Hello, Director Robert here with a content note
before we get started. This week's episode of
Hot Mic contains discussion which may spoil the
magic of Christmas for younger listeners. For
that reason, listener discretion is advised.
With that, here's this week's episode of Hot
Mic. With your hosts, Megan Manering and Evelyn
Schultz. This is Hot Mic. Welcome back to another
episode of Hot Mic here at LEX 18. I'm Evelyn
Schultz alongside Megan Manering. This is our
last episode of the year. Hard to believe. How
do you feel about that? It's bittersweet. It
is bittersweet. This was one of my favorite things
that I did this year. Me too. Was launch Hot
Mike with you. This was a highlight of the year.
Me too. And I think to round out the year, we
had to have a really special guest. We did. A
really special. And actually, when we made our
list of who we wanted to interview, this person
was at the top of the list. He's a little nervous,
so we need to give him a warm welcome. A voice
synonymous with Lexington Jack. You guys are
as full of it as the Christmas goose Come on
you were somebody that you really wanted couldn't
come you were at least top 20. Oh, okay I love
this. I love this you do my first podcast, but
I'm a big fan of both of you and so I'm a little
bit nervous because Abby and I have known each
other we have yes, but back when she was just
a reporter sleeping in her car you realize that
I didn't know that. I still do. You do? After
the show, the sunrise show, I go out and I take
naps in my car sometimes. She used to do a lot
of reporting for me on the radio and I would
call her and I wouldn't get an answer and she'd
come back in about 30 minutes and I was sleeping
in the car and I'm everybody's grandfather and
I said, don't sleep in the car, Evy. I know it's
a bad habit, but it is really cozy. But I'm a
fan of yours, too. Well, thank you. I get to,
I watch you every night and I can actually hear
you. I watch Evy every morning and I have to
read her lips because she's on while my radio's
here. Yeah, right. And we have to turn it down.
Totally. So I, but I've gotten pretty good at
it. Say something. Silently? That's where I can't
hear. Okay, um. What's the one bad? No, I'm not.
I'm not good. I said welcome to hot Mike. Oh,
yeah, what's the wombat? Yeah, yeah, well anyway,
you guys do a great job I've known Bill Mack
well longer than any of us want to admit and
we got to talk about bill my mother actually
did a television program once a week for 25 years
really at channel 18. And so when I was a little
kid, I'm 73 years old, when I was a little kid,
I would go with her in the old building. Now
I'm not talking you know what I'm talking about
the old building. It's been way gone before you
guys. I've seen photos of the building. Well,
it was it was tiny. Yeah. And then they added
a side on to it, which made it little less than
tiny. But it was in that old tiny building. And
I would go with her and watch her tape the show.
What was her show? It was called Leisure. And
it was back in the days before they changed all
the rules about you have to, you know, devote
so much of your time to community affairs, public
affairs. So they would have shows. There were
two of them, actually. And they would have shows
that covered that. essential part of the FCC
rule. And my mom worked for the recreation department.
So they gave her 30 minutes every week. She got
to know everybody here. I got to know everybody
here. And so I kind of grew up at Channel 18.
Wow. You probably know more about... I might,
but I sure know a lot more than you do about
the old days. Because you guys weren't born yet.
And Evy told me before we went on the air, and
she almost slipped, she said, how old are you
if you don't mind my asking? And I said 73, and
she said, you may be the... Why is this person?
We try not to offend our guests. I didn't walk
out. I feel like you're someone who can take
a little bit of a kind of a jokester. You have
to be. I love the whole concept. It was your
concept, right? This is all Levy's. I don't want
to take all the credit, but I sort of had this
kind of crazy idea to do a podcast. Here we are.
And I understand it's caught on that it's really,
really popular. He's so nice. No, I'm very serious.
You don't have to gas us up just because you're,
you know. Well, nobody really watches it. No,
really, actually, I have heard that it's very
popular. Well, thank you. We are honored by the
people who have told us that they've listened.
You've had cool people too. You've had cool guests.
We've been lucky that people have agreed. to
come do it. And you can relate. I mean, anytime
someone says, oh, I listen to you or I watch
you every day or I listen to you every morning
or podcast, it means a lot. It does mean a lot.
And you two girls from I know you're not from
Montana, but who came from Montana? What are
the odds? I know, right? Hoosiers, Montana. Oh,
your Hoosier, too. Yeah, we got Indiana, Montana,
Lexington pipeline. But you guys never knew each
other. No, we do have mutual friends, though.
You do in the business no from someone she grew
up with I went to college with so okay. Yeah
Kind of weird, right? No, it is. It's unusual.
Yes. Yeah, but Jack we talk about you. I heard
on the radio this morning that you don't think
you're a good interviewee, but I just don't think
that's true. Well, I told you that after 10 minutes,
I'm making it up because I think I can tell you
everything I know in 10 minutes, but I'll stretch
it out. We can do fake news on the positives,
just not on the air. That's right. All right.
Let's start from the beginning. You are a Lexington
boy through and through. Tell us what it was
like growing up here in Lexington. It was really
cool. It was a very small town, mainstream. was
two -way, if you can imagine that, two -way traffic
on Main Street. Everybody went downtown to shop,
just like in the Christmas story. I mean, it
really, there was two or three really big department
stores down on Main Street that looked just like
the Christmas story. They had windows decorated.
There was a store called Meyers, and a guy, his
first name was Elliot, I'll think of his last
name probably next Tuesday, but he was, He had
a job as a window decorator. That was a special.
