Judy Maggio - Get Out of Your Comfort Zone, Feel Empowered

This was a fun conversation with Judy Maggio, an Emmy award-winning journalist. She shares her experiences and insights from a remarkable 40-year career in journalism. We dish about memorable interviews with iconic figures like Lady Bird Johnson, Matthew McConaughey, Dan Rather, and Willie Nelson. We discuss her love for live music, and her passion for community service. She talks about her volunteer work with organizations like Dress for Success and the Love Notes Chorus, highlighting the importance of music in the lives of those with memory loss. Judy also talks about her project ATX Good News, which focuses on sharing uplifting stories, and her recent documentary on the history of the Clarksville neighborhood in Austin. We discuss how important it is to get out of one’s comfort zone and how having girlfriends of different ages is powerful medicine.

https://www.judymaggiomedia.com/

https://www.atxgoodnews.com/

https://parentingagingparents.com/

If you want to get in touch with the show, email us at lauren@agelikeabadassmother.com; we'd love to hear from you!

Transcript

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Hi, friends. Lauren here. This week's guest is Judy Maggio. She is a staple of the Austin news scene and she has interviewed everyone from Lady Bird Johnson to Willie Nelson to Matthew McConaughey. And she is spilling the tea. She also urges us to get out of our comfort zone to keep ourselves young and vibrant. She's an incredible guest. Feel free to drop me a line at Lauren at age like a badass mother.com. If you have any questions or comments or ideas. And don't forget that you can watch us on Spotify and YouTube now. And I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for making age like a badass mother. One of the top 10% of all podcasts. I'm absolutely blown away. And I appreciate every one of your ears. So please keep spreading the word to your friends. And, thank you very much for listening. Hi friends, I'm Lauren Bernick and I'm flipping the script about growing older. My guests have been influencers since before that was even a thing. Welcome to the anti Anti-Aging podcast. Welcome to age like a badass mother. Judy Maggio is an Emmy Award winning journalist who has established her brand based on trust, accuracy and public service. Her work in Austin spans 40 years, and she's earned the admiration and respect of her colleagues and the community. She served as editorial director at Austin PBS. Kael are you UTV? From 2016 to 2020, where she directed, hosted and produced decibel, a documentary style news program. She also hosted ATX together, a public affairs program on timely local issues. Prior to her work at PBS, Judy served as managing editor and co-anchored the weeknight newscasts at both Kvue TV from 1981 to 2003 and CBS Austin from 2003 to 2014. Among her many accolades, the Liz Carpenter Lifetime Achievement Award from Women Communicators of Austin and the Trailblazer Award from the Alliance for Women in Media. In 2021, Judy co-founded ATX Good News, a media company sharing positive, uplifting stories about Central Texas. She also runs Judy Maggio Media, her communications business, offering her services as a writer, producer, moderator, and on camera talent. She has a million jobs because she's terrible at relaxing. Please welcome Judy Maggio. Welcome. Thank you. That's quite an intro. I didn't know I've done all those things. I know everybody says that when you hear it all later when when, guest said, man, everybody's to get an intro for, you know, I know here I am. When you enter a room, right here I am. Here's my TV today, and you have your Emmy behind you. I love that, that's so cool. I have one, and, you know, there's a lot. What do you mean? Who've been. I only have one. Well, no, I mean, I don't have any. They give up, they get them out more often these days. So I do have friends who have shelves of them, but when I was a kid, we didn't get, you know, we didn't get Emmys. So I just had the one. Just the one. Emmy. Oh, God. I have to display it for Judy. That's awesome, I love it. Yeah. I mean, I remember watching you on the news all the time. Do you, do you get recognized in Austin a lot? You know, it depends. There are a lot of people who've lived here since they were born, you know, like long time native Austinites. They sometimes recognize me. And then older people who watch the news, recognize me. One guy walked up to me recently. I was leaving, like, Rudy's barbecue, and he goes, when I see you, I think of my mom making dinner, and this guy's like 50. And I was like, okay, right. That's a nice that's a nice memory. Yeah, people are really nice, though. People are always very, very kind. I bet there's a lot of people who, like, are like, where do I know you? Do we go to high school together? Oh my gosh. Yes. Yeah. That happened a lot more when I was on TV right. So how do I know you. I said put a box around my head and then maybe you'll remember that. That's how you know I did that once to this poor guy. Do you remember Rudy, Tim Donovan I think that's his name. He was the coach of the Rocket. Yes. Yes of course. And I grew up in Houston, and I was at this restaurant, and this poor man, I was like, where do I know you from? Do I know you from here? Do we work together? And he never said, I'm the coach of the rockets. You see me on TV all the time and he just let me go on and on. And he was like, no, I never work there. And then I left and I was like, no. And then I left the fan tactic I needed. And then later I was like, oh, I'm an idiot. I know where I know him from. So you've interviewed so many amazing people. Do you do you have a favorite that you've interviewed? Do I actually is it Lady Bird Johnson? Oh, I did one of the last on-camera interviews with her because she was at that time, she had macular degeneration and she was losing her eyesight. And, we got to walk around the wildflower center together arm. And. Oh, that was kind of help helping to guide her around. So like I said, she was losing her eyesight and, she just had this way of answering questions that sounded kind of like poetry. Like I said, Lady Bird Johnson, you