This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:08] Al Malafronte: Hello and welcome to the Break a Bat Podcast where baseball meets Broadway, an attempt to show that my two favorite mediums don't have to live in such separate worlds and maybe even break some stigmas.

[0:19] Al Malafronte: We're happy to have you with us.

[0:21] Al Malafronte: Now let's play ball.

[0:26] Al Malafronte: Hello and welcome to Break a Bat, where baseball meets Broadway and sports meets show business.

[0:31] Al Malafronte: This is Al Malafronte coming at you from the batter's box with a very special hitter.

[0:35] Al Malafronte: I feel very fortunate that every once in a while we get to welcome folks onto the show who are not only all stars on stage or screen or at the stadium, but off of it as well.

[0:46] Al Malafronte: Today's hitter is someone we've come to know and love for her work on screen that at least here in New York spans nearly two decades.

[0:53] Al Malafronte: Be it through what she's done on ABC News, Good Morning America, GMA3, and of course, 20/20, our guest today is someone you can always count on to bring a smile to your face, tell it like it is, and inspire you on so many levels.

[1:06] Al Malafronte: She's just authored an all-new children's book alongside her husband Andrew Shue titled Better Together, a sweet tale published by the fine folks at Flamingo Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House that's all about finding common ground and accepting and appreciating one another's differences.

[1:22] Al Malafronte: In addition to this, I think in many ways, she's such a perfect hitter for the Break a Bat lineup because like so many of you in our audience, she's also a tremendous fan of both sports and theater, which makes today even more special.

[1:35] Al Malafronte: I'm so grateful she could join us today.

[1:37] Al Malafronte: So with that being said, I ask you all to please turn your attention to home plate.

[1:41] Al Malafronte: Just be on the marquee.

[1:43] Al Malafronte: Now batting Amy Robach.

[1:45] Amy Robach: Wow, thank you. That was such an awesome introduction. I was smiling and just felt so warm inside. So thank you.

[1:55] Al Malafronte: Well, if you couldn't tell, I'm pretty thrilled to have you here too. If I had to like describe the vibe in the batter's box of the folks at home, it's kind of like World Series game meets Tony Awards for me. I can't thank you enough. This is so awesome.

[2:06] Amy Robach: Thank you.

[2:07] Al Malafronte: You've had quite the start of the fall. Our beloved Broadway's back, your hometown Atlanta Braves in the World Series. Most importantly, congrats on Better Together. This is awesome.

[2:17] Amy Robach: Thank you. And don't forget my Georgia Bulldogs. We're number one. So I'm having a stellar fall right now with the Braves and the Bulldogs. And yes, Broadway, it's all the all the bees. That's the three Bs are really and better together, the four B's, actually.

[2:30] Al Malafronte: There you go. That was not rehearsed.

[2:32] Amy Robach: She thought of that on the flash books.

[2:36] Al Malafronte: That's true. So now you've got two books on the back of your baseball card within a six-year span. Different subject matters, but I know much like your first book, this story hits particularly close to home for you. Being a parent of children and a blended family. Why was now the right time to write Better Together?

[2:55] Amy Robach: To be perfectly honest, we wanted to make sure that we survived and we thrived and we were better together because anyone who has tried to blend a family knows it is touch and go. And this is a pretty sobering statistic. More than 70% of second marriages with stepchildren, with children in the home, don't survive because it is so hard. There are so many different opinions coming in and so much that emotion that everyone's dealing with. So we went through all of the ups and downs. We still go through ups and downs, but we have been able to really have the time to reflect. Four of our five have flown the coupe. And when we see our kids together now, even as recent as a few months ago when my oldest and his youngest went off to college before he left, the group hug and the love and the just real connection was so apparent.

We looked at each other and we said, we did it. We did it. And I wanted to share the lessons that we've learned blending our families with other people who are in the middle of it or trying it or thinking about it. And really just with anyone when you're trying to get along with other people who don't do the same things you do, who don't eat the same things you eat or play the same games you play. We see it in classrooms, we see it honestly in politics, we see it with our neighbors. We can all learn something about realizing that our way isn't the only way, our way isn't even necessarily the best way. And it's about opening your heart, opening your mind to other ways of thinking and doing things.

