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Exclusive: Barack Obama defends location of Obama Center, is ‘absolutely confident’ it will benefit community

September 28, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(CHICAGO) — Ahead of Tuesday’s groundbreaking on the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, former President Barack Obama reflected on the center’s mission and defended his decision to choose the historic Jackson Park neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side as the site to honor his legacy.

Some community organizers have expressed concern that development of the center, which would become a tourist attraction, could lead to gentrification of the neighborhood, while park preservationists have challenged the construction in court, citing environmental concerns.

“The truth is, any time you do a big project, unless you’re in the middle of a field somewhere, you know, and it’s on private property, there’s always going to be some people who say, ‘Well, but we don’t want change. We’re worried about it. We don’t know how it’s going to turn out,'” Obama told Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts in an exclusive interview. “Which is why we’ve gone through such an exhaustive process to encourage and elicit comments and concerns and criticism and suggestions from the community.”

Jackson Park is a public park on the National Register of Historic Places that was designed by New York Central Park designer Frederick Law Olmsted.

A four-year federal review, which concluded in February, determined that the new Obama Center would pose “no significant impact to the human environment.”

But Protect Our Parks, a nonprofit park preservationist organization that filed an unsuccessful lawsuit to block construction in 2018, filed another lawsuit in April challenging the federal review.

The group argued that construction “will tear up this Frederick Law Olmsted masterpiece,” resulting in the removal of trees, the removal of the Women’s Garden and the closure of roadways.

On Aug. 21 the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an emergency appeal by the group to block construction.

Amid ongoing litigation, Protect Our Parks on Sept. 20 filed a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Seventh Circuit in support of its preliminary injunction request, the group told ABC News.

Monday, on the eve of the groundbreaking, a spokesperson for the group released a statement saying that “the homecoming of the former President and the First Lady should be a moment of pride for Chicagoans. On this visit, though, we hope they will mourn the devastation of the initial clear-cutting of the mature trees and the destruction of the Women’s Garden in Jackson Park, in addition to the long-term environmental and public health dangers that will ensue.”

“Unfortunately, hosting a series of virtual groundbreakings will not change the facts of the case or the long-term adverse effects on the community,” the statement said. “On the contrary, it would take one decision by Mr. and Mrs. Obama to relocate the OPC site to the adjacent area close to Washington Park.”

Asked about the legal hurdles, Obama said that he’s “absolutely confident” that the center will benefit the local community.

“The overwhelming majority of the community has been not just OK with it, but are hugely enthusiastic about it,” he told Roberts.

Presidential libraries are often housed in affluent areas, but much of Chicago’s South Side, which is home to a predominantly Black community, is in an underserved and economically depressed area of the city.

The Obama Presidential Center, which will honor the legacy of the first Black president, will include a library, museum, gardens, and a children’s playground. Organizers say it will seek to bring investments and jobs to the community.

“The Obama Presidential Center will connect the economy of the South Side of Chicago with the rest of the city, creating new jobs and opportunities. It will breathe new life into a park that has long been protected and loved, but underused. And it will uphold our commitment to this vibrant community,” according to the Obama Foundation, which is funding the project.

Obama was born in Hawaii but spent much of his formative years on Chicago’s South Side. It was there that he worked as a community organizer and was first elected to public office. The former president decided in 2016 that the South Side, where is also where former first lady Michelle Obama grew up, would house his presidential library.

“The young person who’s growing up across the street or down the block or a few miles away, now suddenly have a place where concerts and speeches and debates and forums are taking place that they can access,” Obama said.

“If they want to bring about change in their neighborhoods, they’ve got resources and people who can teach them how to do that effectively. And they’re going to be able to see themselves as part of that change in a way that, so often, they don’t feel right now.”

The Obamas, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker are set to attend Tuesday’s groundbreaking.

North Korea fires suspected ballistic missile into East Sea in latest test

September 28, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(SEOUL, South Korea) — North Korea fired a short-range missile toward the East Sea early Tuesday, according to its neighboring countries, South Korea and Japan, marking the third such weapons test this month.

Military officials in Seoul, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. were investigating whether the latest missile was ballistic and if it was launched from a submarine. A ballistic missile launch would violate United Nations Security Council resolutions that ban North Korea from engaging in any ballistic activities, though the council typically doesn’t slap new sanctions on Pyongyang for testing short-range weapons.

