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Three hours. More insight. More laughs. More music.
Saturday mornings are where we have time to go beyond the headlines. It’s three hours of news, lively conversation, thought-provoking guests, your phone calls, and, of course, some great music mixed in along the way. We connect the dots, challenge the conventional wisdom, and explore the stories shaping our country with a little more depth—and a lot more fun—than the weekday clock allows.
SATURDAY MORNING EXTRAVAGANZA:
I was wrong Saturday morning.
There. I said it.
I know this is a dangerous precedent for talk radio, but I’m willing to take the risk.
A caller named Sal brought up Rep. María Elvira Salazar’s immigration ad, which we’d already played on the show. I don’t agree with her position. President Trump campaigned on mass deportations. He didn’t say only illegal immigrants with criminal records would be subject to deportation, and Salazar is now arguing that some of his immigration enforcement has gone too far.
Fine. We can have that argument.
But there was another part of her ad that bothered me.
Salazar said:
“You can be for immigration what Lincoln was for slavery and Reagan was for communism.”
I heard that as saying Lincoln was for slavery and Reagan was for communism.
And I went off.
Abraham Lincoln was not an advocate for slavery. Ronald Reagan certainly wasn’t an advocate for communism. Reagan made his political bones fighting communism.
So I said the ad was historically ridiculous.
Then the telephone rang.
Dennis from Connecticut politely told me I had it wrong.
He thought Salazar’s phrasing was awkward, but that wasn’t what she meant. His interpretation was that Salazar was telling Trump he could become a heroic figure on immigration in the way Lincoln became a heroic figure in the fight against slavery and Reagan became one in the fight against communism.
And while Dennis was explaining this to me, I got a text from Her Highness.
Princess Diana.
She had reached essentially the same conclusion.
Her interpretation was that Salazar was telling Trump he could be heroic on immigration by changing course, just as Lincoln was heroic on slavery and Reagan was heroic on communism.
Uh-oh.
One person tells me I’m wrong, we can discuss it.
Two people independently tell me I’m wrong — and one of them is Princess Diana?
Now I have paperwork to do.
I listened again.
Dennis was right.
Diana was right.
I was wrong.
Salazar’s wording was confusing enough that I heard it differently, but once they explained the other reading, it made more sense.
So I told Dennis exactly that.
“Thank you for the correction.”
Notice what did not happen next.
The earth did not stop rotating.
The studio did not collapse.
My microphone remained operational.
Nobody from the Talk Radio Licensing Board burst through the door and confiscated my headphones.
And I still disagree with Salazar on immigration.
That’s the part we’ve forgotten how to do.
Correcting yourself about what somebody meant does not require agreeing with what they meant.
Those are two completely different things.
I can say, “I misunderstood her sentence,” and still say, “I disagree with her argument.”
In fact, if we’re going to argue about important things, we ought to make sure we’re arguing about what the other person actually said.
Then the show wandered into one of my favorite places.
Music.
It was Cass Elliot’s birthday, which gave me an excuse to spend some time with the Mamas & the Papas and remember what an extraordinary voice she had.
A caller brought up Bill Medley and the Righteous Brothers, and before long we were talking about “Unchained Melody,” Bobby Hatfield, Carole King and one of the great television musical performances I’ve ever seen.
Then Stanley from New Jersey called.
Stanley had stories.
He told me about the great jazz saxophonist Sonny Stitt meeting Lester Young — Prez — on a bus.
According to Stanley’s story, Stitt introduced himself and asked if he could play something for him.
Then Sonny Stitt did what Sonny Stitt could do.
He played.
Fast.
Technically brilliant.
Chorus after chorus after chorus.
When he finished this display and asked Lester Young what he thought, Prez opened his eyes and delivered the verdict:
“Not bad, but can you play the melody?”
Oh, man.
That’s not merely a jazz story.
That’s life advice.
Everybody wants to play fast now.
Politics is fast.
Social media is fast.
Everybody has the comeback before the other person has finished the sentence. Everybody wants to demonstrate how much they know, how badly the other guy got it wrong and how quickly they can destroy him for it.
