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Speaker 1: On this episode of News World. At its peak, the

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Speaker 1: Rush Limbaugh Show aired on more than six hundred and

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Speaker 1: fifty radio stations nationwide, dominating the twelve o'clock to three

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Speaker 1: o'clock Eastern time slot with an audience of more than

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Speaker 1: thirty million listeners. Rush worked extraordinarily hard to remain the

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Speaker 1: number one voice for conservatism and the most listened to

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Speaker 1: radio talk show program in the world. Known as America's

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Speaker 1: anchorman and the doctor of Democracy, Rush Limbaugh has influenced

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Speaker 1: and touched the lives of millions of listeners since nineteen

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Speaker 1: eighty four. For over thirty years, he remained the number

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Speaker 1: one voice for conservatism. He was also the number one

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Speaker 1: New York Times bestselling author of The Way Things Ought

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Speaker 1: to Be See I Told You So and The Adventures

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Speaker 1: of russiavere book series. Here to talk about his new book,

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Speaker 1: Radio's Greatest of All Time. I'm really pleased to welcome

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Speaker 1: my guest, Rush Limbaugh's brother, David. David, thank you for

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Speaker 1: joining me on News World. Thank you so much for

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Speaker 1: having me new It's an hour. You know, as his brother,

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Speaker 1: you probably know Rush better than anyone. Have you always

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Speaker 1: shared a close bond or was there ever a sibling

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Speaker 1: rivalry between the two of you. Growing up, Rush and

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Speaker 1: I were so different because I was like the perpetual

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Speaker 1: kid he wore blue jeans. He was like the perpetual

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Speaker 1: adult that would never wore blue jeans. So he was

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Speaker 1: always way more mature than I was, not just because

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Speaker 1: he was two years older chronologically. But we always got along.

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Speaker 1: But he would make fun of me, and he'd give

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Speaker 1: me trouble all the time, and I'd always threatened that

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Speaker 1: I was going to tell on him when my parents

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Speaker 1: got home, and then I never did. I always forgave

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Speaker 1: him before. But no, we were close other than teasing

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Speaker 1: when we were and then as we got older, we

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Speaker 1: grew closer and closer and closer, and we were best friends.

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Speaker 1: So when you were kids, did you and Russia have

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Speaker 1: any activities that you've enjoyed doing together. Well, we were

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Speaker 1: really into baseball, and so we played sandlot baseball in

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Speaker 1: little league baseball. He was a pretty good pitcher, by

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Speaker 1: the way, so we did a lot of activities like

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Speaker 1: that together. Sports. He became certainly a national figure. I've

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Speaker 1: worked with him closely and he was one of the

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Speaker 1: real keys to our winning in nineteen ninety four because

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Speaker 1: he did such an amazing job of communicating to the country.

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Speaker 1: I'm just curious what's had been liked. To have a

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Speaker 1: brother who's that overwhelmed me, To be honest with you,

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Speaker 1: I was so excited when he was syndicated. It was

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Speaker 1: just a big blessing for me because I got to

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Speaker 1: watch him. His talents had not been appreciated. As he

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Speaker 1: has said many times on the air, he was fired

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Speaker 1: seven times. He's a little bit of a rebel, but

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Speaker 1: it wasn't so much a rebellious attitude, as he always

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Speaker 1: knew what he wanted to do and what he wanted

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Speaker 1: to be, and so he kept getting fired because he

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Speaker 1: was a DJ, not a talk show host. And in

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Speaker 1: Kansas City in the various places, he would do these

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Speaker 1: gags and what not to demonstrate his sense of humor,

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Speaker 1: and he would make political comments. That's not what they

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Speaker 1: hired him for, and they were afraid of it and

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Speaker 1: all that. I was very excited to see him succeed.

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Speaker 1: And I remember the first time I heard his pumper

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Speaker 1: music come on preceding his show, I got goose mumps.

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Speaker 1: I was so excited for him and for myself and

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Speaker 1: for our family. I can't describe it. Did you always

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Speaker 1: think that he would succeed eventually, to be totally honest, No,

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Speaker 1: because I didn't know that there was going to be

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Speaker 1: an avenue for his success. But he actually created his

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Speaker 1: own avenue by creating conservative talk radio as a genre.

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Speaker 1: But I knew how talented he was, and from the

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Speaker 1: very first I knew he was a great broadcaster and

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Speaker 1: had all those abilities, and he was an impressionist. He

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Speaker 1: could imitate anyone. I think that was evident in his show.

