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 the 2022 premiere of Break a Bat, where baseball meets Broadway and sports meets show business.

[0:34] Al Malafronte: I'm your host, Al Malafronte, coming at you from the batter's box, hoping that you're all having a great start to the new year.

[0:41] Al Malafronte: I know I certainly am, because today is one of those special days here on the show, as we welcome someone who I think embodies what it means to be the good stuff in television, both on screen and off of it.

[0:52] Al Malafronte: For nearly a decade on ABC, our special hitter today is someone who we've come to know and love as the network's chief meteorologist.

[1:00] Al Malafronte: Be it through her work on Good Morning America or World News Tonight.

[1:04] Al Malafronte: I think her positive, inspiring, and honest disposition is really such a big light in the world today, and one that we need now more than ever, especially when it comes to the subject matters that she's tackling in her all-new book.

[1:16] Al Malafronte: It's a follow-up to her New York Times bestseller, Natural Disaster, that was released a few years ago.

[1:22] Al Malafronte: If that was her first big home run as an author, this new one of hers is certainly a grand slam.

[1:27] Al Malafronte: It's titled A Little Closer to Home, How I Found My Calm Before the Storm, where she takes us through her incredibly moving journey off-screen, some of the challenges, healing, and triumphs she's endured as someone who's openly battled depression and trauma.

[1:41] Al Malafronte: And my goodness, am I thrilled to have her join us today?

[1:43] Al Malafronte: So, with that being said, I ask you all to please turn your attention to Home Plate, just beyond the marquee.

[1:50] Al Malafronte: Now batting Ginger Zee.

[1:52] Ginger Zee: Thank you.

[1:54] Ginger Zee: Al, I feel like I'm back throwing a first pitch, which I've done now twice. And it's like anytime I get in some sort of baseball situation, I start getting really clammy. So thank you.

[2:06] Al Malafronte: You had a pretty nasty curveball at City Field. I saw that first pitch.

[2:09] Ginger Zee: Yeah, it wasn't terrible. Let's say that.

[2:12] Ginger Zee: Hey, it could have been worse.

[2:14] Ginger Zee: And then Philly, I think it looked pretty good, especially next to Strahan. I mean, his just looked okay. And I was like, oh my gosh, I threw the same distance. I am going to go home with this and be good.

[2:25] Al Malafronte: That is so awesome. And I should tell you, I did bring my GMA mug to the mic.

[2:30] Ginger Zee: Oh, very nice.

[2:31] Al Malafronte: You could tell you how clickable.

[2:33] Ginger Zee: Yeah, exactly. It's like days like today are the reason why I do this show. So thank you for being here.

[2:36] Ginger Zee: Thank you. I'm looking forward to this. I think the conversations that keep coming and surrounding the books are not what I expected, but in the best way.

[2:45] Ginger Zee: And that's why I wrote a second one.

[2:47] Al Malafronte: Yeah. And you know, you described that first one, Natural Disaster, as Ginger Lite. I mean, you touched on some very personal issues that went on to help a lot of people in their mental health journey. But this one, obviously, you take it to a whole new level. What was the motivation to take things even further?

[3:06] Ginger Zee: So after the first one, I didn't realize how many people it would touch. I mean, I had thousands of messages right away, and it's kept, and people still write me about Natural Disaster today, and it's been four or five years. So the impact wasn't just, oh, you know, this is like therapy for me, or I really enjoyed your book. It was you saved my life, like that heavy that people were saying that. And I thought, okay. So they really, and then they would follow it up by saying, your tools of what you've learned in therapy were incredibly helpful. So right away, I was like, yeah, I could be the publisher asked, could you write another one? I said, you know, I think there are tons more tools I've learned even since this published, but then the Me Too movement really started getting going.

And there was one particular morning where I was hearing one woman tell her story of assault. And I realized it opened up this trauma in my life that I had not dealt with enough. And as I watched these women in so many different situations shed their shame, I was inspired. And I thought, well, that trauma I have to not only dig into, teach people how to heal from trauma, because my trauma is not going to be the same as your trauma, but we can heal the same. But also realizing that healing doesn't just end, right? You can't just, it doesn't just, oh good, I'm healed. It's a maintenance and really hard work of mental health. It's just like the gym. You cannot go to the gym for six months, get a personal trainer, eat right, look awesome, and then be like, okay, I'm good. That's not how your mind works. And this was a realization that I felt like I need to put in a book.