[4:32] Al Malafronte: Now, to start the book, you use a backdrop of a stormy night, which I think in some ways is symbolic of the initial challenge many parents face when broaching these types of subject matters with young children. When you and Andrew were setting out on this journey together, how aware were you of the challenges that you might face?

[4:50] Amy Robach: So unaware. That we were crazy in love and just crazy enough to think that we could do this and it was going to be this beautiful, amazing thing. It was, but we weren't really thinking at all about the challenges. We had talked, of course, about trying to blend our parenting style and the excitement of me having the girls and him having the boys, thinking that was going to be a Brady Bunch-like moment. In fact, the kids watched Brady Bunch DVDs in our car nonstop. I actually think it helped. It actually made them feel like, hey, other families have been doing this for a long time. And it can be fun and it can be comedic and it can be, you know, interesting and there can be lessons learned. And so we actually used the Brady Bunch to try and help guide our children in a lot of ways.

But no, we were not prepared for how difficult it was going to be and the emotions that would be involved and the things that we were going to have to give up. You know, we talk about compromise in a marriage, but it's even more significant when you're bringing children into it from another family and having other parents, ex-spouses in the mix as well. It's a whole other set of challenges that I don't know that anyone can truly prepare for until they just jump in and dive in. And I think because we got married so quickly, if we had time to think about it, if we knew what we were facing, we might not have done it, to be honest.

[6:34] Al Malafronte: You know, one I obviously am a huge Brady Bunch fan myself. Hopefully, no one got hit in the face with a football like Marsha, obviously.

[6:41] Amy Robach: Exactly.

[6:43] Al Malafronte: Exactly. The other thing that was so great about the book is though, you talk about and present principles to young readers in the same way you did with your own kids back when you and Andrew first blended your families, like you know, through animals you'd find in your backyard, the Squirrelly family and the McMonk family, as we see in the book. At the time, was there a lot of debate between you and Andrew as far as how to handle it? Be it, I'll talk to my daughters about it in this way, and he'll talk to his kids about it in that way, each in our own lanes, and then eventually integrating both styles of parenting?

[7:15] Amy Robach: So I think it started out like that for sure, but we realized pretty quickly that we had to do it together. We had to be a team. But initially, yes, you kind of have, you know, each individual team on the sidelines, and you're the coach and you're talking to them and you're trying to make sure that they understand. And that's a big part of it initially so that there's trust and that there is some solidarity within that group. But then you can't have opposing teams because that doesn't work well either. And so, you know, you then have to try to blend the teams into one, which is not an easy feat at all. And it really it is about trust and love and learning where my role is as a stepmom, where his role is as a dad.

And there really isn't a playbook for it. And, you know, in fact, when we see a lot of it, other than the Brady Bunch, you know, you think about a lot of films, it's the evil stepmom, it's the evil stepdad, horror films are created around it, and dare I say, even a few Disney films. So, you know, it's one of those things you're almost kind of overcoming a stereotype and asking your children to trust you as the parent that this is going to be a beautiful experience ultimately, and that level of trust has to grow slowly over time. But yeah, you do start out on two different sides, you know, of the field, so to speak.

[8:28] Al Malafronte: What was the big breakthrough moment where you realized the ways in which you were teaching them were actually really effective? Because that's like one term I would really associate with this book. It's just very effective. Was there a breakthrough moment for you?

[8:42] Amy Robach: I think we did have one. So it came actually, it was our own kind of personal family storm. We had just moved in together. We decided to go on a family hike, and it was up in Bear Mountain. Anyone who's in New York knows the area, and it's actually an expansive mountain. And it was back when we had Blackberries and not iPhones, and so we didn't bring them with us because it wasn't about picture taking. And as luck would have it, we got lost on the Appalachian Trail somewhere. And darkness was coming in. We had no water, we had no extra food. We were ranging in age from I think four to 14. And we all got scared, all of us. And it was so cool to see how Nate the oldest and Annalise the little had to come together because Anna couldn't walk anymore.