That's a fun job that you could go learn Wow
Yeah, and that's you know, you see I mean, you
know what I'm talking about with nose up against
the glass and all these kids looking That takes
a lot of expertise. Yeah to do that And so that's
what downtown Lexington was I took I never wasn't
good at it, but I took trumpet lessons I would
get off the school bus go get my trumpet get
on the city bus, take it downtown. Shackleton's
was the name of the store. It was on the second
floor. Take my trumpet lesson, come back, wait
for the bus, and come home. And I could do that
safely. Unfortunately, kids today can't. It's
very different nowadays. And I'm very sorry,
yeah. And I'm very sorry about that. People are
always talking about... kids need to go outside
they need to go play outside well unless you're
supervising them sure yeah it could be really
dangerous you know these days it must have fostered
a lot of independence in you that'd be able to
do that kind of go around lexington i probably
did but i didn't know it because everybody everybody
did it yeah you all were doing everybody did
it yeah where'd you go to high school i went
to i actually this is kind of this may be the
only sort of interesting story i've got for you
so i'll stretch it out to 19 minutes I went to
Bryan Station because I grew up in the north
end of town. So I went to Yates Elementary and
Bryan Station was then called Junior High. If
you can imagine, it was 7, 8, and 9. And then
10, 11, and 12 was high school. But anyway, I
went through Junior High. And then my sophomore
year, I went to Bryan Station High School, played
in the band. The trumpet? Well, I played trumpet
and then that guy got volunteered to the sousaphone.
The sousaphone? That's the big thing that wraps
around you? That is a babe magnet. I mean, think
about it, back when you were in school, wasn't
the big fat guy that played the sousaphone, wasn't
he the one you were interested in? Yeah. Okay,
come on, Megan, I know you were. Well, she was
in the band as well. What did you play? Alto
saxophone. First chair. No kidding. Oh, yeah.
I watched the saxophone player. Really? Yeah.
Yeah, nice. I want to tell her about that. She'll
be watching. Maybe we can link up and play and
get our woodwinds together. That would be so
cool. She plays flute, too. Really? Wow. And
piano and organ and everything else. And guitar.
Let's get her on the podcast. Anyway, my mother
told me after my sophomore year of high school,
we're moving. To the south end of town and you're
gonna have to change schools. Oh, no That's a
tough time in high school to switch no kidding
and I had to move to a school where I knew one
person in the whole school and I said I wasn't
gonna do it and she said yeah, you are and I
said no She said how you gonna get I said, I'm
just gonna go to Bryan station. She said how
are you gonna get there? So I'm gonna walk Well,
that didn't last even a day. I think I got up
to the corner and went, no, here's the interesting
part. And this is, I'm very serious about this.
It was the best thing that ever happened to me,
changing schools, because I had a student teacher
in a speech and drama class who was in the business
here. He was on WBLG radio, which is 1300, still
on the air. and WBLG television, channel 62,
which isn't on the air, but it eventually became
36. And he asked, like the first week of school,
anybody in this class interested in radio as
a career? Well, I had been since I was a little
kid. Two of us raised our hands. He said, well,
I'm going to beg, borrow, and steal some equipment.
I'm going to find a closet in the school where
we can set up. And I'm going to teach you and
this other guy radio. And then when you're ready,
I'm going to get you your first job. Wow. I mean,
was that like a dream come true? Yes. It was
fake. Yeah. And so Christmas. of that year of
my junior year, he came to me and he said, you're
ready. I'm going to take you next Monday. We're
going to skip school, which I thought was so
cool. Oh, yeah. Skipping school with the teacher.
He smoked in my car. No way. Yeah. Actually,
I'm skipping school with a teacher who's smoking
in my car. Different time. There was a different
time. And we went to Georgetown, Kentucky, where
there was a little 1580 was the frequency radio
station, and I think it's still on the air, Iron
Works Pike, and I got to meet the general manager
of the radio station. I didn't have any kind
of demo tape, because the only thing I'd ever
done is, what we would do in our little radio
station is broadcast over the cafeteria at lunch
and take requests and stuff. So anyway, I didn't
have a tape, and they introduced me to the guy
who was on the air, and they said, Jack's going
to take over for a few minutes and they all walked
out. How are you feeling in that moment? Oh,
if you had never been in water before over your
head and were thrown into the deep end, just
like that. Wow. And I, you know, I would love
to have a tape of that because I'm sure it was
the worst thing in history. But the guy was kind
enough. He told me later, you know, you wouldn't
have gotten in the door if it hadn't been for
your teacher. Which made me feel better. I said,
yeah, I know that. But they gave me a job Sunday
mornings. And that turned into a Saturday and
Sunday. And by the time I was a senior, I was
working seven days a week. I'm sure child labor
laws were being broken. For sure. And I think
I made $3 an hour or something. Probably not
even that. But I was in love with the industry.
Right from the get -go. From the get -go. And
country is so great now, it wasn't cool in 1968.
And I was not... I loved the business, I loved
being on the air, but I didn't tell anybody that
I knew that I was on, because I was kind of embarrassed
about it. Really? Yeah. And I feel bad about
that now, because I love country music. And I
also learned about old country artists, like...
The Possum, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, and Tammy
Wynette. Who's your favorite of all time? Well,
Tammy Wynette called the first, maybe the first
Saturday I ever worked, and I was actually doing
a show playing records. And it was Christmastime.
And this is what country artists did back then.
I don't know if they still do, but they call
radio stations. And obviously expect to be put
on the air. Yeah. Well, Tammy Wynette had a big
hit called Stand By Your Man. Stand By Your Man.
It's in Sleepless in Seattle. Oh, that's right.
That's right. And so anyway, she was big deal.
And I answered the phone, W -A -X -U, and she
said, she knew my name. She said, Jack? And I
said, yes. She said, this is Tammy Wynette calling
from Nashville. And I said, well, how are you?
This was all off the air. Yeah. And she said,
I'm doing great. I just had a minute and I wanted
to call and wish you and all your listeners a
Merry Christmas. And I said, that is so thoughtful.