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Speaker 1: Growing up. He would do the sophisticated impressions of people's

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Speaker 1: stars and people we knew, and so I knew how

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Speaker 1: talent he was. But we were a conventional family of lawyers,

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Speaker 1: and Rush had no interest in formal education. He couldn't

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Speaker 1: stand it, and he's talked about it, and so I

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Speaker 1: didn't know an avenue that would yield him the opportunity

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Speaker 1: to succeed until he got the program director in Sacramento

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Speaker 1: to recognize his talent and let him run loose. He

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Speaker 1: let Russia be rushed, and the rest is history. Had

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Speaker 1: I know somebody would give him that opportunity, I would

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Speaker 1: never have doubted his eventual success. You grew up in

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Speaker 1: a Christian household. How do you think Russia's faith impacted

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Speaker 1: his life and career. Well, my dad and my mom

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Speaker 1: we were raised in a Methodist church, and we weren't

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Speaker 1: particularly religious and holier than now type of people. But

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Speaker 1: my dad instilled in us love for country and appreciate

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Speaker 1: for the Constitution of the Declaration of Independence and for

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Speaker 1: the Framers, and he actually taught us about Marxism. I

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Speaker 1: remember he had the Great Books and our basement of

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Speaker 1: the time we were little, and he read them from

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Speaker 1: time to time, obviously, and of course one of the

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Speaker 1: books that might have been forty nine or fifty, you know,

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Speaker 1: Mortimer Adler's series was marx and it was Adds Capitol

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Speaker 1: and the Communist Manifesto. My dad one time came to

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Speaker 1: my seventh grade junior high school and gave a lecture

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Speaker 1: on Marxism, just to show you he was very learned

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Speaker 1: in politics. He was a conservative conservative. He was a

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Speaker 1: Goldwater Conservative way before it was cool and way back

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Speaker 1: when Goldwater really was a conservative. We were taught those

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Speaker 1: values and Christian values, and I think Rush I think

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Speaker 1: they informed his entire life, and he became closer to

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Speaker 1: God and to Jesus Christ the older he gotten, especially

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Speaker 1: during his final year when we saw how he heroically

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Speaker 1: and courageously handled his illness, and he became closer to

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Speaker 1: Christ and became very vocal about that, and when he

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Speaker 1: had not done that before because he didn't want to

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Speaker 1: make his show a platform for Christianity. I was always

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Speaker 1: struck with how much he read and how deeply prepared

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Speaker 1: he was for his show. Had he always been a reader,

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Speaker 1: A voracious reader. I loved reading, but being an ADHD

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Speaker 1: guy way before it was diagnosable, I mean, I slipped

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Speaker 1: from one thing to another. I always was jealous that

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Speaker 1: he had that focus, that he was just in hailed

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Speaker 1: books like my dad, and I later overcame that and

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Speaker 1: I hailed books myself, but at the time it was tough.

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Speaker 1: Russ never had that problem, and he literally read everything

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Speaker 1: he could get his hands on. As I understand it. Rush. Actually,

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Speaker 1: by the time he was eleven, he's already playing with

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Speaker 1: a Remco Caravella. I have to confess that is a

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Speaker 1: toy radio I do not remember, but tell us about

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Speaker 1: that he was already sort of leaning towards radio. I

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Speaker 1: think that story comes for me, and it's not a

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Speaker 1: story I remember that little device, and it wasn't a radio.

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Speaker 1: It was a little blue box. There's been pictures of

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Speaker 1: it online, and it allowed a person to broadcast on

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Speaker 1: the actual AM airwaves within the confines of your home.

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Speaker 1: It didn't have much of a signal, but he got

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Speaker 1: on it and it would start broadcasting, whether it was

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Speaker 1: turning Dizzy Dean down on a baseball game and substituting

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Speaker 1: his own voice or some football game, or then just

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Speaker 1: being a DJ and doing records and making comments and

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Speaker 1: little quips in between. But he actually did and everyone

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Speaker 1: knew that he was into that stuff. And like I said,

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Speaker 1: he was impressious. He could imitate anyone's voice and so

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Speaker 1: he would do that. He was very driven, and he

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Speaker 1: was a performer. My mom was a professional singer for

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Speaker 1: a while, nothing big, but I think she was a

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Speaker 1: performance kind of a person. My dad had a really

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Speaker 1: big personality too, and would give a lot of public

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Speaker 1: speeches locally. He was actually national debate champion at the

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Speaker 1: college he went to our universe here Southeast Missouri. I

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Speaker 1: assume it was small college national debate champion. My dad

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Speaker 1: was really sharp politically and constitutionally and all that. So

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Speaker 1: Rush came by it honestly, well, with that background from

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Speaker 1: your mom and dad, was Rush ever nervous about public

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Speaker 1: speaking or did you just automatically do it? I think

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Speaker 1: the answer is unequivocally emphatically no. Never. An interesting little

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Speaker 1: tidbit here, if you don't mind me interjecting it is

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Speaker 1: everybody always asks us because I'd get into political commentary

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Speaker 1: to at a much lower level and rowe the column,

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Speaker 1: and people say, boy, your dinner table must be fascinating you.

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Speaker 1: And Rush and your dad and I respond to him

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Speaker 1: every time. Now, we sat there and listened to my

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Speaker 1: dad pontificate. We didn't say a word. It's not that

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Speaker 1: we didn't say a word, but we just soaked up

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Speaker 1: what he taught us. But the reason I want to

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Speaker 1: make that point is, and I bet you agree with this,

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Speaker 1: I think one of the keys to being a good

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Speaker 1: writer is being a great reader. One of the keys

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Speaker 1: to being a good thinker and a good communicator as

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Speaker 1: a person, as a good listener. Rush was a superb

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Speaker 1: listener and he soaked in everything my dad taught him,

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Speaker 1: not without a discerning filter, don't get me wrong, but

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Speaker 1: he was a great listener, and I think that quality

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Speaker 1: an attribute helped him as a talkshollows because he actually

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Speaker 1: listened to his callers and his listeners who later considered

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Speaker 1: themselves to be not just fans, but friends and family

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Speaker 1: members by extension. I think that's right. I think people

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Speaker 1: undervalue the importance of listening, and great communicators are almost

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Speaker 1: always people who actually listened more than speak. But now

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Speaker 1: this actually gets me to a conversation the clist that

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Speaker 1: I had with Rush when he had us over for

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Speaker 1: lunch one time. He got his first job in radio

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Speaker 1: at the age of sixteen as an intern at KGMO,

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Speaker 1: which was the local radio station in Cape Girardo. I mean,

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Speaker 1: how did that happen? Well, my dad had a fractional

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Speaker 1: interest in that radio station. And there's a guy named

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Speaker 1: Billy Joe Bryant or something like Brian, I can't remember.

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Speaker 1: He was a character. I can see his face right now.

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Speaker 1: A guyed a long time ago, and he was the

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Speaker 1: main owner, or at least the main operator. And somehow

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Speaker 1: my dad twisted his arm to give Russia chance and

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Speaker 1: he came on at age fifteen. By the way, Russ

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Speaker 1: was a really hard worker. Although he hated school, he

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Speaker 1: did not hate work, but he wanted it on his

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Speaker 1: own term, and when he started working at KGMO, he

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Speaker 1: got released from school half of days, however, they do that,

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Speaker 1: and he was called Rusty Sharp, and he was an

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Speaker 1: instant hit locally among the high school kids. He was

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Speaker 1: really really talented from the very beginning. It's funny because

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Speaker 1: Calissa had also worked at the local radio station in Whitehall, Wisconsin,

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Speaker 1: which I think is WHTL, the Voice of Rural Wisconsin

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Speaker 1: or something. And so I found myself sitting at lunch

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Speaker 1: with the two of them as they went back into

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Speaker 1: their teenage years, comparing notes. I think both of them

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Speaker 1: ended up closed down the station at night, and it

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Speaker 1: had actually very similar kind of experiences. Of course, he

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Speaker 1: went on to make it a world class career and

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Speaker 1: she went on to other things. But it was just

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Speaker 1: kind of a fun connection point. Now, apparently he had

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Speaker 1: a level of love for radio that just drew him

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Speaker 1: on no matter what the obstacles were. But finally, in

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Speaker 1: nineteen eighty four he gets the big break. How did

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Speaker 1: that happen? You know? He was living in Kansas City

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Speaker 1: or Pittsburgh, probably Kansas City, and he had tried and

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Speaker 1: gotten fired for various reasons, and then he would try

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Speaker 1: different jobs. He was a salesman for a while. He

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Speaker 1: hated that he didn't like conventional jobs. I can't remember who.

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Speaker 1: It was, some big company. And then, as you know,

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Speaker 1: he was with the Kansas City Royals as group sales director,

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Speaker 1: where he became good for his George Brett by the way,

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Speaker 1: and he got the call I think it was from

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Speaker 1: Kansas City, but I can't swear to this to go out.

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Speaker 1: And the guy's name was Woodrup or something like that,

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Speaker 1: and he hired him, and he pretty much let him lose.

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Speaker 1: Does it initially let him loose? I think as Rice

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Speaker 1: described it, the program directors were preoccupied with other aspects

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Speaker 1: of the station, so he was allowed to do his

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Speaker 1: own thing without much scrutiny for a while, and then

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Speaker 1: it had such success the rest is history. It's interesting

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Speaker 1: he actually had an advantage because they didn't care about him.

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Speaker 1: They were busy trying to groom this great new morning

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Speaker 1: drivetime show and that was all their psychological energy. So

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Speaker 1: he just got to be Rush, and in being Rush,

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Speaker 1: he built a big enough audience that they put up

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Speaker 1: with him. Yeah, that's a good way to put it.

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Speaker 1: He gets to an extraordinary moment where he goes from

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Speaker 1: Sacramento to New York and now he's in the big time.

