WEBVTT

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Hello, Director Robert here with a content note

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before we get started. This week's episode of

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Hot Mic contains discussion which may spoil the

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magic of Christmas for younger listeners. For

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that reason, listener discretion is advised.

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With that, here's this week's episode of Hot

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Mic. With your hosts, Megan Manering and Evelyn

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Schultz. This is Hot Mic. Welcome back to another

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episode of Hot Mic here at LEX 18. I'm Evelyn

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Schultz alongside Megan Manering. This is our

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last episode of the year. Hard to believe. How

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do you feel about that? It's bittersweet. It

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is bittersweet. This was one of my favorite things

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that I did this year. Me too. Was launch Hot

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Mike with you. This was a highlight of the year.

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Me too. And I think to round out the year, we

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had to have a really special guest. We did. A

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really special. And actually, when we made our

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list of who we wanted to interview, this person

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was at the top of the list. He's a little nervous,

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so we need to give him a warm welcome. A voice

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synonymous with Lexington Jack. You guys are

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as full of it as the Christmas goose Come on

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you were somebody that you really wanted couldn't

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come you were at least top 20. Oh, okay I love

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this. I love this you do my first podcast, but

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I'm a big fan of both of you and so I'm a little

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bit nervous because Abby and I have known each

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other we have yes, but back when she was just

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a reporter sleeping in her car you realize that

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I didn't know that. I still do. You do? After

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the show, the sunrise show, I go out and I take

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naps in my car sometimes. She used to do a lot

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of reporting for me on the radio and I would

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call her and I wouldn't get an answer and she'd

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come back in about 30 minutes and I was sleeping

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in the car and I'm everybody's grandfather and

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I said, don't sleep in the car, Evy. I know it's

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a bad habit, but it is really cozy. But I'm a

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fan of yours, too. Well, thank you. I get to,

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I watch you every night and I can actually hear

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you. I watch Evy every morning and I have to

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read her lips because she's on while my radio's

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here. Yeah, right. And we have to turn it down.

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Totally. So I, but I've gotten pretty good at

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it. Say something. Silently? That's where I can't

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hear. Okay, um. What's the one bad? No, I'm not.

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I'm not good. I said welcome to hot Mike. Oh,

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yeah, what's the wombat? Yeah, yeah, well anyway,

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you guys do a great job I've known Bill Mack

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well longer than any of us want to admit and

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we got to talk about bill my mother actually

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did a television program once a week for 25 years

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really at channel 18. And so when I was a little

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kid, I'm 73 years old, when I was a little kid,

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I would go with her in the old building. Now

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I'm not talking you know what I'm talking about

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the old building. It's been way gone before you

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guys. I've seen photos of the building. Well,

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it was it was tiny. Yeah. And then they added

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a side on to it, which made it little less than

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tiny. But it was in that old tiny building. And

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I would go with her and watch her tape the show.

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What was her show? It was called Leisure. And

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it was back in the days before they changed all

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the rules about you have to, you know, devote

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so much of your time to community affairs, public

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affairs. So they would have shows. There were

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two of them, actually. And they would have shows

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that covered that. essential part of the FCC

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rule. And my mom worked for the recreation department.

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So they gave her 30 minutes every week. She got

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to know everybody here. I got to know everybody

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here. And so I kind of grew up at Channel 18.

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Wow. You probably know more about... I might,

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but I sure know a lot more than you do about

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the old days. Because you guys weren't born yet.

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And Evy told me before we went on the air, and

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she almost slipped, she said, how old are you

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if you don't mind my asking? And I said 73, and

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she said, you may be the... Why is this person?

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We try not to offend our guests. I didn't walk

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out. I feel like you're someone who can take

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a little bit of a kind of a jokester. You have

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to be. I love the whole concept. It was your

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concept, right? This is all Levy's. I don't want

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to take all the credit, but I sort of had this

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kind of crazy idea to do a podcast. Here we are.

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And I understand it's caught on that it's really,

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really popular. He's so nice. No, I'm very serious.

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You don't have to gas us up just because you're,

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you know. Well, nobody really watches it. No,

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really, actually, I have heard that it's very

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popular. Well, thank you. We are honored by the

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people who have told us that they've listened.

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You've had cool people too. You've had cool guests.

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We've been lucky that people have agreed. to

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come do it. And you can relate. I mean, anytime

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someone says, oh, I listen to you or I watch

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you every day or I listen to you every morning

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or podcast, it means a lot. It does mean a lot.

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And you two girls from I know you're not from

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Montana, but who came from Montana? What are

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the odds? I know, right? Hoosiers, Montana. Oh,

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your Hoosier, too. Yeah, we got Indiana, Montana,

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Lexington pipeline. But you guys never knew each

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other. No, we do have mutual friends, though.

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You do in the business no from someone she grew

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up with I went to college with so okay. Yeah

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Kind of weird, right? No, it is. It's unusual.

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Yes. Yeah, but Jack we talk about you. I heard

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on the radio this morning that you don't think

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you're a good interviewee, but I just don't think

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that's true. Well, I told you that after 10 minutes,

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I'm making it up because I think I can tell you

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everything I know in 10 minutes, but I'll stretch

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it out. We can do fake news on the positives,

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just not on the air. That's right. All right.

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Let's start from the beginning. You are a Lexington

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boy through and through. Tell us what it was

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like growing up here in Lexington. It was really

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cool. It was a very small town, mainstream. was

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two -way, if you can imagine that, two -way traffic

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on Main Street. Everybody went downtown to shop,

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just like in the Christmas story. I mean, it

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really, there was two or three really big department

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stores down on Main Street that looked just like

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the Christmas story. They had windows decorated.

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There was a store called Meyers, and a guy, his

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first name was Elliot, I'll think of his last

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name probably next Tuesday, but he was, He had

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a job as a window decorator. That was a special.

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That's a fun job that you could go learn Wow

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Yeah, and that's you know, you see I mean, you

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know what I'm talking about with nose up against

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the glass and all these kids looking That takes

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a lot of expertise. Yeah to do that And so that's

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what downtown Lexington was I took I never wasn't

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good at it, but I took trumpet lessons I would

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get off the school bus go get my trumpet get

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on the city bus, take it downtown. Shackleton's

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was the name of the store. It was on the second

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floor. Take my trumpet lesson, come back, wait

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for the bus, and come home. And I could do that

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safely. Unfortunately, kids today can't. It's

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very different nowadays. And I'm very sorry,

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yeah. And I'm very sorry about that. People are

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always talking about... kids need to go outside

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they need to go play outside well unless you're

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supervising them sure yeah it could be really

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dangerous you know these days it must have fostered

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a lot of independence in you that'd be able to

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do that kind of go around lexington i probably

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did but i didn't know it because everybody everybody

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did it yeah you all were doing everybody did

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it yeah where'd you go to high school i went

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to i actually this is kind of this may be the

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only sort of interesting story i've got for you

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so i'll stretch it out to 19 minutes I went to

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Bryan Station because I grew up in the north

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end of town. So I went to Yates Elementary and

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Bryan Station was then called Junior High. If

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you can imagine, it was 7, 8, and 9. And then

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10, 11, and 12 was high school. But anyway, I

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went through Junior High. And then my sophomore

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year, I went to Bryan Station High School, played

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in the band. The trumpet? Well, I played trumpet

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and then that guy got volunteered to the sousaphone.

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The sousaphone? That's the big thing that wraps

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around you? That is a babe magnet. I mean, think

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about it, back when you were in school, wasn't

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the big fat guy that played the sousaphone, wasn't

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he the one you were interested in? Yeah. Okay,

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come on, Megan, I know you were. Well, she was

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in the band as well. What did you play? Alto

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saxophone. First chair. No kidding. Oh, yeah.

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I watched the saxophone player. Really? Yeah.

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Yeah, nice. I want to tell her about that. She'll

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be watching. Maybe we can link up and play and

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get our woodwinds together. That would be so

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cool. She plays flute, too. Really? Wow. And

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piano and organ and everything else. And guitar.

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Let's get her on the podcast. Anyway, my mother

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told me after my sophomore year of high school,

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we're moving. To the south end of town and you're

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gonna have to change schools. Oh, no That's a

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tough time in high school to switch no kidding

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and I had to move to a school where I knew one

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person in the whole school and I said I wasn't

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gonna do it and she said yeah, you are and I

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said no She said how you gonna get I said, I'm

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just gonna go to Bryan station. She said how

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are you gonna get there? So I'm gonna walk Well,

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that didn't last even a day. I think I got up

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to the corner and went, no, here's the interesting

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part. And this is, I'm very serious about this.

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It was the best thing that ever happened to me,

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changing schools, because I had a student teacher

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in a speech and drama class who was in the business

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here. He was on WBLG radio, which is 1300, still

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on the air. and WBLG television, channel 62,

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which isn't on the air, but it eventually became

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36. And he asked, like the first week of school,

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anybody in this class interested in radio as

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a career? Well, I had been since I was a little

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kid. Two of us raised our hands. He said, well,

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I'm going to beg, borrow, and steal some equipment.

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I'm going to find a closet in the school where

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we can set up. And I'm going to teach you and

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this other guy radio. And then when you're ready,

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I'm going to get you your first job. Wow. I mean,

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was that like a dream come true? Yes. It was

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fake. Yeah. And so Christmas. of that year of

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my junior year, he came to me and he said, you're

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ready. I'm going to take you next Monday. We're

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going to skip school, which I thought was so

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cool. Oh, yeah. Skipping school with the teacher.

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He smoked in my car. No way. Yeah. Actually,

00:11:27.529 --> 00:11:29.429
I'm skipping school with a teacher who's smoking

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in my car. Different time. There was a different

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time. And we went to Georgetown, Kentucky, where

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there was a little 1580 was the frequency radio

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station, and I think it's still on the air, Iron

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Works Pike, and I got to meet the general manager

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of the radio station. I didn't have any kind

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of demo tape, because the only thing I'd ever

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done is, what we would do in our little radio

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station is broadcast over the cafeteria at lunch

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and take requests and stuff. So anyway, I didn't

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have a tape, and they introduced me to the guy

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who was on the air, and they said, Jack's going

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to take over for a few minutes and they all walked

00:12:09.980 --> 00:12:13.580
out. How are you feeling in that moment? Oh,

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if you had never been in water before over your

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head and were thrown into the deep end, just

00:12:20.539 --> 00:12:23.799
like that. Wow. And I, you know, I would love

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to have a tape of that because I'm sure it was

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the worst thing in history. But the guy was kind

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enough. He told me later, you know, you wouldn't

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have gotten in the door if it hadn't been for

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your teacher. Which made me feel better. I said,

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yeah, I know that. But they gave me a job Sunday

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mornings. And that turned into a Saturday and

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Sunday. And by the time I was a senior, I was

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working seven days a week. I'm sure child labor

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laws were being broken. For sure. And I think

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I made $3 an hour or something. Probably not

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even that. But I was in love with the industry.

