Hi, I'm Mayan Biallik. And I'm Jonathan Cohen. And welcome to our breakdown. Today, we have something very special in honor of Women's History Month. We are going to revisit a fantastic episode from 2024 with legendary journalist Connie Chung. She was a trailblazing journalist for NBC, CBS, ABC. She shattered glass ceilings. She paved the way for many women and especially for Asian women. Particularly in this day and age where journalism has changed so much. No matter what side of the political aisle you're on, news has abend to it. It hasn't objective often. Very rarely is it just reporting facts without a narrative associated with this. And Connie brings us back to a time period where there was an honor amongst journalists to just provide us with the facts and allow us to make up our own minds. We're especially thrilled to revisit this episode right now. Connie made history when she became the first woman to co-anchor the CBS evening news and the first Asian to anchor any news program in the country. An entire generation of women were actually named after her in the Asian community. And we got to speak to Connie about so many aspects of her life covering Watergate, interviewing Magic Johnson and how she conquered the male dominated realms of journalism and politics, the way she combated sexism in the newsroom and her deep desire to be one of the guys. She also talks about abuse she suffered at the hands of a doctor when she was a young woman. It's a fantastic episode, and we can't wait to share it for you in honor of Women's History Month. As a friendly reminder, come check out Substack. Mind be Alex Breakdown on Substack. Just type it into the app. Come find us. There is content there that you cannot get anywhere else. And now we hope you enjoy taking a look at our episode with Connie Chang. Break it down. It's such an honor to get to talk to you where were thrilled that we get to interview the great interviewer.

And I said to Jonathan, I feel incredibly intimidated because I mean, I literally, I grew up watching you. I was born in 1975 and I was raised in a home where we read The New York Times and we watched the news. That's what happened in our house. And you were such a powerful image, obviously, for so many of many generations. But in particular, for someone of my age growing up in Hollywood, getting to see a strong intelligent woman holding your own with some of the most culturally intimidating men

of so many decades. It's so incredible to get to talk to you. We're really honored you're here. Oh my goodness. Thank you. Thank you. I will make a point of calling you every time. I feeling a little down.

You know, that was great.

Thank you.

Well, it was very, very honest.

Also. time, I'm feeling a little down. You know. That was great. Thank you. Well, it was very, very honest. Also, I'm a huge fan of your husband, but I didn't know that you were married to him until like well into the 90s. And I just was one of those people who kind of had followed his career. And it blew my mind that two people of a certain amount of news and public stature could be together for so freaking long, I had no idea. Well, you know what? I can't believe it either, you know, I'm saying, I'm saying about it.

He actually, Murray Publish has been determining the paternity of every child in America, but he has a wider vocabulary than you are the father or you are not the father. Because he was actually started out as a journalist, right?

And for many many years he did a traditional talk show in Washington DC, you know, where politicians and authors and Julia, even Julia Troll would come and he'd do a cooking segment with her. So he became a quite a voracious reader. And over the years, I would see him creating this massive library in our apartment. And so I asked him, who, what, what memoir would you recommend that I read to sort of create the same feeling, the tone and what have you. And he said, personal history by Catherine Graham, she was the lone woman publisher of the Washington Post during a period in which there were no, not really there was maybe one other woman publisher,

but she was at a particularly difficult time.

She was the publisher during the Pentagon papers

in the Watergate Scamals.

So, and she had a lot of ups and downs in her life.

And I found myself at the end of her book, just the way to the end I was rooting for her. And I thought, what do I do about? I don't want to cry in my suit. She never did. In her book, she didn't, she was never always me. So that's what I've decided I would try and pattern my book after. So the book, which also is the most awesome title ever because it just says Connie a memoir. The book is, it definitely takes us through, I mean, a bit of your, you know, a bit of your family's history, which I think is really critically important to understand and you really address it in a very appropriate way. Your parents come from really another time and not just because they were immigrants and I believe the only of your siblings born in America is that correct? Correct. Yes. But your parents really come from another time. I think you described it as, you were, I believe, the only of your siblings born in America is that correct? Correct. Yes.

But your parents really come from another time. I think you described it as, you know,

your mother married a man who wanted nothing to do with her. Yes. And they had 10 children, five of whom passed, correct? Yes, as babies. Oh.

And three of them were boys.

It was in China. So, what girls? I mean, we really were totally second, third class, fourth class citizens. It was people like you, Jonathan, who were coveted because you were male. If you knew a little bit more about Jonathan, I don't know if you would say that he was the coveted one. Wow. Wow. Blender. Yes. It takes a lot, right? What would all the co-ins be saying now? But my mother's feet were bound, their marriage was arranged, they had never seen each other when they were engaged at 12 and 14. They had not met until the day they they got married in ages 17 and 19. And she was perpetually subjected as a female.

And... 17 and 19 and she was perpetually subjugated as a female. And so when they came to me and I said, and I was yet another girl, oh dear. So what do we do about that? Well nothing. One day my father wrote me a letter and said, maybe someday you can tell how the chunk family came to the United States and what exactly, you know, say how they came. And it's a how-roying story, isn't it, my- Yeah. And I think also the sort of context, you know, I mean,

perpetually subjugated, right? That was the story for my grandparents or immigrants to this country. And, you know, my grandmother wouldn't have even known the words perpetually or subjugated. But your duty as a wife was very, very specific. And what was interesting to me is that that's kind of one level of grief, but for your mother to lose children, and especially to lose that many children while also being expected to keep having children. And then raising those children is this whole other level of grief that kind of is the stew, right? That all of you girls were raised in.

How perfectly you put it. He really did. I wish I had written it like that. It was really good. good at living too. It was, was she really lived a hard life being a beautiful Chinese wife. It was not fair. Never, never fair to her. And her life changed so dramatically when she came to the United States because she had actually grown up somewhat privileged.

And you know, there were service at home. And that's not because we were way, way high class or anything. It was just that there was a class system in China whereby if you were middle class business people, you could have a cook and maids and nannies and all of that because of this horrific cast system. So I always felt my mother never got her due at all. I mean, at all. And sadly, she was, she was a literate because women didn't go to school. Really. I mean, they could for up to a point, but then they really were state instructed to stay home and so and play Marjon. I happen to enjoy Marjon. I play international, not American. You do. I do. Oh my gosh, good for you. I have not won, but two sets. I own two Marjon sets. I want to get a Marjon table, because then you can build your wall. It helps you build the wall, and I really want one anyway. Yes, not your problem, but I'm just telling you I want one. No, but you know what? I found an old magia table at a, at a crummy little antique store. Wow. Yeah. It's very cool. I mean, it's just square. It's like a car table. No, it's a very special table though. Mm-hmm. I'm going to ask a question and I don't mean it to sound harsh, but given the sort of role model that you had, given the fact that you said your sisters really took a pretty traditional trajectory and I think the way you said it was if they hadn't been busy being due to full lives, they might have had their own careers. They would have. Yes, mayhem, they would have. Yeah, so the question that I have is, why you, what felt to you like anything else was possible when what had been shown to you was that it wasn't? Very good question. I don't know. I do know that they they suffocated me, those bossy hormonal sisters. They were always telling me what to do and what to say. So when they finally got married, I left the nest. I felt liberated truly. I felt as if I could loss them, finally, because they really overpowered me with their, they were balsy. Downright balsy. And they took their bals with them. So I got to grow mine, my own, my very own. And when I decided I wanted to go into the business, I just happened to be working as an internal and capital hill. So I saw the pulse speed of the nation right before me. And my rock stars were the seditors and Congressmen people. And news was so prevalent in my home, just like you, but I read the Washington Post and watched a call Walter, Walter Cripe, on the news. We would gather just the way you did. It was appointment television, we'd sit down and watch the news together. And so I just decided that that's where I would go for a career because I was a bad girl in college. I was having loads of fun. And what does Connie Chung fun look like? Oh, at the time it was a drinking and I mean trying to drink the guys under the table going to bar even in the afternoon with the guys and trying to drink them under the table with draft beer. And I go to the student union and play pool. So I was already morphing into the man I wanted to be. I mean, I felt I had to be. My MbAlex breakdown is supported by optimizers. I struggled to get good quality sleep and I just thought like, oh, it's stress. But I learned during perimenopause and menopause, your hormones shift and it affects your magnesium levels. Low magnesium makes everything harder, not just sleep, but focus, mood, stress tolerance. That's why we added magnesium breakthrough by by optimizers to our nightly routine. It's a blend of seven different forms of magnesium designed to support relaxation and overall sleep quality. Try it, see if you wake up more rest and refreshed. You've got nothing to lose and a lot to gain. Bi optimizers offers a 365 day no questions asked money back guarantee. Magnesium breakthrough is a fantastic way to improve that hormonal imbalance that especially happens with magnesium. And then you have better focus, you have better sleep hygiene in general. Bi optimizers makes it so easy. Here's what you get when you go to bioptimizers.com slash breaker and use the code breaker 15% off your entire order and a free bottle of mass signs. That's by optimizers.

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