Callers on radio shows - Some of them make me want to pull my hair out!!!

IDK how many of you listen to talk radio, I often do while cooking, cleaning and driving sometimes and it is usually AM political, coast-to-coast and even NPR - so a wide variety spanning both political spectrum and the "crazies" on C2C.

I think about 10-15% of the time I've had these programs on is filled with content of the caller telling the host their history of when they started listening, how often, what they do while listening, and many more mundane and totally useless comments about THEMSELVES while on the show. Then you have the people that sound like they are either so dumb that they couldn't have more than a 3rd grade education or they seemed like they are stoned out of their mind (can't make a coherent sentence, answer hosts questions, or follow their own train of thought). Then there are those that go off in tangents, sometimes it seems like they might be getting to a related point so the host doesn't cut in, but when it becomes clear it's going nowhere I can tell the host is pissed and I'm probably even more mad than the host!

One of the worst is when someone calls when they are talking about experiences (host wants people to call in with whatever experience is he current topic). Some of these are the absolute worst. A caller may need to explain when they witnessed harassment or racism in the work place and the caller may start setting the scene, stating where she was, who was there, then go into things like

Caller: "they had just installed new carpet a few days before and it had that smell, like you know that chemical new carpet smell? And they had some new paintings on the wall, some prints that are just so beautiful - you don't even know - these were so life like that you felt like you were standing where the picture was taken. These were very expensive but the owner recently had lunch with the gallery owner so he told me that he got them for a steal because they needed more room for a new display that was coming in."

The host interrupts and says "so were these derogatory or racist or sexist prints?"

Woman caller answers - "oh, no, they were marvelous one was of a beautiful waterfall in a stream..."

host cuts in "so what was the harassment issue"

woman caller "well the boss asked me to hang these paintings as if just because I am a woman I am supposed to know how to do things like this and when I said - well how am I supposed to answer the phone if I am hanging these prints - they boss just said that I'd figure it out"

Host asks "so was there anything else that the boss did or say that you took as being out of line"

caller response: "no but I just know that he wouldn't have asked any of the men at the company to do this and it's just because I'm a woman".

Host: "so were you able to hang the prints and perform your other responsibilities? How many calls do you get a day or how many an hour?"

caller - "well we average 3-4 calls an hour but the bulk of the calls come the first 2 hours of the day, at noon and the last hour, so there may be 2-3 hours where I may only get one call"

host - "how long does a call last" -

caller "IDK, I only answer the phone and transfer them to the employee or department they need".

Ending a call like this you can just hear the WTF on many different levels in the hosts voice and they are probably sitting there with a dead gaze shaking their hear, possibly with a gun to their head (j/k about the last part - maybe).

One final issue is it shouldn't be called "talk radio" it should be called "commercial radio" because I think the ratio is greater in favor of commercials vs actual talk, especially if you only count "original content" where they don't repeat the same clips, talking points, etc over the course of the program. some shows you might get lucky to get 20-30 mins of original content in a 3 hour show.

Then there is the caller that is basically reaching through the phone and stroking the host by saying "You are the most amazing" "you are the absolute smartest person on the air", "I respect you and your brain SOOOOO much, I just don't have words for it", "You are magnificent - the level of integrity and boldness you present on air has never been seen before". It goes on like this over and over and makes me want to puke.

I'm not being sexist but this is an observation I have made SO argue with the facts if you must.. For some reason the female callers seem much more likely to hit one or more of these majorly annoying issues, some will do a trifecta. Now there seem to be less women callers by a good percentage but there are also men who are just as bad. IDK if this is noticeable b/c there are fewer women callers or if it is the type of person that listens to these programs. I know other instances where men are much more likey to be the "offender" in those situations, but here for some reason it just seems to be the way described above. I've wondered how many shows pay callers (or get them for free to be on radio..?) to call in and follow a script - and how much of the calls are scripted - if any or possibly most on some shows. If this is the case, the reasoning for the women being the worse callers could be related to scripts they are given, so it isn't their fault, but those who hand the scripts out.

IDK if anyone else feels this way but this is what I have noticed and it seems to have gotten progressively worse over the last 10 years.

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

Ha! On music programmes, the callers are nearly always friends/ family of the host. In a talk radio format, depending on the popularity of a show, it's more than likely a bit of both, that is, some pre-recorded calls with friends/ family and some real callers. I would say that on the really popular talk shows, they are all legit callers.

With regards to pre-recorded calls. There usually isn't a script but there might be taking points that were discussed before recording the call.

Radio is a funny business. It's still all about 'theatre of the mind'.