Thank you. And Merry Christmas to you. And hung
the phone up. Well, 30 minutes later, my boss
walks in. I said, you're never going to believe
this. But Tammy when that called me and wished
me a Merry Christmas. And he said, did you put
her on the air? And I went. Was I supposed to?
Actually, I don't think I would have known how
anyway. Did you ever get her on the air? Did
you relay the message to your listeners? I don't
think I even did that. That's just something
you kept to yourself. Just a sweet little memory.
Now everybody knows it. Hot chick. Hot chick.
That's our new name. That's when we record the
podcast after hours. Yeah, exactly. Our evening
version. You knew from the time you were a kid
that you were interested in radio. Why was that?
When I was I must have been five or six years
old and that's back when they advertised cigarettes
on TV and there was a cigarette commercial. It
must not have been that effective because it
didn't make me smoke at that time, but it was.
Either camel or lucky strikes, little tiny, no
filter that people smoked back then, but it was
a disc jockey. And he was kind of sitting in
the dark with like a light over his head, real
cool lighting. Turntables back then, record players,
turntables, were literally that big. He had a
microphone that as big as his head, and he was
sitting there smoking and on the radio. And I
remember thinking. That's what I want to do.
That's gonna be me one day. Yeah. Wow. I started
smoking Hoping that was the key didn't get me
in the business Were you also a little bit Inspired
by your mom working at the station right here
at the stand. Absolutely I was and then when
I got older 15 16 when she couldn't do the show
I used to do the show They trusted you to do
that. So yeah So I may have been the youngest
and now the oldest and I saw it in the youngest
Yeah, I'm doing a regular show labor laws were
exactly different at that point Okay, so you
said you were kind of like a little fish in a
big pond that first time they threw you in eventually
It must have clicked and once it did once you
got more comfortable with radio. What did you
start loving about it? Well, I love course you
love the attention Yeah, anybody anybody. Yeah,
really? I mean seriously anybody in our business
has an ego You're a little bit of an entertainer.
No, I'm a big big time a lot a lot a bit of an
entertainer Anyone yeah No, I'm just teasing
I am an entertainer. I am NOT a journalist Mm
-hmm. I don't pretend to be evidence by your
Facebook post. Yeah, right Yeah, I'll just read
what I write. You know, I'm not a journalist
but but yeah, so I decided that I went to Florida
with a friend who was working at WVLK and We
went to Daytona Beach and I thought I was 18
years old and I thought this is this is where
I need to be playing the guitar on the beach,
you know, and the girls gathered around like
Elvis Presley movie. You were past the sousaphone
at that point. Oh, yeah, I was way in the rear.
You retired that. OK. But anyway, I thought that
would be a cool thing. So I got a job in Florida
as a result of a trip down there. And I was literally
18. You know, I wasn't going to go to college.
I want college material as evidence if you've
ever listened to me. And so I went down there
and All of a sudden, I got a job before I went,
but all of a sudden it dawned on me, heck, if
you're living in Florida, you got to go to work.
And I had this cool little cheap apartment right
off the beach. Never saw the beach, you know?
And so the working part took a lot of the fun
out, but I really liked it down there. How long
were you down there? Three years. Okay. And met
my first wife there. Didn't like her parents,
and they didn't like me, and so we... Move back
to Kentucky. Okay, you escaped for the best.
I'd say that on the air. But yeah, so that was
that was but yeah, I came to work at WVLK 50
years ago, which is hard for me to read 1975.
And was doing more afternoons, actually, my first
shift. And then the morning got left. And I asked
if I would like to do that. And in I don't know
how it is in TV. In radio, the morning position
was always kind of the primo position. They say
it's not as much anymore. Really? With the way
people listen, their habits, you know, we have
podcasts of our shows. Now people listen to what
they want to listen to whenever they want to.
But at the time, if you wanted to listen to me,
for example, you had to listen in the morning.
On your way to work or whatever, yeah. And now,
you know, I mean, we did the school closing report.
Well, I mean that is that as antique as you could
think? Exciting as a kid the radio and you're
waiting to see if your school was closed. Do
you love that guy? God yeah, exactly Absolutely.
Do you ever hear from people who are adults now
who say I listen I listen you we know I was a
kid or I remember the time. Yeah. Yeah And in
my other, in my side hustle, which I know we're
gonna talk about a little bit, I got a kid just
last night, I say kid, grown up now, that said,
you are her favorite DJ. He whispered to me,
her kid, and she said, you are her favorite DJ.
And I said, she doesn't care anything about me.
I'm your favorite DJ, and she's forced to listen.
It's it's really nice recognition You can't say
too much for that. Absolutely, but you got to
be real careful and not let that go to your head
All right over the years, I'm sure you've had
what Tammy why net that was an exciting call
Are there any other calls any other callers that
come to mind that you've taken on the radio?
I can tell you my favorite guess that I ever
had and all this stuff happened before you guys
were born but without any question, there was
a man named Malcolm Kilduff. And you can fact
check me on this. And he was from Kentucky. Where's
our fact checker? Yeah, really. Robert? Hey,
Robert, will you fact check me on this? Malcolm
Kilduff, he was the assistant press secretary
to President Kennedy. Wow, kind of a big deal.
Yeah, a big deal, yeah. And I was always fascinated
about the assassination because I was about I
was born in 52 and that was 63, so I was 11 and
very impressionable. And so as a talk show host,
I did a bunch of shows with people that wrote
books on the subject. And somebody called me
and said, why don't you get Malcolm Kilduff?
