Last Podcast On The Left - Side Stories: RIP Art Bell

Episode Date: April 19, 2018

Welcome to Last Podcast: Side Stories! These are mini episodes that'll drop every Wednesday with Ben 'n' Henry talking about smaller stories of interest — or in the case of this 'sode, the passing of a talk radio legend. HAIL ART BELL. Don't cry. We'll be back with the main podcast on Friday. Have a side story you want Ben'ry to tackle? Send us an email at [e-mail]!

Hey, what's up, everyone? I am Ben Kissel joined by Henry Zabrowski. I'm Henry Zabrowski. This is last podcast on the left presents Side stories. This is not replacing last podcast on the left. It's going. Is this replacing last podcast on the left? It's not replacing last podcast on the left It's mostly gonna be Henry and I because Marcus is too busy writing a book writing the podcast and just overall doing all the work for us He better be fucking working right now or I'm gonna be mad. I'm gonna come to his house and set fire to his fucking bath So this is gonna be a weekly series. Shoot us an email at thelastpodcastnetwork at gmail.com Tell us the stories you want to hear about and enjoy our first episode of side stories There's no place to escape to this is the last

Last podcast on the left That's when the cannibalism started I've just been consuming so much hot sauce and it's fine I mean like I guess it's fine. I'm a Polish guts are used to it up to a point But my shit. I'm so physically hot. All right. Well before we get to that We have to let the audience know what this is. This is gonna be a what is this? Who am I? Why am I here? This is gonna be a little special bonus episode. We do once a week We're gonna call it side stories, which is quite exciting

So we'll find kind of the biggest story of the week in paranormal or true crime or in this case kind of a combination of both We we are going to be discussing Art Bell. We're gonna celebrate his life and of course more in his death but first of all Titties before we sidle into this old episode here Let's roll in with the my if I were to be a wrestler what my entrance music would be This is incredible I feel like I'm working out with bands You know like in the 80s when it was all just rubber band workouts coast to coast they am the reason for

For the season can you it? This is literally the exact pumping tempo of me when I'm trying to have sex like I think this song and I just The most horrific thing that's more horrific than anything that's ever been said on the actual show coast to coast What huh what huh what give it up give it up. I love coast to coast a.m I obviously love it. We have talked about it quite often on Last podcast on the left and well He's a real inspiration for us and a man that actually started coast to coast a.m Which was art Bell now our Bell is a very unique Individual whose very presence on the scene of talk radio are I mean it's the reason why we exist absolutely

He's the reason why for better or for worse Alex Jones exists The other character that we covered exclusively here on the last podcast on the left the original conspiracy theorists He's also I mean Bill Cooper, but a part of it's what they'll talk about is a with with our Bell and specifics like He wasn't necessarily the impetus for the all these other conspiracy theory radio horse to jump radio hosts to jump out But he was the one who went national he was the one like we could really popped it out I think we could say that he's proof of concept that paranormal activity true crime the world the creepy world It actually has a lot of people who love it a lot of people who pay attention to it and a lot of people who are involved with it

Evidently at the peak of our Bell's career with coast to coast. He had 22 million listeners a night That's almost bigger than young Sheldon It's almost bigger than young Sheldon he had that many ears That's 44 million ears except for a couple of truckers, so that's probably like 43 million absolutely He was born in Jacksonville, North Carolina, June 17th 1945 and he passed away April 13th 2018 at the age of 72 heck of a run 72 years old for our Bell the government didn't get him He actually died of kind of natural causes well

He died by self-inflicted long-term suicide by doing by smoking three packs Hey, but it's also what we were talking about before the show the thing is when you smoke a lot for about ten years there You have the best radio voice had ever Arbel had that wonderful dry you coming down like this and it wasn't sound like he was faking it because his voice was just like a A ragged mess like Anna Nicole Smith's b-hole must have been towards the end. I don't mean a roast No, you're in roast mode Anna Nicole Smith a living well She was a living legend. Well, she was around wasn't she Marilyn 2.0. They called her art Bell I swear to God they did our Bell started as the original good morning Vietnam guy right when he went to Vietnam