And everyone was crying. And Nate put her on his shoulders, and we all banded together and made a choice which trail we were going to take, how we were going to find our way. It was an epic moment where we were all in it together. And it was that feeling of fear and trepidation that created a bond among us all that we could trust each other, that we could lean on each other, that we could love each other, that we could get through it together. And we ended up finding a road, and we were literally having to hitchhike back to our car. We had no idea where we were, but the kids I think will all point to that moment as the moment we felt like a family, like a team who was figuring out something very scary together, and we all I think that for us was the watershed moment, the turning point where we all were like, okay, we got this, we're a good team, we figured it out.

[10:13] Al Malafronte: Oh my gosh. My mind immediately went to the Grand Canyon FSO because now all I can think about is the Brady Bunch, right?

[10:20] Amy Robach: I know there was a total parallel to that.

[10:22] Al Malafronte: You're right. Oh my goodness, I absolutely love it. And you know, you just tell such a tremendous story with a great message in the book. And I know in the past you've talked about how your love of storytelling is such a big inspiration for you when you go on air each day. On that note, I find it to be no coincidence that you're such a big Broadway fan. And I mean, you don't just love going. You're a legitimate fan and student of theater, right?

[10:50] Amy Robach: It's like I so much so.

[10:52] Al Malafronte: Yeah, it's like the two go hand in hand.

[10:53] Amy Robach: They do, they do.

[10:54] Al Malafronte: You're totally right.

[10:55] Amy Robach: And I would actually say, so my aunt and uncle are theater directors. They were my high school theater directors actually growing up.

[11:00] Amy Robach: And so I accredited even my ability to do what I do every day to all of the theater training I got from them and watching my mom be in community theater.

[11:10] Amy Robach: Um we that that art of performance and communicating. And it it's an empowerful thing when you can tell a good story, you make people feel things, you move people.

[11:19] Amy Robach: You change their minds sometimes. You definitely open their minds a lot of ways through that art. And so it's not even to me, uh, it wasn't even a big move to go from being in theater and performing to then being in journalism and being a broadcast journalist.

[11:34] Amy Robach: And then of course, it was always a little bittersweet for me to go to plays initially because I wanted to be up on stage because the joy of being able to move people in a live audience, you know, with singing and dancing and and celebrations, but also in poignant moments as well.

[11:50] Amy Robach: So I I I now um feel like I've got my own stage, but I still have so much love and joy for those who get up on the stage and perform each and every night.

[12:00] Amy Robach: So I think since Broadway's been back, I think I've been to a show almost every week now.

[12:05] Amy Robach: And it's just been so fun to see the joy and just the excitement because so many of these performers obviously were struggling with how to how to have an outlet, how to how to communicate, how to how to reach people, how to still do what they love in the middle of a pandemic.

[12:20] Amy Robach: But I I could not be happier being a patron of Broadway each and every week.

[12:25] Al Malafronte: What's your favorite show that you've gotten to see since it opened back up?

[12:30] Amy Robach: Well, so I am obsessed with Moulin Rouge.

[12:34] Amy Robach: I saw it for the third time, the first time since the pandemic, but my goodness, Aaron Tavate, I just could listen to him they you know sing the phone book.

[12:42] Amy Robach: He's just, he is such a brilliant singer and performer and actor.

[12:47] Amy Robach: I'm I I I got to interview him on my show too, GMA3, and I was a little tongue tied.

[12:47] Amy Robach: I was a little starstruck. I have a slight crush on him.

[12:56] Amy Robach: I don't know who doesn't uh but that was my favorite.

[12:59] Amy Robach: But you know I went to go see Aladdin which I had never seen before and oh my gosh it just brings joy to your face.

[13:07] Amy Robach: I saw Waitress last week we saw Lion King and I want to see I'm really dying to see um Hades Town.

[13:14] Amy Robach: I think that's next on my list.

[13:16] Amy Robach: So it's just it's just a never ending source of joy and entertainment for me.

[13:20] Al Malafronte: You know you did quite a rendition of almost like being in love from Brigadoon when you were competing for Miss Georgia back in the day.

