Dan Rather, Laziness, Churchill Downs 150th Anniversary

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Could they be on to something? Something hardworking souls everywhere might actually learn from? Susan Spencer takes a closer look at taking it easy. In a country where hard work gets all the glory, author Celeste Headley says we'd all benefit from being a little lazier. So you were not insulted if someone says, Celeste, you're just slacking off. Oh, no, that would be awesome. I mean, considering where I've come from, I'm a recovering workaholic, right?

If they called me a slacker, I would absolutely proudly wear that badge. The hidden virtues of laziness, coming up on Sunday Morning. She's been making movies for decades, and now she's indulging her other passion. With Tracy Smith, we take note of Kate Hudson's latest career move. OK, who knew she could sing, too?

Well, she knew. I guess I wasn't ready for it until now. Why do you think now you're ready for it?

Because I just don't care anymore about what people think, probably. Kate Hudson, on stage and on fire, ahead on Sunday Morning. Hard to believe it's been nearly two decades since Dan Rather left the anchor chair at the CBS Evening News. Our Lee Cowan caught up with him for a look back. Do you have one of your good Danisms that sums up your career? Well, I will say, as soon as this interview ends, I'm out of here faster than you can slap a tick. And there you go. Dan Rather, a name once synonymous with CBS News, hasn't appeared on this network since the scandal that forced his departure almost 20 years ago.

Courage. What was that final Evening News broadcast like when you signed off for the last time? His answer on that and a lot more later on Sunday Morning. Also on this final weekend of April, Anthony Mason visits historic Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired, with bestselling author Eric Larson. Plus, Connor Knighton at a jail that gives new meaning to the expression jailbirds. Jim Axelrod on the 150th anniversary of the Kentucky Derby. And more. It's Sunday Morning, April 28th, 2024.

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Discounts not available in all states or situations. From an early age, we're taught the benefits of hard work. What you don't hear much about is the real value of doing nothing. With Susan Spencer, let's all take it easy.

For most of her working life, Celeste Headley never made any time for any time off. I used to say, I can outwork anybody. That used to be like my calling card. A single mother, at one point she was balancing childcare with seven different jobs. I am a professional opera singer, so I sang for the Michigan Opera Theater. I also did a lot of writing jobs. I wrote for the Detroit News.

I was filing freelance pieces for National Public Radio. But in 2017, at age 47, she hit a wall. I was irritable all the time. I was tired all the time. I mean, I started getting sick, and I'm a very healthy person.

I mean, I don't generally get sick, so obviously I was overworked, and that was a problem that had to be solved. First step, she quit her full-time job. Second, equally drastic move, she took a two-week cross-country train ride, much of it without Wi-Fi, just to see what would happen. For the first three or four days, it was panic. You know when you leave your house and you realize you don't have your cell phone on you, and you're like, oh! But eventually, it just started to feel okay.

By the time she got home, she'd had an epiphany. Idleness, leisure time, is necessary for our own health and well-being. The title of Headley's recent book says it all, but she argues social pressures make doing nothing hard to do. After all, we might be accused of the dreaded sin of laziness. If somebody's lazy, right, they're not earning their place in society. They're a bum. So you think laziness has become a bad word?

Yeah, absolutely. How did laziness get such a bum rap? Laziness gets a bum rap from religion, it gets a bum rap from capitalism, it gets a bum rap because we are trying to be productive in our lives.

And productivity is the real priority in America, says Professor Lonnie Golden, who teaches economics at Penn State Abington. The big payoffs in the U.S. are making yourself available for a promotion or building your own business from scratch. So there's many good rewards from that. But there's no reward for being lazy. There's no reward for being lazy, I think it's fair to say.

When you're at your high school reunion, you don't want to be saying, you know, I've been doing nothing. According to a recent survey, Americans value hard work over just about everything else, including self-fulfillment, marriage, patriotism, religion, and tolerance for others. Even retirees have a hard time doing nothing. It gets to be what's called the conspicuous busyness, like, hey, look how busy I am, and look how much time I'm spending. Maybe it's volunteering. But it should be okay to say I'm retired, and as a result, I can be lazy when I feel like being lazy. But it's not, because we're in this cult, this anti-lazy cult. Yeah, we have all been basically brainwashed to believe that we have to work hard or we're not of value. Which may explain why employers seem to love employees who say they can multitask.

