1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:08,680 Speaker 1: Live Wire is a production of iHeart Podcasts and Modulator Media. 2 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:12,440 Speaker 1: In the mid nineteen eighties, Jefferson four forty was something 3 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:16,119 Speaker 1: of a dining institution in Denver, Colorado. Don't try to 4 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:19,000 Speaker 1: find it today. It's a Walmart now, But in the 5 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:22,680 Speaker 1: summer of nineteen eighty four it truly represented fine dining 6 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:26,680 Speaker 1: in the city, with a generously priced menu featuring steak, lobster, 7 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:31,200 Speaker 1: and cocktails. The sprawling space offered plush leather seats, a 8 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:34,320 Speaker 1: healthy array of wood and marble, and even a massive 9 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 1: functioning fireplace. Male patrons wore ties, female waitresses wore skirts, 10 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:43,720 Speaker 1: and a waft of cigarette and cigar smoke covered over 11 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:46,760 Speaker 1: it all. This is where alan Berg and his ex 12 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:51,760 Speaker 1: wife Judith dined under otherwise pleasant circumstances on June eighteenth, 13 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:55,880 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty four. Despite their divorce, Judith and Allen had 14 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:59,279 Speaker 1: remained close, and alan Berg was enjoying a moment at 15 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:02,360 Speaker 1: this particular time in their lives, emerging as one of 16 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:06,520 Speaker 1: the city's most popular radio personalities, a rising media star 17 00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:11,240 Speaker 1: who appeared poised for national exposure. Judith, a longtime teacher, 18 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:15,200 Speaker 1: had just enjoyed celebrating her parents' fiftieth wedding anniversary. 19 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,840 Speaker 2: The celebration for their anniversary was a Temple emanual. 20 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:21,039 Speaker 3: Was a huge affair because they. 21 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:23,760 Speaker 2: Were prominent in the community in Temple and so forth. 22 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:29,200 Speaker 2: And then the next night he took me out to dinner. 23 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:34,320 Speaker 3: And we were going to go home and call his mom. 24 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 2: He said, I want to let's go call mother and 25 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:40,759 Speaker 2: you can and I'll feed the dog. 26 00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:47,400 Speaker 4: And they come back from dinner. It's about eight thirty 27 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:49,280 Speaker 4: or so. When they start to come back, maybe a 28 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:53,680 Speaker 4: little bit later, alan Berg stops and he gets some 29 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:56,600 Speaker 4: bubble gum from Judith and some dog food for his 30 00:01:56,640 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 4: beloved aradell named Fred. 31 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:02,680 Speaker 1: That's journalist and Allenberg biographer Steven Singular. 32 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 4: And they pull in not to the driveway, but in 33 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:11,359 Speaker 4: front of his condo, and they sit there and they 34 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:14,560 Speaker 4: discuss whether Judith will come in for the night or not. 35 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:19,200 Speaker 4: And they go back and forth, kind of the summation 36 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:22,520 Speaker 4: of their whole relationship over all these years. Should we 37 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 4: do this, should we do that? Should we stay together? 38 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 4: Should we remarry? What should we do? He eventually says, 39 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:33,359 Speaker 4: you know, I'm kind of tired and I'm gonna take 40 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:34,120 Speaker 4: you to your car. 41 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:36,680 Speaker 2: I said I'm gonna go see Bobby, a very close 42 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:39,160 Speaker 2: friend of both of ours, And he said, well, I'm gonna, 43 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:41,480 Speaker 2: I'm gonna, I'm gonna go over there and see her also, 44 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:43,959 Speaker 2: but I have to go upstairs and make some phone calls. 45 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:46,839 Speaker 2: So he took me to the car and I went 46 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:47,840 Speaker 2: over to Bobby's. 47 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:51,639 Speaker 1: Berg pulls his car into his driveway, cradles the dog 48 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:54,840 Speaker 1: food he just purchased into his arm, and steps towards 49 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: his door. 50 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:28,080 Speaker 4: Then twelve or thirteen shots in the torso, instantly killing him. 51 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:34,280 Speaker 4: His murder was the first known to me murder of 52 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 4: a media personality that I was aware of in the 53 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:38,240 Speaker 4: United States. 54 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:42,160 Speaker 1: Meanwhile, Judith Berg had no idea anything was wrong until 55 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:44,640 Speaker 1: she walked into the house that her friend Bobby shared 56 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 1: with her husband. 57 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 4: Her friends are sitting in front of the television watching 58 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:53,680 Speaker 4: coverage of the murder, the assassination of Allen Berg. 59 00:03:55,040 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 2: I walked in, and he came over and he gave 60 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:03,520 Speaker 2: me a hug, and then he went back and sat 61 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:06,560 Speaker 2: down and looked at the TV. And they're announcing that 62 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:09,640 Speaker 2: Alan Berg is shot in front of his house. 63 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:12,480 Speaker 5: And I mean, I. 64 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 2: Can't say, I can't tell you these stories with the real, 65 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:22,960 Speaker 2: true emotional hysteria that each one represented. 