called them, brought into the world.

And she just wanted to feed into that.

And we got a lot of that.

But, you know,

why I'm such an advocate for kids is it comes from my mom because she fully believes that we underestimate kids and that we, you know, we don't come here,

that we as adults are the ones that mess them up, that all kids are born into this world really special.

And so I felt that, right?

And I think that's one of the reasons that that's where confidence began for me is sitting at my kitchen table, me and my brother, with a mom who really, really loved our voices.

She liked to hear our thoughts.

She thought we were funny.

We made her laugh.

We felt special in her presence.

And sadly, we needed that because as kids, black kids, poor black kids, there would be a lot of people who would try to dim the light that she was pouring into us.

So we had an abundance of it, which allowed us to steal ourselves for what was to come, probably prepared me in ways I couldn't have imagined for those White House years, that time in the spotlight.

because I was still fortified with the light she had given me all my life.

So I could handle a lot of the negativity.

I could handle the stress and the pressure.

So I agree with you.

And, you know, I think we were blessed.

Yeah.

And to whom much is given, much is expected.

So just, I just try to pass it on.

And part of IMO is like, it's a way to share a lot of that wisdom that she taught us.

to pass it on.

You know, the girls listen and they're like, man, you know, you're telling everybody things you tell us every day.

And I'm like, yeah, now you, you hear it, right?

She's like, they're both like, wow, mom, you're kind of making sense.

I was like, I've been telling you this for 23, 26 years.

I always say this with my kids, too.

Like, your kids, one day, are like, you know, you know, the guy, you know, like, who my kids here the other day that made me laugh?

He's like,

you met Tim Robinson?

Yes.

They're like, you know him, mom.

I'm like, yeah, I've met him.

They're like, and they looked at me like, whoa, pretty good.

Yeah, yeah.

I do that.

Amy, too, you know, every now and then I make a good point to them.

Yeah.

And I was like, do you know who I am?

I'm Michelle Obama.

People,

people line up for my advice.

And you're walking away like I'm stupid.

It's like,

I've written books.

I've given speeches.

The whole world has listened to me, and I can't get you to just do what I told you to do yesterday.

No.

So, no, it happens to the best of us.

They keep us humble.

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I'm going to take that lip balm break for a second.

Oh, lip balm break and I'm going to take a

tissue break.

Oh, yeah.

It's very important.

do you need something for the saliva

I'm just gonna spit into a cup

it's a spittoon you know I haven't seen one of those in a while

you know what do you enjoy

how I did see that and I just turned around yeah you know but yeah I know

I mean this I just want to because it's a special day I brought decision here.

Why the food?

Because it's a special day.

I brought two new fake foods, and thanks for asking.

Those are new.

This is

a roll that opens up and you can put coins inside.

Oh, or I do.

Oh, we got to get it.

We should buy.

All right, my team, we should find food and send it to Amy.

Oh, this is a candle.

That's a kissy.

It's food that's a thing.

It's a thing that is shaped like food.

And Michelle, we're definitely not going to cut this out.

This is important.

The reason why I pick these things, they're all very willy-nilly, but it's about texture.

It's about

hand feel.

And now that one is a candle.

Yeah.

But squeeze this.

I brought this for you.

You are a strange creature.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

No, it's a thing.

It's a squishy sweet.

It's a squishy, but it's a cheeseburger.

Now, you come across these things in life and you're like, I got to have this hamburger thing.

I have a guy who sources.

No, it's kidding.

I have a a gentleman who goes across the world and he sources these things.

He travels.

Yes.

Right.

Now, you're not collecting like artifacts or you're looking.

You're a food for food that are things.

Like, what is this?

What is this?

Oh, it's a tiny whipped cream.

It is, but what it does, it do something.

No.

Oh, okay.

I guess it gives joy.

It brings joy.

Okay.

I didn't know if they all had secondary.

I'll show you this.

And this is the same thing.

In fact, I think Cheese-It, the company Cheese-It sent, maybe they'll send me more.

I bet they will.