They immediately saw like this guy's made for radio He's got a pig nose and he's got short arms to short little legs. He shouldn't be killing people He can't be killed well, but he's got the fucking gift of gab and they and you could I can imagine him Just keeping the rest of his his compatriots and the army awake as he's just talking all no absolutely at the age of 13 when none of us were doing anything he became a licensed amateur radio operator He Bella had held an amateur extra class license which sounds really cool and when he joined the US Air Force He joined as a medic so he was a medic in Vietnam So he was very busy. He was it's like and it's very similar to Jacob's ladder

There's the first thing that pops in my mind Which I recently watched and it is intense and what he would do Vietnam was not kind to our troops No, it was not it was not kind to a lot of people what he would do He had this pirate radio station at the armor Amarillo armorillo air force base And he would play songs like anti-war songs like eve of destruction and fortunate son Which I mean this dude was immediately protesting the government protesting what he did not think was right well again He said this is an actual this is a real deal conspiracy theorist again, right? This is Bill Cooper This is like the same thing

I mean not quite as real as Bill Cooper because he didn't get murdered by the police as far as we know Because technically they're they're working on his autopsy right you think you because he said specifically. Oh, yeah He's having an autopsy. Yeah, he wants it to be proven that the government didn't poison him I mean even though technically they did by allowing tobacco use to spread so yeah He's a victim of marketing Do you really think that the the government played the long game here and just waited until he was 72 and retired to murder the guy? Maybe maybe not six of one half a dozen of the other draw your own conclusions Do your own research that's right fucking go out there

And yeah, if you want to join the dots Yourself you better because the information is out there for you You just join the ranks of QAnon people out there that are really trying to dig up the what's really happening behind the media Absolutely, so Art Bell. He also worked as a disc jockey for KSB K And he held he held and I believe these are holds this Guinness Book of World Records by staying on the air For a hundred and sixteen hours and 15 minutes. How the hell no family you do that? No love you can't have love or friends You just have to love the sound of your own voice and the rhythm of speaking much akin to us

Yeah, I mean when you sit in like I I love to speak obviously I'll speak in my sleep Or and he's the same animal and so he chased everyone away None till later on his life. He actually had a working relationship with his longest marriage to Ramona They they truly loved each other until she died suddenly in her sleep of an asthma. Really mysterious very mysterious He had four wives the last being the one that he they stuck it out till the end That's the whole thing you got to get you got to get one that sticks with you until the very end and indeed he did that He went and he took his rock station became a rock DJ after the after getting out of the chair force. That's for my boys out There in army

Cuz I'm very close to the arm Well, there's always a feud between the different branches of the military and I say you should respect each other's surface That's what I know they say the Air Force is for the pretty boys. You're good at school They got good eyesight and they don't need glass right where the air the army They got big thick glasses and they're in there and we can't repeat We can't repeat what they say about the Navy. We won't go there on this show, but let me just say it is inappropriate It's inappropriate not very nice, but somewhere early on I've got figure what the actual year was I believe oh, yes in 1988 he took a show that he was a part of called West Coast a.m.

And he turned it into coast to coast a.m. And he started talking about conspiracy theories because that was what really was down inside in his fucking plans as it He knew that he he wanted to get down to the truth and the one thing about Art Bell specifically that I love is both his genuine understanding of certain topics, especially conspiracy theory matters and but it's more of the Light he had a light view of right like he would laugh like a last night because like since he passed And it's really very sad because I I was always into Art Bell of course and but the my whole coast to coast experience Did you listen to a lot of coast to coast that I ever get I gave you it once right past you gave it to me for my birthday I think maybe my 32nd birthday listened to that

But that was already well into the George Norrie years George Norrie time period and George Norrie's a born entertainer Okay, he's got a wonderful the wonderful jet black hair that has never just a hairpiece for radio beautiful Beautiful which is what you needed for of course and then he does technically put on a version of Corpse paint when he did when we saw That interview with him and Jesse Ventura or George Norrie. He looks like the Paul bear Yes, he looks like Paul bear from the WWE WWF at the time and for that reason I give him a lot of credit He's legit, but but the thing is that George Norrie was way more. I mean like he's a little sillier, right? He loves selling his ration or ration boxes. He loves selling flashlights He likes his bunker furniture that is such a common