66 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:29,280 Speaker 3: What could I do? So we got in the car 67 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:32,000 Speaker 3: and we came back over here. He was right over 68 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:36,479 Speaker 3: here on Adams, and there were sirens and there were. 69 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 2: You know, the whole thing when happens, when that happens, 70 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:42,960 Speaker 2: and the sirens and the people and the neighbors, and 71 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:47,719 Speaker 2: it was just hysteria. But they had to block it 72 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:51,480 Speaker 2: off for the for the ambulance and for the paramedic. 73 00:04:51,920 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 4: She essentially was shot when in the shock and has 74 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:03,719 Speaker 4: been living with that shaw ever since. 75 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:08,760 Speaker 1: By the late evening hours that night, word of Allan's 76 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:12,240 Speaker 1: brutal murder had circulated among his peers at KOA, one 77 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:16,359 Speaker 1: of Denver's biggest radio stations. Allan's colleagues were forced to 78 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:19,080 Speaker 1: balance the unbearable task of grieving for a friend who 79 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:21,920 Speaker 1: had just been murdered and reporting the news to his 80 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:26,800 Speaker 1: adoring public. That thankless task fell upon radio personalities Rick 81 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:28,840 Speaker 1: Barber and Ken Hambler. 82 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:32,279 Speaker 6: Ten thirty nine KOA time. And I'm still trying to 83 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:35,720 Speaker 6: piece information together off the air. I'm finding out that 84 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:39,120 Speaker 6: Channel seven has issued a report that said the best 85 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:44,960 Speaker 6: investigative efforts of the DPD has indicated that someone passing 86 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:48,039 Speaker 6: in a vehicle using a semi automatic weapon or an 87 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 6: automatic weapon. I'm not sure which fired upon alan Berg 88 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:54,799 Speaker 6: when he was exiting his vehicle in front of his home. 89 00:05:57,360 --> 00:05:59,880 Speaker 6: Ten or more shellcasings, to the best of my ability, 90 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:04,240 Speaker 6: are a number that would indicate an automatic weapon was 91 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:08,720 Speaker 6: found in the at the scene. And alan Berg has 92 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:13,679 Speaker 6: in fact passed on. He is no longer with us. 93 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:18,000 Speaker 6: He'll always be with us, though. I think he's touched 94 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 6: each and touched each and every one of us. He 95 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:31,760 Speaker 6: touched me and and Lee Larson and Jim Hawthorne are 96 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:34,760 Speaker 6: on their way into the station now, and Jim is 97 00:06:34,839 --> 00:06:43,120 Speaker 6: program director. Lee Larson is the station manager. And it's 98 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:47,920 Speaker 6: a shock. It's to describe how I feel right now. 99 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 6: I've got a high pitch winging sound in my ears. 100 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:55,320 Speaker 6: My head is thropping, and I can't believe it. 101 00:06:56,400 --> 00:06:59,279 Speaker 1: Producer Susan Ryman heard the news from talk show host 102 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 1: Rick Barber. 103 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:02,640 Speaker 5: Seems to me it was like ninety five. I don't 104 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:06,960 Speaker 5: remember why, and he just called me and he said 105 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:12,440 Speaker 5: Alan's dead. And I said what, and he said, yeahen 106 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:15,880 Speaker 5: Alan was gunned down tonight in his driveway. 107 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:18,520 Speaker 7: And I turned on Channel four and there was a 108 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:21,640 Speaker 7: live shot, and the cops are there and the car 109 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:24,040 Speaker 7: doors open, and I showed his body. 110 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:28,480 Speaker 1: That's Peter Boyles, Alan Burk's longtime friend and colleague and 111 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:31,000 Speaker 1: himself a Denver broadcasting institution. 112 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 7: And ten minutes laterybody's pounding on my door. It's TV 113 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:38,240 Speaker 7: guys and newspaper guys and wanted me to react to it. 114 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:40,680 Speaker 7: And I was in shock what we were going like. 115 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:45,120 Speaker 7: And plus at the time, I'm drinking and open, and 116 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:49,240 Speaker 7: that's when I said, they killed the Mockingbird. And I 117 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:51,440 Speaker 7: remember sitting there talking to these people, and then the 118 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:53,720 Speaker 7: next I canna tell you something for real. The next 119 00:07:55,400 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 7: I don't know, ten days or y'or blur, I don't remember. 120 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:04,440 Speaker 1: In the wake of Allenberg's shocking nighttime assassination, the Denver 121 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:08,560 Speaker 1: Police Department directed considerable resources to what was instantly one 122 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:11,400 Speaker 1: of the most high profile murders in the city's history. 123 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:15,360 Speaker 1: Their investigation had no trouble finding motive in the murder 124 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:18,600 Speaker 1: of the men literally builled as the man you love 125 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:22,200 Speaker 1: to hate. What they didn't have was even the faintest 126 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:25,040 Speaker 1: whiff of a suspect. Here's Steve Singular. 127 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:29,600 Speaker 4: The police launched essentially what was one of the largest, 128 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:33,280 Speaker 4: if not the largest in investigation into a murder in 129 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:38,200 Speaker 4: Denver's history. And they did all the things that police 130 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:42,560 Speaker 4: do in those circumstances. Case the neighborhood and questioned people. 