know, why did you choose the environment as you were? Because when you were in the white House, she said, you must choose paths that make your heart purr, like your heart for me, who talks like that? You know, it was like it was just. She was just lovely. And I've always respected her. I, I think a lot of people don't realize she was LBJ's secret sauce. I mean, she was only ever since. She's brilliant businesswoman. And I've always, as I said, admired her and respected her. So that was a real thrill for me to get to sit down and talk with her. Oh, God, I cannot even imagine. I'm thrilled just hearing about it. What what year was that? I don't remember when she would have been about 19. I'm dating myself, not 200. It was about 1996, I think it was 1996. I can usually figure out what year it was by how big my hair is. Right? In the 80s it was really permed and big, you know, like that. We're the weird, you know, glued down style. And then it kind of came down over the years, came down over the years. Oh my gosh, that's so funny. What do you call so we live in Austin. I know you from from mutual friends in Austin, but we they have, we have a lake named Lady Bird Lake, which is a river, actually, I think, but and we, we used to call it Town Lake. I still call it town. Like, do you call it Lady Bird Lake? I try to tell it like it's it's an interesting story because she did not want the the lake named after her really, really planted all of those beautiful flowering trees. You know, the flower in the spring that. I'm not sure what they are, but, I'm not a botanist. I don't know, Me either. She she really didn't want that recognition, but everyone wanted to give it to her. So after she died, that's when they started calling. When they changed. Like how? Well. But I try to call it Lady Bird Light, because I do think that she did so many things to beautify our country, our community. And it's a it's another way to honor her. But I forget sometimes to call it talent. I know, I think people who have lived here a long time so called town like, okay, so you've interviewed. Oh, I don't even know who all like, but I'm just going off some people, I think I know that you've interviewed. Can you just give me like, 1 to 2 words, or you can give me a few more if you need to, just to describe each person when I say them. Dan Rather oh, you can say more than 1 to 2 words. Say what you have to say. Hero. And having him here in Austin has been a treasure because I've gotten to know Dan and his family, and, I just I've always admired his work. I think he is in journalism for all the right reasons to seek the truth. And it's a treasure to have him in our community and call him a friend. And I've gotten to interview him several times over the years. I actually got to go to his house and have coffee with him. His life. So, yeah, it's it's been a that's been a lovely gift in my life. Oh, God. You're lucky, lady, you have a lovely life. It's been a great career. Yeah, that's a nice one. What, what about Matthew McConaughey? Oh, Matthew and I ended up working on the same project, right after I left commercial TV. It never really got off the ground, but I got to go to a lot of meetings with them, and, when we were eating around the table and they brought out these plates of barbecue, and we finished, he took my plate to the kitchen and I said, oh, I'm going to tell everybody that Matthew McConaughey took my plate to the kitchen. He cleared my plate. Well, this guy. Yeah, super nice guy again. Lucky to have him in Austin. He was a big Meals on Wheels supporter when my husband ran Meals on Wheels as the VP of communication. He was the head honcho. But VP communication, Matthew and Camila would always come and deliver meals. And so I get to visit with him and talk with him. And, we have some mutual friends. So yeah, he's he's great. He's he's very down to earth Texan. You know, he seems like, what about Adrian? Over yoga with Adrian? I don't know if people love her, I love her, I love her dog. What's his name? Benji. Benji? Oh, he jumped up on me and, like, hugged me. You know, when we were doing the interview. So now I don't. Do I get to interview where I got to do yoga with her? Oh, this was right before shut down. So this was like February of 2020, and I did a big feature on her when I was working at Austin PBS. She was so sweet. We spent half a day together. She made me tea. We did yoga. I'm so excited. I've never done this. This sounds so silly, but I was so touched by sitting in her kitchen drinking tea and interviewing her and I started crying. Are you kidding? You've interviewed Dan Rather in Lady Bird Paws or something? You know, like I was just like, I'm so moved by this interview. Oh my gosh. Oh yes. All the people yoga with Adrian, yoga with Adrian brought me to tears. Oh my gosh, if y'all don't know yoga with Adrian, just Google her and just do one of her online yoga classes with her dog lying on the mat. Oh I do, I love her. And also it got me through the pandemic. Of course, the germs are shut down and yes, chaotic for a while. And it's like, okay, I can do my daily yoga with Adrian and feel grounded and feel like I got a little exercise. Yeah, that's I think that's when a lot of people might have discovered her. Yeah. She. Yeah, that was definitely one of my saviors. Willie Nelson, I I've just realized I'm giving you much longer. No, I don't care. 1 or 2 is stupid. That's ridiculous. Just tell me your favorite part of the Willie Nelson interview. He is so gracious and so kind. And we waited outside his bus. This would have been around the year 2000. We waited outside his bus because he was singing with Dennis Quaid was up on stage with him. Oh my God, Dennis Quaid, right after he did, he and Meg Ryan got divorced. Oh yeah. This really cute little young thing on. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Dennis Quaid, you know, denigrating Dennis way too much. No way. So he was on, he was getting on the bus with Willie as we're waiting to get on to interview him. And I thought we're never going to get on the bus because Dennis Quaid is on the bus with women. Dennis Quaid is in the house, Quaid's in the house. So finally, like 20 minutes later, we get on the bus with Willie and we sit down. We're all set up, and Willie looks at his road manager and says, hey, who was that guy on the bus with us in the road? Manager goes, Willie, that's that's Dennis Quaid. Willie looked at his road manager. He goes, Who's Dennis Quaid? So Willie Nelson, this card is bus for like close to half an hour. Didn't know he was a famous actor. And just like, who was that guy? I had a great time with him. You? Oh, my God, that's hilarious. You know, that's so fun. Again, growing up in, in Houston, I went to the University of Houston and I was a communications major. Uhhuh. And, yeah, I grew up in Houston, too. Did you go to University of Houston? No, I went to you. You went to UT. How come? Oh, that's right. I should have known that. I wish I went to you, too, but anyway, I went to UVA to first. I was a drama major for some reason. Don't ask me. That's why I wasn't, Thank you. So one of my acting teachers was, Dennis Quaid's acting teacher. So one day, Dennis Quaid came in with his new girlfriend, Meg Ryan, and gave us a little. Yeah, that was kind of thrilling for us. And we were like, who is that girl? I mean, she really didn't even know who she was. Yeah. She was. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's some stars in a series now. Oh yeah. I can't remember the name of it. It's about it's kind of a spoof on superheroes. It's really good, but I can't remember the name of it. Yeah. He's, He's a good name is Jack. Jack Ryan. Yeah, yeah. So he's, He's a good little actor. Okay. Did you me. Did you ever interview Walter Cronkite or meet Walter Cronkite? I don't know, I thought I saw that, okay, so what was he like? What was that like? He was. He was very old when I interviewed him and did not hear well. Oh, dear. It was for an event where he was being honored. And because I worked for the CBS affiliate at the time, they kind of chose me to sit down and do the actual interview with, wow, Mr. Cronkite, stop yelling. You can hear me. But you know, he's he was very gracious. I mean, he was like the, you know, the the god of journalism. Oh, yes. Journalism. I mean, this is a guy that announced to the world that, you know, President Kennedy had been killed. And, you know, he's so into the space program and, and I know his daughter, whose daughter lives here, Kate lives here as well. And, I think we talked a little bit about Kate, but, Yeah, he was wonderful. He wasn't, you know, sometimes when you meet famous, really nice people, especially later in life, you think, oh, no, they're not going to be very friendly. But he was he was very kind and considerate and answered all the questions. The ones he could hear. Oh my gosh. It was a huge was a huge honor for me to get to be the one to sit down and talk to him. Yes. Oh my God, I can't even imagine. He's just a legend. He is. He is probably the most famous broadcast journalist ever, ever. And there at the beginning of the field, you know, broadcast journalism became a thing. So, yeah, he was that was really a big, a big who the get. Yeah. That is you've had that's, Unbelievable. So I generally reserved this question for the end, but I'm going to ask you closer to the beginning because, one thing that you and I share is a love of going to see live music. And that's kind of a thing here in Austin. And so I usually ask at the end of the interview, what was your favorite concert you've ever seen? But can you answer that now? I have to think about this. I recently got to go see Cyndi Lauper, and that was really fun. Was it good? I saw her a long time ago. Yeah, like, not a long time ago. 2000? Yeah. I would say it's a tie. Probably between Paul McCartney. This is. That was probably ten years ago, at least. But more recently, Dolly Parton. I love Dolly Parton. Oh, well, who doesn't? She's so impressive. She's so smart, and she's done so many great things with her life. And her music appeals to everyone. Yeah, I would have to say Dolly Parton. When did you see her play? I saw her at South by Southwest, so I stood in line because I had a badge, through a friend. And I stood in line for, like, I don't know, five hours or something. Sure. But it was really great because you got to know all these cool people in line with you. So I was like, towards the front of the line to go see Dolly. And she played for like an hour, and then she had a sit down interview with someone too, which was kind of cool. To hear that part of the story too. So it was really a neat experience. Where, where did she play? Was it like it was not at the Moody. Oh at that. Oh, I love that. So a tiny. Yeah, it's an intimate venue, that, gathering venue. And, you know, that's why I stood in line for so long, of course, to see Dolly in this in a small place. Yeah, yeah, it's not that small, but you know what I mean. It's not. Oh, it's not, you know, the the other moody, the the big moody, the big. Yes. That's what we call it. The little moody in the big moody. That's what we call it here in Austin. But, you know, that's what I was going to ask you is about South by Southwest. That's one of. And, Andy and his favorite thing to do, and I saw, I think it was in one of your blogs, you said, Will we ever be too old for this? Because Andy and I sometimes say that to each other, but we go, like, every year and, yeah, that's our favorite thing. We'll stand in line. Sometimes you don't know who you're going to see. Sometimes you the standing in line parts kind of the best thing. When you meet people from all over the world, you actually got to know the Scottish music promoter years ago, like 15, 20 years ago. And my daughter ended up living in Scotland. And so we, we stayed with he and his wife in Glasgow and we took her to school at Saint Andrew's. We built this lifelong friendship, all because we were standing in line, standing by. And then we went to go see the band that he, was bringing to the United States at that time. My husband was a big fan of the band, and actually, he was probably. What's the band? Well, they're no longer together, but their name was Cosmic Roughriders. Oh, I never heard of them. Yeah, they're really good, but they're not together anymore. It was really. It's just like, that's so cool. Love that about South