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Right from the get -go. From the get -go. And

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country is so great now, it wasn't cool in 1968.

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And I was not... I loved the business, I loved

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being on the air, but I didn't tell anybody that

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I knew that I was on, because I was kind of embarrassed

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about it. Really? Yeah. And I feel bad about

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that now, because I love country music. And I

00:13:22.419 --> 00:13:26.580
also learned about old country artists, like...

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The Possum, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, and Tammy

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Wynette. Who's your favorite of all time? Well,

00:13:34.120 --> 00:13:37.960
Tammy Wynette called the first, maybe the first

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Saturday I ever worked, and I was actually doing

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a show playing records. And it was Christmastime.

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And this is what country artists did back then.

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I don't know if they still do, but they call

00:13:50.059 --> 00:13:53.350
radio stations. And obviously expect to be put

00:13:53.350 --> 00:13:56.090
on the air. Yeah. Well, Tammy Wynette had a big

00:13:56.090 --> 00:14:00.110
hit called Stand By Your Man. Stand By Your Man.

00:14:00.309 --> 00:14:02.990
It's in Sleepless in Seattle. Oh, that's right.

00:14:03.210 --> 00:14:06.210
That's right. And so anyway, she was big deal.

00:14:06.490 --> 00:14:09.009
And I answered the phone, W -A -X -U, and she

00:14:09.009 --> 00:14:12.730
said, she knew my name. She said, Jack? And I

00:14:12.730 --> 00:14:15.450
said, yes. She said, this is Tammy Wynette calling

00:14:15.450 --> 00:14:17.850
from Nashville. And I said, well, how are you?

00:14:18.299 --> 00:14:21.240
This was all off the air. Yeah. And she said,

00:14:21.240 --> 00:14:24.539
I'm doing great. I just had a minute and I wanted

00:14:24.539 --> 00:14:27.019
to call and wish you and all your listeners a

00:14:27.019 --> 00:14:29.399
Merry Christmas. And I said, that is so thoughtful.

00:14:29.659 --> 00:14:32.740
Thank you. And Merry Christmas to you. And hung

00:14:32.740 --> 00:14:35.759
the phone up. Well, 30 minutes later, my boss

00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:37.500
walks in. I said, you're never going to believe

00:14:37.500 --> 00:14:40.940
this. But Tammy when that called me and wished

00:14:40.940 --> 00:14:43.779
me a Merry Christmas. And he said, did you put

00:14:43.779 --> 00:14:47.820
her on the air? And I went. Was I supposed to?

00:14:49.300 --> 00:14:51.120
Actually, I don't think I would have known how

00:14:51.120 --> 00:14:57.220
anyway. Did you ever get her on the air? Did

00:14:57.220 --> 00:15:01.220
you relay the message to your listeners? I don't

00:15:01.220 --> 00:15:04.039
think I even did that. That's just something

00:15:04.039 --> 00:15:06.159
you kept to yourself. Just a sweet little memory.

00:15:06.440 --> 00:15:11.019
Now everybody knows it. Hot chick. Hot chick.

00:15:12.279 --> 00:15:14.539
That's our new name. That's when we record the

00:15:14.539 --> 00:15:17.639
podcast after hours. Yeah, exactly. Our evening

00:15:17.639 --> 00:15:20.139
version. You knew from the time you were a kid

00:15:20.139 --> 00:15:22.519
that you were interested in radio. Why was that?

00:15:22.919 --> 00:15:25.100
When I was I must have been five or six years

00:15:25.100 --> 00:15:27.399
old and that's back when they advertised cigarettes

00:15:27.399 --> 00:15:31.200
on TV and there was a cigarette commercial. It

00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:33.179
must not have been that effective because it

00:15:33.179 --> 00:15:35.840
didn't make me smoke at that time, but it was.

00:15:36.279 --> 00:15:39.860
Either camel or lucky strikes, little tiny, no

00:15:39.860 --> 00:15:43.360
filter that people smoked back then, but it was

00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:46.159
a disc jockey. And he was kind of sitting in

00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:49.580
the dark with like a light over his head, real

00:15:49.580 --> 00:15:52.559
cool lighting. Turntables back then, record players,

00:15:52.759 --> 00:15:56.659
turntables, were literally that big. He had a

00:15:56.659 --> 00:16:00.059
microphone that as big as his head, and he was

00:16:00.059 --> 00:16:04.059
sitting there smoking and on the radio. And I

00:16:04.059 --> 00:16:06.919
remember thinking. That's what I want to do.

00:16:06.919 --> 00:16:10.100
That's gonna be me one day. Yeah. Wow. I started

00:16:10.100 --> 00:16:14.440
smoking Hoping that was the key didn't get me

00:16:14.440 --> 00:16:22.299
in the business Were you also a little bit Inspired

00:16:22.299 --> 00:16:25.120
by your mom working at the station right here

00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:27.419
at the stand. Absolutely I was and then when

00:16:27.419 --> 00:16:31.100
I got older 15 16 when she couldn't do the show

00:16:31.100 --> 00:16:33.879
I used to do the show They trusted you to do

00:16:33.879 --> 00:16:37.669
that. So yeah So I may have been the youngest

00:16:37.669 --> 00:16:41.370
and now the oldest and I saw it in the youngest

00:16:41.370 --> 00:16:44.990
Yeah, I'm doing a regular show labor laws were

00:16:44.990 --> 00:16:47.610
exactly different at that point Okay, so you

00:16:47.610 --> 00:16:50.070
said you were kind of like a little fish in a

00:16:50.070 --> 00:16:52.750
big pond that first time they threw you in eventually

00:16:52.750 --> 00:16:55.830
It must have clicked and once it did once you

00:16:55.830 --> 00:16:57.549
got more comfortable with radio. What did you

00:16:57.549 --> 00:17:00.889
start loving about it? Well, I love course you

00:17:00.889 --> 00:17:04.359
love the attention Yeah, anybody anybody. Yeah,

00:17:04.359 --> 00:17:06.680
really? I mean seriously anybody in our business

00:17:06.680 --> 00:17:10.079
has an ego You're a little bit of an entertainer.

00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:13.440
No, I'm a big big time a lot a lot a bit of an

00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:19.500
entertainer Anyone yeah No, I'm just teasing

00:17:19.500 --> 00:17:23.930
I am an entertainer. I am NOT a journalist Mm

00:17:23.930 --> 00:17:26.309
-hmm. I don't pretend to be evidence by your

00:17:26.309 --> 00:17:30.190
Facebook post. Yeah, right Yeah, I'll just read

00:17:30.190 --> 00:17:32.509
what I write. You know, I'm not a journalist

00:17:32.509 --> 00:17:37.609
but but yeah, so I decided that I went to Florida

00:17:37.609 --> 00:17:42.849
with a friend who was working at WVLK and We

00:17:42.849 --> 00:17:46.289
went to Daytona Beach and I thought I was 18

00:17:46.289 --> 00:17:49.210
years old and I thought this is this is where

00:17:49.210 --> 00:17:52.970
I need to be playing the guitar on the beach,

00:17:53.130 --> 00:17:54.730
you know, and the girls gathered around like

00:17:54.730 --> 00:17:57.769
Elvis Presley movie. You were past the sousaphone

00:17:57.769 --> 00:18:01.269
at that point. Oh, yeah, I was way in the rear.

00:18:01.269 --> 00:18:03.890
You retired that. OK. But anyway, I thought that

00:18:03.890 --> 00:18:06.069
would be a cool thing. So I got a job in Florida

00:18:06.069 --> 00:18:10.009
as a result of a trip down there. And I was literally

00:18:10.009 --> 00:18:12.650
18. You know, I wasn't going to go to college.

00:18:12.869 --> 00:18:16.569
I want college material as evidence if you've

00:18:16.569 --> 00:18:19.869
ever listened to me. And so I went down there

00:18:19.869 --> 00:18:23.319
and All of a sudden, I got a job before I went,

00:18:23.839 --> 00:18:26.660
but all of a sudden it dawned on me, heck, if

00:18:26.660 --> 00:18:29.380
you're living in Florida, you got to go to work.

00:18:30.259 --> 00:18:33.779
And I had this cool little cheap apartment right

00:18:33.779 --> 00:18:37.019
off the beach. Never saw the beach, you know?

00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:40.339
And so the working part took a lot of the fun

00:18:40.339 --> 00:18:42.740
out, but I really liked it down there. How long

00:18:42.740 --> 00:18:45.240
were you down there? Three years. Okay. And met

00:18:45.240 --> 00:18:47.619
my first wife there. Didn't like her parents,

00:18:47.700 --> 00:18:50.599
and they didn't like me, and so we... Move back

00:18:50.599 --> 00:18:53.420
to Kentucky. Okay, you escaped for the best.

00:18:53.640 --> 00:18:57.039
I'd say that on the air. But yeah, so that was

00:18:57.039 --> 00:19:01.400
that was but yeah, I came to work at WVLK 50

00:19:01.400 --> 00:19:04.619
years ago, which is hard for me to read 1975.

00:19:05.700 --> 00:19:10.819
And was doing more afternoons, actually, my first

00:19:10.819 --> 00:19:14.920
shift. And then the morning got left. And I asked

00:19:14.920 --> 00:19:17.680
if I would like to do that. And in I don't know

00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:22.309
how it is in TV. In radio, the morning position

00:19:22.309 --> 00:19:25.109
was always kind of the primo position. They say

00:19:25.109 --> 00:19:27.549
it's not as much anymore. Really? With the way

00:19:27.549 --> 00:19:31.289
people listen, their habits, you know, we have

00:19:31.289 --> 00:19:34.569
podcasts of our shows. Now people listen to what

00:19:34.569 --> 00:19:36.650
they want to listen to whenever they want to.

00:19:37.109 --> 00:19:39.130
But at the time, if you wanted to listen to me,

00:19:39.130 --> 00:19:40.750
for example, you had to listen in the morning.

00:19:40.930 --> 00:19:43.930
On your way to work or whatever, yeah. And now,

00:19:43.930 --> 00:19:46.950
you know, I mean, we did the school closing report.

00:19:48.210 --> 00:19:50.670
Well, I mean that is that as antique as you could

00:19:50.670 --> 00:19:55.930
think? Exciting as a kid the radio and you're

00:19:55.930 --> 00:19:58.849
waiting to see if your school was closed. Do

00:19:58.849 --> 00:20:04.470
you love that guy? God yeah, exactly Absolutely.

