The Chris Cuomo Project - Cuomo On The Couch: 100 Episodes & Marking Milestones

Episode Date: June 1, 2023

Chris Cuomo reflects on creating 100 episodes of The Chris Cuomo Project, reaching 100,000 subscribers on YouTube, and the importance of marking certain milestones for the purpose of meaning. Follow and subscribe to The Chris Cuomo Project on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube for new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congratulations to us. 100 episodes. 100,000 subscribers on YouTube. Now, you're probably thinking, does he know what that means? No, not really. But I have two points to make about it. One, thank you.

Thank you to the team, to the Rabbit Grin team. Of course, special thanks to Greg Ott, who is the one here with me, doing all of these horrible things that he must do. Top of the list would be paying attention. And, of course, to you. Thank you for the opportunity. This was no given. I am doing this all by myself with my production team who were generous enough and ambitious enough to want to work with me at a time where my stock was not exactly sky high. And I don't have investors.

I am not controlled by anybody else's profit motive or agenda. And that matters. If you look at media, if you look at podcasts, which are seen as more independent, look at behind the big names and you will see that once they make deals, they have people that have an opportunity to weigh in on what is said and how. And I think that corresponds to tendencies. I think that even Joe Rogan, obviously not just the apologies and things

that he has to back away from that he would not have before all the filthy lucre came into his life because money is bad. I don't believe that. I believe money is what you make it. And more of it can be a good thing. Certainly, it's never going to be a substitute for the right things. But you all get that. My point is, when I say free agent, when I say independent, When I say free agent, when I say independent, I'm trying to live it, okay? Nobody tells me what to say or what to do on this podcast. Nobody influences how I approach things or what I approach other than you and what works for you and what doesn't work for you. That's it.

And I don't care who it is, whether it's a Barry Weiss or a Rogan or the Pod Saves America guys, any of them. a Megyn Kelly. There's a reason these people are the way they are, especially when you get into the hostile. There's a reason that they become more and more that way. There's a profit incentive, and there's somebody who's putting money in their pocket, and they have to keep having that money be put in their pocket. And to do that, they have to do what has the money go there. And that's why you see these things become exaggerated in their tendencies and their demonstrations. Now, maybe you like it. And maybe the more exaggerated it gets, the more you like it.

That's fine. I'm not criticizing it. I'm raising awareness of it and that I'm doing it a different way. Now, would we take a deal here? It depends on the deal and who it was. If somebody wants to distribute what we do differently, I guess I'd consider it, but I'm fine with it growing as my own thing. It's expensive, but luckily,

Christina's okay with us investing our money and doing it this way. So my thanks goes to you because that's what it's about for me. My agenda is absolutely trying to make sure that you get the best information and perspective on the same, because context is everything when it comes to analysis and critical thinking. And I am here to help if I can, even if that means by negative instruction. What has not worked for me in my life that maybe you should pay attention to. Arguments I make that make you think, no, I don't agree with that. There's a better way to look at it. Good. I'm not here to be followed. I'm not here to be agreed with. I take a lot more interest in when people say, no, here's why I think differently. That's very helpful to me. Being told that I'm right doesn't really help me grow or change or expand a position, right?

So disagreement with decency is a precious commodity. It's very valuable. It's like a vitamin for your virtue. And I crave it very much. So I thank you. Support for the Chris Cuomo Project comes from Sundays. Now, we got a problem in the Cuomo house. We got three dogs who now like Sundaes better than the other food that I was giving them.

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So make it. Go to drinkag1.com slash ccp. drinkag1.com slash ccp. Check it out. Now, why does this number matter? 100 episodes. 100,000. Why?

A couple of reasons. Maybe three. One, the easiest, the most simple, a lot of our measurements here in the Western world are decimal. So 100 winds up being the full complement of whatever we're measuring, right? And that's how you get to like FDR introducing the first 100 days in office, which we all cling to. That will get me to another reason that we do it. But the decimal system is why we do it.

It is the completeness of our measuring system. 100 is the whole. That's why 100 on a test matters. 100 days, 100 years. We look at our calendar, right? They're all tens, decades, centuries, millennia, right? They're functions of ten. So that's why. Okay, what's the next reason? meaning. And that's okay. I think we should. I think it's good to mark anniversaries. You do have to get into your why, but I think it's important to respect and recognize achievement,

even if it's only in duration. Now, not all duration is a good thing. Sometimes you can be somewhere too long doing something too long the same way. Change can be every bit as much a manifestation of better as the same. And yet, durability, especially in a time of great variation in desire and of pressures and of cultural dynamics. Staying power is something to be respected within the right context. So I believe in that marking for the purpose of meaning. A hundred, whatever, that's what we've assigned, but it's certainly a lot of something, right?

