This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human. Run a business and not thinking about podcasting? Think again. More Americans listen to podcasts, then add supported streaming music from Spotify and Pandora. And as the number one podcaster, iHeart's twice as large as the next two combined. Learn how podcasting can help your business. Call 844-844-iHeart. Hi, and welcome back to the Carol Markowitz Show on iHeart Radio. My guest today is Ben Ferguson. Ben is host of the Ben Ferguson podcast and co-host of Verdict podcast with Ted Cruz. Hi, Ben. So nice to have you on. It's so good to be here. And like I get to talk about life today and not so much politics. This is like this is the best break ever. This is what this is all about. You know, we bring you on and we don't ask you what you thought about what Donald Trump said today. It actually confuses some people. They don't know how to get off that, like thinking where they have to come around. news. Yeah, exactly. So your bio actually leaves out something very important, which is you are known for schooling the libs in your CNN appearances. That's that is that is true. That is a hard fought battle for seven years. I call it that I was there fighting the commies and I enjoyed not every minute of it. I'm not going to lie. Right. There's there's things that I would totally take out, like the ridiculous amount of death threats, for example, like we could leave that. Having to deal with Don Lemon on almost a nightly basis, I would love to be able to get rid of that as well. So how did you become the guy that argues with the liberals on CNN? How did you get to do this thing of ours? Yeah. No. So I started in radio when I was 12 by accident. And then I started in TV when I was 17. The pitch was actually funny. It was a guy calls and he's like, hey, I'm the producer of this TV show. It's not available free to watch in Memphis yet on cable. This is the real pitch. And he said, he goes, anyway, the host shows really dynamic. He is the former host of Inside Edition. Now, if you're real astute, you're going to know who I'm talking about with that tidbit. He goes, so the show's called The O'Reilly Factor, and the host is Bill O'Reilly. Would you come on? And so- Wait, Bill O'Reilly hosted Inside Edition? Yes. I didn't know that. Wow. So that was the pitch. They were not pitching Fox at that point because Fox had just become a thing. And they were right. They sent me my first appearance on Bill O'Reilly's show on a beta tape. I kid you not. So I had to find someone with a beta player to even play the appearance when I was 17 on a show. How did they find you? They'd seen me on CNN in a clip that had gone viral. At 17 already? Wow. I'm going to have to look that up. Yeah, it was really funny. And his politically astute question, which I give him hell about every time I talk to him. he comes on my show like every year when he has his new bestseller that comes out you know around Christmas and his first question he asked me was after like asked me a couple please like by the way do your friends think you're a dork and I'm like seriously like that's what you're gonna come at and I'm like no they actually think you're a dork yeah exactly and he's like no no but like do they think you're kind of a dork like you talk politics I'm like well I also play basketball on the varsity team and I play tennis I'm gonna go play in college like but yeah that was my that was my my my first big question from a guy named bill o'reilly so if you've never watched the clip have you ever seen the clip where bill goes uh we're gonna do it live effort yeah yeah yeah go back and watch the clip that is on the set of inside edition that was not at fox okay yeah no full circle for you full circle i feel like i've already learned a lot and we just kicked this off so amazing so you've always wanted to do this this was i mean since you were basically a child I know. Was there even a plan B? Like, what what were you thinking? So I started when I was 12. I'll tell you that story very quickly. My mom was listening to talk radio. And this is before talk radio stations were mainly conservative talk. It was just new. Rush Limbaugh was new. And there was a station in Memphis and it was a smorgasbord of shows. There was a liberal from the city council. There was another liberal from the county commission. And like the mayor had a show and it was just kind of like they were figuring out what talk radio was. And a lot of people don't realize this. Like there were stations in America where Limbaugh and Howard Stern were on the same station. Wow. I know. It's crazy. So I was 12. And in 1993, 94, they were talking about the school lunch program. I was in the backseat. My mom was listening. And Richard Gephardt held up a bottle of ketchup. It was a famous moment. And he said, is this what the Republicans are going to call a vegetable now? Now, I didn't understand Republican or Democrat then. I just understood right and wrong. And I said to my mom, I was like, mom, there's no way somebody would do that to kids. And she was a school teacher. So her thing was, yes, this is a way for him to learn. She goes, well, why