“The missile was fired from the North’s Mupyong-ri in Jagang Province eastward at around 6:40 a.m,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters on Tuesday. “South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities are analyzing the launch for additional information.”

There was “no report of damage to Japan’s aircraft or sea vessels,” according to Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato.

“North Korea’s missile launches pose a serious threat to the safety of our nation and the stability of the region,” Kato said during a press conference on Tuesday morning.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told reporters on Tuesday that his “government is on high alert and monitoring the situation.”

North Korea has test-launched missiles six times in 2021 so far, three of which occurred this month. North Korean state media claimed that Pyongyang had successfully tested a long-range cruise missile on Sept. 12 and fired two short-range ballistic missiles off the eastern coast three days later.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State condemned the latest weapons test, calling it a “violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions” — a tacit acknowledgment that the United States believes the missile was in fact ballistic.

“We remain committed to a diplomatic approach to the DPRK and call on them to engage in dialogue,” the spokesperson told ABC News in a statement early Tuesday, using the acronym for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

During a press briefing on Monday, State Department deputy spokesperson Jalina Porter told reporters that the U.S. government is “prepared to meet with the DPRK without preconditions, and we certainly hope that the DPRK will respond positively to our outreach.”

Tuesday’s missile launch happened an hour after North Korea’s ambassador to the U.N., Kim Song, delivered remarks at the 76th session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, during which he attempted to justify his country’s development of a “war deterrent” to defend against threats from the U.S. and other rivals.

“What we mean by the war deterrent is literally the righteous right to self-defense that can deter aggressive war and defend ourselves,” Kim said. “The possible outbreak of a new war on the Korean Peninsula is contained not because of the U.S.’s mercy on the DPRK, it is because our state is growing a reliable deterrent that can control the hostile forces in an attempted military invasion.”

Moon Sung-muk, an analyst and arms control expert at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy, an independent, not-for-profit think tank in Seoul, said Kim’s speech was asking the international community to acknowledge North Korea’s weapons development as inside legal boundaries.

“North Korea is deliberately offering a condition that the U.S. and South Korea cannot accept so that when negotiations fall apart, they can blame their counterparts,” Moon told ABC News on Tuesday. “As preconditions to resume inter-Korean talks, North Korea told South Korea in a statement last Saturday to consider their missile development as a reasonable act of self deterrence.”

North Korea has been sending mixed messages this year. While test-firing a variety of missiles, Kim Yo Jong, the politically powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has hinted that Pyongyang is ready to engage in talks with South Korea and formally declare an end to the Korean War.

“South Korea must not try to upset the balance of military force on the Korean Peninsula with such illogical and childish absurd assertion just as the U.S. does,” she was quoted as saying on Saturday by North Korean state media. “I only hope that the South Korean authorities’ moves to remove the tinderbox holding double standards bereft of impartiality, the hostile policy toward the DPRK.”

But Cha Du-hyeogn, an analyst at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, an independent, non-profit think tank in Seoul, doubted Pyongyang’s will to come back to the negotiation table.

“North Korea never said they are willing to resume talks without conditions,” Cha told ABC News on Tuesday. “The consecutive statements followed by missile provocations can be seen as a double-sided strategy.”

Cha added that Kim Yo Jong is pushing South Korea to convince the U.S. to lift sanctions if the South is so eager to resume dialogue.

“It’s an attempt to incapacitate the U.S.-South Korea cooperation by making use of national, or inter-Korean, cooperation,” he said.

Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said Pyongyang “is not only testing its missile but also the South Korean government.”

“Pyongyang will wait to see what South Korea has to say about the missile experiment,” Yang told ABC News on Tuesday, “after Kim Yo Jong insisted that South Korea get rid of the double standards on North’s weapons tests if they want inter-Korean dialogue.”

Exclusive: Obama says US ‘desperately needs’ Biden agenda, supports taxing the rich

September 28, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(CHICAGO) — President Biden’s far-reaching multitrillion-dollar domestic agenda, in peril because of Democratic infighting, is getting a prominent boost from former President Barack Obama, who told ABC News in an exclusive interview that the country “desperately needs” the programs and that he supports taxing the wealthy to help support the package.

“You’re talking about us stepping up and spending money on providing childcare tax credits — making those permanent to help families, who for a long time, have needed help,” Obama told Good Morning America host Robin Roberts.