[4:33] Al Malafronte: You know, the magnitude of some of the trauma you faced in your life, you know, I've always admired how you've never let it hold you back from pursuing your dreams. And, you know, your accomplishments on air certainly validate that. One thing you touch on in the book is how dangerous it can be to be labeled and how that can make us feel powerless and lead us down some difficult paths. I know you've said that honesty and transparency are part of your recovery, but given the position of power that you're in on the air where you have a lot of control, was there a lot of hesitation to surrender that in such a big way when it comes to the image that people have of you and how much they love you because of the persona we see on air every day?

[5:12] Ginger Zee: Yeah, in the first book, especially, I had never done anything like that. Everyone only knew me for 30 second clips. They knew the bright sunshine and or the, you know, human compassion that I would show during a natural disaster, but they'd never really got a piece of me. And I was so nervous. The night before Natural Disaster went to print, I woke up in the middle of the night. I shook my husband awake. I was like, big mistake, gotta stop him. Stop the presses. I can't do this. Nobody's gonna hire me in the future. Because in that book, I the first line, I talk about being how I checked myself into a mental health hospital 10 days before I started my job at ABC News. And I still was feeling some societal shame, not shame on myself, but societal shame.

And so in that waking him up, he said groggily, if you didn't upset somebody or change their perception of you, then the book did nothing. So go to bed and you're doing the right thing. And he was so right because thankfully I've had this kind of social media, you know, attacking me for the last 20 years. And I've had this great practice of being able to find the core of what my identity is and not listen to what others say, both good and bad. You know, like you can only take so much. And I think I've built up this incredible fence that I use regularly, and I just realized that I saw more and more positivity, positivity outside that fence the more I shared. And the more connection, and this is the most important part that changes in the next book, is that I was able to reach up and over that fence and bring other people close so that they felt comfortable. And that's the beauty of having this position or having some sort of power. I'm in a really great place where I don't care what other people think about those things, and it's given me such freedom.

[7:03] Al Malafronte: Now, given the amount of detail that you use when you talk about what you went through as far as trauma goes, be it date rape, abortion, anorexia, a suicide attempt, which was the most challenging wound for you to reopen when you were writing this?

[7:20] Ginger Zee: I think it had to be the abortion, because or the rape. I, you know, both are quite, but that's the thing is you can't really even between people. I don't know if you can compare trauma, because a lot of it has to do with when it happened to you, what the environment surrounding it was, where you were mentally in that part of your life. And so only because it was something that I felt so isolated and had kept covered, and I describe it as a wound, right? A trauma is like a wound. Those were both wounds that I had not only seen really quickly covered up with a bunch of dirt, but run away from so far. Anorexia is something that I had to keep talking about, right? Even though I wasn't necessarily healing as much, I was in therapy.

I was a bit more open to, and people were a bit more open. Eating disorders are something people talk about. Rape, abortion, those are not something people talk about. And so I think that was part of the impetus of sharing them is, and I can tell you from the last week of experience, many people should be talking because many people are in the same place.

[8:26] Al Malafronte: Yeah, and I mean, thank God, you know, for someone like you using your platform the way you are in such an honest way. I mean, you the way you verbalized it and everything. I mean, if that doesn't hit home for people, I don't know what will. One quote that you had in the book that really resonated, was you know, some advice that you wanted to give to your younger self. It doesn't really matter, and nobody cares. Can you take the folks at home through what you mean by that?

[8:52] Ginger Zee: So I wrote two books about suicide attempts, and I have one piece of advice for myself, and that's it doesn't matter and nobody cares. It sounds horrible. Like it's not what you expect. But as I go through the book and explain, it doesn't really matter is something that I'm able to apply every day a dozen times a day in my life. And that's just a kind of a checklist. I ask. Let me ask you, Al, the last time that you had trouble sleeping because you were worried about something. Do you remember what that something was?

[9:24] Al Malafronte: As far as the recent stuff, sure. But you know, for the most part, I try to block it out, to be honest.

[9:31] Ginger Zee: That's not the healthiest thing to do. But so yeah, I guess in the grand scheme of things, I don't necessarily remember all of it. And a lot of times the things that we ruminate on or that we have anxiety about for future are things that we won't even remember a year from now. We often will take those things. So I ask myself when I am in that position, or I'm frustrated during the day, or something happens in the show as light as that, and I'm like, ugh, that first reaction, I let myself have a reaction because you're allowed to have feelings, you should. But then I say, is this gonna matter? Or am I gonna remember this a week from now?