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Speaker 1: Was he initially syndicated or was he just at one station? No,

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Speaker 1: just at one station. I remember, I was flattered. We

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Speaker 1: had been in each other's weddings. But he didn't have

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Speaker 1: much idea what kind of law I practice. In fact,

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Speaker 1: I was just a general practitioner in a very small

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Speaker 1: town like the rest of my family, which is not

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Speaker 1: to disparage it, but I had no particular expertise in

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Speaker 1: contract law yet. And he asked me to handle his

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Speaker 1: contract with KFBK was at the sacramental station and I

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Speaker 1: did that was sacramental, yeah, And I was really touched

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Speaker 1: that he would trust me enough to ask me to

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Speaker 1: do it. And he didn't know if I was confident

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Speaker 1: or not. And I did. And so what I'm leading

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Speaker 1: up to is in eighty eight, when he was invited

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Speaker 1: to do the syndication, he asked me to come out

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Speaker 1: and help him with a contract negotiation and preparation drafting,

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Speaker 1: which I did. And I remember my Mac Plus computer.

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Speaker 1: I'm the one who got him into Mac. By the way,

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Speaker 1: I will give myself credit for that, because he became

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Speaker 1: a total x or an Apple product and I actually

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Speaker 1: spent twelve hours repairing the first syndication contract without a

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Speaker 1: clue what I was doing. We ended up submitting it

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Speaker 1: to his New York lawyer, and I had never dealt

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Speaker 1: with a New York lawyer. I was a little bit intimidated,

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Speaker 1: But anyway it worked out. Ed discovered him, I think

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Speaker 1: on a drive or somebody told this guy can work.

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Speaker 1: He had a deal with ABC or something where he

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Speaker 1: could trade out, he could barter stations and get Rush

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Speaker 1: on fifty six stations nationally, and so Ed took a chance,

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Speaker 1: and it turns out he was prescient about Russ's talent

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Speaker 1: and ability to take hold nationally. Was his initial New

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Speaker 1: York home station, w ABC, ABC, which had been the

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Speaker 1: leading talk radio station without a question. Now, this is

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Speaker 1: another interesting thing new is that a lot of people

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Speaker 1: don't right and he makes it easy and other people

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Speaker 1: have just I think one thing bothered Russian in later years.

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Speaker 1: People follow him in his profession and they assumed that

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Speaker 1: it was easy. All you had to do is be

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Speaker 1: well versed on politics and have a little bit of

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Speaker 1: a personality and you could be a great broadcaster. I

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Speaker 1: think that bothered him a little bit because they didn't

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Speaker 1: realize what all went into it, how much work and

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Speaker 1: how much professionalism. Broadcasting is an art. There's a lot

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Speaker 1: of people who are just as articulate and brilliant as

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Speaker 1: they can be, who will never have that pizzas, that

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Speaker 1: special quality that enables them to be a good broadcaster.

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Speaker 1: But he did and so WABC. The thing people don't

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Speaker 1: realize is he had to give two hours of every

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Speaker 1: day to do a local New York show before he

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Speaker 1: did his two hour national syndication. Now imagine how hard

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Speaker 1: that would be. You have to study up on New

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Speaker 1: York local politics and local current events and in exchange,

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Speaker 1: that's the only way that Ed could get him the

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Speaker 1: national spot. So Rush was doing double prep every day

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Speaker 1: for a four hour show two and two. And I

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Speaker 1: remember spending a night with him a few times. I've

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Speaker 1: got up to New York and stay in his apartment.

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Speaker 1: He lived on Sixtieths between Columbus and Amsterdam. And I'll

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Speaker 1: tell you two people who live there, Paul Schaeffer, he

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Speaker 1: was David Leddiman's keyboardist, I think, and mcaulay Coppon. So

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Speaker 1: it was a pretty high brow department building. But Rush

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Speaker 1: didn't have a nice department building, but he was on

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Speaker 1: the sixtieth floor and he wasn't making that much money.

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Speaker 1: But anyway, it was very hard for him. But he

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Speaker 1: had this computer and I don't know if you remember

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Speaker 1: this new and I don't know how long you've been

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Speaker 1: into computer, but there was his service called CompuServe before

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Speaker 1: the Internet, and Rush would program the computer to automatically

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Speaker 1: download all these papers New York Times and Washington Post

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Speaker 1: and all that. And when I did the few times

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Speaker 1: I spent the night his apartment out on the couch

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Speaker 1: because he didn't have a guest bedroom, I hear the

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Speaker 1: printer churning in the morning, so all the stack of

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Speaker 1: one hundred pages that he would get when he was

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Speaker 1: on his way out and take him to work and

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Speaker 1: do the show prep. He was a very very hard worker.

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Speaker 1: When we were doing research for this, our research team

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Speaker 1: found the Rush to Excellence in nineteen eighty nine. Two

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Speaker 1: were on YouTube, and you can actually go back and

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Speaker 1: watch Rush in eighty nine. It's all filmed VHS tape,

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Speaker 1: and we're going to include the link to that in

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Speaker 1: our show page for people who just want to go

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Speaker 1: and see Rush when he was really first coming out

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Speaker 1: and beginning to be a really important national figure, and

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Speaker 1: you had people literally who would block in their lunch

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Speaker 1: hour to listen to Rush. I mean he rapidly became

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Speaker 1: for millions of Americans their primary source of information, and

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Speaker 1: then they would go out and tell their friends. And

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Speaker 1: I always thought that Parliament made Rush remarkable was that

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Speaker 1: he understood he had to be entertaining in order to

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Speaker 1: educate that if you didn't entertain, they wouldn't stay with you.