00:20:04.670 --> 00:20:06.970
Do you ever hear from people who are adults now

00:20:06.970 --> 00:20:09.589
who say I listen I listen you we know I was a

00:20:09.589 --> 00:20:13.200
kid or I remember the time. Yeah. Yeah And in

00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:15.799
my other, in my side hustle, which I know we're

00:20:15.799 --> 00:20:19.920
gonna talk about a little bit, I got a kid just

00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:24.079
last night, I say kid, grown up now, that said,

00:20:24.940 --> 00:20:29.160
you are her favorite DJ. He whispered to me,

00:20:29.259 --> 00:20:32.680
her kid, and she said, you are her favorite DJ.

00:20:32.700 --> 00:20:35.559
And I said, she doesn't care anything about me.

00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:39.079
I'm your favorite DJ, and she's forced to listen.

00:20:41.950 --> 00:20:46.109
It's it's really nice recognition You can't say

00:20:46.109 --> 00:20:48.250
too much for that. Absolutely, but you got to

00:20:48.250 --> 00:20:51.410
be real careful and not let that go to your head

00:20:51.410 --> 00:20:54.210
All right over the years, I'm sure you've had

00:20:54.210 --> 00:20:57.150
what Tammy why net that was an exciting call

00:20:57.150 --> 00:20:59.990
Are there any other calls any other callers that

00:20:59.990 --> 00:21:01.789
come to mind that you've taken on the radio?

00:21:01.849 --> 00:21:04.349
I can tell you my favorite guess that I ever

00:21:04.349 --> 00:21:06.410
had and all this stuff happened before you guys

00:21:06.410 --> 00:21:10.029
were born but without any question, there was

00:21:10.029 --> 00:21:15.170
a man named Malcolm Kilduff. And you can fact

00:21:15.170 --> 00:21:17.690
check me on this. And he was from Kentucky. Where's

00:21:17.690 --> 00:21:20.789
our fact checker? Yeah, really. Robert? Hey,

00:21:20.789 --> 00:21:23.069
Robert, will you fact check me on this? Malcolm

00:21:23.069 --> 00:21:25.230
Kilduff, he was the assistant press secretary

00:21:25.230 --> 00:21:28.029
to President Kennedy. Wow, kind of a big deal.

00:21:28.210 --> 00:21:33.670
Yeah, a big deal, yeah. And I was always fascinated

00:21:33.670 --> 00:21:36.269
about the assassination because I was about I

00:21:36.269 --> 00:21:39.630
was born in 52 and that was 63, so I was 11 and

00:21:39.630 --> 00:21:43.089
very impressionable. And so as a talk show host,

00:21:43.690 --> 00:21:45.450
I did a bunch of shows with people that wrote

00:21:45.450 --> 00:21:48.029
books on the subject. And somebody called me

00:21:48.029 --> 00:21:49.829
and said, why don't you get Malcolm Kilduff?

00:21:50.150 --> 00:21:54.009
And I said, who is he? Long story short, he was

00:21:54.009 --> 00:21:57.509
Kennedy's assistant press secretary. A guy named

00:21:57.509 --> 00:22:00.029
Pierre Salinger was the press secretary who decided

00:22:00.029 --> 00:22:02.940
for some reason. to not go to Dallas to make

00:22:02.940 --> 00:22:07.420
the Dallas trip. And the guy from Kentucky was

00:22:07.420 --> 00:22:13.099
two cars behind Kennedy's limousine. And a fascinating

00:22:13.099 --> 00:22:17.460
guy. Well, his responsibility was to announce

00:22:17.460 --> 00:22:20.420
to the nation that the president had been killed.

00:22:21.380 --> 00:22:25.779
So he said, to me, he still gives me chills.

00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:29.099
He said, I was in the room where they were working

00:22:29.099 --> 00:22:33.099
on the president. Mrs. Kennedy and Vice President

00:22:33.099 --> 00:22:35.779
Johnson and his wife were in an adjoining room,

00:22:36.279 --> 00:22:39.359
but I had to stay with the president when they

00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:41.779
called in the priest to give him last rites,

00:22:41.960 --> 00:22:46.779
and I watched him die. He said then my job was

00:22:46.779 --> 00:22:50.420
to not tell Mrs. Kennedy she'd lost her husband,

00:22:51.160 --> 00:22:56.329
but to tell Vice President Johnson He was now

00:22:56.329 --> 00:22:59.410
president of the United States. So he said, I

00:22:59.410 --> 00:23:00.990
walked in the room and he said, I didn't know

00:23:00.990 --> 00:23:03.430
how to address him because he said, I didn't

00:23:03.430 --> 00:23:06.349
know him well enough to call him a Lyndon. So

00:23:06.349 --> 00:23:08.250
he said, I just walked in the room and I said,

00:23:08.470 --> 00:23:12.150
Mr. President. And he said, Jackie Kennedy, you

00:23:12.150 --> 00:23:16.210
know, then knew. And I said, God, that's the

00:23:16.210 --> 00:23:18.609
most terrible. Yeah. And he was, I know you all

00:23:18.609 --> 00:23:21.720
have seen the picture. Because it's really famous

00:23:21.720 --> 00:23:24.160
on the airplane coming back from Dallas where

00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:26.819
they're swearing in. Johnson, he's in that picture.

00:23:26.980 --> 00:23:30.140
Wow. And you got to talk to him. I got him every

00:23:30.140 --> 00:23:34.819
November 22nd or 3rd, whatever the date is, every

00:23:34.819 --> 00:23:37.940
year. Wow. I think until he passed away. Yeah.

00:23:38.119 --> 00:23:40.259
Because he was like my favorite guest. And we

00:23:40.259 --> 00:23:42.180
talked about the same thing over and over. I

00:23:42.180 --> 00:23:45.500
never got tired. of hearing that story well it's

00:23:45.500 --> 00:23:47.779
a story that doesn't get old no and you just

00:23:47.779 --> 00:23:49.880
think of the weight of that moment it's history

00:23:49.880 --> 00:23:52.460
yeah and you reach a new group of people every

00:23:52.460 --> 00:23:54.500
time yeah it tells it because they're probably

00:23:54.500 --> 00:23:57.160
presumably others listening and my favorite fun

00:23:57.160 --> 00:24:00.099
fun guest was leslie nielsen i thought you were

00:24:00.099 --> 00:24:04.900
gonna say it was me Oh, well, and Evy. The way

00:24:04.900 --> 00:24:07.460
that you reached out, I thought you... I'm just

00:24:07.460 --> 00:24:09.079
kidding. I would never expect to be your... Evelyn

00:24:09.079 --> 00:24:11.480
Schultz was my favorite. I would never expect

00:24:11.480 --> 00:24:14.220
to be your favorite fun guest, but... But Leslie

00:24:14.220 --> 00:24:19.099
Nielsen, you know, naked gun, et cetera, played

00:24:19.099 --> 00:24:22.759
in a golf tournament here every year. And it

00:24:22.759 --> 00:24:24.880
was a fundraiser for the children's charities.

00:24:24.980 --> 00:24:27.579
And I was lucky enough, I was a fan of his. See,

00:24:27.579 --> 00:24:30.470
he did straight... Most of those guys from those

00:24:30.470 --> 00:24:33.009
movies were straight actors. They didn't do comedy,

00:24:33.309 --> 00:24:36.529
which made it even funnier. But I was a fan of

00:24:36.529 --> 00:24:40.269
his being a cop and a bad guy sometimes from

00:24:40.269 --> 00:24:42.869
growing up watching TV. So I was real excited

00:24:42.869 --> 00:24:45.910
the day that I was told that he was gonna come

00:24:45.910 --> 00:24:48.750
up to the station. Well, I don't know if we can

00:24:48.750 --> 00:24:51.630
say fart on the air, but I just did. You can,

00:24:51.769 --> 00:24:54.150
yeah, I think that's okay. He had a fart machine.

00:24:54.720 --> 00:24:56.859
that he carried in the palm of his hand. And

00:24:56.859 --> 00:25:00.180
I didn't know about it. And he came up with like

00:25:00.180 --> 00:25:03.359
four guys. We were in a break and we sat down

00:25:03.359 --> 00:25:06.059
just like you and I, the three of us did. And

00:25:06.059 --> 00:25:07.759
I'm just saying what we're gonna come out of

00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:11.819
here. And he started using this thing. And he's

00:25:11.819 --> 00:25:15.980
very convincingly. And I thought, that's pretty

00:25:15.980 --> 00:25:20.000
different. And it was loud. Were you trying to?

00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:22.799
Oh yeah, ignore it. And the guys that were with

00:25:22.799 --> 00:25:25.460
him, straight faced. And I thought, he's got

00:25:25.460 --> 00:25:28.740
a problem. And I thought, when we get on the

00:25:28.740 --> 00:25:30.460
air, if he does that, you're going to be able

00:25:30.460 --> 00:25:33.319
to hear it. Well, we did about a 20 minute segment.

00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:37.900
Not a thing. As soon as I turned the mic off,

00:25:38.059 --> 00:25:42.140
a big one. Wow. I kind of fell apart, and the

00:25:42.140 --> 00:25:44.559
guys behind me fell apart, and then he fell apart.

00:25:45.099 --> 00:25:48.960
And then I realized I'd just been had. Well.

00:25:49.180 --> 00:25:52.740
About a week after that I was watching how long

00:25:52.740 --> 00:25:56.680
ago it was Johnny Carson and he had Leslie Nielsen

00:25:56.680 --> 00:26:00.539
as a guest and Johnny said to Nielsen. Did you

00:26:00.539 --> 00:26:04.740
bring your little friend? And Nielsen said, not

00:26:04.740 --> 00:26:07.279
tonight. And Johnny said, good. And I knew exactly.

00:26:07.279 --> 00:26:09.940
So you were like in, like an inside joke. That

00:26:09.940 --> 00:26:12.259
had to have felt pretty good. And he was on with

00:26:12.259 --> 00:26:14.740
one of the more curt guys, Conan or somebody,

00:26:15.079 --> 00:26:17.460
and actually put it up on his desk. So he loved

00:26:17.460 --> 00:26:19.880
that thing. He loved that thing. He did it with

00:26:19.880 --> 00:26:21.960
strangers. He did it sitting next to somebody

00:26:21.960 --> 00:26:26.960
in an airplane. And on his tombstone, I'm not

00:26:26.960 --> 00:26:30.880
making this up. Fact check me. Leslie Nielsen,

00:26:31.160 --> 00:26:35.170
date of birth. Date of death quotes. Let her

00:26:35.170 --> 00:26:41.950
rip Yeah, that's what the heck that's I mean,

00:26:41.950 --> 00:26:44.390
that's just the one thing that like that humor

00:26:44.390 --> 00:26:49.650
doesn't know It's so funny. Why do we laugh at

00:26:49.650 --> 00:26:52.099
that? No, because we're not supposed to. I think

00:26:52.099 --> 00:26:55.579
so. Well, you've had some pretty incredible guests

00:26:55.579 --> 00:26:57.880
and callers, you know, which makes me think I

00:26:57.880 --> 00:27:00.220
had a radio show once upon a time. At college?

