what was your dream when you >> i wanted to be tony morrison. i wanted to be a novelist like tony morrison. >> stephen: why didn't you do it? >> tony morrison already has the job. >> stephen: was there anything in this "year of yes" that you said, yeah, no. my yes is a big no to that? one thing did you is you said yes to health. you lost 117 pounds. ( cheers and applause ). >> i did, i did. i did. that was one. >> stephen: yeah. that is-- that is saying no to a lot of things, lose 117 pounds. >> it was. it was saying no to a lot of things. but it was also saying yes to wanting to hang around for a lot longer. >> stephen: you had a friend who said, "you never do anything fun." >> yeah. >> stephen: like you run three tv shows. that's fun. what did she mean by, "you never do anything fun?" >> my older sister dolores said i never said yes to anything. she meant i go to work and come home. you think people who work in hollywood have fancy hollywood lives. i had kids and i was working working and coming home. i was a workaholic. that was it. >> stephe

i wanted to be toni morrison. and she is already toni morrison so that was not going to happen. people say that they want to be shonda rimes. shonda: i see you don't want to do that. i'm not leaving my job. but be yourself. i took every opportunity presented to me. going to film school happened because i read it was harder to get into usc film school than it was to harvard law school. i was bored in my advertising job. so i applied to go and discovered how much i loved writing tv and film. charlie: why did they accept you? shonda: i was a good writer. literally, i'm nothing if not a very good student. i got their thinking film school might be interesting. i discovered that this is where my writing really settles in and feels good. it makes more sense to write scripts then a novel. charlie: what else did you say yes to? shonda: guest starring in the mini project. it was wonderful. a lot of small things at first. jimmy kimmel live. the public things. and then it got serious. saying no to people that are frilly manipulative. i got rid of toxic people in my life. i lost 117 pounds.

his book, "between the world and me," is called "required reading" by toni morrison. writes, quote, "i've been wondering who might fill the intellectual void that plagued me after james baldwin died. clearly it is ta-nehisi coates." well, in july, ta-nehisi coates launched his book in his hometown of baltimore. he spoke at the historic union baptist church. ta-nehisi coates: this book proceeded from a notion, and there are a couple of main notions that are really at work here. and one of the dominant ideas in the book, between the world and me, which is, you know, effectively an extended essay told in a letter form to my son, is the notion of fear, because i think like when people think about african-american communities, there are a lot of things that come to mind, but one of the things that does not come to mind, i think, enough in the mainstream conversation is simply how afraid we are of our bodies, how afraid we are for our children, how afraid we are for our loved ones, on a daily basis. and, you know, i understood this as a very, very young person, as i talk ab

toni morrison does lead you by the hand. as the reader to parachute into the middle of a story and have to put it together, which is good because when the reader participates in the process, you feel that you had a role in the creativity. and i think that that book could easily be read by most high school juniors or seniors without the guidance of a good teacher. and that's true i think with a lot of these challenging books, that is, and i mean challenging intellectually and emotionally. kids benefit, i think, from being in a classroom where a good teacher can lead them through an understanding and a discussion. it's a much richer experience. to contribute much more to their growing process that if they simply talk about them with their peers or even at home. and i think that argues for doing this kind of literature in school. when the michigan case blew up, there were many school board meetings where people debated the value of beloved and water land and so forth, and students who were recent graduates of the high school ca

he went on the publish and of course, my national treasures tony morrison, kevin young, profound honor. edith, niclas vladimir and my editor debra garbleson. [applause] >> thank you for approaching my work and me. nobody not even the rain has such small hands. thank you. [applause] >> i'm going to take this a little bit more of your time, i'm sorry. family comes, mythical home in the foundation. [cheers and applause] >> thank you for your contribution. i'm a child of the 60's and 70's. and so i finally would like to thank my family who have been the best friends my mind could ever have hoped for. thank you sheila, adrienne perry, claudia, alexander, and most specially good and perfect sister candy lewis watkins. i need to imagine that my father and aunts and grandparents and cousins are sitting on a tar right now watching all of us while they're playing good wi wisks. this award is completely for your. thank you for your love. i want to end with a poem because it's appropriate by pablo. in light of what is happening all over the world and has been happening all over the world, not just

. >> my goal is to be like toni morrison. >> rose: people are now saying i would like to be shonda rhimes. >> i would say, you don't want to do that, i already have my job and i'm not leaving it. >> rose: exactly. you tell them what? >> be yourself. basically, i took every opportunity presented me, whether or not i thought it was the opportunity i thought i wanted to get to where i was going and went for it, going to film school happened because i read it was harder to get into film school than harvard law school and i was bored in my advertising job i had right out of college so i applied to go and discovered how much i loved writing tv and film. >> rose: why did they accept you is the question? >> well, i was a good writer. >> rose: yeah, right. literally, i'm noting if not a very good student of anything. i got there thinking film school might be interesting and at least i could teach writing. i got there and discovered this is where my writing really settles in and feels good. writing scripts makes sense for me more so than my struggles writing a novel. >> rose: what else did you say

. >> it is the lesson tony morrison teaches us that we will say over and over again, you tell that storystory. when you see tracy ellis ross, please tell her we worship her. thank you to kenya barriss. >> thank you. >>> up next, ava's here. beyond natural grain free pet food is committed to truth on the label. when we say real meat is the first ingredient, it is always number one. we leave out poultry by-product meal, corn, wheat and soy. and, we own where our dry food is made - 100%. can other brands say all that? for grain-free nutrition you can trust, does your food go beyond? learn more at beyondpetfood.com only glucerna has carbsteady, diabetes, steady is exciting. clinically proven to help minimize blood sugar spikes. so you stay steady ahead. you pay your auto insurance every month on the dot. you're like the poster child for paying on time. and then one day you tap the bumper of a station wagon. no big deal... until your insurance company jacks up your rates. you freak out. what good is having insurance if you get punished for using it? hey insurance companies, news flash. nobody