This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. Liberty has never been just a word to we Americans. It has guided every one of our endeavors for the past 250 years, and now it takes form in a new way. The 2026 Semi-Quincentennial Coin and Metal Program from the United States Mint.
It celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage. Available one year only, this historic collection features new coin designs, limited edition releases, and reissues. Shop new official coins at usmint.gov forward slash semi-q. That's usmint.gov/slash S-E-M-I-Q. I turned off news altogether.
I hate to say it, but I don't trust much of anything. It's the rage bait. It feels like it's trying to divide people. If we got clear facts, maybe we can calm down a little. NBC News brings you clear reporting.
Let's meet at the facts. Let's move forward from there. and BC News reporting for America. Uh This July 4th, come celebrate at America's Block Party, hosted by America 250. America's Block Party is a can't-miss 4th of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Experience music performances from major artists, patriotic tributes, and the kickoff to Giving Forth, helping to make July 4th the largest day of giving in American history. It's more than just fireworks. Learn more about this landmark celebration at America250.org. What's up y'all? Summer's got a different tempo.
Everything's a little looser, brighter. One plan turns into another. You hear something, you stay a little longer.
Next thing you know, you're somewhere you didn't plan to be. It's those in between moments. That's where the ideas hit. conversations stretch out, little memories sneak up on you.
Sometimes it's just about what's in your hand. that color. That chill. a new tropical butterfly refresher from Starbucks. guava and passion fruit flavors with mango pineapple flavored pearls.
Yeah. That feels like summer before you even taste it. Funny how one small stop becomes the best part of the day. Start your summer rhythm. with Starbucks.
Try the new Tropical Butterfly Refresher from Starbucks. This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people, coming to you from the city where the West begins, Fort Worth, Texas. They were the king and queen of late night TV until it all came crashing down. Here with the story is Mark Malkoff. Author of In Love with Shawnee Carson, One Obsessive Fans' Journey to Find the Genius Behind the Legend.
Take it away, Mark. Johnny was secure enough that he would let anybody guest host the show that he thought would be interesting. Johnny felt he needed rest from the show to do the best that he did, so it would be anybody from. Golfer Arnold Palmer to Hogan's hero star Bob Crane to Don Rickles to Michael Landon guest hosting the show. You would have Kirk Douglas, a big movie star, guest host the show.
Then you would have quarterback from the Jets, Joe Namath, guest host. You never knew who was going to be guest hosting the show. Joan Rivers in 1965 probably had the best comedic debut. You know, it'll last a few years. You find out.
especially in television, people who usually write comedy material for other people. comedy writers that is, they're not usually amusing themselves. I don't know why. But here is a young lady who not only writes funny, she is funny herself. Would you welcome, please, Joan Rivers?
She went on Johnny's show. She was introduced as a female comedy writer. She was writing for a TV show called Candid Camera, which was a hidden camera show. And she went on the show. And Johnny told her that night, I have a feeling you're gonna be a big star.
Joan Rivers the next day was heralded in the press as the biggest comedic female find since Carol Burnett. She was back with Johnny less than two weeks later. And Joan's life changed. Johnny loved Joan. In 1982, Johnny decided, I want to have a permanent guest host, and that's going to be Joan Rivers.
Joan ended up breaking Frank Sinatra's record. It was either in Atlantic City or Las Vegas. And she became one of the highest paid entertainers in Las Vegas and Atlantic City because she was the permanent guest host on The Tonight Show. And Johnny absolutely loved her. Miss Rivers was able to get her own show opposite Johnny on the Fox Network, which had just started.
She launched that in 1986. Barry Diller, who was the head of Fox, had told me that he had told Miss Rivers, You need to tell Johnny you are going to be competing against him. Barry Dillard played in a poker game with Johnny Carson, was friends with him. It was Neil Simon, Chevy Chase, Carl Reiner, Steve Martin. And Barry Dillard told Joan, You need to tell Johnny.
Miss Rivers did not tell Johnny, and he found out the day before that Miss Rivers was to announce at a press conference and was devastated. Costing, as you know, is going off this week and uh I wasn't asked Ah, here I go. I wasn't asked to come on and say goodbye. I wasn't asked In any way, shape, or form, see part of that with NBC, even though we did call. And what had gone down with me and with Johnny Carson was something private.
I left, as you know, to do my own show. And um as we get closer I get more and more sentimental and people start coming up and saying to me, Carson, Carson, Carson. Uh some of you may remember I was the first woman ever to hosted the show permanently and it was a lot of steps in my life. and I had come out of nowhere when Cause it Put his arm around me on my first shot. I'd been brought up seven times, by the way.
And um, The girl from Archmont trying very hard to be a comedian, when ladies were not comedians. We go back to nineteen sixty six. And my first night on the show, I've been working as an office temporary. and had gone to do the show, and that night Carson said to me, You're going to be a star. And I was so stupid and young, I looked around, I didn't know who was talking to.
