Rappaport To The Rescue

For over 2 decades journalist and host Ben Mankiewicz has given us the inside scoop on all of our favorite films. But movies aside, the TCM host’s favorite form of entertainment is watching and being with his three beloved rescue dogs.

Listen to Episode #54 Now:

BIO:

Ben Mankiewicz is the primetime host of Turner Classic Movies. When he made his TCM debut more than 20 years ago in September 2003, he became only the second host hired in the network's history.

During his career at TCM, he has introduced thousands of movies on the air. Additionally, he’s become one of the best interviewers in the business, leading thoughtful and entertaining long-form conversations with more than two hundred of the industry’s top talents, including Steven Spielberg, Mel Brooks, Bruce Springsteen, Sophia Loren, Martin Scorsese, Harrison Ford, Warren Beatty, Spike Lee, Annette Bening, Paul Thomas Anderson, Ava DuVernay, Conan O’Brien, Olivia Wilde, Robert Redford, Pam Grier, Quentin Tarantino, Billy Dee Williams, Jodie Foster, Brad Bird, Stacey Abrams, Maureen Dowd, Bill Hader, Faye Dunaway, Lou Gossett, Jr., and Michael Douglas. Oh, and Tom Hanks.

Mankiewicz is the host of TCM’s first podcast, The Plot Thickens. Each of the four seasons, I’m Still Peter Bogdanovich, The Devil’s Candy, Lucy, and Here Comes Pam were met with outstanding reviews and industry awards. He is also the host of Talking Pictures: A Movie Memories Podcast, a collaboration between TCM and Max. Guests for the first season include Steven Soderbergh, Nancy Meyers, Bill Hader, Alexander Payne, Emerald Fennell, and Cord Jefferson.

Since 2019, Mankiewicz has served as a contributor to the Peabody and Emmy-winning news magazine, CBS News Sunday Morning, and has hosted the American Society of Cinematographers Awards since 2018.

Prior to TCM, Mankiewicz worked as a reporter and anchor in Charleston, SC, and Miami, FL, twice being named Best Anchor in South Florida by The New Times. Mankiewicz moved to Los Angeles nearly 75 years after his grandfather, screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz (“Mank” to his all his friends), headed west to work in the picture business. Soon after arriving, Herman cabled his friend Ben Hecht in New York, "There are millions to be grabbed out here and your only competition is idiots. Don't let this get around." His grandson is now proudly one of those idiots.

He's a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Tufts University,and Georgetown Day High School in Washington, DC, the school with the least fearsome mascot in recorded history: the Grasshoppers.
Mankiewicz lives in Southern California with his dynamic wife, their whip-smart daughter, and three dogs: one who’s perfect, one who’s new, and one who’s available for adoption at any time. Seriously, please take him.

Transcript:

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Announcer: This is Pet Life Radio.

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Announcer: Let's talk pets.

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Announcer: Rappaport to the Rescue with award-winning animal advocate, best-selling author, journalist, and pet products creator, Jill Rappaport.

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Jill Rappaport: Hi, I'm Jill Rappaport, and welcome to this holiday edition of Rappaport to the Rescue.

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Jill Rappaport: I love this time of year.

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Jill Rappaport: It is so beautiful out here in the Hamptons.

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Jill Rappaport: It's decorated everywhere you go, the Christmas lights and all of the music and the festivities.

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Jill Rappaport: It's such a special time of year.

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Jill Rappaport: We all feel so blessed to have people in our lives that we love so much, and especially for our fur angels.

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Jill Rappaport: I wake up every day and I literally look at them and I say thank you as I hug each one of my doggies and I go outside and I pet and kiss my horses.

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Jill Rappaport: Those are truly my blessings.

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Jill Rappaport: But it's this time of year that animal welfare is truly in a very challenging and dire state.

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Jill Rappaport: This is the time where so many shelters are filled to the brim.

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Jill Rappaport: And it's worse now that it's been a decade.

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Jill Rappaport: That really is quite horrific now.

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Jill Rappaport: And for me, I knew I had to do something about this because the thought of any animal not being in a loving home is just heartbreaking.

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Jill Rappaport: But especially at holiday time, when we're all gathered with the ones we love, those animals deserve and need to have the same.

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Jill Rappaport: So I started this wonderful campaign last year at Southampton Animal Shelter called A Home for the Holidays, An After.

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Jill Rappaport: I added an after because I still have one dog from a year ago that I was featuring, that was a year old deaf pity mix, and he's still sitting there.

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Jill Rappaport: He was adopted and returned three times.

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Jill Rappaport: So I now added after because I started the new campaign again with my underdogs from Southampton Animal Shelter, the seniors, the pits, and the special needs.

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Jill Rappaport: And I am determined, like last year, where I placed 16 of those dogs in the most wonderful, loving homes and very challenging situations.

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Jill Rappaport: Two were Siberian Huskies that were eight years old and had to go together, and a wonderful family took them both.

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Jill Rappaport: So I know I can do it and I know you can help me do it.

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Jill Rappaport: I encourage you, I beg you to go to your local shelter and volunteer your time, make a donation, walk a dog, please foster.

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Jill Rappaport: Foster is God's work.

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Jill Rappaport: You are the mediator between hell and heaven and then of course adopt.

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Jill Rappaport: You can make a difference.

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Jill Rappaport: I'm trying to do what I can with my local shelter.

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Jill Rappaport: You all can make a difference, especially this time of year.

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Jill Rappaport: So thank you so much for listening to me and hopefully understanding the need to protect our fur angels at the shelters and all across this country where so many animals are languishing.

00:03:01.988 --> 00:03:05.088
Jill Rappaport: Now coming up today, I have such an exciting interview.

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Jill Rappaport: I have a little crush on this guy.

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Jill Rappaport: I've got to admit, if you happen to watch Turner Classic Movies and who doesn't, you know that cute host, Ben Mankiewicz.

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Jill Rappaport: He is smart, he is suave.

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Jill Rappaport: To add to another reason I think he's so fabulous, he's a huge rescuer.

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Jill Rappaport: So when we come back, we're going to chat with Ben Mankiewicz from Turner Classic Movies.

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Jill Rappaport: Stay tuned.

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Announcer: Want to know who the latest trendsetters are in Hollywood?

00:04:17.048 --> 00:04:18.708
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00:04:18.708 --> 00:04:23.788
Announcer: Find out who's been spotted with Spots, Chowing with their Chow, and Shopping for Gucci with their Poochie.

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Announcer: Get this goop on all the latest celebrity pet patter right here.

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Announcer: PetLife Radio.

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Announcer: Let's talk pets.

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Jill Rappaport: Welcome back to Rappaport to the Rescue.

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Jill Rappaport: I'm Jill Rappaport, and as I said in my intro, and I gotta embarrass you a little bit, Ben.

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Jill Rappaport: I told our audience, I have a little bit of a crush on you.