And I said, who is he? Long story short, he was
Kennedy's assistant press secretary. A guy named
Pierre Salinger was the press secretary who decided
for some reason. to not go to Dallas to make
the Dallas trip. And the guy from Kentucky was
two cars behind Kennedy's limousine. And a fascinating
guy. Well, his responsibility was to announce
to the nation that the president had been killed.
So he said, to me, he still gives me chills.
He said, I was in the room where they were working
on the president. Mrs. Kennedy and Vice President
Johnson and his wife were in an adjoining room,
but I had to stay with the president when they
called in the priest to give him last rites,
and I watched him die. He said then my job was
to not tell Mrs. Kennedy she'd lost her husband,
but to tell Vice President Johnson He was now
president of the United States. So he said, I
walked in the room and he said, I didn't know
how to address him because he said, I didn't
know him well enough to call him a Lyndon. So
he said, I just walked in the room and I said,
Mr. President. And he said, Jackie Kennedy, you
know, then knew. And I said, God, that's the
most terrible. Yeah. And he was, I know you all
have seen the picture. Because it's really famous
on the airplane coming back from Dallas where
they're swearing in. Johnson, he's in that picture.
Wow. And you got to talk to him. I got him every
November 22nd or 3rd, whatever the date is, every
year. Wow. I think until he passed away. Yeah.
Because he was like my favorite guest. And we
talked about the same thing over and over. I
never got tired. of hearing that story well it's
a story that doesn't get old no and you just
think of the weight of that moment it's history
yeah and you reach a new group of people every
time yeah it tells it because they're probably
presumably others listening and my favorite fun
fun guest was leslie nielsen i thought you were
gonna say it was me Oh, well, and Evy. The way
that you reached out, I thought you... I'm just
kidding. I would never expect to be your... Evelyn
Schultz was my favorite. I would never expect
to be your favorite fun guest, but... But Leslie
Nielsen, you know, naked gun, et cetera, played
in a golf tournament here every year. And it
was a fundraiser for the children's charities.
And I was lucky enough, I was a fan of his. See,
he did straight... Most of those guys from those
movies were straight actors. They didn't do comedy,
which made it even funnier. But I was a fan of
his being a cop and a bad guy sometimes from
growing up watching TV. So I was real excited
the day that I was told that he was gonna come
up to the station. Well, I don't know if we can
say fart on the air, but I just did. You can,
yeah, I think that's okay. He had a fart machine.
that he carried in the palm of his hand. And
I didn't know about it. And he came up with like
four guys. We were in a break and we sat down
just like you and I, the three of us did. And
I'm just saying what we're gonna come out of
here. And he started using this thing. And he's
very convincingly. And I thought, that's pretty
different. And it was loud. Were you trying to?
Oh yeah, ignore it. And the guys that were with
him, straight faced. And I thought, he's got
a problem. And I thought, when we get on the
air, if he does that, you're going to be able
to hear it. Well, we did about a 20 minute segment.
Not a thing. As soon as I turned the mic off,
a big one. Wow. I kind of fell apart, and the
guys behind me fell apart, and then he fell apart.
And then I realized I'd just been had. Well.
About a week after that I was watching how long
ago it was Johnny Carson and he had Leslie Nielsen
as a guest and Johnny said to Nielsen. Did you
bring your little friend? And Nielsen said, not
tonight. And Johnny said, good. And I knew exactly.
So you were like in, like an inside joke. That
had to have felt pretty good. And he was on with
one of the more curt guys, Conan or somebody,
and actually put it up on his desk. So he loved
that thing. He loved that thing. He did it with
strangers. He did it sitting next to somebody
in an airplane. And on his tombstone, I'm not
making this up. Fact check me. Leslie Nielsen,
date of birth. Date of death quotes. Let her
rip Yeah, that's what the heck that's I mean,
that's just the one thing that like that humor
doesn't know It's so funny. Why do we laugh at
that? No, because we're not supposed to. I think
so. Well, you've had some pretty incredible guests
and callers, you know, which makes me think I
had a radio show once upon a time. At college?
DePaul University. Will you tell me about it?
91 .5, your sound alternative. Oh, wow. Would
you hire her? I would hire you in a minute. Thank
you. 4 to 6 a .m. Sunday mornings. And the only
caller that I ever got was Dale from the Putnam
County Prison. How about that? How about that?
Was he nice? That's hilarious. He was delightful.
Yeah, that's cool. And they tell you, you've
got a call from the Putnam. Put him through.
What did he say? He always wanted to request
the same song from some group called the XXX.
That is what they're called, the XXX? Apparently.
Okay. Yeah. I'd like to think he just wanted
to hear a woman's voice. I think he wanted to
talk to you. You know, those people are lonely.
I guess they are. I've actually not spent any
time in prison, just so you know. Thanks for
clearing that out. I also have not. Have you
ever done radio? No, only on your show, I guess.
I've never been the host. Ever been on the air
as a host? Yeah, not the host. I will say, I'm
in between two radio legends. I have always really
admired radio hosts because I think when you're
on broadcast TV, You have your face, right? You
have video. There's a lot that you can use to
tell the story, to draw people in. And with radio,
you really just have your voice and songs or,
you know, whatever you're airing. So I just,
it's impressive to me how you all use your voices
to command the audience. Yes, seriously. Well,
you know, you're right about that. The golden
age of radio they talk about was not when I got
in it. It was before I got in it, before my time,
more in my mother's... Age time and that was
before TV. Yeah and people as you see in again
the Christmas story would gather around their
radio Just like people now gather around their
television and listen to dramas and You know
you if you've seen them like maybe you're recreated
where they had a sound effects person that did
nothing but the sound effects and all that kind
of stuff. And I think that's, I think that was
really the golden age. Then TV came in, you know,
technology, the newest technology is always,
it's gonna put everybody out of business. Now
we're talking AI. AI's gonna kill us. No, it
didn't. You know, when the internet came, internet's
gonna be the answer. No, it isn't. There's good
things about all of it and there's bad things
about all of it. But I really remember, and this
is going to make me sound like I'm a thousand
years old, I remember listening to a boxing match
between Floyd Patterson, who was the heavyweight
champion of the world, and Ingmar Johansson.