by Southwest. Like the whole world. Everybody. Some people don't like it. But yes, I love the fact that everybody in the music business, in the film business kind of descends on Austin. They just can go for it. It's hard to choose which thing you're going to go to next. Yes. It's delightful. I love it too. I like that mass chaos. I know I do too, I like it. Oh, we got to get well. We're actually going to be out of town for it this year, which it's a little earlier this year. It is. It's usually even looked. Yeah. It's just like a week. Well maybe it's been a week earlier, but we didn't get go last year because we've been going to Australia to see our daughter, which are we got to figure out how not to mess that up again because, I can't miss South by. It's our it's my favorite thing. I love it. Okay, so let's talk a little bit more about, like, What what? Volunteer work do you do? You do. Well, I my favorite thing that I do with my volunteer work, I do a little bit of stuff with dress for success. Austin and I love their mission. Because they help women get back on their feet and get jobs. It's not just about getting them a wardrobe for work, right? But through my work with ATX. Goodness, I covered the story on this choir called Love Notes Chorus, and it was meant for people with early onset dementia, memory loss, their caregivers, and then they bring in a third of the other people. Are the singers, that kind of lift up the voices of the choir. So I was sitting there doing the story, interviewing people and the director. The choir goes, she goes, do you sing? And I said, yeah, I do. I've, I've always loved singing inquirers. I'm not a great soloist, but I like singing in groups. And she goes, would you like to sing while you're here? And I went, sure. I'd love to sing while I'm here doing this story. And then I got hooked and she said, would you like to volunteer with us? And so every Monday morning I go sing with a Love Notes course. And it's been one of the most meaningful, ways that I try to give back. My mother had Alzheimer's, but music is one of those things that rarely leaves people with memory loss to sing the lines to every song she ever knew, to the day she died. She couldn't remember what she did five minutes ago. Right. But she knew those songs. She off under the alto part. So I sing alto in her honor. In this, of course, we just had our bi annual concert, and it's just it's a beautiful experience because the caregiver and the person they're caring for get up, usually before each song, somebody introduces it and they said, this is my wife, so-and-so. She's struggling with memory loss, but we still have this wonderful time once a week at this place called Love. Notes. Chorus. So it's really great. That's beautiful. I do a lot more than I get, you know, I guess. Yes, yes, I get something out of it, but it gives me so much more. Yeah. I did some, some volunteer work. It was to give people with memory loss their caregiver the respite like a little respite so they could drop people off a gift. Yeah. And one of the things we did was singing because like you just said, so what are some of the songs you sing or those like old songs I guess, like for, what years Elvis time we did This Land is Your Land, country Roads. We did, let's see what else. And some old, like, a Garth Brooks song called the River, which I wasn't familiar with, but I just love it. So this particular concert was called This and That, and we had some gospel music, some, you know, 70s music, but usually there's a theme. Yeah, some like one year we just did Broadway show tunes, and that was fun. So yeah, it just it's really so great theory. And the hard part is that it's not unusual to lose choir members because, yeah, it gets worse or they turn away. So there's this bittersweetness to every time. That's beautiful though. So you brought up a good news. What? Tell us a little bit about that, because I think that's a core project. It's a passion project. Thanks for asking about it. I started it with, a dear, dear friend of mine named Leslie Rody, who used to anchor at the CBS NBC affiliate. I was at CBS and right. We both left commercial TV about the same time and became very close friends. And a couple of years ago we said, we really miss storytelling. We miss telling the stories of the, the, the inspirational stories that people rarely get to hear on the news. And so we started this project called It's Good News. And we had now have a website, Facebook page, Instagram, and people now just funnels stories, happy stories to us. I was setting up today, a story with, Lhasa, the, you know. Oh, yeah. High school. High school. It's like a performing arts school. Yeah. Yes, it's it's a highlight for people who are very highly academically accomplished. There. Archivist at the library is using, the students to work with graduates from, like, the 60s and 70s and 80s to scrapbook the history of Johnston High School where, where Lhasa is now. Oh, wow. So yeah, let's the liberal arts and sciences. Liberal arts. Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's right. So it's really we have these outstanding high schoolers working with these, you know, 70 and 80 year olds trying to get this history of the school, into these scrapbooks. So it's very cool. We're going to work on. And just a lot of times it's just ordinary people doing extraordinary things. And I have 100 year old volunteer that builds shelves for the settlement home garage. You know, just interesting everyday stories. So, it's not anything that we get paid for. We just do it as a passion project. That's so nice. We need good stories. Like you said, it's too soon to divisive right now. It's rarely it's it's depressing for some people. And, this is something, you know, we we always, we always say no politics. You know, this is a site to just share happy, inspirational things no matter what your viewpoint is. And, it's really worked that way. And we love the fact that people know about it now, and they follow us and they send a story idea. Sometimes we have more story ideas and we know what to do it because, yeah, as I said, we're just kind of doing this on the side with other projects that we're both doing in our own businesses. So