5 ms·

What Happened to Howard Stern?

145 points by nautilus 10y ago

tnuoccapass 10y ago
“What stops us from looking at ourselves and seeing ourselves is that we’re kind of ugly, if we really, if we look really hard,” Mr. Murray replied. “We’re not who we think we are. We’re not, uh we’re not as wonderful as we think we are.” Classic example of an ugly person who has limited awareness of the fact that he is an individual who is individual from other people.
- jackmott 10y ago
  I got lost in the levels of indirection there. Can you flatten that out?
  - danem 10y ago
    I think they are saying "speak for yourself".
    - cholantesh 10y ago
      Probably, but nobody will ever believe them.
  - dpark 10y ago
    I read it as "Bill Murray is ugly but doesn't realize that he's not like everyone else" (who presumably are not ugly). I also read it as a comment from someone unable to be self-critical. When Bill Murray says we're uglier than we think, I assume he doesn't mean that we're all secretly terrible people, but that our flaws are worse than we want to admit to ourselves, that honest introspection hurts because it means confronting those flaws we spent so much time downplaying and ignoring. I'm sure Bill Murray's flaws are not the same as mine or anyone else's, but I'm pretty sure most people have flaws they are unhappy about.
- xyzzy4 10y ago
  I'm sure you are making a point but I don't have enough reading comprehension to understand it.
  - jnicholasp 10y ago
    Nobody does. It's ripe for submission to a literary theory journal.
- oldmanjay 10y ago
  Bill Murray has a legitimate problem most of us can't even imagine. He is a living legend. Every interaction he has is burdened by outsized expectations he cannot control. Where you deride, I feel only sympathy.
  - bogomipz 10y ago
    Living legend is a meaningless oxymoron. He's a successful actor, full stop. He has made lots of movies, some good some complete crap. What "legitimate problem" does he have? Shallow "meme culture" has built him up just as they have done with Betty White, Chuck Norris and bacon. He seems to be a individual who cherishes his privacy and shuns celebrity culture and for this mainstream media brands him "an enigma." This "living legend" BS is also a very recent phenomenon, there was a good 10 to 12 year period between say "Groundhog Day" and "Lost in Translation"that nobody talked about him at all.
    - abritinthebay 10y ago
      Murray was a legend before meme culture was a thing. Before all of those you listed. Your youth is showing.
      - bogomipz 10y ago
        My youth? I am old enough that I saw both Ghostbusters and Caddyshack as a kid in the theater when they were new movies. As such your comment or attempt at snark is quite laughable. I've been an avid Bill Murray fan for I guess most of my life now. He was not a legend back then, he had modest success post SNL with those movies and a long string of flops and was actually considered "washed up" for quite some time. So no, the whole "living legend" thing started around the time that Sophia Coppola cast him in "Lost in Translation" and introduced him to a new generation of kids. This phenomenon is particularly amusing to Murray fans in my age group. Your lack of facts is showing.
        abritinthebay 10y ago
        "modest success" Yes, because Caddyshack, Stripes, and Tootsie were small, modestly successful, movies that only a few people have heard of. I mean it's not like Ghostbusters was one of the most successful comedy movies of all time. It's not like Groundhog Day from 1993 was was added to the United States National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" or anything. No, clearly he just had "modest" success in just those 13 years post-SNL. I mean we'd better not even mention his award winning turns in movies starting the late 90s had we? Yikes, I take it back - it's not your youth, it's your smug ignorance that's showing.
maxerickson 10y ago
His 1997 (semi?) biographical film Private Parts is full of lascivious shenanigans that you might expect from a "shock jock", but it's also thoughtful and charming.
- l33tbro 10y ago
  That's why I'm at w loss for the titling if the article. Stern has always been wonderful, ahead of the curve and a game-changer for radio. Private Parts is a great primer for anyone not familiar, and is not bad at all for a biopic.
softawre 10y ago
Love Stern, listen to him almost every day. I also generally don't care for celebrities, but when he interviews them I do care. It's the most real you'll ever see them.
- degenerate 10y ago