“You’re looking at making our infrastructure function more efficiently … you’re talking about rebuilding a lot of buildings, roads, bridges, ports so that they are fortified against climate change. And also, that we start investing in the kinds of energy efficiency that’s going to be required to battle climate change.”

The former president’s comments come as ongoing disagreements between progressive and moderate Democrats in the House delayed a vote on a sweeping $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill that passed in the Senate on Aug. 10.

The legislation bolsters funding for the country’s infrastructure — from roads and bridges to transit systems and the electricity grid.

Progressives have indicated that they will not vote on the infrastructure bill until the larger $3.5 trillion so-called “human infrastructure” bill is also ready for a vote, but some of the contents of the larger bill, as well as disagreements over how to pay for it have been a point of contention among Democrats.

The $3.5 trillion bill is a 10-year spending plan that covers a host of Democratic priorities, including investments in health care, child care, eldercare, universal preschool, free community college, as well as efforts to combat climate change.

Republicans and some moderate Democrats have raised concerns over the price tag of the package, while House Democrats have sought to offset the costs by raising taxes on wealthy Americans and corporations — a proposal that Obama said he supports.

“I think that they can afford it. We can afford it. I put myself in this category now,” Obama told Roberts.

“It’s paid for by asking the wealthiest of Americans, who have benefited incredibly over the last several decades — and even in the midst of a pandemic, saw their wealth and assets rise enormously — asking them to pay a few percentage points more in taxes in order to make sure that we have a economy that’s fair for everybody,” Obama said.

“I think anybody who pretends that it’s a hardship for billionaires to pay a little bit more in taxes so that a single mom gets childcare support or so that we can make sure that our communities aren’t inundated by wildfires and floods and that we’re doing something about climate change for the next generation — you know, that’s an argument that is unsustainable,” he added.

Hoping to salvage his agenda, Biden met with members of Congress last week, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., as well as Democratic moderates and progressives from both chambers.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Thursday that the administration is considering a “range of options” for financing the plan.

“Our bar has continued — has always been from the beginning, nothing that would raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 a year. And certainly we wouldn’t support anything that would,” she added.
Pelosi may delay vote on Senate bipartisan infrastructure bill

Following the meeting with the president Pelosi indicated that a vote on the infrastructure bill in the House was set for Monday Sept. 27 — a timetable that she has since indicated could change.

“I’m never bringing to the floor a bill that doesn’t have the votes,” Pelosi told ABC’s This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos on Sunday.

“You cannot choose the date,” she added. “You have to go when you have the votes in a reasonable time, and we will.”

A White House official told ABC News on Monday that Biden, along with senior White House staff, spoke over the weekend with several members of Congress whose votes are key to getting the legislation passed.

“Engagement is happening through the weekend into Monday and it continues to be clear that there is strong resolve across the caucuses behind passing these bills so that our economy delivers for the middle class and not just those at the top,” the White House official said.

COVID-19 live updates: Pfizer submits initial child vaccine data to FDA

September 28, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The United States has been facing a COVID-19 surge as the more contagious delta variant continues to spread.

More than 690,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.7 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Just 64.8% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the CDC.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Sep 28, 8:55 am
Pfizer submits initial child vaccine data to FDA

Pfizer on Tuesday submitted data for the Phase 2/3 vaccine trial for 5- to 11-year-olds to the FDA.

Pfizer will make a formal request for authorization in the coming weeks.

The FDA will review the data and make a decision, possibly by the end of October. The timeline for authorization is not set in stone.

Sep 27, 8:00 pm
Judge upholds NYC school staff vaccine mandate

A three-judge panel from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has dissolved a temporary injunction that halted New York City’s vaccine mandate for school staff.

The panel offered no explanation and cleared the way for the city to enforcement the public school vaccine mandate.

“Vaccinations are our strongest tool in the fight against COVID-19 – this ruling is on the right side of the law and will protect our students and staff,” New York City’s Department of Education said in a statement.

As of Monday night, 87% of DOE employees, including 91% of teachers and 97% of principals, have at least one shot, according to the DOE.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said public school employees will have until the end of day Friday to get at least one dose of vaccine.

Michael Mulgrew, the president of the United Federation of Teachers, released a statement Monday night saying, “We will be working with our members to ensure, as far as possible, that our schools can open safely as the vaccine mandate is enforced.”