Merch item for conspiracy theory radio what high-powered flashlight well the flashlight that's big You need a military grade of flashlights because you never know when you're gonna run over a flashlight with a car Evidently I know all the time, but the ration boxes. They love the ration boxes. It's also fun to eat We get string cheeses all the time, but it'd be fun to like pop open a forbidden box and eat tuna out of it It makes tuna more exciting. It feels like it's the end time. Well, sure you got your I mean Vietnam a lot of bad things happen We know that but when it comes to the food they broke Kool-Aid whoa crushing Kool-Aid they had Hershey bars No, a lot of good things that became quite American staples and American favorites

So you are a US Armed Forces Apologists when it comes to Vietnam because they gave them candy only when it comes to the food only dining in the muck Every day been like when they're gonna come out of the tree They live in the trees meanwhile Charlie's like please leave Please get out of here, right? That's a perfect, you know, it's they all wanted the same thing But back to coast to coast I am our bell invented this right right so a part of is that he understood the pull And so maybe let's cut to let's cut to an example Oh, yes of one of the more infamous coast so one thing that our bill did great with it

He would took he'd take the open lines at the end of each one of his subject calls And he would get some fucking doozy in a part a part of it's like we try to do it ourselves Yeah, like either with the stream we do for adult swim comm Tuesdays a p.m. Eastern Standard Time And when we were trying to do our pilot for serious XM open lines Knowing that you can harness the power of the trucker Conversation within its own cab because truckers talk to himself anyway No truckers as I said before the show truckers are very good on radio because they got to do CB talk and they got to be good They'll cut your because if not they'll get railroaded by one of their fellow truckers

And then they're getting corn hold behind the the pull-off sign for the 151 You know the rules you got to make them laugh and that's a lot of stakes that we don't even have make them laugh I gotta make or make them think and the other thing that our bill did he'll yes and did like the craziest stories Nothing was ever like he never mocked any of his guests He was always like very interesting a goblin behind your house. Are you Marcus Parks? Like very nice to everyone regardless of how crazy their stories were there was an interview I was listening to last night which again. Oh, well, let's go with the example But the art yet so listen to it listen to him talk to the talk this guy down

This is the frantic caller, right? Yes This is very famous if you know anything about Art Bell you've heard this call I don't have a whole lot of time Well, let's begin by finding out whether you're using this line properly or not Were you an employee or are you now I? former employee I was let go on a medical discharge about a week ago and and

I Would kind of been running across the country and I don't know where to start there They're gonna They'll triangulate on this position really really soon. You can't spend a lot of time on the phone So give us something quick, okay? Okay, what what we're thinking of as as aliens are there They're extra dimensional beings that an earlier precursor of the space program made contact with

They are not what they claim to be they have infiltrated a lot of A lot of aspects of the military establishment particularly the area 51 Disasters that are coming that the military and sorry that the government knows about them and There's a lot of safe areas in this world that they could begin moving the population to now art But they're not doing they're not doing anything. They are not they want the major population centers wiped out So that the few that are left will be more easily controllable

So what happened was the man's radio signal it cut out completely right or Art Bell's radio signal cut out there completely, right? It yes that the satellite transmission was lost but puts this firmly into the lore right most incredible Candid calls on coast to coast a.m. Which we play I think we played this before on one of our old old creepypasta episodes But yes, it came back and now it's like I mean obviously there's constant debate Whether or not it was a hoax or not There was a one and a cartoonist came out later on saying that he was the one who did the Frank to call But in the end anybody can come forward and say it and when also what it comes down to it's great radio Oh, absolutely

So that's just an example of Art Bell and the kind of fun Even you know what even if it is just 100% fake 100% storytelling that dude sold it It's incredible great radio if any of it is true. That is even more amazing Obviously obviously there there's a always a combination of people that we've even met We've had call into our own shows when we were doing the listener pasta episodes where it's like I'm There could be disinformation There could be some truth But it's it's fun to to see the confusion because a part of it is that our covert ops systems the CIA