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Jill Rappaport: I have Ben Mankiewicz with us now from Turner Classic Movies.

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Jill Rappaport: And I have to tell you, I'm not alone.

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Jill Rappaport: When I told my girlfriends I was doing this interview and they said, oh, he is so adorable.

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Jill Rappaport: I bet you get that a lot.

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Ben Mankiewicz: Well, what I usually get is somebody like you coming up to me and saying at first, Athena, you're Ben Mankiewicz, right?

00:05:05.332 --> 00:05:06.272
Ben Mankiewicz: Or are you Ben Mankiewicz?

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Ben Mankiewicz: I'm like, yeah, that's right.

00:05:07.272 --> 00:05:08.952
Ben Mankiewicz: I'm feeling all kind of haughty.

00:05:08.952 --> 00:05:12.232
Ben Mankiewicz: And then they're like, oh my God, my mother loves you.

00:05:12.232 --> 00:05:13.692
Ben Mankiewicz: That's generally how it plays out.

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Ben Mankiewicz: But it's great.

00:05:14.532 --> 00:05:15.472
Ben Mankiewicz: I'm always into it.

00:05:15.472 --> 00:05:21.032
Ben Mankiewicz: It's amazing to work at a place like TCM that really matters, that means something in people's lives.

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Ben Mankiewicz: I mean, TV can be a fairly silly business.

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Ben Mankiewicz: And what we do resonates with people.

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Ben Mankiewicz: It connects them to their family in meaningful ways, connects them to their friends and their past.

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Ben Mankiewicz: And I don't know, it's pretty great.

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Ben Mankiewicz: I feel really fortunate.

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Jill Rappaport: Well, you've been there, I believe since 2002?

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Ben Mankiewicz: Three, yeah, 2003, yeah.

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Ben Mankiewicz: So here in the right there, it's 21 plus years.

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Jill Rappaport: Wow, you don't realize how long that's been.

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Ben Mankiewicz: Yeah, I mean, I got this job.

00:05:48.632 --> 00:05:50.152
Ben Mankiewicz: I got to LA in 2001.

00:05:50.152 --> 00:05:53.712
Ben Mankiewicz: I've been a local news reporter, which of course you're deeply familiar with.

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Ben Mankiewicz: And I didn't want to do that anymore.

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Ben Mankiewicz: And I basically didn't work for a year and a half.

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Ben Mankiewicz: And I was probably six weeks at the most from trying to go back to local news.

00:06:04.232 --> 00:06:06.892
Ben Mankiewicz: Hopefully I'd land a station here in LA because I wanted to stay here.

00:06:06.892 --> 00:06:13.072
Ben Mankiewicz: But I mean, I could have easily ended up in Cleveland or Dallas or San Antonio, anywhere that would hire me.

00:06:13.072 --> 00:06:16.252
Ben Mankiewicz: Cincinnati, where I once turned a job down to stay in Charleston.

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Ben Mankiewicz: And then I got this TCM job.

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Ben Mankiewicz: So it felt like a job to me when I got it.

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Ben Mankiewicz: Like, oh great, I finally landed a job.

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Ben Mankiewicz: And then it's turned into really what defines my entire career.

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Ben Mankiewicz: And in two years, less than two years, when I crossed 23 years, I've been there longer than Robert Osborne was, who signed the station on the air in 1994.

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Ben Mankiewicz: And that's staggering to me.

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Jill Rappaport: Well, what's amazing is you're diehard followers.

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Jill Rappaport: And I know because I'm one of them, but especially this time of year, like you said, it's a feel good channel.

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Jill Rappaport: And all of the hosts, including you obviously, but you have a whole wonderful roster of people.

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Ben Mankiewicz: We do, yeah.

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Jill Rappaport: The information that each one gives and the history behind these movies is so fascinating to me.

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Jill Rappaport: The facts that you give.

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Ben Mankiewicz: I love hearing that.

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Ben Mankiewicz: It's really amazing.

00:07:01.932 --> 00:07:06.192
Ben Mankiewicz: A number of people, everybody stops me and they just have a story about why it matters to them.

00:07:06.192 --> 00:07:14.172
Ben Mankiewicz: Frequently, it's an incredibly moving story about spending the last six months of their mother's life going home to live with their mom to help her through an illness that took her life.

00:07:14.172 --> 00:07:17.592
Ben Mankiewicz: And then saying, we did all day was to connect and watch Turner Classic Movies.

00:07:17.592 --> 00:07:21.072
Ben Mankiewicz: And it's the best six months I ever spent with, you know, and you're like, and then they start to cry.

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Ben Mankiewicz: It's really an experience to have people care about this channel so much.

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Ben Mankiewicz: And I'm super lucky to get here because, you know, it's really the movies that do the connecting.

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Jill Rappaport: Well, and besides this job, this gig, you're also on my favorite show, CBS Sunday Morning.

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Jill Rappaport: I see you do wonderful profiles on there.

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Jill Rappaport: That is my dream job.

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Jill Rappaport: You really do have the best two gigs in television.

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Ben Mankiewicz: I'm really fortunate.

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Ben Mankiewicz: And that CBS Sunday Morning came really because of TCM.

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Ben Mankiewicz: There's some crossover in the audience there, and they'd seen me do a couple of things on TCM, and they knew I had a journalism background, and they called to do One Piece, and it went well, and I do whatever.

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Ben Mankiewicz: I do somewhere between 7 and 10 a year, but there's no set number.

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Ben Mankiewicz: They just call when they feel like there's a good matchup, and I'm also super busy, but I'm thrilled every time I did.

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Ben Mankiewicz: I did two earlier.

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Ben Mankiewicz: Just a few weeks ago, I did back to back weeks at Kathy Bates and Al Pacino, and I was really proud of both those pieces.

00:08:12.452 --> 00:08:23.432
Jill Rappaport: Well, I was on the red carpet many decades of my career, and I interviewed a lot of the same celebrities that you have, and it's an interesting job to have because it's a fine line.

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Jill Rappaport: I never used notes, Ben.

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Jill Rappaport: I never looked down because I found that if you break eye contact, you lose them.

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Jill Rappaport: I've watched the way you interview, very casual, relaxed.

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Jill Rappaport: You can tell that you have the information, you know their background, but it's really a true conversation.

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Ben Mankiewicz: Well, that's what you're going for.

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Ben Mankiewicz: That's certainly the goal I'm trying to find.

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Ben Mankiewicz: Yeah, I got a notebook here.

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Ben Mankiewicz: I think it's somewhere in here.

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Ben Mankiewicz: During Kathy Bates because I bring her up, which was a really, you know, that moment went viral because of something that happened in the middle of the interview, which we were able to not correct her on, but point out something that she thought she had not thanked her mother when she won the Oscar.

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Jill Rappaport: Of course, that was everywhere.