don't you find out if you're right? So I called our congressman at the time, a guy named Ed Bryant, his local office. I asked if they could send me the bill. In Memphis, Tennessee. Yeah. And so they sent me a copy of the bill where they FedExed it, actually, to my dad's office on that old roll paper, the old roll fax paper. And so, oh yeah, like a scroll, right? So I like literally read the whole bill and I found out that what Richard Gephardt, the Democrats were calling a cut was the difference between Republicans. They want to increase school lunch funding by three point six percent. And the Democrats wanted it by four point one. Both were increases, but Democrats are calling the difference between the three point six and the four point one a cut, even though they're both increasing it significantly. Yeah, higher than the cost of living increase. And so I read it and I asked my mom, I said, can I call into this lady's show? And she said, yes. And so this is the next day. So I called I was on hold She finally put me on the air And I said to the lady her name was Janice Fullylove And And I said she a city council member And I said ma I said I just want to call And I think you need to apologize to your audience for lying to them yesterday And she started yelling at me. Well, don't yell at a kid whose voice hasn't changed. It just sounds bad. It's just like life advice 101. Like, just don't. And I said to her, I said, have you read the bill? And she said, no, no one reads the bill. And I said, well, that's also a lie. I read the bill. And maybe before you on the radio and act like you're an expert, you should probably read the bill. Wow. That is cool. It was a fun moment. But like I was doing it a respectful way. I wasn't there to be a jerk. Like it was just honest, raw, back and forth. And I read the bill part to her and basically schooled her. I didn't even know what that meant. And another show heard it. They played that audio clip on their show that afternoon. and they said, if anyone knows who this Ben kid is, tell them we're talking about him and please call him. My parents' phone started blowing up the landline at home. People that were hearing this, I called into that show. They interviewed me and asked if I'd ever seen a radio studio. I said, no. They asked me to come down the next day. I did. The phone lines were jammed when I was there and I was supposed to be on for 15 minutes, ended up being on for about an hour and a half. And they said, could you come back tomorrow? I said, I have to ask my parents. They're in the minivan outside. So my parents said, yes, I came back the next day. And then a week later, I came back again. They hired me a week after that. And the rest, as they say, is history. That is incredible. Yeah, but I never really thought I was going to do this. I actually, so I played tennis in college and I was convinced I was going to go pro in tennis. Like that was my, if you ask me what was my dream, that was my dream. And then in 20, gosh, what was that? No, 2003, HarperCollins and Simon Schuster had reached out about me writing a book. I was doing a lot of TV then. I was still in college. So I didn't play tennis anymore. I wrote a book going my senior, the summer going into my senior year, took a semester off, wrote a book and then went straight to the Bush campaign in 04 and then to D.C., White House, et cetera. I mean, I've heard stories about people starting young, but this is like really young. Yeah, it was young. It was young. So I laugh now because we're like, man, you're having a good career. And I'm like, I'd hope so. I've been doing it for 40 years almost. I feel like I'm ready for retirement. Yeah, I'm like, I'm ready for retirement. Like, I feel I've been working longer than my adult life, literally. Right. So were your parents political at all? No, like not at all. Like, I mean, no more than anybody else. Like, it was not like a center point. I mean, it was truly, I would say, a God thing that she happened to be listening that day that I was paying attention in the back of the car. And then what I fell in love with was I always love to talk and I like to have an opinion. And radio was the great way for someone younger to have an opinion and be taken seriously based on the words you're saying, not based on your appearance. Because if it was on TV or in person, like, what do you know, kid? Go play with your friends at the playground. But I could have an opinion on the radio, and people would actually listen to me and what I was saying and judge me on my words, not based on my looks or appearance of being a kid. So are you still thinking about a second career in tennis? No. Yeah, I wish. That would be amazing. I've finally given it up. No, I had a lot of friends. I was very blessed that made it onto the pro tour. I got to live vicariously through them for years and go to tournaments and watch them. Most of them have now all retired. I've got a couple of friends who's actually one of my friends, little brothers, is in the semifinals at the Australian Open right now in doubles. Christian Harrison from from down in Florida. So if you it's a really cool story, you had a bunch of surgeries, bunch of injuries and kind of his last chance at it and is now ranked top 10 in the world in doubles. So like I still hold on a little bit to, you know, those types. but most of my friends now are commentators on ESPN or tennis channels. So that's when you know you're getting old. Well, I don't know. You know, Buck Sexton had a whole thing where he was going to hit 100 mile an hour tennis ball. I was instrumental in teaching him. Yeah, and he did it. You got to use your legs. And he did it. Yeah, no, he did it. Exactly right. I think if Buck Sexton can, you know, wake up one day and hit 100 mile an hour tennis ball, I think it's not too late for that tennis career. Not that I want to get rid of you, you know. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Just you've been you've been doing this a while, you know, when everybody says, like, what are you going to do when you retire? So my like when when radio and TV and commentating got so toxic and I was at CNN at the end, it was when Bush his first term, excuse me, Trump's first term was going on. I'd been there seven years. I actually just wanted something to get away from the political world. So I love barbecue. I'm from Memphis. I started a barbecue restaurant. Oh, wow. And so Tennessee or Memphis. Yeah. Because if you can't make it in Memphis, you can't make it, right? But it's the best in the world. And so I had a gun range, gun store, and a barbecue restaurant all under one roof. Where do you find the time? What is this? I know. It was awesome. And so I owned that for four-plus years, sold it last January. Wow. But then I opened with one of my best friends, another one, called Blue Suede Barbecue in Pinehurst. Okay. So it's really cool. North Carolina, excuse me. So, yeah, it's really, yeah, I'm still in that. It's just a way food brings people together. And it was a great outlet for me just to not be in such a toxic environment where it was just it'd gotten so nasty being at CNN and everybody hating on you and yelling at you every day that you're racist, homophobe, all the name calling. You know how it was. Right. And so that was my outlet. So I don't know if you enjoyed that. I love. Oh, my gosh. There's nothing more fun than cooking for people because politics doesn't matter when you cook. It's either good food or bad. I meant you enjoyed being called all those names. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. You have to get numb to it at some point that for sure But there also just a fatigue I think it was just such a pressure cooker then It better now Like you know you look at Scott Jennings for example a good friend of mine He now a hero of the right But when I was there people were yelling at me you fake news For being on. For being on. And now it's changed where it's like you're a hero for going there and fighting the commies. And so that's nice. I tell Scott, I'm like, dude, I warmed it up for you for seven years. You really did. Yeah. I took all the hell. Now you're the hero. Like, I feel like I need a 10% from your career earnings now. I think that's fair, really. Right, exactly. How did you get into doing a show with Ted Cruz? Were you just natural, like, fit together? No, so he started that show originally with Michael Knowles, who's a good friend over at The Daily Wire, and they were doing it once a week, and they wanted to expand it and make it kind of bigger, and they needed there to be more days to grow it, and so I was approached and asked about it. I live in Houston. I've known Ted for, gosh, a long time since he ran for Senate his first time around against David Dewhurst. And so I was doing mornings in Dallas at that time. We got to know each other. Ice Bucket challenged him, for example, and he accepted. I mean, that's how far back we go. And so, yeah, so I've witnessed him throw a bucket of water that was freezing cold on him. I enjoyed every moment of that. And so we had a meeting and a conversation, and they wanted to expand it. And so we talked and it ended up working out where we've been able to do the show three days a week now. It's really a big priority of his. We do it on video, which also makes it really fun. And now we've got into a radio show where it's syndicated around the country as well. Oh, amazing. We're on over 200 stations around the country as well on the weekend. So it just kind of grew. I mean, he's one of my best friends. We spend a ton of time together. I mean, five, six hours a week. That's a lot of time. Yeah. And so, yeah, I enjoy every moment of it. Is it specifically on legal topics? Like I've listened to your show, but I have to admit I haven't heard the verdict, even though Ted Cruz has been on this show, which I really I have to rectify that. Yeah. You know what? I know a guy. We can probably make that happen. We can work on that. No, we talk honestly a lot about politics, but from a very different perspective, like what's happening in D.C.? What's happening in the hearings? What's happening in the in the Republican Senate luncheon that they have every week? What are they talking about with confirmation hearings? it really kind of takes you behind the curtain. It's, I