Because people care enough to engage. Thats another thing that is revealed by suicide, another dirty secret. We need to care, caring counts. It can literally be medicine for someone in mental or emotional suffering. So, reach out. Dont wonder whats going on with someone, ask them. We are all in this together and we need to show it. If you do, it can literally be a life save. Im chris cuomo. Thank you so much for being with me this week. Please stay tuned for a special cnn contribute remembering anthony bowurdain. I think everybody who listens to The Parts Unknown are elect tied and peers through
this. Anthony bourdain is dead. I was shocked. I think i actually screamed, oh, no. This is cnn breaking news. We have some terribly sad news to report this morning, Heart Breaking and devastation. Once we were sure all of us gotten the numbers had been notified thats when We Wen On The Air with the news. Host of parts unknown and our friend Anthony Bourdain was found dead. Anthony hung himself in his hotel room. The idea he was suffering somehow was Heart Breaking. Honestly, talking about him in the past tense its, its really yeah, its really hard to hard to imagine. I mean, you never know what goes on in anybodys head or heart. But certainly, you know, the pain he must have been feeling, at least in that moment or in those moments, and the loneliness he must be feeling its just terribly sad to think about. And makes me very sad for him to have to have a custom to that. Somebody as passionate, alive, warm and humid as tone any bourdain, i couldnt imagine, a, that he was gone, and b, that he was gone in this matter. He took his own life and our history. Itself left a massive hole in our world. I lost a brother to suicide, so, i know the shock that loved ones feel. Its something that i thought
about for 30 years and i dont have any answers about why somebody does it. Anthonys life changed in 1999, thats when he wrote his famous article in the new yorker. Dont eat before eating this. He was letting us all inside the kitchen, revealing the secrets of the chef world. It quickly became a book, Kitchen Confidential that came out years earlier and were still talking about it now. Parts unknown started on cnn in 2013 and it was like a bolt of lightning. The give of life, sticky rice. I said, Anthony Bourdain on cnn, What The Hell is that about, right. I didnt quite get it at first. I was like, we dont do, thats not what kwn does. And he did it, and i got it. The guy is genius. Its brilliant. Have you eaten yet or have you had rice . Both. Really means have you seenen rice yet, but really means, hows it going. I feel he was a better journ journalist than any of us could ever be. Because it came to him naturally. It was just curiosity. And, isnt that really what being a journalist is all about, being curious . When he brought parts unknown to cnn and i interviewed hip about his mission was. He basically says, i want to go to familiar and less familiar places to tell the American People about all these places but through the medium theyll be able to relate to. So, food. Everyone can relate to food,
right . So he was also telling about culture and politics, and history, and the geography, but through food. Welcome to Shanghi Profenc D he understand. That episode that i love was the episode about pittsburgh, just because hes saying, Anthony BourdainParts Downknown travels the world. Hes going to paurg, right . How do you do . 103 years old. Looking good. He talk about the filibuster and how the organization is left sitting behind. The money is definitely coming in. No, it is not. The episode in talking about
the Reemerging Food Scene in pittsburgh was little about the food and more about society and people, and people down on their luck and how they fight their way back up. What did you decide to say . I wanted to cook. And the committee that leads to Government Policy and everything in between. A lot of people in this country are angry, they feel that their anger is not being acknowledged in any way, and frankly i think theyre right. Yep. And, thats all encompassed of just an episode of parts unknown. Its a rare talent to be able to put it all together. For me, the word that best describes tony is passion. He just felt so mush passion for what he did and what he saw. I dont think he ever had no opinion on something. It wasnt like, whatever. Its a salute. I think that was the darkest scene man. He was actually as you see on television. He was funny, sarcastic, he had a dark sense of humor. He loved nothing more if i went out to meals with him he enjoyed getting me to eat bizarre foods i would never in a million years eat. This is tripe. What is tripe . It means good. Is it brains or the penis of a shark or . No, no not that good. It is the Stomach Lining of the cow. He loved cinema, the music, all that was incorporated in these Travel Journeys that he