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Ben Mankiewicz: Yeah, and it was really great.

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Ben Mankiewicz: So, but earlier in that conversation, in part because my notes here, I'll just show you, this is a brand, not her, but this is, and I know this people can't see this, but my notes look like this.

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Ben Mankiewicz: Like they're like, I mean, there's like 700 words on a page and it's a big notebook.

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Ben Mankiewicz: So, during the interview with Kathy Bates, and she was really into it, but she said about herself, she's a very serious person, right?

00:09:21.972 --> 00:09:23.592
Ben Mankiewicz: She's like, I should probably try to be less serious.

00:09:23.592 --> 00:09:26.172
Ben Mankiewicz: And she was really looking forward to this interview and she was into it.

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Ben Mankiewicz: We were clearly connecting and she was talking about things that really mattered to her.

00:09:30.852 --> 00:09:38.152
Ben Mankiewicz: And at one point she said something which took us in a different direction and I really wanted to finish what we had just been talking about.

00:09:38.152 --> 00:09:43.052
Ben Mankiewicz: And I knew I needed a detail and I looked down and I couldn't find it because I got 700 words on the page.

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Ben Mankiewicz: I couldn't even find it.

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Ben Mankiewicz: And in the middle of talking, as I looked down to your point about breaking eye contact, she said, are you listening?

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Ben Mankiewicz: Right?

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Ben Mankiewicz: Are you listening to me?

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Ben Mankiewicz: And I, thankfully I was able to repeat what she had just said and I said, which was true.

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Ben Mankiewicz: I was like, no, I'm totally listening to you.

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Ben Mankiewicz: I just wanted to remember one thing that you had just said that triggered something.

00:10:01.632 --> 00:10:03.172
Ben Mankiewicz: So I looked down, but I can't find it anyway.

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Ben Mankiewicz: And I, and it didn't tell me that she was mad.

00:10:05.132 --> 00:10:06.412
Ben Mankiewicz: It told me that she was into it.

00:10:06.412 --> 00:10:08.552
Ben Mankiewicz: Like she was really vested in it.

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Ben Mankiewicz: And then about 20 minutes later, she said the thing about where mother had been sort of snide about her winning the Oscar for Misery.

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Ben Mankiewicz: And she said, I think she was angry because I didn't thank her.

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Ben Mankiewicz: And the interview was in the afternoon.

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Ben Mankiewicz: And that morning I had watched her Oscar acceptance speech.

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Ben Mankiewicz: So it was right in the front.

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Ben Mankiewicz: And I said, you know, you did thank her.

00:10:24.192 --> 00:10:25.852
Ben Mankiewicz: And she said, no, I didn't check the tape.

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Ben Mankiewicz: Again, she was stern.

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Ben Mankiewicz: I never thought she was mad at me.

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Ben Mankiewicz: She's just like, I like it, right?

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Ben Mankiewicz: She's just-

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Jill Rappaport: Matter of fact.

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Ben Mankiewicz: Matter of fact.

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Ben Mankiewicz: And I said, and I wasn't going to argue with her.

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Ben Mankiewicz: I looked at our producer and I, and he looked at me like the same way.

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Ben Mankiewicz: Like she definitely thanked her.

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Ben Mankiewicz: And then he brought the phone over when we had to change the battery on the camera.

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Ben Mankiewicz: About 10 minutes later and we showed it to her.

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Ben Mankiewicz: And she just had this amazing, amazing reaction.

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Ben Mankiewicz: It was such a wonderful thing to be a part of.

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Ben Mankiewicz: And I feel like she and I are friends.

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Ben Mankiewicz: And she came on TCM like three weeks later, because it had gone so well and talked about movies she loved.

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Jill Rappaport: I think that you gave her such wonderful closure for something that has bothered her, obviously for decades.

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Jill Rappaport: You made her heart full and took away the hole that she thought, how could I not thank my mother?

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Ben Mankiewicz: Yeah, no, it clearly mattered to her.

00:11:14.152 --> 00:11:20.072
Ben Mankiewicz: And it's just this weird thing that happens with these movies and people, they care, you know, and it matters to them.

00:11:20.072 --> 00:11:28.792
Ben Mankiewicz: And again, even though this wasn't TCM, it's still like, that's exactly what we do, is connect parents to children, even if the parents are long gone, right?

00:11:28.792 --> 00:11:36.332
Ben Mankiewicz: You watch one of these movies and you think, this is either a movie my mom loved or my dad loved, or this is the world that they grew up in.

00:11:36.332 --> 00:11:38.732
Ben Mankiewicz: This is what they saw and you feel connected to them.

00:11:38.732 --> 00:11:39.552
Ben Mankiewicz: And that matters.

00:11:39.812 --> 00:11:42.232
Jill Rappaport: But you have a certain style about you.

00:11:42.232 --> 00:11:45.512
Jill Rappaport: I feel that these actors feel you're one of them.

00:11:45.512 --> 00:11:50.492
Jill Rappaport: You remind me, younger, of a James Lipton actor studio.

00:11:50.492 --> 00:11:54.752
Jill Rappaport: You know, he would get the best interviews because they respected him so much.

00:11:54.752 --> 00:11:57.712
Jill Rappaport: And I see that same connection in all of your interviews.

00:11:57.712 --> 00:12:00.452
Ben Mankiewicz: Well, you know, I'm very honored that you said that.

00:12:00.452 --> 00:12:05.132
Ben Mankiewicz: And who pointed that, the only other people who've pointed that out to me, it's happened twice in my life.

00:12:05.132 --> 00:12:17.292
Ben Mankiewicz: And it was, you're the second, but it was the whole bunch of people at one time that was, when I did a piece on the Actors Studio, and the people at the Actors Studio were like, you know who you remind us of, is James, even though I'm not an actor, and he was.

00:12:17.292 --> 00:12:17.972
Ben Mankiewicz: But it was really nice.

00:12:17.972 --> 00:12:18.752
Ben Mankiewicz: I love actors.

00:12:18.752 --> 00:12:21.212
Ben Mankiewicz: What we do, hosting, and you do red carpet.

00:12:21.212 --> 00:12:22.792
Ben Mankiewicz: I hate doing red carpet interviews.

00:12:22.792 --> 00:12:23.212
Jill Rappaport: Oh, I do too.

00:12:23.212 --> 00:12:25.632
Ben Mankiewicz: I don't like any interview that's shorter than an hour.

00:12:25.632 --> 00:12:28.992
Ben Mankiewicz: I mean, I like, that's what I want to do is, you know, get into it with people.

00:12:28.992 --> 00:12:30.832
Ben Mankiewicz: And, you know, and they're in a different frame of mind.

00:12:30.832 --> 00:12:33.832
Ben Mankiewicz: They're not really going to reveal any part of themselves.

00:12:33.832 --> 00:12:34.052
Jill Rappaport: Yeah.

00:12:34.052 --> 00:12:35.792
Jill Rappaport: And it's like an assembly line.

00:12:35.792 --> 00:12:37.412
Jill Rappaport: They've got to go from one to another.

00:12:37.592 --> 00:12:37.952
Ben Mankiewicz: That's right.

00:12:37.952 --> 00:12:38.372
Ben Mankiewicz: Yeah.

00:12:38.372 --> 00:12:39.412
Ben Mankiewicz: You know, they're moving down.

00:12:39.412 --> 00:12:40.412
Ben Mankiewicz: You know, other people are coming.

00:12:40.412 --> 00:12:41.772
Ben Mankiewicz: You know, they're going to tell the same story.

00:12:41.772 --> 00:12:45.292
Ben Mankiewicz: Cause they, I mean, I do it the few times that I've been on the other end of red carpets.

00:12:45.292 --> 00:12:49.612
Ben Mankiewicz: Like you, you realize, well, I just said the same thing to six straight people, you know?

00:12:49.612 --> 00:12:56.412
Ben Mankiewicz: So it's hard because this is a strange, weird job and to be able to manage to connect in a meaningful way.

00:12:56.412 --> 00:12:59.392
Ben Mankiewicz: But anyway, so I just met with and going for these jobs, you know, it's these hosting jobs.

00:12:59.392 --> 00:13:06.392
Ben Mankiewicz: It's like, I went through a process of not getting a ton of jobs in that year and a half that I was only like working freelance here and there for places.

00:13:06.912 --> 00:13:11.772
Ben Mankiewicz: And I just realized, I guess, what should have been obvious is what actors go through to get jobs auditioning.

00:13:11.772 --> 00:13:14.912
Ben Mankiewicz: I mean, it's humiliating, you know, I mean, it's just one.

00:13:14.912 --> 00:13:16.172
Ben Mankiewicz: And the humiliation is direct.

00:13:16.172 --> 00:13:26.272
Ben Mankiewicz: It's like they look at you and your face and they're like, you know, Jill, thanks for coming in, but we're not really into your eyes and your nose and your mouth and the way they are together and your hair and the way you sound.

00:13:26.272 --> 00:13:26.992
Ben Mankiewicz: But otherwise, thanks.

00:13:26.992 --> 00:13:29.032
Jill Rappaport: You're not really thinking that, are you, Ben?

00:13:29.052 --> 00:13:31.152
Ben Mankiewicz: No, I'm saying that that's how it always felt to me.

00:13:31.152 --> 00:13:34.792
Ben Mankiewicz: Like, no, but I mean, the rejection is, it's a full rejection.

00:13:34.892 --> 00:13:40.752
Ben Mankiewicz: When you get things, it's like, I don't, Ben, we don't like your face and the way you talk and how your arms are.

00:13:40.752 --> 00:13:43.712
Ben Mankiewicz: You know, it's like this very, you know, it just wears you down.

00:13:43.712 --> 00:13:46.512
Ben Mankiewicz: But they get up there and they sort of give themselves everything.

00:13:46.512 --> 00:13:50.512
Ben Mankiewicz: So I now feel bad because you apparently didn't take rejection as badly as I did.

00:13:50.512 --> 00:13:52.512
Ben Mankiewicz: But I felt it acutely.

00:13:52.512 --> 00:13:52.912
Jill Rappaport: I did.

00:13:52.912 --> 00:13:53.912
Jill Rappaport: But you know what?

00:13:53.912 --> 00:13:56.672
Jill Rappaport: I don't think they ever had the balls to say that to me.

00:13:56.672 --> 00:13:58.712
Jill Rappaport: I just assume they just thought I was older.

00:13:58.712 --> 00:13:59.832
Jill Rappaport: They don't tell you that either.

00:13:59.832 --> 00:14:01.052
Ben Mankiewicz: No, I'm making that up.

00:14:01.052 --> 00:14:01.752
Ben Mankiewicz: Nobody says that.

00:14:01.752 --> 00:14:02.592
Ben Mankiewicz: But that's what I heard.

00:14:03.052 --> 00:14:05.692
Ben Mankiewicz: Because the rejection is always personal, right?

00:14:05.692 --> 00:14:08.272
Ben Mankiewicz: It's like we don't like the thing that you bring.

00:14:08.272 --> 00:14:10.872
Ben Mankiewicz: No, of course, nobody ever said, Ben, we don't like your face.

00:14:10.872 --> 00:14:12.272
Jill Rappaport: Well, you know what I did, Ben?

00:14:12.272 --> 00:14:14.832
Jill Rappaport: I would get rejected or start to get rejected.

00:14:14.832 --> 00:14:17.172
Jill Rappaport: And I would not take no for an answer.

00:14:17.172 --> 00:14:18.772
Jill Rappaport: I would say, well, wait a minute.

00:14:18.772 --> 00:14:19.732
Jill Rappaport: Let me show you this.

00:14:19.732 --> 00:14:20.992
Jill Rappaport: Let me show you what I could do.

00:14:20.992 --> 00:14:24.312
Jill Rappaport: And I turned around two jobs where they really weren't that into me.

00:14:24.312 --> 00:14:25.812
Jill Rappaport: And I wore them down.

00:14:25.812 --> 00:14:26.192
Ben Mankiewicz: That's great.

00:14:26.192 --> 00:14:29.632
Ben Mankiewicz: And the mere act of doing that also tells them something about you, right?

00:14:29.632 --> 00:14:33.552
Ben Mankiewicz: Sort of your doggedness to provide a nice segue to what we're going to get into.

00:14:33.552 --> 00:14:37.912
Ben Mankiewicz: And this is a relentless person, which is valuable in that field.

00:14:37.912 --> 00:14:39.692
Ben Mankiewicz: So yeah, that's good.

00:14:39.692 --> 00:14:40.552
Ben Mankiewicz: I didn't do that.

00:14:40.552 --> 00:14:41.212
Ben Mankiewicz: I didn't do that.

00:14:41.412 --> 00:14:43.432
Ben Mankiewicz: I shrank away.

00:14:43.432 --> 00:14:44.252
Ben Mankiewicz: So, yeah.

00:14:44.252 --> 00:14:46.852
Jill Rappaport: Obviously, it's done well for you.

00:14:46.852 --> 00:14:51.352
Jill Rappaport: And the other thing that's so distinctive about you is your voice, okay?

00:14:51.352 --> 00:15:04.452
Jill Rappaport: And your brother, who I worked with for many years at WCBS in New York, Josh Mankiewicz, who's one of the great stars of Dateline, he also has such a distinguished Mankiewicz voice, the two of you.

00:15:04.452 --> 00:15:12.112
Ben Mankiewicz: Well, we do a lot of podcasting now, and I did do some radio for a while, and I love radio, and it's why I like podcasts, because it's radio, basically.

00:15:12.112 --> 00:15:16.912
Ben Mankiewicz: But my brother and I, we sound a little bit alike, but he has a slightly more nasal tone.

00:15:16.932 --> 00:15:21.232
Ben Mankiewicz: Because when we talked to police, they told us a very different story.

00:15:21.232 --> 00:15:33.752
Ben Mankiewicz: There were times when I was working in Miami, and I would go in to track a piece, and I would get into the studio, and I would just start, you know, when Jill Rappaport woke up this morning, it was not the day she expected.

00:15:33.752 --> 00:15:36.052
Ben Mankiewicz: I was like, oh my God, I sound like my brother.

00:15:37.272 --> 00:15:44.452
Ben Mankiewicz: But also everything I've learned about TV and most of what I've learned about life came from my brother, who's Earth's greatest big brother.

00:15:44.452 --> 00:15:45.612
Jill Rappaport: And he's so smart.

00:15:45.612 --> 00:15:46.992
Jill Rappaport: I mean, I used to go to him.

00:15:46.992 --> 00:15:47.832
Jill Rappaport: He'd make fun of me.

00:15:47.832 --> 00:15:49.212
Jill Rappaport: I was the entertainment reporter.

00:15:49.212 --> 00:15:56.232
Jill Rappaport: Of course, Josh was in the trenches, the newsman, and he'd walk by, what's happening in Hollywood today, and kind of laugh at me.

00:15:56.232 --> 00:15:58.492
Jill Rappaport: But we had so much fun working together.

00:15:58.492 --> 00:16:02.972
Jill Rappaport: And your whole family, I mean, you come from incredible lineage.

00:16:02.972 --> 00:16:03.792
Ben Mankiewicz: You really do.

00:16:03.792 --> 00:16:08.092
Ben Mankiewicz: I'm very fortunate, very proud of my family's history in Hollywood, and mostly in politics.

00:16:08.092 --> 00:16:14.032
Ben Mankiewicz: You know, I grew up, Josh was born in LA because Josh is a much, much, much, much, much, much older person.

00:16:14.032 --> 00:16:14.952
Ben Mankiewicz: And...

00:16:14.952 --> 00:16:16.432
Jill Rappaport: One more much.

00:16:16.432 --> 00:16:21.952
Ben Mankiewicz: But I grew up in DC and my father was kind of a big deal in Democratic politics, and everybody recognized my dad.

00:16:21.952 --> 00:16:29.112
Ben Mankiewicz: So I just thought he was the, to me, the Hollywood connection, his father and his uncle Herman Mankiewicz and Joe Mankiewicz.

00:16:29.112 --> 00:16:33.512
Ben Mankiewicz: I just thought they were the, like I thought that my dad was the main person, right?

00:16:33.512 --> 00:16:34.472
Ben Mankiewicz: Like he was the star.

00:16:34.472 --> 00:16:39.492
Ben Mankiewicz: But really the politics was the, was the offshoot, the original, the original show.

00:16:39.492 --> 00:16:46.932
Ben Mankiewicz: We were the spin-off politics, but the original show was of course politics, and my grandfather Herman and my great uncle Joe.

00:16:46.932 --> 00:16:47.932
Jill Rappaport: Were they proud?

00:16:47.932 --> 00:16:49.992
Jill Rappaport: And I assume, how could they not be?

00:16:49.992 --> 00:16:55.932
Jill Rappaport: But you know, you took a different route, and they might have looked at it as more fluff, right?

00:16:55.932 --> 00:16:59.452
Ben Mankiewicz: Joe died a little before I started TCM, and Herman died long before.

00:16:59.452 --> 00:17:03.772
Ben Mankiewicz: Herman, as the movie man depicted, was a, he drank himself largely to death.

00:17:03.932 --> 00:17:21.312
Ben Mankiewicz: And in part because he was ashamed of what he did, that writing these movies, and he wrote Citizen Kane, but these movies were not substantive, and that the real work of a writer or a thinker, of an intellectual, which he certainly was, was that, it's funny, in this world, you could certainly write a play, or write the great American novel, or teach.

00:17:21.832 --> 00:17:25.172
Ben Mankiewicz: Their father always wanted Joe to teach, because that's what he'd done.

00:17:25.172 --> 00:17:37.832
Ben Mankiewicz: But you could be even a theater critic, like that was thought of as a noble profession, but writing these nonsense popcorn filler for the masses, that was junk, and that's what Herman and Joe heard from their father again and again.

00:17:37.832 --> 00:17:52.692
Ben Mankiewicz: Joe had a sense of humor about it, and I'm not sure Herman did, even though Herman had a great wit, but Joe used to say about his father, he's like, yeah, he doesn't think the movies are a worthwhile way to make a living, but he sure likes the yacht, that he likes to visit the yacht that the movies bought.

00:17:52.692 --> 00:17:55.572
Ben Mankiewicz: Whereas Herman was just tortured by it.

00:17:55.872 --> 00:17:56.992
Ben Mankiewicz: Wow.

00:17:56.992 --> 00:18:05.072
Ben Mankiewicz: When everybody asked me, if you go back in time, I could go back, I'd meet my grandfather and I'd tell him, you're wrong, your work matters, these movies matter to people.

00:18:05.072 --> 00:18:14.472
Jill Rappaport: Oh, just think how proud he would be of you, seeing what you're doing and how many lives you touch with these wonderful movies and talking about them.

00:18:14.472 --> 00:18:22.932
Ben Mankiewicz: I think Herman would think like, wait a minute, so let me understand this, so they pay you to talk about other people's movies, and then you get credit for those movies.

00:18:23.012 --> 00:18:24.352
Ben Mankiewicz: I'd be like, that's right, that's what happens.

00:18:24.352 --> 00:18:26.592
Ben Mankiewicz: He'd be like, well, that's impressive.

00:18:26.592 --> 00:18:28.172
Ben Mankiewicz: Yeah, well done.

00:18:28.172 --> 00:18:30.392
Jill Rappaport: Were you a movie buff when you were young?

00:18:30.392 --> 00:18:36.092
Jill Rappaport: I mean, you have to not only know all about them and watch every movie, but do you love movies?

00:18:36.092 --> 00:18:37.032
Jill Rappaport: Is this in your blood?

00:18:37.032 --> 00:18:37.732
Ben Mankiewicz: I love movies.

00:18:37.732 --> 00:18:38.272
Ben Mankiewicz: Yeah.

00:18:38.352 --> 00:18:39.552
Ben Mankiewicz: I love going to the movies.

00:18:39.552 --> 00:18:41.072
Ben Mankiewicz: I was a kid who loved movies.

00:18:41.252 --> 00:18:48.012
Ben Mankiewicz: I probably loved movies more than most of my friends growing up, but I don't think they wouldn't have described me in that way.

00:18:48.012 --> 00:18:51.212
Ben Mankiewicz: I loved going, I loved seeing movies, but I didn't study them.