This is like you should get a little mattress like your mattress

you know what you should do is you and craig should just have a mattress behind you the whole time that would be

like

i guess and then but cheese-it sent me free cheez-its because i talked about this but this is a box of cheez-it and there's a cheez-it inside it's a little fake cheez-it-it wow

strange it is very strange

very strange i'll take that well i'm glad you pointed that out because when i went for the tissue i was like it's food.

Wow.

And then I just let it go.

Yeah, it's okay.

I'll make sure you see it.

So, Craig, Craig, we asked Craig what to ask you.

And it's kind of

in the area of what we're talking about, which is, he said, what is the one thing that our parents,

you know, gave us?

Like, what is the one thing that you think about when you think about what our parents

passed on to us that you

want to?

I think,

always show up in the world in a way that would make them proud.

You know,

be the

person in the world that they were to you.

Right.

That's two things.

Oh, okay.

I thought that was just a

variation on a.

He said you would give more than one thing.

Oh, he did he say that?

Yes.

That's because he was mad because we did something yesterday and he only gave one answer and I gave two and he felt gypped.

See?

I mean, I.

But he's right.

I mean, you know, yes, so what?

I have many ideas in my head.

I told you I like to talk.

So,

there is no such thing as a one thing.

There's nobody, nobody really means that.

Not only does nobody mean it, but you're really good at this, and I believe this.

I don't ever think you have to answer the question that was asked.

Did I answer the question, though?

I did answer the question.

But I mean, when someone says, I wasn't trying to not answer the question, but I understand.

Well, we learned that in all of the White House,

too many times.

I'm going to ask you something.

I always say that to young women.

You do not have to answer it.

And just keep talking because,

you know, before you know it, time's up.

But like, even just in your every day when someone's like, you know, if someone goes like, you know, do you come, you know, do you come here often?

You know, you don't have to answer that.

And you go, where's my spittoon?

That's always a good distraction for you, Amy.

When you mention your spittoon, if you want to get out of a date, that'll really throw them.

Tell me about it.

Tell me about it.

What are you?

Okay, so we're your podcast is a place where you're connecting.

It sounds like you're listening to

a bunch of podcasts too and stuff like that.

But what is something that you're listening to, watching, reading, going to when you really want to kind of

disconnect, check out, and just have fun?

Yeah, which is most of the time these days.

I know.

And it's tough to stay in.

It's tough to stay in.

So what are you doing when you want to zoom out?

My version of golf to Barack, because he's got golf on all the time.

That's like his back.

He says it's my background noise.

So my version of that is HGTV.

I love HGTV.

Let's talk about it.

House hunters.

Incredible.

There's something so soothing about the arc of that.

Yeah.

You know?

Yeah.

You look for a house.

We just like looking at people's houses.

You're at the bottom of House Mountain.

You're like,

it could be any house.

And, but don't you, do you prefer when the budget is a low-budget house or a high-budget house?

Because sometimes I feel away, you know, especially House Hunters International.

Okay, I'm obsessed with House Hunters International.

First of all, every place looks so, I'm like, wow, you can get that for that money.

Like, I'm always feeling away.

No, I think about that too.

Like, wow, I should always cheat.

I'm going to break to Morocco, I guess.

But he's like, they're never going to get anything with that budget.

And then you you see like a nice get something with a budget.

And don't you like the way people have such high expectations with a low budget?

Like, these aren't marble.

It's like, but you want to pay $100 a month.

You know, I want $100 a month.

Why would you give marble?

And then the real estate agent is, especially in the foreign countries, are incredulous.

It's like, oh, you want a yard for a large dog?

You know, I love it, though.

Do you like when people get what they want?

Or do you like when you watch them have to slowly come to the realization that they've overreached?

Oh, yeah, I love that.

That's what I love.

Yeah.

So they go in too low, they want too many things, and you're like, no, it's not going to happen for you.

You know, you're going to be living above that bar.

And then do you like any HGTV makeover stuff?

Oh, I love all the makeover stuff.

Me too.

I love,

uh, Rock the Block.

And what's that?

I don't know.