would produce. I actually end up taking trips to places he had been because i went tanjeera after he took a trip there, i thought, wow that was interesting because i wanted to see what he saw. One day, tony and i were sitting off Stage Waiting for something to happen. He looked at me and asked, what are you about, what is your passion . And i said, fighting. I love to fight. And his eyes i remember he had these hooded eyes and he recently found gjj. And he loved it so much. Every morning, 7 00 a. M. Im here. For the next hour or two hours or sometimes more, im just getting crushed. The most recent conversation i had with him was not too long ago. He had said, you know what i love about it, the struggle. I love the struggle. I love trying to figure out how to get out of this and what to do next. And that struggle, no matter how much you think thats it, im going to have to tap out, i find a way out of it, i love it. Anthony earned practically every award you can earn in the t. V. Industry. Five emmy awards just for parts unknown. The pbody in 2013 was presented his first year on cnn. We asked specific questions, what makes you happy wharks do you eat wharks do you like to cook. And everywhere in the world we go and ask these simple questions he get astoning answer. Viewers felt like theyve lost a friend, pause they found a friend in him through
television. Id always yell back at him, in my next life im coming back as Anthony Bourdain. And hed look at me and be like, okay, good luck with that one. I think thats why that is not unique to me, right, everybody wanted to be a little bit of Anthony Bourdain. Overliquored overfed, traveling the world having fun connecting with people and getting paid to do it. Oh, enchanted land of my childhood. A cutlery dish from Which Regularry issued forth greatness. New jersey in case you didnt know it, has beautiful beaches. Theyre not all crawling with raging trolls with reality shows. I grew up summering on these beaches and they were awesome. He just was a regular person, you know in his regular jeans and regular shirt. He had no pretension or interest in pretension, it was one of the most compelling and enduring things about him. He was somebody who was introverted and just happened to have this very public job of being on television and being in the public eye. It was interesting, he was this buckling larger than life character who was very good looking, women loved and men wanted to be, and and yet he was always kind of to me it always seemed like even though he was very confident or seemed very confident, he was always i think he was always kind of just winking at it all. He was kind of all in on the joke, that it didnt really mean anything, that were all humble, were all fragile. Jerseys got farmland, beautiful community, that woman from Kws Housewives does not
live, anyolike anyone like her. The refineries, the wetlands, to me, somehow beautiful. To know jersey is to love her. Im a jersey girl, so i watch that had with wrapped attention of what he was going to bring to life in new jersey from his hometown. He had humble beginnings, he came from the jersey shore. I think it was the fact he had a rough life in his 20s, and in retrospect was amazed he survived his 20s and didnt die then. I think must have gotten him in touch with humanity, not just himself put everyone. Theres nothing like the north atlantic. Its majestic. I love the beach. Pretty much had my first everything on the beach. You name it, first time i did it, beach. I was miserable in love, happy
in love as only a 17yearold could be. This is where i lived, very happy summer in the early 70s. He drops out of vasser, guess to the culinary institute. He had vivid stories about working in these kitchens at prof venues town. It was here. Provision, massachusetts where the first landed. It was where i first landed. 1972 washed into town with a head full of sunshine and a few friends. Long time tradition of accepted artists, writer, the badly behaved, gay, it was different. It was paradise. We all did drugs, acted young and crazy. And tony he was probably wild and some not as wild as others. He was willing to show us all
sides of his amazing life, the good, bad and ugly. Tony came raw to the picture. He came with his history of his own demons. He didnt hide that he had these terrible problems with alcohol, with heroin, and yet, thats what made him so relatable. Tony always owned his strug us and one of them was drugs and heroin. It was a 1980s thing for him and he worked through. I know what the life of somebody who wakes up in the morning and the first odd of business is get heroin. Having been through it myself, going to a meeting, addicts. You know, they said something to say to me and i had something to say to them. There was a vulnerability to him as cool as he was, that he would expose. Ill tell you something really shameful. The first time i shout out i
looked at myself in the mirror with a big grin. You know, something was missing in me, whether it was a selfimage situation, whether it was a character flaw. That Stable Family in the suburbs, i had a lot of advantages. There was some dark jennie inside me that led me to dope, i didnt have anyone else who could have talked me out of what i was doing. Intervention wouldnt have worked. I didnt have a child. I have a 7yearold daughter now, who i never would have had, i never would have thought. I looked in the mirror, i saw somebody worth saving, or that i wanted to at least try real hard and save. Anybody could find themselves very easily in this situation. And, you know i look back and i think about, you know, i think about what ill tell my daughter. You know, that was daddy. No doubt about it that i hope ill be able to say that was daddy then and this is daddy now, that im alive, living and healthy. He brought to cnn something that very few others had brought and that was a sense of knowing who he was, not being afraid of saying who he was. Of not being afraid to relate his weaknesses as well as his strengths and unique ability to tell stories. He brought all that to people. He was really exploring the human condition. He was talking about what it means to be human and what we all share all around the world. Obviously, we all share a need to eat, but he was going so much further talking opinion what we have in common and what connect us. I come to a fact that in an earlier life im probably responsible for one dead colombia, due to my lifestyle in