00:18:51.212 --> 00:18:54.552
Ben Mankiewicz: I couldn't imagine having any kind of career related to them.

00:18:54.552 --> 00:18:57.932
Ben Mankiewicz: I started to think about them differently in college.

00:18:57.932 --> 00:19:01.692
Ben Mankiewicz: Then still, I just couldn't imagine that there would be a career like this.

00:19:01.692 --> 00:19:08.112
Ben Mankiewicz: Then by the time I was super into them, by the time I got the job at TCM, but I didn't understand even the world I was getting into at first.

00:19:08.112 --> 00:19:13.732
Ben Mankiewicz: I thought that my learning curve would be minimal and it turned out to be steep, but it happened pretty quick.

00:19:14.272 --> 00:19:15.532
Ben Mankiewicz: I took it seriously.

00:19:15.532 --> 00:19:25.192
Jill Rappaport: So you're in LA and you've got your beautiful wife and your daughter and your rescue dogs, and of course, they're going to give in to that in a moment, but are you hobnobbing with the stars?

00:19:25.192 --> 00:19:27.432
Jill Rappaport: Will I see you at all the happening restaurants?

00:19:27.432 --> 00:19:28.552
Jill Rappaport: Are you at all the premieres?

00:19:28.552 --> 00:19:31.052
Jill Rappaport: What's your normal life like in LA?

00:19:31.212 --> 00:19:32.652
Ben Mankiewicz: I was a movie critic for a while.

00:19:32.652 --> 00:19:34.992
Ben Mankiewicz: I was terrible at it and I didn't really like it.

00:19:34.992 --> 00:19:36.972
Ben Mankiewicz: I liked many of the other critics.

00:19:36.972 --> 00:19:42.212
Ben Mankiewicz: I liked making friends with them, but I never felt comfortable with literally criticizing a movie.

00:19:44.052 --> 00:19:49.512
Ben Mankiewicz: I feel more comfortable with it at TCM because I get that, hey, man, you don't have to take me seriously.

00:19:49.512 --> 00:19:57.512
Ben Mankiewicz: I'm just telling you sometimes, and I only acknowledge what's universally thought to be great, and if I say something's not good, it's usually still fun.

00:19:58.772 --> 00:20:00.712
Ben Mankiewicz: Also, the people who made it are long gone.

00:20:00.712 --> 00:20:02.832
Ben Mankiewicz: But I just don't like that I'm not good at it.

00:20:02.832 --> 00:20:05.012
Ben Mankiewicz: I felt like I was imitating a critic all the time.

00:20:05.172 --> 00:20:07.812
Ben Mankiewicz: I've started saying that in a lot of interviews, but I really feel it.

00:20:08.612 --> 00:20:13.152
Ben Mankiewicz: I was saying the things that I guess I had heard other critics say, and it didn't sound like me.

00:20:13.152 --> 00:20:15.432
Ben Mankiewicz: I'm like, I don't think I talk like this.

00:20:15.432 --> 00:20:21.212
Ben Mankiewicz: Every bit of success I've had on television has been because I'm playing myself.

00:20:21.552 --> 00:20:22.492
Jill Rappaport: Authentic.

00:20:22.492 --> 00:20:23.392
Ben Mankiewicz: I am authentic.

00:20:23.392 --> 00:20:33.112
Ben Mankiewicz: Then I was able to really get that in when I moved from Charleston as a reporter to Miami as a reporter and then host of a very different new show we did there.

00:20:33.112 --> 00:20:34.612
Ben Mankiewicz: That let me have, just be me.

00:20:34.612 --> 00:20:36.712
Ben Mankiewicz: I was like, now, this just got easy.

00:20:36.712 --> 00:20:39.732
Jill Rappaport: Is that your way of telling me that you don't hobnob with the stars?

00:20:40.272 --> 00:20:41.592
Ben Mankiewicz: I don't go to premieres.

00:20:41.592 --> 00:20:42.312
Ben Mankiewicz: That's true.

00:20:42.312 --> 00:20:46.572
Ben Mankiewicz: I mean, I hobnob with stars because I just put together a reel for something that I was pitching.

00:20:46.572 --> 00:20:55.432
Ben Mankiewicz: I was putting in these interviews and the connections that I had with Harrison Ford and Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, Kathy Bates I used and Al Pacino.

00:20:55.432 --> 00:21:07.412
Ben Mankiewicz: But I interview them and we just had this week, a podcast dropped with Jason Reitman and it was amazing conversation with me and Jason about movies and how much we love movies, but how much we love our fathers too.

00:21:08.792 --> 00:21:09.852
Ben Mankiewicz: We both lost our fathers.

00:21:09.852 --> 00:21:11.552
Ben Mankiewicz: I mean, we're grown men, that happens.

00:21:11.552 --> 00:21:16.812
Ben Mankiewicz: His father, Ivan Reitman, the director, and I connected with him in such a meaningful way.

00:21:16.812 --> 00:21:18.532
Ben Mankiewicz: I can't believe we're not friends.

00:21:18.532 --> 00:21:23.172
Ben Mankiewicz: It's not like we're not and I probably could, if I reached out and said, you want to have dinner, we might be able to have dinner.

00:21:23.172 --> 00:21:26.932
Ben Mankiewicz: But I finished with Tom Hanks and I'm like, oh my God, I'm going to be Tom Hanks' best friend.

00:21:26.972 --> 00:21:30.272
Ben Mankiewicz: Then it occurs to you about 45 minutes later, oh wait, he has friends.

00:21:31.792 --> 00:21:34.232
Ben Mankiewicz: He doesn't really need me to be his best friend.

00:21:34.232 --> 00:21:43.372
Ben Mankiewicz: So I have definitely, I would definitely, there's some people I've interviewed and connected with who I would call my friends, no question, Elliot Gould, Springs Right to Mind and Angie Dickinson.

00:21:43.372 --> 00:21:47.312
Ben Mankiewicz: And then I've made some other friends who are relatively famous.

00:21:47.312 --> 00:21:54.212
Ben Mankiewicz: But basically, no, I don't hobnob, I don't go to restaurants, my closest friends are still the idiots I went to high school with.

00:21:54.212 --> 00:21:56.732
Jill Rappaport: And Josh, your brother, I can't imitate him.

00:21:57.012 --> 00:21:58.292
Ben Mankiewicz: Yeah, and Jill is a pretty good friend, too.

00:21:58.292 --> 00:22:03.672
Ben Mankiewicz: Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, as you get older, okay, anyway.

00:22:03.672 --> 00:22:09.672
Jill Rappaport: Well, first of all, when I heard you had the rescue dogs, I thought, oh, gotta love Ben Mankiewicz.

00:22:09.672 --> 00:22:20.332
Jill Rappaport: Those dogs, and when we talked about it in our phone conversation a few weeks ago, and you were telling me how they've changed your life and touched your family's life and how they add so much to your life.

00:22:20.332 --> 00:22:29.132
Jill Rappaport: And this is the time of the year, my whole openness about how dire the situation is right now, especially this time of year when so many animals are dumped.

00:22:29.132 --> 00:22:32.012
Jill Rappaport: Tell me what your rescue doggies mean to you.

00:22:32.012 --> 00:22:34.432
Ben Mankiewicz: I'm sure everybody says this, but it's not just a lie.

00:22:34.432 --> 00:22:36.032
Ben Mankiewicz: I mean, they're part of the family.

00:22:36.032 --> 00:22:37.732
Ben Mankiewicz: We have three of them now.

00:22:37.732 --> 00:22:40.372
Ben Mankiewicz: We added the third one about eight months ago.

00:22:40.372 --> 00:22:45.832
Ben Mankiewicz: Under my feet right now is the queen of the house, Bob Mankiewicz, a girl named Bob.

00:22:45.832 --> 00:22:48.752
Ben Mankiewicz: And Bobby is, you know, she's 12.

00:22:48.752 --> 00:22:50.032
Ben Mankiewicz: She's a shepherd rescue.

00:22:50.032 --> 00:22:52.632
Ben Mankiewicz: She's definitely slowing down, but she's doing great.

00:22:52.632 --> 00:22:56.112
Ben Mankiewicz: And we had her and then we got another dog, and he's been a pain in the ass.

00:22:56.112 --> 00:23:02.112
Ben Mankiewicz: We have to acknowledge sometimes it's not the greatest fit ever, but it's six years and he loves us.

00:23:02.112 --> 00:23:07.432
Ben Mankiewicz: And we put up with him and, you know, he like kind of ruins things at the park all the time.

00:23:07.432 --> 00:23:08.832
Ben Mankiewicz: And he's a grouch.

00:23:08.832 --> 00:23:09.612
Ben Mankiewicz: He doesn't know it.

00:23:09.612 --> 00:23:11.472
Ben Mankiewicz: Then as soon as you tell him, no, he's like, oh, I'm sorry.

00:23:11.472 --> 00:23:12.652
Ben Mankiewicz: What did I do?

00:23:12.652 --> 00:23:16.352
Ben Mankiewicz: And then I just didn't want that dog to be 50% of our dogs.

00:23:16.352 --> 00:23:24.432
Ben Mankiewicz: That dog's name is Bunk, name for the character on the wire, Wendell Pierce's character on the wire, because they told us he was a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, a Maryland dog.

00:23:24.432 --> 00:23:28.152
Ben Mankiewicz: But like he's half-pipple and something else, like he's not Chesapeake Bay Retriever.

00:23:28.152 --> 00:23:31.312
Ben Mankiewicz: There's no Chesapeake Bay Retrievers in shelters in Los Angeles.

00:23:31.312 --> 00:23:37.232
Ben Mankiewicz: And so I just thought, I think we need him to be 33% of our dogs and not 50% of our dogs.

00:23:37.232 --> 00:23:39.492
Ben Mankiewicz: So we adopted another dog.

00:23:39.492 --> 00:23:41.732
Ben Mankiewicz: It was sort of a surprise for my wife and daughter.

00:23:41.732 --> 00:23:43.032
Ben Mankiewicz: My wife and I had talked about it.

00:23:43.032 --> 00:23:48.612
Ben Mankiewicz: So, but I mean, we're like in between houses and fixing up a house and life is incredibly hectic.

00:23:48.612 --> 00:23:50.872
Ben Mankiewicz: She works on East Coast Hours in LA.

00:23:50.872 --> 00:23:57.052
Ben Mankiewicz: So she's up at five in the morning, and you know, like, hey, here's a third dog might not have gone over so well.

00:23:57.052 --> 00:24:07.292
Ben Mankiewicz: And I'm not sure it did at first, but the dog was so beautiful and so wonderful that I was saying to her, like, hey, look, if we can't handle it, like if we take this dog back to the shelter today, he'll get adopted today.

00:24:07.292 --> 00:24:12.452
Ben Mankiewicz: Like she's a beautiful, wonderful, sweet animal, and she'll go like that as she did.

00:24:12.452 --> 00:24:16.432
Jill Rappaport: And now I bet your wife would give up you before she would give up the dog.

00:24:16.852 --> 00:24:20.012
Ben Mankiewicz: I mean, that happened within, like she was like, we're not giving the dog up.

00:24:20.012 --> 00:24:20.872
Ben Mankiewicz: I'm just irritated.

00:24:21.272 --> 00:24:24.832
Ben Mankiewicz: And then by the next day, she's like, I'm not irritated anymore for so much.

00:24:25.112 --> 00:24:26.332
Jill Rappaport: Yeah.

00:24:27.552 --> 00:24:29.332
Jill Rappaport: But there really is something to be said.

00:24:29.332 --> 00:24:31.192
Jill Rappaport: I mean, I don't have human children.

00:24:31.192 --> 00:24:34.432
Jill Rappaport: I have all my, as I call them, my fur angels surrounding me.

00:24:34.432 --> 00:24:36.132
Jill Rappaport: They're looking at me right now too.

00:24:36.132 --> 00:24:39.132
Jill Rappaport: And I've got my horses out in the pastures.

00:24:39.132 --> 00:24:44.212
Jill Rappaport: And they really, during COVID, when we couldn't be near humans, I never felt lonely, Ben.

00:24:44.212 --> 00:24:45.072
Jill Rappaport: I really didn't.

00:24:45.072 --> 00:24:45.932
Jill Rappaport: I just had them over.

00:24:45.932 --> 00:24:52.732
Jill Rappaport: And I never, even when you're sad and depressed, and we all go through that, I look at them and it's just like lifted, right?

00:24:52.732 --> 00:24:56.432
Ben Mankiewicz: Yeah, my previous dog, Rookie, who was the greatest dog, sorry, Baba.

00:24:56.432 --> 00:24:56.932
Ben Mankiewicz: You're close.

00:24:56.932 --> 00:24:58.092
Ben Mankiewicz: You're so close.

00:24:58.092 --> 00:25:00.492
Jill Rappaport: Yeah, cover the ears.

00:25:00.492 --> 00:25:02.512
Ben Mankiewicz: Thankfully, she can't really hear, and she doesn't care.

00:25:02.512 --> 00:25:04.152
Ben Mankiewicz: She's like, hey man, I am what I am.

00:25:04.152 --> 00:25:06.252
Ben Mankiewicz: She's very, she's very, yeah.

00:25:06.252 --> 00:25:13.752
Ben Mankiewicz: Yeah, they all these, all four of our dogs, but Rookie more than any, it was the first animal I'd had who always knew my mood.