Some stations/ shows do it really well...others not so much...or not so often. It's a hard game.

I think most of those talk shows rely on the host and their content,if you have a show with not a lot of callers,you have to fill air time,popular shows,host grills them quickly,because plenty of content,my brother in law and sister have been on many as well as TV

originally posted by: DigginFoTroof
IDK how many of you listen to talk radio, I often do while cooking, cleaning and driving sometimes and it is usually AM political, coast-to-coast and even NPR - so a wide variety spanning both political spectrum and the "crazies" on C2C.

I think about 10-15% of the time I've had these programs on is filled with content of the caller telling the host their history of when they started listening, how often, what they do while listening, and many more mundane and totally useless comments about THEMSELVES while on the show. Then you have the people that sound like they are either so dumb that they couldn't have more than a 3rd grade education or they seemed like they are stoned out of their mind (can't make a coherent sentence, answer hosts questions, or follow their own train of thought). Then there are those that go off in tangents, sometimes it seems like they might be getting to a related point so the host doesn't cut in, but when it becomes clear it's going nowhere I can tell the host is pissed and I'm probably even more mad than the host!

One of the worst is when someone calls when they are talking about experiences (host wants people to call in with whatever experience is he current topic). Some of these are the absolute worst. A caller may need to explain when they witnessed harassment or racism in the work place and the caller may start setting the scene, stating where she was, who was there, then go into things like

Caller: "they had just installed new carpet a few days before and it had that smell, like you know that chemical new carpet smell? And they had some new paintings on the wall, some prints that are just so beautiful - you don't even know - these were so life like that you felt like you were standing where the picture was taken. These were very expensive but the owner recently had lunch with the gallery owner so he told me that he got them for a steal because they needed more room for a new display that was coming in."

The host interrupts and says "so were these derogatory or racist or sexist prints?"

Woman caller answers - "oh, no, they were marvelous one was of a beautiful waterfall in a stream..."

host cuts in "so what was the harassment issue"

woman caller "well the boss asked me to hang these paintings as if just because I am a woman I am supposed to know how to do things like this and when I said - well how am I supposed to answer the phone if I am hanging these prints - they boss just said that I'd figure it out"

Host asks "so was there anything else that the boss did or say that you took as being out of line"

caller response: "no but I just know that he wouldn't have asked any of the men at the company to do this and it's just because I'm a woman".

Host: "so were you able to hang the prints and perform your other responsibilities? How many calls do you get a day or how many an hour?"

caller - "well we average 3-4 calls an hour but the bulk of the calls come the first 2 hours of the day, at noon and the last hour, so there may be 2-3 hours where I may only get one call"

host - "how long does a call last" -

caller "IDK, I only answer the phone and transfer them to the employee or department they need".

Ending a call like this you can just hear the WTF on many different levels in the hosts voice and they are probably sitting there with a dead gaze shaking their hear, possibly with a gun to their head (j/k about the last part - maybe).

One final issue is it shouldn't be called "talk radio" it should be called "commercial radio" because I think the ratio is greater in favor of commercials vs actual talk, especially if you only count "original content" where they don't repeat the same clips, talking points, etc over the course of the program. some shows you might get lucky to get 20-30 mins of original content in a 3 hour show.

Then there is the caller that is basically reaching through the phone and stroking the host by saying "You are the most amazing" "you are the absolute smartest person on the air", "I respect you and your brain SOOOOO much, I just don't have words for it", "You are magnificent - the level of integrity and boldness you present on air has never been seen before". It goes on like this over and over and makes me want to puke.

I'm not being sexist but this is an observation I have made SO argue with the facts if you must.. For some reason the female callers seem much more likely to hit one or more of these majorly annoying issues, some will do a trifecta. Now there seem to be less women callers by a good percentage but there are also men who are just as bad. IDK if this is noticeable b/c there are fewer women callers or if it is the type of person that listens to these programs. I know other instances where men are much more likey to be the "offender" in those situations, but here for some reason it just seems to be the way described above. I've wondered how many shows pay callers (or get them for free to be on radio..?) to call in and follow a script - and how much of the calls are scripted - if any or possibly most on some shows. If this is the case, the reasoning for the women being the worse callers could be related to scripts they are given, so it isn't their fault, but those who hand the scripts out.

IDK if anyone else feels this way but this is what I have noticed and it seems to have gotten progressively worse over the last 10 years.

If i was the host it would take one question to tell if this person is a nutter... How many cats do you own ? lol if its more than one this lady has more of an issue than mice.

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

I was listening to C2C for the Josh Gates interview. And as always turn off the show during open lines. Been doing this awhile now. I can't stand the callers either.