A hundred push-ups, a hundred pull-ups, a hundred anything, a hundred sit-ups is a lot. It's a lot of something right a hundred push-ups a hundred pull-ups a hundred anything hundred setups is a lot it's a lot a hundred bucks you know that used to be like a big deal you know now i don't know right the way people see money but it's like 100 bucks oh right that's why we came up with the 99.99 why because means something. People don't want to flip from double to triple digits. I remember when I turned 10 years old, my brother's friend, Frankie, who called me Rasputin, said to me, enjoy double digits, little brother. You're not going to make it to triple. And it was interesting at the time, I was like, oh, I'm going to die. But later in life, when I reflected on that,

it's interesting because we attach the significance to things. Why? Because we crave significance, okay? For good and no reason. And I think it's okay. So I think it's good to mark things. I'm very appreciative of having marked this. He doesn't seem like he's loving it as much because it's not my measure. It's not my measure. Does durability matter to me? I respect it in certain contexts. You know, I've been doing this over 25 years, not this. And you know what? This is different.

Podcast audience is different than my TV audience. The wants, what works, what resonates is different. And I'm learning. And I like that. I'm one of, I don't know, it's certainly not the many. Failure is much more of a motivator for me than success i want to get better at things uh and i don't take really the satisfaction that i should in being good at things or whatever however you measure that or what we see as success so i crave meaning often in the negative but i do crave meaning and i think we all do And that's why we mark occasions. And I think there's something good in that. In relationships, I think it's good subject to constant review of the state of that thing or that dynamic. What does that mean? Well, I don't know. Your love relationship, okay? Oh, we've been together a long time. Okay.

But look at it in terms of how to make it better and change as the people change and the circumstances change and the needs change that's just as important as the duration uh a company whoa marking our 10th year well that's cool because it's hard to make it but you should mark it not just for this but this. How can we be better? How should we reassess? Now, I think that this is a huge problem in our society, certainly in our governance and in our political culture. We don't look at ourselves in terms of how to be better. Very rarely as a collective do we do that. very rarely as a collective do we do that. And that's what I think we should do more of when it comes to marking meaning.

So 100 episodes, cool. That is a relevant bar in this podcast space. Cool. Better to reach it than not to. Certainly wasn't a fucking guarantee. I'll tell you that. This was a very risky proposition. It was an expensive one. better to reach it than not to certainly wasn't a fucking guarantee i'll tell you that uh this was a very risky proposition it was an expensive one there are a million zillion podcasts um a

million we'll stick with the decimal um uh the exigency of the decimal system and it's hard to break through have we no not to my satisfaction. Better than was expected? Yeah. For all the haters out there saying that the podcast doesn't do well enough often enough, I'm not selling anything. I don't have an agenda. I don't have a provocative message. I'm not attacking others for advantage. And that's what works in our media. Thankfully, less so in this space. But it still works. And again, if you look at those righty cranks, it is almost all antagonism, all hostility, all anti. They are feeding acid to a specific group because it works more than anything else. The story of Tucker Carlson, I'm telling you, is going to be, if anybody does a deep dive,

it's going to be that this is someone who does what works. And that's okay depending on the impact of what you're doing on others. It works. It makes you successful. It makes you resonant. Okay. Well, is that an absolute? No.

It's not even the same as feeding people fast food because there's a different designation of choice when it comes to appetites. Look, you want to drink this, drink this. You want to drink Coke, drink Coke. Is one of them better for you than the other? Yeah, but that's your choice to make, okay? You'll never see me say, yes, the mayor should outlaw soft drinks over a certain size. You have to decide how your life is going to be.

I don't believe it's society's role or government's role to reduce your choices so you can be healthier or better, safer, maybe. Why? Because that comes to your ability to hurt others and to be hurt by others. Oh, wait, but isn't that an extension into diet? I don't see it the same way.

I think it's a matter of degree, okay? But look at all the diabetes, Chris. Look at all the obesity. I get it. I get it. It could just be the higher power of the collective and ethical humanism. We have to make choices about freedom of choice and free will. Okay, if you have free will, then shouldn't that include the will to make good and bad choices? I say yes. We don't fake the funk here, and here's the real talk. Over 40 years of age, 52% of us experience some kind of ED between the ages of 40 and 70. I know it's taboo, it's embarrassing, but it shouldn't be. Thankfully, we now have HIMS, and it's changing the vibe by providing affordable access to ED treatment, and it's all online.

HIMS is changing men's health care. Why? Because it's giving you access to affordable and discreet sexual health treatments. And you do it right from your couch. HIMS provides access to clinically proven generic alternatives to Viagra or Cialis or whatever. And it's up to like 95% cheaper. And there are options as low as two bucks a dose. HIMS has hundreds of thousands of trusted subscribers.

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Plus, the price is going to vary based on product and subscription plan. We don't fake the funk here, and here's the real talk. Over 40 years of age, 52% of us experience some kind of ED between the ages of 40 and 70. I know it's taboo, it's embarrassing, but it shouldn't be. Thankfully, we now have HIMS, and it's changing the vibe by providing affordable access to ED treatment, and it's all online. HIMS is changing men's health care. Why? Because it's giving you access to affordable and discreet sexual health treatments. And you do it right from your couch. HIMS provides access

to clinically proven, generic alternatives to Viagra or Cialis or whatever. And it's up to like 95% cheaper. And their options are as low as $2 a dose. HIMS has hundreds of thousands of trusted subscribers.

So if ED is getting you down, it's time to pick it up. Start your free online visit today at HIMS.com slash CCP. H-I-M-S dot com slash CCP. And you will get personalized ED treatment options. HIMS.com ccp prescriptions you need an online consultation with a health care provider and they will determine if appropriate restrictions apply you see the website you'll get details and important safety information you're going to need a subscription it's required plus price is going to vary based on product and subscription plan.

So, looping back into the point, not all markers of time are the same. But they are all valuable in terms of taking a look at yourself, taking a look at what this thing is. And for me, I'm using the 100 and the 100,000. I don't know what the the subscribers thing mean and i'm still thinking about the subscriber thing um look from what i understand from looking at my own balance sheet and cost structure here i've not just a hard cost like money but soft cost time. Time is really important to me. I work a lot smarter and I spend a lot more empty time with the people who matter to me most. I have a new need and a new respect for literally, if I can get it to happen,

doing nothing with the people that I care about most. I know that that may sound weird, but think about it. Let it sink in. Just chilling outside, watching a sunset, watching the water, going to the beach, messing around with the dogs. I think we really undervalue empty space and time of just being with someone and whatever happens, happens or doesn't happen. So I think a subscription service, I'd need to have somewhere between 10 and 50,000 subscribers. And I'd probably, it'd have to be like, I don't know, a hundred bucks a year. Why? I don't know, because we like make up a number, but in terms of the costs, that'd be about right is that something that you'd want to swing i mean i guarantee there are many things in your life even if you're barely getting by that

you spend more on that you value less but those are all a matter of choice so for me it's a point of appreciation to you and it's also something to make me think about when I mark it, how to make it better, what works, what doesn't, and why. And I think that marking things has meaning, and we should think about what that meaning is. what is this to you and how do you evaluate it and how do you use it to help promote what matters most to you and is best to you. So the Chris Cuomo project stays free. It stays financed by me and worked on by my team that I assemble with ads that I'm comfortable with. And I am comfortable with ads. I actually enjoy doing them. I really do. And I respect the partners and they will never dictate what I'm into or what I'm not into or what I say or what I don't. I would do it for free before I let a paycheck influence my intentions.

And that's not some false idealism. That's a luxury that I have because I have a paying gig. And it's one that I picked at News Nation because of the lack of limitations on me. I've never worked in a place where they require less of me other than success. And that is good for me because I know how to do what I do. And I don't need to be shown a way to be valuable or successful when it comes to cable news television. I need the freedom and the platform and the opportunity to grow. And News Nation has given me all of those things. So thank you for being along for that ride. 100 episodes, 100,000 subscribers.

Would I like to get to 1 million? Yeah. Why? Because the more reach, the more resonance, and the more ability to be useful to people. Well, isn't there another R you're leaving out? Being rich? How much is enough?

How much? How much is enough? Am I a happier guy if I'm worth 10 million versus 1 million versus 100 million? Or am I just playing with decimals again and creating designations that only have meaning because we're told they do? And that is the danger in marking something with a big

number or with any number, is that you give it a significance that maybe it doesn't deserve or a significance that maybe you don't understand or you don't appreciate. Now, maybe you should, but again, marking the meaning is significant either way because it gives you a chance to reassess. So that's what we're doing here on the project. That's what I'm doing as often as I can personally. And yeah, it is my way to expand something that's just supposed to be about me saying, thank you, more please. That's what this is supposed to be into a, why do we even mark 100 in the first place?

That's the way my mind works. That's the way my curiosity works. I like to feed on why, why, why. When I see somebody being successful in this space, I think, why? Why Joe Rogan? Why Marron? Why Shapiro? Why Kelly? Why Carlson? Why are people buying in? Shapiro has a different level of intelligence to what he does, but why are they buying into such haters? Hate parade, why? It's just nasty. It's just people being mean, being vituperative, being vitriolic for profit. Why would that work?

understanding of what are the energies involved and the dynamics and the needs and the desperation and the disaffection and the positive influences and negative influences and how the negative outweigh the positive and how that's such a battle and virtue has always been at a disadvantage. Virtue has always needed to be instructed. Nobody needs to teach you to be selfish. Nobody needs to teach you to be angry and to be violent and selfish and self-centered and self-obsessed These are inclinations that come naturally that we have to fight against so this is What i'm trying to be a part of and you are helping me do that

and that means Everything to me. So 100 episodes, here's to 100 more. 100,000 subscribers, here's to whatever we can get to. And here is to more and better. And thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. I promise you, I do as much with it as I can. I think about it and I try to deliver value to you in as many ways as often and as profoundly as I can. To the extent that it isn't that, that's on me. To the extent that it is that, that's on Greg and the Rabbit Grin guys and on you. So thank you very much. Let's get after it.