The Chris Cuomo Project - Cuomo On The Couch: Thanksgiving

Episode Date: November 24, 2022

In a special Thanksgiving installment of Cuomo On The Couch, Chris Cuomo candidly shares why you need to be need to be thankful for the things that come your way in life, the importance of Thanksgiving as a holiday, why he isn’t grateful for turkey, and more. Follow and subscribe to The Chris Cuomo Project on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube for new episodes every Tuesday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey, I'm Chris Cuomo, and welcome to another special episode of A Chris Cuomo Project. This is Cuomo on the couch. Eventually, it will be just couch potato, seeing how that's the shape I seem determined to put myself in. Subscribe, follow, Thank you. Thank you. I am distracted because what I'm going to talk to you about really matters to me. It is my favorite holiday. And I appreciate you being part of this, this effort, this collaboration. I dig it. Thank you for being free agents. I can't believe that we have found fortune so early on. And by that, I don't mean success. I'm saying proof of premise. The midterms showed that it is about you, okay? They call you swing voters. I don't like that because it suggests that what you do is you leave. The second, third line of the analysis is that you leave a party that you're usually with to go to another one.

I think it's more than that. I think that you're getting away from the parties. And the fastest growing part of the electorate are people who don't want to be identified as Democrat or Republican. And Democrats, I'm not saying that you have as much toxicity in your ranks as the Republicans do right now. You don't, and you certainly shouldn't. You haven't had some Trump figure come in and change the state of play the way they did. And I'm not giving them an excuse. That's just the explanation. And now they're going through their own change. Let's see where they wind up, man. But do know this about yourselves. You take all this comfort in the fact that, well, they're much

worse. Okay, but you're playing their game when you do that. And you were no consensus choices better. You should have blown them out in this election. And you didn't. You don't tell your story well enough. You don't fight well enough. And don't say, well, we're not going to play their game.

You putting money into the most extreme candidates, come on, come on. You were setting yourself up with weak opponents. You were reinforcing what's wrong within their ranks. And I know that that is smart. James Carville is right. That was clever, but I don't think it makes you better. So you guys got to figure it out. I'm not saying that one side is better or worse than the other. It's irrelevant. Both teams are being rejected because the two-party system isn't getting it done for us. There's not enough choice. There's not enough pressure to perform.

Why am I talking a while about this when I want to talk about Thanksgiving? Because to me, everything gets related. And I am thankful for it all. I'm so thankful to be in the mix. I'm so thankful to have properly identified this moment we're having in the declaration of independence, of free agents. That's why I want you to wear this gear. And on the back, it says, are you free? And they're all different gear. You can design your own. I want you to be a provocative element of this. I want you to own it. You know

what I'm saying? I want you to be in the driver's seat of this. And I'm thankful for that. I'm so thankful. And I am so all about the idea of amor fati, loving it all. I think Nietzsche actually coined it, but it's an aspect of stoicism. That in everything that happens, you got to be grateful. And you got to do that. Otherwise, life can make you so bitter, so effing fast. And it doesn't matter how you feel.

It doesn't matter if you're like, oh, poor you or what? Get over yourself. Doesn't matter because the journey is mine. Okay? Look, even those who care about me, who I actually value their opinion, they can't do it for me. They can't make me feel any way about me, who I actually value their opinion, they can't do it for me. They can't make me feel any way about me. I have to do that. So you have to be thankful for what comes your way because it's going to shape you,

either in a way that you design or is designed for you, but life's coming. And you either deal with it on your terms or on life terms. And more often than not, it's going to be on life's terms. So you got to see value in that. You got to see value in the suck. You got to see value in what you guys believe is luck. I don't believe in luck. I believe preparation can meet opportunity.

And I'm thankful for all of it. Why? Because I have to be. I have to be. It's the only way that I can be who I have to be. And that matters to me. And I love Thanksgiving for that reason. The Chris Cuomo Project is supported by Cozy Earth. Why?

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It's not religious. Let's discuss, shall we? Interestingly, the Eucharist, okay, the host, the piece of bread, the wafer that Christians use, Catholics most profoundly as the literal transubstantiation, the changing of substance of body and blood to bread and wine of Jesus. Yes, Catholics believe that's what it is. Hence the incense of the spirit and the ringing of the bell to mark the transubstantiation in the ritual. That's what it becomes for them. Protestants, not so much. It's metaphorical. And you may say, duh, whatever. Look, faith is not about the ability to prove out the reality or truthfulness of the belief. That's not what faith is. That's why they call it so often in their doxologies, the mystery of faith.

Anyway, the word Eucharist means thanksgiving from the Greek. And it means that this is something that we are grateful for, Jesus's sacrifice in that context. To me, it is sacred. What is sacred? What is sacrifice? Sacrifice is the act of making something sacred, meaning you make it holy. You make it sacred. Oh, but there's no God involved. So it's not a holiday. It's not a holy day. Forget about the fact that that's just

way too literal. It's just not accurate. Why? All right, let's take Christmas and Easter. Well, what are you talking about? Jesus's birth and marking his resurrection and death? I mean, what? Really? That's why Christmas is when it is? Because that's not what biblical scholars tell us about when Jesus was born.