131 00:08:43,240 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 4: Somebody interviewed the detective in charge of it. He was 132 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:50,319 Speaker 4: in his office and they said, you have any suspects 133 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:55,040 Speaker 4: And he pointed to the Denver phone book and said, well, 134 00:08:55,080 --> 00:09:00,599 Speaker 4: they're probably two million suspects. This guy, one time or 135 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:03,160 Speaker 4: another aggravated everybody. 136 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:07,960 Speaker 1: I'm tal Pinschewski, a filmmaker and journalist, and this is 137 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:11,960 Speaker 1: Live Wire, the loud life and shocking death of alan Berg. 138 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:20,640 Speaker 1: Considering the details of this case, there's plenty to pour 139 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:24,160 Speaker 1: over here. The most obvious question, other than who killed 140 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:27,920 Speaker 1: alan Berg just might be who is Alan Berg? And 141 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:30,959 Speaker 1: why am I only now hearing about this brazen, violent 142 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:35,440 Speaker 1: assassination in a major American city forty years after the fact. 143 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:39,920 Speaker 8: I didn't do it? 144 00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:42,640 Speaker 9: Why do you becoming because I'm just that. 145 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:44,920 Speaker 8: I'm a road person. I know I think you're great. 146 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:52,480 Speaker 8: Why he's the best? Hal it pal' hold it there 147 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:55,400 Speaker 8: one second? Tell me about snooping the my level. 148 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:56,480 Speaker 9: I don't think you. 149 00:09:56,360 --> 00:09:57,439 Speaker 10: Are I don't like you. 150 00:09:57,440 --> 00:09:58,280 Speaker 9: You have to like you. 151 00:09:59,400 --> 00:09:59,960 Speaker 10: What makes you? 152 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:02,800 Speaker 8: You would think you're such a judgment maker. You're gonna 153 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:05,080 Speaker 8: tell me you're a stoping on my level. You're a 154 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:07,520 Speaker 8: great buddy. Remember that you're on KOI. 155 00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:08,160 Speaker 11: You gotta have to know. 156 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:20,199 Speaker 1: During the dawn of the shock Chock era on terrestrial 157 00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:24,640 Speaker 1: radio in the early nineteen eighties, America's oldest broadcast platform 158 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:30,000 Speaker 1: was undergoing a dramatic transformation. Radio wasn't simply about playing 159 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:33,959 Speaker 1: music and offering weather reports. In their stead America who 160 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:38,800 Speaker 1: was introduced to inflammatory personalities like Howard Stern and Don Imis, 161 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:42,160 Speaker 1: who grabbed the medium with both hands and harnessed it 162 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:43,959 Speaker 1: with all the subtlety of a chainsaw. 163 00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:46,960 Speaker 10: Everybody who's been berating the station, they've been berating everybody 164 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:49,480 Speaker 10: else in time about how they can't stand Allenburg. I 165 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:51,360 Speaker 10: always think, when you have a beef, take it to 166 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:53,160 Speaker 10: the person, don't take it behind his back. I'm a 167 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:54,800 Speaker 10: great believer in that. So if you've got a beef 168 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:57,080 Speaker 10: with me, maybe we can iron out. Maybe we can't. 169 00:10:57,080 --> 00:10:58,760 Speaker 10: I'll give you a chance to be heard on this thing. 170 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:00,520 Speaker 10: I'll give you my side of it. Maybe we can 171 00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:02,840 Speaker 10: make some good communication on this. I don't think you 172 00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:04,720 Speaker 10: have to like me to enjoy me. Maybe that's the 173 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:07,560 Speaker 10: way a lot of people feel. I never never appreciated 174 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:09,400 Speaker 10: the people will call, and that goes with the people 175 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:12,160 Speaker 10: who were for me and against me, Because the people 176 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:13,920 Speaker 10: who can't stand me make some of the best talk 177 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:14,760 Speaker 10: radio in the world. 178 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:15,840 Speaker 9: The fact that you're. 179 00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:18,480 Speaker 10: Controversial and against me in that sense of the word 180 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:20,720 Speaker 10: makes for much more exciting talk to you. To sit 181 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:23,360 Speaker 10: here all day and get stroked is wowsy talk radio. 182 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:25,960 Speaker 10: So I'm hoping for as many people who disagree with 183 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:27,720 Speaker 10: me as possible. What doesn't mean I don't love all 184 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:30,600 Speaker 10: the people that are forming, but needless to say, when 185 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:32,520 Speaker 10: we can get a different side of an issue and 186 00:11:32,559 --> 00:11:34,840 Speaker 10: you can all contend, hey I'm rude, give me a shot. 187 00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:35,880 Speaker 10: Let's find out if I'm rude. 188 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:39,440 Speaker 1: And Alan Berg, the biggest mouth in Denver, Colorado, was 189 00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:42,600 Speaker 1: at the forefront of that shift, a shift that saw 190 00:11:42,679 --> 00:11:47,320 Speaker 1: talk radio personalities carve out an aggressive, opinionated persona that 191 00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:51,840 Speaker 1: confronted callers and listeners alike with an unrelenting subversive energy 192 00:11:51,880 --> 00:11:55,679 Speaker 1: that made them beloved by some despised by others. It's 193 00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:59,679 Speaker 1: undoubtedly a broadcast model that helped shape today's fragmented media 194 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:03,320 Speaker 1: lends escape. And alan Berg didn't just help shape this model, 195 00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:04,640 Speaker 1: he mastered it. 196 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:06,559 Speaker 8: You don't think he has any to deal with repression 197 00:12:06,559 --> 00:12:08,120 Speaker 8: and discrimination. It's occurred to you. 198 00:12:09,240 --> 00:12:11,160 Speaker 5: It doesn't seem to be that well, of. 199 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:13,280 Speaker 8: Course not here. You're as dumb as the rest. I 200 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:15,240 Speaker 8: can't take anyone. I can't take it to sell out. 201 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:18,080 Speaker 8: Blacks couldn't get jobs, conas couldn't get jobs. Civil Rights 202 00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:20,320 Speaker 8: Commission comes along. We have a fair guy there. Reagan 203 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:22,720 Speaker 8: bounces him out to get a token black guy on 204 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:25,079 Speaker 8: there who probably never saw a black person in the 205 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:27,480 Speaker 8: ghetto with his whole life or understands the problem. I'll 206 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:30,200 Speaker 8: be back with you tomorrow with more grief and hate 207 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:31,360 Speaker 8: and maybe I'll laugh or two. 208 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:33,720 Speaker 7: I think he just knew it. I think it was intrinsic. 209 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:36,520 Speaker 7: I can just tell you what I observed. But he 210 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:38,199 Speaker 7: was what we call flamethrower. 211 00:12:38,679 --> 00:12:41,719 Speaker 1: Once again, that's Allen's colleague, Peter Boyles. 212 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:44,360 Speaker 7: And I. You know, I've had my moments of getting 213 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:47,760 Speaker 7: angry at people and stuff like that, but I think 214 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:52,720 Speaker 7: I used to think sometimes that having been in therapy 215 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:55,120 Speaker 7: for many years because of my drugs and alcohol. He 216 00:12:55,320 --> 00:12:58,360 Speaker 7: was working things out emotionally, I really do. I mean, 217 00:12:58,400 --> 00:13:01,600 Speaker 7: I think his anger at the world, especially with his 218 00:13:01,679 --> 00:13:03,880 Speaker 7: father and growing up and all the stuff that happened. 219 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:08,840 Speaker 7: I later thought years later that he was working that 220 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:13,280 Speaker 7: out somehow, that that was his therapy. I don't know. 221 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:16,600 Speaker 7: I don't know. That he did it, and he did 222 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:20,679 Speaker 7: it better than anybody. And that's the the real mcguffin is, 223 00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:25,200 Speaker 7: like how good he was. He was that good. 224 00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:35,920 Speaker 1: Never in his wildest dreams did alan Berg foresee his 225 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:40,160 Speaker 1: emergence as a game changing broadcaster. His entry into radio 226 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:42,840 Speaker 1: was more born out of a desperate attempt to move on. 227 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:46,160 Speaker 11: Well at the point, I think was a beginning particular 228 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:48,600 Speaker 11: physical problem in my life which became a justification A 229 00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:52,960 Speaker 11: particular speech impairment problem. Okay, A what to you know? 230 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:55,800 Speaker 11: This is like ken, you top this. But another form 231 00:13:55,840 --> 00:14:00,600 Speaker 11: of illness, a petty mall form of epilepsy, incurred in 232 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:03,280 Speaker 11: the course of my trial career. You yes, all right, 233 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:07,440 Speaker 11: we allowed an alcoholic an alcoholic, an epileptic. 234 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:09,360 Speaker 9: An epileptic. Okay, that's enough for now. God knows what 235 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:14,520 Speaker 9: else is coming up God, but no venarial disease to disease. 236 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:19,640 Speaker 1: Okay, A highly intelligent trial lawyer practicing in Chicago, Alan 237 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:21,800 Speaker 1: Berg was one of the youngest people that passed the 238 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:24,760 Speaker 1: Illinois State Bar exam and appeared to have the world 239 00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:28,920 Speaker 1: on a platter. But there were problems, a number of them, actually. 240 00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:32,320 Speaker 1: But the first major barrier to any real success in 241 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:34,760 Speaker 1: the courtroom was something he couldn't control. 242 00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:40,520 Speaker 3: He had seizures in court, and he'd even have them 243 00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:41,360 Speaker 3: at home. 244 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:49,400 Speaker 2: And I don't know, he started to drink, and really, 245 00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:52,920 Speaker 2: and truly, I'm not a doctor, but I think the 246 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:58,960 Speaker 2: drinking curtailed the seizures in a way, I think somehow medically. 247 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:02,120 Speaker 2: And it didn't last very long because he still had 248 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:02,800 Speaker 2: the seizures. 249 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:05,760 Speaker 3: And then he got. 250 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:10,800 Speaker 1: Help, diagnosed with epilepsy and experiencing regular grandma seizures. Berg 251 00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:13,640 Speaker 1: thought he was replacing one problem with another by self 252 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:18,200 Speaker 1: medicating with alcohol, but his descent into alcoholism only seemed 253 00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:21,920 Speaker 1: to stack one health concern onto another. Before long, Berg 254 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:24,960 Speaker 1: was forced to consider a far more invasive solution to 255 00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:26,240 Speaker 1: his seizures. 