the 80s there was a real effective on the ground. How does that i question i came back with questioning, it would be the drug war. I asked him about his own life and his own drug use, which hes talked about, hes been so candid about it for years. I almost caught him off guard. I just remember his response was something to the fact of, he wondered if his own drug use from years ago, really heavy drug use contributed to the death of someone in the drug trade in colombia or beyond. And he was so serious about it. I dont want to say it almost felt like it still haunted him but it was something he was aware of as one of his past demons. My Drug Addiction i hope, its in fact the most interesting part of my life. There is it is part of my
life, it changed me and it allowed me to, i think better understand some things about life, about myself and what im capable of doing, and its given me a certain, on one end, empathy for some people, and a complete lack of empathy for others. Thats something i felt i should talk about. I see this particular moment as as a clear example of how we might change our drug policies, and i thought you should know why it matters to me. Its that simple. I think he did everybody a real service by talking about his observe addiction and how much he struggled with heroin and cocaine. I think that again, the more we can talk about these hard subjects the more it removes the
stigma. To know he had overcome those things i think is inspirational. I think it gives everybody hope to know they can overcome something really hard. And that is why the pain of this, i think is doubly compounded, because he had overcome, it seemed, some demons in the past. And i guess that doesnt make you bullet proof. You know, i didnt know him well enough to know to know if he was still haunted by it put im sure it never leaves you. When you go through that kind of experience its always going to be there. You might it, deal with it, and move on. I always thought he did an amazing job in moving on. And in the process, helping all of us move on. He was so real and so authentic, in the end, maybe he was too real for his own self. I think The Real Thing the know
he was a deeply deeply human being, he was a devine talent, a unique voice and deeply human. His stories wasnt about food. Food was a conduit it drew you in. Once it drew you in it was about the experience, connection and interactions with people. It was the Obama White House who reached out to cnn, and i put them in touch with bourdain. They wanted thats who Anthony Bourdain was, obama wanted to go have food with him, not the other way around. Anthonys point was, i didnt want some fancy state dinner, its got to be the scooter and the whole thing. And he got it his way. How you liking vietnam . Love it. Anthony said for him, while the Secret Service were, you know, apparently very cool, they were freaking out because they cant taste test the food or
anything, but obama had no problem coming in eating the local food and having a local beer. First of all, i dont get to sneak out period, but once in a while, ill take michelle out on a date night. The problem is, part of enjoying a restaurant is sitting with other patrons and enjoying the atmosphere, and too often we get shut into one of those private rooms. Im glad i can help. Absolutely. Toneny asked the president , do you ever just get to sort of do this . To sit down and chill and have a beer . Which was a great question to ask. Seemed to be turning endless. I mean, were actually talking about building a wall around our country, and yet you have been reaching out to people who dont necessarily agree with this. Gaza, iran, cuba, i mean i just wish more americans had
pass ports. You can see how other people lives, seems useful but incredible at best. It confirms the basic truth that people everywhere are pretty much the same, same hopes and dreams. When you come to people like vietnam and you see former vietnam americans coming back. When you see somebody like john mccain who were able to bond in their experience, you dont make peace with your friends, you make peace with your enemies. As the father of a young girl, is it all going to be okay, is it all going to wake up, my daughter will come here and be able to have a bowl of food and the world would be a better place . I think progress is not a straight line. You know, there are going to be moments at any given part of the