Oh my yeah, I don't know these people not tell
you what I had for lunch yesterday Because I
can't remember yeah, but I can remember Ingemar
Johansson And it was a professional like 10 or
12 round fight and out I couldn't I was so fascinated
by it Mm -hmm and because all you had like you
said They were recreating this Wow thing on the
radio was doing a remarkable job and Floyd Floyd
Patterson Well, there you go. Maintained his
big old belt, you know. Sure, but you have to
visualize it. Yeah. Yeah, when you're in that.
I'm curious, 50 years at WVLK, how has, I mean,
you're touching on it now, but how has radio
changed over time? Oh, it's like completely changed.
And I know you guys have probably seen the same
thing in TV. We do... more with less people.
And I think AI is going to contribute to that
too, and that's not necessarily a good thing.
The cool thing about you guys is you're never
going to be put out of business. I mean, local
news is not, they can't bring in somebody to
do local news that's a robot, can they? Maybe,
I don't know. I think it'd lose a lot. I would
think yeah. Yeah, and so you're you're pretty
secure Radio, you know, there's a lot of syndicated
programming now and fewer and fewer On -air people
it's then and when you're doing talk radio, which
we are is the most expensive format on the air
Why is that just because it involves a lot of
people? Okay Uh, but we get around it, you know,
and we've made changes and certainly the equipment
has changed. We used to, I literally used to
cut tape where you take a little razor blade
and you had a little thing that you put the tape
in and you cut it. You'd mark it with a, with
a, I guess it was some kind of powder or something
and you cut it and then you splice it together
and it took forever. Now you can do that in a
second. You can do it on your cell phone if you
need it. Yeah, absolutely. You can make a movie
on your cell phone. So how do you guys feel some
people that some reporters use their phones in
the field film interviews or video or whatever
really? Oh, yeah, and the quality is great sometimes
the quality is better than the cameras and we
use videos that viewers send us all the time,
you know from wherever they send us videos and
we use those and Sometimes you can't tell that
it is cell phone video. Does it worry you future
-wise? You guys are young. Oh, yeah, does it
worries me? Yeah I don't know how I feel Don't
know maybe what you're saying doing more with
less people fewer people you feel that for sure
And I mean we're kind of a good example of that
like we're anchors, but we're out in the field
everyday reporting That's not how it used to
be I was gonna say that wasn't the old way was
now so like when we get out of this podcast We'll
have to go you know do interviews and put together
and you have to come up with the with the story
Depends on the day. Yeah, I would say you have
like a assignment editor or Somebody that says
go to this and cover this that's one of the positions
that's been cut. Okay Yeah, so we used to have
the assignment desk the person that was kind
of routing everybody making sure we weren't missing
court Appearances or press conferences and things
Mike you probably know Mike Taylor. Mm -hmm.
He that was his long Yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah,
so now we have a photographer who sits up by
the police scanners and kind of does that job
for a couple hours each day well oddly enough
at least in radio I don't think the listener
knows the difference with fewer people, and I
don't think they do in TV. I wouldn't know the
difference. Well, thank you. I mean, everything
looks professional and sharp and crisp. Thank
you. I mean, it really, really does. And I'm
sure you have probably fewer on -air people,
as in people in the field reporting. And that's
why you have to go out and do it? Yeah. Yep.
Well, you have a lot of experience, I guess you
did too. See, I knew Evy when she was a reporter.
When she was sleeping in her car. When she was
sleeping in her car. We go way, way, way back.
She was so poor, she was sleeping in her car.
Did you do a lot of that in Montana? Filming
your own stuff? Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And
we have, they're called MMJs, multimedia journalists.
We have those here at LEX18, reporters who go
out and film all their own stuff, edit their
own stuff. That's a grind. That is a hard job.
Is it? Oh, yeah. See, I'd love to see all that
sometimes. We should do a field trip. We should
shadow somebody. That's fascinating. Maybe that
can be your next career path. I think we have
a summer internship program, Jack. Sign me up.
I think you'd be really good at that. We have
a lot to talk about still with your ear side
hustle, but I do want to ask, what do you think
has contributed to your show's success over 50
years? Time, I think. No, seriously, I'm not
trying to be funny. I think people are habitual.
They listen. We do everything the same way every
day. You don't realize it, but you do in order
and you brush your teeth the same way. And man,
when you get to be a habit. That's when you got
them. That's what you know. You've made it Yeah,
and when people get mad at me which believe it
or not sometimes they do and they say I will
never listen to you again There there are like
number one listeners Because they want to see
if I say anything about you know you say anything
that offends them exactly Yeah, you probably
do you guys get it? Do you guys get? People griping
about oh my gosh, really? Yes, very critical
You have some haters. Oh, yeah Do they contact
you regularly? Oh, yeah. Well, you know, I've
kind of run them off because no, seriously, I
thought about it. I thought about it for a long
time. My skin's not that thick. Yeah, mine's
not either. And so somebody criticizes me or
I really take it pretty seriously. And I thought,
no, life is too short for that. It took me to
73 to figure this out. But just don't worry about
it. You're gonna be you be yourself and That's
good enough or it's not and I'm sure for every
negative comment you get you get 20 people who
say hey I wake up and listen to you every morning
or you know I feel like I know you even though
I haven't met you I know you guys get it even
more than I do because they know what you look
like but I mean really but Isn't that a nice
feeling it is? Yep I do get it and and people
will a lot of times say I know you're tired of
hearing this, and I say, oh, oh, oh. Keep it
coming. That never gets old. Seriously. Well,
to connect with the viewers and the listeners,
I mean, that's what we're trying to do. Yeah,
well, it's a beautiful broadcasting. It's a beautiful
profession. Can we talk about Bill Mack real
quick before we get into your side gig? No, I
don't want to talk about Bill Mack. Well, you've
known him for a long time. Yeah, I know a lot
of stuff that I... Really can't say over here.
