Larry King on What 60,000 Interviews taught him with Lewis Howes

welcome everyone back to the school greatness podcast very excited we have the legendary Larry King in the house thanks for me it was happy to be here I'm very excited and we we met at John Astaroth dinner party a couple months ago I don't know if you remember this but it was at Wolfgang Puck's place Spago right is that the place yeah we had that dinner dinner were one of about 10 12 people yeah and we got to ask you a lot of questions yeah it was a nice booking it's a great yeah he's I hate me there you go how would you like I'll give you this and you'll come and sit and have been in ten people sit around ask you questions I said that's what I do every day exactly and I remember that was fun that was fun I remember thinking I wish I had my podcast set up to record this whole thing because the conversation was incredible it was very funny and it was it was great yeah and Wolfgang came in and said hi and told stories about what you guys used to do back in the day or whatever so first off thanks for coming on and I want to acknowledge you for the incredible work you've done you've inspired me so much I think in this part every interviewer in the world so I can't tell you John I can't believe it myself I know I do I pinch myself a lot you know I'm next May first I will have been on the air 60 years 60 years and I think I've done 60,000 interviews I I always wanted to be a broadcaster I used to dream about it when I was a kid when I was five years old other people want to be in a doctors lawyers firemen I wanted to be on the air I didn't think I'd be an interviewer I finally got into it in Miami in 1957 I thought oh be a sportscaster you know I loved going to Dodger games and but it worked out that I went from being a disc jockey into doing a show at a restaurant and started interviewing people I loved it I was so at home really yeah I didn't have we didn't have any guest booked so I never knew what what every day was a surprise you know I just people coming in one day Bobby Darin walked in Jimmy Hoffa walked in Danny Thomas and I got to interview this man didn't plan I didn't know they were coming so I got to like the immediacy of it I love working live and I'm not planning it not planning a Gooden blam right and then when it's television then we started booking guests and then I did radion to always did both my whole career always did radio dis started the first national talk radio show on mutual Broadcasting there was in 1978 and then an 85 Ted Turner came and hired me for CNN hmm and then I did the first worldwide talk show so I was kind of like a pioneer and then four years ago I hooked up with Carlos Slim one of the richest men in the world out of time he was the richest and he financed our site called Larry King now on or on was my wife's idea and so we got this torture on the internet just started our fifth year I do a podcast with my wife which we will have you on and then just I saw I'm gonna be 82 years old in November and I can't I can't believe I don't feel 82 I don't know where it all went I mean where did all the years go and all the people people I've interviewed and I think of people come up to me and say you know I heard your interview with Count Basie 60 is basically either your Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald and Louie Armstrong all those behind them and seven eight presidents you know and it's still in everyday presence you know it's still it's still a hoot to me I still loved still of doing it I still have asking questions I also love comedy mm-hmm I when I do a speaking I only speak and tell funny stories I do not speak seriously I worked a lot of conventions Tony Robbins that's where I first saw I worked on Tony Robbins yep I worked on other those self-help things that I was go on and say what am I doing here he pushes to sell I don't have nothing to sell right and I just tell stories and Tony's wild to work with Tony used to introduce me by starting on the stage and taking L give me an hour come in and then run through the audience go up to the balcony run across the balcony you know spelling out my name until he got down until finally Larry King and I I said that I think we got to put a rocket up his rear and shoot Tony up to the clouds he will not be happy until we sort of blast him off to Jupiter sure but a lot of fun with Tony and so I like doing this and fact that's one of my favorite things to go out on a bare stage there's nothing like the high you get when you can make people laugh and you can walk out cold nothing behind you no script no play no guest just go out so I did a comedy tour two years ago we worked Boston and Miami and all over the south and was just great just going out on stage we we knew where we were going with it it was that and directed but a lot of times would be ad-lib and I I just loved it I loved going out then a lot of my friends at comics and I've always admired comics I loved interviewing comics comics see the world differently they see things funny you know so what is funny funny what is not funny to most people can be funny the comics and I've learned a lot from that I learned the timing yeah you know yeah I learned you know like sitting certain cities like no Brooks told me there's certain cities that are funny what's the funniest thing Albuquerque is funny it's funny Chicago isn't funny just the sound Albuquerque Oh gotcha yeah is funny you know Houston is funny Dallas isn't I don't know why just you don't even have to agree sure it's just part of the whole make up what's that what's your favorite joke that you love to tell or know I've got if you can only tell one joke what's the one you love it's some of the most recent ones I've heard well I'll give you two yes there's a train that goes every night from New York to Chicago it's an all Pullman train all sleeper leaves New York at 1:00 the morning and gets to Chicago at 10:00 in the morning guy checks into his compartment and suddenly the door opens in a woman checks in now normally Amtrak would not sell a single woman a single man to spend a night together but the was the last scene on the train the woman insists that she had to be in Chicago so they said okay she got into the lower berth the man got into the upper berth and the train began his Trek mm-hmm after a while the man leaned over and said I'm a little chilled could I borrow a blanket the woman looked up and said you know we're never gonna see each other again we're on this train for one night going to Chicago we've got nine hours