People they work in confusion So you're actually maybe even if you're seeing something fake what's kind of cool is it you're actually seeing an arm of our US Government work and so that's your tax dollars. Sure. Absolutely being put whether I haven't been on that in a bestial day parade So or a bestial day parade version of it here in Washington, DC So or there in Washington, but our bell talk to some crazy people too What I forgot is the art Bell is one of the only people to get a hold of and speak with William William Pierce Who are Turner diaries? He had a he had a really good guess. Did our bill is very difficult to find

I tried to find the interview between him and William Pierce. I gotta say it said me right to storm front Yeah, and I'm like I just can't well Have it on the computer at the coffee. It is interesting. I think that art Bell He's a registered like a libertarian guy, but he was more pragmatic than that He was very pro-second amendment. That's fine But he was also pro same-sex marriage at a time where no one was certainly not in Washington That was very progressive. He also spoke about the human how humans cause global warming He wanted to decriminalize marijuana before this was really a mainstream idea

So this guy, you know, he was very pragmatic He was for the death penalty at one point and then he found out we're executing a lot of innocent people So he became against the death penalty the guy evolved with the information that he would receive But so near a couple other good rabbit holes to go down to he interviewed this guy named Nemo There was a part of the temple of the vampire. That was a part of it It was a psychic vampire thing which we want to do we want to do a whole episode of psychic vampires eventually But it's like a whole like world of psychic vampire shit. He he had a couple of good breaks He talks with the Chris Clements who you figured out the financial connection between the Bush family and the bin Laden's

Oh my goodness. Yeah, and he also was famously the the man that was like the big old connection to John T Torr the time traveler and of course he also spoke with ufologist or euphologist John Lears. I mean specifically now kiss what what it at dictionary.com says it is you a ufologist ufologist not ufologist not ufologist. All right Well, you're the expert Stanley Stanton Friedman. You heard it out of his own fucking mouth. Well, all right So I'm gonna call me here giving you your UFO fucking Horseshit because you know now you talk to the man himself and he said UFO. That's all right I'll take stand. I'll attack you if we weren't in the same room. I would bite your hand

I know what you tried it like yeah like that What that happened to the chimpanzee attack didn't it when they gave the chimpanzee a bunch of volume and I believe they got It drunk off a red wine It goes for the hands it goes for the face you go to the hands the eyes the tits and the dick and I know for a fact I will I would bite your dick if we were enough like I know for a fact It would be difficult for you for me to physically beat you But I could get my my hands on your dick like Rasputin sure and bring you to your knees He's absolutely and you know what I'm horrified at the very idea

He also had you know, he did a lot with big foots as well I mean the guy really went all over the map when it came to subject matter that he would talk about and no one else We have to remember no one else was doing this at the time But also what he did was he understood which I think I think that Bill Cooper understood that and Alex Jones now to an extent But now he's jumped the shark now to became a millionaire Which is the problem with all right as soon as you become a millionaire as a conspiracy theorist It's over you can't really how'd you make that money? Yeah, you can't really be against the government that you help put in place

Which is yes the worst thing that ever happened to Alex Jones was being so close to the person who is now occupying the White House It's so sad But when it comes to Art Bell, he also understood a narrative, right? And he was constantly at a push-and-pull with his notoriety because I think that the stuff that he Learned over time made him very skittish to be in public because he quit Many times right he cut we he would quit Joe He would quit coast-to-coast like it was for a while like him and his wife were together Ramona He quit coast-to-coast when I believe when his wife died

There was like one section where he quit coast-to-coast make sense and then came back Because he didn't like how the guy took over They because he said he was tanking his numbers and then he went to he went to the Philippines and he I don't I'm not gonna Say purchased his wife. I don't think that's appropriate. He fell in love with a Filipino woman He was shopping in the Philippines and she ended up in the car. No, that is not I feel like I feel like it's like when you go to Costco No, no, it's their eye. He was at a coffee shop and their eyes met she fell in love with him And then he was smoking a lot and then when once the smoke cleared from his eyes

He saw her and he fell in love and they had a nice organic relationship that was based on mutual respect and kindness He was deeply honestly, he was truly in love with his wife, but there's something that's a connection I don't know what it is with conspiracy theorists and the Asian wives same thing with Bill Cooper I don't know what it is, but so our bill had a look man. He had this Jeffrey Dahmer glass He did his black turtleneck and he had his fucking little gold chain. He looked real good He's in he's throwing his radio money around how much money did he actually make here? I'm trying to find I guess we can find his net worth I mean, I think he must have done fairly good because he was on air for so long and he was able to retire

He retired he was worth 10 million bucks. Yeah, so that's perfect That gives us hope here on last podcast on the left, but there's a part of what you want to I don't know man It's like what I loved for him So I loved his playing with his own image Yeah And so he'd leave and he'd come back and they'd say like I don't like how coast to coast is going and then he was a Guess go he was a guest host for a while and then 2010 He permanently quit and they kind of erased him from right and they don't know really what happened

But it's it sounds like to be honest It sounds like he was a little difficult to deal with only just because he Was the real deal and conspiracy theorists are just like not great in your office, right? No, absolutely not. They know too much or they think they do and that's and yes Which is true because I guess when your eyes are open so so that you're fucking I your your fucking whites are So hard from air. It's like two marble little balls in your skull There it is. That's got to be difficult to share a lunch room with but when he did come back He started a show again in 2013, which I had immediately

Subscribed to called midnight in the desert and it's a great little show. He has this one episode on it called flying humanoids It's fucking really sweet. It's a guy and we try that was a he was good research for when we covered flying humanoids, right? It was an episode that we couldn't actually put out because we had technical difficulties while we were making it interesting fascinating But he He quit midnight in the desert pretty much immediately about six weeks later saying that he was afraid his family was gonna be murdered by Somebody who knows in night and that but that was a constant Like thing in his head. I think probably because of Bill Cooper

But he constantly was talking about his family was in danger from either government agents or his own fans. Yeah I mean you see that Every now and again, you do wonder if some of that concern was was valid was reasonable He also in 1998 He was the recipient of the snuffed candle award by the given by the committee for skeptical inquiries So he was winning a war I want a snuffed candle award you want to get the snuffed candle award Yeah, I think we can put you up for it ladies and gentlemen find out who does the Who chooses who wins the snuffed candy a candle a candle award and let's get Henry nominated as the committee for skeptical inquiries

I'm sure they're out there. They have to have a website everyone seems to have a have a believer edition Yeah, absolutely right you get one for being the most out believer Maybe but also but what I like most also what I in the end. I think I like most about our Bell It's his love of the city of Perump, Nevada. That's it Perup and when you look up Perump because he lived there in his final days in his compound where he'd shifted everything to his house Right, I recorded everything out of his basement, which is awesome But if you look up on TripAdvisor things to do in Perump first thing is front-site firearms training institute

Which is a gun house. It was just fucking awesome I think a Perump Valley winery which is just fucking Eric Trump piss it into a look at that one of those get him drunk and Give him guns Perump, Nevada. I like it. What is that thing? Oh, it's a craft. Yes. Yes. Oh in the Perump nugget What's the Perump nugget? It's a casino and then you got Mrs. Kathy's short branch saloon Okay, so it's got a gun ranch a winery a saloon and a casino. Why wouldn't everybody retire there? Vince Neal's Tatwato Wild Side Tavern. Is that the Vince Neal? Yeah, I don't know you got to check that out if it is wait. I'm going to do a live show at Vince Neal's Tavern they say this is a born to so so one star not wild

This is a boring bar the patients were loud and drunk the server bartender made bad drinks weak I don't think it's worth the drive skip it terrible lakeside was nicer more fun. Oh, I don't know but then the next one says Great little dive bar. There's a great little dive bar drinks are very reasonable. They have very few pool tables This is fucking bullshit. Wow. I want like but perump is a really good place to commit suicide Right before the government and do not do that. Of course the government's not coming stay alive Um, they are coming. They're not coming. Don't if they want to I'm just saying if they want to come Yes, it's like the same time. It's like I have a feeling the government isn't coming for a lot of polish people these days What are you talking about? Why because they're afraid of that?