anyway, that's it's fun. Very cool. And so speaking of, you just did a documentary, Haskell House, A Story of Clarksville. Can you can you tell me a little bit about that? That looked and you did that in conjunction with the city of Austin and, Woody Harrelson films, is that right? Woody Harrelson? Yes. Oh, Harrison. I thought it was. It's not the day. Woody Harrelson I thought it was going to be that Woody. I wish, but no offense to Woody Harrelson, who was a dear friend of mine and a very. Oh, yeah, sorry, Woody Harrelson. Woody brought me on board. He's a former Kvue photographer who runs his, film business now, and he brought me on board. They needed a writer and director, really a reporter, to do the story. And, it basically follows the history of the Clarksville neighborhood in central Austin, which started as a freedmen colony. And the PC way to say that now is Freedom Colony. You know, the folks that formerly enslaved people, once they were free lived and gathered and had their own dignity, and they own homesteads, their own homesteads and and started a way of life. So that neighborhood, contains this house called the Haskell House. And it was built by formerly enslaved people. A Buffalo soldier lived there, was his with his bride, and that it was passed down to generations of Haskell's who were also, incorporated into the neighborhood. And then there's this church that's still there where a lot of the descendants of these original founders of Clarksville still attend church. Oh, yeah, great great grandmothers. So it's this history, really, of that, of that neighborhood and the gentrification and the way a lot of the longtime residents were forced out in the 70s and 86, once the highway was going through their people. Oh, look at this great little neighborhood. Its central developer started buying houses. So it's kind of that history. And we're hoping to do some more screenings. We had our first screening over at the Carver Library, hoping to do some screenings in Clarksville and maybe, one of the TV stations in town if I play my cards right. Well, portions of it, that's my home. I know some people, I might go, some people. So yeah, it was a really fascinating history and history that's rarely told. You know, communities of color in Austin did so much to make this city what it is. And their history is and often shared. Yeah, as it should be. So I'm really, really proud to work with the City of Austin preservation, area to, do the story that is, is there anything being done about making some housing available over there to. Yes, actually there is. And that's kind of part of the documentary, the Clarks. Oh, okay. Community Development Corporation, does set aside a certain number of houses for people who are low income. So there are a few. There are a few descendants, one in particular, and her husband who live there. And I think that one of the goals now is to get more of the original families, perhaps give them some more opportunities to live in the neighborhood, because this place has a special place in their hearts, because they grew up, you know, supporting one another, loving one another in the 50s, 60s and 70s. And then all of a sudden, you know, later on, they were forced to move out. So the older folks there just have some wonderful stories about community and how they all work together. And, you know, if you got in trouble, then the person up on the hill would know and tell your mom and, you know, yeah, it's a real community. And it's kind of sad that that went away. But, you know, Austin's changed and yeah, it's a much different place than it was then. Much different. And that's a very, expensive neighborhood to live in right now. So, that's, I love, I'm, you know, I think that's that's so nice that you're picking these projects that are. I feel really fortunate. Yeah. Stage of life where I can pick projects I just finished pick and choose for Cvu, where I got my start back in 1981. They asked me to come on board for November and do an in-depth series on where we are with education issues and taxes, vouchers, teacher shortages, all those things. So it's really rewarding to take a deep dive and spend. Yeah, about a month and a half researching and reporting these stories and putting it all together. We did a half hour special called Our Schools in Crisis. And I'm hopefully going to do something for them again in the spring. Well, we haven't picked a topic. Yes. I'm. Yeah, that's interesting. I can't wait to hear about that. What did you have like a little take away from that or is it too big to discuss takeaways. The biggest one is it's really hard to be a teacher. It's like the most important job, but yet it's harder than ever to be a teacher, especially since the pandemic. The kids are still a little distracted. Anxious. There's a lot of anxiety among teens and just their requirements now aren't that the load on teachers seems to be heavier than it's ever been. It's just a hard time. That was that was one of my big takeaways was was just a difficulty. And that's why they're losing so many people in the. Yeah. And then the whole issue is, I tried to be very balanced on explaining what it would do, how it could happen, who would benefit the the negative ramifications if it if it does pass. So that was, I feel like I know everything that was ever known about vouchers. Vouchers I bet. Yeah, that that would be one where you'd really have to do your research to presenting man efficiently. Got to Raymond. Ask me anything. That's good. All right. Well, I'm glad you got to be a voucher, Rain Man. Well, okay, let's get to the meat of it. How old are you, Judy Maggio? I am 64, and I told my last night to get together. I am so excited about turning 65 next year and getting on Medicare. I have not the first person to say that out of my mouth. But you know, navigating the health care system when you don't have a full time job. Is kind of hard and kind of expensive. And this is like I'm on Medicare next year. Okay. I'm officially. Oh yay. That's awesome. Oh my gosh. Well so I think I think we know some of the things you do to stay young, which is like keeping busy and having your passion projects. And I guess this is your retirement. What? You're