00:25:13.752 --> 00:25:25.032
Ben Mankiewicz: I mean, it was just amazing, you know, and I'd come down for a frustrating day, I'd sigh, and wherever that dog was, I'd sigh, that dog came over and, you know, put his head on my lap.

00:25:25.032 --> 00:25:26.512
Ben Mankiewicz: Like, what do I need to do?

00:25:26.512 --> 00:25:35.952
Ben Mankiewicz: And then I'd get, you know, I watch a lot of them, I'm a huge sports fan, I gamble, and I, you know, get a little irritated, and Rookie would be like, I'm going upstairs, not into this, like, no, I'm not.

00:25:35.952 --> 00:25:37.792
Ben Mankiewicz: And I'm like, no, no, it was good, it was good, Rookie.

00:25:37.792 --> 00:25:39.852
Ben Mankiewicz: And she'd be like, see you later.

00:25:39.852 --> 00:25:41.352
Announcer: Yeah, yeah.

00:25:41.352 --> 00:25:43.092
Jill Rappaport: Taking the cue off.

00:25:43.092 --> 00:25:45.352
Ben Mankiewicz: I'd bring Rookie to play, I played softball a lot.

00:25:45.432 --> 00:25:56.492
Ben Mankiewicz: I would love to again, it was getting old, but, and we was in a league in Santa Monica, like slow pitch, you know, an idiot league, but we played league C minus, to give you an idea of how top tier we were.

00:25:56.492 --> 00:25:58.172
Ben Mankiewicz: But I'd bring Rookie, because I was like, oh, this is great.

00:25:58.172 --> 00:26:00.232
Ben Mankiewicz: A bunch of guys sitting around, I put the dog in the car.

00:26:00.232 --> 00:26:02.632
Ben Mankiewicz: Rookie always loved to take a ride anywhere, put him in the car.

00:26:02.632 --> 00:26:08.172
Ben Mankiewicz: But Rookie at softball, like he'd tie him to a fence field, and he would turn his back to play.

00:26:08.172 --> 00:26:11.332
Ben Mankiewicz: Like he didn't like it because it was men emotional.

00:26:11.592 --> 00:26:18.452
Ben Mankiewicz: They'd hit him, and all the things that he associated with me yelling at the TV, because I couldn't get a back door cover on the line.

00:26:18.452 --> 00:26:19.332
Ben Mankiewicz: It was too much for him.

00:26:19.332 --> 00:26:19.892
Ben Mankiewicz: Yeah.

00:26:19.892 --> 00:26:20.892
Ben Mankiewicz: He wouldn't even get out of the car.

00:26:20.892 --> 00:26:21.232
Ben Mankiewicz: That's all.

00:26:21.232 --> 00:26:22.692
Jill Rappaport: I love that name, Rookie.

00:26:22.692 --> 00:26:25.272
Jill Rappaport: I might have to steal that for my next rescue.

00:26:25.272 --> 00:26:25.672
Ben Mankiewicz: Steal away.

00:26:25.672 --> 00:26:28.312
Ben Mankiewicz: My favorite baseball player had one great season is Rookie here.

00:26:28.312 --> 00:26:32.332
Ben Mankiewicz: So I've named a couple of dogs after variations of Mitchell Page.

00:26:32.332 --> 00:26:42.172
Jill Rappaport: Well, these are such great stories and such a great message to our audience all over the world about taking in these wonderful creatures and how they really do rescue us.

00:26:42.172 --> 00:26:51.812
Ben Mankiewicz: Even the stuff that you don't want to do, the cleaning up after them and taking them to, even this morning, they somehow were outside playing and it didn't even rain, but somehow the sprinkler went off.

00:26:51.812 --> 00:26:57.532
Ben Mankiewicz: Anyway, two of them came in incredibly muddy and they ran through the house and they tracked the mud through and I don't know.

00:26:57.532 --> 00:27:01.472
Ben Mankiewicz: Yes, it was a pain in the ass, but I was like, you're like looking after them.

00:27:01.632 --> 00:27:05.312
Ben Mankiewicz: You clean up, even when you have to pick up after them, I always think I'm taking care of them.

00:27:05.312 --> 00:27:06.292
Ben Mankiewicz: I'm taking care of things.

00:27:06.432 --> 00:27:09.512
Ben Mankiewicz: You know, this is my job and I never big picture.

00:27:09.512 --> 00:27:14.272
Ben Mankiewicz: Of course, in moments, you might get irritated, but big picture, it has made me a better person.

00:27:14.272 --> 00:27:15.672
Ben Mankiewicz: There's just no question.

00:27:15.672 --> 00:27:19.012
Ben Mankiewicz: I'm more thoughtful person and a more patient person.

00:27:19.092 --> 00:27:25.132
Ben Mankiewicz: I'm definitely, you know, a more loving person, a much better caretaker for humans because I take care of these guys.

00:27:25.132 --> 00:27:33.692
Jill Rappaport: That is such a wonderful endorsement for everyone to be a perfect pet parent and to want to go out and rescue an animal right now.

00:27:33.692 --> 00:27:35.132
Jill Rappaport: Ben, I can't thank you enough.

00:27:35.452 --> 00:27:40.492
Jill Rappaport: I know you have to run to a very important engagement downtown LA and I know the traffic there.

00:27:40.492 --> 00:27:47.832
Jill Rappaport: So we're not going to keep you any longer, but Ben Mankiewicz, Turner Classic Movies, wonderful animal advocate, great voice.

00:27:47.832 --> 00:27:49.072
Jill Rappaport: I do have a crush on you.

00:27:49.072 --> 00:27:53.272
Jill Rappaport: I can't thank you enough for taking the time to be on Rappaport to the Rescue.

00:27:53.272 --> 00:27:54.392
Jill Rappaport: This was just great.

00:27:54.392 --> 00:27:59.932
Ben Mankiewicz: Well, great, Jill, and I hope we can figure something out between you and the organization and TCM too.

00:28:00.532 --> 00:28:01.172
Ben Mankiewicz: So thanks.

00:28:01.172 --> 00:28:02.132
Jill Rappaport: That will be wonderful.

00:28:02.132 --> 00:28:07.392
Jill Rappaport: Happy and healthy holidays to you and your beautiful family on Two and Four Legs.

00:28:07.392 --> 00:28:08.412
Ben Mankiewicz: Yeah, you as well.

00:28:08.412 --> 00:28:09.072
Ben Mankiewicz: Thanks, Jill.

00:28:09.072 --> 00:28:09.772
Jill Rappaport: Thank you.

00:28:09.772 --> 00:28:15.332
Jill Rappaport: And thank you all for joining us today on this very special edition of Rappaport to the Rescue.

00:28:15.332 --> 00:28:16.672
Announcer: Let's Talk Pets.

00:28:16.672 --> 00:28:18.692
Announcer: Every week on demand.

00:28:18.692 --> 00:28:20.532
Announcer: Only on petliferadio.com.

 

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