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Speaker 1: And he worked very hard at finding things that were funny,

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Speaker 1: finding things that were different, so you weren't getting just

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Speaker 1: a traditional talk show, you were really getting a program

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Speaker 1: that he had put a lot into. He didn't really

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Speaker 1: have to work that hard at being funny. It was natural.

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Speaker 1: My mom was a total pistol. She's a clown. She's

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Speaker 1: a class clown. As she was hilarious, and Russ inherited

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Speaker 1: her since of humor. You know, it's kind of funny.

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Speaker 1: I'm a class clown too, But when it comes to politics,

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Speaker 1: I'm too serious and this is a funny thing. But

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Speaker 1: my dad was too serious, and he'd get mad at

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Speaker 1: what the Liberals were doing way back and I do

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Speaker 1: to this day. But Rush had an uncannon the ability

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Speaker 1: to let it slide off his back and still see

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Speaker 1: the humor in it. I'm sitting there on Twitter wanting

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Speaker 1: to nail these people, and I'm not trying to bad

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Speaker 1: mount myself, but I think it's a special talent that

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Speaker 1: he had to be able to be funny and lighthearted

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Speaker 1: about something that is deadly serious. And he was every

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Speaker 1: bit as serious about as I was and I am,

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Speaker 1: but he would make fun of me. I found him

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Speaker 1: to be remarkably down to earth. I mean, here's a

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Speaker 1: guy with thirty million listeners, and when you're hanging out

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Speaker 1: in the evening, you know he's just chatting. He had

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Speaker 1: a style on air, but his personal style was much

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Speaker 1: more relaxed and much more normal. When Mike went on,

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Speaker 1: he lit up and he became a broadcaster. Now, I

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Speaker 1: want to make the clear distinction. He was not fake.

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Speaker 1: This was his persona. He didn't try to go into

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Speaker 1: that mode. But that's why a lot of broadcasters do

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Speaker 1: you read about Johnny Carson being the shyest person in

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Speaker 1: the world. When they go into broadcasting, they light up,

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Speaker 1: and it's an entirely different aspect of a personality, every

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Speaker 1: bit as real backt in his case, I think he

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Speaker 1: loved it even more he loved performing. But also people

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Speaker 1: don't realize that, I want to say this, to what

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Speaker 1: extent Rush with the tip of the spear, he took

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Speaker 1: more arrows from evil, mean spirited people than anyone could

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Speaker 1: possibly imagine, and they don't even know what's like today.

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Speaker 1: He took it silently and suffered silently. But you're right,

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Speaker 1: he developed a sense of kind of futility in trying

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Speaker 1: to win over these people. And that's why he keeps

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Speaker 1: telling other people, the establishment people in the Republican Party,

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Speaker 1: if they think they're going to appease liberals, they're crazy,

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Speaker 1: because the left is on a relentless pursuit to radically

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Speaker 1: transform this country, and as we're seeing their succeeding right

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Speaker 1: now to some extent, to a great extent. But Rush

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Speaker 1: mocked them also with a sense of humor, not means spiritedly.

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Speaker 1: But they couldn't stand it when a guy came out

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Speaker 1: and was funny on our side, because they had characterized

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Speaker 1: conservatives as stolid, you know, crudes and skulls, and Rush

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Speaker 1: was the opposite of that. So I thought that was great.

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Speaker 1: And as to his personality privately, a lot of times

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Speaker 1: he was quiet. He would expend so much energy and

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Speaker 1: you know our mutual friend Sean Hannity, so much energy

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Speaker 1: and broadcasting that you're spent after a while and you've

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Speaker 1: got to regroup. But I don't think Rush enjoyed celebrity.

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Speaker 1: I think Sean likes it more than Rush. I don't

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Speaker 1: mean Sean likes to be a celebrity, but Sean will

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Speaker 1: go out and next people would not leave Rush alone.

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Speaker 1: He was bigger than life. I think he was one

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Speaker 1: of the most recognizable people, even though he didn't have

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Speaker 1: a TV show, But for a few years, everyone knew

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Speaker 1: who he was, and he couldn't go anywhere without being

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Speaker 1: treated as a celebrity. And I think, and you know,

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Speaker 1: this year a celebrity. The problem with being treated as

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Speaker 1: a celebrity is you're put on a pedestal and people

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Speaker 1: don't treat you like a human being. People just want

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Speaker 1: to beats treated like human beings, except for those narcissists

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Speaker 1: among the celebrity. Rush was anything but a narcissist. I

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Speaker 1: was gonna say, I don't think Megan Marco wants to

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Speaker 1: be treated like a human being. She would like to

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Speaker 1: be treated like the queen. She's never going to be.