  Any specific interview you recommend? The few I tried listening to were not worth finishing... simply un-interesting. I'd like to hear one or two of the memorable ones that his fans really enjoyed.
  - dh8 10y ago
    The Howard Stern show because of its longevity has had many great moments so its hard to choose. But I really liked the John Oliver interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQxyfbd2PzM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQxyfbd2PzM It is the situation though: Did I like the interview- because Stern is a great interviewer /or/ because I like john oliver? I am not sure
  - colordrops 10y ago
    This is not a new one, but dives into a world most aren't familiar with, that of the independent cartoonist. This particular interview is with the creator of Ren and Stimpy, and his antagonist, the voice of Stimpy, who had a major falling out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PheypE68BKc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PheypE68BKc
    - Hannan 10y ago
      Just watched all of that, thanks for posting. As an old (young?) Ren & Stimpy fan, I had no idea of the backstory. Also, even though Howard Stern's dad weighed in, I'm not sure who I side with. I can honestly see both sides to the argument and that's... unsettling. Bonus Godwin's Law reference for those that didn't want to watch, it's about 45 seconds from this start: https://youtu.be/PheypE68BKc?t=30m32s https://youtu.be/PheypE68BKc?t=30m32s
  - danfernandez 10y ago
icebraining 10y ago
Howard Stern, the vanguard of the Society of the Spectacle.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- 1439205948 10y ago
  As in Guy Debord? In what way? I've only heard his show a few times but it didn't really scream "commodity fetishism" to me. Although I suppose there's an essay you could write on living vicariously through his celebrity guest stars.
olivermarks 10y ago
What an odd article to be posted on hacker news. Stern is the consumate shape shifting media personality, in turns erudite, vulgar, brash, sensitive - all to keep the listeners tuned in and consuming the ads. He's a variant of the Kardashians - famous for being famous having adopted the style of an eighties rock musician. Anything to stay in the limelight...
- oldmanjay 10y ago
  Well he's actually famous for having run a really popular radio show for a few decades. I'm not sure you're giving him even a minimum of credit here.
  - anusface 10y ago
    Two more cents from the peanut gallery: I really just don't like the guy, and don't like his show. I think less of people who champion Howard Stern as talented. And worse of those who emulate him. I've watched lots of Howard Stern, I've watched a lot of pornography too. I've watched beheading videos, and videos of people being humilated and tortured to death across the unholiest realms of the internet. I watch these things and listen to them, as bald facts of life, and they have been engrossing at times. But I wish hell upon all of it, and Howard Stern's shit falls into the same category. I'd make so much of all that disappear, if I could, no matter whether it were right or wrong to do so.
    - brokenmachine 10y ago
      Wow, someone needs to chill. Did you just try to equate a light entertainment/comedy/interview show to beheadings and torture? Here's a suggestion, how about not watching all those horrible things that you are so against? You must be really fun at parties...
      - anusface 10y ago
        Did you just try to equate a light entertainment/comedy/interview show to beheadings and torture? I didn't try anything. I just did it. The fun-at-parties meme is cute. I remain unapologetic.
MrMullen 10y ago
Late career Howard Stern show is a fantastic show. Yes, there are the usual collections of low-brow humor, stunts and fart jokes. However, every now and then there will be an A or B level movie/TV/sport star on and Howard can spend an hour or hour and half extracting every little juicy story out of them. He can get people to tell all kinds of stories about their lives and keeps them on task and focused on telling the story. You hang on every word and every sentence and you just don't want to get out of your car when you listen to him. I really believe that there is simply no better interviewer than Howard Stern. He has the ability and the medium to do such a fantastic job.
- leftnode 10y ago
  What's ironic is that most longtime fans hate the late career Howard Stern. I've been a daily listener since 1997 and enjoy both pre-Sirius and post-Sirius shows immensely.
  - pfarnsworth 10y ago
    I don't think this is true. Everyone of my vintage still loves Howard, and I've been listening for 25+ years.
  - bitwize 10y ago
