Bonus Benson: Another Trip Around the Sun for Cookie!

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Thanks, yours too. What does RAV stand for anyway? To me, it's the remarkably advanced vehicle. Really? To me, it's the runway approved vehicle for its amazing style. What about remarkably adaptable vehicle because of its versatile cargo space? Or really admired vehicle? Oh, or really awesome vehicle. It really is the recreational activity vehicle. The stylish 2026 Toyota RAV4 Limited. What's your RAV4? The following statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose tree cure or prevent any disease. The human brain is truly incredible. It surpasses supercomputers with over 100 billion neurons that control our thoughts, emotions, and movements. Previgen wants to keep it incredible. Powered by Apoaquin that was originally discovered in jellyfish, Previgen is designed specifically for the brain to help keep it amazing so you can continue doing what you love with confidence. Try Previgin for your brain today. This is Bonus Guy Benson. I don't want to sound stupid. Well, we can take that risk. Go ahead. Stuff we wish never aired. So sometimes, yes, my head is in the cloud. Gosh, you never know where these home stretches are going, but they usually lead to cookie and booze. Thank you. I don't know what just happened. Guy Benson.

And now it's time for your favorite segment of the day. Home Stretch. It's basically the only segment I'm on. So I've declared it the audience's favorite segment. Guy Benson. And it's also her birthday. Happy birthday cookie. I believe we won't say your age on the 21, forever 21 in our hearts and our minds. Did you have a great birthday? I did. I was actually just recovering. We had a, we had a friends, like a family party to attend Saturday night. We went, my family and I went to our first Kinseniera. I don't know if I pronounced that correctly. Consigliary. That's who the mob uses as their lawyer. Is that what you're talking about? I don't know what you're talking about. Okay. Oh, meert. And we partied until like two in the morning. If you could hear the party girl voice. So we had a nice day yesterday. We relaxed. And my husband was so sweet, like every couple hours. He just went and got me like my favorite foods. So like in the morning, he got me a McDonald's breakfast. Then in the afternoon, he got me like ramen. I think we did ice cream for dinner. So it was, and then the best part, oh, Rich, you're going to love this gift. What's that? So you know how big of a Jets fan I am. Yes. He got me tickets to the Jets Patriots game in December. And like we're like. It's like third row. Wow. In the front. I'm so excited. And so what he did was he got me this huge box. And in the front it says Jets on it. I'm like, when is this? And I opened it. He got me like a Jets hoodie. And then he got me a Jets long sleeve shirt. And then he got me a Jets T shirt and a hat. And I was like, wow. Like this is an aggressive amount of Jets clothing for my birthday gift. And I was, I didn't even put two and two together. I'm like, I wonder if there's more to come. It just seems like a lot. And then on the bottom was the card with the tickets in it. And I was very excited. And he said, He got all that apparel because it's December 27th, so it could be very cold. Mm-hmm. He's being thoughtful and he's being proactive. Yes. Yes. And it's fun because he's from Boston, so he's a diehard Pats fan, Gold Pats. Mm-hmm. So that's my Boston accent. Isn't it good? No, it was great. It was your birthday. I'm going to be nice to you. That was the best Boston accent I've ever heard. I thought it was Dave Portnoy for a second. Get that tea in the harbor. Oh, I could keep going. Anyway, so... Please don't. I won't. So, yeah, I'm excited. My daughter said she does not want to go, which my husband said, that's fine because the tickets were expensive. They're not cheap. But I had mentioned, and I, everybody that I've said this to has laughed in my face. I said, you know what? We could do. If the Jets make the playoffs, we could probably sell those tickets for, like, double the price. Yes.

Which I think you should consider doing, because we almost sold our World Cup tickets for double the price, and I kind of regret not selling my World Cup tickets for double the price and just watching the game at a bar. So you are in agreement with me that the Jets will make the playoffs? Oh, no, no. I mean, there's zero chance of that happening, but since it's zero chance of that happening, you might as well go with it because I don't think it'll double the price. I think if the Jets make the playoffs, those tickets are going to, like, quadruple the price. But then, yeah, but then I would want to be there. Bobby said we have a better chance of it being the Pats that, you know, make these tickets. And I didn't even know this. Did you know something called the flex schedule? So the game is at 1 p.m. on Sunday, but Bobby said that that could change to like a night game. if the Jets are really good or I guess the Jets are not. What is this if the Jets are really good thing? Where is this coming from? Okay, so here's the thing. As you remember, I'm a newly, a fairly new Jets fan. I think I'm going into you. You're still in the denial phase. Yeah, I'm going into year four or five. Okay. This all started when I saw that little cutie cute, Aaron Rogers, on that show. What are they called, Hard Knocks? Yeah. And then I was like, all right, I'm all in. And plus, I look really good in green. So, and I'm from New Jersey. So I have a suggestion for you. Why not become an Eagles fan? We have green and we win. Um, I don't know if I should say. And by the way, from where you are in North Jersey, it's not that much further to get to the link. And it's less nonsense than getting to MetLife. I'm just, I'm just not going to go there. Okay. There's so many things wrong about being an Eagles fan. So I just will, will not do that. Yeah. I mean, who likes to win? Who likes to be a world champion, right? Nobody. Clearly not. You're a Jets fan. Well, listen. Every year I make a bet with Guy and every year I lose the bet because I automatically assume maybe they'll make the Super Bowl. I think last year I said they'll make, I've done that bet. I lost it. Last year's bet was they'll make the playoffs. I lost that. So like, you know, realistically, my expectations will go down for the bet this year. But at some point, they have to do well, right? No. They don't. They could lose indefinitely. There's nothing that says they have to do well. This isn't like flipping a quarter where you know that 50% of the time it's going to be heads and 50% of the odds are, like that's not how it works. It could be terrible forever. But why? Like, I feel like I should, I want to go to, like, the headquarters and just talk to somebody there. Yeah, the guy who owns the Jets? Yes, I'd like to talk to you. Who owns? No, I think of the guy who owns the Giants. That's Marrower, right? Who owns the Jets? Is it Woody Johnson? Is he still own it? Mm-hmm. All right. Woody Johnson, why don't you get him on the show, Christine, tomorrow, since I'm back in tomorrow with you guys. Let's get Woody Johnson on the show and we could talk to him about what the plans are. Oh, that's not a bad idea. Right? Do you think he would take any of my, um.