The mic is hot. Spill the tea, Jack. No, I actually
don't. When did you meet Bill? When he came to
town. I remember when he was catapulted to stardom
from a horrible storm that we had, the tornadoes
that went... I did my side gig there the other
night out on... Leasetown Road. What's the subdivision?
And he was standing there telling you if you
live, I mean it was, you guys had just gotten
your new Whirlybird, whatever that could be.
And the other stations didn't have that capability.
And he was literally saying, I'm not making this
up, if you live on so -and -so street, it's coming
your way. It was that precise. It was that precise.
And all of a sudden, Bill Meck was the deal.
And he didn't want to become famous for that.
It just happened that he did because of somebody
else's misfortune. But Bill's real serious about
when it comes to the weather. He likes to goof
around. And if Bill's goofing around on the air,
there's nothing going on. And I've always said
Meck is best when there's nothing going on. Because
if you got nothing going on, you gotta be on
your toes. You gotta tap dance a little bit to
show off that personality. Exactly. You guys
always have something. The sports people probably
always says a weather guy not always, you know
What if you're a weatherman in San Diego and
it's 70 and clear every day? What do you talk
about? But yeah, I will brag on bill for a sec
I give him a hard time during the show just because
hey He told me a heat that you guys have a really
nice we do you did tell me that I love using
bill and Larry and I know that the the Feeling
is mutual. But when there is severe weather,
no one takes it as seriously as Bill. He's in
early, he doesn't leave the station. And I've
heard him take calls from viewers and people
before and the way that he talks to them to calm
their nerves. Lauren Miner, she was an anchor
here last year she left. They had a big storm
up where she lives in northern Kentucky and her
toddler was scared and Bill got on the phone.
with the toddler and said, it's going to be okay.
I mean, that's the sign of a really good meteorologist.
So, yeah. Well, Bill's also the first people
might not realize. Well, they probably do because
they're watching, but Bill takes the Christmas
shift and not every chief meteorologist has to
do that. You know, he does that so people can
be home with their families. And so, yeah, I've
always admired. He's the first to step up. His
head's going to be. We're both my fans though.
Okay, we're also fans of Santa. Me too. How did
you get into that side hustle? When I was in
the fourth grade, I was the only fat kid with
a beard. With a beard already? Oh yeah. I started
shaving real young. Are you messing with us?
Early puberty. uh, grade in school that I was
the teacher's pet. I was the teacher's pain in
the, you know what, in every other grade, but
that, but my teacher loved me. And so I got to
play the part of Santa and the Christmas play
or the fourth grade in the fourth grade. And
I had so much fun. I thought that this is back
when you used something called spirit gum. If
you got it under your nose, which you had to
have to stick your mustache on, it was the nastiest.
just like putting glue on your face. It was so
uncomfortable and that beard was made out of
some kind of, and so, but I liked it. But I liked
the attention and I liked, and I loved going
to, the way my mother explained to me when there's
a Santa on every corner in every store, that
there's only one real one. Mm -hmm that can't
be everywhere all the time. And so these others
are helpers and they're there work for it. Yeah,
right The real one was in the basement of Purcell's
department store on Main Street According to
me. Okay, so that's where I would always have
my picture. Oh So I just had a real warm. It's
just I love kids and They say the most sometimes
they say really almost prophetic things that
make you go, I can't believe. He just said, I
had a child this year that said, I've got a question
for you. And when they're in the age that they're,
I know I got to be careful there, when they're
in the age of questioning, usually they're a
pain. Because they're going to go, what's my
name? What's my elf name? And you got to think.
They're keeping you on your toes. This kid said,
I would like to ask you a question. And his mother
just pulled him away. And we had some more kids
that were in his family. And he jumped back in
and he said, do I have autism? Wow. How do you
answer that? That's a tough one. How did you
answer that? I didn't have to. She scurried him
away. But I thought about it since. These are
stories that I think about. I don't walk away
and go. Okay, that's done, that's a job. And
I thought, if she had left him there, what should
I say? And I think I would have said, it doesn't
make any difference. I hope that's what I would
have said. But I've got a lot of really deep
stories like that, that will just make you cry
if you'd like to spend Christmas really down.
I would say, has there ever been, yeah, a child
that, you know, broke your heart? Broke your
heart, yeah. That little girl that wanted a bed.
Oh, yeah. Wow. Yeah. That kind of gives you some
perspective. It puts it right in perspective.
And you don't have to go, as I know you know,
very far to see people that are way worse off
than you are. And when you want to have a bad
attitude, Just listen to some of these kids.
Yeah one, you know, you might not necessarily
necessarily think that the Santa Claus at the
mall or wherever is hearing these things but
I Think kids trust that they trust that's right
if they ask Santa for something or bring something
to him He can do something about it. Right exactly.
Yeah, I had a woman who said Santa my this is
a grown woman And she was serious. She said,
Santa, my dad's having pretty serious surgery
today. And she said, I don't know if he's going
to live through it. Could you please pray for
him? And I thought, well, I've never prayed over
anybody in my life. I've never been asked to.