I'm with you on this one

You are right on the money with this. You put into words what is usually in my head during these shows. I’m in a car for most of my workday and have a couple of shows I listen to that make the time pass and keep me up on current events. When one of the more offensive callers gets going, I can’t help but visualize them and their mannerisms on the phone and that makes it just that much worse.

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

You can quickly tell a bad host because they let callers run on and on aimlessly. Sometimes, you get one that's entertaining at that, but most are dull as dirt when they do it.

A good host can cut in effortlessly and keep the topic going or find a way to cut someone off and move on.

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

I've heard some real winners while listening to Clyde Lewis.
I think these people have always been around but the Internet has brought them out into the open.

The worst is a host who won't.shut.up. and let the guest talk. I tune into a few and OMG! I'm listening because I want to hear what the guest is there to talk about.

But Nope!
The host is still blathering on about garbage and interrupting. The caller's I expect to be morons, but hosts who ramble on and on and on.

Homicidal doesn't cover it.

originally posted by: Caver78
The worst is a host who won't.shut.up. and let the guest talk. I tune into a few and OMG! I'm listening because I want to hear what the guest is there to talk about.

But Nope!
The host is still blathering on about garbage and interrupting. The caller's I expect to be morons, but hosts who ramble on and on and on.

Homicidal doesn't cover it.

You must be listening to Lex & Terry LOL.

That show is the worst for ramblers.

There are a lot of podcasts and radio shows on torrent sites. I download C/C and listen to it straight through commercial free that way. Yeah, couldn't listen to it live, too many commercials. Do a lot of late night driving. Lol

I'm glad we all agree that most of the crazies are on NPR...

Some of those call ins I have no words for...lol...

C2C with George Noory

George....Carl from Albquerque you're on c2c...

Caller.....there I was George, strapped down in the alien craft and it looked like they had a great big probe and....

Geroge....were the aliens wearing shoes, brown shoes, my mother had a pair of brown shoes, low heels if I remember,
but they were special brown shoes that she wore to church and to my aunts birthday party. Some times for a
special treat, she would let me shine her shoes with brown polish and a clean paper towel. We don't use paper
towels anymore as they are so expensive.

George....Brenda from west of the Rockies, you're on C2C. What color shoes do you wear Brenda? My mother wore brown shoes, and when I was a
good little lad she would let me polish them for her. I was so proud when she would let me polish her shoes, I would spread out
newspaper so I would'nt make a mess and get polish on the floor....


olaru12....throws the radio on the floor and stomps it into tiny fragments...

originally posted by: bringmecoffee
You are right on the money with this. You put into words what is usually in my head during these shows. I’m in a car for most of my workday and have a couple of shows I listen to that make the time pass and keep me up on current events. When one of the more offensive callers gets going, I can’t help but visualize them and their mannerisms on the phone and that makes it just that much worse.

Yeah I do the same thing. I sometimes picture the person thinking how important they are with all these people listening to them, getting their 5 mins of fame.


I REALLY need to find an alternative to AM radio (and FM as well). I know there are podcasts but I hate searching for them and now many have started doing so much advertising within them that it is almost as bad as "commercial radio".

I have found that there are some sites where you can download an entire radio show with all the commercials removed, though you still have to deal with the bad callers when they happen. I think I can listen to a 4 hour Coast to Coast in about 100 mins (compared to the 240 min air time! - and I don't have to listen to the same 5 commercials, driving me to the brink of insanity).

We need to make an ATS podcast list and outline what they are, links, etc. I think that would be helpful!

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: DigginFoTroof

I've heard some real winners while listening to Clyde Lewis.
I think these people have always been around but the Internet has brought them out into the open.

Lewis has a very strange show. Surprising at times....

“Do not be misled. Bad associations spoil useful habits.” (1 Cor.15:33)

"The one walking with the wise will become wise,

But the one who has dealings with the stupid will fare badly." (Proverbs 13:20)

Certain radio talk shows attract a certain type of listener or the type that calls in to such shows. And it's contagious (especially such a show as C2C). The hosts of such shows are fine with it as long as they're making money of the gullible and those demonstrating 2 Timothy 4:3,4 and Ephesians 4:14.

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

Who listens to talk back radio when there is music to be consumed. If I wan't talk back I wait till I get home and ask my wife how her day went.

to have gotten progressively worse over the last 10 years.

10 years? You must be a masochist

Sorry, but no caller will top the six fingered shaman and his offer to send Springer his pics of Atlantis. He was awesome. Although the guy offering to send Semper a box of Bigfoot poop was pretty good.