suggestions? No. He clearly doesn't take anybody's suggestions, which is why, but they are going to be AI first. I did see that article the other day. The New York Jets have been pretty uniformly terrible on the field under the ownership of Woody Johnson, but now they're trying to use AI to get better. Well, I mean, honestly, whatever it takes. I'm totally, how do you use AI to make your football players better? Well, you use AI, I guess, to convince Woody Johnson that every decision he's making is wrong because AI is saying so. So then you can maybe go to him and say the data shows that you're wrong. I don't know. I don't know. Maybe the AI will convince, maybe you make an AI Woody Johnson and lock up the real one. I mean, I don't want to, I don't, you know, I know that guy often insinuates that I've been to prison before. I don't want to go there. Not on your birthday. No, no, like maybe another day. Or not for the, like, if at the Jets game, you decide to go and you realize they stink and you decide to make a scene because it's your birthday present and then you go to jail, like, that's fine. That's totally understandable. Well, you're going to be my one call. Guy told me to never make him the one call because he will be happy to be your one call. Thank you. No problem. I also would like to, I would like to be a part of the Jets in a much bigger way. So like, you know how they have firemen Ed? Like I want to think of a name for myself and I want to be like the next crazy fan. Well, don't just say Christine. No, no, Cookie, I think it's time for the fireman guy to go. He's been there since I was a kid. So yeah, let's update it for a new generation. What's going to be your thing, though? What's going to be your catch? I don't know. I have to think about it. If anybody has any ideas, please email me at GBS at Fox.com because I really would like to think about this. What's that email address? GBS. Guy Benson and Joe. Okay, so what if we make it? Hyper Jets fan, that Guy Benson. Why don't we do that? Or insane Jets fan or heartbroken Jets fan or, you know what I'm saying? Maybe we do a whole social media profile for you all around this and then people can come to your aid and rescue and comfort. Oh, thank you. I do appreciate that. So anyway, I digress. That was not, I mean, I guess we'll have to figure out our home stretch tomorrow, but that really wasn't what we were supposed to be talking about. But I will say this, Rich, and maybe you can give me some life advice. Sure. I turned 45 yesterday. Wow. Happy birthday. I can't believe you're admitting your age on the air in an industry where everybody lies about it, but good for you. No, that's okay. And coming up on October of this year, it'll be 21 years. I've been at Fox News. Wow. Amazing. Amazing. So what life advice can I give you considering that I still technically don't even work for Fox News? And I feel like I've been going there for 45 years. So I don't know why you'd seek my advice, but what can I do for you? I don't know.

I just feel like at 45, is it time to finally calm down and let the little things go? You know, is that I just like, what's your best life? Maybe not career advice. Although I feel like after 21 years, I should have been a star by now, but I'll keep waiting. You know, it's just not my turn. Not my time. You got to be patient in show business, kids. You got to be patient. That's why the I play Rocky trailer resonated with me. Because he said he had to play right. Like he was insistent upon it. And he knew that that was his moment. But your moment will come. Yeah. I just think that you also have to realize that you're such a type A person, you're never going to be able to relax. Oh, so do you think that's what I should learn is like you are who you are? You are who you are. You have to accept the fact that you're like, for example, you will never retire. You're never going to be happy. Retire. I know. I won't be able to retire. Guys like people like us are too driven. We're like a motor. And when we don't have something to put our target on, that's when that's when the bad talk happens in her heads. Oh, gosh, you are right. Now, Guy would disagree with you. Guy feels that I hardly ever work. I'm always on vacation. But I'm really not. Do you hear that little laugh in the background? That was me. Joel's laugh in the background. You made it through on the air. Speaking of, I will be off next week. Oh, my God. Why am I surprised? Yeah, that's why she didn't ask me to fill in next week, Joelle, because she's not going to be here. Oh, my goodness. But yeah, so if anybody has good life advice for me too, I feel, I mean, I do, I feel, in a way, I don't think I would ever want to go back to my 20s. No? No, I feel much more confident of who I am and my skill set much more now. I mean, I sure I would like to look how I did in my 20s. And that's the one thing I do regret is like all the times that like, you know, you're so hard on yourself, you know, at that age. And my gosh, I look back at pictures. I'm like, what was I complaining about? But I have a feeling that's most people. I'm sure 20 years from right now, I'm going to look back and be like, wow, cooks, you looked pretty good at 45. Well, Cooks, I do think you look pretty good for 45. Then again, I'm out in the studio with you, so I can't really tell. But I think based on the last time I saw you the other day, you looked really good. I can't imagine you've changed that much. But here's what I will say, though. I don't remember my 20s. But if I did, I guess the only question I would ask myself now is would I still go into radio? If I could go back then. If I jumped in the DeLorean and went back, like when we had Monica Crowley on the show earlier today, and we were saying that she really gave rise to Cookie. I mean, she's the reason why Christine is here, producing the Guy Benzsche. So if you could go back in the DeLorean, would you still choose this pathway?