    That's because in the 90s Howard Stern filled the same role as Tucker Max. He was the douchebag people dreamed of being. He said the things you couldn't. On the air. He banged the chicks you couldn't. ...On the air. Now that he's become a judge for one of those talent shows and that, and hobnobbing with celebrities, he's mollified his image, and it isn't as ZomgRebelliousAlternativeEdgy as his fans were craving.
- wmeredith 10y ago
  I'll always listen to an interview by Howard Stern. They're fantastic. That said, I can't listen to his regular show gags, songs, and bits for more than a few minutes before turning it off out of cringe-inducing disgust. His brand of low-brow makes my skin crawl for some reason.
at-fates-hands 10y ago
I'm seriously surprised its taken this long for the Times and the media in general to realize what an incredible interviewer he is. He pulls stuff out of people you never hear anywhere. I can say some of the celebs they have on there I truly despised, then I hear Stern interview them and come away actually liking them. He just seems to get people to open up and then tell some heartfelt stories. Case in point - never a huge Billy Joel fan. Stern had him in a few years back. Billy sat at a piano during the interview and would plunk around and sing parts of songs while Stern asked questions about everything. It was simply one of the best interviews I've heard. So laid back, and Billy is one smart cat. So many things I learned about him and how his brain ticks and his process for creating music. I came away from that having a huge change of heart and a ton more respect for what he's done in the industry. No one, and I mean no one, could have an interview like that with Billy. I'm convinced Stern was the only guy capable of pulling out the stuff that he did and the piano and everything, just amazing. The other interview I will always remember was the TV show he had where he would interview celebs. He was the last person to interview Phil Hartman, with his wife there no less, days before he was murdered. Another great interview that showed a lot of his insecurities and how talented he really was. At the end, Stern had this list of accents (around 8-10 I think) and Hartman, in classic fashion whipped through them all, flawlessly I might add to end the interview. I think if you weed through all the sexual innuendos and stripper games, you can see not only is Stern incredibly talented as an interviewer, but the love he has for his guests and the rest of the people he works with (Robin, Fred, Ba Ba Booey, Scott, Richard and Sal) is clear.
- username3 10y ago
  What did Howard pull out of Phil? Coincidence?
  - at-fates-hands 10y ago
    Took some digging, but here you go: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/k3lgWD6rUo9JaR31UDa http://www.dailymotion.com/video/k3lgWD6rUo9JaR31UDa
    - 10y ago
nlh 10y ago
Great article (I'm a fan of the show.) If I may turn the discussion toward something a bit more HN-relevant, a few questions: * The engineer in me is always intrigued by the operations of the show. Does anyone have any details on the equipment / software they use? I tried to gleam some juicy stuff from this shot: https://static01.nyt.com/images/2016/07/31/arts/31STERNJP1/31STERNJP1-superJumbo.jpg https://static01.nyt.com/images/2016/07/31/arts/31STERNJP1/3... But the blur effect makes it hard to make anything out. We get to hear littles glimpses of things in the Gary-to-Howard banter ("Howard check JD Page 3 in Blue"). * Any sense of what Fred uses on his end? He obviously has a library of clips from the ages that he can pull up pretty quickly. * Does he get real-time feedback / jokes / stuff from his writers / Benjy? Does that work over IM, or are people handing him slips of paper?
- joezydeco 10y ago
  Slightly clearer view here: http://famousworkspaces.tumblr.com/post/21326452092/howard-stern-entertainer-king-of-all-media http://famousworkspaces.tumblr.com/post/21326452092/howard-s...
- joemi 10y ago
  I don't have any solid answers, but... * You might have some luck browsing http://www.bhphotovideo.com/ http://www.bhphotovideo.com/ to try to match up the hardware. B&H has a lot of Pro-sumer and straight up Pro products, in addition to all their consumer stuff. * In radio parlance, devices/software that lets you store and play various clips is called a "soundboard". Or at least it was last time I knew anything about radio... might have newer terms now that everything's definitely digital. Like I said, nothing solid, but this might help you look into it a bit more.
  - joemi 10y ago
    Jeez... Downvoted for attempting to help? Rough crowd.
- daughart 10y ago