call it the Wizard of Oz moment, where instead of hearing, you know, anonymous sources and speculation, you're really getting like the facts. Like we were able to talk about confirmation hearings in a way that no one else was because he's voting on it and he's in the committee and he's like, this one's going to work. Like when they were saying that, you know, Pete Hedget, for example, may not make it. That was a great example. Cash Patel, he's like, no, he's going to make it. Like, okay. I had zero worries because he's in the room. He's like, no, he's going to make it. Like, I'm not worried about this one. Let's move on to the next one. You know, it's cool because we get to have conversations like early on. We had Elon Musk on for over an hour. Wow. At the White House, in his office, in the EOB, at the Doge office, talking about all the corruption he had found. And so that's one of the big perks of it is, you know, when Senator Cruz asks you to come on, you're probably going to say yes. And we've gotten to have some really fun and big conversations. Some aren't even political. Like we had Bruce Pearl, who's the former basketball coach, as you know, Tennessee, and then ended his career at Auburn. And he's talking about the NIL, but he's also Jewish. And he was talking a lot about what's going on in Israel. And so that's one of those really fun episodes that is not, I say it's nonpolitical. It's more of a human being having a conversation, talking about what makes someone like that tick. I love human beings having conversations. That's what it's all about, really. Yeah, it really is. We're going to take a quick break and be right back on The Carol Markowitz Show. Run a business and not thinking about podcasting? Think again. More Americans listen to podcasts than ad-supported streaming music from Spotify and Pandora. And as the number one podcaster, iHeart's twice as large as the next two combined. So whatever your customers listen to, they'll hear your message. Plus, only iHeart can extend your message to audiences across broadcast radio. Think podcasting can help your business? Think iHeart. Streaming, radio, and podcasting. Call 844-844-iHeart to get started. That's 844-844-IHEART. What are you most proud of in your life? I mean, no doubt, my boys. How old? I've got three boys. I've got a nine-year-old and twins that are six, about to be seven. Wow. And they're the most fun. I mean, I love what I do. I absolutely love being a dad. It is no doubt, I would say, my number one priority. I've said no to some really cool things and not thought twice about saying no to spend time with them. I think in life, it's funny. I have friends or dads, you either love it and embrace it or you kind of don't. I don't see a lot in between. And like I wanted to be a dad. I had, I was lucky. I grew up with a dad that loved being a dad as well and was very present. And so that was kind of my goal is to be the same thing. And they love sports. So that also makes it really easy to spend time together. Like one of my sons has been ranked as high as second in the world in golf. And my six is ranked seventh in the world right now. In golf? In golf, yeah. And so they're kind of freaks. They beat their dad legitimately. It's very annoying to hear your six-year-old and nine-year-old trash talk you and then they can back it up. But it's fun to watch. So I get to caddy for them. They get to go to tournaments all over the country. They get invited to go to tournaments all over the world. We just don't travel internationally yet because they're nine and six and that's insane to me. But it's cool they get invited. So they get free stuff. No, you got to take them. You got to go. Yeah, they get free stuff sent to our house. So I try still some of their golf balls that get sent and things like that, which is pretty awesome. That is so cool Do you show them like videos of Ben Ferguson owns libs on CNN Like you know respect you know Right Yeah No it funny What they care about is hilarious Like they watch sometimes for like three or four minutes and then they done They move on. But there's like little things that are fun. So my oldest, he got sponsored by Adidas. And that was like a full circle moment because I was sponsored by ideas for like, I don't know, four or five years. These young kids sponsored by Adidas. You have a radio show when you're 12. I know. I feel like such a loser. Please start them young. But like that was a moment where I told my son, I was like, look, I'm not going to pull any strings. You got to earn it. Whatever comes, comes. And so the guy with the ideas was like, hey, we'd love to, you know, help him with shoes and gear. So cool. And I was like, all right, well, now that you're asking. And then I sent him a picture of me at a national tournament with my coaches all wearing our ideas stuff from, you know, 30 years ago. And that was a cool moment. Like when things like that, like I do think the cool thing is they have they work really hard and they love it and that's kind of when you see that dna like i i i had to work extremely hard to play college tennis and put in ridiculous hours i wasn't fast i always have struggled with