not doing a great job of, relaxing, are you? Yeah, I suck at relax very good. Relax or my husband is an excellent relax or can read, you know, for. Yeah. A day and loves it and that's awesome. And. Yeah, I admire people who are better at relaxers than I am, actually, I think. Yeah, I'm okay at relaxing. I don't think I could read for half a day, but I could plunk myself down for an hour or two and read, I love that. Yeah. My husband is not a good relaxer either. Yours is, and our husbands got along really well. That's nice. Yeah, they did, I your husband's adorable. I love them, so things. What? So what's your daily routine like? What? What do you do? Well, I usually always try to exercise in the morning, because I just feel better. But when I first get up, I try to do a little yoga, just to kind of set my day, and. Okay, I've. Even if I don't get to get to the gym and swam or do whatever exercise classes I want to do, I know I have my 20 minutes of yoga. I've done that. But then I try to I try to do a more thorough workout. But in between the the yoga and the workout, I, I really that's my best thinking time. So I try to sit down with a computer and go through emails. If I have any writing to do, that's usually the best time to do it. And then around nine 3010 I usually go to the gym, not depending on what else is going on during the day and then and then in the afternoons. Whatever project I'm, I'm working on, whether it's, it's good news or something for Kvue or a document, that's usually also when I try to get organized, you know, it's like, okay, to do this, set things up. That's more of like doing the logistics of, the business side of my life. And, this is going to sound kind of funny, but, you know, I work nights for over 30 years and I never had a happy hour. I could never go like to these gatherings of women, book clubs and all these things. So now my life is very rich with those kinds of things. Like this week I've had something with last night, it was with this media maven group that I'm in, you know, that for was like at the book club and tonight I'm getting together with some longtime girlfriends or somebody's birthday and it's like, I get to do things at night. Yes, we say no. That's so no, I really relish that because I were I couldn't from Monday through Friday nights were always gone, you know. Yeah, because I was anchoring the news. So now it's like I'm available for happy hour. Yes, I can go. That's so good. I did it so. But you were on the evening news, right? Right. Yes, on the evening news evening. The schedule was like I'd get into work between 130 and 2, maybe get a dinner break, maybe not. And then, you know, I'd work till 11. So, my time off was usually the mornings, which is kind of normal. I liked it, I got used to it that. Yeah, I do relish having time to do fun things and to go out at night. Sounds like. Yeah, it's kind of magic. But, it is it is very joyous for me to get to do those things. Yeah. Did do you get, a good amount of sleep? What's your sleep like? I'm not a great sleeper. I'm not a terrible sleeper. I find at this stage of life, you know, with menopause and things like that. It's a little more challenging, but, I do. I think I usually get a good seven hours. That's good. And, Yeah, I'm proud of that. I usually get it seven, sometimes eight. I admire people again. Like, the people can relax. I admire people who are good sleepers, but I've got. I'm a much better sleeper than I was when I was working full time. Oh, yeah. I was always, you know, I I'd be wound up when I'd get home, and then I'd have to get up and take my daughter to school. And you know, all that there was an opportunity to sleep that much. Yeah, I got the opportunity to sleep. That's so good. We, interviewed Oriana Hernandez. Did you work with her? Lovely. Yes. And she was. Well, you know, she had cancer, and she was talking about the. She probably only slept like, 3 or 4 hours a night because. Yeah, she did that morning. She didn't. She did the morning switched over and did more. Yeah. This was the. Because she was up at the crack of dawn and she had a kid and she never, she just, she never got to sleep. She talked about how she really felt like that that contributed to her cancer diagnosis. I mean you have to let your body repair itself. And that's yeah. Shift for a mom. It's even harder than nights, you know, because you just don't have the opportunity to get the hours of sleep and at all. Exactly. Yeah. She's lovely. She is I, I adored her. We have a lot of friends in common, too. Kim Barnes and and Mike Barnes worked with Mike. Right? Kim Barnes last night. You did? Oh, medium. She is a media maven. That's awesome. She has a great group. The parenting aging parents. That's really good how they transitioned and. And we get so many people as someone who, you know helped with elderly parents. I think that parents I think I wish I had that resource when my parents were going through all those things. Yeah I think that that's one of life's hardest challenges. Yep. Is caring for elderly parents. There's not really. Yes. And I'm so glad that she and her husband Mike started that. Yes. Parenting aging parents group. It's wonderful. Yeah, you guys can find them on on Facebook. Parenting, aging parents. And you know, I'm not a mom and website and I'm not a big joiner of groups, especially groups like that. I don't I don't know, it's not like me to go on and say like, this is what happened to me today and blah, blah, what do you think? But, I, I definitely gleaned a lot of information and some good resources from that. So, yeah, it was helpful for me. I'm just so happy that they're making that those resources available. Yeah. And, so speaking of friendships, like, what is that part of what you think makes you so vibrant and and healthy at this age or your female friend? Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. I my husband always says you have more friend groups than I have friends. Favorite lines. It's like I'm trying. I guess you could probably tell after talking. I'm an extreme extrovert. So the pandemic was really hard for me because same I get energy off office, you know, talking to people and engaging with people. So yes, I've had so, you know, TV makes you really close friends because you're almost like down in the trenches together. So I had girlfriends from my CBS Austin days. I have girlfriends from my days. And then I have mom friend groups that, you know, we all got close, just like you. You know, we got our kids are growing up together, and it's those circles of girlfriends. I have another group of neighbors. We're all in a book club together, and we socialize a lot. So it's like. And it's different ages too, which I think is important. Yes. I think it's important to have friends who are older than you are and friends who are younger than you are because you get this bigger perspective on life and the issues people are dealing with. And, I've learned so much from my older friends and I hope I'm giving life advice, decent life wise, to my younger friends, many of whom are like you have been through recent losses of parents. Yeah, dealing with elderly parent issues. And I can say, you know, here's what worked for me. Here's a good resource. And so it's it's just important to not box yourself in. I'm only going to hang around people who have this political persuasion or who are this age or this religious background. It's like, no, that's not why we're here. You know, we're really to learn from each other. And diversity is excellent. It's a great way to broaden your viewpoints of the world. You don't want to just hang around people. It's what I always tell people that news don't just watch one source of news. They're always, yes, I never been a big fan of watching MSNBC or Fox. It's like, I don't want my news through a filter of people. It should be giving me a balanced viewpoint of these very important issues. What news do you watch or read? I started watching more local news since now I'm working on it. I the PBS NewsHour, I like, I mostly listen to news. I'm a big NPR junkie. In fact, I just saw Jennifer stating who anchors the morning. It's on. Okay. But last night was also with this media. This group is pretty cool. We need to get you involved. I we love that. Am I a media maven? Hi, guys. I would love to be a media maven, but I was telling Jennifer last night, I said, I really rely on you guys because I feel like you do intelligent, thought provoking, balanced coverage. And so I listen to NPR, I read a lot. I read several local publications The statesman, Axios, Austin, I love the Texas Tribune for state news. And then, you know, Washington Post, New York Times, sometimes the Wall Street Journal for national news. Yeah. I try to use a lot of different sources. I think that's important. Yeah, I think it's. Yeah, yeah. Because when Walter Cronkite did the news, we all got the news from Walter Cronkite. Now we get it from, like you said, through a filter. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And that's not that's not good for democracy. It's not good. It's not good for us. It makes us divisive. Like you were saying. Okay, well, let's, move on to what's the best piece of advice you have for aging? Well, I think the best piece of advice is getting out of your comfort zone. I think it's easier as we grow older to just do the things that we're comfortable doing. And I think challenging yourself, for example, me singing with this group, I mean, I've really sung in public in years, but going out there going, I can do this, I can learn this music, I can learn the alto part. And it was kind of scary. I mean, it sounds funny, too. So you're on TV, you know, why does that series it's different. It's totally different. I always jump into Barton Springs on January 1st. Oh, you're one of those people. I'm one of those people. That is freezing in in August. How do you get it? I guess it's probably. I don't know, but there's. Because. Because I'm a little afraid of it, you know. That's awesome. And so every year I start my year by jumping into Barton Springs during the Polar Plunge. I'm like, I did it, I am strong. That's pretty cool. Freezing cold water, no matter what it's like outside. So those kinds of things I think are empowering. I think you bring out of the things that, you know, just facing your fears basically, and. Moving ahead. And you, you look back, you go, I did that. You know that is, it's, it's very empowering I love that. That's very very very cool that especially I admire that you jump in there. That's probably one thing I won't be doing. I mean like I said I barely can get in there in August. It's freezing. It's freezing all the time. In a long time. Right. You just jump in and then what do you do? You get out in five bathrobes, or I usually go with a again, I go with a group of women and we swim. Actually, we decorate like we did toilet plungers. And we call ourselves the Polar Plunge. It's like I kind of so funny. Judy Reagan, our toilets one. Is I am a nerd. I love that. That's very I think I know some of those people, I bet I think I do. Do you know Phyllis Grabowski? I think my friend does that. She might be in that group. She's in my book club. She's very. The club, book clubs. The best. Don't even start. What are you guys reading? A book club. We're reading the poison wood Bible by bar. Oh, over. And. Yeah, it's long. We read that years ago. Yeah, it's a bit of a slog. I really like her. I read Demon Copperhead by, And I know that one was hard to read. See, I think I found that one easier than this one. What I meant hard, I meant hard the, you know. Yes, yes, the the material was hard because it was hard to read about that kid. Was. But. Yes. Poison Wood Bible is my least favorite one of Barbara Kingsolver. I love a lot of her and the prodigal son. And so, yeah, it's my least favorite one also. So I'm hoping I can slog through, well, you know, in our book club, our rule is you don't have to read the book, but you do have to bring a bottle of wine. So, yeah, that's exactly it. Okay. Okay. Perfect. So it it it does. You don't have to wait. Yeah. We life to we barely talk about the book of younger friends and and book club with me are in their 40s, so it's really fun to hear what's going on with their lives. Yes. School issues and all of those things. I really love those associations, those relationships. That's that's really good. What's