We've we've know how to watch our backs now. Thanks to your fucking family That we know that we always need to watch. Thank you. I just lost my grandmother today and we're gonna malign my family That's very. I'm sorry, but she's not he wasn't a part of the conspiracy. Um, all right, everyone Well, thank you so much for tuning in for side stories. Uh, you know, this is this. Yeah, this is it This is our first episode. How long have we been going like 30 minutes? I think it's good because then it goes fast for the listener too. Yeah, are you do you feel relieved mr. Listener? Do you feel fucking relieved that it's over or do you want more of this? Well, they're gonna shove into your flappy lips I don't know why you're yelling at the audience. They're going to get it once a week

It's gonna be Henry and I if you do yourself a favor this week because a part of what I did last night It was really nice. I got some new edibles. I got the CBD cookies You were eating a lot of edibles by the way like a lot a lot like a dangerous amount. Yeah, I'm about I'm trying to end my life amount What's nice about the edibles is that nothing has to be real Right, but you are driving a car that's very on a very real highway. I surrounded by very real people I walk to work cars No, I walk to work here. Okay, so I can't so I can just be floating a little bit

But the CBD stuff doesn't make me as fucking like totally high It just turns me into a beanbag chair. I've heard good things about it Yeah, but a part of what it does is that it allows a lot of these things to fold in a lot more easily So last night a fucking sparked a fucking Tim Tom long leaf Fucking jerky stick to my hole and I sat back and I listened to our bell talk to Nemo From the vampire and I was like, man, I fucking missed this shit I missed the old thing because that's what used to do with coast to coast I used to sit on my roof fucking smoking cigarettes listening to coast to coast and I was like

I want that feeling back, right? Well, now you're living the life now you're living the life of the person you were listening to my friend You gotta come with me You had to come with me on this trip. Kessel start listening to this shit more often and less of your fucking humdrum Fucking uh big time Media your fake shill media Like listen to some truth. That's right. Nothing. Nothing is more truthful Uh than uh flying humanoids

It's okay in this one-on-one series. I'm gonna break you down. I'm gonna make you I'm gonna make it hard for you to look back at your uh fucking With your no, I'm going to bring up flying humanoids as soon as I can Uh on traditional radio and I bet you we'll get a lot of calls We're gonna get some calls and I'll let you know about what they say Also per up. Nevada has a jet ski. Uh, it's a jet pack thing It's got the the the water jet packs where you fly up into the air Yeah, and a net and another thing. Oh man art bell. This is why radio is so awesome

He interviewed willy nelson murl haggard George carlin lennard neymoy dan acroyd. He just did it all man He did it all and kasey casem you imagine what kasey case first of all battle of two voices And then kasey kasey must be like we got different lives I just feel like they'd end up just kissing each maybe maybe I don't know art bell seems like a real tough kisser He's got a mouth. He sort of looks like um the father from the monsters a little bit. He's got that flat Upper lip Which makes him great for radio because he's like a pig man. Absolutely. All right, everyone. Thank you so much

Thank you so much. I can't believe that we like let him go. So hail yourselves never have let him die Well, we can't keep him alive. It's not weakened at bernie's It could have been hail yourselves everyone Hail me hail satan. I hope you like this. So wait. So make sure you email us. We should actually make like some sort of Sort of email for this. Well, just the last we should do the last podcast network at gmail.com should be totally fine Just put in the subject. What do you want us to talk about it? Yeah, we're going to do side stories or call it side stories side stories also sounds like this that like a girl Describing the various weird tattoos on her hips. That is which is kind of hot. Yeah

It's kind of hot. Every tattoo tells tells a story, but huge. Yes. Email us the stories you want us to talk about And I think next week we're going to try to talk about this Toronto circle. Yeah, this guy the potted plant serial killer We'll look into it. I mean my goodness gracious talk about a maniac here Um, and how well how mean is it to a potted plant as well? Um Um, all right, fail yourselves. We'll talk to you soon