I've always gone to church. And I'm standing
on a stage with a whole bunch of kids running
around. I prayed for him. Because that's what
you do. That sounds kind of arrogant. I'm not
bragging on myself at all. I've never done that
before. And I'm sure it was an awkward, weird
prayer. But boy, I hope God was listening. Well,
sure. And I think some people, they just need
to articulate what's going on in their head.
And there is that element of trust. And yeah,
there's somebody up there that put you in the
right place at the right time for that woman
to feel a little bit of calm and so, yeah, I
think that's really special. I have a friend
named Paul Prather. He's the religion writer
and the Lexington Herald leader, and he's just
the smartest guy I know in the whole world. He
has a little church over in Mount Sterling, but
he and his wife were just brilliant people. And
I called him and told him that story because
I thought he might get a kick out of it, thinking
of me praying over something. And he said, that's
a ministry. And I never thought of it that way.
But maybe it is in certain instances. I would
agree with that. But I tell you what, when you've
got people that have that kind of confidence
in you, you better have your act together. Well,
one thing I really admire is that you're like
the real deal Santa. I try to be. Had a guy that
I thought was the best in the world and I still
think is that he is his name is Brady white and
Brady Went to Los Angeles To be an actor didn't
have a beard went to Los Angeles gonna be a Successful
actor and couldn't get a job. He's working at
a restaurant waiting tables He said I was that
far from moving back to Rhode Island And doing
something else and he said I saw an ad in the
Los Angeles Times. They were looking for a Santa
Claus for the Beverly Hills mall And he thought
that sounds kind of cool. Yeah, so he went over
and applied and got the job Well, you know, he
had to have the what they call designer beard.
Oh the designer Your sounds better than fake
beer. So maybe you guys sometimes are doing designer
news He was so good, because he was an actor,
that he got a big write -up in the LA Times.
They sent out a bunch of kids to different places
to see where the best Santa in Los Angeles was,
and he won. Well, Burt Bacharach, the composer,
had, at the time, the biggest Christmas party
in Los Angeles. Everybody who was anybody was
invited. He said if he's the best Santa Claus,
I got to have him for my party So he hired Brady
white Wow and his first Christmas party that
he ever did I've seen pictures. He had Jay Leno
sitting on his lap He had everybody who was anybody
sitting on his lap. And he called himself Santa
to the Stars. Oh, that's a good name. He ended
up being the spokesperson for Tiffany's and,
you know, all these major, when I say spokesperson,
the print ad. Because he looked so good. Eventually
grew a beard this long. And he lost him last
year. Oh, wow. But I got to talk to him on the
phone two or three times. And the first thing
he told me was, I'm not Santa. I'm an actor.
And you think that's funny, but I've met a lot
of them. Yeah. Who think there's... It's kind
of an ego thing? Yeah. Who knew? I went to a
convention. First year I was in it. A Santa convention?
Yeah. That sounds like one heck of a time, huh?
You talk about a bunch of fat egotistical...
Oh my God. And then we went to a lunch... outside
and they served ribs with the beard. It was the
grossest thing you've ever seen. I was about
ready to throw up. Bones, you know, hanging.
There were a lot of guys that really thought
they were a big deal. There are a lot of people
that spend a lot of money on and I do too on
costuming. That's not for the kids Yeah, it's
for themselves totally and to a point the parents
sure because they notice all those little details
It doesn't know if you've got patent leather
shoes on couldn't care less Yeah, well, I saw
your I saw your patent leather. I saw they were
pretty nice. I'm kind of proud of What makes
a good Santa uh -huh? heart That's all. You can
have a $30 suit and a fake beard, excuse me,
designer beard. And if you care about those kids,
that's all you need. What should a Santa never
do? Never tell a child, yes, I'll bring that
to you. Because I might have promised something.
My common response is we'll do the best we can.
And I've also figured out, and I figured this
out on my own. when they ask for a pony or a
dog or a cat, we don't make them. And they go,
oh, that's good. We make toys. Animals have to
come from somewhere else. And I tell you, I don't
know how many dads I've seen that went. There
you go. We should probably put a disclaimer too
on this episode, not for kids. You know, that's
not a bad idea. Can you do that? I don't know
how many kids are listening. They're probably
not. Just in case it's an adult. I think that's
a great idea. Not adult content. Yeah, everybody's
going to think, what are they talking about?
Just, we don't want to ruin anything. That's
going to get some serious listeners. Well, I
will say, since no kids listen, I believed in
Santa for a long, long time. I was the oldest.
How old were you when you... I was probably 12.
Was well were you 12? Yeah, so and I remember
I'll never forget and I'm still friends with
her to this day And I don't think I've ever told
her this but I had little sisters and my friend
from school came to my house and said Your little
sister's no Santa's not real right and I was
like what? I was okay, I think, after a while,
but I really believed. And my husband also, this
is why we ended up together, because his mom
told me. So you were still believing when you
got married. We still, we do. We wait up for
him. No, my mother -in -law told me that when
my husband found out that Santa wasn't real,
he was verklempt, very sad. And he said, I feel
like I just lost my best friend. Oh, I understand.
So I think we're sensitive. We are sensitive
when it comes to Santa. What was your experience?
Well, I have older siblings. I don't really remember.
Did they ruin it for you? I think they, I don't
think they did intentionally, but I think I was
always hanging out with like my brothers, their
older kids were around and like, I wanted to
be in on the secret. So I think the first time
I heard it, I was like, yeah, that checks out.
Okay. All right. So you really didn't emotionally.
No, not that I recall. That's okay. There's no
right or wrong way to deal with that. But I understand
you two because I was upset. My mother sat me
down and said there was a man by the name of
Chris Kringle that lived in Germany who did really
nice things. Started I think maybe with St. Nicholas
and then moved up to... Chris Kringle and then
to modern day Santa Claus and it was a real person
and we're just celebrating love and giving with
no intent of receiving anything. Giving without
intention other than giving somebody something
and making them happy. I think Santa's kind of
an attitude. Oh, you know. It's completely. I
like that. I think that might be a book title.