Really, what could be less lazy? We hear this all the time. Businesses ask candidates, are you good at multitasking? And they want to hear yes.

But what they should want to hear is no. People are motivated. People want to get ahead.

It's understandable. Professor Earl K. Miller, a neuroscientist at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, has sobering news for a culture obsessed with juggling jobs. Our brains are very one-track. We can hold only one or two thoughts in mind at a time.

That is it. We're very single-minded. You mean it is physically impossible to multitask? I mean it is physically impossible to multitask. Our poor brains, when struggling to multitask, instead simply slow down and make mistakes.

A far better plan, says Professor Miller, is to try doing no tasks at all. You know, a lot of times some of your best thoughts come to you when your conscious mind is out of the way, when you allow these unconscious thoughts to bubble up, right? And sometimes it's good to be lazy, not lazy, but to tune out a bit and let these thoughts bubble up.

That advice is a way of life at the 93-year-old Institute for Advanced Study, an academic research center in Princeton, New Jersey, where, remarkably, doing nothing does not have a bad name, says director David Nurenberg. What's a typical day like? There isn't a typical day. You can do whatever you want.

The day is yours. When not gathering for tea each day, scholars may take a walk in the woods, sit by the pond, or even nap. We all need space for non-intentional activity, non-intentional thought, contemplation. That's why weekends exist. I think that's why so many of our faith traditions have introduced days of rest. But we think of that as being lazy.

I think it's a crucial part of being human. Not to imply that anyone's slacking off, the Institute has been an intellectual home to Albert Einstein, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and 35 Nobel laureates. Some of the most productive and renowned people in history worked maybe four hours a day.

Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin, Henri Poincaré. I mean, these are people who had a focused time of four hours, and the rest of the time, what were they doing? They were dining.

They were sitting in the garden. They were hanging out with friends. They were being lazy. Yeah, to our 21st century eyes, yeah, they were being lazy. To them, they were living their life. My friends definitely see me more. And Celeste Headley wants all of us to start living our lives, too.

Yeah, of course you take vacation. So if you had one message about laziness, what would it be? The most successful animals on the planet are the laziest. Think about how long lions lie around on the savanna. And when they need food, there's a burst of energy and activity, and they get it, and then they go back to lying around.

If you look at the apex predators, some of the most successful species on planet Earth, they spend a good amount of their time doing nothing at all. Visit us at 562-314-4603 for more details. Hyundai.

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You are home. That's Kate Hudson in her breakout role as Penny Lane in Almost Famous nearly 25 years ago. All these years later, she's assuming a new role and Tracy Smith invites us to take note. The music coming from a North Hollywood studio might not be familiar, at least not yet, but you've definitely heard that voice. You and I will be forever.

You will walk on your own. Kate Hudson is fine tuning her songs. That's right, her songs. She's written every word on a new album, Glorious, and it's a role she says she was born to play. How long have you been writing songs?

Really poorly my whole life. I guess I wasn't ready for it until until now. Why do you think now you're ready for it? Because I just don't care anymore about what people think. Probably it was never right. Whether it was my own stuff or feeling afraid to mess up my movie career or, you know, it just never felt right. Until now. Until now.

I'm just doing it. For Kate Hudson, just doing it meant months in the studio. Getting just the right sound. She made her stage debut this year at a few smallish events. But she didn't sound like a novice. Maybe because she's always been on stage or very close to it. We are not groupies.

Her first really big role, you recall, was as the legendary Penny Lane in Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous. Groupies sleep with rock stars because they want to be near someone famous. We're here because of the music.

We are band-aids. How fitting is it that your breakout role was in this movie that's essentially a love letter to rock and roll? It kind of makes sense. I mean, there's probably a reason why Cameron hired me. Yeah, I mean, it does make sense. Sure, she could act, but she also had the pipes.

Come on, babe, why don't we paint the town? As the daughter of Bill Hudson of the 70s band The Hudson Brothers, you might say that music is in her blood. Those Hudson Brothers are crazy talented musicians and wonderful songwriters. My dad's a great songwriter.

Bill Hudson and wife Goldie Hawn split when Kate was a toddler, so she grew up with her mom's longtime partner, Kurt Russell, and has been estranged from her father for some time. What's your relationship with him now? I don't really have one, but it's warming up.

There's warming ups of this all happening, but it'll be whatever it will be. I have no expectation of that with my father. It's like I just want him to be happy. And what makes her happy is singing on stage, on camera, or both. Any musical that you've seen in the last 15 years, I have auditioned for it.

Really? Oh my god, yes. Oh, oh god, I'll never forget. One of my favorite auditions of all time was Moulin Rouge with Baz Luhrmann, and we had so much fun. And at the time, it was written for, I was like 19 at the time, so it was actually written for a young girl.

The only way of loving me, baby, is to pay a lovely fee. And Nicole ended up doing it. She wanted to do it. I was like, oh, poor Will.

My chances are gone. But yeah, that was, I mean, all of them, I mean, a ton. You know, that's what we do. We audition. And between auditions, life happened, relationships, children, and the kinds of things that inspire songs. It was you and me forever Sure, she writes about love and lust, but maybe not surprisingly, the one song that truly rips her heart out is about Ryder, her son with her former husband, Black Crow's frontman, Chris Robinson. He was everything to me I may assume it would be three And you came and changed my life It's the strongest love I ever had. So when you have your first child, I was so young. And when I was writing this album, which was two years ago now, Ryder was leaving for college. So here I was writing this album, and my son I'm going to be right there with you. How old are you?

They're 16, so not yet. Get ready. Get ready. But I was like, oh my God, my whole adult life. I've had this incredible partner, and now I have to say goodbye. So that's really all of the things I was thinking about in the song. You and I will be forever.

Go and just thrive and take everything on. Have fun. And I'm right here.

The album's out next month, and she's definitely going on tour. In her words, she can't wait to get back on the bus. What's the feeling inside when you're doing this? It just feels like normal.

They say when you're ready to solo for the first time, you should be kicking the instructor out the plane. Like, get out of here. I'm ready. And that's kind of what I feel like right now. I just feel like I'm ready to do this. I don't have the fear. I just have excitement.

It's wild. At 45, she's still very much involved in acting projects. For Kate Hudson, following one dream doesn't mean giving up on another. Did you ever have anyone say to you, you can't do music? There was someone who said to me, and it kind of jarred me a little. It was when I was in my early 30s, and they basically said, it's done.

It's passed. You can't. You're too old. And, you know, for me, it wasn't just about being a performer. It was about wanting to write music.

So it kind of resonated there for a bit, and then I was like, meh. F*** you. No.

No one tells me what to do. I guess we're gonna find out. Oh, we're gonna find out. Yeah, we're gonna find out. Is you gonna come up to my house? And we're gonna find out. Oh, we're gonna find out. A new Erik Larson book examines what America was like in the lead-up to the Civil War.

Anthony Mason reads the fine print. The ferry ride to the middle of Charleston Harbor can be a journey back in time. And that's where the actual first shot of the American Civil War would have been fired from. In 1860, Fort Sumter, the Federal Sea Fortress, guarding Charleston, became a flashpoint in the tensions between North and South. South Carolina saw it as an affront to their sense of honor. It was a symbol of everything that they felt they were rebelling against. It's a ride author Erik Larson took to write his new book, The Demon of Unrest, about the events leading up to the bombardment.

You came out here for your research. Oh, yeah, very much. Now a national park, Sumter's been altered over the years. This was a formidable fort in its time. Much more so than, of course, it appears to be now. It was 50 feet tall.

But history can still come alive here. It took seven men to fire one of these? It took seven men to fire the biggest guns.

The thing that I marvel at is how these things must have sounded, especially in an enclosed space like this. The way you write about it, it sounds like it was almost impenetrable in some ways. Well, the idea was that once fully manned, all the gun ports with heavy artillery, that it would be essentially impregnable.

It was designed to defend against seaborne attack from a foreign power, and nobody expected that one day this fort would be the target of fellow Americans. Larson calls it the single most consequential day in American history. The author of bestsellers like The Devil in the White City and The Splendid and the Vile, Larson became fascinated with the buildup to the conflict. What was the mood here in 1860? Well, the mood here in Charleston was ready for rebellion. Abraham Lincoln had just been elected president of a deeply divided nation. He'd campaigned to limit slavery, not to abolish it. Why did the South dread Lincoln so much? The South worked itself up into a condition where they believed that Lincoln represented the apocalypse for Southern culture. They believed, no matter what he said, that he was an abolitionist at heart. Soon after Lincoln's election, South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union. Charleston, a center of the slave trade, had 32 slave brokerages.

Ryan's Slave Mart was the largest. It had a showroom where the slaves would actually get up on a platform and walk back and forth while all the potential buyers were judging them. Lincoln had to sneak into the nation's capital in disguise for his inauguration. The South was so hostile to Lincoln that there were routine death threats. In terms of the division in society, it's eerily similar to where we are now at times. In this period that I'm writing about, the two moments of greatest national dread were the count of the electoral vote and the inauguration.

And doesn't that sound familiar? By the time Lincoln took the oath of office, six more states had seceded. To the South, Sumter was a standing menace. The fort and its 75 men were commanded by Major Robert Anderson. A Kentuckian by birth, he taught artillery tactics at West Point. Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard was put in charge of Charleston's defenses. Beauregard actually had been at West Point a pupil of Anderson's, and they were actually friends.

He built Confederate batteries all around the harbor. These were so close that on still nights, the men here could actually hear the heavy equipment as the Confederates were establishing their batteries to kill them. How badly outnumbered was Anderson?

Oh, incredibly, like 25 to 1. Surrendering Sumter, Lincoln wrote, would be our national destruction consummated. For three months, the tense standoff persisted. Major Anderson became very frustrated with the communication from Washington. Very.

He was basically left here to determine, frankly, the fate of America. At 4.30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, Confederate guns opened fire. Over two days, more than 3,300 shells and balls would rain across the harbor. How badly did they damage the fort? In the course of this entire attack, they never succeeded in actually breaching the walls. Fire ultimately forced Major Anderson to surrender.

Remarkably, no one died in the bombardment. One hundred and fifty thousand Americans would be killed before the Civil War ended in 1865. Four years to the day after Sumter fell, Anderson, by then a retired general, returned to raise the American flag over the fort. The North greeted him with adulation, with open arms. He was an absolute hero. That night, in Washington, President Lincoln was assassinated. I need everyone to line up right here. Visitors to the fort today are invited to help raise the flag every morning. Even though this feels like ancient history, the stuff that started here continues to impact and inform our country today.

A reminder of the fragility of a union and the price paid to restore it. To catch up on the latest episodes without the ads. Travel is great, but planning for travel can be time consuming and difficult. That's where OneTravel comes in. With OneTravel, you'll find everything you need to book the perfect trip. Flights, hotels, cars, transportation, it's all right there. With OneTravel, you can book online, via app, or even pick up the phone and talk to a travel advisor ready to help you make your selections.

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OneTravel. Steve Hartman tells us about a cold case with an ending that's nothing short of heartwarming. Retired South Bend, Indiana, police Lieutenant Gene Eyster says he can't drive past this apartment complex without reliving that day.

That was one of the strangest calls I think I've ever had. We have a found baby in a box. Yeah, you always wonder, you know, what, what happened? A newborn abandoned in a common hallway. It was 24 years ago, just before Christmas. And for Gene, the case of that baby boy doe swaddled in cardboard and blankets didn't end after the child got to the hospital. No, I went back with a teddy bear. Just a symbol.

Let everyone that walked past know that he was cared about. And you never forgot? Nope.

None of it. For more than two decades, he wondered what became of this boy. Unfortunately, records were sealed, so there was no way to find out. Until a few weeks ago, when Gene got a phone call from a fellow officer. The guy said, remember that case, the baby left in the cardboard box?

Well, you're not going to believe this. And I thought, well, you know what? And he says, he's sitting next to me.

I said, he's what? He said, hey, he's my rookie. Meet Officer Matthew Hagedas Stewart. After his rescue, Matt was placed for adoption. He always knew he'd been left in a box, but only connected the dots to Gene after joining the department.

Today, he wears the same uniform Gene did and patrols the exact same neighborhood. Full circle moment. That hit home. I can only imagine from his point of view. What it means? Yeah.

He really can't imagine. How you been? Good.

How are you? Because what to Matt may feel like coincidence to Gene feels divined. Their reunion, this new friendship, it's all happening just a few months after Gene's only son, Nick, died unexpectedly at the age of 36. So the timing couldn't have been any better. It helped fill a void that I've had to deal with. 24 years ago, Gene was called to be there for a child in need.

Now, the child is set to return the favor. And whether it's a coincidence or not, the result is undeniably great police work. What a place, what a time, what a story.

It's Friday morning here, and this is Tiananmen Square. For decades, he was front and center at CBS News. All these years later, we thought it was time for a look back. Lee Cowan traveled to Texas for a conversation with Dan Rather.

And to each of you, courage. It's been almost 20 years. For the CBS Evening News, Dan Rather reporting. Since Dan Rather signed off from the anchor desk here at CBS News. Of the so-called big three TV anchorman back in the day, watched by some 50 million people a night, Rather was there the longest, almost a quarter century. The hurricane has been hitting full force. The operative word tonight for the war against terror here in Afghanistan is more.

When he blinked, I climbed up the Berlin Wall. The CBS Eye did too. In his 44 years with CBS, he held every post a network reporter could. Bureau chief, war correspondent.

Ten years ago, there were no segregationist candidates for places in British parliament. Foreign correspondent, White House correspondent. Are you running for something?

No sir, Mr. President, are you? In 2006, a little more than a year after he stepped down from the anchor desk, Dan Rather left CBS itself. Dan Rather was one of the great reporters of his time.

Good luck Dan, all the best. Dan Rather, CBS News became sort of all part of my name, part of my identity. And you have interviewed how many presidents?

I'd have to count every one since Truman. This is the first time he's appeared on this network since. Without apology or explanation, I miss CBS.

I've missed it since the day I left there. Even at 92, how and why he left still stings. In the heart of every reporter worthy of their name, Lee, there's a message that news, real news, is what somebody somewhere, particularly somebody in power, doesn't want you to know. That's news.

And that's what got him into trouble. NBC News in depth tonight, the black eye at CBS News. Today, CBS News anchor Dan Rather and the news division. In 2004, Rather filed a report for 60 Minutes 2 that questioned George W. Bush's service record in the Texas Air National Guard. Tonight, we have new documents and new information on the president's military service.

But the documents on which Rather and his producer based their reporting could not be later authenticated. It was a mistake. CBS News deeply regrets it. Also, I want to say personally and directly, I'm sorry. Was that the lowest point for you, you think? Of course it was the lowest point. I gave CBS News everything I had. They had smarter, better, more talented people, but they didn't have anybody who worked any harder than I did.

CBS's Lee Cowan tells us one firehouse within sight of Ground Zero has had its heart cut out. I'd only been at CBS a few years by then, during which Dan Rather had kindly and unexpectedly taken me under his wing. He made me feel welcome. You told me once that it's not the question, but it's the follow-up. That that's what often is more important. I hope you will not be following up today. Minus the suspenders and his cigars, Rather remains just as I remember him. An intently curious, I'll bring you back in about ten.

Thanks. The most thoughtful, well-read skeptic who wants nothing more than to wear out his shoe leather chasing the next headline. What made you want to be a reporter in the first place? You know, Lee, I've never quite known the answer to that question.

All I know is it's the only thing I ever wanted to be was a reporter. And I get up every morning and as soon as my feet hit the ground, I say, where's the story? You still do that, huh? I do. And it doesn't matter how big or small the audience is?

No. Good evening from Dharamsala, India. Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Welcome to Alaska. After CBS, Rather continued to report from all over the world for several news broadcasts of his own. We come to you tonight from the line between Israel and the occupied West Bank.

He wrote books. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. That's exactly why I wanted to talk to you tonight. Thank you. Became a sought-after voice on presidential politics and found a new, younger audience on social media.

You either get engaged and you get engaged on the new terms or you're out of the game. I wanted to stay in the game. How would you rate where we are today in journalism?

Let the record show that I paused. The people who are practicing journalism today are so much better than those of us who came up at another time. They're better educated. They're more knowledgeable about the world. They want to do the right thing.

They're doing the best they can. Take your hands off of me. Dan Rather?

Unless you intend to arrest me, don't push me, please. In his time, he knew his best wasn't to try to be his predecessor, Walter Cronkite. Instead, he tried to be the best Dan Rather he could be, which came with price tags, some professional, many of them personal. We had the assassination on Friday, the interrogation of the assassin on Saturday. In 1963, while the nation mourned the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Rather didn't have that luxury. I mean, you didn't have any time to grieve yourself. I didn't take time to grieve because I said to myself, it's my professional responsibility. And I remember calling my wife, Jean, who was in Houston, this time of the assassination, but she had cautioned me, Dan, sooner or later, you have to make room for your own emotions. And I love my church.

That's why I'm trying to show my church where they are in grave error, if they accept integration. Rather also led CBS's coverage of the Civil Rights Movement. Those were the days he thought might define him as a reporter. But then came Vietnam. No soldier worthy of the name will leave even a dead comrade. You know, there's a great misunderstanding of what soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen are afraid of in war. They are afraid of dying. Of course they are. But that's not what they're most afraid of. Fighting men and women are most afraid of letting down the guy to their left or the woman to their right.

Race was rarely even thought of. The saying among the troops was, same mud, same blood. And that's the way it was handled.

Being a hard-charging reporter doesn't mean being a heartless one. After 9-11, Rather's raw emotion reflected what we were all feeling. Thine alabaster cities gleam undimmed by human tears.

We can never say that song again. That was all long ago. These days you'll find him under the shade of a stately old oak, not far from his home in Austin, Texas. Well it's called a treaty tree, Lee. It's outlasted Spanish conquests, the Civil War, even urban sprawl. And in its tangled branches, Dan Rather sees himself. He couldn't survive for these 600 years without having very deep roots. It's a lot comparable to you.

It's endurance, strength and has been in Texas for a long time. Yeah, I wish that were true. He spent his career trying to put the world in context for others, penning the first draft of history in his reporter's notebook. Dan Rather knows more than anyone that the final draft, though, is up to others. And that's how it should be. The closest you can do about legacy is not think about your work, think about what you did as a person.

Those important questions of who am I, why am I here, what can I contribute, those are the important questions, not how well one did or didn't do as anchor and managing editor of the CBS-EBS. MassMutual knows that finances can lead to uncomfortable conversations. What about that guy who's always trying to get you to invest in his business? His last idea was generating power with electric eels. Oh, what about Uncle Paul? You mean Uncle Audit? How about that coworker who retired early? She's off the grid, so unless you send a carrier pigeon… What about, uh… According to the Financial Educators Council, 39% of Americans don't have someone they can ask for trusted financial guidance.

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Power 2023 award information, visit jdpower.com slash awards. Only at a Sleep Number store or sleepnumber.com. Now we're off to the zoo. A very different kind of zoo. Here's Connor Knighton.

The Monroe County Detention Center in Stock Island, Florida, currently houses around 400 people. There's also an emu, an armadillo, a capybara, a ball python, some mandarin ducks, a zebu, and a skunk named Squirt. Is he soft? Mm-hmm. These 120 animals haven't been convicted of anything. Come on in, everybody. For them, getting assigned a life sentence here is actually a good thing.

Pop pop. It's a safe place where they can live out their days with regular visitation from hundreds of admirers. All of our animals have been abandoned, abused, confiscated, or donated. Good morning, Wilbur. Biologist Jeanne Selander has supervised the Monroe County Sheriff's Office Animal Farm since 2006.

