The Power of O

Hi, everybody, welcome to today's show. I just got back from Italy. (Applause from the studio audience.) Italia. (More applause.) I love it. (Additional applause.) Look at my new sneakers. (Applause.) Aren't they great? (More applause.) I wear them everywhere now. They're made by Superga, but they're hard to find in the Chicago area. Maybe that'll change in the near future. Who knows? (Winks at the audience. Applause.)

People ask me, "Oprah, did you miss Chicago?" Did I miss Chicago with its 98° heat and 98% humidity? Of course. Because you're here. (Wild applause.) I was in a small town in Italy, a place no one's ever heard of on the Tuscan coast: Forte dei Marmi. F-O-R-T-E D-E-I M-A-R-M-I. (Applause.) I love everything Italian but it was great to fly back on good old USAir. They go non-stop from Venice to Philly, where I visited my cousin. (Applause.) Let's hear it for family. (Wild applause.) You're my family. (Wilder, uncontrolled, frightening applause.) My cousin Lillian owns a fruit shop in Philadelphia: Lillian's Exotic Fruit. Look her up next time you're there. On Chestnut Street. She's in the book. She's also selling a DVD player and a set of unchipped Spode china. (Applause.)

Now, we've got a great show for you today. You know my favorite thing to do besides flying USAir and wearing my pink Superga sneakers? This. (Sits in an uncomfortable cross-legged position as the audience gasps.) It's an ayurvedic yoga technique. Yes, I can still get down on the floor. (Wild cheers.) I'm just not sure I can get up. (Applause as she rises.) When I was reading The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold the other summer, I was under acute stress. What a book! That one blew me away. (Applause.) It was then that I met Dr. Arvind Patel in Germantown, Pennsylvania, while I was staying with my cousin Lillian who owns Lillian's Exotic Fruit on Chestnut Street. Dr. Patel has a Ph.D. in nutritional ethnomedicine from the University of California at Berkeley. (Fervent, sustained applause.) I don't know if you folks are applauding his doctorate, U.C. Berkeley, the state of California, or Dr. Patel. (Explosive applause.) He taught me this technique. And he's here today. (Applause.) Your lives will never be the same. (Applause.)

And who else do we have? Senator Charles Schumer. (Silence.) From the great state of New York. (Deafening silence.) We're going to learn about politics. (Applause.) He's going to learn about politics. (Uproarious laughter and applause.) You know it. (Shouting and thunderous foot-stomping.) And we have Amy Adams. She's in a movie (applause) about Julia Child (applause) and France (polite applause) and the art of French cooking (applause). She'll tell us what it was like to play opposite the world's greatest actress, Meryl Streep. (Deafening applause.)

Some people tell me I'm the world's greatest actress. (Soaring ovation.) But I tell them, "Honey, Meryl Streep is for real." (Cacophonous laughter and cheering.) Guess what's in this little bowl here. Salted nuts. (Applause.) Golden Eagle salted cashews. (Holds up the can to applause.) They're tasty. I suggest you try them. (Applause.) That's a command. (Laughter and applause.) How I love salted nuts! But then I get thirsty. (Applause.) Who knows my favorite thing in the world to drink? (Unanimous chorus of "Welch's Grape Juice.") That was my old favorite thing in the world to drink. My new favorite thing in the world is pastis. (Silence.) It's a drink. (Applause.) Served in France. (Polite applause.) It's a licorice-flavored liqueur. I'm addicted. (Concerned silence.) In a good way. (Relieved applause.) So we'll be right back with Dr. Patel, Senator Charles Schumer, Amy Adams, a bowl of Golden Eagle salted cashews, and a nice tall glass of pastis. (Delirious applause.)