So why is it then? Convenience, and so that pagans wouldn't kill Christians. So the Christians matched up the timing of holidays and some of the symbology to be like a lot of the pagan rituals so that the pagans who outnumbered them wouldn't kill them. That's not true. Yes, it is. That's why the symbol is the Christmas tree or one of the symbols. Santa Claus is his own thing. There's a lot of lore and mythology there. Oh, yeah.

What about Easter, though? I mean, that's when it happened. Easter comes from Estrus, okay? The goddess of fertility. It was pagan. The rabbit and the egg, what the hell do they have to do with each other? Cadbury. No, they are symbols of fertility.

the hell do they have to do with each other? Cadbury. No, they are symbols of fertility. And it was lined up with then, again, for protection and also power of common understanding of ritual. That's why it's called that. That's when it's from. So you make accommodations. Don't be so literal, okay? Don't be so harsh, so strict. Thanksgiving is all of the good things that we need to inculcate into our sense of humanity. And I love it. I don't love turkey. Allergies are killing me. I don't love turkey. It doesn't matter what I do to it. Greg's giving me this look. White bread bread, Greg Ott. We like turkey. Shut up. I am, you are a turkey.

I am thankful for Greg Ott, for Jeff, for Rob, my rabbit grin guys who make all this. So beautiful. The quality, so high. The look, so good, right? We're doing this in my apartment. This is in my house. I'm grateful for the opportunity.

I'm grateful to these guys. They work hard. I'm not grateful for turkey because it tastes shitty, okay? I'll eat the dark meat, but I've tried it a hundred different ways. It doesn't matter to me. It's all about the sides anyway. And it's about the people and the family that I choose and the people that have been so good to me

and the recognition of that and being around a table and talking and drinking and experiencing them and this nonsense about how, well, we can't talk about politics. Just talk about what you share. Don't get into some petty bullshit pretending you're me and like testing somebody at the dinner table.

Be better than that. Be thankful. Focus on what you agree on. Focus on what matters to both of you. Don't get into the pettiness of it because that's the game. That's why nothing changes. Immigration. We have no borders. That's not true. We don't have well-protected borders and a process of immigration and assimilation that suck. And I believe the reason they don't fix it, Democrats or Republicans, is because they benefit more from the problem than the solution. So talk about that. Talk about yourselves and what you matter and what your dreams are and what your hopes are for your kids and for each other. And how even though they're a dumb bastard or such a silly woman,

your sister, your brother, your cousin, your uncle, your whatever, your buddy, that you love them and they're in your life and they matter to you and they've been there for you and you want to be there for them. And that's what matters. and you want to be there for them. And that's what matters. All of this other stuff is noise. It's stuff that we're allowing into our lives to distract us from what matters. We're making our own problems in this place.

Kills me, but it's true. And this is a day when you can come. They want us fighting. They want us fighting. They want us fighting. They want that battle. They give lip service to unity, partisans. They don't mean it. They want to win because that's the game and that's the game that we've afforded them. And it's up to us to change it. And we can, we can, we can. We must. We have a duty to that. You wouldn't treat anything else the way we're treating this. You wouldn't. Not your business. Not your business. Not your kid's education. Not your fitness.

Not your marriage. Even if you suck at any or all of those things, you still, very few of us, any or all of those things. You still, very few of us would give in to dynamics that can only make things worse, like completely, constantly. We've got to do better than this. And I love the change in the air. I love it. And I am thankful for that. And I am thankful for the people at NewsNation to give me an opportunity to do what I want to do, which is to talk to independents. Not because media is bad, not because Democrats bad, Republicans bad. No, no, no. It's all good. It's all part of it. It's all necessary. We're blessed with all of it here. It's all good. But we can be better. And there are ways to do that. And I see them and i understand them and

i want to articulate that and i'm so thankful for having that opportunity to do this to have you you have no idea the guys every night who are with me in studio they mean so much to me because they're doing something to allow me to do what I want to do. Dusty, my wife, my kids, my siblings, my friends, my family that I choose, helping me to understand what I was going through and being there for me and helping me get over it and to do what I need to do and to keep perspective. That is what a lucky guy. I don't even believe in luck, okay? What a fortunate guy. What a lucky guy i don't even believe in luck okay what a fortunate guy what a blessed guy and you know we look at those things these days and man was so fast we want to tear people down not me why do you smile so much at bill o'reilly because i think he's funny i think his attacks are

funny man he can't touch me sure he can attack me he can insult me that think his attacks are funny. Man, he can't touch me. Sure, he can attack me. He can insult me. That's his way. I really don't think that he means it in as ugly a way as you guys do. I just think that's his notion of jousting, and that's his personality. It's just not mine. I give my friends and people I care about shit all the time. Don't get me wrong. I'm ruthless, and I love when it's done to me. That's my screwed up way of being some alpha male. That's the way I show affection, I guess. But in debate, in real confrontation, I'm loving when you're trash talking me. That means that your argument is weak because you got to go to the personal, which means you've lost on the policy, whatever it is we're discussing. And that's okay too,