your just best piece of advice in general? Doesn't have to be age related. It's going to sound silly, but really be kind. Be kind. Be kind. That is good. You're not the only one who said that. I think our world is such as we've been saying throughout this chat, our world is so divisive and people are so narrow, focused on their life and what they need to get done and their belief system. And it's like if we just opened our hearts and our minds are a little bit kinder to one another and really listen to one another, I think you can be the most interesting person in the room by being a good listener. So yeah, just be kind and be a good listener. And, I think that's the secret to why I was successful in my career. I, I think I was a good listener, and I think I always respected people, were kind to them, no matter what their belief system. And it worked for me. And being a reporter and anchor. Well, yeah, you have to be a good listener. Otherwise. I mean, that's the job, isn't it? Yes. That's pretty much the law. And, you know, it's interesting that you say that because all the people that you mentioned in the beginning who are really, really famous people, you said all of them were kind, and so it kind of brings it back full circle, you know, just you it doesn't matter who you are, to just be kind to somebody else. I mean, and often, why would it, you know, really famous people at their core are really nice. It's usually their handlers who are, the ones who are being protective. Right? Oh. You can't. I'm sorry. You can't do this. But really, when you sit down with them, they're just like us, you know? Yeah, just human beings doing something interesting, you know? Wow. That's why I love it. Do you have a favorite health or beauty product? Yeah, I use, rock. Yeah. I use their products, both for nighttime and daytime moisturizing. Was he, like, has sunscreen in it? And I really like them. I don't know why. I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm half Italian, so I've been blessed with good skin. Yeah. You have good skin. Thanks. So do you. But I, you know, I, I don't use a lot of products, but those are the things I put on at night and in the morning. Well, that's good, I think moisturizer ritual or anything. It's just like, yeah, I'm on my face. I wash. That's a good one. Do you have, a public person that you admire for the way they're aging? Probably Michelle Obama. Oh, yeah. She's or Jane Fonda. Oh, yeah. And I just watch the documentary about her. She's amazing. She's 87. She's unbelievable. She's unbelievable. She's really strong and so vibrant. But I love what Michelle Obama has done post presidency. You know, since she and Barack Obama have been out of the white House, she's done so many things to uplift women. She's written a few books. She'll go and give these speeches, and she's helping young people, especially young girls of color, find their voice. And I just I so admire her. How is she doing that? What is she doing with the young girls? You know, they have a foundation and, they do a lot of nonprofit work with different groups, and that's kind of how she does that work. Yeah. She's spectacular. Do you what did you learn from watching your parents age? I know you said your mom had Alzheimer's. That had to be tough. And my, you know, both of them had to be had to go to facilities for various reasons. And I say facilities, they were very nice places. Sure. I'm sure. Yes. Sure. Thing I just I don't want to go to one of the stats, even though they were really nice. It's like, I really want to try to age in place if possible. Yes, but I think that taking care of yourself, both of my parents, were pretty into nutrition. My dad was really into exercise. I wish my mother has had exercise more. I think it would have been great therapy for a lot of different reasons as, yeah, mental and physical. But I think the importance of eating well and taking care of yourself, and they always had a robust social life. My parents always had a lot of friends, people over for dinner and things like that. And I, I did learn that from them, that those I think those social interactions are ever growing in importance as we get older. So that was another lesson from them. Yeah. You seem to be frustrated about different causes that they were involved. Good. What were they involved later in life. And I appreciated that. What like what what did they, you know, my, both of them were very into the civil rights movement when I was younger. A lot of them were church related. My dad was very involved in the United Nations Association, which, you know, is such a global, important nonprofit and those kinds of things. My mom, was very involved in a mission in Mississippi that served very, very low income people. And she would go volunteer there at the back Bay Mission in Mississippi. So not like hugely known, nonprofits, but the folks on the ground doing really important work, to help those less fortunate. So you. Yeah, you had some nice examples of being kind. Yeah. Yes. I do have examples of being kind. Exactly. My mother was probably the kindest person I've ever known. If I could be half as kind and loving and understanding as she was, then I. I consider that a victory. I bet you are. I bet you she would say you are. That's so lovely. Well, Judy, I don't even know you. You are. You really are aging like a badass mother. You. And thank you for sharing. Sometimes it's challenging when things hurt. What do you do to heart of a workout? And you go, yeah, but, I sure get up every day and no matter whether something's hurting and go for it, you know. Oh, you are you're a good example. And thank you for, for, you know, helping us to see, what people do to stay young and vibrant. And, you know, we call them call this the anti Anti-Aging podcast. Because, you know, anti-aging is ridiculous. You're going to you're aging. You're you know, there's there's no way to avoid. It's just anti-aging. Anti anti-aging because we're aging. It's just like how do we do it. Well. And you're giving us a good example. So thank you Judy. Thanks for having me I appreciate it. You take care. You too. Bye bye bye. Thanks for listening, friend. From my heart to yours. Be well. Until we meet again.