Sep 27, 7:02 pm
First lady Jill Biden receives booster shot

First lady Jill Biden received her COVID-19 booster shot Monday, according to Michael LaRosa, her spokesman.

The shot was administered at the White House in the afternoon, LaRosa told ABC News.

Sep 27, 6:10 pm
Judge rules Arizona ban on school mask mandate unconstitutional

An Arizona judge ruled Monday that the state’s ban on mask mandates in schools is unconstitutional.

Judge Katherine Cooper sided with the Arizona School Boards Association, which contended that the Arizona State Legislature’s law to ban school districts from issuing a mask mandate violates the state constitution’s title requirement and single subject rule.

The association argued that the legislature included policy regarding 30 subjects into one bill.

“The single subject rule precludes legislators from combining unrelated provisions into one bill to garner votes for disfavored measures. Together, these requirements promote transparency and the public’s access to information about legislative action,” the judge wrote in her decision.

The law was slated to go into effect on Sept. 29.

The state has until Nov. 1 to file an objection or response to the ruling.

Former Theranos board member, investor testifies against Elizabeth Holmes

September 28, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Former Theranos board member and former Secretary of Defense James “Mad Dog” Mattis testified last week in the criminal trial of former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes.

“I was taken with the idea that with one drop of blood and with remote capability, you could basically test for a broad array of problems,” Mattis told jurors from the witness stand during his initial examination from prosecutors.

When asked who was in charge in board meetings — Holmes or her former romantic partner and Theranos Chief Operating Officer Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani — Mattis did not hesitate when he said: “Ms. Holmes.”

And when asked where he got his information regarding Theronos blood testing devices, he also named Holmes. “I had no other source of information on it,” he told the court.

Holmes founded Theranos in 2003 and claimed the company was developing blood testing technology that could perform hundreds of blood tests using only a few drops of blood. Holmes and Balwani face a dozen charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with what prosecutors call a multi-million dollar scheme to defraud investors and patients.

Both have pleaded not guilty. Balwani’s trial is slated to begin next year.

Along with Mattis, last week jurors heard from a digital forensic expert, Theranos’ former lab director, and the first Theranos patient to take the stand.

Mattis joined Theranos in 2013 and departed in 2016, prior to joining the Trump administration as the secretary of defense.

Mattis told jurors that when he joined the board in 2013 U.S. military casualties had not relented. “I was interested in anything that would improve the care of casualties,” he added.

Mattis recalled meeting Holmes in either 2011 or 2012, at an event in San Francisco where he was giving a speech. Holmes allegedly pricked his finger to give him “an idea of what the machine blood draw was,” he stated in court.

Mattis told the court that he became instantly impressed with Holmes’ description of Theranos’ testing capabilities, thinking the company’s devices could have game-changing benefits on the battlefield.

In 2013, he pushed for Theranos devices to join a “pilot project” where they’d be compared to devices already used on large U.S. Naval vessels, according to email exchanges between Mattis and Holmes displayed in court.

“We could do a side-by-side comparison,” Mattis recalled in the courtroom. The plan was to put Theranos devices up against the already-approved devices on those vessels to determine if the devices were “faster” or “more accurate.”

Mattis told jurors he invested $85,000 in the startup. His salary on the board was approximately $150,000, according to Theranos financial documents.

Theranos devices, however, never ended up in Mattis’ “pilot project” or in any sort of military arena. He testified that at a certain point, following growing scrutiny of the company’s testing capabilities, “I didn’t know what to believe about Theranos anymore.”

Since leaving the company’s board to join the Trump administration, Mattis has voiced regrets over his involvement with Holmes’ failed company. “The bottom line is we all make mistakes at times,” he told PBS in 2019.

Mattis may be the first of several notable names to testify in Holmes’ trial. Others who may be called as witnesses include former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, billionaire media tycoon Rupert Murdoch and prominent attorney David Boies. Murdoch was a Theranos investor, and Boies at one point sat on Theranos’ board and his firm served as the company’s outside counsel for several years.

Another key witness from last week, Brittany Gould, was the first Theranos patient to take the stand. She told the court that the company’s blood test inaccurately showed she was suffering a miscarriage when in fact she had a healthy pregnancy.