I think so. I really do. I really got lucky because, you know, my start at WABC was, unfortunately, it was right after 9-11, but I learned so much. And I used to say I thought I was the luckiest girl because I used to drive myself at 5 in the morning to New York City with my little Honda Accord at 20 years old. And I would call a screen for 12 hours in one sitting. And I thought I was the lucky one. I truly, truly felt that way. You know, when I did an internship, I didn't get paid for that. I had to beg my parents for just some money to get on the train. Yeah. But I thought I hit the jackpot. I couldn't believe. And especially when I got to Fox News, I couldn't believe where I was. And I still sometimes feel like that. You know, it's like, oh my gosh, sometimes you have some days and you're like, wait a second. Christine, you work at Fox News. Yeah. That is amazing. So. So that's a great place to be at 45 years old where you don't look back with regret on what career professional career choice you made. There's a lot of people out there that would probably feel differently than you. Either that they didn't pursue their dream and now they feel like it's too late or they can or whatever financially or whatever it is. You know what I'm saying? So I think that is a bar right there is a huge one. Yeah, no, I agree. You should pat yourself on the back for that. Oh, I will. And I'm sorry that I, you know, took this whole entire home stretch off the rails. I'm done after almost three hours. So it's good that you did this. But I just think, you know, pat yourself on the back of your Jets jersey and remember that even the losers have a chance one day. I'm just kidding. They have no chance. But you, my friend, were never a loser because you did what you wanted to do and you're doing it. And you're still doing it. And that's huge. That is huge. So, bravo to you on your birthday. For real. Thank you. Thank you. And we look forward. We have some really great guests for tomorrow. We look forward to having you back. Who do we have tomorrow? We have Senator Dave McCormick. We have Senator Joni Ernst. And I have a couple other people in the work. You sit tight, people. You, my friend, are a winner. Your team, not so much. But you listening to Guy Benson, you are the winner. And thank you for being here. And thank you for having me, Rich Zioly, in for Guy. And I will see you tomorrow right back here on Guy Benson. Thank you. How do you use AI to make your football players better?

And now it's time for your favorite segment of the day. Home Stretch. It's basically the only segment I'm on. So I've declared it the audience's favorite segment. Guy Benson. Now, I know it may not seem like the biggest legislative priority. When you consider the SAVE Act, reconciliation, you know, making sure that our elections are secure. But there is a bill pending in the United States Senate that would make permanent daylight saving time, which would mean that this coming November, you would not push your clock backwards one hour, depending on where you live. It would be up to the states. And obviously, some states don't do it right now. But the question is, do you want more daylight or not? But Bill is named the Sunshine Protection Act. And I'm curious about Cookie because I know producer Christine loves children and probably does not want them getting hit by buses in the dark early mornings of winter. Am I right? Yes, of course. I mean, what if I was like, hmm? I need to hear more. I'm not totally sold. No, of course not. And I've done some reading on this daylight savings. I don't know if that's necessarily a huge problem. But I'm just wondering, like, I mean, it's not that dark. during the morning seven eight o'clock in the morning it's it's not pitch black so i i don't think that is a huge problem i i don't get why anybody would be against this like who doesn't want more sun at night Right? Well, the argument is that we should follow standard time. They try this in the 70s to make daylight savings time permanent. It didn't work because I guess people couldn't go to sleep. They were staying up later. The kids were walking to the bus stop in the pitch black and cars were hitting them. And, you know, I don't know how much of that is like kind of dystopian terror from the people that want standard time, which is just, you know, the normal. Like you would push the clocks back and then leave it at standard time. and lose that extra hour of sunshine. The advocates for this bill, like Kat Cammack from Florida, for example, was like, listen, we're in Florida, we're the sunshine state, we should have more sunshine in the afternoon. Everybody's working in an office today for the most part. So it would be nice if when they leave work, there's still a couple hours of daylight so they can do some things outside. We'd be a healthier nation. We would be outside more versus leaving our office where we've been inside all day, not getting vitamin D, getting in the car in the dark. You know what I'm saying? No, I totally agree. And I think that would, in some ways, you could even argue it would probably help the economy because I do know that when I get out of here.