[13:27] Al Malafronte: That video is online folks and Amy's voice is just lovely.

[13:31] Al Malafronte: But do you do you still like perform a little bit on the side?

[13:35] Al Malafronte: Because I mean those you had the skill there. I feel like you have to maintain a gift like that.

[13:39] Amy Robach: Well I was in Marie's crisis uh on Friday night.

[13:43] Amy Robach: So singing in a group loudly where no one can really single out my voice is my jam now or um a little karaoke sometimes but no I don't I don't really do you know my daughter now is a performer she was at the bitter end uh last she's performing again actually on Sunday night plug there um Halloween night and she she has taken over my reins.

[14:02] Amy Robach: And I'm very happy to watch her step on on stage and do what she does.

[14:06] Amy Robach: And she's way better than I ever was.

[14:08] Amy Robach: So I'm very happy to cheer her on and sit in the audience.

[14:13] Al Malafronte: You know, your old friend Al Roker did a little Broadway stint and waitress.

[14:17] Al Malafronte: Ever give any thought to something like that, even like a limited run?

[14:20] Amy Robach: Um, I would 100% do it.

[14:23] Amy Robach: Like, that's not even a question.

[14:25] Amy Robach: I would jump at the chance to do something like that.

[14:27] Amy Robach: That would be living the dream, truly.

[14:30] Al Malafronte: I would love to see it.

[14:31] Al Malafronte: And um, you know, on the other side of our backdrop, I have to ask you, you know, I mentioned your hometown Atlanta Braves headed back to the World Series for the first time since 1999.

[14:42] Al Malafronte: I know you've got a lot going on with the book release and your daughter's upcoming show, but will you be getting into the games this week?

[14:48] Amy Robach: I mean, I'm definitely gonna be watching from home and cheering, or maybe one of the local bars around here.

[14:52] Amy Robach: Yes, it's it's always so fun to root for a team.

[14:55] Amy Robach: I love rooting uh for the Braves.

[14:57] Amy Robach: They they I think it's their year.

[14:59] Amy Robach: Um, and again, my Georgia Bulldogs too.

[15:01] Amy Robach: I am really hoping to finally get some sort of um let's just say redemption.

[15:07] Amy Robach: Uh, you know, uh Alabama, you're going down.

[15:12] Al Malafronte: I thought you weren't supposed to.

[15:14] Al Malafronte: I was gonna roll over.

[15:16] Al Malafronte: You're usually not supposed to show bias, right?

[15:18] Al Malafronte: In your position, but I guess when it comes to that rivalry, you have no choice, right?

[15:22] Amy Robach: I gotta tell you, I I actually covered the SEC finals when it was Georgia Alabama, and I was there on the sidelines.

[15:28] Amy Robach: We thought we had it, and of course, the Hail Mary Pass, we we lose, and it's crushing and I really actually cried there with Uga standing next to me.

[15:36] Amy Robach: And the worst part was the next morning, the journalist that I am, I had to be there with Alabama and interview all the players and the Nick Sabin, and and it was actually painful for me.

[15:49] Amy Robach: I was like, I know I'm supposed to be objective, but this is really hard.

[15:52] Amy Robach: I did it though.

[15:53] Amy Robach: I did it.

[15:53] Amy Robach: It was, it wasn't an easy day for me.

[15:55] Al Malafronte: Wow.

[15:58] Al Malafronte: I mean, listen, you certainly have had many challenges in your life.

[16:03] Al Malafronte: And you know, one, you know, you talk about that example on air.

[16:06] Al Malafronte: Um, there's one thing I did want to touch on with you for a moment because in so many ways it serves as such a huge reason why I've always found you to be such a special presence on the air.

[16:16] Al Malafronte: And it's the way you use your platform off screen as someone who's battled and survived breast cancer.

[16:22] Al Malafronte: Uh, you literally got a mammogram on live TV to demystify it for women who might be nervous about doing that.

[16:28] Al Malafronte: Uh, and what started as an initiative to help others ended up helping yourself more than anyone.

[16:34] Al Malafronte: And I've so admired all the work you've done since bringing awareness to early detection and being vigilant about your health.

[16:40] Amy Robach: I know you've accomplished so much on screen.

[16:42] Amy Robach: And although you're super down to earth, do you ever take a step back and celebrate what a big difference you've made?

[16:49] Amy Robach: Well, that's very kind of you to say, and it can make me emotional because it is my passion because it was someone else's intervention to me, Robin Roberts, uh, the amazing woman I work with each and every day, who got me into that mammothan.

[17:03] Amy Robach: And I would not have had a mammogram until I was 50 because that is the recommendation.

[17:07] Amy Robach: I don't know many women who want to do something they don't have to do, especially something that's considered pretty painful and not fun at the very least.

[17:14] Amy Robach: And if it hadn't been for her nudging me into that mammothan, I I shudder to think where I might be.

[17:20] Amy Robach: And, you know, I felt like I was perfectly healthy.

[17:23] Amy Robach: I ended up having two malignant tumors in my right breast, and it already spread to my lymph nodes.

[17:27] Amy Robach: So this was not something that I could wait on, certainly something I couldn't wait a decade on.

[17:32] Amy Robach: So I I really do believe in paying it forward.

[17:35] Amy Robach: And I feel blessed that Robin was in my life to get me into that mammothan.

[17:40] Amy Robach: And I hope that I can use my platform to get other women to make and keep those potentially life-saving appointments.

[17:47] Amy Robach: And yes, hearing back from women, and I've heard back from countless women, either on the streets, in emails, sometimes in personal letters and cards, where they have said, your story saved my life.

[17:58] Amy Robach: And so I always urge whatever it is that you've been through, when you talk about it, whether it's mental health, physical health, whatever, you are making people think about things differently and perhaps making them take their life or their health, uh, putting it into perspective and giving them the opportunity to be the stewards of their own ship.

[18:19] Amy Robach: I think everyone kind of wants to think things can't happen to them.

[18:22] Amy Robach: But when you hear and see from someone who might look like you or is your age and you think, wait, they had cancer, you the ripple effect of telling your story is huge.

[18:30] Amy Robach: And so it all goes back to journalism in the end, right?

[18:32] Amy Robach: Because when you tell stories and you tell stories in the right way in an honest way in an authentic way and with good intentions, the the impact is significant.

[18:42] Amy Robach: So it is one of the my my proudest um achievements.

[18:46] Amy Robach: I don't know if it's an achievement or an accomplishment, but I'm I'm really proud of the work, hopefully, that I continue to do by telling my story and encouraging women to make their health a priority because it is something women tend to not do.

[19:00] Amy Robach: They tend to take care of everyone else in their lives and they ignore their own issues.

[19:05] Amy Robach: So, you know, I've got two friends right now who I just was talking to earlier today who are battling stage four metastatic breast cancer.

[19:11] Amy Robach: It's never lost on me how lucky we all are to be here right now, that we're none of us are guaranteed tomorrow.

[19:17] Amy Robach: And some of us, and some more than others, are reminded of that each and every day, that today is a gift.

[19:24] Amy Robach: And so that for me has been the silver lining in all of this that the lessons I have learned from battling cancer, and it's not something you ever lose or leave because you get tested multiple times a year.

[19:35] Amy Robach: You're always waiting for that other shoe to drop.

[19:38] Amy Robach: And it's just a reminder to live, to live your dreams, to run those races, to climb those mountains, to tell people you love them, to be willing to be vulnerable.

[19:49] Amy Robach: Those are all the things that make life worth living, in my opinion.

[19:55] Al Malafronte: That just brings to mind, you know, I mentioned your first book, which is titled Better, where you, you know, you talked about your journey and you know, appreciating life and the way you, you know, you just spoke about uh it was so moving.

[20:08] Al Malafronte: And I also thought it was so cool how your latest book, at least as far as the title goes, is kind of a playoff of that.

[20:14] Al Malafronte: It's just it's you know, it represents different chapters in your life in some ways.

[20:18] Amy Robach: Thank you.

[20:20] Amy Robach: No, and I agree, and I think you know, it's it's always good to look at the positive.