Gould, who had already miscarried three times, testified that in September 2014 she took a Theranos blood test at a Walgreens store in Arizona after learning that she was pregnant.

Additional non-Theranos tests confirmed the initial results were inaccurate, and she went on to have a healthy baby girl.

Holmes’ lawyers elected not to cross examine Gould.

Holmes and her counsel did not respond to ABC News’ repeated requests for comment.

Trisha Yearwood jokes Garth Brooks won her heart with frozen pizza

September 28, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Best-selling author Trisha Yearwood releases her fourth cookbook today, complete with a foreword by her superstar husband, Garth Brooks.

The first time Trisha cooked for Garth, she confesses she made a Fettuccine Alfredo so heavy he needed a nap immediately afterwards. But the first time Garth cooked for her, it was pretty much love at first bite.

“I went to visit him in Oklahoma, and he asked me if I wanted pizza. I don’t think I’ve ever told this story,” Trisha reveals. “And I said, ‘Yeah, that’d be great.”

“And so he goes into the kitchen and he comes back with — first of all, they were the two for five dollar pizzas, which is fine. He still likes those,” she laughs. “He does. He came back with a pizza for him and a pizza for me. And I’m like, ‘I’m probably just gonna marry him. This is probably gonna happen…'”

“I did not eat my whole pizza, but he did eat his whole pizza, and some of my pizza,” she adds. “It was just really sweet.”

Since then, Trisha’s nicknamed her husband Gartha Stewart, he’s so good in the kitchen.

“He makes a hot pasta salad that I love,” she tells ABC Audio. “He’s got kind of a famous breakfast bowl in the second book that he makes a lot. He just made that for my birthday a couple weeks ago.”

“You know, he’ll get in there and do whatever you need,” she says. “If you want him to cook and take it over, he’ll take it over.”

Trisha’s Kitchen: Easy Comfort Food for Friends & Family is available now and includes 125 recipes from the host of Food Network’s Trisha’s Southern Kitchen and her sister, Beth Yearwood Bernard.

Scoreboard roundup — 9/27/21

September 28, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Monday’s sports events:

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Cleveland 8, Kansas City 3
Chi White Sox 8, Detroit 7
Seattle 13 Oakland 4

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Cincinnati 13, Pittsburgh 1
Washington 5, Colorado 4

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PRESEASON
Columbus 3, Pittsburgh 0
Montreal 5, Toronto 2
Vancouver 4, Calgary 2
St. Louis 2, Dallas 1 (OT)
Arizona 2, Los Angeles 1

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Dallas 41, Philadelphia 21

‘Dancing with the Stars’ season 30 recap: Martin Kove knocked out of the competition

September 28, 2021 by WDNY Radio

With the first elimination of the Dancing with the Stars season looming heavy over the ballroom, the pressure was palpable on the dance floor. However, the journey came to a screeching halt for Cobra Kai star Martin Kove, who failed to impress the judges during his ballroom debut.

Kove reacted to his elimination by telling host Tyra Banks he was “beyond belief” that he was going home.

While the ballroom has lost a little of its fighting spirit with the actor’s dismissal, two front runners for the Mirrorball Trophy emerged Monday night when The Talk co-host Amanda Kloots and Nickelodeon star JoJo Siwa ended the night tied on top of the leaderboard.

For Kloots, she honored her late husband Nick Cordero by dancing an emotional foxtrot to their wedding song, “It Had to Be You,” of which he sang to land a role in Bullets Over Broadway — the musical where they first met.

“This song holds such a special place in my heart, and our wedding will always remain in my mind as one of the happiest times of my life,” Kloots told the camera and bravely smiled through her graceful routine that landed her the highest score of the season, a 32 out of 40.

Siwa also brought the judges to their feet with her vivacious cha-cha to Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande‘s “Rain on Me” and proved that she and pro dance partner Jenna Johnson are a force to be reckoned with.

Another notable dance came from Melanie “Sporty Spice” C, who enjoyed a surprise shout out from Ringo Starr following her upbeat foxtrot to “Here Comes the Sun.”

Ringo wasn’t the only celebrity who crashed the night. Earlier in the show, NBA legend LeBron James also taped a special shout out for Imam Shumpert, which aired after his rumba.

The most memorable moment of the night, however, happened mere hours before the competition kicked off, with Peloton instructor Cody Rigsby and partner Cheryl Burke having to take a step away from the competition to quarantine after the latter tested positive for COVID-19 despite being vaccinated.