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Speaker 1: That's just an aside comment here. Part of it also

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Speaker 1: that later in his career, Rush suddenly had a problem

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Speaker 1: with hearing. That was very startling. But here's the guy

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Speaker 1: making a living, as you pointed out, by listening and

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Speaker 1: talking on the air, and suddenly he literally has a

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Speaker 1: very dramatic decline in his ability to hear things. How

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Speaker 1: did he cope with them? Because he just kept going.

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Speaker 1: It first became evident and he didn't even tell me

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Speaker 1: about this for a while, but it became evident that

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Speaker 1: he had a hearing problem because his voice had changed,

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Speaker 1: and you know deaf people death from birth, how different

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Speaker 1: they sound vocally, and his pitch would change, and everything

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Speaker 1: finally came out. But what blew me away, this is

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Speaker 1: a broadcasting professional has two things hearing, toy and verbal.

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Speaker 1: He lost one essential one of those components, which is

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Speaker 1: essential to doing what he does, and yet it did

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Speaker 1: not stop him. It blows my mind. Now he had

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Speaker 1: transcription service. He had Dawn, who's awesome. She was a

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Speaker 1: court transcribe. I don't know if she's the original one,

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Speaker 1: but she would in real time transcribe what the callers

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Speaker 1: were saying. And before Rush got his cochlear implant. He

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Speaker 1: relied exclusively on that. I don't know how it's physically possible,

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Speaker 1: but that was part of his genius. You know, genius

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Speaker 1: is not about IQ. It's about somebody that's really special

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Speaker 1: in whatever they do and extraordinary unique and you're one

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Speaker 1: of them. Not trying to flatter you, but he was

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Speaker 1: a true genius and part of that was manifested in

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Speaker 1: his ability to overcome all obstacles, and part of it

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Speaker 1: was just sheer desire. This is what he was warned

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Speaker 1: to do. He wanted to continue to do it as

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Speaker 1: long as he lived, which, by the way, death tails

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Speaker 1: into the point of why he continued to do what

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Speaker 1: he did the love of his life, broadcasting to his

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Speaker 1: last two weeks of his life, because that was his

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Speaker 1: life energy and so he was not going to be stopped.

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Speaker 1: When Rush was asked did he have a bucket list

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Speaker 1: towards the very end, and he said, yes, my bucket

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Speaker 1: list is to go to the studio and be with

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Speaker 1: my audience. That's my life. And I thought that really

432
00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:41,119
Speaker 1: captured the passion and the sense of genuine connectivity that

433
00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:46,000
Speaker 1: he had developed, something that I didn't comprehend fully until

434
00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:49,639
Speaker 1: after he died. I knew how extraordinarily talent he was.

435
00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:52,560
Speaker 1: I knew how popular he was. I knew how much

436
00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:57,760
Speaker 1: his fans respected and appreciated him. But it wasn't until

437
00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:03,080
Speaker 1: he died that I fully grasped the nature of that relationship.

438
00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:05,840
Speaker 1: He had a bond with his audience. You could see

439
00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:09,399
Speaker 1: my Twitter feed on my mentions column any day. He

440
00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:12,320
Speaker 1: died February seventeenth, a year and nine months. I don't

441
00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:15,600
Speaker 1: get down to twenty one. Every day, at least a

442
00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:19,280
Speaker 1: hundred people tell me how much they miss him and

443
00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:23,120
Speaker 1: how they considered him the family member, the brother they

444
00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:26,399
Speaker 1: never had, the brother that they love. What a warm

445
00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:29,440
Speaker 1: feeling that is for me to see that connection. So

446
00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:33,000
Speaker 1: he didn't just go in because he was addicted to

447
00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:36,240
Speaker 1: his love of broadcasting, or to hear him self talk,

448
00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:39,440
Speaker 1: or any of that. I view this as he went

449
00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:44,120
Speaker 1: to the studio, and it became a conversation among millions

450
00:24:44,119 --> 00:24:47,120
Speaker 1: of people who were now his intimate friends. Even though

451
00:24:47,359 --> 00:24:50,000
Speaker 1: he didn't have much feedback because he didn't have hundreds

452
00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:53,480
Speaker 1: of collars. But nevertheless, he knew that intimacy and he

453
00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:56,000
Speaker 1: felt it. I think it was an energy, a force

454
00:24:56,160 --> 00:24:59,000
Speaker 1: that you can't quantify. And you can't even understand it.

455
00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:01,320
Speaker 1: But I came to fall you understand it after he died,

456
00:25:01,359 --> 00:25:03,920
Speaker 1: and I'd get all this feedback people, but he had

457
00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:06,760
Speaker 1: it going out. He loved them just as much, and

458
00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:09,399
Speaker 1: I think I sensed that, which is one of the

459
00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:12,280
Speaker 1: main reasons they loved him back. I think he was

460
00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:16,040
Speaker 1: really influenced deeply by Reagan and by Thatcher and had

461
00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:20,359
Speaker 1: absorbed the principles that they personified. And it was really

462
00:25:20,359 --> 00:25:23,720
Speaker 1: interesting because he had such a personal bond. I'd ask

463
00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:27,040
Speaker 1: him one time, he didn't have very many guests, and

464
00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:30,240
Speaker 1: the reason was people actually didn't tune in to Rush

465
00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:32,679
Speaker 1: to listen to somebody else. They tuned in to a

466
00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:34,800
Speaker 1: degree that it's not true of any other radio host

467
00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:38,080
Speaker 1: I know of. They tuned in to Rush, specifically to

468
00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:41,240
Speaker 1: have Rush explained the world to them for three hours.

469
00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:43,880
Speaker 1: He would amuse them, he would entertain them, he would

470
00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:47,119
Speaker 1: educate them, he would give them unique insights. It was

471
00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:50,560
Speaker 1: a living bond between them. One of the impacts he had,

472
00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:53,240
Speaker 1: of course, was in nineteen ninety four when he helped

473
00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:56,439
Speaker 1: us win the Contract with America campaign and we became

474
00:25:56,480 --> 00:26:00,080
Speaker 1: the first House Republican majority in forty years. The fresh

475
00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:03,240
Speaker 1: when class made him an honorary member and he came

476
00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:05,200
Speaker 1: and spoken was with him, and I think it really

477
00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:08,760
Speaker 1: touched him to know that the younger, newer House Republicans

478
00:26:09,119 --> 00:26:11,600
Speaker 1: felt so close to him and felt that he was

479
00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:15,040
Speaker 1: so important to them. Yes, and he didn't seek power

480
00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:17,679
Speaker 1: or influence. He was just doing what he does. What

481
00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:22,720
Speaker 1: amazed me about him was he would think better as

482
00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:27,720
Speaker 1: he was talking. Most people writers. Myself, I think much

483
00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:31,480
Speaker 1: better when I'm alone and quiet and I can collect

484
00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:34,240
Speaker 1: my thoughts and I start writing, and I think about

485
00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:37,040
Speaker 1: the same speed that I write, so it works out

486
00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:39,120
Speaker 1: and I find insights that I never knew I had.

487
00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:42,280
Speaker 1: One leads to another, but talking that usually doesn't happen

488
00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:46,760
Speaker 1: to me. Rush would become more eloquent the more he talked,

489
00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:49,760
Speaker 1: and he didn't like writing. He was so spontaneous and

490
00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:52,200
Speaker 1: free as he talked, and he'd come up with these

491
00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:55,360
Speaker 1: unique insights. People think, oh, he was bombastic and all

492
00:26:55,359 --> 00:26:58,560
Speaker 1: this stuff, and funny he was, but he was also

493
00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:02,240
Speaker 1: incredibly insight. And he used to jokingly say he could

494
00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:05,679
Speaker 1: see the stitches on a fastball, and he could. He

495
00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:08,160
Speaker 1: got that for my dad. My dad an amazing ability.

496
00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:10,600
Speaker 1: You can do that and I remember one time running

497
00:27:10,640 --> 00:27:13,720
Speaker 1: into you somewhere and you said to me, I can't

498
00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:16,000
Speaker 1: believe how smart this guy is. And this is from

499
00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:18,439
Speaker 1: New Gingrich, the Genius of the World, saying that, and

500
00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:21,760
Speaker 1: I thought, wow, Gingrich says you're a genius. He says

501
00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:24,880
Speaker 1: you're smart. That's a pretty big compliment. I don't get

502
00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:26,679
Speaker 1: a chance to talk about Rush that much. That's why

503
00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:29,359
Speaker 1: I'm throwing all these things in there. He was open

504
00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:33,040
Speaker 1: to thinking, to learning. He had opinions, but he was

505
00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:36,680
Speaker 1: willing to reevaluate things that It was a remarkable human being.

506
00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:40,320
Speaker 1: And I think you've done a great deal in bringing

507
00:27:40,359 --> 00:27:42,960
Speaker 1: the other radio's greatest of all time. And I think

508
00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:44,840
Speaker 1: it will be an introduction for a lot of people

509
00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:47,199
Speaker 1: who know Rush, and it'll be a new introduction for

510
00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:50,160
Speaker 1: people who've never heard Rush. But before we wrap up,

511
00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:52,600
Speaker 1: I understand you were recently on a book tour in

512
00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:56,359
Speaker 1: September with your daughter Kristen The Resurrect of Jesus, the

513
00:27:56,480 --> 00:27:58,879
Speaker 1: Church and the New Testament, which you co wrote with

514
00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:02,320
Speaker 1: your daughter Chris in Limbo Bloom, which is your fifth

515
00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:05,960
Speaker 1: book in your Jesus series. What led you and to

516
00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:09,800
Speaker 1: what is now a five volume series on Jesus Well.

517
00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:13,679
Speaker 1: I've written six political books, and I became a believer

518
00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:17,760
Speaker 1: in my late thirties. It was like an epiphany for me,

519
00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:22,160
Speaker 1: and I finally realized that the Bible was the inspired

520
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:24,400
Speaker 1: word of God, and it kind of blew me away.