Oh, you don't know?

No.

Well, this is when they get all the designers from all the other shows and they come onto one block of newly built houses from scratch and they compete for rooms to see each week, like they'll do the living room and the kitchen, right?

So the designers go in, they have a week or whatever to redo that area, and then they're judged by other designers.

And then they win and they collect points until they finish the whole house.

It's an amazing conversation.

That seems like the highest budget in the world.

That's what I'm thinking.

It's like, I think that the whole time it's like how they're going to be.

However, they're up the block.

How are you offensive?

How are you offending?

I mean, they are literally renovating.

They start with a frame

and they, you know, do the kitchen, bed, master bedroom, the master bathroom, the yard.

Wow.

The exterior and the exterior facade.

Dang.

I know we're getting, I'm really going in.

I love a reno.

I love those kind of shows.

I love the

why do you think we like it?

I know I like the teenage.

You're right.

What do you like it?

Just a completion.

Like it's

there's an end where something is done.

And I like the before and after.

I like the wow, that, those, those floors look much better.

You're an empty nester?

No, my boys are 14 and 16.

So we're just at that, the freshman and sophomore.

Okay.

Just at that age where we're thinking about college, but they're still teen boys.

And I'll tell you something, no one's more tired than a teen boy.

They're exhausted.

And they're hungry.

It's

like three dinners

a day.

I was just saying to someone,

having teen boys is like living with bears.

Because when you wake up the next morning, there's just crumbs everywhere and your cabinets are open and everything's out in the floor and there's like a big chunk out of a cheese and you're like, what happened?

And they woke up in the middle of the night and they ate again.

that's a good one they're like bears yeah yeah that's that's i might i mean that's scary it is are you scared in your home

you know no they're like nice bears they're nice bears they're nice little well i had i have girls and girls are you know they're as i'm learning yeah i was kind of lucky they're yeah they're clean and yeah girls you know they don't

we're coming back around they're head and shoulders yeah they they

make senses they have thoughts and ideas and you can rationalize with them.

I know.

I had it easy.

It's different.

I realize I did.

The food bill was a lot lower.

I don't know how you do it.

I mean, if you don't know the average weekly intake,

because it shifts with boys.

I mean, they have a growth spurt and they can drink a gallon of milk in a day.

I mean, how do you live like that?

Yeah, I know.

I literally.

I have a lot of moms, you know, like, who are, you know, the cost of living is so high, especially here in California, a lot of places.

And they're like, my kids are truly eating more than ever as teens.

And it's like, what are we going to do about it?

Do you cook?

I love to cook.

I know you don't cook.

I do not.

But you know, I didn't start cooking until my 40s.

I was too late, Michelle.

I cooked before.

Oh, and then you stopped.

Well, I became first lady.

And then you can't cook when they don't let you cook.

Well, I didn't.

I was busy.

But you can't go down and make an, but you can't go down and make an egg.

There's a kitchen, yes.

And you cook and eat.

But I'm like, they're they're chefs, and you do that better than me.

I mean, I'm not, I don't want to put you out of a job.

You can make the eggs.

Right.

If you were cooking an egg, they'd be standing next to you and it would be stressful.

Exactly.

That's right.

Unless you told them to leave, and then they wouldn't be comfortable with that.

Right.

You know, I'm sure they're first ladies, first families that cooked in the White House.

I'm just sort of like, ah, I'm okay not cooking.

I've done it.

And now, are you cooking now?

Nope.

Nope.

It's not on my agenda at all.

It's not among the things that I want to do in this stage in life.

And what are you doing now that you couldn't do before that you get to do now?

Or that you had to pause doing, I should say.

I want to try to do normal things.

Yeah.

You know, going for a walk

by yourself.

Never-ish, but if they're further behind, it's like, I can still see you.

I want to feel like I'm by myself a little further.

They're reading a newspaper episode.

That's right.

I'm driving a little bit more.

Excellent.

So that, and by myself, in the car by myself.

Excellent.

Which is such, like, I realized for the first time I was driving with Malia.

We were in Martha's Vineyard and I'm driving.

She turns on the radio and starts playing some of our favorite songs and we're singing at the top of our lungs.

I realized I'd never never had that experience with her.

I'd never had that experience with her as an as a from teenagers on because they learned to drive, but I didn't teach them how to drive.

I couldn't drive with them.

I mean, just sort of the basic kind of bonding moments.

You know, we didn't have time alone in a car, just with me and my daughter.

playing the music that we wanted at the volume that we wanted.

That's why I like the vineyard.

I like, I like the islands where we live because they're small places and people, you know, they get used to you.

They don't care.

Right.

At certain times of the year, I can walk into town and just go shopping.

I mean, I just go into a store, try on clothes on my own, go to the register.

Sometimes I forget how to use my credit card.

Well, now you don't have to.

Now you just use Apple Pay.

What's that?

No, I'm just kidding.

You know Apple Pay, right?

I do, but I don't use it.

You don't use it?

No, because I...

Do you have a regular phone?

Do you have a regular phone?

I do, but I'm trying to not do stuff on my phone.

Well, that's a little boomery, Michelle.

I know, but, you know, here, I don't want to be trapped.

I don't want, I don't want to track it.

Okay, this is a boomer attitude.

Tell me more about it so that I don't know.

We're done.

We're all cooked.

We're trapped.

It's happening.

There's no way to not be where everyone knows everybody.

What do you think does this mean?

So you can, I mean.

And this is, you know, I'm not that far behind you.

So this is the blind leading the blind.

Yeah.

But you don't even need a credit card anymore.

You just go, beep, beep, beep.

I don't want to be there.

And it's like, you're not even spending money.

It's just like beep.

It doesn't just go.

See, but that's a problem for me.

Yeah.

You know, I want to know.

I don't want to.

I don't have it.

It's like

it's just like, shh, you know, and then what if they get your phone information and somebody else can take your information and go beep, you know, and all you before you know it, you own a

identity stolen 15 times in their lifetime.

I mean, you know, there's no idea

that that doesn't happen.

And nobody worries about that.

Nobody worries about it.

We're all very worried.

Yeah, it's a disaster.

Like,

we're in real trouble.

Yeah, we're really in real trouble.

They try to hold on, you know, when all things fall apart and the system just crashes.

I know.

I'm still going to have cash.

I do love cash.

Do you?

I love cash.

I have old cash.

I have cash that's been in my wallet untouched probably for a decade.

My kids make fun of me.

Don't take it out.

My dad always taught me that.

He's always like, always take cash.

Yeah, yeah.

I got you.

Maybe I shouldn't have said that.

We'll cut it out.

I don't have cash.

No, Michelle does not have cash.

I don't carry cash.

But I guess I'm good because I also have this security guy with guns, you know?

And I still think like that.

It's like, where's my wallet?

Did it?

Where are my keys?

Your wallet.

Did your wallet in your phone?

I don't need it.

I know.

Okay.

So,

but continuing with what we're talking about, you know, I think

it doesn't matter what kind of life you live.

I think any person can have the feeling like their life is kind of a dream.

Like our lives are a dream.

Things happen to us we don't imagine could have happened to us, good and bad.

And sometimes we just feel like,

how did I get here?

Where am I going?

All that stuff.

What do your friendships, specifically your female

friendships do to keep you from like, keep your feet on the ground, basically?

Because your life has been a dream.

Oh, it's been crazy.

Yeah.

What have they done?

It's What haven't they done?

I mean, just,

you know, they're the, they're,

I love to go to my friends' homes just to be normal, to help with the dishes, to sit down in the yard, to, you know, to talk about something else other than whatever is in the news.

My friends are the people who know everything about me

and they they they only know me as Michelle.

um

it so it's it's everything uh and my family my brother um doing this podcast with him the first time we've worked together on something i mean just you know seeing his face and having him on the other side of the table somebody who can uh humanize me it's to others and to myself um in this sort of position we've been in that that is uh more powerful and meaningful, probably

for me than for a lot of people.

Yeah.