Or, you know, when I was in school, whenever. It starts in December to get dark around like 4 o'clock, 430. It's crazy. Yeah. And it's depressing when you leave work and it's, you know, kind of was more time. And it's already dark. Then you want to just get home and you don't want to do anything. And I think you're right. Adding more sunlight, you might want to go out to dinner. You might want to go shopping or you might want to go work out or just do something other than, oh, it's so dark and cold, I just want to get home. So. To me, this is a no-brainer. And also, I don't understand. Some states do do this already, right? Yeah, it's kind of, I think there's a couple of states that opt out of changing the clocks altogether. It's like Hawaii and Nevada, I think, or Arizona. But they don't, I guess, participate in this and would still be up to the states, which could make for a weird patchwork of, let's say New Jersey observe this, but Pennsylvania didn't. Ooh, that would be really weird. Yeah, so you would leave New York, cross into New Jersey. and it would be an hour later or an hour earlier, depending on if they went along with this. And the other state did, that could get kind of cuckoo. Yeah, I totally agree. No part intended. I think it's got to be, you know, one for all and all for one here. Like we should all decide. I was just in Cancun last week, and they were an hour behind us, which they normally aren't. So does that mean they don't observe it? Uh, probably not. Yeah, they probably don't observe it. So when we go back an hour this November, we'll be on Cancun time. Correct. I mean, I would always love to be on Cancun time, by the way. I mean, some argue that I'm always on Cancun time. Now, what about this compromise, guys? And Joelle, I'll ask you your opinion on this as well. What, because people can't agree on anything. We can't, as a nation, we can't even agree on what time it is. So what if instead of going back an hour? We just go back a half hour and then we leave it there. No, no. No? Not a fan of it, Rich. Sorry, man. Come on. It's the ultimate compromise. No, I don't think we... Get a half hour. Everybody wins. The pro-sunlight people, the anti-sunlight people. I shouldn't say they're anti-sunlight. The pro morning sunshine people, standard time people, they would win. Everybody wins. We all give up a half hour. No, I think that we're going in it. We're going all in. I'm not for the 30 minutes. I have a question for you, though. Wait, what is... Is it true the history of this was for farmers, or is that just like an old wife's tale? The original history had to do with whale oil, and it was World War I and Woodrow Wilson, the worst president ever, who decided that they were going to do this to save energy during the war. Then it went away. Then it came back. And then in the 1970s, when they had the oil embargo, they tried the variant of this to make daylight saving time.

Built in content settings limit what teens can see. Messages from strangers just don't show up. And automatic nudges tell them when it's time to get off their phone. Mom, dad, heading out back. Sometimes the best way to think about safety is to not have to think about it at all. Instagram teen accounts. Nothing to turn on, safer from the start. When it's time to scale your business, it's time for Shopify. Get everything you need to grow the way you want. Like, all the way. Stack more sales with the best converting checkout on the planet. Track your cha-chings from every channel, right in one spot, and turn real-time reporting into big-time opportunities. Take your business to a whole new level. Switch to Shopify. Start your free trial today. And now it's time for your favorite segment of the day. Home Stretch. It's basically the only segment I'm on. So I've declared it the audience's favorite segment. Guy Benson. It is the only segment that Christine is on in an audio sense. We actually hear her voice, but... Her fingerprint is over the whole show, right? You can't get rid of Christine. She's everywhere. Yeah, I mean, I pretty much plan. I mean, Guy Benson thinks I do nothing around here. But Tom, can you just tell the audience? I actually do plan the entire show. You plan the entire show. I mean, you plan guys lunch. Get guys lunch. Exactly. One time I forgot a napkin. It was brutal. You know what? Speaking of lunch, this is the kind of issue that we love to do. time of day, French fries. Okay, Will Arnett was talking about French fries on the, I'm assuming it was the Smartless podcast, right? It was not, it was a different podcast. He never shuts up anyway on, he's on a lot of podcasts, but the smartless guys talk about very important issues like French fries. Will Arnette was going on and on about a great steak dinner, and he had to say this, clip 34. If you serve me. What they call shoe string fries? I was gonna ask earlier. We have a fucking problem. Yeah, we have a fuck those aren't fries a hole. Okay. Okay, what you're serving me is a bunch of BS. So if you run a place and you serve shoe string fries, nobody near you and around you has the guts to tell you that it's shit. People are lying to you. Just know. And I'm saying this as a favor to people who have establishments that serve shoestring fries. What I'm telling you is everybody around you is lying to you. Okay, so we're going to bring in the opinions of the home stretchers here, but I want to clarify. He was talking about a steakhouse, and so when I first heard this, I thought, what's he talking about? There's room for many different styles of fries. He really has a problem against shoestring fries. In this context, he was saying, don't put shoestring fries next to my juicy steak, okay? Even that is up for discussion because I don't necessarily agree with him.