together we just snuggle up a little why don't we why don't we play man and wife you and me man wife I said sure he says could get your own goddamn blink there's a funny yes this in Aragon this company that chops down trees is hiring people to chop down trees a foreman is interviewing people and a one-armed [ __ ] shows up a [ __ ] with one arm applying for a job as a treat spreader and the foreman says you gotta be kidding he says no I think top down trees he says okay here's an axe go out there and there's a bunch of trees chopping down the [ __ ] goes out carrying the axe along the ground picks it up and whack knocks down 20 trees in a minute whack he comes back performance says you are the greatest tree cutter I have ever seen yeah you're hired you're unbelievable you're a one-armed [ __ ] but jaha where did you work West he says I worked the Sahara forest he says you mean the desert he says well now that's funny but I mean even going this way going that way that's fine I like that I love jokes that's cool who is the greatest comedian you've ever interviewed who made you just was so well I have so many great you know that from the Don Rickles to the Bill Cosby and his prime was phenomenal comedian Jerry Seinfeld but if I had to pick one guy to be really funny Mel Brooks he's 90 now but he did the producers he did you know that great western movie that he did Young Frankenstein but his mind he did the 2000 year old man which is the funniest comedy album ever made I was sent at first when I was in Miami and I got to play it first and I never I didn't know who Mel Brooks was I knew Carl Reiner and it was about an album about a guy interviewing the guy who's 2,000 years old and all of it was ad lib and I put that on and I fell on the floor Wow and I used I would play it with Mel when I was with him you know ii thought you asked him anything about 2,000 years ago guy lived 2,000 years here and i started to listen to it he said you're uh he says we're here at Idlewild Airport in a man is arriving who claims to be 2000 years old not yet shall be 2000 act over 23rd what was a what was your first language the rock language the rock language can you give me an example yeah hey don't throw that rock at me are you anyone all the way talk about Shakespeare no anyway he's still that funny his mind is that quick so I would say he says what Rickles puts me on the floor to the pizza me Elvis sure my wife opened for Rickles in Vegas and Atlantic City and he's just he's been kidding me for 55 years sure what is it about people that still fascinates you 60,000 degrees later why are you still fascinated uh the world I guess the word I would use would be passion I have a passion for curiosity I am I'm not the kind of person you want to sit next to on an airplane of course if you want to sleep yeah because I want to I want to just ask questions right and that has never left me which is why I love sports so much because I feel sorry for people who are in sports fans because when I get up every day like tonight there's 15 games in baseball I don't know who's gonna win right the wonder of it who's gonna win what they do what he do will he do what happened who'd got traded Wow so I love sport I love asking questions but I also love the curia who's gonna win the election it's pretty fascinating right now yeah but the whole thing is is a wonder I know everybody involved you know that's part of you interviewed both of them many times I know Donald really well so all them up but the curiosity I flew that six months ago from New York to LA and on the plane was the president of Audi the motor car company my dream crazy I learned more about cars building cars our cars are sold what they want you to do when you buy a car out it was on believe I'll give you some things ready sir always find out the day your car was made and never buy a car made Monday or Friday because on Friday they're anxious to go home and on Monday they just got that right that stays Wednesday the middle of the week that totally and the shark throne the flow if you're buying a car the best way is to have cash they want you to buy on time because the dealer makes half the money on the interest the bank makes out the money of the dealer gets half the money in their charging like four or five percent right they don't want to pay as they want they you know you're gonna buy so you go in and tell them you're financing you know you might need forty eight months maybe fifty six months okay so this price is 53 I could bring it I could I could bring it down to forty seven thousand for you you're gonna do forty eight months so it's 46 47 the price - right you beat them right but these are all little things I owe I would ask him about mica why they're lemons I've come cars now does the anti lemon law which never was before you know we have an ante limit launched what is that you get a lemon you get a new car really they can't fix it they've got to get you a new car that never was in the past they get they keep trying to give you a loaner sure now they gotta fix it they gotta fix it or give you a new one okay these are little things I learned in the passing of life by asking questions you know so I never learned anything when I was talking that was my motto on here so I asked short questions you gotta be a good listener often an answer brings a question yeah and if you're a good listener and you stay focused and you're naturally curious interviewing is a great way to make a little and you don't really prepare for your interviews you never did well like what I do is I'll go over some notes you know actually at CNN you're doing a worldwide interview and you haven't a senator on you'll go over some notes right but know I'm proper I don't do six hours of sit around watching videos because I never wanted to ask a question I knew the answer to so if I read so much about you you didn't know everything I would know everything it's the opposite of the criminal lawyer the criminal lawyer never wants to be surprised in court so he wants to thoroughly know what's gonna be if he's surprised he's done something wrong man I want to be surprised all the time hmm where did that curiosity come from don't know why my brother's a lawyer my father died when I was nine and a half years old he was a refugee from Austria he tried to enlist he couldn't enlist so he was working in a defense plant he was very funny I remember that I got it from him I remember him being very funny and my mother was a housewife a wonderful woman he died when he was I don't know where I got the curiosity