I love to see Hoda Kotb’s interviews because she’s such a genuinely enthusiastic and nice person. She has spoken about how happy she is to be a mom, she adopted baby Hayley in 2017, and how much it changed her life. The last time I covered her she said she would take her worst day being a mom over her best day before that. She’s since written two children’s books and she was on The Tonight Show promoting her upcoming release, You Are My Happy. She was also celebrating her one year anniversary of co-hosting the Today Show with Savannah Guthrie. That happened after Matt Lauer was finally exposed as a rapist and people wonder why that took so long, why NBC execs covered for him for years, and also why no one realized what a winning combination Savannah and Hoda would be. (It’s because they’re women, but you know what I mean.) Hoda spoke so fondly about Savannah and praised what a pro she is. Now that Kaiser and I are doing the podcast I think about that a lot, about how much work and experience must go into talking naturally on camera and being a good interviewer. The best people make it look effortless.

I know it looks easy on TV but it’s such a hard job
My admiration for [Savannah] deepens every day. There are certain people the more you know them the more you like them. She is an amazing person. I watched her interview Andrew McCabe then Andy Cohen.

How old is Hayley?
Hayley actually just turned two. The thing people say that I believe is the most true is ‘you blink and it goes like that [snaps fingers]. You have to hang in the moments and I’ve been trying to do that more.

I was looking at my photostream yesterday. My son, who is now 14 and taller than me, looked like a completely different person just a few years ago. (2015 wasn’t that long ago, you know?) When he was a newborn an elderly man told me “it will go by so fast.” I still remember that occasionally as it seemed trite at the time, but it’s so true. Hoda’s baby is only two though so she has plenty of time. On the other hand we look back fondly on those years when our babies were innocent and sweet, but we forget how frustrating and hard it could be. It’s bittersweet to watch them grow up and become adults because the time is fleeting and we feel both remorse and relief. I only want the best moments back, not all the work.

Here’s that interview. She also talked about Kathy Lee Gifford retiring and called her a television legend.

This baby!

photos credit: WENN and via Instagram