256 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:31,120 Speaker 4: Grandma means very big. And he just started convulsing and 257 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:36,000 Speaker 4: he didn't stop, and they took him to the hospital 258 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:39,440 Speaker 4: and they found a tumor in his brain, and they 259 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:43,960 Speaker 4: had to operate, which was effectively literally cut off the 260 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:47,880 Speaker 4: top of his head like a can opener. Take it off, 261 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:52,760 Speaker 4: Go get the tumor, take it out, and you know, 262 00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:55,160 Speaker 4: hopeful the best. The doctor said, you know, you may 263 00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:59,880 Speaker 4: never recover your mental faculties. He probably won't be able 264 00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:02,440 Speaker 4: to tar you know the way he once did. 265 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:06,960 Speaker 1: Berg recovered his razor sharp wit and rapid fire verbal skills, 266 00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:10,240 Speaker 1: but the operation left him with a long scar across 267 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:13,479 Speaker 1: his forehead. He covered the scar with a bowl haircut, 268 00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:16,920 Speaker 1: one of the many signature physical features he adopted over 269 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:20,160 Speaker 1: the years. But even with the seizures under control, his 270 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:24,600 Speaker 1: alcoholism imperiled his once promising law career, a career in 271 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:27,600 Speaker 1: which he was suspected of being involved with the Chicago Mob. 272 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:30,680 Speaker 2: He had a lot of criminal cases that were cash. 273 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:34,000 Speaker 2: So he had twenty five thousand dollars. Oh he only 274 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:36,960 Speaker 2: dressed to the nines. You know that in his pocket, 275 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:40,720 Speaker 2: had his suit. So I was home one day. I 276 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:43,800 Speaker 2: taught all the time, I rarely had. Oh, there was 277 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:46,440 Speaker 2: something else I wanted to tell you. So I said, 278 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:48,880 Speaker 2: the cleaners came today and I gave him your suit. 279 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:54,680 Speaker 2: You gave him, which the blue suit twenty five thousand dollars. 280 00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:54,960 Speaker 3: In the pocket. 281 00:16:55,640 --> 00:17:02,520 Speaker 2: During the normal criminal cases, he met people in the mafia. 282 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:10,920 Speaker 3: And. 283 00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:12,520 Speaker 2: You know, they asked him for favors, and of course 284 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:15,160 Speaker 2: I think he did them. And I went with them 285 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:17,399 Speaker 2: a couple of times to meet people, but I was 286 00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:23,320 Speaker 2: either in the car or outside or whatever. And they 287 00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:26,919 Speaker 2: gave him great money and he did their cases and 288 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:29,800 Speaker 2: handled their tried their cases. 289 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:33,760 Speaker 1: But it was the alcohol that ultimately ended Allen's legal career. 290 00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:36,000 Speaker 7: The story that he told me was that he had 291 00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:39,880 Speaker 7: been court assigned to begin a murder beef murder trial 292 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:44,600 Speaker 7: and he didn't show up. He woke up out of 293 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:47,520 Speaker 7: a blackout. He was a blackout drinker, and he woke 294 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:49,400 Speaker 7: up out of a blackout with a woman in bed 295 00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:51,359 Speaker 7: with him and he had missed the court. That was 296 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:53,399 Speaker 7: the final at least according to what he's told me, 297 00:17:54,119 --> 00:17:56,480 Speaker 7: and that was the straw that broke the camel's back. 298 00:17:56,960 --> 00:17:59,720 Speaker 11: I had the good fortune to associate with. I think 299 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:01,720 Speaker 11: that two of the greatest criminal lawyers in the United 300 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:04,480 Speaker 11: States today. I will not mention their names because I 301 00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:06,280 Speaker 11: deemed them, at least one of them, to be an 302 00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:10,840 Speaker 11: alcoholic and the other one to be all a borderline 303 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:13,840 Speaker 11: case which would be really almost impossible to define. At 304 00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:17,480 Speaker 11: this particular point, this was my environment, This was the 305 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:21,320 Speaker 11: circumstance in which I functioned daily with these people around, 306 00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:26,000 Speaker 11: these people, genius though they be. Now, this is somewhat 307 00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:29,160 Speaker 11: like joining the club. It's like kids today wanting to belong. 308 00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:32,280 Speaker 11: It's the same format that we want to be a 309 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:36,840 Speaker 11: part of something. And the drinking became a fun, tension 310 00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:40,600 Speaker 11: relieving device for me. Then as I moved on, I 311 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:42,680 Speaker 11: found it to be much more than it, in fact, 312 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:47,800 Speaker 11: a total escape, a total way of avoiding or facing 313 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:50,600 Speaker 11: all the ugliness that I saw within myself, within my 314 00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:52,320 Speaker 11: own profession at that particular time. 315 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:59,000 Speaker 1: More from Live Wire. After this break, his law career 316 00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:03,159 Speaker 1: over and facing a crumbling marriage, Allenberg found sobriety but 317 00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:07,359 Speaker 1: remained adrift. In the early nineteen seventies, Alan and Judith 318 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:10,760 Speaker 1: moved to Denver, where she had grown up, and Alan 319 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:11,840 Speaker 1: tried to start over. 320 00:19:15,119 --> 00:19:17,400 Speaker 4: He worked in a shoe store. He had a great 321 00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:21,119 Speaker 4: fascination of clothing, and first in a shoe store, he 322 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:23,800 Speaker 4: got fired from there for some remarks he made, and 323 00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:28,200 Speaker 4: then he decided to open a short store in downtown Denver. 324 00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:32,080 Speaker 4: One of his customers was a man named Lawrence Gross 325 00:19:32,119 --> 00:19:34,560 Speaker 4: who would come into the store and talk with Berg, 326 00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:38,320 Speaker 4: and no matter what Gross brought up, you know, Berg 327 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:40,440 Speaker 4: had an opinion on it, He had a view. He 328 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:41,760 Speaker 4: was very fast verbally. 