from but I always have it I had it in school even though I wasn't a good student I impressed teachers I wasn't a good student because I I didn't like being tested I hate this I I was a pretty good student before my father died then after that I sort of coasted mm-hmm who was more influential in your life growing up or the most influential person here mom dad or someone else the radio the radio was my life so I listened to all the author Godfrey so I gave later got to know and the broadcasters of the Edwin amuro's and the news guests I listened to the Tim renown voice and had a great effect on me because it was a every day and we didn't have television television came in like 49 I was 133 so I was 16 when we got our television said I was 17 so everything I got it was through the mind and through the ear so I was very attuned to voices still I hate texting right I want to he got the old-school flip phone that's what I have but a really text that easy I don't touched I can receive a text right but I I to me it's like I know it can be important emergency but it's mostly a cop-out yeah you can say no you know you don't have to answers like I to me I'm I'm a I'm a communicator yeah and I love the art of community that's what I do in my course I have a course called yep the art of was what's the time the secret is a great communication Brenda Bouchard right he's Brenda Rashad and it's called Larry's course comm you go to Larry's course calm it's 10 10 different courses cool all based on my book how to talk to anyone anytime anywhere which is still in print and so I try to help people through this course yeah learn how to communicate there's the biggest fear the biggest fear people have is public speaking biggest that's bigger than any holiday affair flying through getting up in front of an audience and I try of afraid to speak in front of public or the first time until I learned I learned my first down the air alright how to use it and it was it was so simple to me I was nervous as hell my name is Larry Zeiger I'd wanted to be in broadcasting all my life I'm in Miami living with my uncle and I get a job at a small radio station very small what year is this 19 1957 okay beat 60 years next May Wow and they hire me and they say you're gonna be a disc jockey played music and you'll do news and sports and he asked them in you got to work all day $50 a week and I'm starting on a Monday and the whole weekend I can't sleep I mean I'm up and I'm planting my records what I'm gonna play what I'm gonna say I'm looking in the mirror good morning good morning unbelievable now it's the first day May 1st 1957 it's a quarter nine didn't sleep all week weekend I'm up ready to go and the general manager calls me in Marshall Marshall Simmons great guy and he said to me Larry this your first day on the air we wish you the best of luck it's a great great business to be in and we got a nice voice I think you could make it I said thank you said now what name you're gonna use I look at the clock it's 10:00 to 9:00 I go on at 9:00 wouldn't name use I said you said you can't use Zeiger it's too ethnic people won't know how to spell it you know they without you now you'd have the name if Engelbert Humperdinck adapted a rock it up Schwarzenegger yeah of course so he says your name is Larry King and you know how he got it he had the Miami Herald open and there was an ad for Kings wholesale liquors Wow and he says how about Larry King I said okay I'll a they legally changed sure and now I go in to go on the air and I cue to record up les l guards swinging down the lane Don did that to them don't I still remember it hot day in Miami records playing ice lower the music down turn the mic on nothing comes out I bring the music back up bring the music back down and not and I look at the clock I was like three minutes after 9:00 and I'm saying to myself all my life I wanted this and I'm scared and I can't I can't do it I'm too nervous so the whole thing is blown and Marshall Simmons the general manager kicked open the door to the control room and he said this is a communications business damn it to communicate I turned the record down put the mic on and I can almost remember it'll verbatim good morning my name is Larry King that's the first time I've said that because I've just been given that name all my life I wanted to be in broadcasting and this is my first day ever on the air and I'm scared to death you said this Oh tell them so I've got a new name I've got a show to do for three hours first time on air he'll do news in the afternoon so please bear with me now later such greats as Jackie Gleason heard that story and Arthur Godfrey Johnny Carson they all said you discovered that day what the secret is what's the secret there's no secret to yourself if yourself is gonna work it's gonna work you can't grab the microphone or the camera and make them like you I can't make someone listening to us now continue to listen yeah so all I can be with you is direct answer what you ask try to be conversational and hope that that works if it works now I've had 60 years of something how to work right yeah but I doesn't go on planning that boy this is gonna work that's gonna work I just trusted my instinct and every great broadcaster through the years that I've known interviewed admired read about trusted their instinct Edward our Merlin World War two unbelievable being London during the bombing and I could this is Edward Murrow this is London and you'd hear bombs in the background that's why I love about radio because radio you can paint a picture mmm no one Rod Serling once told me guy did Twilight Zone he directed and produced all of Twilight Zone and he used to write for radio mm-hmm I said well what's the difference he says well when I write for radio I could write there is a long dark castle at the top of this winding road that seemingly leads to nowhere little organ music behind you and you can picture that guess any way you want absolutely they go picture that road anyway what if I do the same writing for television they say okay rod what kind of casting you want we'll put the 3.8 gas at one point I want a flat Castle so it become your a medley imagination of radio is unmatched wish you could use the power of the voice to do anything hmm I could take you anywhere arch over the great director of lights out lights out was a great scary radio show years ago I had him on my radio show and he I said give me a description radio and he started to describe and insect crawling up my arm with seven legs and a green face little hissing sound