  The database and internal messaging is at least in part customized IBM software. Howard is friends with IBM Lotus Vice President Jeff Schick and talks about him occasionally. They also seem to use RCS (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Computing_Services https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Computing_Services) Prophet/NexGen software. As for jokes, I know they don't type (neither Fred nor Benjy can type quickly), and I don't think they hand over pieces of paper (Fred and Benjy sit behind the guests now) -- I believe they have cameras on Benjy and Fred's paper with a live feed to a monitor on Howard's desk.
HN_bot 10y ago
Plenty HN users vote/comment on some self absorbed rich radio persona who manage to drag his pompous irrelevance many decades now but jump a few weeks earlier and what you see? only 4 points and 5 comments on the jihadist attack in Nice France. Priorities!
StanislavPetrov 10y ago
I'd just like to point out that in addition to his radio show he had a very unique and entertaining sketch comedy/variety show. Known to many fans as the "Channel 9 Howard Stern Show" (as not to be mistaken for the "Howard Stern Show"). It ran from 1990-1992 on Saturday nights and contained all original content and skits (as opposed to video of his radio show like the E! show that came later). Extremely entertaining and original, definitely worth checking out for anyone who has an interest in the evolution or career of Howard Stern. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Howard_Stern_Show_(WWOR) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Howard_Stern_Show_(WWOR)
ben174 10y ago
Sirius did a huge audio production called "The History of Howard Stern" which they'd play when Howard went on vacation or filming America's Got Talent. It's absolutely massive. Must be 60+ hours. It goes into incredible detail of every point of his career and plays all the old key moments. It's an amazing listen. Really interesting watching his personality evolve from a geeky Weird Al type guy into what he's become. I loved it so much I converted it into a podcast feed for myself to listen to whenever I have free time. I think I'm only like 75% through and I've been listening to it for over a year.
angryasian 10y ago
Howard has always been fantastic at interviews, no matter what time frame you're looking at. Its everything else that has changed. I miss Artie.
- lawpoop 10y ago
  The Artie period was the best.
mcphage 10y ago
My wife, a conservative Christian, was dismayed when he joined America's Got Talent as a judge, due to his radio antics. But he quickly won her over as her favorite judge—he was good, he was insightful, he was serious and honest in a way the other judges never managed. I was impressed how he managed to show a very different side to himself from what people expected, and I'm sure it won him a lot of new fans. It was a great move on his part.
rmason 10y ago
I made a typical snarky baby boomer comment at a dinner about the talent of Lady GaGa in her meat dress days. Someone sent me a link to a performance of hers on Howard Stern. Told him now I have two reason not to listen to it ;<). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cce36nhHTP8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cce36nhHTP8 But I listened and was blown away. For those not listening Stern said after she was done that it was one of the best live performances in the history of his show.
- abritinthebay 10y ago
  GaGa is actually an incredibly talented singer and musician. She just knows the value of heavy handed marketing (after her initial, more natural, career in NYC didn't take off she pivoted... and the rest is history)
trappedintime 10y ago
NYT can't go a single, off-topic article without crap-smearing Trump. When a media outlet covers a person 100% negatively, at what point does its readership begin to realize there may be a conflict of interest? Or does the collective cognitive dissonance take care of that all by itself?
- cronjobber 10y ago
  Maybe the media professionals at the NYT know that they're overdoing it, massively, and doing it anyway because they want Trump to win the presidency but also want plausible deniability? Or maybe that's just what they want me to think and what they really... Maybe it's all about Iocane Powder.
- cholantesh 10y ago
  It's two sentences. You might be overreacting a bit.
  - jlappi 10y ago
    2 sentences in a large number of unrelated articles becomes tiresome I'd imagine.
Snesker 10y ago
Simply can't stand Stern after all the weird lying and posturing shit he did regarding Anthony Cumia and Gregg Hughes. I also have a strong distaste for Jewish and American aesthetics.

145 points by nautilus 10y ago

“What stops us from looking at ourselves and seeing ourselves is that we’re kind of ugly, if we really, if we look really hard,” Mr. Murray replied. “We’re not who we think we are. We’re not, uh we’re not as wonderful as we think we are.” Classic example of an ugly person who has limited awareness of the fact that he is an individual who is individual from other people.

jackmott 10y ago
I got lost in the levels of indirection there. Can you flatten that out?
- danem 10y ago
  I think they are saying "speak for yourself".
  - cholantesh 10y ago
    Probably, but nobody will ever believe them.
- dpark 10y ago
  I read it as "Bill Murray is ugly but doesn't realize that he's not like everyone else" (who presumably are not ugly). I also read it as a comment from someone unable to be self-critical. When Bill Murray says we're uglier than we think, I assume he doesn't mean that we're all secretly terrible people, but that our flaws are worse than we want to admit to ourselves, that honest introspection hurts because it means confronting those flaws we spent so much time downplaying and ignoring. I'm sure Bill Murray's flaws are not the same as mine or anyone else's, but I'm pretty sure most people have flaws they are unhappy about.
xyzzy4 10y ago
I'm sure you are making a point but I don't have enough reading comprehension to understand it.
- jnicholasp 10y ago
  Nobody does. It's ripe for submission to a literary theory journal.
oldmanjay 10y ago
Bill Murray has a legitimate problem most of us can't even imagine. He is a living legend. Every interaction he has is burdened by outsized expectations he cannot control. Where you deride, I feel only sympathy.
- bogomipz 10y ago
  Living legend is a meaningless oxymoron. He's a successful actor, full stop. He has made lots of movies, some good some complete crap. What "legitimate problem" does he have? Shallow "meme culture" has built him up just as they have done with Betty White, Chuck Norris and bacon. He seems to be a individual who cherishes his privacy and shuns celebrity culture and for this mainstream media brands him "an enigma." This "living legend" BS is also a very recent phenomenon, there was a good 10 to 12 year period between say "Groundhog Day" and "Lost in Translation"that nobody talked about him at all.
  - abritinthebay 10y ago
    Murray was a legend before meme culture was a thing. Before all of those you listed. Your youth is showing.
    - bogomipz 10y ago
      My youth? I am old enough that I saw both Ghostbusters and Caddyshack as a kid in the theater when they were new movies. As such your comment or attempt at snark is quite laughable. I've been an avid Bill Murray fan for I guess most of my life now. He was not a legend back then, he had modest success post SNL with those movies and a long string of flops and was actually considered "washed up" for quite some time. So no, the whole "living legend" thing started around the time that Sophia Coppola cast him in "Lost in Translation" and introduced him to a new generation of kids. This phenomenon is particularly amusing to Murray fans in my age group. Your lack of facts is showing.
      - abritinthebay 10y ago
        "modest success" Yes, because Caddyshack, Stripes, and Tootsie were small, modestly successful, movies that only a few people have heard of. I mean it's not like Ghostbusters was one of the most successful comedy movies of all time. It's not like Groundhog Day from 1993 was was added to the United States National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" or anything. No, clearly he just had "modest" success in just those 13 years post-SNL. I mean we'd better not even mention his award winning turns in movies starting the late 90s had we? Yikes, I take it back - it's not your youth, it's your smug ignorance that's showing.

maxerickson 10y ago

His 1997 (semi?) biographical film Private Parts is full of lascivious shenanigans that you might expect from a "shock jock", but it's also thoughtful and charming.

l33tbro 10y ago
That's why I'm at w loss for the titling if the article. Stern has always been wonderful, ahead of the curve and a game-changer for radio. Private Parts is a great primer for anyone not familiar, and is not bad at all for a biopic.

softawre 10y ago

Love Stern, listen to him almost every day. I also generally don't care for celebrities, but when he interviews them I do care. It's the most real you'll ever see them.

degenerate 10y ago
Any specific interview you recommend? The few I tried listening to were not worth finishing... simply un-interesting. I'd like to hear one or two of the memorable ones that his fans really enjoyed.
- dh8 10y ago
  The Howard Stern show because of its longevity has had many great moments so its hard to choose. But I really liked the John Oliver interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQxyfbd2PzM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQxyfbd2PzM It is the situation though: Did I like the interview- because Stern is a great interviewer /or/ because I like john oliver? I am not sure
- colordrops 10y ago
  This is not a new one, but dives into a world most aren't familiar with, that of the independent cartoonist. This particular interview is with the creator of Ren and Stimpy, and his antagonist, the voice of Stimpy, who had a major falling out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PheypE68BKc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PheypE68BKc
  - Hannan 10y ago
    Just watched all of that, thanks for posting. As an old (young?) Ren & Stimpy fan, I had no idea of the backstory. Also, even though Howard Stern's dad weighed in, I'm not sure who I side with. I can honestly see both sides to the argument and that's... unsettling. Bonus Godwin's Law reference for those that didn't want to watch, it's about 45 seconds from this start: https://youtu.be/PheypE68BKc?t=30m32s https://youtu.be/PheypE68BKc?t=30m32s
- danfernandez 10y ago

icebraining 10y ago

Howard Stern, the vanguard of the Society of the Spectacle.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
1439205948 10y ago
As in Guy Debord? In what way? I've only heard his show a few times but it didn't really scream "commodity fetishism" to me. Although I suppose there's an essay you could write on living vicariously through his celebrity guest stars.

olivermarks 10y ago

What an odd article to be posted on hacker news. Stern is the consumate shape shifting media personality, in turns erudite, vulgar, brash, sensitive - all to keep the listeners tuned in and consuming the ads. He's a variant of the Kardashians - famous for being famous having adopted the style of an eighties rock musician. Anything to stay in the limelight...

oldmanjay 10y ago
Well he's actually famous for having run a really popular radio show for a few decades. I'm not sure you're giving him even a minimum of credit here.
- anusface 10y ago
  Two more cents from the peanut gallery: I really just don't like the guy, and don't like his show. I think less of people who champion Howard Stern as talented. And worse of those who emulate him. I've watched lots of Howard Stern, I've watched a lot of pornography too. I've watched beheading videos, and videos of people being humilated and tortured to death across the unholiest realms of the internet. I watch these things and listen to them, as bald facts of life, and they have been engrossing at times. But I wish hell upon all of it, and Howard Stern's shit falls into the same category. I'd make so much of all that disappear, if I could, no matter whether it were right or wrong to do so.
  - brokenmachine 10y ago
    Wow, someone needs to chill. Did you just try to equate a light entertainment/comedy/interview show to beheadings and torture? Here's a suggestion, how about not watching all those horrible things that you are so against? You must be really fun at parties...
    - anusface 10y ago
      Did you just try to equate a light entertainment/comedy/interview show to beheadings and torture? I didn't try anything. I just did it. The fun-at-parties meme is cute. I remain unapologetic.

MrMullen 10y ago

Late career Howard Stern show is a fantastic show. Yes, there are the usual collections of low-brow humor, stunts and fart jokes. However, every now and then there will be an A or B level movie/TV/sport star on and Howard can spend an hour or hour and half extracting every little juicy story out of them. He can get people to tell all kinds of stories about their lives and keeps them on task and focused on telling the story. You hang on every word and every sentence and you just don't want to get out of your car when you listen to him. I really believe that there is simply no better interviewer than Howard Stern. He has the ability and the medium to do such a fantastic job.

leftnode 10y ago
What's ironic is that most longtime fans hate the late career Howard Stern. I've been a daily listener since 1997 and enjoy both pre-Sirius and post-Sirius shows immensely.
- pfarnsworth 10y ago
  I don't think this is true. Everyone of my vintage still loves Howard, and I've been listening for 25+ years.
- bitwize 10y ago
  That's because in the 90s Howard Stern filled the same role as Tucker Max. He was the douchebag people dreamed of being. He said the things you couldn't. On the air. He banged the chicks you couldn't. ...On the air. Now that he's become a judge for one of those talent shows and that, and hobnobbing with celebrities, he's mollified his image, and it isn't as ZomgRebelliousAlternativeEdgy as his fans were craving.
wmeredith 10y ago
I'll always listen to an interview by Howard Stern. They're fantastic. That said, I can't listen to his regular show gags, songs, and bits for more than a few minutes before turning it off out of cringe-inducing disgust. His brand of low-brow makes my skin crawl for some reason.

at-fates-hands 10y ago

I'm seriously surprised its taken this long for the Times and the media in general to realize what an incredible interviewer he is. He pulls stuff out of people you never hear anywhere. I can say some of the celebs they have on there I truly despised, then I hear Stern interview them and come away actually liking them. He just seems to get people to open up and then tell some heartfelt stories. Case in point - never a huge Billy Joel fan. Stern had him in a few years back. Billy sat at a piano during the interview and would plunk around and sing parts of songs while Stern asked questions about everything. It was simply one of the best interviews I've heard. So laid back, and Billy is one smart cat. So many things I learned about him and how his brain ticks and his process for creating music. I came away from that having a huge change of heart and a ton more respect for what he's done in the industry. No one, and I mean no one, could have an interview like that with Billy. I'm convinced Stern was the only guy capable of pulling out the stuff that he did and the piano and everything, just amazing. The other interview I will always remember was the TV show he had where he would interview celebs. He was the last person to interview Phil Hartman, with his wife there no less, days before he was murdered. Another great interview that showed a lot of his insecurities and how talented he really was. At the end, Stern had this list of accents (around 8-10 I think) and Hartman, in classic fashion whipped through them all, flawlessly I might add to end the interview. I think if you weed through all the sexual innuendos and stripper games, you can see not only is Stern incredibly talented as an interviewer, but the love he has for his guests and the rest of the people he works with (Robin, Fred, Ba Ba Booey, Scott, Richard and Sal) is clear.

username3 10y ago
What did Howard pull out of Phil? Coincidence?
- at-fates-hands 10y ago
  Took some digging, but here you go: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/k3lgWD6rUo9JaR31UDa http://www.dailymotion.com/video/k3lgWD6rUo9JaR31UDa
  - 10y ago

nlh 10y ago

Great article (I'm a fan of the show.) If I may turn the discussion toward something a bit more HN-relevant, a few questions: * The engineer in me is always intrigued by the operations of the show. Does anyone have any details on the equipment / software they use? I tried to gleam some juicy stuff from this shot: https://static01.nyt.com/images/2016/07/31/arts/31STERNJP1/31STERNJP1-superJumbo.jpg https://static01.nyt.com/images/2016/07/31/arts/31STERNJP1/3... But the blur effect makes it hard to make anything out. We get to hear littles glimpses of things in the Gary-to-Howard banter ("Howard check JD Page 3 in Blue"). * Any sense of what Fred uses on his end? He obviously has a library of clips from the ages that he can pull up pretty quickly. * Does he get real-time feedback / jokes / stuff from his writers / Benjy? Does that work over IM, or are people handing him slips of paper?

joezydeco 10y ago
Slightly clearer view here: http://famousworkspaces.tumblr.com/post/21326452092/howard-stern-entertainer-king-of-all-media http://famousworkspaces.tumblr.com/post/21326452092/howard-s...
joemi 10y ago
I don't have any solid answers, but... * You might have some luck browsing http://www.bhphotovideo.com/ http://www.bhphotovideo.com/ to try to match up the hardware. B&H has a lot of Pro-sumer and straight up Pro products, in addition to all their consumer stuff. * In radio parlance, devices/software that lets you store and play various clips is called a "soundboard". Or at least it was last time I knew anything about radio... might have newer terms now that everything's definitely digital. Like I said, nothing solid, but this might help you look into it a bit more.
- joemi 10y ago
  Jeez... Downvoted for attempting to help? Rough crowd.
daughart 10y ago
The database and internal messaging is at least in part customized IBM software. Howard is friends with IBM Lotus Vice President Jeff Schick and talks about him occasionally. They also seem to use RCS (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Computing_Services https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Computing_Services) Prophet/NexGen software. As for jokes, I know they don't type (neither Fred nor Benjy can type quickly), and I don't think they hand over pieces of paper (Fred and Benjy sit behind the guests now) -- I believe they have cameras on Benjy and Fred's paper with a live feed to a monitor on Howard's desk.

HN_bot 10y ago

Plenty HN users vote/comment on some self absorbed rich radio persona who manage to drag his pompous irrelevance many decades now but jump a few weeks earlier and what you see? only 4 points and 5 comments on the jihadist attack in Nice France. Priorities!

StanislavPetrov 10y ago

I'd just like to point out that in addition to his radio show he had a very unique and entertaining sketch comedy/variety show. Known to many fans as the "Channel 9 Howard Stern Show" (as not to be mistaken for the "Howard Stern Show"). It ran from 1990-1992 on Saturday nights and contained all original content and skits (as opposed to video of his radio show like the E! show that came later). Extremely entertaining and original, definitely worth checking out for anyone who has an interest in the evolution or career of Howard Stern. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Howard_Stern_Show_(WWOR) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Howard_Stern_Show_(WWOR)

ben174 10y ago

Sirius did a huge audio production called "The History of Howard Stern" which they'd play when Howard went on vacation or filming America's Got Talent. It's absolutely massive. Must be 60+ hours. It goes into incredible detail of every point of his career and plays all the old key moments. It's an amazing listen. Really interesting watching his personality evolve from a geeky Weird Al type guy into what he's become. I loved it so much I converted it into a podcast feed for myself to listen to whenever I have free time. I think I'm only like 75% through and I've been listening to it for over a year.

angryasian 10y ago

Howard has always been fantastic at interviews, no matter what time frame you're looking at. Its everything else that has changed. I miss Artie.

lawpoop 10y ago
The Artie period was the best.

mcphage 10y ago

My wife, a conservative Christian, was dismayed when he joined America's Got Talent as a judge, due to his radio antics. But he quickly won her over as her favorite judge—he was good, he was insightful, he was serious and honest in a way the other judges never managed. I was impressed how he managed to show a very different side to himself from what people expected, and I'm sure it won him a lot of new fans. It was a great move on his part.

rmason 10y ago

I made a typical snarky baby boomer comment at a dinner about the talent of Lady GaGa in her meat dress days. Someone sent me a link to a performance of hers on Howard Stern. Told him now I have two reason not to listen to it ;<). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cce36nhHTP8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cce36nhHTP8 But I listened and was blown away. For those not listening Stern said after she was done that it was one of the best live performances in the history of his show.

abritinthebay 10y ago
GaGa is actually an incredibly talented singer and musician. She just knows the value of heavy handed marketing (after her initial, more natural, career in NYC didn't take off she pivoted... and the rest is history)

trappedintime 10y ago

NYT can't go a single, off-topic article without crap-smearing Trump. When a media outlet covers a person 100% negatively, at what point does its readership begin to realize there may be a conflict of interest? Or does the collective cognitive dissonance take care of that all by itself?

cronjobber 10y ago
Maybe the media professionals at the NYT know that they're overdoing it, massively, and doing it anyway because they want Trump to win the presidency but also want plausible deniability? Or maybe that's just what they want me to think and what they really... Maybe it's all about Iocane Powder.
cholantesh 10y ago
It's two sentences. You might be overreacting a bit.
- jlappi 10y ago
  2 sentences in a large number of unrelated articles becomes tiresome I'd imagine.

Snesker 10y ago

Simply can't stand Stern after all the weird lying and posturing shit he did regarding Anthony Cumia and Gregg Hughes. I also have a strong distaste for Jewish and American aesthetics.