Ralph Nader Radio Hour Ep 236 Transcript
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
RALPH NADER RADIO HOUR EP 236 TRANSCRIPT David Feldman: From the KPFK Studios in Southern California… Steve Skrovan: … It’s the Ralph Nader Radio Hour. “Stand up, stand up You’ve been sitting way too long” Steve Skrovan: Welcome to the Ralph Nader Radio Hour. My name is Steve Skrovan. My co-host David Feldman is observing Yom Kippur as we record this. He’s atoning, which is ironic because I think one of the things I expect him to atone for is not being here today. So it’s just kind of a vicious circle for him. But we also have the man of the hour, Ralph Nader. Hello Ralph. Ralph Nader: Hello everybody. Steve Skrovan: We have another special program today. In a lot of ways, our guest today, Phil Donahue, is the father of us all here in broadcasting, not to mention podcasting. That’s because the original Phil Donahue Show was born in Dayton, Ohio--not exactly a travel hub for the country’s movers and shakers. His show was one of the first, if not the first, if I’m not mistaken, to use conference-call technology to engage with guests on the phone who couldn’t make the trip to Dayton. On our show here, we do much the same thing, except we’re all in remote locations. I’m in Los Angeles, David is generally in New York, Ralph is in D.C., and our guests have come to us from all over the country and the world. So Phil Donahue literally invented the modern daytime talk show. His most frequent guest was our very own Ralph Nader, who appeared on the show nearly 30 times over the years. This will be Mr. Donahue’s second appearance on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour, so we have some catching up to do on that score. Mr. Donahue’s last visit, we talked about the award-winning documentary he produced entitled “Body of War” about the life of Iraq war veteran, the late Tomas Young. Today we will discuss his views and a broad range of issues involving the media and politics. It’s a rare treat for all of us. I also pulled up a Youtube video of Phil interviewing a young Donald Trump in 1987. I believe it was around the time Trump’s book, The Art of the Deal came out. Maybe we can get some recollections of the dealings he’s had with our current president over those years in New York. In addition, we will, as always, take some time to check in with our corporate crime reporter, Russell Mohkiber, to get the latest on what’s happening in the shadows of the corporate state. And if we have time, we’ll talk about some other things. But first, let’s talk to the father of us all, The Phil Donahue Show at nearly a 30-year run in American television that along the way garnered 20 Emmy Awards. The show touched on the serious social and political issues of the day and was the first to include audience participation. Welcome back to the Ralph Nader Radio Hour, Phil Donahue. Phil Donahue: Well thank you, thank you. I want several copies of your introduction. Thank you. Ralph Nader: Welcome back indeed, Phil. When Studs Terkel interviewed you, right after your book, Donahue: My Own Story, came out in 1979, published by Simon and Schuster, which I hope would actually reissue it. It’s so engrossing, and relevant to today’s times, if only by comparison, the media then and the media now. But Studs Terkel who’s done a few interviews himself. He was out of Chicago and he interviewed all kinds of people and put them into books. He was interviewing you on February 1, 1980 and he said, “I think the two interviewers I most respect working today are Oriana Fallaci and Phil Donahue. That sounds like a strange combination. Oriana Fallaci had a remarkable way of drawing out people in power--in fact, revealing them as they are, and Phil Donahue has a way of drawing out people primarily powerless.” Well, you’ve done over 6,000 one-hour televisions shows in your storied career and you have had your share of different entertainment models on the show. But you also broke ground, again and again, giving first voice to powerless people. As far as I can remember, whether it’s the workers, the consumers, the environment, women’s rights, gay/lesbian rights and many other people who are the dissenters and you taught us that the mother of ascent is dissent in American history, and has to be protected. You broke all this ground and in the process, you had imitators of course. But I don’t think people today who are under 35 or 40, appreciate the groundbreaking nature. When someone who couldn’t get an interview on a tiny radio station in Texarkana, got on your show, they reached over 10 million people. Today, a cable show with three million is considered pretty good. When you look back on this Phil, you must make some comparison with today’s mass media, and when you were coming up the ranks in the 60’s and 70’s. Can you share some of you observations and also comment on what afternoon daytime television is about? Phil Donahue: Well thank you Ralph, and thank you for all the times you were on my show. I recall working very hard to get you to be on my program. And of course I would call your office, and your secretary would say, “Phil who”? I was only a local show at the time. Ralph Nader: In Dayton. Phil Donahue: In Dayton, Ohio, which was not the crossroads of the world. But I’m lucky that my program was born in Dayton. It’s a town built on brains. NCR gave the world the cash register; the bell heard around the world. Charles Kettering, the suburb of Kettering, Ohio was named after him. He invented the starter motor. Remember the crank? I’m not sure I do. I’m not old enough to remember that. Of course there were these guys who owned a bicycle shop, and I forget what they gave the world. I thought about them as I walked up the spiral staircase of a double-decker aircraft. When we began our show in 1968, we really weren’t sure that we would survive. And that’s not mock humility; that was the fact. Everything we competed with was either a spinning wheel or Monty Hall thing saying “Come on down”, giving a contestant $5,000 who was dressed like a chicken salad sandwich. The daytime schedule was either soap operas, or game shows with spinning wheels. Much excitement, and neon signs would say, applause, applause, and the audience would dutifully applaud. So here I come with one guest for an hour. We were a visually dull show and I remember, I just thought Ralph was on a pedestal. I was so enamoured with Ralph. I thought he was right on all of the issues and I don’t want to embarrass him with my praise. But I just couldn’t get him. And I heard that he was coming to Dayton through Cincinnati--an airport in Kentucky, as you might know. So I actually went down unannounced, to meet his aircraft, because I just felt that if I said, “Hi Ralph, I’m Phil Donahue”, I knew he would say, “You came all the way from Dayton to meet me up here? How can I turn you down?” So there he was, comes down the stairs in his skinny tie and his shoes, which he bought at an Army/Navy store on his junior year in high school. And I’m standing there as he came up, and I said, “Hi Ralph, I’m Phil Donahue.” He said, “You came all the way from Dayton to meet me here? How can I turn you down?” Ralph Nader: I wasn’t the only one. You would go to the airport to meet a lot of your guests. It was unheard of at the time. Phil Donahue: Well, yes, I did. I drove, now you’re gonna get me yacking Ralph. It is gonna get boring. I drove John Rock to and from the airport. John Rock was the physician who invented the birth control pill. He invented the pill that arrested somehow, ovulation, so that if a woman took the pill every day, whatever it was, she avoided pregnancy. Well that was a bombshell of a liberation for women all over the world. And I was just awed by this man. I picked up Norman Rockwell and his wife at the airport. Ralph Nader: The Norman Rockwell? Phil Donahue: Yeah. I mean I was such a lucky duck. I mean I was meeting all these people. The older I get, the more impressed I am with the opportunities I had as the host of a show. But our show was special, in that you were on for an hour. You weren’t rushed. We certainly had our share of commercials, but you had some time to make your point. And, we’re still scared about competing with a woman dressed like a chicken salad sandwich. So I pick up Ralph in a 1957 Chevy--no seatbelts. This was prior to Ralph successfully getting Detroit to literally put seat…imagine this achievement. You can’t sell a car today without seatbelts.