going on he's at your elbow now he's climbing up the back all he had to do was that right he was sitting there and I got scared he used to do show lights out it began this way Sunday night 10:00 o'clock crawl under your couch turn down your blinds shut off the radio and turn your lights a tail well calculated to keep you in suspense those were incredible days and I benefited from all that I've benefited from all the drama or news all the sports where I listen to red bother doing baseball I listen to Vince Scully's first game Scully learned baseball from Barbara I learned baseball for IC then all the time at Dodger games he's 89 years old been doing it for 67 years while I remember listening to his first broadcast there is something about and that's a radio baseball on radio yeah you can create the drama because she got pacing other sports don't give me the page you know football timing in between yeah you got that to build it'll be anticipation with red would tell you about the city he was in what's in Cincinnati and where the clouds are in the sky you know the crowds coming in and the turnstiles really painted a picture yeah that's what you do you paint a picture and so I can almost Marty click when it was a great basketball announcer he was so good I could see the game I could see the game you didn't need TV didn't eat it mmm he finally got every pass right where the player was who the play was what was I just he just knew it I know did you do sports broadcast I did I did I did dolphin football for six years I did color I did the perfect season well I knew the grease ease and the kicks and the Warfield's and Manny Fernandez and Nick Buoniconti and Don Shula's a friend and who was the greatest your favorite sports athlete that you've ever interviewed and with you Ally would be way up at top Molly was the best no one of you terminus prime or in his prime when he was interviewed and when he won the Olympics Wow it's Cassius Clay yeah he was not the heavyweight champion it's the light heavyweight champion of the Olympics in Rome in 1960 he trained in Miami so I was doing a local radio show he came on then he came on my television show then he was banned from the sport when he changed his name I remember the day changed his name I was at the weigh-in when he fought list him Wow and he was acting crazy I mean he's going nuts yeah I'm gonna fight me now if I've been a and I met the medical examiner and I said I don't think he's gonna show up because he looks you know with Crais medical examiner said his blood pressure's normal it's all an act amazing so his blood pressure was 120 over 80 amazing he was pulling away up there but a lot of others - Joe Namath was one of my favorites because he was always himself mm-hmm Joe was great at that but I've been fortunate to talk to Sam Musial yeah a lot of football players a lot of football quarterbacks I learned a lot talking to sports people but it was well as the athlete has something we don't have their career ends when ours begins as Joe Namath there was a book about Joe call when the cheering stops I was with Joe two years ago and Cleveland had all the Hall of Famers there yeah he goes into a restaurant now some people recognize him but my kids wouldn't know man the cheering stops so you get to be 35 36 years old it's over whereas you know my career started to blossom when I was 43 right you know misses it but you know and the athlete faces another thing that we don't face winning and losing we do not have a daily final score right we don't have it you could have ratings but there every six months and then the be out leave you go out to play every week there's a game every day in baseball yeah what was the final score you could have all the issues was six three alone sucks every day you feel great or bad right that's what I love about Shula told me once he couldn't be a loved baseball but he couldn't be a baseball manager because he couldn't stand in the best of teams losing 50 games but the other side is you come back tomorrow mmm football you gotta wait a week that's misery hurts for a week you're a football player yeah the pain of football I got to know it hanging around locker rooms and seeing pain seeing seeing concussions yeah which they now was footballs in long range trouble yeah I wouldn't want my kids to play yeah I'm happy they played baseball I'm glad I got out I glad I got injured my wrist and not my head when I step son Danny he still plays in the Arena League yeah and the fear is you're gonna get I hate to see bodies getting hurt there the difference is in baseball if anything violent occurs it's in an estimate of the game the guy gets hit by a pitch blood is wrong you feel terrible yeah football you see that rock did he hit him wall what a shot wolf helmets went to the ground he hit him helmet the helmet oh great get back up and do it again that's right let's get back up on duty Wow okay who is the most fascinating interview of all time via to choose one or the most interesting person there's an impossible they're all interesting right no they're not all interesting but when you get to people like Martin Luther King Malcolm X Frank Sinatra all the presidents people who are just everyday people people who are fascinating people fascinate me why because everybody has something I'll tell you I haven't told us in a long time I'm in New York doing my television show Larry King Live and someone recommends you oughta book this New York City top on he's a captain he's in the public relations area he doesn't he doesn't walk a beat he goes around talks to schools and groups so okay we'll have mother figure be another PR kind of thing I'm sure and he comes in with a beautiful wife and a little son except he's paralyzed from the neck down oh he's in the wheelchair paralyzed neck down and we're talking you know he stays father was a policeman his grandfather's a policeman he would love his son it was only two or three to be a policeman he can't feel his son and son can kiss him on the cheek he'd feel that but he can't hold his up so we get around to this how he got paralyzed he was in New York City club and their work in Central Park and they've had a lot of bike robberies the report said the captain tells him that morning look out for bike robberies does a lot about our society relates to right now - yeah relate this story relates to right now so he's in the squad car they're driving through the park and he see a black kid with a brand-new Schwinn bike they pull over the a driver stays in the car he gets out to approach the kid about the bike and the kid shoots him he was right he members the puffs of smoke going up the ambulance comes to give him last rites in the car and he goes in and he recovers except he's paralyzed for life huh neck down his child was a month old his beautiful wife he loves cuffs so much he wanted to stay so he's doing PR in a wheelchair and one day says I'm very I really want to meet the kid that shot me Wow I think that's the kid or the other who's right there the other cappadoccia the kid surrendered okay and he goes to visit the kid the kids in jail I think he got 10 years or some attempted murder and he visits him goes into a cell and he says why'd you shoot me and the kid said I'm an A student my brother is a bad kid and he'd left town to go to Philadelphia and he said hold my gun I was just holding it I don't even know how to shoot a gun I was just holding it and I saved money delivering groceries for five years to get my swing back home yes all I wanted was my swing bike and you were the 12th cop to stop me that day so he says can I ask you a question would you stop me if I were white and it cups it I had to admit I would not have stopped him so the kid just reacted out of anger and then the end of the story he could cry as the cub gets the kid paroled in his stead and that kid became a cop no way so this could relate to today blacks and whites and things but his realization oh my gosh that would you understand about this kid had a new bike which is all he ever wanted make it stop on him so what I always try to do is put use and what he did put yourself in the other guys shoes now I don't say shoot everybody right but in that moment of frustration a feeling Mike thought I worked for five years saved up to get this bike and they can't believe that I a black kid could have a bike it's a good lesson powerful yeah so that's what I mean by learning yeah every day I learn I've interviewed so many people with sublime people what's it like to be blind it's fascinating to me George Shearing was a great blind pianist didn't want to see he didn't want to see he was blind from birth and he said I don't want to see because every girl is beautiful every girl's beautiful every color is bright all days are sunny in his world right in my way he creates his own well my own colors I don't have to I can envision what red is or blue Ray Charles was different because he had seen he wanted it back he knew what he was missing you interviewed him as well I'm interviewed everybody yeah is there anyone you haven't interviewed that you wanted to Fidel Castro I would love to I went down the Havana some years back and we try to get him because he fascinates me because he's had his he's led his country for over 60 years I think he's long running leader ever sixty years so um forget politics somebody must like them yeah you can't less that one Wow and then he took on a country 90 miles away thousand times bigger than his he was embargoed I'll tell what I discovered this he you could look at things differently Havana is a fantastic city the people are so happy they're poor really but music it's through the street work down the street miss music the hotels are jammed people from Spain and Canada and Mexico beautiful hotels the airfield the airport is gorgeous the cars are all 1957 right it's really funny to see but they'll build hotels open sure hi Havana will be a major tourist up they'll wind up with a major league team in 15 years got a big population for great athletes number one sport he has baseball what would you say is the biggest lessons you learned about yourself over the last 60 years to us from all the people you learn well I tell you what bertrand russell the great philosopher nobel prize winner when he was 95 years old they were having a dinner in his honor and someone said dr. russell what do you know what do you know and he said all i know is that i don't know and so i would say that to you i don't know who the more i ask I mean I'm wounded by all the things but I don't know yeah I don't know what's out we don't know if there's life on other planets yeah I don't know if there's a god I don't know I don't have faith because I can't accept something I've asked too many questions I never got good answers I respected all the religious leaders I've interviewed about respect them I was like they all religion but I never got an answer to the question of explaining the Holocaust right if you're omnipotent you could have stopped it explain the children dying so and the typical answer is we can't explain the ways of the Lord which is a total cop-out you're speaking for the Lord and or his representative right so that bugs me but but that's part of not knowing I don't know and I admire people that know I'm married to a family that knows where they go they know they're going somewhere after they die it's amazing to me I wish I had that I can't make that leap it just makes no sense right huh to me it just makes no sense to me maybe it makes there's no logic to it but it's a belief yeah and you can't argue a belief I can't make them believe they can't me make me after it's a choice I can't make them not believe there's a choice yeah and you make that choice and it's part of the world more problems have been caused by religion and of religion there's a lot of a lot of pain and suffering and war and everybody believes that like the the you know the guys who took that plane in 9/11 they're believers of course one day of course I believe they were right and that we call them fanatical you know they didn't think it was enough so they believed how do we know they're not some way I don't think they are right but they believed they were so all of life is a mystery to me to have the answer to that mystery is amazing I don't have the answer I'm curious there's a question I've always been curious about people who have had this experience I my father is still around but he had a very traumatic car accident when I was about 22 23 years old that essentially he's not the same guy anymore he's I can't have a really emotional conversation with him you know we had to teach him engine right he just has amnesia he can't remember things it's always the same conversation it's just it's not the support that I had growing up he's there physically but it's just not the same guy and he can't work anymore but he's getting better but it's just still not the same and when that happened I kind of always had this idea of after playing professional football I would have liked my dad to be there for me in this back-up plan and I go work with him and