Because the two were in isolation, the judges were tasked to judge one of their rehearsal videos of their salsa. All four agreed that, while the routine lacked the polish, it was enough to secure Cody and Cheryl another week in the competition.

Both assured the audience that they are feeling okay and are looking forward to competing next week.

Dancing with the Stars will celebrate all things Britney Spears when it returns next Monday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Here are the current standings:

JoJo Siwa, Nickelodeon star, with Jenna Johnson — 60/80
Amanda Kloots, The Talk co-host, with Alan Bersten — 60/80
Melanie C, Spice Girl, with Gleb Savchenko — 57/80
Suni Lee, Olympic Gold medalist, with Sasha Farber — 56/80
Melora Hardin, The Office actress, with Artem Chivensky — 53/80
Olivia Jade, influencer, with Val Chmerkovskiy — 52/80
Kenya Moore, Real Housewives of Atlanta star, with Brandon Armstrong — 50/80
Michael “The Miz” Gregory, WWE superstar, Witney Carson — 50/80
Christine Chiu, Bling Empire actress, with Pasha Pashkov — 49/50
Cody Rigsby, Peloton instructor, with Cheryl Burke — 48/80
Matt James, former Bachelor, with Lindsey Arnold— 46/80
Brian Austin Green, Beverly Hills, 90210 alum, Sharna Burgess — 47/80
Jimmie Allen, country music singer, with Emma Slater — 49/80
Imam Shumpert, NBA player, with Daniella Karagach — 46/80

Olivia Rodrigo talks navigating fame “one step at a time”

September 28, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Olivia Rodrigo is taking her sudden rise to fame “one step at a time.”

The “good 4 u” singer discusses her newfound celebrity in a new cover story with Vogue Singapore.

“It can be really tough on your mental health…” she says. “I’m grateful for the people who like me for me, and keep me separated from all the noise and tabloids or what people are saying about me on social media. That’s always been a top priority.”

“It’s funny how recognition changes everything and also changes nothing in your life,” the 18-year-old adds. “The problems I was having a year ago are still the problems I’m having now, and things that brought me joy a year ago are still the things that bring me joy now. It’s just another aspect of life that you need to learn how to deal with, but it doesn’t change who you are as a person.”

Olivia says one of the most surprising things about fame is finding out who was “genuinely supportive” of her career and who wasn’t, but she leans on her “amazing friends and family” to keep her grounded. That includes her parents.

“They always say, ‘We are so proud of you and all these achievements are incredible, but we would be equally proud of you if you were in school in your hometown,'” she says. “They’re the best and that’s a really important attitude to have.”

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40 years ago, Olivia Newton-John invited us all to get “Physical”: “At the time, I was horrified”

September 28, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Forty years ago today, Olivia Newton-John released the song that made her a pop superstar: “Physical.” Olivia was given “Physical” after Tina Turner rejected it, and it became her all-time biggest hit, no doubt in part due to the lyrics, which were considered super-provocative for the time. Just last year, songs by two pop superstars, Dua Lipa and Miley Cyrus, offered nods to “Physical” lyrically and melodically — something which amazed Olivia.

“Who would have thought that all these years later this song was still popular?” she told ABC Audio of the 10-week number-one hit. “I think it struck the chord of getting fit at that time.”

She laughed, “It was the perfect opportunity and combined a lot of messages, but that was one of them! And yeah, I can’t believe it. Forty years on. I mean, Grease and ‘Physical,’ [it’s] amazing that these things are still alive and popular.”

“Physical” was actually considered so racy that it was banned in Utah, which Olivia said she’s “very proud” of now. “Even though at the time, I was horrified, now, it’s like a good thing!” she noted, laughing.

And boy, was she ever horrified: She told ABC Audio, “I knew it was a fun song, but I didn’t really focus in on how people were going to take it until I was banned. And then I called my manager and I said, ‘We got to pull it off the radio…I think I’ve gone too far!’ And he said, ‘It’s too late, love. It’s climbing up the charts!”

But now, Olivia noted, “‘Let’s get physical/ Let me hear your body talk’…compared to what’s on the radio now, it’s like a lullaby!”

A new deluxe edition of Olivia’s 1981 Physical album is now available for pre-order.

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