521
00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:28,400
Speaker 1: So I became fascinated and wanted to accelerate my learning purse.

522
00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:30,119
Speaker 1: I read the Bible as much as I could in

523
00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:34,200
Speaker 1: theology and all this and cutting the story short, I

524
00:28:34,240 --> 00:28:36,720
Speaker 1: wanted to share what I had learned because I think

525
00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:40,120
Speaker 1: there are a lot of people situated similarly to where

526
00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:43,440
Speaker 1: I was who might be able to be benefited from

527
00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:46,440
Speaker 1: a late perspective. While I'm not a scholar, I've studied

528
00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:48,560
Speaker 1: it a lot. I want to reach people. We're all

529
00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:51,360
Speaker 1: called on to honor the great commission, but I'm not

530
00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:53,400
Speaker 1: one of these guys like great comfort and go by

531
00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:55,840
Speaker 1: the people in the street corner. I'd rather do it

532
00:28:55,880 --> 00:28:59,040
Speaker 1: in writing like this or teaching Sunday School, which I've done.

533
00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:02,280
Speaker 1: I wrote these books to inspire people to read the Bible.

534
00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:05,880
Speaker 1: They're about the Bible, and they're play commentaries and devotionals.

535
00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:08,760
Speaker 1: I just really felt like that was one of my

536
00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:11,560
Speaker 1: callings to do, and it's been a great joy, especially

537
00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:13,600
Speaker 1: this last one where I asked my daughter Kristen to

538
00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:15,560
Speaker 1: join me. I want to thank you for joining me.

539
00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:19,080
Speaker 1: Your brother Rush was, without a doubt, one of the

540
00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:23,160
Speaker 1: most influential figures in conservative media history. The legacy he

541
00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:25,960
Speaker 1: has left is going to live on forever. He forged

542
00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:29,320
Speaker 1: a path for conservative voices in the media. He educated

543
00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:31,840
Speaker 1: millions of us and I include me, and that it

544
00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:35,400
Speaker 1: was really a pleasure talking with you about radio's greatest

545
00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:38,120
Speaker 1: of all time. I understand proceeds from the book will

546
00:29:38,160 --> 00:29:42,280
Speaker 1: benefit families of fallen military heroes, something I think Rush

547
00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:44,479
Speaker 1: would be very proud of. So I want to encourage

548
00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:47,280
Speaker 1: everyone to order a copy today. And David, I hope

549
00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:49,680
Speaker 1: you'll join us again in the future when your next

550
00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:53,280
Speaker 1: book comes out, whatever it's on. I appreciate that Catherine

551
00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:57,680
Speaker 1: Rush's wife was so great. We're very close, and the

552
00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:00,400
Speaker 1: job she did on this book blows me way, so

553
00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:02,200
Speaker 1: I want to give her the credit. I had very

554
00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:04,240
Speaker 1: little to do with this. I love that my name's

555
00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:06,760
Speaker 1: on it because I'm totally supportive she and her team

556
00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:10,680
Speaker 1: didn't work. And I also want to say that Rush

557
00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:13,920
Speaker 1: revered and adored you and at so much respect for

558
00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:16,480
Speaker 1: you. You You have to know that, and I want to

559
00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:19,840
Speaker 1: thank you for how supported you work him throughout his

560
00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:24,040
Speaker 1: professional life. It was a genuine mutual admiration and I

561
00:30:24,080 --> 00:30:27,480
Speaker 1: think deep personal friendship that we had. It was. Thank

562
00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:29,600
Speaker 1: you very much, David, and we will look forward to

563
00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:31,880
Speaker 1: your next book. Thank you so much. Thank you here.

564
00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:39,760
Speaker 1: Thank you to my guests. David Limbaugh. You can link

565
00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:42,920
Speaker 1: to his new book, Radio's Greatest of All Time on

566
00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:46,280
Speaker 1: our showpage at newtsworld dot com. News World is produced

567
00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:50,600
Speaker 1: by Gangwich Free sixty and iHeartMedia. Our executive producer is

568
00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:54,719
Speaker 1: Garnsey Sloan, our producer is Rebecca Howe, and our researcher

569
00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:58,040
Speaker 1: is Rachel Peterson. You all work for. The show was

570
00:30:58,080 --> 00:31:01,680
Speaker 1: created by Steve Penley. Special thanks to the team at

571
00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:05,200
Speaker 1: Gingwige three sixty. If you've been enjoying Newsworld, I hope

572
00:31:05,240 --> 00:31:07,880
Speaker 1: you'll go to Apple Podcast and both rate us with

573
00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:11,040
Speaker 1: five stars and give us a review so others can

574
00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:14,280
Speaker 1: learn what it's all about. Right now, listeners of news

575
00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:18,120
Speaker 1: World consign them from my three free weekly columns at

576
00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:22,200
Speaker 1: Gingwich three sixty dot com slash newsletter. I'm newt Gingwig.

577
00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:23,400
Speaker 1: This is news World