So

it's the air I breathe, my friendships.

That's why I try to really be mindful about maintaining them and pouring into them and making sure there's

reciprocity that they, you know, and that they feel seen by me in all of this, right?

Yeah.

I think what you're doing, I just speak for myself that,

you know, the word authenticity is kind of thrown around a lot.

But I do think, especially young people, they're really looking for some version of yourself and myself and their selves that like feels real.

Because the world is so crazy.

We are in this simulation that just.

a lot of people want to get out of.

And I think that is what's cool about young people is they keep

reminding us, like, be real.

yeah we want you we want realness yeah because everything feels so strange yeah we want the the the blemishes and the bumps and you know and you know

they want that but the message that we deliver to them is that you don't you you can't get that solely on your phone yeah and that's i think that's the piece that we can teach them yeah it's like yeah

push us to be real but you know i want to push young people to have real experiences,

you know, with real people face to face, because that authenticity that they see in us comes from that old way of living, you know, where you, you know, you meet a person in a bar and have a conversation, that you talk to people in the grocery store line, that you are looking up from your phone and seeing the world, that you're learning about people not through their,

you know, TikTok page, but from a conversation

and you've lost me what tell me where what what was the thing is the tick tock page you like the tick tock page information have the tick tock page okay so it's both and all right both and have the tick tock page because you do get some real dirt you get a perspective or what do you get from the tick tock page do we have an hour i don't know

community jokes laughs no but i hear what you're saying yeah you got to balance with real you got to balance right now Real people, real things.

It feels like we're shifting to

less of that.

Yeah.

And I also think laughter.

I think like you gotta laugh.

You gotta laugh.

And you gotta laugh at your friends.

You have like to laugh at yourself.

And what makes you laugh?

I'm not fangirling, but, you know, a lot of

re-watching a lot of parks and wreck, you know, I mean, that's the kind of humor that I like.

Community, modern family, old Seinfelds, you know, I mean, that tends to be, I still find myself laughing out loud with episodes that I've seen over and over again.

Just clever, clever dialogue, smart plots, you know, just out of the, you know, good characters.

That's what I love.

And you probably watched me and you're like, good job keeping that drool inside your heart.

Well, now that I know it's an issue, I'll watch you a little differently.

Yeah.

It's like, whoa, look at her keeping her

keeping her saliva inside good good way to go that's my girl

that's my training it's my training it's where my training comes in

well thank you so much oh my gosh this was so much fun yeah and the best yeah thank you really really great congrats on your podcast you as well and on all your food choices thank you so much these are all my food choices we're gonna get something like this and a mattress you are gonna get a mattress You're going to get all the mattresses you want.

Wow, that was an amazing episode.

So exciting to have her here.

And, you know, we talked about so many good things, but we talked a lot about sibling relationships.

And that is what her podcast, you know, a lot of it is about.

And I have a younger brother, Greg.

I should have asked Craig if he is ever called Greg.

because I know my brother Greg is often called Craig.

But I guess I just wanted to take this polar plunge moment to speak directly to my brother Greg and say, don't go in my room and don't touch my stuff.

It's my stuff.

Get out of my room.

Mom and dad said I'm in charge and I'm so sick of it.

You have to go to bed.

I love you, Greg.

You're the best sibling ever.

I don't want another sibling to talk about you with.

I was just saying that to Michelle to be a good host, but

seriously, it's so great to be your big sister.

And, you know,

as the eldest daughter,

we know our work is never done.

And so we'll just forge ahead.

And

I love you, baby bro.

I got you back.

Sorry, this has gone off the rails.

Okay, thank you for listening.

Thank you for listening to this episode.

Sorry about my voice, and we'll be back soon.

Bye.

You've been listening to Good Hang.

The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss Berman, and me, Amy Poehler.

The show is produced by The Ringer and Paperkite.

For The Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Kat Spillane, Kaya McMullen, and Aalaya Zanaires.

For Paperkite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell, and Jenna Weiss Berman.

Original music by Amy Miles.

All I ever wanted was a really good hang.