Where do you guys stand on the shoestring fides? Let's start with the steakhouse. Let's, you know, buy into his argument. He says they don't belong next to a nice stake at a nice stake establishment. Well, I actually disagree completely. So, Tom, imagine this. Imagine you and I are done with the show. And boy, what a show I produced. I mean, it was just a plus. And I say to you, you know what? Let's go across the street. Let's go to Del Frisco's. Oh, yeah. And go get a very, very nice steak with a very, very nice glass of wine. We'll start with a cocktail, then we'll go to the wine. And then we're going to talk about sides. I don't want you to bring me a side plate of waffle fries with my beautiful steak. I actually want the shoestring fries. You want the shoe string? It's what goes with the steak. I mean, the French, didn't they own it? The steak frets? Yeah. It's very small fries. I love shoestring fries getting kind of soaked in the juice of the steak. But Joelle, I think that the, what he's talking about is steak fries. Like he wants the big, they call him steak fries, don't they? Oh, no, they do. That's not a fry. That's a potato. Okay. But he thinks it's better for a steak. Is he right? I just think because I do enjoy steak frets whenever I want to get really bougie, shoestring fries make the most sense to me. I think it complements the steak frets. Well, steak fries in itself, much thicker piece. I love steak fries. Those are some of my favorites. But I just think it doesn't go with steak frets that that's what you want to order. Yeah. So I agree. We're all in agreement on that. We think Will Arnette is wrong. Specifically, he's wrong when it comes to steakhouses. Yes. On the steakhouse issue, but I wanted to open up the floor to the entire discussion about French fries, and maybe we'll go down the list of which is the best French fry, okay? I think you have shoestring fries, and let's, to be clear, we're talking about McDonald's fries, right? Those are shoestring fries, am I right? Correct. Yeah. I would even think a little, yeah, I guess so, but at a stake place, they'd probably even be a little thinner. Little thinner, yeah. Okay, so anywhere from... thin to McDonald's size, or even a little bit bigger. Those are, you know, what I would, I think they, some people think of shoestring as being almost like, you know, tiny, like potato stick size things. Very thin. Yeah, but we're talking about shoestring, right? So shoestring is better than you think steak fries. What about waffle fries, which is very big, obviously, with the chicken establishment, Chick-fil-A, right? Do you like waffle fries? I do like waffle fries, but I am going to go out on a limb here and I'm going to tell you what my favorite fry is. And not a lot of people love it. Not many people would say that's my all-time favorite. Yeah, don't say spicy curly fries. Is that what it is? I love a good spicy curly fry. There is nothing better than going to a diner in New Jersey getting a big bowl of brown gravy.

and getting spicy curly fries and just dipping those fries right into the gravy. Okay. It's amazing. It's called, I think we call it sort of like a disco fry in New Jersey. Oh, really? Disco fries or the curly fries? Yeah, or if you put gravy and cheese on fries in New Jersey, you call them disco fries. Uh-huh. Joel, what do you think? Curly fries? I have a love-hate relationship with curly fries. I'm more pro shoestring and steak fries just because I love the thicker cut. It makes me more full. Whereas with shoestring, I feel like I'm being teased with shoestring fries. They're very thin. You have to eat more to feel satisfied. It's like... All right. How many more do I need to keep eating before I'm not hungry anymore? Have you changed your mind? I thought you were pro shoestring. For steak freets, yes. Oh, okay. What's your go-to favorite fry? Steak fries, 100%. Really? Wow, okay. Terrible. Terrible. I mean, you like potatoes. Let's face it, right? I do. Because it's almost like eating a baked potato. I think it's a little much with the French fries, okay? To each their own. Tom, okay, pretend you're a waiter right now. And I say, could you please bring me a side plate of French fries? Yeah. To me, it's the classic, the default is shoestring fries, default. But if you bring me a plate of whatever Joel just said, I'm going to say to you, Garcone, could you please take this back? Because I ain't eating it. You might as well just bring me a nice baked potato. We've talked way too much about fries on this segment. What about... Tater tots. Tater tots. Next to a hamburger. I've had it. I enjoy them sometimes. Tater tots does not even go with the French fries. That's a totally different thing. You're not, you're not lumping them in. I'm going to lump them in because people do it. You go to an establishment and they have hamburgers and tater tots. Tater tots are made for a casserole. Yeah. And they tend to be a little like more for kids. But I think they're, listen, I think there is legit. as the waffle fries or the curly fries. It's just an alternative. How about a nice crinkle cut? I was just going to say that, yes. Okay, crinkle cut is another big one because that's the shake shack people. Oh, some of the best fries, shake shack. Also, boardwalk fries, some nice old bay fries with some cheddar cheese sauce on the side, elite. Okay, but that's a variation on the shoestring, right? On the crinkle cut fries, actually. Oh, okay, okay. But can we agree on not just the best fries, but the worst fries? Oh, okay.

I have a strong opinion on this, and I just have to, I got to play something to kind of lighten up the mood to kind of set it up here. Wow. Smiley fries, the absolute worst. No. I mean, I thought tater tots were for kids. Smiley fries, that's only welcome at a kid's birthday party or something like that. I wouldn't even let Megan, my 13-year-old, grow up, Megan. We're not doing smiley fries. No. And so I think we have the answer that. Will Arnett is wrong. The default fry is essentially the classic McDonald's French fry type, you know, the shoe string fries. And, you know, Joel's a little weird with the steak fries. I mean, I agree with you wholeheartedly. Now can we go get some fries and a drink? I know. I'm dying for fries now, but not the crinkle fries and not the curly fries. Hey, what a great day we had. Once again, Tom Shilu, in for Guy Benson on Guy Benson. I'm going to say to you, Garcone, could you please take this back? Because I ain't eating it. You might as well just bring me a nice big potato.