[10:05] Ginger Zee: And if I'm not, I say, let it go. Go on, move on. Like this means nothing in your life, right? And then if it's gonna matter a year from now, then I let myself put some more energy to it. And I start to think about how to constructively make this a part of my narrative and take ownership over it. And that becomes very powerful in my checklist. So that's it doesn't really matter because very few things really matter that we put so much energy into, and then nobody cares unless you make them or unless you need them to. But I think that I was mostly looking at in our line of work, a lot of times, or any work, and most of life, I think we think other people are coming for us, right? There's a bit of a, well, they did that to hurt me.

And I think over my, you know, 41 years of wisdom, I've learned that 0.01% of the time they're coming for you. Most of the time they are spiraling in their own little silo, worried about themselves and their actions might have hit you and might have gotten to you, but they didn't mean to, because nobody really cares that much. In fact, sometimes I wish they cared more. Sometimes I wish that neutrality is more hurtful now.

[11:14] Al Malafronte: Now I do have to ask, you know, as far as family members and friends of yours that are particularly close to you, um, what type of reception have you gotten from them? Did anything really surprise them that you wrote down maybe they were reading for the first time that took them back a little bit?

[11:29] Ginger Zee: Well, my husband had heard it all, but he hadn't read it all in one clip when he read the book, you know, months ago. And that was hard for him, even though he knew every story and he knew every detail really. And he's such an odd bird. He loves hearing about my history, and that's given me such peace and joy to be able to be who I am and live and him accept it. He gave kind of a guiding light of what unconditional love looks like. But he was one way, and then I would say that you know, my mom was in it a lot. And so it was probably a dozen conversations later that we and we changed the book and made it more palatable or more to her liking. But it's not that it's not true, it's just how she remembered it, because there's always multiple sides to a story.

And I did that with every character except one that's someone I will never speak to again. But everybody, even down to the fifth grade kiss, I reached out to and I was like, Can you read this? And if there's something dramatically off, please let me know. But also I would love your blessing and putting your name in here. And it was really fascinating to hear their responses. And most of them were really upset that they didn't do more, that they didn't know more and then didn't do no more to help me. But I always tell them, I would have I would have never shown you. I would have never asked for help. That was the problem. That's what the whole book's about, is that I should have. I shouldn't have done it alone.

[12:52] Al Malafronte: Well, you know, obviously having a support system is vital. But one thing that I really respect you for is that you certainly fought these challenges by yourself. But you know, as you've gotten older, obviously, you know, you talk about the importance of therapy, you talk about the importance of meditation. Uh, you briefly mentioned your sports and athletic background going back to high school in the book, back when you were a cheerleader growing up. You strike me as a very athletic-minded person, especially considering the approach you continue to take when it comes to staying motivated and bettering yourself on the mental health journey. You know, you use that analogy about going to the gym earlier. The ongoing healing that's required to overcome the challenges you faced. Do you think that athletic background is a big part of the progress you've made?

[13:35] Ginger Zee: Yes. My dad came from the Netherlands when he was young and couldn't speak English, and they didn't have English immersion classes like they do now. So it was a huge, you know, problem. That was a trauma in his life that he had he had gotten beaten up because he was the kid that didn't speak English, all this stuff. So sports were his way in. And you don't need to speak, you can speak this different languages and throw a football, different languages, kick a soccer ball. And so when he had us, he instilled this psychologically pretty deep reasoning, but why it was so important for you to play that universal language. And so every Saturday morning, we would wake up and he would have an obstacle course outside.

Like we had to know how to shoot baskets, we had to know how to kick a soccer ball, we had to know how to do it all so that we could speak to other people socially and to not be embarrassed. I think that was part of what he found that he was good at athletics, and that was an easy way for him to connect. So, yes, I think that that's built in. And then I started playing team sports and that work ethic and the community that you get with these people who have been through the same wins and the same losses. There are constant parallels, right? So if you take that to trauma, now that I've shown people my trauma, it's like they're on my team. They're on my mental health team.

[14:55] Al Malafronte: Yeah, and you know, as you know as well as anyone, there's a lot of pride and ego involved when it comes to sports in a good way, because frankly, you needed to gain a competitive advantage, so long as you use it in the right way. You know, in recent years, we've seen athletes like Simone Biles and Blake Griffin come forward with their journey, much like you have. Uh, for those who may be hesitant to confront some of the trauma they face, whether or not they're in the public eye, what advice would you give them?