world where things are terrible. But, having said all that, i think theres no thank you so much. Cheers. Cheers. There isnt a lot of chefs who get to sit down and interview the president of the united states. The reason i think president obama wanted to sit down with tony in vietnam had nothing to do with the food, it was the talk again about life. Anthony interviewing a russian and who was a credit tick of the regime, he was good at peekiick people who were in the cross hairs of bad guys. So, we were supposed to be dining at another restaurant this evening, when they heard you would be joining me, we were uninvited. Should i be concerned about having dinner with you . Either you have business you are in a very unsafe situation. Everybody can press you and
destroy your business. This is a system. Meet boris, he was a depth Prime Minister and today hes one of putins vocal visit critics. This restaurant was kind enough to take us in. This chef is a britt so maybe he has less reason to worry. The government, putin, bad things seem to happen to them. Known even enemy of putin, are you concerned . Me, myself . Yeah. Pain in the ass. I was born here 54 years old, this is my country. Russian education decline every year, i believe russia has a
chance to be free. He i think up getting assassinated shortly after. Anthony was not shying away in any way from serious political issues in the place. He embraced all those issues. The idea that bourdain would have met with boris in russia before he was killed, thats what bourdain was doing, was looking to tell stories of humanity and oppression. I remember asking Tony Bourdain what would be the buck list location to a guy whose been around the world five times. He said iran. Low and behold several seasons later, there he was. He was interviewing the Washington Post at the time, jason and his wife. Is fun even a good idea . Theres a lot of security, lots of rules, there are a lot of people in place to make sure
you do the right thick, not do the wrong thing. But a lot of push and pull, lot of give and take. Do you like it, are you happy here . Look, im in a point now after five years where i miss certain things about home. I miss my buddies, i miss burritos, i miss having certain beverages with my buddies and burritos at certain type of establishments. But i love it. I love it and i hate it. Its home. Its become home. Our optimistic about the future . Yeah, especially if theres no finally happens, yeah. Very much actually. Shortly after, jason was arrested by the regime and held. I remember interviewing anthony actually about jason. Anthony was trying to speak out forcefully on jason behalf. These are two lovely blameless people who are not deserving of this faith. It was interesting to see anthony often winding up kind of in the epicenter of serious melissa situations. I also loved the episode where he wen to jerusalem, wen to israel, met with palestinians and israeli and brought us a unique Point Of View on that situation. That was powerful. Any story that we sit on television and argue about and have these heated discussions about, how you have to do is interject some food and wine or whatever into it and a table it and becomes much more civilized. Squish suzuki any with mint. This food is delicious. Are you hopeful . Of course i have my children, i need to see them. Together we can build something for our kids, our future country, thats what we think and thats what we give the message for our customers. Par of the attraction of this restaurant, it manages to do what not so many chefs try to do here and that is kind of mix your ethnicity or background with our food. What he did, even better than people who went to school for journalism, was that he educated you and took you on a journey with him, and we all went along for the ride. Structure is guy go someplace, eat a bunch of food and come back. Thats what i do every time. This is not a food show, but theres food. This is not a travel show, but theres travel. I dont know what it is. Anthony using food, it was a way to start a conversation. But his show, his life, he was really exploring the human condition. Its not going to be you. I mean, thats a bowl of food, at any french restaurant. It really is to top of the mountain. Down to the residue with the bottom, nice burning feeling over my lips. Flop sweat. So we can pretty much cancel the rest of the show. I have a sheep to eat. Its really fall down to three here. Any story that we sit on television and argue about and
have these heated discussions about, all you have to do is interject of food, wine or whatever into it and a table, and it becomes much more civilized. Korea, land of the champion, land of the contrast, land of drinking a lot. You can drink well and recover. What were going to find out, arent we . I did not love myself this morning. Dried squid and m ms mixing your alcohol . Yeah. Problem is im generally older than everybody in this country, my glass is always full. If i went out to meals with him he enjoyed getting me to eat bizarre foods i would never in a
year eat, because i have the palette of a 5yearold. Tripe. Tripe, is it Something Like the brain or shark . Its the Stomach Lining of the crow. The cow . Yeah. Theres plenty of things on a cow to eat, why eat the Stomach Lining . Because you got to work for the good stuff. When you cook it it smells like wet dog. You ever stood in an elevator with a golden retriever . Its got that same kind of funk. He once came to cook at my house, thats the only time my kitchen has been used. He ended up cooking i think some cuisine from south korea specifically. So, you got pork, hot dogs now youre adding spam . Wow. Oh yeah. I can honestly say this is