I'd have to support anyone when he was essentially gone I kind of had to figure it all out on my own and I had to it was like I didn't have a back-up plan and I was very driven from that point and none of this would've been created in my life without that experience because it made me be like I've got to step up I've got to figure this out I've got to do it now essentially on my own I had supportive mentors but I don't think I would have been this driven in my life if my mother without that experience of losing him essentially so you use the tragedy what's that you used a tragic I use it to become better to learn to grow to master myself too we're gonna make money and things like that where does now I'm going to interview what did that teach you that's a good question well the question was gonna ask you was do you feel like that affected you and you lost your dad to be this Riven to be this driven and where would you bring out that oh well I always want to be in radio even when I was young at now but sure it may be it it drove me but if I could be here now had I not gotten radio I don't know what I'd have been because I had no skills I mean I well I could talk well like but and I not found radio I probably would have been a stand-up comic I know College oh do you think you thought you would have still been in radio even if your dad was around yeah probably still be in it I don't know if I'd have been a six you know that you never all this that's the old axiom we talk about old time left turn right turn I went out of the house one day and went into Manhattan and a friend introduced me to a guy named James Simmons who was said of announces at CBS and I said to my world oh really break into radio mr. Simmons what do you recommend he says go to Miami it's a big city a lot of stations no Union so there's either old guys on the way out or young guys on the way up you're not gonna run into a 40 year old great talent you're 22 knock on doors right I went out now the question is what if I didn't run in to James sermons then what much long would've taken while much long would it take him with what would have been enough now someone told me what would be your name would be that's right someone told me there would have been a different Miami but if you have talent you will out you will make it if you have talent and passion for what to do someone asked me what's the one trade all successful people have his passion yeah they have a passion for what they do how do they find it we I bet I don't know and they love getting up and going to work in other words they they can't wait for the day to start what about the pile of the morning yeah I won't do personally oh I love one yeah we had breakfast one morning my wife spells morning with a you she don't get up she warns once he sleeps yeah I liked the morning I liked the day ahead I like I like having something to do I hate it if I got a date what do you do nothing nothing right nothing to do I love I love work I love the feeling of accomplishment mm-hmm I love the whole ball of wax yes and I don't want I don't want to die if I could fall for you my wife said well if you were if I were frozen you know cryonic you come back in two hundred years she said you wouldn't know anybody I said I'll make new friends yeah yeah I question I like living yeah because of curiosity who's gonna win the World Series who's the next football championship how's Kevin Durant gonna do in Golden State right yeah can the Pittsburgh Penguins repeat in hockey who's gonna win the election there's go curious if you die you don't know you don't know and you don't exist you don't exist just your legacy it'll exist right that's it yeah I know but for example the Sid young was a dear friend of mine he was a greater I grew up with him and he died last year we just had a dinner form the other night 14 guys sat down that you know we've had one chair empty just force it and we talked to Sid we talked right so technically we're keeping Sid alive right and that made us all feel good until I said you know Sid doesn't notice this happening we're keeping Sid alive but sitting alive sure but he's not feeling pain but to not exist and pictured not existing for eternity never coming back in this shape form whatever yeah I mean come on but if there's another life you don't know we don't know and by the way if you think there's another life you can never be wrong because there is another life or you die in episode so you can't unproved wrong never know it sounds like you or you don't know the answers to a few questions oh I don't so curious if you could know a hundred percent certainty if whoever God whatever is like this is the answer to that one question what would be the one question that you would die to know the answer for do I go on sure plus again I want to be around I want to be curious yeah I'd love to be a spirit if I had one power I'd like to be invisible why leave it back okay leave it at that I could play shortstop I could be standing behind a shortstop I flying jet planes right I could visit actresses homes yeah yeah think about that need to be invisible is enormous power you have all the money in the oil you go in the private meeting isn't final what stock thereby that's true don't make it happen go to Vegas take money there you go well in your invisible pocket if you did know that we went on would you do anything differently if you didn't know that you lived on after this or I would be happy to hear it I want to know I how do I go on as you know what am i my spirit am i in a body you know what happens to my body if I die what happens to my body were so many unanswered questions and for somebody who knows so if I could know that but I there's no way I know I could know it unless someone who has died came visit me haven't had that I've never had that you know near day I had bypass surgery I had no near-death experience no see the why I didn't see no like the wall I just I don't I wish I could who's the person you interviewed that you felt like knows the most or has the most answers or is the smartest probably the British guy who has Lou Gehrig's disease he's lived the longest with it what's his name Stephen Hawking Stephen Hawking with the black theory and uh he was fascinated to me yeah because he types out all the answers you know because he can't speak but he's a genius and I asked him Stephen what is something you know nothing about and he said women hahahaha and that is the universal truth all right this I believe and I don't want to I don't want to hurt anybody out there cuz I mean this lovingly I'm please believe me I mean it loving me all women are nuts oh you gotta be honest my mother my daughter everyone I know they're all if they could be more like men I mean men could be nuts but extreme but the average guy ain't nuts he ain't nuts I mean yeah if my forget if my friend forgot my birthday who cares right and they they have I know that Venus and Mars Theory I accept that theory that's the biggest puzzle to me is women and the way they think because they have I know they think with a different part of the brain yeah then I think and it's really logic is not their work logic makes it makes no sense sure sure okay here's the worst thing you get from a woman all women do this no man does this no man does the following we walk into your house and there's your wife and she looks at plum what's the matter nothing no man would say nothing man would say let me tell you right when you talk there's nothing the matter well you look like you're stop it I told you this nothing don't speak to me what are you supposed to do in those situations have figured out that answer one of the answers someone told me is when you get up every morning just turn over to your wife and say I'm sorry that's it and you cover yesterday and today sorry I did it what I'm doing this whatever is she's got something Wow and say I'm sorry hmm so the whole world is fascinating isn't it yeah and you you you're looking for greatness yeah what is greatness my definition no I'm gonna ask you here to second that's the final question that I ask in all my interviews my definition I think it changes over time I think when I was uh in high school it was to get a girl to like me and play college sports or whatever but I think now as a 33 year old man it's to discover and pursue my dreams and make the maximum impact in the world in that pursuit that's what it is for me I think it's different for every person it's not about how much money I make but I never said down and examined it I mean I've been caught you know I got a Lifetime Achievement from the Emmys I won Peabody Awards which is our Pulitzer and I know I'm good at what I do yeah and people have said you're great at what you're doing having greatness is - in your chosen profession exceed being the best you can be so you can be a great delivery man for the milk company you never miss your rounds the milk is always there you have you never hit anybody you can be a great garbage man yeah you clean up the streets you get it done another person could say I'm a great husband that counted Morton I'm a great family man that counted more to me than anything else and to be a great family man yeah but it's a word that gets bandied around a lot you know everybody's great he's great he's great he's ready yeah that's a good definition I think yeah Derek Jeter said to me there are a lot of phony legends you're a true that was a big compliment that's nice to me the biggest couple of my ever got was Norman Chad in the Washington Post who wrote to say that Larry King is better on television than he is on radio is like saying mark on a mark Angelo Michelangelo was a better sculptor that he was a painter I bet that really that's funny but it's great being with you Lou yes you have a great podcast thank you you're very thoughtful I appreciate I've got a couple questions left reason okay okay well you said 45 minutes we have done almost an hour but I understand a little bit here you're totally ingratiated with me and you feel I'm fascinated by you I can tell fascinating I can't get enough of you all right what else look a couple questions left I promise all Nathan quick biggest mistake you've ever made in your life smoking I never should have started smoking my father smoked he died of a heart attack I smoked the same cigarettes he used to smoke Phillip Mars if I could have one day back in my life was the day I started smoking had a heart attack from that a bypass surgery stopped smoking the day I had the heart attack I was 53 so it's almost 30 years Wow that I haven't smoked grass and I loved smoking oh I loved it I smoked three packs a day it felt that it was very sensual the feeling was great I'll tell you how and I understand addiction all people who are addicted I understand completely addicted to drugs you addicted to drink I understand it because I was addicted to CS yeah there was one night I'm a single living in Virginia Northern Virginia and I woke up in the middle of night a snowstorm no cigarettes now I'm hunting I'm on my feet on my knees crawling along going to the garbage in the house to see if there were any cigarette butts and there weren't any crawling on the ground fully a cigarette butt put on all the clothes I could they have it's 3:00 in the morning I got is and my car can't get out of the garage because the snow has backed up an electric thing sure sure I go out of the building the prospect house in Virginia and I walk three blocks down a hill to the 7-eleven which is open 24 hours I go into the 7-eleven go behind the counter take out a pack of cigarettes open up light them up before I paid mmm shaking to light that cigarette up the wind blowing in my face my feet getting wet from walking in the snow to have that cigarette so I understand the dictionary so had a day back that was the day I started sketching finger most grateful for in your life recently kids the fact I got three grown I got a great stepson and Danny and I got two kids who are 17 or my age 17 and 16 I always tell the same joke when people see me and my wife together there's an obvious age difference you know they look at me they look at her and I know what they're thinking you know look at me they look at it and I always say the same thing if she dies she dies you know life goes on but they have to have two young boys 17 and 16 about driving cars not believe us they're still see when I see friends that I grew up with and I have close friends that are still my friends I love them they look 17 to me I don't see them 82 their 7th dealers so when I see my kids they're five and six take them to their first Dodger game and when I see them drive off in these months the cause going somewhere would all that engines and these kids you know I I told him I showed him how to drive right dick it's crazy it's a lot of kids yes I can only imagine but there's nothing like kids yeah nothing there's nothing in your life because suddenly you have the only thing in your life that is unrequited love unrequited your kid don't have to love you your kid can leave you right but you love your kid you love her