And now it's time for your favorite segment of the day. Home stretch. It's basically the only segment I'm on. So I've declared it the audience's favorite segment. Guy Benson. Welcome back to Guy Benson. I love that. Love that, Christine. Now, this topic is very meaningful to me because... You look at a person's life, you look at their many contributions, and they get dealt a really bad hand at a young age, vibrant young man, husband, father, good guy. Look, he had some difficulties with my former boss, President Trump, and it got ugly, and a lot of people believe that he left the Senate over those difficulties. But all of that, to me... is almost erased. It's not even like it's ancient history. It's almost like it's erased. When I watched, and Christine was actually the first person that showed me one of the, I'll just call them, profound videos. that former senator, and for those, I think almost everybody knows, that Ben Sass was eight years, I believe it was 2015 through 2023, was a United States Senator from Nebraska. He left the Senate. He had a very, very bad relationship with President Trump at the end. He left the Senate, and he became the president of the University of Florida. His background in education is incredible. If I remember correctly, he's Harvard educated, Harvard educated. He's Yale educated. And there's one other university that escapes me that he also spent time as a student. So he's extremely credentialed. And when we got the news. that he was dealt with a very bad prognosis of cancer, how he handled the news was one of the most, I was saying to Joel off the air, one of the most, almost beautiful things. that I've ever seen. And when you look at him, he's because he's doing treatments and he's doing the things to try to stay alive, that alter how you look physically, because this was a vibrant, young, very handsome man. And this did things to his face and all kinds of, you know, issues that happen. through the, you know how they say sometimes that the cure is worse than the disease. So how he handled himself in speaking to the American people. I mean, for example, and I always have said this, you will never regret, and I know if Christine were here, she would say it, and I know Joelle, who's going to be a dad someday, he's going to say it. You will never regret the time that you spent with your children.

with your family, you will only regret the time you didn't spend. But what happens because we get a start date, but we don't really know the end date, you always think you have more time and you'll catch up, but you don't catch up. So I'd be very anxious for our listeners on Guy Benson, Joel, to hear your thoughts about Senator Sass. In regards to the CNN clip that we're going to be playing momentarily, it hit me a lot because when I saw that clip, I thought about my dad. Now, my dad has been in my life 110%. He's never missed out on a single big moment in my life. And I started to choke up because I thought about, man, How do I want to be a great dad like my dad has been to me for the past 30 years? And I would, you know, kind of worry about putting more emphasis on other things when I have to remind myself at the end of the day, family is important. It's so important to be there for the big moments, not just the big moments too, but the little moments in life for your family. It's important to just be there all around. Yeah, boy, it's so relatable. I lost both my parents to cancer, and I lost my mom when I was just about 15. I was about a month and maybe a couple weeks away from being 15. And I lost my father about six years after that, five, six years after that, when I was about 21. And it's so true what you just said. You think about... Them being there in all the big milestone moments, maybe if you competed in athletics and they were at your competitions. And I don't care what anybody says when you're doing something and you see your father out there, your father and your mother, it is so motivating that it's hard to even verbalize. You could get emotional about it. It's so precious. And you hear Senator Sass talking about knowing. that the end of his life is near. He doesn't know exactly when, but it's near. It's very, very near. And I think what he's doing... is making a big difference. He's helping other families that will go through this, other individuals that go through with this, and he hasn't done any, woe is me, cry, you know, out loud about it. He's taking it, you know, like a man. He's taking it very well. I'm impressed. I think you can tell, Joelle, I am impressed with the way that he has handled this. I'll get a quick comment from you, and let's go right into that clip. after you finish your short thought. Sure, yeah. I'm definitely impressed you with how elegantly and gracefully he has carried himself. Now, dealing with cancer or any kind of terminal illness, it's a difficult thing to go through. I mean, it affects not just you physically, but mentally, it takes a toll on your psych. And if I were ever in a situation, God forbid Harry. Yeah. I don't know if I could ever handle it.

in the manner that he did. I mean, I give him all the props in the world. Just the way that he has spoken about it for past couple of months. You use the right term with grace. Yes. And I'll tell you another thing that I learned, and I never forgot this all these years later, because they've been gone. My parents a long time. You think because you went through it once that you got this. You know, you know what this is. And so it won't be like it was the next time. Guess what? It's... just as bad. It doesn't matter how many times you go through it. It is like it never happened and that it's happening for the first time. It's one of the few things in life, I think, that usually when you do something, you get better at it. Sure. It was no different. It was as though the other didn't even happen, but of course it did. And I just always found that something that stuck with me that I thought that I would handle it better. the second time, and it doesn't work that way, Joelle. No, and to add on to that quickly, Harry, I think grief is, you know, very complex to understand and deal with at times. I think whenever we're going through the five stages of grief, we think about trying to just move on from it, but I don't think that's necessarily the case. I think you have to learn how to move forward with it, not move on from it. The grief is always going to come. It's always going to go too, but there's just different ways that it just cycles back. So you have to learn how to move forward with it and let that be a part of your life no matter where you are. Yeah, I'll tell you, you got it going. You get it, Joel. Thank you. I'm impressed. I'm impressed with you. If you would, it needs really no introduction. It speaks for itself. If you would share that audio, I think the listeners of Guy Benson will appreciate it. I have serious regret about how much I had traveled. I would just come back from all my trips and take all the tokeys and throw them on the... floor of a closet in my home office, and all of a sudden it became thousands and thousands of keys. And you're like, that's a hell of a lot of missed dinners. And you look at it kind of like forlornly. I would look at my kids, and I felt like they had a chain around their neck with an hourglass. And I was watching the years, the months or the years or the dinners we had left as a family, and I'd look at my kids and I'd see the sand through the hourglass. Like, what the hell was I doing instead of being with you? See that? I want to say, look what it took, though, to come to that epiphany, that you don't realize it at the time. And I think it's because we believe that we have an infinite amount of time, but we do not. And also the early years, I would urge all parents be there in the early years as much as you can. You will never regret that. And if you don't, You will always regret it all the days of your life, no matter how short that is. With Team Christine, Joel, and you are truly Harry Hurley filling in for Guy. Thanks for listening to Guy Benson. Yeah, you got to, I'll tell you, you got it going. You get it, Joel. I'm impressed. I'm impressed with you.