00:27:00.319 --> 00:27:02.059
DePaul University. Will you tell me about it?

00:27:02.160 --> 00:27:05.140
91 .5, your sound alternative. Oh, wow. Would

00:27:05.140 --> 00:27:07.359
you hire her? I would hire you in a minute. Thank

00:27:07.359 --> 00:27:10.640
you. 4 to 6 a .m. Sunday mornings. And the only

00:27:10.640 --> 00:27:13.500
caller that I ever got was Dale from the Putnam

00:27:13.500 --> 00:27:17.569
County Prison. How about that? How about that?

00:27:17.869 --> 00:27:20.009
Was he nice? That's hilarious. He was delightful.

00:27:20.349 --> 00:27:22.549
Yeah, that's cool. And they tell you, you've

00:27:22.549 --> 00:27:26.049
got a call from the Putnam. Put him through.

00:27:26.450 --> 00:27:29.630
What did he say? He always wanted to request

00:27:29.630 --> 00:27:32.990
the same song from some group called the XXX.

00:27:33.710 --> 00:27:35.910
That is what they're called, the XXX? Apparently.

00:27:36.349 --> 00:27:38.690
Okay. Yeah. I'd like to think he just wanted

00:27:38.690 --> 00:27:40.029
to hear a woman's voice. I think he wanted to

00:27:40.029 --> 00:27:44.069
talk to you. You know, those people are lonely.

00:27:44.250 --> 00:27:47.220
I guess they are. I've actually not spent any

00:27:47.220 --> 00:27:50.819
time in prison, just so you know. Thanks for

00:27:50.819 --> 00:27:53.059
clearing that out. I also have not. Have you

00:27:53.059 --> 00:27:56.859
ever done radio? No, only on your show, I guess.

00:27:57.059 --> 00:27:59.140
I've never been the host. Ever been on the air

00:27:59.140 --> 00:28:02.480
as a host? Yeah, not the host. I will say, I'm

00:28:02.480 --> 00:28:08.220
in between two radio legends. I have always really

00:28:08.220 --> 00:28:12.779
admired radio hosts because I think when you're

00:28:12.779 --> 00:28:17.019
on broadcast TV, You have your face, right? You

00:28:17.019 --> 00:28:19.859
have video. There's a lot that you can use to

00:28:19.859 --> 00:28:23.079
tell the story, to draw people in. And with radio,

00:28:23.240 --> 00:28:26.119
you really just have your voice and songs or,

00:28:26.119 --> 00:28:28.920
you know, whatever you're airing. So I just,

00:28:29.000 --> 00:28:31.539
it's impressive to me how you all use your voices

00:28:31.539 --> 00:28:34.799
to command the audience. Yes, seriously. Well,

00:28:35.039 --> 00:28:38.039
you know, you're right about that. The golden

00:28:38.039 --> 00:28:41.099
age of radio they talk about was not when I got

00:28:41.099 --> 00:28:44.240
in it. It was before I got in it, before my time,

00:28:44.599 --> 00:28:47.960
more in my mother's... Age time and that was

00:28:47.960 --> 00:28:51.160
before TV. Yeah and people as you see in again

00:28:51.160 --> 00:28:53.440
the Christmas story would gather around their

00:28:53.440 --> 00:28:55.920
radio Just like people now gather around their

00:28:55.920 --> 00:29:01.980
television and listen to dramas and You know

00:29:01.980 --> 00:29:05.700
you if you've seen them like maybe you're recreated

00:29:05.700 --> 00:29:08.740
where they had a sound effects person that did

00:29:08.740 --> 00:29:11.359
nothing but the sound effects and all that kind

00:29:11.359 --> 00:29:13.319
of stuff. And I think that's, I think that was

00:29:13.319 --> 00:29:16.339
really the golden age. Then TV came in, you know,

00:29:16.819 --> 00:29:19.579
technology, the newest technology is always,

00:29:19.980 --> 00:29:22.420
it's gonna put everybody out of business. Now

00:29:22.420 --> 00:29:25.980
we're talking AI. AI's gonna kill us. No, it

00:29:25.980 --> 00:29:29.640
didn't. You know, when the internet came, internet's

00:29:29.640 --> 00:29:33.299
gonna be the answer. No, it isn't. There's good

00:29:33.299 --> 00:29:36.279
things about all of it and there's bad things

00:29:36.279 --> 00:29:39.849
about all of it. But I really remember, and this

00:29:39.849 --> 00:29:41.349
is going to make me sound like I'm a thousand

00:29:41.349 --> 00:29:45.569
years old, I remember listening to a boxing match

00:29:45.569 --> 00:29:49.150
between Floyd Patterson, who was the heavyweight

00:29:49.150 --> 00:29:54.009
champion of the world, and Ingmar Johansson.

00:29:55.100 --> 00:29:58.420
Oh my yeah, I don't know these people not tell

00:29:58.420 --> 00:30:01.160
you what I had for lunch yesterday Because I

00:30:01.160 --> 00:30:03.880
can't remember yeah, but I can remember Ingemar

00:30:03.880 --> 00:30:07.880
Johansson And it was a professional like 10 or

00:30:07.880 --> 00:30:11.619
12 round fight and out I couldn't I was so fascinated

00:30:11.619 --> 00:30:14.380
by it Mm -hmm and because all you had like you

00:30:14.380 --> 00:30:19.160
said They were recreating this Wow thing on the

00:30:19.160 --> 00:30:22.420
radio was doing a remarkable job and Floyd Floyd

00:30:22.420 --> 00:30:25.210
Patterson Well, there you go. Maintained his

00:30:25.210 --> 00:30:28.170
big old belt, you know. Sure, but you have to

00:30:28.170 --> 00:30:29.970
visualize it. Yeah. Yeah, when you're in that.

00:30:30.250 --> 00:30:34.430
I'm curious, 50 years at WVLK, how has, I mean,

00:30:34.490 --> 00:30:36.049
you're touching on it now, but how has radio

00:30:36.049 --> 00:30:38.829
changed over time? Oh, it's like completely changed.

00:30:39.089 --> 00:30:40.849
And I know you guys have probably seen the same

00:30:40.849 --> 00:30:46.029
thing in TV. We do... more with less people.

00:30:46.490 --> 00:30:48.990
And I think AI is going to contribute to that

00:30:48.990 --> 00:30:50.890
too, and that's not necessarily a good thing.

00:30:51.849 --> 00:30:53.509
The cool thing about you guys is you're never

00:30:53.509 --> 00:30:56.890
going to be put out of business. I mean, local

00:30:56.890 --> 00:30:59.730
news is not, they can't bring in somebody to

00:30:59.730 --> 00:31:03.809
do local news that's a robot, can they? Maybe,

00:31:04.009 --> 00:31:08.130
I don't know. I think it'd lose a lot. I would

00:31:08.130 --> 00:31:11.109
think yeah. Yeah, and so you're you're pretty

00:31:11.109 --> 00:31:14.990
secure Radio, you know, there's a lot of syndicated

00:31:14.990 --> 00:31:19.750
programming now and fewer and fewer On -air people

00:31:19.750 --> 00:31:22.049
it's then and when you're doing talk radio, which

00:31:22.049 --> 00:31:25.809
we are is the most expensive format on the air

00:31:25.809 --> 00:31:28.630
Why is that just because it involves a lot of

00:31:28.630 --> 00:31:31.319
people? Okay Uh, but we get around it, you know,

00:31:31.319 --> 00:31:33.759
and we've made changes and certainly the equipment

00:31:33.759 --> 00:31:36.440
has changed. We used to, I literally used to

00:31:36.440 --> 00:31:40.099
cut tape where you take a little razor blade

00:31:40.099 --> 00:31:41.980
and you had a little thing that you put the tape

00:31:41.980 --> 00:31:44.900
in and you cut it. You'd mark it with a, with

00:31:44.900 --> 00:31:47.460
a, I guess it was some kind of powder or something

00:31:47.460 --> 00:31:49.980
and you cut it and then you splice it together

00:31:49.980 --> 00:31:53.519
and it took forever. Now you can do that in a

00:31:53.519 --> 00:31:55.339
second. You can do it on your cell phone if you

00:31:55.339 --> 00:31:57.480
need it. Yeah, absolutely. You can make a movie

00:31:57.480 --> 00:32:00.940
on your cell phone. So how do you guys feel some

00:32:00.940 --> 00:32:03.240
people that some reporters use their phones in

00:32:03.240 --> 00:32:05.940
the field film interviews or video or whatever

00:32:05.940 --> 00:32:09.140
really? Oh, yeah, and the quality is great sometimes

00:32:09.140 --> 00:32:11.799
the quality is better than the cameras and we

00:32:11.799 --> 00:32:13.839
use videos that viewers send us all the time,

00:32:13.920 --> 00:32:15.960
you know from wherever they send us videos and

00:32:15.960 --> 00:32:18.519
we use those and Sometimes you can't tell that

00:32:18.519 --> 00:32:21.440
it is cell phone video. Does it worry you future

00:32:21.440 --> 00:32:23.839
-wise? You guys are young. Oh, yeah, does it

00:32:23.839 --> 00:32:29.240
worries me? Yeah I don't know how I feel Don't

00:32:29.240 --> 00:32:32.039
know maybe what you're saying doing more with

00:32:32.039 --> 00:32:35.440
less people fewer people you feel that for sure

00:32:35.440 --> 00:32:37.640
And I mean we're kind of a good example of that

00:32:37.640 --> 00:32:39.319
like we're anchors, but we're out in the field

00:32:39.319 --> 00:32:41.480
everyday reporting That's not how it used to

00:32:41.480 --> 00:32:43.599
be I was gonna say that wasn't the old way was

00:32:43.599 --> 00:32:45.779
now so like when we get out of this podcast We'll

00:32:45.779 --> 00:32:48.279
have to go you know do interviews and put together

00:32:48.279 --> 00:32:52.359
and you have to come up with the with the story

00:32:52.359 --> 00:32:55.480
Depends on the day. Yeah, I would say you have

00:32:55.480 --> 00:32:59.089
like a assignment editor or Somebody that says

00:32:59.089 --> 00:33:01.849
go to this and cover this that's one of the positions

00:33:01.849 --> 00:33:04.630
that's been cut. Okay Yeah, so we used to have

00:33:04.630 --> 00:33:06.809
the assignment desk the person that was kind

00:33:06.809 --> 00:33:09.269
of routing everybody making sure we weren't missing

00:33:09.269 --> 00:33:12.069
court Appearances or press conferences and things

00:33:12.069 --> 00:33:14.009
Mike you probably know Mike Taylor. Mm -hmm.