329 00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:45,439 Speaker 1: Berg wasn't aware at first, but Lawrence Gross was a 330 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:49,040 Speaker 1: prominent figure in Denver radio, a host on local radio. 331 00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:52,080 Speaker 1: Gross also had a keen eye for talent, and he 332 00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:55,320 Speaker 1: saw plenty of it in the recovering alcoholic shoe salesman 333 00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:57,879 Speaker 1: who just couldn't seem to keep his mouth shut. 334 00:19:58,040 --> 00:19:59,920 Speaker 2: And they wanted to know if he would come into 335 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:01,960 Speaker 2: talk about something on the radio. 336 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:03,320 Speaker 3: I don't know whether it was the. 337 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:08,080 Speaker 2: Business or a cause they had, or it was something. 338 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:13,880 Speaker 3: So he went. He took me with him. He said, 339 00:20:14,119 --> 00:20:17,040 Speaker 3: if I go, will you go on with me? So 340 00:20:17,119 --> 00:20:18,760 Speaker 3: I said, okay. So we went and. 341 00:20:18,920 --> 00:20:24,080 Speaker 2: Talked in some little hubble and went on and on 342 00:20:24,119 --> 00:20:24,840 Speaker 2: and on and on. 343 00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:27,240 Speaker 1: When Alan Berg appeared as a guest on the radio 344 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:30,280 Speaker 1: with Lawrence Gross, they touched on a number of topics, 345 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:33,840 Speaker 1: but the one that generated the biggest response from listeners 346 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:36,120 Speaker 1: was the topic of Alan's alcoholism. 347 00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:38,560 Speaker 9: We're going to break away for the news now, which 348 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:41,280 Speaker 9: will be coming along in about twenty five seconds, and 349 00:20:41,320 --> 00:20:43,200 Speaker 9: then we will be back with my guest, Alan Berger. 350 00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:48,000 Speaker 9: We're talking on alcoholism. Alan is an alcoholic and he 351 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:50,199 Speaker 9: will answer any and all questions that you have. So 352 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:53,440 Speaker 9: we're going to break away, we'll be back in, We'll 353 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:55,560 Speaker 9: be back and forth. This is Lawrence Gross. 354 00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:59,720 Speaker 11: There is a predisposition in the birth of certain people 355 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:04,119 Speaker 11: towards alcohol. The great, great mass of alcoholism in this 356 00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:08,560 Speaker 11: country is nothing more than an emotional mental problem. What 357 00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:12,200 Speaker 11: is this man? He's an addictive personality. Okay, I consider 358 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:16,480 Speaker 11: myself an addictive personality who used alcohol as a way 359 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:18,000 Speaker 11: of self indulgence. 360 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:21,359 Speaker 1: A little added context here. This is someone on the 361 00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:24,920 Speaker 1: radio talking about addiction as a pathology and a disease 362 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:29,080 Speaker 1: in the late nineteen seventies. The American Medical Association didn't 363 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:32,680 Speaker 1: even officially term addiction as a disease until nineteen eighty seven. 364 00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:36,120 Speaker 1: So the ideas Berg was sharing with Lawrence Gross were 365 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:39,040 Speaker 1: kind of groundbreaking, and listeners loved it. 366 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:40,760 Speaker 9: Yes, he's a very interesting man. 367 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:43,280 Speaker 8: I've heard him before, but never on what you're talking about. 368 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:47,760 Speaker 9: He this man has got he's got stories that would 369 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:49,160 Speaker 9: make ASoP. 370 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:50,000 Speaker 2: He's got some smart. 371 00:21:50,119 --> 00:21:51,359 Speaker 9: Yeah, he's got some smart. 372 00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:54,960 Speaker 1: Almost immediately, alan Berg appeared to find his beacon through 373 00:21:55,000 --> 00:22:01,159 Speaker 1: the fog. Balancing a crumbling marriage, alcoholism, racious appetite for 374 00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:05,040 Speaker 1: life and women, and a lack of any viable career prospects. 375 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:08,760 Speaker 1: Following the implosion of his once promising legal career, alan 376 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:11,600 Speaker 1: Berg finally appeared to have something. 377 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:14,680 Speaker 9: Would you consider coming back next Sunday? All right, he'll 378 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:17,840 Speaker 9: come back and we'll continue this discussion. It's really very interesting. 379 00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:20,760 Speaker 9: We're talking with someone that is more than intimately involved 380 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:20,960 Speaker 9: with it. 381 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:30,480 Speaker 1: Alan didn't just make additional appearances on Lawrence Gross's program. 382 00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:33,520 Speaker 1: He launched his own career as a talk radio host, 383 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:37,000 Speaker 1: and he was uniquely suited for that role, drawing on 384 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:40,399 Speaker 1: a lifetime's worth of wild experiences and an array of 385 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:42,520 Speaker 1: strong opinions to draw in callers. 