Rosie Perez has spent her whole life getting back up. From a brutal childhood to an Oscar nomination, from Do the Right Thing to Birds of Prey, from AIDS activism in the Giuliani years to the front row of every big fight, she has refused to be anyone but herself. In this replay conversation, Paul sits down with the queen of boxing to talk about the Weinstein verdict as a historic reckoning, the mental game that decides heavyweight fights and presidential elections, and why so many Latino voters — Cubans, Venezuelans, Mexicans, Central and South Americans who fled dictators — refuse to embrace a candidate who won’t stop flirting with the word socialist.
Along the way, Rosie breaks down Tyson Fury versus Deontay Wilder like the fight analyst she actually is, tells the story of the first car she bought off a college crackhead for two hundred bucks, and gets real about her own mental health, her PTSD, and why she still refuses to shame anyone who voted the other way. She and Paul dig into how we raise our boys, what real integrity looks like when nobody’s watching, and why fighting the good fight requires knowing when to rest. It’s a conversation about class, courage, and the American project — from one of the sharpest, funniest, most fearless voices we’ve got.
In this episode
- Rosie’s fight-analyst breakdown of Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder — and why she called it at the weigh-in
- The Weinstein verdict as a landmark moment: “Rape is rape, no matter if it occurred today, yesterday, or twenty years ago”
- Why she refuses to shame anyone who voted for Trump — and where she puts the fight instead
- The hard truth about Latino voters and the word “socialist” — Cubans, Venezuelans, and families who fled dictators
- On raising boys with empathy: why the conversation has to start at day one, not at thirteen
- Her Giuliani moment in Central Park, getting banned from the park, and learning the long game of activism
- The mental game — in boxing, on stage, on The View — and why you never play to the crowd
- The story of her first car: a torched Datsun B210 bought off a college crackhead for two hundred dollars
- Making Birds of Prey with a torn meniscus — and refusing to accept that she was “too old”
- What makes her happy: home, dark chocolate, and the security she dreamed of as a kid