more than the wife warden as brother you can't you can't there's no love like it because it's unrequited as I've often said John Kennedy's mother had a lot of pain the same pain that Lee Harvey Oswald's mother had one shot one received the shot both mothers have the same pain right of course well our child can't powerful losing a child has to be the worst really enjoy I could not imagine well I've interviewed many people who've lost children it's it's not right Steve Lawrence lost his son at age 23 and lost his faith lost his religion where to go but it's tough it could break you yeah okay I have one final question and I want to make sure a respect it but where are we promoting people to right now the course oh yeah Larry's course you are on horse Larry's course calm you'll get a course on on communications a good communicator view skills all will not only get 10 courses you get individual interviews I've done with special people everyone to get a new one you it's a great learning process it's a lot of fun it's funny yeah and at the same time you learn so go to Larry's course dot a.m. you will not be disappointed there you go I guarantee this and also are you on social media anywhere personally well I have twitter I have two million nine hundred thousand Twitter file there you go at Larry King and Larry at Kings things school Kingston okay I don't even know what it's called I have I have one week it all up I have this flip phone can I see it can I have a double D's in Terry look at this thing I'm gonna open it look at this thing and I'll tell you why it's great so the basic no it's great why can't a cell phone put it up to your ear you don't have a phone you're talking to a box and another thing I know addiction my wife totally addicted that's good she's on it all day I see us sometimes sleeping holding it in my hand open her eyes and stuff it's out texting sure it I don't ever want these cigarettes control me that escapade of walking on that so they control me mmm I didn't control them I had to go get big iPhone controls people I don't want that mmm I don't want that I have to look at something I'll learn if something happened you'll tell yeah exactly no I mean I don't have I don't need that to look at costly yeah and I don't want to something that that controls my life I saw my wife and I were flying the Vegas ones true story Danny we're in the car we'll cover it into the airport she goes my cellphone what about it it's home we're only going for two days freaking out no no no I start shaking I said what I've got a phone I've got a fish you have to make a call it's not a make it of course I gotta go home so what do you want me to do she said you go to Vegas I'll pick she went home to get the [ __ ] he went home take a plane two hours later oh my gosh I went to Vegas by myself addiction yeah okay I want to ask the final question how you keep lying no I did ask the [ __ ] what's part of the secret of good communicating if you couldn't lie that was to promote everything you had go ahead okay now the final question before I ask it I want to acknowledge you Larry for a moment thank you Horne acknowledge you for inspiring so many people in the world for your incredible curiosity and for being a seeker of truth I think you've opened up so much truth to so many people in the world through your questions through your curiosity three-year generosity I think listening and asking the right questions is very unselfish of you and very generous of you as opposed to making it about you in every interview you make it about everyone else don't use the word I thank you I don't use the word yeah yeah so don't acknowledge you for your incredible giving up 60 years and constantly giving and giving and giving and still having a youthful energy and for being here and thank you for your kindness yeah and since you've said that it's about time I start getting back how much do I get paid for this there's no money back people pay me to do we're not blue how much you wanted how about you I all right for you $75 give me a discount 60,000 okay listen you got a dollar for parking okay final question though that was to acknowledge emoji that was technology okay this is what I asked at the end what is the answer what is the answer this is that the three truce question at the end of the day all of your interviews are erased and gone and you get to write down three things you know to be true about everything you learned in this experience of life three truths you would give to the world hold you share your three truths three truths nothing is given to you you have to earn it that's my truth you have inherited wealth that's it's not your - but my truth is nothing's given to you I was very poor I was on a relief New York City bought my first pair of glasses after my father died so I never forgot poverty we were in poverty yeah so nothing's given to you number two things will work out what goes around clings we'll work out things look bad I always work out they work out yeah I don't know why they worked out but they work out I have incredible belief in man the man and woman be human mm-hmm nothing's given to you things will work out and to quote Mel Brooks don't chase a bus there'll always be another think about that that's great you run down the street chaser bus you miss the bus you fall down you get wet there'll be another bus I'll be another bus thank you man so much appreciate it thank you hey guys Lewis house here and thanks so much for checking out this video in this interview I hope you loved it if you did make sure to leave a comment below and share this with your friends also I've got a huge announcement the summit of greatness is coming very soon if you love the school of greatness podcast if you love these interviews and you want more you want to connect with some of these speakers in person you want to connect with me and other people just like you who watch and listen to these interviews then make sure to sign up for the summit of greatness go to summit of greatness dot-com to learn more you can check out more about the video that we have that we created for the summit there's a link in the description below as well its summit of greatness dot-com check it out right now I hope to see you there and again thanks so much for watching this video

Channel: Lewis Howes

Views: 78,599

Rating: 4.9207358 out of 5

Keywords: larry king interview, lewis howes, the school of greatness, larry king now, larry king live

Id: q7BJ8JtfAz4

Length: 62min 33sec (3753 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 01 2016