386 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:46,159 Speaker 7: You're brash, right, is that what you're telling us? 387 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:48,679 Speaker 10: No, I'm a lot of things after. I think if 388 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:50,800 Speaker 10: you've never heard me before, you'll find on a lot 389 00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:52,760 Speaker 10: of different dimensions. And I hope people can hear that 390 00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:54,720 Speaker 10: in me. I hope I can entertain you. I hope 391 00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:55,959 Speaker 10: I can make you a laugh. I hope I can 392 00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:58,520 Speaker 10: raise some interesting questions. I like to talk a lot 393 00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:00,879 Speaker 10: about human behavior. I am an turn buy background. I 394 00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:03,080 Speaker 10: practiced criminal law in Chicago for eleven years. I was 395 00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:06,080 Speaker 10: in the music business. I was an interior designer without 396 00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:07,639 Speaker 10: a swish, one of the rare ones. 397 00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:11,040 Speaker 1: Starting out on local Denver radio stations. Berg found a 398 00:23:11,119 --> 00:23:14,040 Speaker 1: job through which he could express his innermost thoughts, and 399 00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:16,399 Speaker 1: there were a number of forces guiding Berg through this 400 00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:19,879 Speaker 1: new chapter. For one thing, talk radio is beginning to 401 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:24,000 Speaker 1: emerge as a prominent format in American media. But Alan 402 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:27,000 Speaker 1: also had some new difficulties in his personal life that 403 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:31,160 Speaker 1: were driving him on the air, particularly his marriage to Judith, 404 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:33,080 Speaker 1: which by this point was over. 405 00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:42,879 Speaker 2: It was when I talk about it, it was absolutely 406 00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:47,639 Speaker 2: devastating to think that it's ending. It's over, you know, 407 00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:54,479 Speaker 2: And I guess it could have been here also, it 408 00:23:54,520 --> 00:23:55,280 Speaker 2: could have been there. 409 00:23:56,359 --> 00:24:01,560 Speaker 3: So you know, you can spend weeks and weeks. 410 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:04,240 Speaker 2: Days and days, hours and hours on a couch with 411 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:09,199 Speaker 2: a psychiatrist. But I think sometimes people just need to 412 00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:14,760 Speaker 2: face stuff themselves. We just didn't have a marriage, and 413 00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:19,120 Speaker 2: I absolutely adored him, and I was crazy about him, 414 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:20,040 Speaker 2: and he. 415 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:25,600 Speaker 3: Always acted like he was when he was with me. 416 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:34,879 Speaker 2: But you know, the Bloom on the Rose just was gone, 417 00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:40,359 Speaker 2: and his radio show was it was literally famous. 418 00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:45,879 Speaker 3: I don't know. I'd listened to him and he was 419 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:50,040 Speaker 3: just he just caught on. So then. 420 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:55,320 Speaker 2: I thought, well, this can't keep going back and forth 421 00:24:55,440 --> 00:25:01,440 Speaker 2: like this, so we have to be divorced. And you 422 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:03,040 Speaker 2: kept calling and talking. 423 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:09,119 Speaker 3: You know, it was just it was like a bad movie. 424 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:12,879 Speaker 1: Those demons that Alan was dealing with helped him interact 425 00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:16,800 Speaker 1: with callers struggling with their own problems. He'd eventually become 426 00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:20,439 Speaker 1: known for berating some callers, but he also demonstrated an 427 00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:23,440 Speaker 1: innate ability to assist those who came to him looking 428 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:23,840 Speaker 1: for help. 429 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:26,720 Speaker 8: Well, if I have a suicide on the air, which 430 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:28,399 Speaker 8: I've had many of in my life, and you actually 431 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:31,200 Speaker 8: save someone's life, that to me is something you accomplished directly, 432 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:34,080 Speaker 8: specifically accomplished. Or if you're talking about a human problem, 433 00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:36,399 Speaker 8: namely that someone is in trouble and maybe you can 434 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:39,080 Speaker 8: channel them in the direction and help them, or possibly 435 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:41,159 Speaker 8: something you're talking about on the air helps them in 436 00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:44,320 Speaker 8: some fashion, then to me, you're really accomplishing someone. So 437 00:25:44,359 --> 00:25:47,000 Speaker 8: it can be a serious condo. Oh yeah, it's a 438 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:49,200 Speaker 8: tremendous mix of things. Probably why I love it the most. 439 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:52,000 Speaker 8: It's a tremendously versatile business. It's a little bit like 440 00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:54,120 Speaker 8: Russian roulette. You come here every time and you really 441 00:25:54,119 --> 00:25:55,880 Speaker 8: don't know what's going to happen next. Both lines when 442 00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:59,840 Speaker 8: they like the uniqueness of talk is that we don't 443 00:25:59,880 --> 00:26:01,480 Speaker 8: know what's going to happen. I think that should be 444 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:03,240 Speaker 8: exciting for an audience because they don't know either. 445 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:15,320 Speaker 1: But it took time for Alan to find that balance 446 00:26:15,359 --> 00:26:18,280 Speaker 1: on the air. By his own admission, Alan had a 447 00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:21,520 Speaker 1: face for radio, but he also concedes that he didn't 448 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:24,240 Speaker 1: have a voice for radio either, and it took him 449 00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:26,720 Speaker 1: time to find his footing in a space that was 450 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:28,920 Speaker 1: becoming increasingly inflammatory. 451 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:31,240 Speaker 8: But I always felt that, you know, I grew up 452 00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:33,160 Speaker 8: in the era of these great voices, and I was thought, 453 00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:36,320 Speaker 8: you have a nasal twang, Chicago kind of style, and 454 00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:38,480 Speaker 8: you figure, hey, how can a guy like me ever 455 00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:41,040 Speaker 8: get into radio? That's because styles changed. If I had 456 00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:43,399 Speaker 8: tried to get broadcasting in the era of Jim Hawthorn Evern, 457 00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:44,879 Speaker 8: nobody would have listened to me. 458 00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:47,280 Speaker 10: It would have laughed at me there that you're hitting, 459 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:48,520 Speaker 10: You're ridiculous. 