00:33:14.029 --> 00:33:17.150
He that was his long Yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah,

00:33:17.190 --> 00:33:19.390
so now we have a photographer who sits up by

00:33:19.390 --> 00:33:21.490
the police scanners and kind of does that job

00:33:21.490 --> 00:33:25.329
for a couple hours each day well oddly enough

00:33:25.329 --> 00:33:28.890
at least in radio I don't think the listener

00:33:28.890 --> 00:33:32.210
knows the difference with fewer people, and I

00:33:32.210 --> 00:33:34.329
don't think they do in TV. I wouldn't know the

00:33:34.329 --> 00:33:36.430
difference. Well, thank you. I mean, everything

00:33:36.430 --> 00:33:39.029
looks professional and sharp and crisp. Thank

00:33:39.029 --> 00:33:42.089
you. I mean, it really, really does. And I'm

00:33:42.089 --> 00:33:45.430
sure you have probably fewer on -air people,

00:33:45.750 --> 00:33:47.869
as in people in the field reporting. And that's

00:33:47.869 --> 00:33:50.289
why you have to go out and do it? Yeah. Yep.

00:33:50.460 --> 00:33:52.940
Well, you have a lot of experience, I guess you

00:33:52.940 --> 00:33:55.400
did too. See, I knew Evy when she was a reporter.

00:33:55.619 --> 00:33:57.380
When she was sleeping in her car. When she was

00:33:57.380 --> 00:33:58.559
sleeping in her car. We go way, way, way back.

00:33:58.579 --> 00:34:00.640
She was so poor, she was sleeping in her car.

00:34:01.720 --> 00:34:04.359
Did you do a lot of that in Montana? Filming

00:34:04.359 --> 00:34:07.299
your own stuff? Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And

00:34:07.299 --> 00:34:10.019
we have, they're called MMJs, multimedia journalists.

00:34:10.119 --> 00:34:13.159
We have those here at LEX18, reporters who go

00:34:13.159 --> 00:34:15.239
out and film all their own stuff, edit their

00:34:15.239 --> 00:34:18.480
own stuff. That's a grind. That is a hard job.

00:34:18.719 --> 00:34:21.230
Is it? Oh, yeah. See, I'd love to see all that

00:34:21.230 --> 00:34:22.849
sometimes. We should do a field trip. We should

00:34:22.849 --> 00:34:26.030
shadow somebody. That's fascinating. Maybe that

00:34:26.030 --> 00:34:27.389
can be your next career path. I think we have

00:34:27.389 --> 00:34:30.750
a summer internship program, Jack. Sign me up.

00:34:30.989 --> 00:34:34.110
I think you'd be really good at that. We have

00:34:34.110 --> 00:34:35.690
a lot to talk about still with your ear side

00:34:35.690 --> 00:34:37.329
hustle, but I do want to ask, what do you think

00:34:37.329 --> 00:34:40.809
has contributed to your show's success over 50

00:34:40.809 --> 00:34:44.449
years? Time, I think. No, seriously, I'm not

00:34:44.449 --> 00:34:48.349
trying to be funny. I think people are habitual.

00:34:49.130 --> 00:34:52.090
They listen. We do everything the same way every

00:34:52.090 --> 00:34:56.250
day. You don't realize it, but you do in order

00:34:56.250 --> 00:35:00.670
and you brush your teeth the same way. And man,

00:35:00.750 --> 00:35:03.900
when you get to be a habit. That's when you got

00:35:03.900 --> 00:35:05.900
them. That's what you know. You've made it Yeah,

00:35:05.980 --> 00:35:08.440
and when people get mad at me which believe it

00:35:08.440 --> 00:35:11.519
or not sometimes they do and they say I will

00:35:11.519 --> 00:35:15.960
never listen to you again There there are like

00:35:15.960 --> 00:35:18.800
number one listeners Because they want to see

00:35:18.800 --> 00:35:21.320
if I say anything about you know you say anything

00:35:21.320 --> 00:35:23.780
that offends them exactly Yeah, you probably

00:35:23.780 --> 00:35:27.199
do you guys get it? Do you guys get? People griping

00:35:27.199 --> 00:35:34.760
about oh my gosh, really? Yes, very critical

00:35:34.760 --> 00:35:39.929
You have some haters. Oh, yeah Do they contact

00:35:39.929 --> 00:35:42.289
you regularly? Oh, yeah. Well, you know, I've

00:35:42.289 --> 00:35:45.730
kind of run them off because no, seriously, I

00:35:45.730 --> 00:35:47.389
thought about it. I thought about it for a long

00:35:47.389 --> 00:35:50.769
time. My skin's not that thick. Yeah, mine's

00:35:50.769 --> 00:35:53.929
not either. And so somebody criticizes me or

00:35:53.929 --> 00:35:56.469
I really take it pretty seriously. And I thought,

00:35:56.690 --> 00:36:00.889
no, life is too short for that. It took me to

00:36:00.889 --> 00:36:05.730
73 to figure this out. But just don't worry about

00:36:05.730 --> 00:36:09.800
it. You're gonna be you be yourself and That's

00:36:09.800 --> 00:36:12.239
good enough or it's not and I'm sure for every

00:36:12.239 --> 00:36:14.719
negative comment you get you get 20 people who

00:36:14.719 --> 00:36:17.500
say hey I wake up and listen to you every morning

00:36:17.500 --> 00:36:20.000
or you know I feel like I know you even though

00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:21.880
I haven't met you I know you guys get it even

00:36:21.880 --> 00:36:23.619
more than I do because they know what you look

00:36:23.619 --> 00:36:27.599
like but I mean really but Isn't that a nice

00:36:27.599 --> 00:36:32.420
feeling it is? Yep I do get it and and people

00:36:32.420 --> 00:36:35.510
will a lot of times say I know you're tired of

00:36:35.510 --> 00:36:39.550
hearing this, and I say, oh, oh, oh. Keep it

00:36:39.550 --> 00:36:42.889
coming. That never gets old. Seriously. Well,

00:36:42.909 --> 00:36:45.869
to connect with the viewers and the listeners,

00:36:46.090 --> 00:36:48.289
I mean, that's what we're trying to do. Yeah,

00:36:48.289 --> 00:36:53.510
well, it's a beautiful broadcasting. It's a beautiful

00:36:53.510 --> 00:36:55.750
profession. Can we talk about Bill Mack real

00:36:55.750 --> 00:36:57.849
quick before we get into your side gig? No, I

00:36:57.849 --> 00:37:00.050
don't want to talk about Bill Mack. Well, you've

00:37:00.050 --> 00:37:03.070
known him for a long time. Yeah, I know a lot

00:37:03.070 --> 00:37:05.369
of stuff that I... Really can't say over here.

00:37:05.650 --> 00:37:10.170
The mic is hot. Spill the tea, Jack. No, I actually

00:37:10.170 --> 00:37:14.050
don't. When did you meet Bill? When he came to

00:37:14.050 --> 00:37:21.590
town. I remember when he was catapulted to stardom

00:37:21.590 --> 00:37:27.610
from a horrible storm that we had, the tornadoes

00:37:27.610 --> 00:37:30.590
that went... I did my side gig there the other

00:37:30.590 --> 00:37:35.690
night out on... Leasetown Road. What's the subdivision?

00:37:36.190 --> 00:37:42.530
And he was standing there telling you if you

00:37:42.530 --> 00:37:45.630
live, I mean it was, you guys had just gotten

00:37:45.630 --> 00:37:49.570
your new Whirlybird, whatever that could be.

00:37:50.409 --> 00:37:52.829
And the other stations didn't have that capability.

00:37:53.130 --> 00:37:55.150
And he was literally saying, I'm not making this

00:37:55.150 --> 00:37:58.110
up, if you live on so -and -so street, it's coming

00:37:58.110 --> 00:38:01.070
your way. It was that precise. It was that precise.

00:38:01.400 --> 00:38:05.000
And all of a sudden, Bill Meck was the deal.

00:38:06.159 --> 00:38:10.380
And he didn't want to become famous for that.

00:38:10.960 --> 00:38:14.480
It just happened that he did because of somebody

00:38:14.480 --> 00:38:18.219
else's misfortune. But Bill's real serious about

00:38:18.219 --> 00:38:21.199
when it comes to the weather. He likes to goof

00:38:21.199 --> 00:38:24.179
around. And if Bill's goofing around on the air,

00:38:24.179 --> 00:38:27.800
there's nothing going on. And I've always said

00:38:27.800 --> 00:38:31.289
Meck is best when there's nothing going on. Because

00:38:31.289 --> 00:38:34.510
if you got nothing going on, you gotta be on

00:38:34.510 --> 00:38:36.829
your toes. You gotta tap dance a little bit to

00:38:36.829 --> 00:38:38.989
show off that personality. Exactly. You guys

00:38:38.989 --> 00:38:41.730
always have something. The sports people probably

00:38:41.730 --> 00:38:44.329
always says a weather guy not always, you know

00:38:44.329 --> 00:38:46.809
What if you're a weatherman in San Diego and

00:38:46.809 --> 00:38:50.090
it's 70 and clear every day? What do you talk

00:38:50.090 --> 00:38:55.550
about? But yeah, I will brag on bill for a sec

00:38:55.550 --> 00:38:57.409
I give him a hard time during the show just because

00:38:57.409 --> 00:39:00.969
hey He told me a heat that you guys have a really

00:39:00.969 --> 00:39:04.510
nice we do you did tell me that I love using

00:39:04.510 --> 00:39:07.559
bill and Larry and I know that the the Feeling

00:39:07.559 --> 00:39:10.000
is mutual. But when there is severe weather,

00:39:10.079 --> 00:39:12.679
no one takes it as seriously as Bill. He's in

00:39:12.679 --> 00:39:15.980
early, he doesn't leave the station. And I've

00:39:15.980 --> 00:39:19.219
heard him take calls from viewers and people

00:39:19.219 --> 00:39:22.099
before and the way that he talks to them to calm

00:39:22.099 --> 00:39:25.179
their nerves. Lauren Miner, she was an anchor

00:39:25.179 --> 00:39:27.659
here last year she left. They had a big storm

00:39:27.659 --> 00:39:30.280
up where she lives in northern Kentucky and her

00:39:30.280 --> 00:39:33.079
toddler was scared and Bill got on the phone.

00:39:33.480 --> 00:39:35.559
with the toddler and said, it's going to be okay.

00:39:36.280 --> 00:39:39.840
I mean, that's the sign of a really good meteorologist.

00:39:40.519 --> 00:39:43.320
So, yeah. Well, Bill's also the first people

00:39:43.320 --> 00:39:44.760
might not realize. Well, they probably do because

00:39:44.760 --> 00:39:46.719
they're watching, but Bill takes the Christmas

00:39:46.719 --> 00:39:49.340
shift and not every chief meteorologist has to

00:39:49.340 --> 00:39:50.699
do that. You know, he does that so people can

00:39:50.699 --> 00:39:53.000
be home with their families. And so, yeah, I've

00:39:53.000 --> 00:39:56.460
always admired. He's the first to step up. His

00:39:56.460 --> 00:39:59.829
head's going to be. We're both my fans though.

00:40:00.690 --> 00:40:06.070
Okay, we're also fans of Santa. Me too. How did

00:40:06.070 --> 00:40:10.010
you get into that side hustle? When I was in

00:40:10.010 --> 00:40:13.369
the fourth grade, I was the only fat kid with

00:40:13.369 --> 00:40:18.690
a beard. With a beard already? Oh yeah. I started

00:40:18.690 --> 00:40:20.610
shaving real young. Are you messing with us?

00:40:21.150 --> 00:40:26.800
Early puberty. uh, grade in school that I was

00:40:26.800 --> 00:40:30.280
the teacher's pet. I was the teacher's pain in

00:40:30.280 --> 00:40:33.420
the, you know what, in every other grade, but

00:40:33.420 --> 00:40:36.960
that, but my teacher loved me. And so I got to

00:40:36.960 --> 00:40:38.960
play the part of Santa and the Christmas play

00:40:38.960 --> 00:40:41.739
or the fourth grade in the fourth grade. And

00:40:41.739 --> 00:40:44.320
I had so much fun. I thought that this is back

00:40:44.320 --> 00:40:48.599
when you used something called spirit gum. If

00:40:48.599 --> 00:40:50.480
you got it under your nose, which you had to

00:40:50.480 --> 00:40:54.019
have to stick your mustache on, it was the nastiest.

00:40:54.599 --> 00:40:59.039
just like putting glue on your face. It was so

00:40:59.039 --> 00:41:02.639
uncomfortable and that beard was made out of

00:41:02.639 --> 00:41:06.679
some kind of, and so, but I liked it. But I liked

00:41:06.679 --> 00:41:10.139
the attention and I liked, and I loved going

00:41:10.139 --> 00:41:14.420
to, the way my mother explained to me when there's

00:41:14.420 --> 00:41:18.639
a Santa on every corner in every store, that

00:41:18.639 --> 00:41:22.170
there's only one real one. Mm -hmm that can't

00:41:22.170 --> 00:41:24.210
be everywhere all the time. And so these others

00:41:24.210 --> 00:41:27.670
are helpers and they're there work for it. Yeah,

00:41:27.670 --> 00:41:31.670
right The real one was in the basement of Purcell's

00:41:31.670 --> 00:41:34.230
department store on Main Street According to

00:41:34.230 --> 00:41:36.570
me. Okay, so that's where I would always have

00:41:36.570 --> 00:41:40.389
my picture. Oh So I just had a real warm. It's

00:41:40.389 --> 00:41:45.989
just I love kids and They say the most sometimes

00:41:45.989 --> 00:41:50.050
they say really almost prophetic things that

00:41:50.050 --> 00:41:52.510
make you go, I can't believe. He just said, I

00:41:52.510 --> 00:41:55.829
had a child this year that said, I've got a question

00:41:55.829 --> 00:41:59.889
for you. And when they're in the age that they're,

00:41:59.889 --> 00:42:01.250
I know I got to be careful there, when they're

00:42:01.250 --> 00:42:04.869
in the age of questioning, usually they're a

00:42:04.869 --> 00:42:07.289
pain. Because they're going to go, what's my

00:42:07.289 --> 00:42:12.909
name? What's my elf name? And you got to think.

00:42:13.510 --> 00:42:16.469
They're keeping you on your toes. This kid said,

00:42:17.289 --> 00:42:20.250
I would like to ask you a question. And his mother

00:42:20.250 --> 00:42:23.489
just pulled him away. And we had some more kids

00:42:23.489 --> 00:42:27.010
that were in his family. And he jumped back in

00:42:27.010 --> 00:42:32.530
and he said, do I have autism? Wow. How do you

00:42:32.530 --> 00:42:35.429
answer that? That's a tough one. How did you

00:42:35.429 --> 00:42:38.710
answer that? I didn't have to. She scurried him

00:42:38.710 --> 00:42:42.690
away. But I thought about it since. These are

00:42:42.690 --> 00:42:45.030
stories that I think about. I don't walk away

00:42:45.030 --> 00:42:48.500
and go. Okay, that's done, that's a job. And

00:42:48.500 --> 00:42:51.260
I thought, if she had left him there, what should

00:42:51.260 --> 00:42:54.599
I say? And I think I would have said, it doesn't

00:42:54.599 --> 00:43:00.260
make any difference. I hope that's what I would

00:43:00.260 --> 00:43:04.880
have said. But I've got a lot of really deep

00:43:04.880 --> 00:43:07.619
stories like that, that will just make you cry

00:43:07.619 --> 00:43:11.039
if you'd like to spend Christmas really down.

00:43:13.340 --> 00:43:15.480
I would say, has there ever been, yeah, a child

00:43:15.480 --> 00:43:18.199
that, you know, broke your heart? Broke your

00:43:18.199 --> 00:43:21.199
heart, yeah. That little girl that wanted a bed.

00:43:21.639 --> 00:43:25.099
Oh, yeah. Wow. Yeah. That kind of gives you some

00:43:25.099 --> 00:43:27.000
perspective. It puts it right in perspective.

00:43:27.300 --> 00:43:30.019
And you don't have to go, as I know you know,

00:43:30.159 --> 00:43:34.619
very far to see people that are way worse off

00:43:34.619 --> 00:43:37.619
than you are. And when you want to have a bad

00:43:37.619 --> 00:43:40.460
attitude, Just listen to some of these kids.

00:43:40.760 --> 00:43:42.239
Yeah one, you know, you might not necessarily

00:43:42.239 --> 00:43:45.760
necessarily think that the Santa Claus at the

00:43:45.760 --> 00:43:48.159
mall or wherever is hearing these things but

00:43:48.159 --> 00:43:51.619
I Think kids trust that they trust that's right

00:43:51.619 --> 00:43:54.280
if they ask Santa for something or bring something

00:43:54.280 --> 00:43:57.039
to him He can do something about it. Right exactly.

00:43:57.219 --> 00:44:02.159
Yeah, I had a woman who said Santa my this is

00:44:02.159 --> 00:44:05.480
a grown woman And she was serious. She said,

00:44:05.639 --> 00:44:08.699
Santa, my dad's having pretty serious surgery

00:44:08.699 --> 00:44:13.440
today. And she said, I don't know if he's going

00:44:13.440 --> 00:44:16.219
to live through it. Could you please pray for

00:44:16.219 --> 00:44:19.719
him? And I thought, well, I've never prayed over

00:44:19.719 --> 00:44:22.880
anybody in my life. I've never been asked to.

00:44:23.380 --> 00:44:26.780
I've always gone to church. And I'm standing

00:44:26.780 --> 00:44:29.119
on a stage with a whole bunch of kids running

00:44:29.119 --> 00:44:32.860
around. I prayed for him. Because that's what

00:44:32.860 --> 00:44:37.300
you do. That sounds kind of arrogant. I'm not

00:44:37.300 --> 00:44:39.760
bragging on myself at all. I've never done that

00:44:39.760 --> 00:44:43.820
before. And I'm sure it was an awkward, weird

00:44:43.820 --> 00:44:49.579
prayer. But boy, I hope God was listening. Well,

00:44:49.619 --> 00:44:52.420
sure. And I think some people, they just need

00:44:52.420 --> 00:44:54.519
to articulate what's going on in their head.

00:44:54.539 --> 00:44:57.619
And there is that element of trust. And yeah,

00:44:57.639 --> 00:44:59.679
there's somebody up there that put you in the

00:44:59.679 --> 00:45:01.380
right place at the right time for that woman

00:45:01.380 --> 00:45:04.059
to feel a little bit of calm and so, yeah, I

00:45:04.059 --> 00:45:04.920
think that's really special. I have a friend

00:45:04.920 --> 00:45:07.559
named Paul Prather. He's the religion writer

00:45:07.559 --> 00:45:09.940
and the Lexington Herald leader, and he's just

00:45:09.940 --> 00:45:12.920
the smartest guy I know in the whole world. He

00:45:12.920 --> 00:45:16.360
has a little church over in Mount Sterling, but

00:45:16.360 --> 00:45:20.159
he and his wife were just brilliant people. And

00:45:20.159 --> 00:45:22.139
I called him and told him that story because

00:45:22.139 --> 00:45:24.500
I thought he might get a kick out of it, thinking

00:45:24.500 --> 00:45:28.320
of me praying over something. And he said, that's

00:45:28.320 --> 00:45:33.099
a ministry. And I never thought of it that way.

00:45:33.420 --> 00:45:36.980
But maybe it is in certain instances. I would

00:45:36.980 --> 00:45:38.420
agree with that. But I tell you what, when you've

00:45:38.420 --> 00:45:40.400
got people that have that kind of confidence

00:45:40.400 --> 00:45:43.079
in you, you better have your act together. Well,

00:45:43.219 --> 00:45:46.219
one thing I really admire is that you're like

00:45:46.219 --> 00:45:51.389
the real deal Santa. I try to be. Had a guy that

00:45:51.389 --> 00:45:53.690
I thought was the best in the world and I still

00:45:53.690 --> 00:45:57.369
think is that he is his name is Brady white and

00:45:57.369 --> 00:46:03.849
Brady Went to Los Angeles To be an actor didn't

00:46:03.849 --> 00:46:07.969
have a beard went to Los Angeles gonna be a Successful

00:46:07.969 --> 00:46:10.550
actor and couldn't get a job. He's working at

00:46:10.550 --> 00:46:13.090
a restaurant waiting tables He said I was that

00:46:13.090 --> 00:46:16.059
far from moving back to Rhode Island And doing

00:46:16.059 --> 00:46:18.719
something else and he said I saw an ad in the

00:46:18.719 --> 00:46:21.380
Los Angeles Times. They were looking for a Santa

00:46:21.380 --> 00:46:27.179
Claus for the Beverly Hills mall And he thought

00:46:27.179 --> 00:46:29.460
that sounds kind of cool. Yeah, so he went over

00:46:29.460 --> 00:46:31.539
and applied and got the job Well, you know, he

00:46:31.539 --> 00:46:34.579
had to have the what they call designer beard.