And now it's time for your favorite segment of the day. Home Stretch. It's basically the only segment I'm on. So I've declared it the audience's favorite segment. Guy Benson. This is Griff Jenkins on Guy Benson in the home stretch. And it is the Christine segment, the best segment all week long of radio. And it's just so our viewers understand. My background is in talk radio. In the 90s, I started Common Sense Radio with Oliver North. And we did that for many years. I later became one of the founding people to stand up Fox News Radio, launching the great Tony Snow. The late Tony Snow was, of course, maybe many remember him as a White House press secretary, but he had a great radio show, and I got to produce it. And by the way, Christine, for what it's worth, Tony Snow, you remember, used to call me cert. for boy, and he made relentless fun of me every single day, despite the fact that I was the brains behind him, the machine behind him. But we had a lot of time, and goodness gracious, I miss him. But with Joelle, you have to regale him on our earliest days together, and really how much radio's changed. Well, I have to say, if you're going to take a little credit for the start of Fox News Radio, then... You're going to have to take the blame for me. Because I've been here for 21 years. I will own that. I will own that. Now, Griff, it is true. It's crazy and it's amazing, especially to see a lot of people like you, Jesse Waters, you know, like producers. And then so I assume my time's coming eventually. I'm going to get my own TV show. Oh, you're set. Absolutely. And I'll take credit for that as well when that happens. I told Guy, I'm like, I've waited 21 years to be a star. What's another 20? Somehow it's going to happen. Slow and steady wins the game. I knew of right before, because you were based in D.C. Right. And I was up here in New York and I was hired. I first got hired. It'll be 21 years in October to work on the Alan Combs radio show. Wow. They rest in peace. What a great guy. That was fun. That was fun. And then they quickly, they moved me over to the John Gibson radio show. Gibby. And that's how we got to know you very well because you and Gibby had a very good relationship. We did. I love that guy. And I think you used to use him as a guest host on the Tony Snow show. Yeah, we sure did. He was great at doing that a lot of times. And Brian Kilmeade as well. And, you know, those days were really fascinating because as you well remember, we were a young radio network trying to find our way we had with Gibby and Brian Kilmeade. Mead and Combs and others, we had top-tier talent, but yet we were in a foray dominated by other companies that had been doing this far longer, some of which I had worked for previously in the 90s. And to see the success of Fox News Radio now as the top dog on the block, it's really amazing. And you look back on that and really appreciate the long hours, the blood, sweat, and tears that went into it. Our life.

I mean, I met my husband on the John Gibson show. He no longer works at Fox. But yeah, I mean, it's crazy how long it's been and then how sometimes it just feels like, if I'm talking to it feels like it was just yesterday. And it's true, Joelle, and don't let Guy tell you otherwise, but I am the brains behind this operation. Joel, Guy often says what about me, that I'm on vacation mostly? Yeah, they're like, you never do your job, and you have to bribe your fellow colleagues to do your job for you. Okay, Griff. Just saying. One time I was slightly hungover, and I may have Venmo Dylan some lunch money to maybe do the rundown a little more than I could do it. That is an absolutely acceptable behavior in talk radio. And I want you to know that I had once may or may not. I can either confirm to deny this happened, but I may have been at one of a political conventions trying to produce a radio show. And we had gone to the 15 parties the night before. And this potential morning show, I barely made it out of bed. And I was not ready to go. And I felt really, really. horrible and at that point that not only the hangover was setting in but the guilt was hitting me yes and so I came just heart in hand to just own it because I showed up basically 30 seconds for the show starts which had totally not gotten produced and he said amazing host who I expected to rightfully take my head off said Don't worry. I did some of my best work when I was hung over. Let's get to it. Wow. And off we went. And it was a great show. Could we mark this and play this for Guy Benson when he comes back from paternity? I'm just telling you. It may or may not have happened, but I think it probably did. No. I'm sure. I'm sure. And by the way, you, you know, don't get up on your high horse, Christine, and talk about how long you've been in this business and how old you are. I was working in radio when we literally had to physically cut real-to-reel tape. Oh, I think I learned that in college, like the first couple of years, and then we got, we did away. Wait, no, you were, you were splicing? There may have been dinosaurs still alive at that time, and you had to splice real-to-real stuff. And when you had to do, you know, the holiday pre-taped shows and stuff like that, it was ass. Like Joel can do stuff now in 30 seconds with his technology and skill on a computer. I'm like with tape and razor blades cutting it. Those real to real machines are brutal and I do not miss them. They belong in a Smithsonian museum somewhere as to what talk radio used to be as opposed to what it is now. No, I have a question for you. as a Cory Booker here on the show. Am I a Cory Booker on the show too now? I cannot wait. I'm booking Punch the Monkey. You know he turns one on Sunday. Did you all Punch does? Yeah. Wow. Did you book your radio show as well? Yes. Or did you, okay. Now, did you have to go use like a telephone book?