But I just want to say 'Cause they won't let me say it on the tonight show. The show changed my life. I am totally grateful. I wouldn't be wearing this watch. I wouldn't be wearing this John Bless.
I wouldn't be having this show without him. He was very, very hurt that somebody he gave the big break would not tell him to his face that she was going to compete. It was horrible for me. And when the deal was going to be announced, the first one I called was Carson. and he hung up on me and never spoke to me again.
Right before the deal was going to be asked. She said, Johnny, it's Joan, and I think I'm leaving the show. I have my own show at Fox, and click.
So then I called him back. And I said, Johnny, and he clicked down again, would not hear me. But it became business. He became what he was, what we all are. Johnny Carson didn't become Johnny Carson, didn't get himself out of Nebraska because he was a sweet kid.
You get out because you have to drive. Johnny was a tough, aggressive, killer. That's how he got to be Johnny Carson. And I look back and I think maybe I should have just gone and asked him. Johnny, everybody said, would have said, I'm happy for you.
I wish you all the best, but I would advise you against it. Johnny was concerned that her style would just not work every night. Every five weeks it worked, but Joan Rivers would make fun of Elizabeth Taylor's weight, do a lot of cruel jokes, and didn't think it would work every single night, and it didn't. The thing that Johnny Carson had his heartbroken even more as Joan Rivers tried to take Johnny's producer, Peter LaSalle. Every talent coordinator that Johnny had was offered doubled their salary to go to Ms.
Rivers' show, and he could not believe that the woman he mentored would try to take his staff, and he never talked to her again. Miss Rivers, after nine or ten months, her show ended because Barry Diller, who's the head of Fox, told Miss Rivers that she needed to remove her husband, Edgar Rosenberg, who's producer of the show. And Joan Rivers said she wouldn't do it. And then Barry Diller said that you're going to be fired. She thought Mr.
Diller was bluffing. He wasn't. Miss Rivers was removed as the host of the late show on Fox. Two months later, Edgar Rosenberg took his own life. But Joan Rivers, even though they had their issues, would always say Johnny was the best straight man in the history of the business.
Johnny Carson was the best straight man ever. He knew where you were going. He knew when to come in and say How fat was she? He knew when not to say it. No, well, my wedding night was a disaster.
You know that. A lot of men smoke after they make love. They smoke during.
Now that's. Ask me for a light. You think that's nice? Yeah. I say getta yourself in the dashboard.
What's the matter? It was an immediate connection. You knew you were bringing your little gift to him of a joke. and you knew he was going to open it and look. I must say publicly, you always compliment me on this show.
Telling you that you owe so much to the tonight show and so forth. To you, not to the tonight show, to you. And a terrific job on the production, editing, and storytelling by our own Greg Hangler. And a special thanks to Mark Malkoff. His book, In Love with Johnny Carson, one obsessive fans' journey to find the genius behind the legend.
Here on Our American Stories. Lee Habib here again. Our American Stories tries to tell the stories of America's past and present to Americans. And we want to hear your stories too. They're some of our favorites.
Send them to us. Go to ouramericanstories.com and click the Your Stories tab. Again, please go to OwamericanStories.com. and click. the Your Stories tab.
Liberty has never been just a word to we Americans. It has guided every one of our endeavors for the past 250 years, and now it takes form in a new way. The 2026 Semi-Quincentennial Coin and Metal Program from the United States Mint. It celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage. Available one year only, this historic collection features new coin designs, limited edition releases, and reissues.
Shop new official coins at usmint.gov forward slash semiq. That's usmint.gov/slash S-E-M-I-Q. This July 4th, come celebrate at America's Block Party, hosted by America 250. America's Block Party is a can't-miss 4th of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Experience music performances from major artists, patriotic tributes, and the kickoff to Giving Forth, helping to make July 4th the largest day of giving in American history.
It's more than just fireworks. Learn more about this landmark celebration at America250.org. With my mom and dad living in Orange County, when we bring my five and seven year old to visit, we are sometimes in for a two-hour drive that could feel like 10. Oh, as an avid camper, I know all about this. We'll pack up the RV and know this is either going to be the trip of a lifetime or a complete disaster.
Which is why we load up the iPads with Lingo Kids before we even pull out of the driveway. It's what dreams are made of. Lingo Kids keeps kids engaged and quiet with over 4,000 interactive games, songs, and shows that kids simply cannot get enough of. You can pack whatever you think you'll need, but Lingo Kids is the only entertainment you'll need for a stress-free car ride. Or really, any ride.
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Lingo Kids: Everything Kids Love. I'm U. S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. Uh We all get distracted when we drive.
Whether it's from our phones, Or are kids in the backseat bickering? But how we handle these distractions can be a matter of life. or death. Before you get on the road for your next road trip, Please put your phones on silent. and take a mental note.
to focus on driving. Paid for by NHTSA.