the last thing in the world i want to eat. You say that now, but just wait. Behold. So this looks great, i got to say. Its very good. Im glad i done good in this world. I know people loved him because of the food and drink, but like, there are also a lot of us who are like, that was almost beside the point. It really was just about him and his way of looking at the world. I come out 30 years of preparing food for other people in a restaurant situation. Most of those places had table cloths, and i enjoy from time to time, of course very much eating in fancy restaurants. That said, im happy experiencing tru experiencing food in a purely emotional way. I loved watching hip going into a restaurant or home and sort of becoming accepted in the
process. Were here for supra. A supra is like a feast, super traditional. A pig is dispatched and broken into constituent parts. The neighbors pitch in helping to make a variety of traditionally cheesefilled bread. While im always interested in whats cooking, im always interested in whose cooking, why theyre cooking and what theyre cooking and what they have to say. One of the things i remember in sicily when thai going to be making some sort of octopus. These fishermen said, okay wiee going to take you out and you can catch your own. I am famous for my optimism. Theres a dead sea creature sinking slowly to the seabed before me. Are they kidding me . Im thinking can this happen . It goes on, one dead cuttlefish, deceased Octob Decease octopus drops along the rocks. Probably discovered and probably show off to camera. Im not actually watching as this confederate boat over rolls up from the water one minute to the other. And my memory when that dead octopus started hitting the water around me, my sense of rage. It showed how passionate he was. He truly had this passion and care, in that particular moment it was very clear to me. And just when my brain threatens to short circuit with pleasure, descending as if from
heaven itself. Cheese, god, the cheese. I got to tell you, i dont care how many naked breasts are on that beach right now, that is much more exciting. Look at it, its beautiful. He was a great chef, then he had the this unique ability to obviously eat very obscure remote different kinds of food, but he also liked all the foods that all of us loved. He could have a hot dog and speak about that for half an hour. As ive gotten older im moving more and more away from fine dining, lets put it that way, and towards those foods and meal that is make me happy. Food that i can maeat with my hands. Home cooking, very passionate businesses. There are also going to be aspects of the fine dining world, but i like to experience
food emotionally when ever possible. As ive gotten older its going to be a bowl of noodles that makes me happy as oppose to large tongues. He made a point to me, food doesnt have to be expensive to be good. Sometimes the best Tasting Foods are these joints food is good, its only part of a larger spectrum of Human Experience without good conversation, without love, without company. Its worthless basically. Bourdain was a defining hire for cnn, it was announced back in 2012. It was a strange move, people were wondering why is cnn hiring this chef and author. It was because cnn executives decided to broaden out beyond
news and headlines and bring in new ways to tell stories. For Me Travel Isnt About taking a vacation, sitting on a beach or listening to some tour guide as we travel if packs from a day spa. Traveling is going parts unknown. Sharing a hype or sha men as the sun comes up. Only then realizing you forgot to pack your toothbrush. I would describe myself as a lucky cook who gets to tell stories. Im certainly not a journalist, not a chef anymore. Id like to flatter myself by saying im an s aist but im a story teller. This was a risk for cnn and anthony. Myanmar, after 50 years of nightmare, something unexpected is happening here, and its pretty incredible. Not too long ago, even filming here officially as an open
professional Western Film Crew would have been unthinkable. In 2007 a japanese journalist was shot point blank and killed filming a street demonstration. Youre seen talking to anybody with a camera and it will be a knock on your door in the middle of the night. If so far confronted with our cameras a few smiles and mostly in difference at worst. Shocking to see how the government is starting to relax its grip. I havent been there to official myanmar. Ive been to a lot of places after the soviets left 20 years and people still shy away from the cameras. They close up if you approach them. An outsider here, myanmar, a place about a year ago youre tossed in jail for consorting the part, everybody was
incredibly each. It amaze z me how friendy people are open. Its easy for me to sit here and say whatever i want about the government, right, we can go home. Our lives would go on. We dont pay the everybody who helped us could pay the price. A lot of people who helped us have said, look, ive already been in jail, i really dont want to go back. Its a very real concern. What happen tuesday the people we leave behind . But for the moment at least things seem to be moving in the right direction. A country closed off to most for so long. Sleeping, a 50year nightmare for many of its citizens, finally may be weighing up. To what . Time will tell. Hed been to myanmar, which at the time was a fullblown