460 00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:50,720 Speaker 6: I still have a pretty much the devois and I 461 00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:51,639 Speaker 6: think that that no. 462 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:53,679 Speaker 10: But it has a sound that has not deemed the 463 00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:55,080 Speaker 10: professional sound of that era. 464 00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:57,359 Speaker 6: I don't think it's quite deep enough though. Yeah. 465 00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:00,520 Speaker 8: Mine, I show entry into this as I was. I 466 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:02,440 Speaker 8: was a real nice guy. I was scared to death, 467 00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:05,199 Speaker 8: could come on the air just petrickfight lay out an 468 00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:08,679 Speaker 8: issue and was just very unlike myself. 469 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:10,480 Speaker 10: It took me a good two to three years before. 470 00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:13,399 Speaker 8: I finally started to be relaxed enough in broadcasting to 471 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:15,919 Speaker 8: just do me. All I do now is me, I 472 00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:18,359 Speaker 8: just do what is naturally me. I think that's the 473 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:20,600 Speaker 8: biggest key in broadcasting is being natural. There was an 474 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:22,879 Speaker 8: error in broadcasting when that wasn't permissible. That's one of 475 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:26,639 Speaker 8: the most refreshing things about radio TV today, the namely 476 00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:29,800 Speaker 8: to be yourself, and that comes through the noise. Well, 477 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:32,080 Speaker 8: audiences are much brighter in one sense, certly not in 478 00:27:32,119 --> 00:27:35,080 Speaker 8: all senses, but they sensed genuineness from going this day 479 00:27:35,119 --> 00:27:35,439 Speaker 8: really did. 480 00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:39,320 Speaker 1: Alan's career was on the upswing. He'd finally found something 481 00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:41,880 Speaker 1: that he was good at, something that could put all 482 00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:45,720 Speaker 1: that anger and resentment and insecurity to use. Then he 483 00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:49,000 Speaker 1: suddenly got fired after an incident at a charity auction 484 00:27:49,119 --> 00:27:50,520 Speaker 1: for the local PBS station. 485 00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:53,080 Speaker 10: I did it for about six or eight years. All right, right, 486 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:55,439 Speaker 10: I hold up the lamp. It looked like something circa 487 00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:58,679 Speaker 10: Howard Johnson's nineteen forty six. Okay, from a motel. 488 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:00,560 Speaker 8: I hold it up and I said, this is from 489 00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:05,080 Speaker 8: an anonymous donor who wisely remained anonymous and donating this items. Okay, 490 00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:07,040 Speaker 8: were little shtick, a little bit, that's all want. 491 00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:08,400 Speaker 9: Okay, fine, remember when you wrote. 492 00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:11,760 Speaker 8: When Luiser ran up and said, that's wrong. You have 493 00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:13,840 Speaker 8: no right to say that about the donor. I said, 494 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:15,960 Speaker 8: you mean I defamed the donor. I said, the anonymous 495 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:18,760 Speaker 8: donor wisely remained anonymous. How do you perceive I wrong? 496 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:19,159 Speaker 9: Somebody? 497 00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:21,400 Speaker 8: She says, we don't want you on the air anymore. 498 00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:24,160 Speaker 8: Out there was a big hassle in town. A story 499 00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:26,440 Speaker 8: I written about me in the paper and the auction, 500 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:29,119 Speaker 8: and then they contended I crashed the auction. I'm holding 501 00:28:29,119 --> 00:28:31,400 Speaker 8: the invitation in my hands. They had me scheduling the time. 502 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:33,600 Speaker 8: Then they accused me of crashing the auction. 503 00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:34,520 Speaker 11: It was a classic. 504 00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:38,040 Speaker 9: Do you know how cantankerous one has to be to 505 00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:39,560 Speaker 9: get banned off of BBS. 506 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:41,640 Speaker 10: It's not easy to get fired for doing charitable work. 507 00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:47,120 Speaker 1: After a lifetime of restarts and resets, alan Berg was 508 00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:50,479 Speaker 1: at a crossroads. He was single, kind of famous, at 509 00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:54,640 Speaker 1: least locally, and very much unemployed, but a sequence of 510 00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:57,080 Speaker 1: events would soon make him one of the loudest and 511 00:28:57,160 --> 00:29:00,920 Speaker 1: most prominent voices in American radio. And the only thing 512 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:04,960 Speaker 1: more startling than alan Berg's shocking rise and unprecedented assassination 513 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:08,680 Speaker 1: were the details that emerged in the preceding murder investigation. 514 00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:14,000 Speaker 1: I'm Talpinschewski, a filmmaker and journalist, and I'll help guide 515 00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:16,560 Speaker 1: you through all of it over the next several episodes, 516 00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:20,560 Speaker 1: exploring alan Berg's groundbreaking work in radio right up to 517 00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:24,800 Speaker 1: his murder, and the startling glimpse into America's underbelly that 518 00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:30,320 Speaker 1: his murder investigation later revealed. This is live Wire, the 519 00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:39,160 Speaker 1: loud life and shocking death of Alan Burg. Live Wire 520 00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:43,520 Speaker 1: is a production of iHeart Podcasts and Modulator Media. For 521 00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:49,400 Speaker 1: more podcasts from iHeart Podcasts, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 522 00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:51,480 Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts.