Answering Your Questions (with James Corden)

I loved hearing and reading everything you sent. And I'm going to do my best to answer as many questions as we can get through. And to help me do that, I'm delighted to be joined by the one, the only, the most talented, extraordinary host of The Late Late Show, James Bordant. James is truly one of the funniest, nicest, most joyous people I've ever met. He's been spending a lot of time at home with his wife, Julia and their three kids, Max, Carrey and Charlotte. I was thrilled

to talk to him. Hey, James, who is here? Well, I'm good, I hope you are you okay? Well, you know pregnant. Pause, Well, we have nothing to compare. My thing that I've found myself saying over the past twelve months is I have nothing to complain about, but I'm going to give it my best shot. You know, like we are so aware of how outrageously fortunate we are, but the homeschooling, I just realized, I'm just a disaster.

I'm like, I don't know. I found myself with my son just you know, trying to help me with his homework. I would be like, You're not going to need this, You're not going to need this, You'll never need this. This is pointless. And I still have been no, no, no, But I have to do this Dad, and I go now you don't, you don't. What are you going to do when you know you're vaccinated, you're free to move around,

you have plans for you know, the summer. Well, we're hopeful that we will get to go back to London to see how families. It's been a long time since we've it's been the longest time since we moved to America that we haven't been home. You know, that's been tough. I don't think we've ever been so aware of the distance of how far we are from loved ones, and

that has been a challenge. And we're about to jump into questions from my listeners, but before we do that, I'm just interested in knowing what kinds of questions do you get from your fans and your viewers if they get a chance to interact with you. What do they ask you? Oh? Man, Often it's a very different place to place. So often if I'm in Los Angeles, you know, people tend to be very very cool, and they oh, yeah, sure, yeah,

you're gonna show, yeah, whatever, you know. And then if I'm if I'm in London, if I'm back home, mainly people ask me about a sitcom that I wrote for the BBC called Gavin and Stacy. And it's wonderful how much people care about that show and will ask you questions about that. If I'm in New York, certainly, if I'm in sort of midtown New York, if I get stopped by anyone, they'll ask me when I'm coming back

to do a play. And then I'm if I'm at home, I'm mostly asked if i'll just just shut up for a minute, Okay, Well, I'm I'm ready, I'm ready for whatever. You're going to throw at me on behalf of our listeners. We kind of gave them an open invitation, so Lord only knows what they're going to be interested in. Well, we've got a lot of questions here. This first question is from Jake, who's in Amherst, Massachusetts, and he said, how is it being a grandmother? Is it fun? Is

it really stressful? It's both, Jake, I mean it's both. I mean there is so much fun associated with being a grandmother now that I am a grandmother of three, and it's fascinating because they're all so different. And it is also stressful because you're the grandparent, you're not the parent, and I have learned that, you know, I have to back up the parents no matter what, because that's the

right thing for a grandparent to do. So I'm constantly worried, like, oh my gosh, you know what if I give them a piece of candy and it ruins their dinner? I mean, how's that going to play? And as a brit James, you know, one of the things that I did last winter, which was so much fun, was to give really deluded tea with sugar to my granddaughter. We would have tea in the afternoon and we would have a you know, a little cookie or sometimes made little sandwiches, and it

was such a delightful time. And then her parents they made my daughter and sudden law said, you're giving her caffeinated tea and I said, well, so deluded, and they said, she'll be up for hours. So it's an awesome, overwhelmingly positive experience. But it is one that I don't think you just automatically know how to do. You have to kind of grow into it. When Max is born, my mom and dad they were on vacation. They were flying back on the day that Max is born, and they

came straight from the airport, you know. And I'll never you never forget those moments when see your parents holding your child. Me and my dad was sat in this little waiting him and I said, all right, what do you got You got any advice for me? And he's he's pretty good with with advice, my daunt And I'll never forget it, he said. He said, Look, you're going to You're gonna figure out a lot of this on your own, he said, But it's physically impossible, it's an

impossibility that you can love that child too much. He said, you can't. He said, no child ends up in a therapist share saying, Ah, my parents they just loved me too much. They were around all the time. They if I wanted a cuddle, they'd give me. What you know, And and I've I've never I've never ever forgotten that. That's a great piece of advice. All Right, we've got another question here. Pamela has sent in and this is about something that I'm very passionate about too. So let's

see what she's got to say. I live here in Hell's Kitchen, and our Broadway neighborhood is so important to us. We're all anxious for normal to return. Two questions, Number one, what Broadway show did you not get to see that you are looking forward to seeing when Broadway reopens? And also, your two signature policies remain the glue that holds global democracies together. That's a j C. P o A and

the Paris Climate of Court. What do you think the future is for both of those critical unifying global policies. Thank you, Senator Clinton. New York City loves you, and I love you for everything you've done for us and the way you helped us recover. On nine eleven. Thank you, oh gosh, so much. Well, it really really touches me. Pamela Pama really did it there. She managed to move us and also might be the only personal planet Earth to ask question, what is about a Broadway show? In

the second about the Paris climate? New York, James, that's New York. I mean, you know, okay, so two answers to that. I was really looking forward to seeing West Side Story the revival, which I didn't get to see. And I was looking forward to seeing Music Man with

Hugh Jackman, which I also didn't get to see. Now I'm hoping that when Broadway does reopen, and I am fervently hoping that is, you know, as soon as it's safe to do, I hope both of those big productions are going to be there so I can see both of them. You know, your question is such a really important and smart one. Now, the good news is that under the Biden administration, our government has re entered the j c p o A, otherwise known as the Iran Nuclear Deal, to try to figure out how to once

again put a lid on the Iranian nuclear program. And we've gone back into the Climate Accord because, as you know, Pamela. When we were pulled out of the Climate Accord, we were the only country in the world not in it, even though we had been largely behind the negotiations. So thankfully President Biden and Vice President Harris and former Secretary carry who was appointed Global Climate Envoy, are really back in full speed and they just had a big climate

virtual gathering at the White House. They're getting ready for trying to get some of the legislation we need and regulation we need in this country to fulfill President Biden's commitments.

So I've got every finger and toe crossed that we're going to make progress with the Iranians, no easy matter for a lot of reasons, as I am sure you know, and that we are going to make real progress on climate because getting back into the agreement was the first step, but by no means uh the end of the effort. It has to be well thought out and implemented in order for us to deal with the impending consequences of the climate crisis. We're taking a quick break. Stay with us.

We have a question here from Franka. Dear Madam Secretary Hillary Roding Clinton. She's gone full name, She's gone the whole thing. Dear Madam Secretary Hillary Rodington. I am a nineteen year old German girl and freshman in law school in northern Germany. I've always been very good at school and graduated top of my class, and even though I knew law school is very demanding, I feel as though

everyone is smarter and I cannot keep up with them. Thus, I often doubt myself, although I know that I can actually do this. Knowing that you also dealt with self doubts, especially when you are refreshman in Wellesley, my question is how do you overcome self doubts and remind yourself that you are smart and strong enough to face all kinds of challenges and achieve your own dreams. What a wonderful question. Thank you so much for asking. Because you are not alone.

So many young people, and disproportionately young women, begin to doubt themselves as you are expressing. You've done well in school all the way up until now, and now you start to worry that you're not smart enough, you're not good enough, and I'm here to tell you that you are. And there is an affliction that affects too many people,

particularly again women, called the impostor syndrome. You think that you don't belong that everybody is better prepared, everybody is going further than you, and you just have to take some deep breaths, go for some long walks, and recognize that you're good enough. In fact, you're better than good enough. But you're going to have to find some ways of coping with your doubt. And I'm serious about exercise, about meditation,

about yoga, about time with friends, about enough sleep. I mean, lack of sleep can make you doubt everything about yourself. You know, I both went to law school and I taught law school, and I remember telling a lot of my law students that it was like learning a new language, because it is you are learning the language of the law. So sometimes it's a little bit awkward, it can take real effort, and you just have to stick with it. And the final thing I will say is look for

ways to study with your peers. Don't be afraid to say what you don't know in front of your fellow students. Learn from them, find a way to get what they have, and you share what you have so that the end of that cooperation as you're both better than you were. Don't try to go it alone. Don't feel like you know you're not good enough to study with other people,

open up that possibility. There's a lot of evidence that students who study with each other actually do better than students who feel that they have got to do it by themselves. So don't get so hard on yourself that you go into a downward spiral. Find a way to feel that you're doing what you need to do, that you're brave because you're still going forward and you don't have to be perfect because guess what, nobody else is either. And I wish you the very very best. That's a

great answer to a great question. And there's a big difference between self doubt and realistic determination. You know, like I would be filled with self doubt if I, you know, decided after today that I was going to be in the Olympics and that I was going shampion diver. Yeah, it's not going very well, and it isn't because it's excited about totally realistic. But you know, if I want to work on my you know, how I could do a plank? You know that's realistic. So I've got to

work out there. How long can you do a plank? I can go two minutes? No, you I can't I can go two minutes. You need some more self doubt. Okay, we've got a question here from Lex, who, very much unlike Franco, who went with Dear Madam Secretary Hillary Rodin Clinton, Lex has gone Hi Hillary, Hi, Lex. Lex has said, I'm curious how important comedy has been to you while processing dark realities and maintaining sanity in this crazy, crazy world.

What are your favorite sources of comedy and do you remember any recent stand up specials to Oaks or skits that made you laugh? Really? Has you know, humor and comedy, not just professional comedy, but also just day to day humor, is you know, one of the saving graces of my life. I mean, honestly, I don't know how I would survive if I didn't have, you know, funny things happening to me, or people telling me funny things that I can laugh about,

because it's just too hard out there. And when you're in the public eye the way I am, you know, you get kind of anxious that you know you're gonna make a mistake or you're gonna be misunderstood, all of which happens on a regular basis, and you just gotta let it go and the best way to do that is through comedy. So besides James Cordner, you know, there are people who make me think when I laugh, like the comedian Hannah Gadsby who's from Australia, who is an

unlikely comedian. I mean she if you've ever seen her stand up or any other format, you know she is somebody who is very almost flat in her delivery of devastating observations about how people treat each other and how they treated her. She's gay, she's on the autism spectrum. But wow, has she been able talk about self doubt and circumstances in your life? Has she been able to sort of turn it and make something of it? I also, you know, I am somebody who likes the comedy that

is about nothing like Jerry Seinfeld. I think he has a kind of almost casual approach to comedy, which I know it works like crazy to you know, get himself ready. That is just so so relatable. That's the word I'm

looking for. He has an unbelievable brain where he can take something that you do in your life sometimes daily, that you might perhaps think is particular to you, and he has a way of making a joke out of something so ordinary, that's such, that's part of the fabric of your very life, and you see it in a new way. And exactly why did I ever see that before? Somebody else who does that for me is Amy Schumer.

I mean I I love her personally. I find her, you know, incredibly open to the point of almost transparent. I mean, what she went through when she was pregnant, oh my gosh, talk about relatable. It was heartbreaking. But she took even that daily experience, you know, of being pregnant and suffering so much through it and got laughs out of it. And you almost were when you When I watched her special, it was almost like, oh, gosh, am I supposed to laugh? Well she is, and everybody

else is. I think I will. So those are just some of the people that you know, I've watched over the last year or two. She's incredible. Amy once, I think she's so deaf when she's on stage, and she's just incredible. It's people like Amy Schumer, Jerry Seinfeld. Whenever I think, oh, maybe I could try to stand up comedy, I watched their specials and go, don't be an idiot. Of course you can't do this. They're just incredible. Is that a realistic self doubt we've we've got it's a

genuine that's not self doubt. That's my that's my brain looking after me. That's my Yeah, we'll be right back. Okay. We've got a question here from Alexandria. Hi, this is Alexandria calling from Vermont. I'd really like to know if you had not been a lawyer or go into politics, what other career would you have life have done or what do you wish you could still pursue. Thanks so much. Oh, what a great question. You know. I've always loved to teach.

I could have very happily stayed in teaching at some level. I also really like to write. I'm writing a political thriller right now with my good friend Louise Penny, the mystery writer, and I find that both challenging and gratifying. I think those are the two things that I would have, you know, maybe pursued more full time. We have a

question here from Rachel. He says, based on your experience as a U. S. Senator, secretary of state, presidential candidate, informed citizens, etcetera, what national security issue gives you the most concerned and what can average folks like yours truly due to impact policies. Besides supporting, voting, donating to leaders who do the right thing, Rachel, there are two things

that really do keep me up at night. One we talked about briefly already climate change, because I think there's gonna be a cascade of effects a lot of coastal areas, including in the United States, but most particularly small island nations, poor nations with you know, low lying coastland are going to be facing terrible consequences quite soon. It's going to be difficult to reverse quickly, so we're going to have to figure out how to help people. We've already moved

villages in Alaska away from the coast. So climate change is a truly serious threat, and you do have to keep the pressure on political leaders to do the right thing. The second is the constant worry about nuclear weapons falling into the wrong hands, either a rogue state like North Korea or a nihilistic terrorist group that would use them for impact. How many people they could kill, how many

people they literally could terrorize. And I know from the experiences that you recounted that I've had that keeping nuclear weapons material out of the hands of bad guys is a constant worry for those of us who have any kind of position of responsibility. So those are the two

things that I think about a lot. But to Rachel's point, because I think sometimes it can feel so overwhelming, where if I allow myself to think about artificial intelligence, which I get terrified by, or in this past twelve months of the pandemic, I found myself reading about things like the neper virus, which I suddenly just feel an overwhelming

sort of tightening in my chest. Like to Rachel's point, sometimes the problems feel so huge, yes, and we feel so small, so irrelevant, indise outside of supporting, voting, donating that she says, what are some of those things? Well,

I don't. I don't want to quickly gloss over what she listed because think of the difference it makes, you know, if I think about the two issues I mentioned or the one you just mentioned, pandemics, what a difference leadership makes, you know, to have the movement from a president who denied climate change, a president who has quoted in public saying what good or nuclear weapons if you don't use them? A president who's in difference and negligence cost us lives

in the pandemic. It really does make a difference who you vote for and who you elect. And we've got to elect people who are competent to do the complicated work of making these difficult decisions. We've got to get away from entertainers and bomb throwers and conspiracy theorists in order to get people frankly like Joe Biden, who has lived through a lot, He's learned from his mistakes, He's

seen what works and doesn't work. And you can agree or disagree with him, but you know that he's giving the kind of thoughtful consideration that you want from a leader. The additional thing is be active on social media on behalf of you know, sensible approaches, like people who won't get vaccinated. You know, try to think through who do you know that won't get vaccinated? Is there any way that they would listen to, any reason as to why

it would make a difference. So how can you help convince people to make decisions that are in our interests and their interests first and foremost? And call out the disinformation and the efforts to send people down rabbit holes of conspiracy theories and the like. Trying within your own community to you know, be an active participant in these kinds of discussions. You never know who might respond. I think that's a big part of citizenship these days. That's

a great answer and a great question, Rachel. And this next question is from Kelly. She said, Hi, Hillary, we know that Mr Clinton played the saxophone. I'm curious if he still plays today, and if you play any instruments and do you ever have family jam sessions? Bill does still practice his saxophone as annoying as it sounds, No, because it makes him so happy. Uh, And the fact is that he, uh, he doesn't practice enough anymore because he's he's tied up in writing a book himself and