Sometimes you become so busy playing all the notes that you forget the melody.
Saturday morning, Dennis slowed me down.
Princess Diana slowed me down.
They said, in effect: Listen to it again.
So I did.
And they were right.
That’s one of the wonderful things about doing a live radio show. The audience isn’t sitting politely on the other side of the glass waiting for me to dispense wisdom from Mount Snerdley.
They talk back.
Thank goodness.
Because later Stanley was casually telling me about Etta Jones, Billie Holiday, Coleman Hawkins and J.J. Johnson. The man actually heard Coleman Hawkins play live at the Café Metropole in the late 1950s.
At some point I was thinking: Why am I hosting this show? Give Stanley the microphone.
And that’s Saturday radio at its best.
You begin arguing about immigration.
Princess Diana corrects you.
A listener teaches you a lesson about Lester Young.
Somebody else wants more Depeche Mode and jazz fusion.
And by the end of the morning you’ve learned something you didn’t know when you walked into the studio.
Including, occasionally, that you were wrong.
It happens.
Don’t get used to it.
Hour Number Duo – was extraordinary.
Dr. Peter Michalos who I have given the title America’s Doctor joined the program for an hour – and took calls from our vast and ever- growing audience.
He and co-author, Dr. Magdalena Swierczewski have written a newly published book The Death of Aging. The premise is mind blowing. Not only did he discuss various ways to live a healthier live,
he also discussed new advances in medical science that are upending everything we know about aging. One – is a newly discovered genetic revelation about our “cells”. Each of us have a “younger” version of our cellular structure, which can be extracted and re-applied to our entire being. What is happening now – in the early stages of research is fascinating. Mice, implanted with their “younger” cellular versions are living 30% longer than normal, In other animal testing, blindness has been completely cured. Those are just two examples. The implications for mankind are astounding, not only for the ability to cure or treat disease, but to increase the human lifespan dramatically.
Dr. Michalos also discussed how simple changes in diet, and the way we sleep can help us live longer – and healthier. It was, as I said an extraordinary hour – and my text was firing off with questions and comments from medical professionals, and friends of the show during the entire hour. He is coming back soon – to continue the discussion. You can find the book at: thedeathofaging.com or simply visit Amazon or wherever you purchase books.
Post Script: Last night I got a text from Dr. Michalos, who informed me that after the show – the book went to number one on Amazon, in the medical category of books. This audience- you – are amazing.
Hour Number Trio – of course featured Princess Diana. Her analysis of Donald Trump’s deal with Denmark and the people of Greenland was stellar – and she broke down why it is so historically different than is being reported in The Mainstream media and – of course among the TDS afflicted leftists. In addition, we covered all sorts of social trends – including the high number of younger men who are refusing to get married or engage in adversarial relationships with younger women. I suggested that she and America’s Small Caffeinated Mom, Rhonda Shrock – spend an hour with us soon – listening and responding to social media clips from these young women – and men. We’re going to schedule it soon.
We ended this week’s Saturday Morning Extravaganza with the music of the Carpenters. Every time we play something from their catalogue I say the same thing. Karen Carpenter had the voice of an angel. No one else sounds like her – but her. But we played the Carpenters because this past Saturday was the birthday of Paul Williams. Who is he? The man who wrote “We’ve Only Just Begun.” The composer, singer, and songwriter Paul Williams also wrote “An Old Fashioned Love Song” for Three Dog Night – and “Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star is Born” – which was a smash for Barbra Stiesand. I love giving the composers, arrangers, producers, and even record executives credit as well as the artists who make the music of our lives.
If you missed the show – I urge you to check it out.
— Bo
That is what makes the Saturday Morning Extravaganza different. We have time to play the full clips, take your calls, explore the history, enjoy the music and let a conversation breathe. You can listen to the complete Saturday Extravaganza here—preferably with a strong cup of coffee and enough time to enjoy the ride.
And if you like your politics at a faster clip, join me Monday through Friday for Rush Hour. It is a quicker, hotter sprint through the day’s biggest stories—the political fights, media foolishness and breaking developments everyone will be arguing about by dinner.
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