Are you going to dance for us today? This small zoo got started by accident in the mid-1990s when word got out that the sheriff had rescued some ducks from a nearby road. People just showed up with animals they didn't want anymore because the rumors were that jail was taking in animals, and they were asking if they could leave their animal or drop it off. Down here in the Keys, there aren't a lot of rescue facilities. So the open area beneath the jail turned into one.

The center is located next to Key West, just a few miles from the southernmost point in the contiguous United States. Selander, who isn't law enforcement, originally moved here to work for the local aquarium. I was really apprehensive about working with inmates. I had never even been to a jail before. Good morning. Good morning. The animal farm is maintained by a small team of incarcerated men. Those we met during our visit were all serving time for drug-related charges. Each morning, Selander briefs them on their tasks. Your meds for Dash are on the table. Petunia took her meds with no problem. Only low-level, non-violent offenders can apply for animal duty.

This is a coveted work assignment. What's up, Jack? This is by far the best job. Ashley Avilmar says that working with animals and being outside helps take his mind off the time he's serving inside. When I'm here, all the worries that I have for myself, it takes it away from me.

I don't even exist. I'm here to just serve a higher purpose, taking care of these animals, making sure they see tomorrow and the next and the next. On this day, Tyler Cunningham is on meal prep duty. He's tasked with feeding everything from the rhinoceros iguana to the kawaii mundi. Do you feel a connection with the animals? Oh, for sure.

Definitely. It's very therapeutic. It makes me feel a lot of love, you know, and be able to give love. It's a very good thing.

Jeannie Selander sees that as a win-win. They give back to the community when they're here. They help with all the chores that need to be done. They care for the animals. They learn about some of the animals they've never seen, they've never heard of. Like lemurs.

Eric Garcia had only seen animated ones before he arrived at Stock Island. The lemurs, I remember I saw them in Madagascar movie. Madagascar movie and jail. I'd never seen a kinkachu before this one crawled on my head. Tucker, what are you doing?

That tickles, buddy. Say hi to Calypso. At the end of the month, the public is invited, free of charge, to get up close and personal with the animals. Thank you so much. The program is primarily funded by donations. Thank you for the donation. Of cash. Oh, the cappy bar is going to love you.

And of kale. It was nice just to see them, you know. Robert Velasquez was once incarcerated here.

I'm not in an orange uniform. I'm actually free and able to walk right out that gate when I'm done. He wanted to bring his family back to show them the animals he used to work with. That's Kelsey. Isn't that crazy? One day, he hopes to start an animal-focused nonprofit of his own.

Yeah, his face is shaped like a rhino. Those are the types of stories that motivate Jeannie Sealander. If I can make a difference in one person's life, then that means something to me. So not only am I changing inmates' lives, but I'm making a difference in the animals' lives as well. It's interesting to me, though, that you reference them in that order because I think a lot of people, especially coming from a biology background, they're doing it to save the animals. And you certainly are. But to reference the inmates first is a different way of helping. Absolutely.

I think a lot of them are unseen. And I do see a lot of changes when I look back on all the, probably a couple of thousand inmates I've had in my time here. The fact that this made a difference in their life and that I made a difference in their time here, that makes you feel good. Every day, our world gets a little more connected, but a little further apart. But then, there are moments that remind us to be more human. Thank you for calling Amika Insurance. Hey, I was just in an accident. Don't worry, we'll get you taken care of. At Amika, we understand that looking out for each other isn't new or groundbreaking. It's human. Amika. Amika.

Empathy is our best policy. Next weekend at Churchill Downs, the 150th consecutive running of the Kentucky Derby. But to hear Jim Axelrod tell it, it hasn't all been a bed of roses. Every year, the Kentucky Derby is one of America's great pageants. As a horse-loving, hat-wearing, julep-swilling crowd of 150,000 plus breaks out its Sunday best on the first Saturday of May.

In the shadow of those iconic white spires at Louisville's Churchill Downs, Mike Anderson runs the track. First Saturday of May means something to millions of people. It's Derby Day. But this isn't every year. It's even more special.

And they're up! This Saturday, the longest continuously held sporting event in America will celebrate its 150th birthday. We have run a Kentucky Derby every single year since 1875. Chris Goodlett is the curator This is our Triple Crown exhibit. of the Kentucky Derby Museum.

We've had two world wars, a depression, pandemics. We've always run a Kentucky Derby. Justify has won the Kentucky Derby! Jockey Mike Smith has had the most mounts in Kentucky Derby history.

28. He's won it twice. Are those two Derby wins different?

Without a doubt. I've often tried to describe the feeling, what it feels like. I can't find words. This is a 1940 mint julep glass. Much of the history is a source of pride in Kentucky. Much, but not all. 13 of the 15 jockeys in the first Derby were black men. Including the winner, Oliver Lewis riding Aristides. Black jockeys won 15 of the first 28 Derbys. But then, there were no black jockeys for an uncomfortable length of time. Long past Jim Crow. But then from 1920 to 2000, no black jockeys.

Why not? It's an unfortunate, unfortunate time in our history. Where certain laws prohibited African American jockeys from participating. Certainly we've come a long way since then and we're trying to ensure that we're fair.

And there's equal opportunities for anyone to participate in our sport today. Recent history has also created challenges to the Derby's image. Last year, a dozen horses went down during training in the week surrounding the race. An independent investigation cleared Churchill Downs of any fault in the deaths.

But questions linger. 12 horse deaths, what's going on here? Churchill Downs takes safety of our participants very seriously.

We don't ever think it's suitable or tolerable when there's an equine death. That's the wire that's going to be secretariat. For all the pageantry we'll see unfold at Churchill Downs, it is, after all, the horses that are at the center of everything.

Which is why, during the last decade, they spent half a billion dollars renovating and modernizing. The centerpiece is a 200 million dollar paddock to showcase the magnificent creatures who are the stars of the show. I kind of feel like I'm standing next to Babe Ruth.

Yes, the presence of greatness, I call it. Coming to the finish, American Pharoah! American Pharoah won the Kentucky Derby and then the Triple Crown in 2015. He's now living the life, out to stud at Coolmore Farm in Kentucky horse country, under the watch of Dermot Ryan. He's taken a carrot out of your hand in a pretty gentle way.

Yeah, the majority of horses, I might have lost a finger by now. He's just different. I thought most champions have that killer edge. He had it. Once he got on the track, he was focused. And he just ran. I mean, they couldn't stop him.

And that's what made him so good. He had the will and the heart to win. This Saturday, for the 150th time, another three-year-old will possess just a touch more heart than the rest of the field.

And end the day draped with a garland of roses. I get emotional now, just thinking about it. It's pretty neat. Powerful, man. It's a feeling.

I wish I could bottle that feeling up, man, and just let someone take a sip of it, man. Because, I mean, it's amazing. And it is going to be made! And it will be like every other, first Saturday in May, when they run the fastest two minutes in sports at Churchill Downs. Only better. Every Kentucky Derby is special and unique, but there's something a little bit more special about our 150th.

And they're into the stretch! Thank you for listening. Please join us when our trumpet sounds again next Sunday morning. If you like CBS Sunday Morning with Jane Pauley, you can listen early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey. Are you ready for an all-new season of Survivor? You better be because Survivor 46 is here, and it's 90 minutes of twists and turns you don't want to miss.

Better yet, after each episode, there's a brand-new episode of On Fire, the only official Survivor podcast. Each week, we go behind the scenes of the episode's biggest moments, taking you into the how and the why things happened. And this season, we're very lucky to be joined by an expert, the winner of Survivor 45, Deva Adaris. What is up? I'm thrilled to be joining this team and to be giving you my take on how and the why players made the moves they did, what it takes to outwin, outplay, and outlast. And to ask Jeff some questions, because even after 26 days out there, there is still a lot for me to uncover. Bring it, D! Listen to On Fire, the official Survivor podcast, wherever you get your podcasts.