00:46:34.579 --> 00:46:37.619
Oh the designer Your sounds better than fake

00:46:37.619 --> 00:46:40.659
beer. So maybe you guys sometimes are doing designer

00:46:40.659 --> 00:46:46.369
news He was so good, because he was an actor,

00:46:47.230 --> 00:46:50.030
that he got a big write -up in the LA Times.

00:46:50.670 --> 00:46:53.269
They sent out a bunch of kids to different places

00:46:53.269 --> 00:46:56.690
to see where the best Santa in Los Angeles was,

00:46:56.869 --> 00:47:01.750
and he won. Well, Burt Bacharach, the composer,

00:47:03.389 --> 00:47:05.650
had, at the time, the biggest Christmas party

00:47:05.650 --> 00:47:09.849
in Los Angeles. Everybody who was anybody was

00:47:09.849 --> 00:47:13.739
invited. He said if he's the best Santa Claus,

00:47:14.019 --> 00:47:17.980
I got to have him for my party So he hired Brady

00:47:17.980 --> 00:47:21.260
white Wow and his first Christmas party that

00:47:21.260 --> 00:47:25.260
he ever did I've seen pictures. He had Jay Leno

00:47:25.260 --> 00:47:28.230
sitting on his lap He had everybody who was anybody

00:47:28.230 --> 00:47:30.510
sitting on his lap. And he called himself Santa

00:47:30.510 --> 00:47:33.389
to the Stars. Oh, that's a good name. He ended

00:47:33.389 --> 00:47:36.989
up being the spokesperson for Tiffany's and,

00:47:37.190 --> 00:47:39.429
you know, all these major, when I say spokesperson,

00:47:39.789 --> 00:47:43.530
the print ad. Because he looked so good. Eventually

00:47:43.530 --> 00:47:48.469
grew a beard this long. And he lost him last

00:47:48.469 --> 00:47:51.030
year. Oh, wow. But I got to talk to him on the

00:47:51.030 --> 00:47:53.449
phone two or three times. And the first thing

00:47:53.449 --> 00:47:57.309
he told me was, I'm not Santa. I'm an actor.

00:47:58.269 --> 00:48:01.170
And you think that's funny, but I've met a lot

00:48:01.170 --> 00:48:06.909
of them. Yeah. Who think there's... It's kind

00:48:06.909 --> 00:48:10.789
of an ego thing? Yeah. Who knew? I went to a

00:48:10.789 --> 00:48:13.949
convention. First year I was in it. A Santa convention?

00:48:14.150 --> 00:48:16.570
Yeah. That sounds like one heck of a time, huh?

00:48:16.570 --> 00:48:20.050
You talk about a bunch of fat egotistical...

00:48:20.050 --> 00:48:24.860
Oh my God. And then we went to a lunch... outside

00:48:24.860 --> 00:48:32.800
and they served ribs with the beard. It was the

00:48:32.800 --> 00:48:35.320
grossest thing you've ever seen. I was about

00:48:35.320 --> 00:48:40.019
ready to throw up. Bones, you know, hanging.

00:48:41.699 --> 00:48:45.219
There were a lot of guys that really thought

00:48:45.219 --> 00:48:50.130
they were a big deal. There are a lot of people

00:48:50.130 --> 00:48:53.449
that spend a lot of money on and I do too on

00:48:53.449 --> 00:48:55.969
costuming. That's not for the kids Yeah, it's

00:48:55.969 --> 00:48:59.210
for themselves totally and to a point the parents

00:48:59.210 --> 00:49:01.730
sure because they notice all those little details

00:49:01.730 --> 00:49:03.909
It doesn't know if you've got patent leather

00:49:03.909 --> 00:49:07.110
shoes on couldn't care less Yeah, well, I saw

00:49:07.110 --> 00:49:09.610
your I saw your patent leather. I saw they were

00:49:09.610 --> 00:49:12.570
pretty nice. I'm kind of proud of What makes

00:49:12.570 --> 00:49:18.309
a good Santa uh -huh? heart That's all. You can

00:49:18.309 --> 00:49:22.010
have a $30 suit and a fake beard, excuse me,

00:49:22.210 --> 00:49:24.929
designer beard. And if you care about those kids,

00:49:26.269 --> 00:49:28.349
that's all you need. What should a Santa never

00:49:28.349 --> 00:49:31.889
do? Never tell a child, yes, I'll bring that

00:49:31.889 --> 00:49:35.829
to you. Because I might have promised something.

00:49:37.090 --> 00:49:40.409
My common response is we'll do the best we can.

00:49:41.070 --> 00:49:43.710
And I've also figured out, and I figured this

00:49:43.710 --> 00:49:49.369
out on my own. when they ask for a pony or a

00:49:49.369 --> 00:49:52.869
dog or a cat, we don't make them. And they go,

00:49:53.150 --> 00:49:58.750
oh, that's good. We make toys. Animals have to

00:49:58.750 --> 00:50:00.869
come from somewhere else. And I tell you, I don't

00:50:00.869 --> 00:50:07.070
know how many dads I've seen that went. There

00:50:07.070 --> 00:50:09.130
you go. We should probably put a disclaimer too

00:50:09.130 --> 00:50:12.050
on this episode, not for kids. You know, that's

00:50:12.050 --> 00:50:14.710
not a bad idea. Can you do that? I don't know

00:50:14.710 --> 00:50:15.989
how many kids are listening. They're probably

00:50:15.989 --> 00:50:19.170
not. Just in case it's an adult. I think that's

00:50:19.170 --> 00:50:21.769
a great idea. Not adult content. Yeah, everybody's

00:50:21.769 --> 00:50:23.349
going to think, what are they talking about?

00:50:24.849 --> 00:50:26.769
Just, we don't want to ruin anything. That's

00:50:26.769 --> 00:50:28.309
going to get some serious listeners. Well, I

00:50:28.309 --> 00:50:31.989
will say, since no kids listen, I believed in

00:50:31.989 --> 00:50:34.650
Santa for a long, long time. I was the oldest.

00:50:35.150 --> 00:50:37.210
How old were you when you... I was probably 12.

00:50:38.319 --> 00:50:41.659
Was well were you 12? Yeah, so and I remember

00:50:41.659 --> 00:50:43.340
I'll never forget and I'm still friends with

00:50:43.340 --> 00:50:45.239
her to this day And I don't think I've ever told

00:50:45.239 --> 00:50:47.579
her this but I had little sisters and my friend

00:50:47.579 --> 00:50:50.059
from school came to my house and said Your little

00:50:50.059 --> 00:50:52.820
sister's no Santa's not real right and I was

00:50:52.820 --> 00:51:01.980
like what? I was okay, I think, after a while,

00:51:02.000 --> 00:51:04.360
but I really believed. And my husband also, this

00:51:04.360 --> 00:51:06.360
is why we ended up together, because his mom

00:51:06.360 --> 00:51:07.719
told me. So you were still believing when you

00:51:07.719 --> 00:51:11.000
got married. We still, we do. We wait up for

00:51:11.000 --> 00:51:13.500
him. No, my mother -in -law told me that when

00:51:13.500 --> 00:51:15.840
my husband found out that Santa wasn't real,

00:51:15.960 --> 00:51:19.659
he was verklempt, very sad. And he said, I feel

00:51:19.659 --> 00:51:22.599
like I just lost my best friend. Oh, I understand.

00:51:22.940 --> 00:51:25.880
So I think we're sensitive. We are sensitive

00:51:25.880 --> 00:51:28.510
when it comes to Santa. What was your experience?

00:51:28.829 --> 00:51:31.150
Well, I have older siblings. I don't really remember.

00:51:31.150 --> 00:51:33.449
Did they ruin it for you? I think they, I don't

00:51:33.449 --> 00:51:36.349
think they did intentionally, but I think I was

00:51:36.349 --> 00:51:38.489
always hanging out with like my brothers, their

00:51:38.489 --> 00:51:40.730
older kids were around and like, I wanted to

00:51:40.730 --> 00:51:43.070
be in on the secret. So I think the first time

00:51:43.070 --> 00:51:44.530
I heard it, I was like, yeah, that checks out.

00:51:44.829 --> 00:51:47.449
Okay. All right. So you really didn't emotionally.

00:51:47.869 --> 00:51:50.710
No, not that I recall. That's okay. There's no

00:51:50.710 --> 00:51:53.250
right or wrong way to deal with that. But I understand

00:51:53.250 --> 00:51:56.809
you two because I was upset. My mother sat me

00:51:56.809 --> 00:52:00.510
down and said there was a man by the name of

00:52:00.510 --> 00:52:03.929
Chris Kringle that lived in Germany who did really

00:52:03.929 --> 00:52:08.550
nice things. Started I think maybe with St. Nicholas

00:52:08.550 --> 00:52:13.039
and then moved up to... Chris Kringle and then

00:52:13.039 --> 00:52:17.400
to modern day Santa Claus and it was a real person

00:52:17.400 --> 00:52:22.760
and we're just celebrating love and giving with

00:52:22.760 --> 00:52:28.300
no intent of receiving anything. Giving without

00:52:28.300 --> 00:52:31.179
intention other than giving somebody something

00:52:31.179 --> 00:52:33.159
and making them happy. I think Santa's kind of

00:52:33.159 --> 00:52:36.940
an attitude. Oh, you know. It's completely. I

00:52:36.940 --> 00:52:38.980
like that. I think that might be a book title.

00:52:39.360 --> 00:52:41.219
Santa is an attitude. Maybe we can write a book

00:52:41.219 --> 00:52:43.320
together. Okay. Let's do it. Oh, Santa is an

00:52:43.320 --> 00:52:45.579
attitude. Yeah. Okay. A children's book maybe.

00:52:45.639 --> 00:52:48.239
Yeah. That would be cute. I got a guy that can

00:52:48.239 --> 00:52:50.880
illustrate it. Oh, do I ever, yeah. Maybe we

00:52:50.880 --> 00:52:53.320
should. Yeah. The creative juices are flowing.

00:52:53.420 --> 00:52:54.760
Let's shoot for next year. Okay. Let's do it.