military dictatorship. And he went there and he said to me. Heres what i can do with this program. When Something Big happens in a libya or a myanmar or an afghanistan or iraq or wherever it might be, american viewers and viewers around the world will also be able to know about the people there, not just about the dictators, not just about the politics. But they will be able to get to the know the people. And i really think thats important. Because i know toor often americans have just a onedimensional view of a foreign country. I thought she was a better journalist than many of us ever could be because it came to him naturally. It was just curiosity. And isnt that really what being
a journalist is all about, being curious . And he brought something to cnn that had never been there before and thus to the entire broadcast news industry. It was really like a breath of fresh air and viewers loved it. The ratings on sunday night doubled. There were new viewers anything to cnn for the first time including younger viewers who normally didnt want to watch the news. But they did want to watch this larger than life man, this handsome striking figure explore the world and take them with him. This is tripoli after 42 years of nightmare. How to build a whole society overnight and make it work in one of the most contentious and difficult areas of the world is what people are trying to figure
out. Outside tripolis center theres this, one time axis of all power and untold evil, a huge complex of sinister offices, barracks, residences on top of secret tunnels and underground facilities. Gaddafis enormous compound. And on august 23, 2011 it fell to the rebels. Gaddafi and his family having fled. This is whats left of gaddafis palace. So whens the last time you were here . The last time the revolution was finishing. A lot of people, normal people something expensive here like the salt and like the gold. While talking we didnt notice several Pickup Trucks of local militia had closed in on us. Stop. Just relax. This is their turf or their
area of operation or somehow under their control. Whatever the case theyre the group in charge today. An argument ensues between our guys and their guys. All of whom fought against the same forces on this ground a year ago. He wasnt afraid of going to a place like libya which is a very complex, you know, all these different kind of Political Parties and competing groups. And he was always very good at sort of being aware of the complexity of a place and not dumbing it down or not even
trying to give a dissertation on it. Another morning in tripoli and life goes on. Vendors are out, people go about their daily routines. This is our traditional breakfast. What is this dish called . Which is an overstretched doughnut i suppose. With an egg on top. You can get them with cheese, with chicken paste, with honey. How do you like yours . I like mine cooked. This was the first neighborhood to rise up. Yes, this was the first. Why do you think this neighborhood . It was an impoverished neighborhood. Many of them feel like theyre not from this country to be
honest. Anthony bourdain really changed what cnn is. He brought this other way to learn about the world, this other way of asking questions. Not through an interview, not through an interrogation but sitting down and having a meal. What he was doing was journalistic but so human. Bringing people on a journey with him while he met people in their place, with their food, with their meals, with their culture. I think tony was trying to make the world a little bit more hospitable, a little bit more understandable, a bit more friendly. He was trying to show, yes, we come from different religions, but were all people. He would make the story smaller, a bit more personal. And im sure his hope was maybe we can eliminate some of the
abuses, the wars, the hatred. And in the process i think that was his goal. A few years back i got the words, i am certain of nothing tattooed on my arm. Its what makes travel what it is, an endless learning curve, the joy of being wrong, of being confused. Africa more than any other continent needs to be seen by the world as both the place we all came from and where we are going. One of his friends described him to me as a freak of nature,
a force of nature, unexplainable and the world is lucky to have had him. He was a mauodern day adventurer and someone with a unique voice in the world. And theres not enough of that to be honest. I was personally, professionally, Everything In My Life was changing. I was in this sort of nowhere land between previous life and whatever came next. Im retracing my steps in a lot of ways to see if it still hurts. Just because somebody is open about their illness in the past doesnt mean that theyre going to be as open about what is happening in their present. And were going to have to learn more because i would not be surprised if the demons that he had battled for so, so long wound up being part of wound up taking him from this world. There is a real danger of