doing some other things. But it makes him really happy. And I, unfortunately, you know, took piano lessons for a number of years, but I'm not in any way up to accompanying him. He at one time, many years ago, was had a good saxophonist, but he wasn't as good

as he wanted to beat um. He made a very difficult personal decision because when he was getting out of high school, he got a lot of scholarships to play in bands at schools that were really well known for their music programs, and he decided that he would never be as good as he would want to be to make it a professional living for himself. So he ended up going to Georgetown. Obviously, you know, politics was another

real interest of his. But he's always loved music. We have a little music room where he keeps all of his saxophones, and he brings our grandchildren up there. He has harmonicas and horns to blow, and so the closest we get to a jam session is me being a very appreciative audience of Bill and our grandchildren making lots and lots of noise, which they love to do, and hopefully, you know, the years to come it might actually turn into music. Is fantastic, What an incredible thing. My father

was a saxophone plan so that around the house. Yeah, it really is. If you could be gifted to any instrument, which instrument would you pick? I would go back to the piano. I really regret not sticking with it. You know, I got into high school. There were other things I was more interested in. My mother was self taught and then took lessons when she was much older. I have her piano in our house in Washington with literally the sheet music on it that she was practicing the days

she passed away. And so for me, the piano is an instrument that you can, you know, enjoy for yourself, but also be part of a group that is having fun with it. And yeah, I wish I had had stuck with the piano. Yes, if I could pause on any advice to a young person, it would be, don't give up the instrument you're learning, because you never meet you never meet anybody in adult life who goes I wish I couldn't play the piano exactly, if only I

couldn't play this guitar. You know, it's always always going to be a skill. Where did you know you could sing? James? When? When were you a young young child? Well, I don't remember a time I didn't want to perform. And my when I was younger, we were. My parents aren't part of it anymore. They go to a different church. But we grew up in the Savage An Army, so we would sing music everywhere. We would sing every weekend. There

was brass bands, all those things. And then my dad started getting me and my sister's singing lessons, and I also I started learning the piano and gave up, which I regret hugely. I also used to play the trumpet, which I gave up, and I don't regret that for a second because I can't think of anything worse than me being like, hey, guys, I want to listen to me play the trump but no, So it was a round about then, really, I guess, but I don't know. I can carry a tune. I wouldn't say I'm in

any way remotely a singer. Oh I would disagree with that. Well we will, we will agree to disagree. That's all of our questions, James. I. I love talking with you, and what's questions from our listeners? Thank you for facilitating that for them. Incredible. You know what I think we should do, Henry. Next time Kelly and Ryan want to take a week off, we shall do it. We'll do live with Hillary and James. I am so ready for that. You they can take a week off whenever we want

and we'll be there. Sign me up, Sign me up, James, I am more than ready. And you know I'll even practice my singing so I can, you know, try to do karaoke with you. Nothing would give me more pleasure. Thank you, my friend, and I love being with you under any certain come stands anywhere anytime. You can find James Cordon hosting the Late Late Show every weeknight on CBS. You know, going back to Rachel's question, there is another issue that's kept me up at night, though thankfully not

one pertaining to national security. And that is all the questions we didn't get to answer for this episode. So we're going to try to fit a few more in right here, right now, with the help of my friend Nick. You may recognize his voice, Okay, Nick, fire away, Okay, okay, So this first one is a voicemail. Hi. My name is Jeremy from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The first time I ever voted was in the election for Secretary Clinton. I was curious about carried in risk tax loopholes and other capital

games laws that have favored the rich. I want to know why it's taken so long for the party to try and close these loopholes, and why we think it's important to do so, or if we don't think it's a big issue to focus on. Oh, Jeremy, it's wonderful hearing from you. And I have tried to get rid of the carried interests tax loophole for a really long time. It was in my platform when I ran for president. I talked about it even when I was in the Senate.

The problem is we just didn't have the votes. But now I think under the Biden Harris administration, it's clear they're going to try to close loopholes like the carried interest one, and also try to increase taxes on the wealthiest of us and on corporations so that our tax laws are fairer number one. But number two, the taxes raised from doing that will help to fund the American Family's Plan and more of the terrific ideas that the Biden Harris administration has put forth. Okay, turning now to

some of the emails we got. This one is from Takuma. Takuma wrote, have you ever spoken to Prime Minister Jacinda ar Turn And if so, what did you two speak about? Oh? Thank you so much to Kuma. And yes, I have not only spoken to Prime Minister just Sinda Artern. I have actually met her when I was in New Zealand back. Oh my gosh, when was it. I lose track of time.

She was very pregnant and we had a breakfast meeting and I got a chance to talk with her about number one being in public life, being an elected official, being pregnant, how her life was going to change, how she was going to handle the challenges of motherhood, plus being a prime minister. And I have to say I

am such a fan. She has done an extraordinary job, first with the horrific mosque shooting, the way that she comforted people making sure it didn't happen again by introducing and getting past gun safety measures, and then of course the way she and her government led through the COVID nineteen crisis. New Zealand is back to normal. You know, they're holding concerts and sporting events because they had smart, science based leadership that made the right decisions when it

was really important. So I looked to her as one of my favorite leaders in the entire world. So I was with you on this trip, and I remember what I was struck by the most is the thing that I sort of say to people about you, which is that she's got this very warm, approachable way about her that you conveys power and authority and competence, but also

just feels like a way. I hope this is a favorable description that I described you to people at sometimes, which is you're just like the really smart mom from down the street who's a lawyer and does all these things, but like, at the end of the day, you're a human being who just wants to do some good in the world and cares about the people around you and takes an interest in their lives. And it was the same with the Prime Minister. She's the real deal. Okay,

So here is another email. This one is from Emma, and I'm gonna read it to you. What can teens do right now if they have an interest in a job in public service? And what are some fundamental skills that we can build upon? Now? Oh am, I love this question because there's a lot you can do. Obviously, I'm a huge believer in getting the best education you can possibly get because that's going to prepare you for

whatever happens next. But get involved in uh charitable events, community activities, volunteer on a campaign in turn for a local official. And the fundamental skills not only obviously that educational base which is so important, but getting to know how to communicate with different kinds of people, Uh, know how to make an argument, know how to do research about a problem. Maybe there's an environmental issue that you're

really focused on in your community. Well, educate yourself, do everything you can to find out what could be done. Who are the decision makers. Maybe there's something at your school that you think needs to be fixed or changed. Just dive in and look for opportunities that can not only teach you and prepare you, but where you could really make some actual change. Okay, I'm so glad that we had a chance to take some more of these

great questions from your listeners. And um, you know, while I have some got your questions of my own, I think yeah, we'll do those offline. Okay, Nick, I'm wondering about a lot of things. Okay, As I said earlier, this is the last episode of the season. It has gone by so fast, but we'll be back this fall

with season three. So please stay tuned. Thanks for listening, and I hope you too can take a little break, read some great books, spend time outside, see your friends and family, especially if you've been vaccinated, and if you haven't, please do it. And of course now is a great time to catch up on any episodes you might have missed from seasons one and two. We'll be back before you know it. Stay safe, get vaccinated, and enjoy your post vaccinated life. My Friend, You, Me Both is brought

to you by I Heart Radio. We're produced by Julie Subran, Kathleen Russo and Lauren Peterson, with help from Kuma Aberdeen, Nicki E. Tour, Oscar Flores, Lindsay Hoffman, Brianna Johnson, Nick Merrill, Rob Russo, and Lona Valmiro. Our engineer is Zack McNeice and the original music is by Forest Gray. If you like You and Me Both, please help spread the word, tell your friends about it, post about it on social media, and make sure to hit the subscribe buttons so you

never miss an episode. You can do that on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening.