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A minor memorial for Leo Laporte’s terrestrial AM radio show

photoGrant 4y ago
Leo, Dick & Steve are some of the most personable and knowledgable hosts I ever had the privilege of listening to. I'll also forever be a fan for calling out Calacanis
- classichasclass 4y ago
  (author) It's also a very kind show. I think the folks he gets (or got) on the radio are a different audience than those who might call into an Internet streaming show. I suspect the experience on the new show will lack some of that variety even though it'll still be the same great people, unfortunately.
ravenstine 4y ago
Wow, this is the end of an era. Leo's been on KFI in LA for as long as I remember. As much as I like the guy, I think this is for the best. I haven't listened to his podcasts, but I think podcasts and online content creation have a greater potential for a better quality audience. Not gonna lie, one of the reasons I've listened to "The Tech Guy" a lot less than I used to is that most of the people calling in these days need to get their printer to work or simply have someone listen to them. That's all well and good, but it doesn't make for nearly as good of listening as back in the heyday when computer tech was hot and people under the age of 60 were calling in. Just sayin'. I don't want to be ageist, but I also cannot avoid it here. When I'm in the car on the weekend, I'll tune into KFI and Leo's talking to a guest who's totally clueless about basic computer skills in 2022. It's good that Leo's been there for these people, but it's more cringe than entertaining. On the other hand, Leo's an older guy himself, and I'm usually impressed with how he's kept up his general tech knowledge. Other hosts might get too comfortable over the years, but I can usually tell that Leo's been reading things that are relevant. Leo actually got me into Linux. I remember a show back in 2006 where he was recommending someone try out Ubuntu to give new life to an old computer, so that's how I learned about Ubuntu.
- classichasclass 4y ago
  (author) Dick DiBartolo once joked recently he was looking forward to Leo's hard hitting review of the Atari 800.
- RF_Enthusiast 4y ago
  I agree on everything you said. The pitch to potential TWIT advertisers is that they can reach a highly engaged, influential (and affluent) tech-savvy audience. The syndicated terrestrial radio show hurts that positioning more than the wider exposure helps. I listened not for the advice, but for the "how will Leo answer this one" factor. He's very patient! He would end up spending 5-10 minutes explaining to someone how to recycle power to a router or demystifying the basics of OTA television.
todd3834 4y ago
I listened to this week in tech for years. Then it got a little too political for my personal preference. I would take a break and come back but sure enough it just went deeper down the political podcast category than I felt like listening too. Calling Tucker Carlson a nazi was an interesting one. I don’t watch his show but this just reeked of a left talking point instead of addressing anything specific he said. I consider myself middle of the isle libertarian leaning… I see a lot of good and bad from both sides. Sometimes I love a good political debate. Just wasn’t interested in it from TWiT. His show though. He had a right to talk about anything he wants. I did try to email them just to discuss as a long term fan. Someone, his wife I think, made it pretty clear my input was not wanted. fair enough but that’s when I stopped listening.
- Mountain_Skies 4y ago
  Petaluma is 17% Republican, which is probably high for the Bay Area. While I also dislike when politics leak into a show that's subject based (not general interest nor specifically political), he keeps his shows from having much in the way of dead air and some of that requires filling in with whatever topic is on the top of the head of the host. For the Bay Area, that's often going to be about how some conservative is bad. I used to watch lots of TWIT shows but these days I pretty much only watch 'Security Now' and even that only once in a while, but for what it's worth, I don't recall too much political content, at least not content unrelated to security, during that show.
- whynotminot 4y ago
  If you’re offended on behalf of Tucker Carlson, I don’t think you can really call yourself a “middle of the isle” guy.
  - todd3834 4y ago
    Don’t watch his show but I can definitely call myself what I want ;)
    - andrewflnr 4y ago
meltyness 4y ago
TSS was a sensation for adolescent me.
rmason 4y ago
I had only known Leo from TV and the web. I was on vacation and during a long drive and found him on AM radio in the car and was delighted. Forget Howard Stern, Leo LaPorte is the King of all media. Until COVID I was in the Valley almost yearly. I have family in Marin and it's still on my bucket list to be an audience member on Leo's show some day. I have a close friend here in Michigan who has done it and she told me not to question whether it would be worth it or not.
perardi 4y ago
Bit tangential, but hey, the theme is nostalgia… I don’t believe I ever heard Leo Laporte before podcasts—can’t recall Tech Guy Show being syndicated where I grew up in central Illinois. But this prompted to see if Kim Komando is still on the air, and, yup! https://www.komando.com/the-show/ https://www.komando.com/the-show/ The idea of a call-in radio show for computer help seems impossibly quaint nowadays, but in the old days, before you kids had your TikToks and your broadbands, these really were valuable resources.
- deaddodo 4y ago
  > I don’t believe I ever heard Leo Laporte before podcasts—can’t recall Tech Guy Show being syndicated where I grew up in central Illinois. Did you not have TechTV in your area? That’s probably by far what he was most known for and was a good decade and a half before podcasts.
- jimmygrapes 4y ago
  Kim Komando is on my local FM/AM talk station every Saturday and she sounds the same as she did 20 years ago. It's comfy listening, sometimes. The main problem is as another poster mentioned is that most of the callers are elderly folk (or people my age who simply don't "get" technology) asking the most simplistic questions over and over such as "how do I back up my family photos" and "how do I stop my grandkids from using my credit card on Roblox" or similar. The second problem is the dissonance - in one segment she will discuss the hazards of privacy threats and cookie tracking, and in the other she will shill an advertiser that does even worse. I can't tell anymore whether she cares.
  - bityard 4y ago
    I had occasion to listen to Kim Kommando once or twice back in the late '90s. My impression at the time was that she didn't seem to actually know _that_ much about computers and software. But she knew which words to say so that she sounded competent to anyone who didn't know any better (which was almost everyone back then). Presumably, she's had some time to brush up on things since then...
teddyh 4y ago
Clickbait: He’s not dead. Yes, the article says so in the first sentence, but a clickbait title is a clickbait title.
- birdymcbird 4y ago
  This guy helped me find my love for computers and all things tech back in the late 90s. Call for Help and The Screen Savers sent my life in a very particular direction, and I regret none of it. So yeah, the bs headline gave me a mini panic and quite frankly pissed me off. Sad to see the current state of what gets posted on HN.
- classichasclass 4y ago
  (author) Why? He's not on AM radio anymore, so the radio show is indeed done.
  - teddyh 4y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial
    - classichasclass 4y ago
      That's right. It's a memorial for his AM radio show.
      - fragmede 4y ago
        The way it's worded right now, it reads as a memorial for the person (who has not passed), rather than the radio show. A different way to word it might be: A minor memorial for Leo Laporte's terrestrial AM radio show.
        classichasclass 4y ago
        I'm just going to politely refrain from further comments. I stand by the title, and not only was no clickbait intended but the first sentence was intended to reinforce this was about his presence on AM radio. I hope my good faith is obvious. That said, I appreciate the efforts at clarity.
Mountain_Skies 4y ago
AM radio doesn't consume very much of the radio spectrum but I wonder how much longer it is going to keep going. When I lived in California in the 90s, I'd often listen to whatever KFI was playing while driving up and down the coast multiple times a week. If I lived there today, I'd probably end up listening to audiobooks or podcasts rather than terrestrial radio. Wonder how much the market for AM can shrink before it can't cover the bills.
hackernudes 4y ago
I fondly remember listening to his show on KGO while hanging out on IRC. I even played Quake 2 with him (hosted on his shiny new cable modem, of course). Good times! He really was ahead of the curve engaging with his audience. I followed along with TechTV for a little bit, but it just wasn't the same.
jccalhoun 4y ago
I started watching Leo when I discovered ZDTV (which became TechTV). I watched him build up twit and used to watch him record ever show. But over the last 5 years I have basically stopped paying any attention to him. He pushed out the people I liked and I just found myself with less and less patience for him.
- djkoolaide 4y ago
  I feel the same way. I was done by the time Tom Merritt left. But I will forever have gratitude towards Leo for all the things he taught me on ZDTV/TechTV growing up. I probably owe my entire career to him and Patrick Norton.
CraigJPerry 4y ago
This was my first exposure to the US style where the host reads out the advert. I’ve gotten used to it now obviously but it was jarring at first. It felt wrong even, i remember thinking surely it’ll cause some people to buy the product just because they like the host. I suppose that’s the idea. I met him once and accidentally offended him. I didn’t mean to, just crossed wires. I think he misheard me, probably thanks in no small part to my accent!
googletron 4y ago
I was a big fan, growing up. Screensavers etc. I haven't kept up as much since, but he was a big reason, I got into computers as a kid. Big up Leo.
GoofballJones 4y ago
Back in the day, he used to be a really nice guy. At least that's how he projected himself. I met him a few times at different trade shows and he was great. Then he got his own "empire". He became the boss. He married his business partner and then he totally and completely took a 180 and became a jerk and treated his employees terribly. None of the original crew that were instrumental into making TWiT into a big thing (back then), are left. It's just a shell of what it formally was. It's really sad when I see people I used to admire turn into something like this, but I moved on.
- breput 4y ago
  Do you have first hand knowledge? Because there is at least one person who has been trolling Leo for years, reposting every dumb thing he says, which is easy since he is probably talking at least 15-20 hours a week on a wide variety of topics. https://shawnjroberts.com/this-just-in-leo-laporte-is-no-marie-osmond/ https://shawnjroberts.com/this-just-in-leo-laporte-is-no-mar...
  - KyeRussell 4y ago
    There’s a whole community of Leo/TWIT haters. There’s a website and everything. It really seems like a bunch of people have gone off the rails and the rolling of the dice has dictated that this is their obsession.
  - GoofballJones 4y ago
    From ex-employees that used to work for him mainly. As far as some guy that's trolling him, I had no idea. Sarah Lane, Tom Merrit, Eileen Rivera, Brian Brushwood etc. Just things they've said since leaving/being fired from TWiT.
cabaalis 4y ago
I love Leo and have been a fan since TechTV days. His inability to remove political opinions from his netcasts, primarily the loathing echo chamber that he fosters, make it very difficult to listen to TWIT regularly. But I still power through it occasionally because it's a good show and his guests are very informed.
- tshaddox 4y ago
  What are his political views? I used to follow him way back in the TechTV days and the very early TWiT.tv days and I can’t say I have the slightest clue what his political views are. A quick Google doesn’t reveal anything either.
  - silverspoonin 4y ago
    He states pretty clearly that he's fairly liberal. However, in the occasional times there's an important politics angle to a tech story, he does a reasonably good job of discussing it objectively. Even when there are guests across the political spectrum, the discussion never degrades to mud-slinging or name-calling. Strongest political stance I can remember him making lately is ridiculing the idea the last presidential election was stolen. Honestly, I think any complaints about the "politics" in his netcasts says more about the person complaining than about the actual contents of his podcasts.
    - trinsic2 4y ago
      Yeah, im going to have to disagree with you on that. Politics is fine as long as it relates to the subject matter. For example, the anticompetitive direction Microsoft is taking with Windows 11 would be important to the context of technology. But if its talk about presidential elections on a tech show then thats a waste of my time as a technology enthusiast. I watched a few episodes of TechTV back in the day because I liked hearing about new gadgets. The Twit thing seems like its geared toward tech support for the masses. Not something I am interested in. IMHO, a show's interest is the gage of its success and if you are not focusing on what interesting in technology, then why are you doing it? That says more about the person doing the show then its says about them people listening to you. That's kind of like saying it the listeners fault that they don't find the show interesting. Yeah, and I'm thinking "OK, Let me know how that works out for you"
kolanos 4y ago
Stopped listening around the time he and John C. Dvorak parted ways. Laporte started taking TWiT a bit too seriously.
- phone8675309 4y ago
  John is too busy doing the No Agenda show to have a cogent thought at this point.
  - KyeRussell 4y ago
    Yeah. Different stokes for different folks I guess. Personally the less Dvorak the better in my books. I stopped listening to TWiT ages ago and even by that point you could really tell that he was a bit unhinged.
- kalleboo 4y ago
  Listening to Dvorak and Pournelle(RIP) going on about old war stories on TWiT was lots of fun, but on his last few appearances Dvorak was really out of touch with the tech stories they were covering and was just very confidently wrong, making a net negative contribution to the show. I think he's a lot more comfortable covering politics on No Agenda.
TeeMassive 4y ago
He still seems to co-host Security Now! (https://twit.tv/shows/security-now https://twit.tv/shows/security-now) Really loved that show, tho I didn't listen to it for a while.
- haswell 4y ago
  He continues to host This Week in Tech, Mac Break Weekly, and others. The content on the TWIT network is pretty decent for staying up to date on a variety of topics.
  - TeeMassive 4y ago
    Yes, and Twit really is a trove of historical information, dating back to Windows XP!
leolaporte 4y ago
Thanks for the kind words. No I'm not dead. I'm just not on the radio any more. I've been podcasting for longer than most (started in 2004) and plan to continue as long as I am able.
- Scoundreller 4y ago
  Member since 2008 and first post!
  - jzl 4y ago
    Noticed that too. Nice. He probably registers on nearly every tech related website to save his username at the very least.
- John23832 4y ago
  Leo, I've listened to all of your podcast (Security Now, Twit, even Windows Weekly as a non windows user) for ages (maybe since I was 15?). Pre-vista (I remember you and paul going on about that). I think I came across you while watching diggnation (though obviously you stand on your own). Thanks a lot.
- wjossey 4y ago
  I was lucky enough to visit the broadcast studios seven or so years ago for a taping of windows weekly. It was a bucket list item of mine after I started listening to Leo in 2008 during grad school. It beat my wildest expectations, getting to watch live one of the best in the business. Even after taping for nearly two hours, with a fast turn around to his next show, he was kind enough to grab me his fez hat, take a couple of photos behind the desk, and chat with me about life. I still look at that photo from time to time, and remember the joy I felt that day. Those are those special moments that make life so beautiful.
  - leolaporte 4y ago
    I'm not crying, you're crying!
  - 4y ago
hjkl0 4y ago
I had to stare at this for a minute or too before I understood that Leo Laporte died. Even as clickbait it’s confusing, because of the word “minor”. One of the worst titles on HN in some time. Please change it.
- fragmede 4y ago
  You read it wrong, Leo Laporte is alive! The (poorly titled) link is about his AM radio going off the air.
CountHackulus 4y ago
I'll always remember when Leo Laporte and Kevin Rose were racing to see who would be the first person to 1M Twitter followers. Only for Britney Spears to join Twitter and demolish the follower counts.
- boomboomsubban 4y ago
  I was interested in this story, and tried to find out more. I'm guessing it was a race to 100,000, but it's bizarre to think there was a time when both Laporte and Rose had more twitter followers than Obama. Also, it's amusing to see The Guardian unsure whether it should tweet. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/blog/2008/may/18/leolaporteisnowthetoptwe https://www.theguardian.com/technology/blog/2008/may/18/leol...
justhere4beer 4y ago
I remember first watching back when he was on cable via hacked DirecTV cards. Fascinating back in the day. When it went to the podcast/vid, I started losing interest when it became a smart phone centric, then came the two inadvertent D pics live on air. Never watched a segment since. Great run though, congrats.

Leo, Dick & Steve are some of the most personable and knowledgable hosts I ever had the privilege of listening to. I'll also forever be a fan for calling out Calacanis

classichasclass 4y ago
(author) It's also a very kind show. I think the folks he gets (or got) on the radio are a different audience than those who might call into an Internet streaming show. I suspect the experience on the new show will lack some of that variety even though it'll still be the same great people, unfortunately.

ravenstine 4y ago

Wow, this is the end of an era. Leo's been on KFI in LA for as long as I remember. As much as I like the guy, I think this is for the best. I haven't listened to his podcasts, but I think podcasts and online content creation have a greater potential for a better quality audience. Not gonna lie, one of the reasons I've listened to "The Tech Guy" a lot less than I used to is that most of the people calling in these days need to get their printer to work or simply have someone listen to them. That's all well and good, but it doesn't make for nearly as good of listening as back in the heyday when computer tech was hot and people under the age of 60 were calling in. Just sayin'. I don't want to be ageist, but I also cannot avoid it here. When I'm in the car on the weekend, I'll tune into KFI and Leo's talking to a guest who's totally clueless about basic computer skills in 2022. It's good that Leo's been there for these people, but it's more cringe than entertaining. On the other hand, Leo's an older guy himself, and I'm usually impressed with how he's kept up his general tech knowledge. Other hosts might get too comfortable over the years, but I can usually tell that Leo's been reading things that are relevant. Leo actually got me into Linux. I remember a show back in 2006 where he was recommending someone try out Ubuntu to give new life to an old computer, so that's how I learned about Ubuntu.

classichasclass 4y ago
(author) Dick DiBartolo once joked recently he was looking forward to Leo's hard hitting review of the Atari 800.
RF_Enthusiast 4y ago
I agree on everything you said. The pitch to potential TWIT advertisers is that they can reach a highly engaged, influential (and affluent) tech-savvy audience. The syndicated terrestrial radio show hurts that positioning more than the wider exposure helps. I listened not for the advice, but for the "how will Leo answer this one" factor. He's very patient! He would end up spending 5-10 minutes explaining to someone how to recycle power to a router or demystifying the basics of OTA television.

todd3834 4y ago

I listened to this week in tech for years. Then it got a little too political for my personal preference. I would take a break and come back but sure enough it just went deeper down the political podcast category than I felt like listening too. Calling Tucker Carlson a nazi was an interesting one. I don’t watch his show but this just reeked of a left talking point instead of addressing anything specific he said. I consider myself middle of the isle libertarian leaning… I see a lot of good and bad from both sides. Sometimes I love a good political debate. Just wasn’t interested in it from TWiT. His show though. He had a right to talk about anything he wants. I did try to email them just to discuss as a long term fan. Someone, his wife I think, made it pretty clear my input was not wanted. fair enough but that’s when I stopped listening.

Mountain_Skies 4y ago
Petaluma is 17% Republican, which is probably high for the Bay Area. While I also dislike when politics leak into a show that's subject based (not general interest nor specifically political), he keeps his shows from having much in the way of dead air and some of that requires filling in with whatever topic is on the top of the head of the host. For the Bay Area, that's often going to be about how some conservative is bad. I used to watch lots of TWIT shows but these days I pretty much only watch 'Security Now' and even that only once in a while, but for what it's worth, I don't recall too much political content, at least not content unrelated to security, during that show.
whynotminot 4y ago
If you’re offended on behalf of Tucker Carlson, I don’t think you can really call yourself a “middle of the isle” guy.
- todd3834 4y ago
  Don’t watch his show but I can definitely call myself what I want ;)
  - andrewflnr 4y ago

meltyness 4y ago

TSS was a sensation for adolescent me.

rmason 4y ago

I had only known Leo from TV and the web. I was on vacation and during a long drive and found him on AM radio in the car and was delighted. Forget Howard Stern, Leo LaPorte is the King of all media. Until COVID I was in the Valley almost yearly. I have family in Marin and it's still on my bucket list to be an audience member on Leo's show some day. I have a close friend here in Michigan who has done it and she told me not to question whether it would be worth it or not.

perardi 4y ago

Bit tangential, but hey, the theme is nostalgia… I don’t believe I ever heard Leo Laporte before podcasts—can’t recall Tech Guy Show being syndicated where I grew up in central Illinois. But this prompted to see if Kim Komando is still on the air, and, yup! https://www.komando.com/the-show/ https://www.komando.com/the-show/ The idea of a call-in radio show for computer help seems impossibly quaint nowadays, but in the old days, before you kids had your TikToks and your broadbands, these really were valuable resources.

deaddodo 4y ago
> I don’t believe I ever heard Leo Laporte before podcasts—can’t recall Tech Guy Show being syndicated where I grew up in central Illinois. Did you not have TechTV in your area? That’s probably by far what he was most known for and was a good decade and a half before podcasts.
jimmygrapes 4y ago
Kim Komando is on my local FM/AM talk station every Saturday and she sounds the same as she did 20 years ago. It's comfy listening, sometimes. The main problem is as another poster mentioned is that most of the callers are elderly folk (or people my age who simply don't "get" technology) asking the most simplistic questions over and over such as "how do I back up my family photos" and "how do I stop my grandkids from using my credit card on Roblox" or similar. The second problem is the dissonance - in one segment she will discuss the hazards of privacy threats and cookie tracking, and in the other she will shill an advertiser that does even worse. I can't tell anymore whether she cares.
- bityard 4y ago
  I had occasion to listen to Kim Kommando once or twice back in the late '90s. My impression at the time was that she didn't seem to actually know _that_ much about computers and software. But she knew which words to say so that she sounded competent to anyone who didn't know any better (which was almost everyone back then). Presumably, she's had some time to brush up on things since then...

teddyh 4y ago

Clickbait: He’s not dead. Yes, the article says so in the first sentence, but a clickbait title is a clickbait title.

birdymcbird 4y ago
This guy helped me find my love for computers and all things tech back in the late 90s. Call for Help and The Screen Savers sent my life in a very particular direction, and I regret none of it. So yeah, the bs headline gave me a mini panic and quite frankly pissed me off. Sad to see the current state of what gets posted on HN.
classichasclass 4y ago
(author) Why? He's not on AM radio anymore, so the radio show is indeed done.
- teddyh 4y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial
  - classichasclass 4y ago
    That's right. It's a memorial for his AM radio show.
    - fragmede 4y ago
      The way it's worded right now, it reads as a memorial for the person (who has not passed), rather than the radio show. A different way to word it might be: A minor memorial for Leo Laporte's terrestrial AM radio show.
      - classichasclass 4y ago
        I'm just going to politely refrain from further comments. I stand by the title, and not only was no clickbait intended but the first sentence was intended to reinforce this was about his presence on AM radio. I hope my good faith is obvious. That said, I appreciate the efforts at clarity.

Mountain_Skies 4y ago

AM radio doesn't consume very much of the radio spectrum but I wonder how much longer it is going to keep going. When I lived in California in the 90s, I'd often listen to whatever KFI was playing while driving up and down the coast multiple times a week. If I lived there today, I'd probably end up listening to audiobooks or podcasts rather than terrestrial radio. Wonder how much the market for AM can shrink before it can't cover the bills.

hackernudes 4y ago

I fondly remember listening to his show on KGO while hanging out on IRC. I even played Quake 2 with him (hosted on his shiny new cable modem, of course). Good times! He really was ahead of the curve engaging with his audience. I followed along with TechTV for a little bit, but it just wasn't the same.

jccalhoun 4y ago

I started watching Leo when I discovered ZDTV (which became TechTV). I watched him build up twit and used to watch him record ever show. But over the last 5 years I have basically stopped paying any attention to him. He pushed out the people I liked and I just found myself with less and less patience for him.

djkoolaide 4y ago
I feel the same way. I was done by the time Tom Merritt left. But I will forever have gratitude towards Leo for all the things he taught me on ZDTV/TechTV growing up. I probably owe my entire career to him and Patrick Norton.

CraigJPerry 4y ago

This was my first exposure to the US style where the host reads out the advert. I’ve gotten used to it now obviously but it was jarring at first. It felt wrong even, i remember thinking surely it’ll cause some people to buy the product just because they like the host. I suppose that’s the idea. I met him once and accidentally offended him. I didn’t mean to, just crossed wires. I think he misheard me, probably thanks in no small part to my accent!

googletron 4y ago

I was a big fan, growing up. Screensavers etc. I haven't kept up as much since, but he was a big reason, I got into computers as a kid. Big up Leo.

GoofballJones 4y ago

Back in the day, he used to be a really nice guy. At least that's how he projected himself. I met him a few times at different trade shows and he was great. Then he got his own "empire". He became the boss. He married his business partner and then he totally and completely took a 180 and became a jerk and treated his employees terribly. None of the original crew that were instrumental into making TWiT into a big thing (back then), are left. It's just a shell of what it formally was. It's really sad when I see people I used to admire turn into something like this, but I moved on.

breput 4y ago
Do you have first hand knowledge? Because there is at least one person who has been trolling Leo for years, reposting every dumb thing he says, which is easy since he is probably talking at least 15-20 hours a week on a wide variety of topics. https://shawnjroberts.com/this-just-in-leo-laporte-is-no-marie-osmond/ https://shawnjroberts.com/this-just-in-leo-laporte-is-no-mar...
- KyeRussell 4y ago
  There’s a whole community of Leo/TWIT haters. There’s a website and everything. It really seems like a bunch of people have gone off the rails and the rolling of the dice has dictated that this is their obsession.
- GoofballJones 4y ago
  From ex-employees that used to work for him mainly. As far as some guy that's trolling him, I had no idea. Sarah Lane, Tom Merrit, Eileen Rivera, Brian Brushwood etc. Just things they've said since leaving/being fired from TWiT.

cabaalis 4y ago

I love Leo and have been a fan since TechTV days. His inability to remove political opinions from his netcasts, primarily the loathing echo chamber that he fosters, make it very difficult to listen to TWIT regularly. But I still power through it occasionally because it's a good show and his guests are very informed.

tshaddox 4y ago
What are his political views? I used to follow him way back in the TechTV days and the very early TWiT.tv days and I can’t say I have the slightest clue what his political views are. A quick Google doesn’t reveal anything either.
- silverspoonin 4y ago
  He states pretty clearly that he's fairly liberal. However, in the occasional times there's an important politics angle to a tech story, he does a reasonably good job of discussing it objectively. Even when there are guests across the political spectrum, the discussion never degrades to mud-slinging or name-calling. Strongest political stance I can remember him making lately is ridiculing the idea the last presidential election was stolen. Honestly, I think any complaints about the "politics" in his netcasts says more about the person complaining than about the actual contents of his podcasts.
  - trinsic2 4y ago
    Yeah, im going to have to disagree with you on that. Politics is fine as long as it relates to the subject matter. For example, the anticompetitive direction Microsoft is taking with Windows 11 would be important to the context of technology. But if its talk about presidential elections on a tech show then thats a waste of my time as a technology enthusiast. I watched a few episodes of TechTV back in the day because I liked hearing about new gadgets. The Twit thing seems like its geared toward tech support for the masses. Not something I am interested in. IMHO, a show's interest is the gage of its success and if you are not focusing on what interesting in technology, then why are you doing it? That says more about the person doing the show then its says about them people listening to you. That's kind of like saying it the listeners fault that they don't find the show interesting. Yeah, and I'm thinking "OK, Let me know how that works out for you"

kolanos 4y ago

Stopped listening around the time he and John C. Dvorak parted ways. Laporte started taking TWiT a bit too seriously.

phone8675309 4y ago
John is too busy doing the No Agenda show to have a cogent thought at this point.
- KyeRussell 4y ago
  Yeah. Different stokes for different folks I guess. Personally the less Dvorak the better in my books. I stopped listening to TWiT ages ago and even by that point you could really tell that he was a bit unhinged.
kalleboo 4y ago
Listening to Dvorak and Pournelle(RIP) going on about old war stories on TWiT was lots of fun, but on his last few appearances Dvorak was really out of touch with the tech stories they were covering and was just very confidently wrong, making a net negative contribution to the show. I think he's a lot more comfortable covering politics on No Agenda.

TeeMassive 4y ago

He still seems to co-host Security Now! (https://twit.tv/shows/security-now https://twit.tv/shows/security-now) Really loved that show, tho I didn't listen to it for a while.

haswell 4y ago
He continues to host This Week in Tech, Mac Break Weekly, and others. The content on the TWIT network is pretty decent for staying up to date on a variety of topics.
- TeeMassive 4y ago
  Yes, and Twit really is a trove of historical information, dating back to Windows XP!

leolaporte 4y ago

Thanks for the kind words. No I'm not dead. I'm just not on the radio any more. I've been podcasting for longer than most (started in 2004) and plan to continue as long as I am able.

Scoundreller 4y ago
Member since 2008 and first post!
- jzl 4y ago
  Noticed that too. Nice. He probably registers on nearly every tech related website to save his username at the very least.
John23832 4y ago
Leo, I've listened to all of your podcast (Security Now, Twit, even Windows Weekly as a non windows user) for ages (maybe since I was 15?). Pre-vista (I remember you and paul going on about that). I think I came across you while watching diggnation (though obviously you stand on your own). Thanks a lot.
wjossey 4y ago
I was lucky enough to visit the broadcast studios seven or so years ago for a taping of windows weekly. It was a bucket list item of mine after I started listening to Leo in 2008 during grad school. It beat my wildest expectations, getting to watch live one of the best in the business. Even after taping for nearly two hours, with a fast turn around to his next show, he was kind enough to grab me his fez hat, take a couple of photos behind the desk, and chat with me about life. I still look at that photo from time to time, and remember the joy I felt that day. Those are those special moments that make life so beautiful.
- leolaporte 4y ago
  I'm not crying, you're crying!
- 4y ago

hjkl0 4y ago

I had to stare at this for a minute or too before I understood that Leo Laporte died. Even as clickbait it’s confusing, because of the word “minor”. One of the worst titles on HN in some time. Please change it.

fragmede 4y ago
You read it wrong, Leo Laporte is alive! The (poorly titled) link is about his AM radio going off the air.

CountHackulus 4y ago

I'll always remember when Leo Laporte and Kevin Rose were racing to see who would be the first person to 1M Twitter followers. Only for Britney Spears to join Twitter and demolish the follower counts.

boomboomsubban 4y ago
I was interested in this story, and tried to find out more. I'm guessing it was a race to 100,000, but it's bizarre to think there was a time when both Laporte and Rose had more twitter followers than Obama. Also, it's amusing to see The Guardian unsure whether it should tweet. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/blog/2008/may/18/leolaporteisnowthetoptwe https://www.theguardian.com/technology/blog/2008/may/18/leol...

justhere4beer 4y ago

I remember first watching back when he was on cable via hacked DirecTV cards. Fascinating back in the day. When it went to the podcast/vid, I started losing interest when it became a smart phone centric, then came the two inadvertent D pics live on air. Never watched a segment since. Great run though, congrats.