00:52:54.780 --> 00:52:58.440
Yeah. Speaking of next year, Jack Patty, we are

00:52:58.440 --> 00:53:01.079
nearing 2026. Yes. What are you looking forward

00:53:01.079 --> 00:53:05.030
to in the new year? Getting up every morning,

00:53:05.030 --> 00:53:10.369
you know, I I Don't have any great grandiose

00:53:10.369 --> 00:53:12.630
plans, but people ask me all the time. When are

00:53:12.630 --> 00:53:15.670
you gonna quit? And I always say are you what

00:53:15.670 --> 00:53:18.389
are you gonna retire? Yeah, and I said what retire

00:53:18.389 --> 00:53:22.710
to what I Mean, I know what I would do. I would

00:53:22.710 --> 00:53:25.030
sit in front of the computer all day. Yeah and

00:53:25.030 --> 00:53:28.849
go down rabbit holes about Unimportant stuff

00:53:28.849 --> 00:53:32.849
and eat I would weigh 800 pounds. They'd have

00:53:32.849 --> 00:53:34.789
to bring the fire department in to get me out

00:53:34.789 --> 00:53:37.230
of the house. And I mean seriously. You know

00:53:37.230 --> 00:53:39.610
yourself well. I know myself really well. And

00:53:39.610 --> 00:53:41.690
so I want to keep going until they either carry

00:53:41.690 --> 00:53:46.010
me out or hopefully I'll walk out. Yeah. You're

00:53:46.010 --> 00:53:48.010
not going anywhere. As long as I can. I know

00:53:48.010 --> 00:53:51.070
I said you are old discussed, but you have a...

00:53:51.070 --> 00:53:53.909
I was not. So now she's admitting that's what

00:53:53.909 --> 00:53:55.849
she was going to say. But you have a young energy,

00:53:55.969 --> 00:53:58.510
a youthful energy that I think radiates. Thank

00:53:58.510 --> 00:54:00.710
you. And your Facebook posts always make me laugh.

00:54:01.349 --> 00:54:04.070
See, that's again, it's just like when you said,

00:54:04.409 --> 00:54:06.510
somebody says, I watch you on TV and you're really

00:54:06.510 --> 00:54:09.650
doing a good job. What you just said makes me

00:54:09.650 --> 00:54:12.670
feel that way. I have people to say, I got the

00:54:12.670 --> 00:54:15.289
first thing I do. Again, going back to habit.

00:54:15.480 --> 00:54:18.880
Yeah, just see what you posted. Oh today. Well,

00:54:18.880 --> 00:54:21.119
it's always light and funny and you need that

00:54:21.119 --> 00:54:24.300
to break up totally. Sometimes it's not. I posted

00:54:24.300 --> 00:54:26.000
something yesterday that I probably shouldn't

00:54:26.000 --> 00:54:29.739
have, but I just got angry at the president.

00:54:29.760 --> 00:54:33.940
Sure. And I try to really stay away from politics.

00:54:34.480 --> 00:54:37.000
I don't like politics. We had a general manager

00:54:37.000 --> 00:54:40.139
one time. We had a bunch of them when Cumulus

00:54:40.139 --> 00:54:42.840
bought the station and he said, I will take you

00:54:42.840 --> 00:54:45.519
to lunch. And we went to lunch and I was a little

00:54:45.519 --> 00:54:47.420
bit scared. I thought maybe he was going to fire

00:54:47.420 --> 00:54:49.880
me or something. And he said, what do you bring

00:54:49.880 --> 00:54:53.980
to the station? What's your gift? And I said,

00:54:54.460 --> 00:55:00.300
well, I guess I do endorse a lot of products.

00:55:00.820 --> 00:55:02.699
And I was thinking in terms, because that's the

00:55:02.699 --> 00:55:05.500
way they think. I said, I guess I'm pretty good

00:55:05.500 --> 00:55:08.000
at endorsing. I said, no, no, I'm not talking

00:55:08.000 --> 00:55:10.579
about that. What's your gift? I said, I don't

00:55:10.579 --> 00:55:13.329
know how to answer it. He said, I get it. get

00:55:13.329 --> 00:55:16.130
that you're not really into sports." And I said,

00:55:16.250 --> 00:55:19.050
no, I really am not. I enjoy watching the games,

00:55:19.090 --> 00:55:21.789
but I'm no expert. And he said, I get the idea

00:55:21.789 --> 00:55:26.469
that you're not into politics. I said, not at

00:55:26.469 --> 00:55:28.650
all. I don't even like politics. I'm a registered

00:55:28.650 --> 00:55:31.989
independent. And he said, so what do you got?

00:55:32.130 --> 00:55:34.909
I said, I don't know. Tell me. And he said, you're

00:55:34.909 --> 00:55:38.829
funny. And I said, oh, OK, thank you. And he

00:55:38.829 --> 00:55:42.110
said, well, why aren't you on the air funny?

00:55:43.789 --> 00:55:46.590
What the heck? Yeah. Oh, that's kind of a dagger.

00:55:46.909 --> 00:55:51.590
That's pretty serious and It made me think a

00:55:51.590 --> 00:55:56.250
lot. Yeah, and I Changed a little bit after that

00:55:56.250 --> 00:56:00.449
and actually for the better sometimes Sometimes

00:56:00.449 --> 00:56:03.210
that we're getting so deep. That's okay. Sometimes

00:56:03.210 --> 00:56:05.750
we do here on hot mic. Yeah Well, sometimes the

00:56:05.750 --> 00:56:09.929
things that seem kind of tragic end up being

00:56:10.650 --> 00:56:13.289
Positives for you. Just like the move to the

00:56:13.289 --> 00:56:15.789
south end of town got me my first show on the

00:56:15.789 --> 00:56:18.730
radio This guy who I just came away from that

00:56:18.730 --> 00:56:22.750
lunch hating his guts Yeah Taught me a little

00:56:22.750 --> 00:56:25.610
lesson. Sure. He says I hear you goofing around

00:56:25.610 --> 00:56:27.309
with people in the hall when everybody laughs

00:56:27.309 --> 00:56:30.269
at you But I don't hear you doing it on the air

00:56:30.269 --> 00:56:32.570
and he wanted more than one more of them. Yeah

00:56:32.570 --> 00:56:35.110
I like that. I think people need that they need

00:56:35.110 --> 00:56:38.769
that levity a little from time to time but also

00:56:38.969 --> 00:56:40.909
Hey, on the on the Facebook post, sometimes you

00:56:40.909 --> 00:56:43.650
got to get real. Yeah. Yeah. And that's OK, too.

00:56:43.809 --> 00:56:48.909
And you guys do a really nice job. Both of you

00:56:48.909 --> 00:56:53.030
walk in that line, and it's a real thin line

00:56:53.030 --> 00:56:55.590
because you have the credibility. I don't have

00:56:55.590 --> 00:56:57.710
to worry about credibility. I don't have any

00:56:57.710 --> 00:57:00.530
credibility, but you have to walk the line between

00:57:00.530 --> 00:57:03.929
credibility and being human. Totally. And and

00:57:03.929 --> 00:57:06.329
like you, you know, you're talking about Bill

00:57:06.329 --> 00:57:09.630
goofing around with him and having fun. But like

00:57:09.630 --> 00:57:12.610
you said too, Bill doesn't goof around when the

00:57:12.610 --> 00:57:15.550
weather's important. And you don't goof around

00:57:15.550 --> 00:57:18.710
when there's a tragic story in the news, and

00:57:18.710 --> 00:57:22.570
you don't either. So you just have to be very

00:57:22.570 --> 00:57:26.369
mindful of that. We can talk to you all day,

00:57:26.710 --> 00:57:30.570
Jack. And you said that you didn't think you'd

00:57:30.570 --> 00:57:32.530
be good for this. Can you believe that? He was

00:57:32.530 --> 00:57:34.409
self -conscious. Robert, how long have we been

00:57:34.409 --> 00:57:38.849
chatting? A long one. An hour? Our longest episode.

00:57:38.909 --> 00:57:41.829
Am I going to get edited? No, actually no. That's

00:57:41.829 --> 00:57:43.489
what you need a podcast is that you can just

00:57:43.489 --> 00:57:45.989
go and go and go. We don't even need any bleeps.

00:57:46.329 --> 00:57:51.329
I almost want to say a bad word. That will ruin

00:57:51.329 --> 00:57:53.449
Robert's day. It would also ruin my reputation.

00:57:54.460 --> 00:57:56.900
Well, you just said you had no credibility, so

00:57:56.900 --> 00:58:00.179
that might as well. You guys are fun. We'll have

00:58:00.179 --> 00:58:02.199
to come back. How about that? I'd love to. Thank

00:58:02.199 --> 00:58:03.679
you. This was really fun. That would be wonderful.

00:58:03.780 --> 00:58:06.340
Got me in the Christmas spirit, ready for the

00:58:06.340 --> 00:58:09.139
New Year. And I had never met you before, so

00:58:09.139 --> 00:58:11.619
this was such a delight. It's like you said,

00:58:11.739 --> 00:58:13.599
I feel like I've known you since you've been

00:58:13.599 --> 00:58:15.739
in town because I watch you every night. Yeah.

00:58:16.079 --> 00:58:19.099
Thank you. If I'm home, I'm watching your 6 o

00:58:19.099 --> 00:58:21.659
'clock. Well, I so appreciate that. Sometimes

00:58:21.659 --> 00:58:23.480
people will come up to me and they go, I listen

00:58:23.480 --> 00:58:27.420
to you every afternoon. That's so funny. I get

00:58:27.420 --> 00:58:29.059
that. People tell me I watch you every morning.

00:58:29.639 --> 00:58:32.139
People confuse us sometimes too. Yeah. I don't

00:58:32.139 --> 00:58:34.659
really know that you do. It's the brunette. The

00:58:34.659 --> 00:58:38.239
Hoosier. The Hoosier and the Montana. That's

00:58:38.239 --> 00:58:41.239
what I'm saying. Vibe. The Vibe. It's a vibe.

00:58:41.480 --> 00:58:43.599
Well, you're the vibe, Jack Patty. And thank

00:58:43.599 --> 00:58:46.219
you so much for taking time out of your very

00:58:46.219 --> 00:58:47.940
busy holiday schedule. I know you've got a lot

00:58:47.940 --> 00:58:49.860
of things going on. Thank you. This was awesome.

00:58:49.860 --> 00:58:52.219
It was fun. And yeah, we'll get you back on the

00:58:52.219 --> 00:58:55.269
pod. Thank you, Jack. All right. Send her home,

00:58:55.550 --> 00:58:58.829
Abby. All right, everyone. Thank you for listening,

00:58:59.030 --> 00:59:03.469
watching our final episode of 2025. Right? I'm

00:59:03.469 --> 00:59:05.789
in the right year. Yeah, it's 2026 next year.

00:59:06.289 --> 00:59:08.730
Jack Patty, thank you so much, everyone. We'll

00:59:08.730 --> 00:59:09.449
see you next week.