because it's all about provocative discussion. I love that you guys like it. Don't get so hung up. Be thankful for the opportunity to see the contrast. And this isn't some Pollyannish, crazy, self-helpy thing. This is the truth. Be thankful. Because you could just be dead. Because it always can be worse. because you could just be dead because it always can be worse. Man, Jenny Stepanek, if you're out there, I love you. And I appreciate you. And I'm thankful for you. What you taught me with your son, Matty, in the chair, rare disease,

never going to get better. Everything's breaking down. You're now living the cycle that Matty was of, they're always giving you bad news. And you're just going because you're focusing on what you control and you're doing what you can and you know it could be worse. And I'm thankful for the example and I'm thankful for the friendship.

She always tells me, you matter. Know that you matter. Now she says it to everybody, but it's true. And you've got to believe it. And that's what this day is about. It's about the food and the people and the enjoyment of it and the excess. It's okay, man. It's good. You want to play football? Play football. Stretch your ham springs first and tell people that you love them and tell them that you're thankful for them that you love them and tell them that you're thankful for them and mean it. And it is holy.

It is holy. It is spiritual. It is religious. It is profound. It is all of those things because you make it that. It doesn't matter if there's a cross or a star of David or whatever your symbol is hanging over it. It doesn't need it. We don't need anything to make anything good and special except the motivation and desire to make it that. And I mean it. I've always felt this way, but never as profoundly as I do now. Why? Hard times make strong people. They either break you or they make you. And I believe in the grind. I am nobody who deserves not to struggle or suffer. Absolutely. Why wouldn't bad things happen? Why wouldn't things happen to get out of my control and that have outcomes I don't like? Why wouldn't things be difficult? Why shouldn't they be? difficult. Why shouldn't they be? My job is to deal with what comes. Not to say that what has to come has to be something I can deal with. That's not up to me. You want to pray about that,

pray about it. I'm in the game of dealing, and either I can or I can't. Either I control it or I don't, but I can be thankful. 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.

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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. 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.com slash CCP. And you will get personalized ED treatment options. Prescriptions, you need an online consultation with a healthcare 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. I can be thankful. Did I think I'd be sitting on my couch doing a podcast with that botch of a loop in the other room? Nope. But I am. And I'm thankful for the opportunity. And I'm thankful to the advertisers.

Hell yes. And I'm thankful to the sponsors you're going to meet in the new year. And we're going to be doing things by design with them. And I'll be totally transparent about it because I believe in it. That's why. And I'm thankful for all of it. And I'm thankful for what's still hard. And I'm thankful for the haters. I take it all. I don't give it all the same weight, but it all matters because it all shapes. And I am thankful. And Thanksgiving is my favorite. And I know it should be every day. But that's hard.

And it's helpful to have it be set up. It's the same day as my wedding anniversary this year. But, you know, something to be thankful for. Something that I'm flawed and struggling with and trying to be better. And I'm so thankful for the people in my life who cut me a break because I need it. And I appreciate it. I'm thankful for it. And it motivates me to try to need less breaks or less of a break.

And that's why I think that you should milk this mofo for everything it's worth this year and know that I am thankful for you. The subscriptions, the followers, the merch, you're not doing well enough on the merch. I don't know why you don't get it. The stuff is good. This is the most powerful dynamic in our politics right now. The independent voter. You matter the most. Finally, finally. And I figured out a word, Finally, finally. And I figured out a word, not center, not middle.

It was weak and unsatisfying. I'm in the center. I'm in the middle. What happens when you're in the middle of a fight? You're going to get hit. You got to choose a side if you're going to be in a fight. I'm saying don't fight their fight. Let them fight it.

Here's the word. You're not just the center because it depends on the issue. You're not in the middle. You've got determination. You're not lost. You're the core. You're the core. You are the part that matters the most.

You are what is at the root. You are at the center. You are at the center of what matters. You are the hub. And all these other things are fringe spokes. You are the core. You are the core constituency. That's who you are. And I'm thankful for you asserting yourselves and declaring your independence, not out of hate, but out of the love for the notion of better and the contempt for what is keeping us worse. I'm thankful for you. I'm thankful for the good. I'm thankful for the bad,

because either way, I got to use it to get to a better place. And that day allows me to do it. And thank you for giving me the opportunity to do what I think matters for me professionally. It's not everything that I am. And that matters. And I'm thankful for that lesson. I care a hell of a lot more about my family and my friends and who I am to them and the hobbies that I love than I do this. But this matters. This matters. I have my passions. I have my people. They matter more. But I got to have a sense of purpose in my life that extends beyond those things, what I can put into this world. And I am thankful for that opportunity and that realization. The best to you and the family that you choose. And I wish you the

best of everything. And thank you for being the best to me. I appreciate it. I'll be seeing you soon. Happy Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for you. Turkey time. Let's get after it. I say pass.