[15:22] Ginger Zee: I would say start by writing it down. Not everybody has to go write a book for the world to know all of their secrets, that's for sure. But if you write it down and you create your narrative, you have a lot better idea of where the end goes of every chapter of your next chapters. And so writing, and then I think sharing, sharing with even one other person. It can just be a professional, a therapist, it could be someone close to you who already knows the stories, but maybe that's a good way to instigate the working through that is like team therapy. Somebody on your team, I would say. And I have a team that I share things with whenever they crop up, but I always write it down. So I would say that's the first thing because if you can go through and then at the end of every writing, realize that this is temporary.

The feelings you just wrote, the story you just wrote, all of it did happen, just happened, whatever it is, and then we're moving on to the next one. And so that ability to scoot through the ridges and troughs of life, if we look at it like the atmosphere, that is very helpful too.

[16:25] Ginger Zee: Overall, are you pleased with the progress we've made as a society as far as breaking stigmas surrounding mental health, or do you think we have a long way to go?

[16:33] Ginger Zee: We have so far to go. I wish, you know, I think it's beautiful that I met with a bunch of teenagers because for a while I thought I was gonna write a follow-up book for teenagers. And I was really shocked by how open they were. I mean, I was with 20 of them at a clip, and they all are like, oh, I have depression, I have seasonal depression, I have this. They were all very open. I think where we're not doing well is if one of them would have said, and I was hospitalized, like I did, that's when the eyebrows would start perking up, like, oh, okay, well, that's next level, right? So I think that the action is where the stigma is. It's where do we go? What do we do? And then the mental health system, the way that it's set up.

If even if I go to the emergency room like I did, and they take me in and I go to Columbia's Psych Ward, you're only there for five, six days max. Where do you go after if you need more help? Is there access to that place? Um, do people, and I've had the privilege and the financial ability to continue with really great therapy. Other people don't have that. So I think that's something we're not only just societally in a stigma we need to make better, but we should also create access and financial support for people to be able to do this, just like insurance would cover a leg or disability would cover something like a broken leg that then leads to you know needing to see physical therapist for 10 years.

[17:56] Al Malafronte: You know, uh Ginger, obviously I've so admired uh the way you use your platform on and off screen. Um, but one thing I definitely wanted to do here today with you is uh there's a little initiation that we sort of do uh to the baseball and Broadway community called Fastball Derby. It's a chance to highlight your personality even more because obviously I'm such a huge fan of the work you do um on screen, obviously, and I absolutely love the book, but uh it's it's a pretty accurate statement, right? That you're a big fan of you know, both sports and theater.

[18:28] Ginger Zee: Can I preface this by saying, yes, I played a lot of sports, no, I don't watch or know anything about sports.

[18:33] Al Malafronte: Well, it's not a trivia game. It's not a trivia game at all. But you should the fact that you have an athletic background is good because I want you to picture yourself in the batter's box right now. Let's say a Raldus Chapman is on the mound. He's very theatrical, he throws 105 miles an hour. Uh, think of me as Geralda Shatman without any neck tattoos or the ability to throw 105 miles an hour. I'll ask you a question, swing quick.

[18:58] Ginger Zee: That sounds good.

[18:58] Al Malafronte: Okay. And maybe you should play me as a softball pitcher in sixth grade. Is that maybe more like how we could do these?

[19:04] Ginger Zee: Let's try.

[19:06] Al Malafronte: All right. All right, we could do that. Sure. There's no rules in fastball derby. So let's uh yeah, and by the way, Ginger, since you are such a great storyteller, if you feel find you know them appropriate for the question, feel free to throw uh some of those in there and let's see what that swing looks like.

[19:21] Ginger Zee: Okay. Oh, let's do it. Favorite New York City meal.

[19:24] Ginger Zee: Ooh, oh, this is better. Okay. Um, anything sushi.

[19:30] Al Malafronte: Team Jeter or Team A-rod.

[19:33] Ginger Zee: Oh, that now this just seems like a setup. Um, I feel like A-rod, I guess. I don't know.

[19:40] Al Malafronte: Wait, wait, where you expect? Why?

[19:42] Ginger Zee: Because you thought I was gonna, being a New Yorker, I was gonna clearly advocate for you to say Derek Jeter. Is that what you meant by a sort of thing?

[19:48] Al Malafronte: Well, yeah, I figured, and then I'm like, let me go askew here. And then I was like, do I feel bad for him right now? What I was what am I feeling right now? No, I don't feel bad for him. I don't know. Just pick one.

[19:58] Ginger Zee: That's how the thought process went. Um, most fun or greatest baseball game you've ever been to.

[20:04] Ginger Zee: Oh, this is the best. So Cubs. And I would say I was on a rooftop.

[20:11] Ginger Zee: I don't remember why it was the best, except Bill Murray was around, and that was it. I also worked with, uh, I worked. I dated a guy who was an announcer for the White Sox, and I had a lot of great Sox games too. So just Chicago baseball has was a huge part of my Chicago time.

[20:29] Al Malafronte: You love to cook. What's Ginger Zee's specialty on the culinary front?

[20:34] Ginger Zee: Ooh, crepes in the morning. I use my Oma's recipe from the Netherlands, and then at night, I love doing some sort of like braised chicken that's been cooking in some sort of stew for a long time, and I just make it up.

[20:48] Al Malafronte: Strangest place you've ever been recognized.

[20:52] Ginger Zee: Oh gosh. A spa, no makeup, hair back, robe barely on, locker room. That's really where you want to, you know, entertain your friends, obviously, right? That's where you want to be recognized. Oh, like how do you even know it's me? I look nothing like myself, but okay. You want to take a selfie? Cool. Yeah, right. Just to even ask. I mean, I so listen, some people have no shame, but I can't, I can't. The picture is frazzled here.

[21:27] Al Malafronte: Your most memorable night on Broadway.

[21:31] Ginger Zee: Oh gosh. Well, I got to see Tina when I was so I was backstage. It wasn't the night because I watched the show. It was fantastic. But then the day of, I got to do all of the I've done a bunch of those like behind the scenes, but Adrian and the whole cast just made it so extra special, I would say. And that show made me feel like I was alive and beyond alive. Like I just I can't I always think about it.

[22:01] Al Malafronte: We're in a karaoke bar. You have to sing one show tune from a Broadway musical. What would it be?

[22:06] Ginger Zee: Ooh. Oh, well, I've been practicing a couple of them. Oh, what is the one? Because I have I take voice lessons every Thursday. Because I intend to be on Broadway. That's one of those um new passwords I've got going on. Oh, you should you should do it. Al Roker did it.

[22:22] Al Malafronte: Yeah, I know. If he can do it, I can definitely do it.

[22:26] Ginger Zee: Um, so I've been singing um from Aida. Uh, what is the name of it? My oh, my strongest suit. Yeah, dress has always been my strongest suit. Yeah, yeah, I know that one. That's a great one. I can do that one right now because it is so fun. It's got so much energy. And like I can't do it sitting down. I've tried. It makes me stand up. It makes me dance. And that one I would love to perform.

[22:49] Al Malafronte: Yes. And you certainly you've already proven yourself as far as your dancing skills, obviously, from Dancing with the Stars.

[22:57] Ginger Zee: Well, that was where that started. My Broadway needs or wants, because when I got off that show, uh, the producers or someone at Chicago had reached out to my agent and said, Does Ginger sing? And I was like, Well, I have been singing here and there, but no. And then I went to a Broadway coach and they were like, you can do this. And I was like, really? Okay. And then I ended up having another baby. And then life, you know, and then a pandemic. So certainly hasn't worked out yet, but I'll be ready when they call again.

[23:23] Al Malafronte: Awesome. Well, maybe after you know, folks hear this uh chat here today, all the casting agents, you might get like a slew of emails after this one, right?

[23:31] Ginger Zee: If I that comes back out, please look at me. I would love to.

[23:34] Al Malafronte: Perfect. Well, you have an in with the Disney family too. So there we go. Um, now you've done broadcasts during some very devastating hurricanes, wildfires, floods. Which broadcast has been the most challenging for you to navigate throughout your career?

[23:50] Ginger Zee: Hurricane Katrina, no question. I mean, it was my first big storm, which uh how is Katrina your first big storm? And it was the first time I really did the transition from being this nerd and a scientist who was obsessed with putting together the puzzle that is the atmosphere, and I went down there like, oh man, I can't wait to see what a 23, 24 foot storm surge looks like. And within 30 seconds, I realized this is not about storm surge. Oh my gosh, there's so many people. And I saw bodies for the first time in my career, and I had to navigate the emotion with what I thought I had to do, and that's be stoic or robotic or neutral or whatever I think I thought journalists were supposed to be. And then what it taught me, you know, uh coming out of that survivor guilt and the need and gratitude, like immense gratitude that you feel in any natural disaster. Um, so I think that one will never um be topped.