my weight and so like i've had to like i just had to work really hard on speed and agility to even like hang and and it's fun to see them not struggle with as many things and just get to watch them perform so it's pretty awesome awesome really really cool. Give us a five-year-out prediction. Could be about anything at all. I think AI is going to change the world. I think five years from now. For the better or for the worse? I think probably for the better. I think there's going to be growing pains of job sectors where jobs are lost. But there's always been that. I mean, manufacturing is a great example of that. And different things that have changed in this country. I'm not afraid of it. I think you embrace it. And I think there's always going to, you're still going to need human beings. But I do think, I'm still amazed by this stupid thing in my hand. It's cool, the phone, yeah. We're all walking around with a supercomputer in our hands. Just insane to me. Like the amount of knowledge that we have, the amount of information that we have, for me is just, like, I'm still in awe. I think we take it for granted, like what you have in your hand. And like, so I think AI is going to just fundamentally change things. I think it's going to do amazing work in the medical field. I was talking to a CEO the other day. He said he believes AI will save more lives than all doctors in history combined. And he said because what AI can connect dots and can connect symptoms and connect family histories and tell you what to look for. He said when we get it down where we can basically load in your medical history, your family's medical history, your blood work and different things that have happened and be able to see what you're at risk of. And then what these doctors can really look for, he was saying it's going to totally revolutionize medicine. He also thinks we'll be able to cure cancer and things like that because of AI. Yeah. And things that we may not have even seen are different treatments that can work and how fast it can help people around the world. So I think probably five years from now. I am. I'm optimistic. Every technology has always been used for evil, too. I'm a realist in that. I don't think you stop technology or stop learning because of fear. I think you're going to have limitations. I think there's going to be bad things that happen because of AI. No doubt about it. But I also think the upside of it, I think there's more good people in the world than bad. That's part of like I have faith in humanity that we're going to be okay. I love that. Ben, this has been so much fun. I have loved getting to know you more. Really one of my favorite episodes because, wow, did I not know enough about you before this started. You're sweet. Thank you for having me on. I was so excited. Leave us here with your best tip from my listeners on how they can improve their lives. Spend time with your friends and with your family. Put this stupid thing down, that supercomputer down. It makes me so sad to see how many lives have been ruined and families and relationships because you go out to dinner and you see four people at the table doing this. The worst, yeah. I hate it. One of my favorite things, and I challenge people to do this so you see how addicted you are to your phone is go to dinner with your friends and everybody put their phone in the middle of the table and the first person to look at their phone has to pay for dinner and you will realize how addicted you are to checking the buzz and the ping and the ding and how unpresent you are with your friends and with your family like I would challenge people to do that I think you know for me just being present and spending time with your family your friends you don't know when it's over I've lost a couple of friends to suicide unfortunately dear friends one of them was my college roommate one was one of my dear friends that was it was a it was a public case he was a pga tour golfer he's a dear friend of mine grace and murray uh that took his own life a little over a year ago now and i well thank you but i i i challenge people to not take your kids for granted not take your friends for granted ask them the tough questions how are you doing and mean it when you ask it uh be be cheerleaders for your people show up for your people i i try to be really present with my kids. I try to spend quality time with them, but like put the phone down. And I look, I work on my phone. My phone's my office. And sometimes I have to remind myself. Right. I think this thing ruins people's, it ruins great conversations and it ruins getting to know a human being as a human being. So my biggest challenge to people is spend quality time with your kids. You only get them for a couple of years and check on your family and your friends, because if they're struggling and hurting right now, a lot of people keep it internally and that can turn into terrible things. So check on them. Such good advice. Thank you so much. He is Ben Ferguson. Check out the Ben Ferguson podcast. Thank you so much for coming on, Ben. Thanks for having me. Good to see you. This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.