[20:24] Amy Robach: You know, obviously there are negative things that that happened and and and will probably continue to happen that I deal with fear, et cetera, with cancer.

[20:31] Amy Robach: And same with blending of family.

[20:33] Amy Robach: There are still going to be negative, tough things that we're gonna deal with and try to struggle through.

[20:37] Amy Robach: But it's it's true if you look at the bigger picture, if you're not focused on the specific moment or the specific thing, at the bigger picture, we're better together, and I'm better because of cancer.

[20:48] Amy Robach: And so I choose to look at it through that positive narrative.

[20:51] Amy Robach: And you can you can look at the same thing through a different lens, and it has a whole different meaning.

[20:55] Amy Robach: So I choose to see the positive in all of those experiences.

[21:00] Al Malafronte: And when you reflect back, that's that's usually how we remember things.

[21:04] Al Malafronte: That's certainly the truth, Amy.

[21:06] Al Malafronte: And um I, you know, I've outlined many of your accomplishments that you know you've had over the years, but uh, we do a little thing here on Break a Bat where it actually might get pretty tough.

[21:18] Al Malafronte: Not necessarily as tough as the challenges that you've overcome in your life, but uh, it's called fastball derby.

[21:24] Al Malafronte: And it's like an opportunity for you to become an official member of the baseball meets Broadway crossover community where um, you know, you have to picture yourself in the batter's box.

[21:34] Al Malafronte: It's the ninth inning, two outs, games on the line.

[21:37] Al Malafronte: A Ralph Chapman is on the mound throwing 105 miles an hour.

[21:41] Amy Robach: Do you know Chapman?

[21:42] Al Malafronte: I've seen you in a Yankee hat.

[21:43] Amy Robach: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I uh yep, I I'm a fan.

[21:47] Al Malafronte: So basically, you got to think quick. I'm gonna ask you a question. You tell me the first thing that comes to your mind. And since you're such a great storyteller, if you want to sprinkle some of those in there as well, I'm sure the audience will love to hear them.

[21:59] Amy Robach: Okay.

[22:00] Al Malafronte: Favorite New York City meal.

[22:03] Amy Robach: Oh man, I think a five guys burger.

[22:08] Al Malafronte: Toughest interview you ever had to navigate.

[22:13] Amy Robach: Ooh, maybe John Bobbitt.

[22:15] Amy Robach: John Wayne Bobbitt, you know, Lorena Bobbitt and the issue. And that was one of those moments where I walked in and he was telling penis jokes, and this is a serious story. And that was a real tough one to navigate because I think it was about a four hour interview because we did a two hour special on it. So that was um an unexpectedly challenging interview that I was not fully prepared to handle or deal with.

[22:43] Al Malafronte: You're a great chef, especially when it comes to dishes of the keto variety. What's Amy Robach's culinary specialty of the keto variety?

[22:53] Amy Robach: I'm gonna go with the pumpkin swirl cheesecake because it was something I made before keto, and we, my mom and I learned how to adapt it and make it even better, I would say, uh low carb, sugar-free. So it's the pumpkin swirl cheesecake.

[23:07] Al Malafronte: You can be the lead in one Broadway musical. What is it?

[23:10] Amy Robach: Oh my gosh, what would it be? Um, I think Lame is a Rob.

[23:16] Amy Robach: I th oh is it Lame as Rob or Miss Sai Gon? It's a those are my two favorite ones. Um I'm gonna go with I'm gonna go with Lame as a Rob.

[23:27] Al Malafronte: Soundtrack from a Broadway flop that you enjoy the most.

[23:31] Amy Robach: Oh, chess.

[23:33] Al Malafronte: Was it a flop?

[23:34] Amy Robach: I think it maybe was. I love chess. And if you haven't heard of it, it yeah. But check it out. It's so much better than it was given credit for. There's a lot of shows like that, and I'm always curious to hear, you know, what sticks with folks, um, even though the show didn't necessarily have worldwide success.

[23:49] Al Malafronte: So chess.

[23:50] Amy Robach: I'll have to check that one out.

[23:51] Al Malafronte: Oh, oh, I I I know him so well. Uh there's so many good songs. I think you'd like it.

[23:56] Amy Robach: I gotta check that out. I'll give you my recommendation quick before we continue. Did you see disaster on Broadway when it was on a few years ago?

[24:03] Al Malafronte: No, but it lived up to its name.

[24:05] Amy Robach: Yeah, pretty much. Yeah, pretty much. As far as ticket sales, it clo it's opened in January, closed in May type of thing.

[24:10] Al Malafronte: Yeah.

[24:10] Amy Robach: But that's one I should check out.

[24:11] Al Malafronte: Okay, I will.

[24:12] Amy Robach: Yeah.

[24:12] Al Malafronte: All 70s songs. You gotta, you gotta you'll watch it.

[24:15] Amy Robach: Oh, I mean, I you yeah, duh. I'm I'm my favorite, my favorite playlist is Yacht Rock, which my kids make fun of me about, but it's basically just like mellow 70s. It's the Sailing is my favorite song, Christopher Cross. Fun fact.

[24:26] Al Malafronte: You you get a bit of a pass for that though, since you were actually born in the 70s.

[24:30] Amy Robach: I was born in 1990. I don't get that pass from my friends.

[24:33] Al Malafronte: True, true, true. But I I've got I've got all my I've got all my daughters. Like they they do they they make fun of me, but then but then they listen to it and they like it.

[24:42] Al Malafronte: All right, there we go. Okay. Uh all right, Yankee question. Team Derek Jeter or Team Arod.

[24:49] Amy Robach: Uh Jeter.

[24:49] Al Malafronte: Great answer. There's usually no right or wrong to this game, but that is one question where there's a right or wrong answer.

[24:59] Amy Robach: That's funny. I know you can't say that much since he works for ESPN. Anyway, we'll move on to the next question. Um we've got the holidays coming up. Favorite holiday tradition.

[25:11] Amy Robach: Oh, let's see. Well, I'm trying to think because we we always cut down our own Christmas tree, which is a super fun thing to do. But honestly, I would say it was always apple picking, too. But now my kids are getting older and we can't get them to come with us. So we I think the other thing we love to do is go skiing. So that's probably one of my favorite things to do, and we're gonna be doing that again this year.

[25:34] Al Malafronte: Fact about Amy Robach that would surprise people the most.

[25:39] Amy Robach: Let's see. Um I don't know how surprising it's it's it's hard to know what would be surprising to someone or not. I'm obsessed with cleaning. I like cleaning makes me feel good. Like when I'm stressed, I clean, and that always puts me in a in a much just more zen mood. So everyone needs to just get out of my way when I'm vacuuming. And I vacuum at least twice a day. Slightly OCD, maybe is that I don't know if that's shocking or not.

[26:09] Al Malafronte: I don't know. Maybe Alice rubbed off on you from the Brady Bunch or something like that.

[26:13] Amy Robach: That was always my joke. You're like, You're the Brady Bunch. I'm like, except we don't have Alice. Um, I'm Alice, I'm Alice.

[26:21] Al Malafronte: Multi-casting is Alice and uh Carol.

[26:24] Amy Robach: Okay, that's fair. Yeah, I go both ways, yeah.

[26:28] Al Malafronte: Favorite moment in your career.

[26:32] Amy Robach: Um there have been so many highlights, I have to say, and it's hard to just pick one. I know one of the most memorable ones for me was when I was able to go to Nigeria on Malala Yousafsai's 17th birthday, meet with her, meet some of the parents whose daughters had been abducted by Boko Haram, and shine a spotlight with Malala on these girls who people had at first said, never forget, let's remember these girls, and then just no one thought of them again. These 400 some girls, school girls who were kidnapped merely for going to school by um Boko Haram. And so to be able to go and tell their story and through the lens of Malala Yasofsai, who's probably the bravest, most incredible young woman I had ever met in my life, who decided to celebrate her birthday by by celebrating other women and championing the cause of a right to education for all women.

And I think for me that was a real standout moment and one of my favorite um interviews I've ever had the privilege to do, and such an important message because we all are very quick to tell a story, but we very often don't follow up on a story or continue to talk about things that need to be talked about.

[27:51] Al Malafronte: Lastly, what's the best piece of advice anyone ever gave you?

[27:56] Amy Robach: Um never ever give up. And I really believe in that. I really think that it is through hardware. People always ask, you know, how did you get where you are? And like people say, right place, right time. But at the end of the day, you have to put yourself in a lot of different places as often as possible to have that intersection happen where you're in the right place at the right time. And so I said yes to everything pretty much uh early on, and things that didn't seem glamorous and things that didn't seem like they were gonna get me anywhere, but you never know when that chance meeting is gonna happen, when that when that moment that's gonna change your life is there. And if you're not present and you're not, you know, in the arena, so to speak, you'll never know what could have happened.

So never ever ever give up. And and and I know people can look at certain people's careers, and you can say, oh, look, it was just a big trajectory up, but it wasn't. It was up, it was down, it was down, then it was plateaued. And then, you know, you just have to you have to stick with it and you have to, and you can't let other people, you can't give away your power. And you, you know, you can't control, you can't control what happens to you, but you can always control how you react to it. And and that's always been my motto. And something else I've just done, I'll just add my little um bit of advice that I have um heard and I've used and remind myself of. I'm not invested in the outcome. And that may sound counterintuitive.

I'm invested in the process because ultimately we don't control the outcome. But what we can control is what we give to the process. And so that has really helped uh guide me. I gave you like 12 pieces of advice, sorry.

[29:30] Al Malafronte: I think you hit a grand slam in fastball derby today.

[29:34] Amy Robach: There you go. I love the baseball terminology, just bringing it full circle.

[29:37] Al Malafronte: Absolutely. And and it that that grand slam very much uh applies to better together as well. I'm so happy that folks are gonna have the opportunity to read it, especially around the holidays. I think it's just such a great message. And um, if you talk about one last particular takeaway that you hope folks get from Better Together, what would that be?

[29:58] Amy Robach: There's no one right way to do anything. And your way is not necessarily the best way. It's a very hard lesson to learn. It's hard to say, to swallow your pride, to put your ego on the side, but that's what we're talking about. Removing egos, accepting others, and understanding that actually looking at how other people do things can enhance your life, enrich your life, and make it better. And so that is what we all need to do, I think, as a community, as a family, as a country, as uh as a global population that we've all become. And this isn't about you, it's about us. It's about finding a way to find that common ground. And we all have something in common. And so let's look for it. Let's celebrate it. But let's also enjoy each other's differences and try some new things.

[30:48] Al Malafronte: Amy, this uh this past half hour was just absolutely incredible. I cannot thank you enough for joining us today. It was such an honor.

[30:57] Amy Robach: Oh, Al, you are amazing. I appreciate it. Thank you so much. I just want to tell you you you're amazing at what you do. So I really appreciate you.

[31:04] Al Malafronte: Oh, thank you. That that means a lot. And um hey, how about this? If I get a copy of Better Together, will you sign it for me?

[31:11] Amy Robach: Of course I will. That's a no-brainer. Yes, a hundred percent.

[31:14] Al Malafronte: Sounds fantastic. I'll I'll uh see I could even if I printed off the PDF copy that uh the wonderful Elise sent over to me. Maybe even if even if you want to sign that one, that would be cool.

[31:24] Amy Robach: We'll get one to you. We'll get one to you.

[31:27] Al Malafronte: Well, thank you so much again, Amy. And folks, be sure to get your copy of Better Together wherever books are sold. It's available now. I can't thank all of you enough for joining us tonight. So, with that being said, this is Al Malafronte signing off for the Broadway Podcast Network. We'll see you next time.

[31:46] Al Malafronte: Thanks for listening to Break a Bat. This is produced by the fine folks at the Broadway Podcast Network. Visit and subscribe at bpn.fm slash breakabat. You can find me online at break underscore A underscore bat underscore podcasts. And you can also find the Broadway Podcast Network on Instagram at Broadway Podcast Network. It's been so great having you here with us today, and we'll see you next time.