[24:49] Al Malafronte: Outside of what's in the book, what's the fact about Ginger Zee that would surprise people the most?

[24:56] Ginger Zee: I feel like my husband always lets everybody know all of my really, really embarrassing things. Um, I snore. Yep. And it's gotten worse. I guess that's age. I don't know. That's not that exciting, but it is true. It is surprising.

[25:12] Al Malafronte: It wasn't the most exciting thing about Ginger.

[25:15] Ginger Zee: No, I think a lot of people do. I just I went and I was like, I bet you I have sleep apnea. Something's going on. And I went and did the oxygen test, and they were like, no, you just snore. Oh, okay.

[25:27] Al Malafronte: Now, this is our final fastball for Fastball Derby. What's the proudest moment of your career?

[25:35] Ginger Zee: Of my career, not of my life, right? Clarifying. But how about you know what? Like I said, there's no rules. Whichever you want to talk about, I'm sure our audience would love to hear.

[25:58] Ginger Zee: And I it has the base of the weather unit, which was something brand new that I developed and made into something in the 10 years I've been here. It's been this exciting but you know, difficult at times to navigate the network perception that someone is a weather girl because they had never no network has ever had a female chief meteorologist. Nobody's ever seen a woman who can also wear a dress and be a scientist. And so it's been exciting. And I feel like the creation of this climate unit and becoming the managing editor has been so far one of the top moments. I have many more plans. But of course, I always say my best production in life, bar none, my children. They've got an incredible mom. And I think the book certainly highlights that in so many ways. It's just it's it was such a wonderful read.

[26:58] Al Malafronte: And you know, for the folks at home who just, you know, on a general scale have light familiarity with your work and you know the concept of trauma. What's the biggest takeaway that you hope they get after reading this?

[27:14] Ginger Zee: I want everyone to talk. I want them to be open, even if it's just with themselves to start. So that transparency and the moment of realization that everything is temporary and that I end the book with it, but there's a reason. Storms don't last forever. I'm a scientist. I know this about this big ball of energy that is the atmosphere. I've watched it happen time and again. Storms don't last forever. They can't, they won't. It's not how life works, and it's not how the atmosphere works.

[27:45] Al Malafronte: Yeah, such a poignant message, Ginger. And uh once again, biggest congratulations on this book is just a true accomplishment in every way the courage that you showed, you know, throughout it. You were just you showed all that vulnerability, you were so open, and I certainly know it's gonna help a lot of people. So uh thank you for that.

[28:06] Ginger Zee: And I think I'll just inspire other people too. Yes, it takes courage, and I am certainly brave to be in a position, but I'm in this position, so I know it's easier because I have been able to create this identity separate. And I know that probably people hearing this are like, well, who wants to know my story? Like nobody wants. I really encourage you to because people want to know. And we should. We should connect, whether it's virtually or just with the person, you know, that lives two doors down. I think that is something that would make a huge difference if we all found community, especially in healing.

[28:41] Al Malafronte: Ginger, that's incredible. And uh for everyone at home who may want to connect with you and purchase the book, where's uh the best place for them to get some more information?

[28:49] Ginger Zee: Yeah, at my website's ginger-hyphen-zee.com, or they can go to my Instagram at ginger_zee.

[28:56] Al Malafronte: Awesome. Well, Ginger, you certainly swung a uh big power bat tonight. I know uh they don't have like ceremonial home run swings to kick off baseball games, but uh I think you really uh you put on a great performance uh with that tonight. So thank you.

[29:12] Ginger Zee: Thank you so much. This was fun. I appreciate it. Uh it was a great time.

[29:15] Al Malafronte: And uh thank you to everyone in the Break A Bat audience today who joined us in the Batter's Box. Uh really one of the more moving conversations that I've had in quite some time, and uh, I can't think of a better way that we could kick off 2022 together. So with that being said, this is Al Malafronte signing off from the Batter's Box. We'll see you next time.

[29:35] Al Malafronte: Um visit and subscribe at bpn.fm/breakabat. You can find me online at break_a_bat_podcast. 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.