Santa is an attitude. Maybe we can write a book
together. Okay. Let's do it. Oh, Santa is an
attitude. Yeah. Okay. A children's book maybe.
Yeah. That would be cute. I got a guy that can
illustrate it. Oh, do I ever, yeah. Maybe we
should. Yeah. The creative juices are flowing.
Let's shoot for next year. Okay. Let's do it.
Yeah. Speaking of next year, Jack Patty, we are
nearing 2026. Yes. What are you looking forward
to in the new year? Getting up every morning,
you know, I I Don't have any great grandiose
plans, but people ask me all the time. When are
you gonna quit? And I always say are you what
are you gonna retire? Yeah, and I said what retire
to what I Mean, I know what I would do. I would
sit in front of the computer all day. Yeah and
go down rabbit holes about Unimportant stuff
and eat I would weigh 800 pounds. They'd have
to bring the fire department in to get me out
of the house. And I mean seriously. You know
yourself well. I know myself really well. And
so I want to keep going until they either carry
me out or hopefully I'll walk out. Yeah. You're
not going anywhere. As long as I can. I know
I said you are old discussed, but you have a...
I was not. So now she's admitting that's what
she was going to say. But you have a young energy,
a youthful energy that I think radiates. Thank
you. And your Facebook posts always make me laugh.
See, that's again, it's just like when you said,
somebody says, I watch you on TV and you're really
doing a good job. What you just said makes me
feel that way. I have people to say, I got the
first thing I do. Again, going back to habit.
Yeah, just see what you posted. Oh today. Well,
it's always light and funny and you need that
to break up totally. Sometimes it's not. I posted
something yesterday that I probably shouldn't
have, but I just got angry at the president.
Sure. And I try to really stay away from politics.
I don't like politics. We had a general manager
one time. We had a bunch of them when Cumulus
bought the station and he said, I will take you
to lunch. And we went to lunch and I was a little
bit scared. I thought maybe he was going to fire
me or something. And he said, what do you bring
to the station? What's your gift? And I said,
well, I guess I do endorse a lot of products.
And I was thinking in terms, because that's the
way they think. I said, I guess I'm pretty good
at endorsing. I said, no, no, I'm not talking
about that. What's your gift? I said, I don't
know how to answer it. He said, I get it. get
that you're not really into sports." And I said,
no, I really am not. I enjoy watching the games,
but I'm no expert. And he said, I get the idea
that you're not into politics. I said, not at
all. I don't even like politics. I'm a registered
independent. And he said, so what do you got?
I said, I don't know. Tell me. And he said, you're
funny. And I said, oh, OK, thank you. And he
said, well, why aren't you on the air funny?
What the heck? Yeah. Oh, that's kind of a dagger.
That's pretty serious and It made me think a
lot. Yeah, and I Changed a little bit after that
and actually for the better sometimes Sometimes
that we're getting so deep. That's okay. Sometimes
we do here on hot mic. Yeah Well, sometimes the
things that seem kind of tragic end up being
Positives for you. Just like the move to the
south end of town got me my first show on the
radio This guy who I just came away from that
lunch hating his guts Yeah Taught me a little
lesson. Sure. He says I hear you goofing around
with people in the hall when everybody laughs
at you But I don't hear you doing it on the air
and he wanted more than one more of them. Yeah
I like that. I think people need that they need
that levity a little from time to time but also
Hey, on the on the Facebook post, sometimes you
got to get real. Yeah. Yeah. And that's OK, too.
And you guys do a really nice job. Both of you
walk in that line, and it's a real thin line
because you have the credibility. I don't have
to worry about credibility. I don't have any
credibility, but you have to walk the line between
credibility and being human. Totally. And and
like you, you know, you're talking about Bill
goofing around with him and having fun. But like
you said too, Bill doesn't goof around when the
weather's important. And you don't goof around
when there's a tragic story in the news, and
you don't either. So you just have to be very
mindful of that. We can talk to you all day,
Jack. And you said that you didn't think you'd
be good for this. Can you believe that? He was
self -conscious. Robert, how long have we been
chatting? A long one. An hour? Our longest episode.
Am I going to get edited? No, actually no. That's
what you need a podcast is that you can just
go and go and go. We don't even need any bleeps.
I almost want to say a bad word. That will ruin
Robert's day. It would also ruin my reputation.
Well, you just said you had no credibility, so
that might as well. You guys are fun. We'll have
to come back. How about that? I'd love to. Thank
you. This was really fun. That would be wonderful.
Got me in the Christmas spirit, ready for the
New Year. And I had never met you before, so
this was such a delight. It's like you said,
I feel like I've known you since you've been
in town because I watch you every night. Yeah.
Thank you. If I'm home, I'm watching your 6 o
'clock. Well, I so appreciate that. Sometimes
people will come up to me and they go, I listen
to you every afternoon. That's so funny. I get
that. People tell me I watch you every morning.
People confuse us sometimes too. Yeah. I don't
really know that you do. It's the brunette. The
Hoosier. The Hoosier and the Montana. That's
what I'm saying. Vibe. The Vibe. It's a vibe.
Well, you're the vibe, Jack Patty. And thank
you so much for taking time out of your very
busy holiday schedule. I know you've got a lot
of things going on. Thank you. This was awesome.
It was fun. And yeah, we'll get you back on the
pod. Thank you, Jack. All right. Send her home,
Abby. All right, everyone. Thank you for listening,
watching our final episode of 2025. Right? I'm
in the right year. Yeah, it's 2026 next year.
Jack Patty, thank you so much, everyone. We'll
see you next week.