Oprah & Maria Shriver on Heartbreak, Healing, and Finding Your Way Home

The Oprah Podcast

Harpo

Society & Culture

4.6 • 711 Ratings

🗓️ 25 March 2025

⏱️ 63 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@Oprah BUY THE BOOK! https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/720451/i-am-maria-by-maria-shriver/ https://books.apple.com/us/book/i-am-maria/id6736963057 This episode of The Oprah Podcast features special guest Maria Shriver, an Emmy and Peabody award-winning journalist, former national news anchor, seven-time New York Times best-selling author and a world-renowned women’s health and Alzheimer’s research advocate. Maria Shriver, who has been dear friends with Oprah since they met nearly 50 years ago, joins the Podcast to talk about her new book of poetry titled I AM MARIA: My Reflections and Poems on Heartbreak, Healing, and Finding Your Way Home. After reading the breathtaking book, Oprah said Maria Shriver “has Americans reading poetry again!” And she called it “raw and soul-baring… My jaw was on the floor!” Through poetry, Maria Shriver, who was born into American political royalty and public tragedy, shares never-before-heard intimate stories from her childhood including what it was like growing up with her mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and her father, Sargent Shriver, as well as being the only girl in a household of brothers she calls “chaotic” and “terrifying.” Maria candidly talks about her 25-year marriage to Arnold Schwarzenegger and what happened the moment she found out her marriage was over. Maria shares lessons on what the betrayal and heartbreak of her divorce taught her about her past traumas and how she’s been able to find forgiveness. Maria writes about raising her four children, her favorite role of all – grandmother to Chris Pratt and Katherine Schwarzenegger’s three children (they call her Mama G) - and how she’s finally found peace. Maria says, “I never imagined writing poetry would help me embark on a journey deep into myself. I never imagined that everything I sought or thought I needed was within me all along.” Oprah tells viewers and listeners she sees this book of poetry as an invitation for anyone who is ready to create an authentic and meaningful life for themselves. This episode of The Oprah Podcast is presented by LillyDirect. Redefining the healthcare experience as a digital health platform that offers disease management resources to help make it easier for people living with chronic conditions to access quality care. Visit their convenient healthcare services at LillyDirect.com Follow Oprah Winfrey on Social: https://www.instagram.com/oprah/ https://www.facebook.com/oprahwinfrey/ Listen to the full podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/0tEVrfNp92a7lbjDe6GMLI https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-oprah-podcast/id1782960381 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode of the Oprah podcast is presented by Lily Direct, your online healthcare resource.
0:08.4	Hello to you, dear podcast listener and YouTube watcher.
0:12.3	I know your time is valuable, so I am thanking you all for taking the time to be with me here.
0:19.8	My guest today is a long, long, long time friend,
0:24.1	Maria Shriver. Actually, Maria and I have been friends as long as Gail and I've been friends,
0:29.3	and we all met in the same place at WJZTV in Baltimore. We met when we were both in our
0:36.1	early 20s, so I've known you now for, we've been friends for 49
0:40.2	years.
0:40.8	Yeah.
0:41.3	And I knew that Maria was writing a book, and I asked her to send me her new book.
0:47.8	I am Maria, my reflections and poems on heartbreak, healing, and finding your way home.
0:54.8	I have to tell you all, and to tell you that I read this on a rainy day,
1:03.5	sitting in my window seat, and I wept.
1:07.7	I wept because I've known you all these years.
1:11.8	Maria Shriver has lived an extraordinary life, most of it in the public eye.
1:17.8	She was born into American political royalty. Her father, Sergeant Shriver, was an American
1:23.8	diplomat and was once a candidate for vice president of the United States.
1:28.9	Her mother was Eunice Kennedy Shriver. She was the sister of President John F. Kennedy and
1:35.1	Senator Robert F. Kennedy. Eunice was the founder of the Special Olympics.
1:41.4	Maria grew up the only girl in her family with four brothers.
1:45.8	In 1986, Maria married the world-famous actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who later became governor of California.
1:53.9	Together they have four children, Catherine, Christina, Patrick, and Christopher.
	...

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