To find phone. Like, how did you find numbers back then? This is, what do they call ageism? Ageism, we pick on old people. This is picking around on old people. And yes, I looked in phone bucks. And, you know, not only that, you remember at the funeral of the late Lindsey Graham, Senator Lindsey Graham, who we missed dearly already as his absence is being felt, certainly in the Senate. But Charlie Hurt was telling his story on that Saturday morning when we were talking about it, wall to wall. We did four hours because I remember he died on Friday a week ago. And now, I believe it was a week ago. And Saturday we did it. But Charlie was asking, he was a reporter down there reporting on politics. And it was when Lindsey Graham had toyed with presidential run in 2016. And he was asking around some of the other reporters saying, hey, hey, does anybody got Lindsey Graham's numbers or his contact person? I'm trying to get in touch with him. I'm like an interview for him, you know. I think at the time he was with the New York Post. And someone said, oh, yeah, he's in the phone buck. So he literally went to a telephone booth, found a phone bug and looked up Lindsey Graham. And his number was in there. He calls it. And Lindsey Graham answers. Is that how Donald? Remember Donald Trump gave out his number? Is that how he probably got it? That's how he got it too. And he gave out Graham, who showed his political skills. because then Graham cut that ad where he was basically destroying his own phone. I do remember that. We've talked about that. He was a character, Senator Graham. I booked him many, many times. And one of the first times I booked him on the John Gibson show, he came in studio. And then all of a sudden he was inviting me to South Carolina for the weekend. And I really wanted to go. But my boyfriend at the time said, no. So let me refocus this conversation because I want to get Joelle in. So Joel, we've talked now about I've been accused of using telephone books, which I did. I admitted to reel to reels. When did you start in radio? And what was it like? Well, I definitely didn't start during the prehistoric age like cooks over here. I started my journey in college radio, actually, 2015. I was the news director for my alma mater's radio station. I hosted a few music shows. I love alternative rock. I love metal. I love pop punk. I'm all over the place musically. So I started then, and then I went on to gain an internship at one of my local rock stations doing treat team, marketing promotions, went to another company. But in New York, I became a board op. Went to Down the Shore to host a midday show on there for two years. That was a lot of fun. Went back to New York in a completely different department. And now I ended up at Fox News for the past three years. We are lucky to have you. And I love, by the way, you mentioned that your musical taste are all over the board because that has walked yourself, whether you know what's coming or not, into a conversation about Taylor Swift. Oh, boy. Are you a fan of T's, are you a Swifty? I mean, I can indulge in a couple songs, but I'm not a Swifty like you. So we can start. We can start. Okay, so you know. But at least we got the doors. That's not a no, Christine. The door is open. Now, I mean, I'm a huge Swift deed. Do you know that I was, Guy and I were going to go to the Taylor Swift concert. We had a work trip over in Vienna in August of 2024. And Guy got tickets. And that's the one, remember that's the one show she canceled? Oh, that's right. Yep. Because of a threat. A pretty big threat. She canceled all three shows there.

Man, I got to tell you, I'm still sad that I didn't get invited to the wedding. And I'm still waiting, by the way, for video. Like, can we have some videos? Can we have some pictures? Like, I've been out here defending you girl for a long time and you're giving me nothing. I've even defended her walking down the aisle to one of our own songs because I feel like it's a culmination. Like the girl's written amazing pop hits about her love life, her entire life, and say, walking down the aisle to one of her songs. It's like the perfect icing on the cake, but like what song was it? Can we get some pictures, some video? Like you're killing us here. Although I will say, you know, I was going to go to when prices were in the millions for a single ticket to her shows, my eldest daughter is a big Swifty. wanted to go so bad. And so I'm like, talking to my wife, I'm like, we could, you know, take out a second mortgage on the house. Like, we could sell my car. I don't know we got to figure out. So we're trying to figure it out. Finally, I'm like, no, heck, I'm just going to go into debt and run up the credit card. Like my daughter wants to go. It's an experience. Yolo, Yolo Liveline's going to go. And so I'm finally getting ready. Meantime, she's been talking with her friends at college. And, um, All of a sudden, it's like, okay, we're going to go this concert this day. Let's do it. She was like, well, Dad, would you be hurt if I went with my friends instead? Like, we're all going to go to this one in Atlanta. And I said, and of course I, you know, it was crestfallen, as they say. I was like, no, no, honey, you do that, you do that, you do that. Then when they were going to go, something fell through and they couldn't go. So neither of us had been to see. All right. Well, there's time. I'm sure there will be another tour once, you know, she's gotten her married life out of what, you know, and she's got some kids. They'll be another tour. Well, since you're taking a victory lap on such a great Cory Booker for this show that you are. I am. I'm just saying if you could book Taylor Swift for the next time I guest host, I will admit on air how impressed you are and that you're the greatest Cory Booker of radio in history. Well, it was very nice to work with you. And I hope you have a great television show tomorrow. That is the cue to get out of here. Although I think Christine, if anybody can book Taylor Swift, it is Christine. It's been great to be with you guys. And Joel, great to be with you as well. This has been Griff Jiggins, filling in for the great Guy Benson. Have a fantastic and safe weekend. And tune in to Fox and Finn's weekend. I'm out. Guy often says what about me, that I'm on vacation mostly. Yeah, about like you never do your job, and you have to bribe your fellow colleagues to do your job for you. Okay, one. Okay, great. Just saying. That was this week's edition of Bonus Guy Benson. For more Guy Benson. Go to Guy Benson.com. Or wherever you get your podcast. Listen to this show, ad free on Fox News Podcast Plus, on Apple Podcast, Amazon Music with your prime membership, or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.