Podcast appearances and mentions of Bill Ratner

If you love great storytelling, you'll connect with this conversation. I sit down with Walden Hughes, a man whose Unstoppable passion has kept Old Time Radio alive for decades. As the voice behind YESTERDAY USA and a driving force with REPS, Walden has dedicated his life to preserving the art, sound, and soul of classic radio. We talk about what made those early shows so timeless, the craft of the actors, the power of imagination, and how simple audio could create entire worlds. Walden also shares how modern technology, archives, and community support are bringing these programs to new audiences. This conversation is about more than nostalgia. It's about keeping storytelling alive. Walden reminds us that great radio never fades and that imagination will always be Unstoppable. Highlights: 00:10 – Discover why Old Time Radio still captures the imagination of listeners today. 01:19 – Hear how the end of an era shaped the way we think about storytelling. 02:32 – Learn what made the performances and production of classic radio so unique. 04:25 – Explore how legendary shows left a lasting influence on modern audio. 05:16 – Gain insight into what separates timeless audio drama from today's versions. 08:32 – Find out how passion and purpose can turn nostalgia into something new. 12:15 – Uncover the community that keeps classic radio alive for new generations. 16:20 – See how creativity and teamwork sustain live radio productions. 24:48 – Learn how dedication and innovation keep 24/7 classic broadcasts running. 33:57 – Understand how listener support helps preserve the magic of radio history. 37:38 – Reflect on why live storytelling still holds a special kind of energy. 41:35 – Hear how new technology is shaping the future of audio storytelling. 46:26 – Discover how preservation groups bring lost performances back to life. 50:29 – Explore the process of restoring and protecting rare audio archives. 55:31 – Learn why authenticity and care matter in preserving sound for the future.     About the Guest: From a young age, Walden Hughes developed a lifelong love for radio and history. Appearing in documentaries on “Beep Baseball,” he went on to collect more than 50,000 old-time radio shows and produce hundreds of live nostalgic broadcasts. His work celebrates radio's golden era through events, celebrity interviews, and re-creations performed nationwide. His deep family roots reach back to early American history — from a Mayflower ancestor to relatives who served in major U.S. wars — shaping his respect for storytelling and legacy. With degrees in economics, political science, and an MBA in finance, he built a successful career in investments before turning his passion into purpose. As general manager and producer for Yesterday USA and longtime board member of SPERDVAC, he's preserved classic entertainment for future generations. Honored with awards like the Herb Ellis and Dick Beals Awards, he continues to consult for icons like Kitty Kallen and the Sinatra family, keeping the voices of radios past alive for audiences today.   Ways to connect with Walden:   Cell:  714/454-3281 Email:  waldenhughes@yesterdayusa.com or www.yesterdayusa.com Live shows are Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights beginning at 7:30 PDT.     About the Host:   Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening!   Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast   If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset .   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review   Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.       Transcription Notes:   Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:20 Well, hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of unstoppable mindset. Wherever you are listening from, we're really glad you're here, and we are going to have a guest who we've had on before we get to have him on again, and we're going to grill him really good. I want you to remember that a few weeks ago, we talked to Walden Hughes. And Walden is a collector of old radio shows. He's been very involved with organizations that help promote the hobby of old radio shows, and old rate Old Time Radio, as I do, and I thought it would be kind of fun to have him back, because there are a number of events coming up that I think are very relevant to talk about, and so we're going to do that. So Walden, welcome back to unstoppable mindset. We're glad you're here. Michael, been such a long time, and glad you invited me back. Well, I know it's been so long well, so tell me, let's, let's go back again. You know, radio people talk about the golden days of radio, or the time of old radio. When do we think that? When do we say that officially ended, although I think it went beyond   Walden Hughes ** 02:29 it. I though I jumped 30th, 1962, I'm, yeah, I I think the style changed a little bit, I'm probably a romantic somewhat. I love the style of old time radio. I love how it sound. Yeah, I think in in the 3040s and 50s, the studios and the theater that they use sounded great for radio, and it disturbed me, and I bet you have the same feeling, Michael, that when you get new production and new the new studio, it just doesn't sound right. I feel the equilibrium is not quite the way. I love old time radio. I think Old Time Radio A prime web. I think a lot of new productions out there that, you know, release their podcasts and things on a weekly basis. I think they're handicapped. They just don't have the budget to really create and build a studio the way I think it should be, that if they have, it sound just natural and just right.   Michael Hingson ** 03:43 And I think that's part of it, but I think the other part of it is that people today don't seem to know how to act and create the same kind of environment with their voice that Old Time Radio actors did in the 30s, 40s and 50s and into into the early 60s, even we had Carl Amari on several weeks ago. And of course, one of the things that Carl did was, did complete recreations of all of the Twilight Zone shows. And even some of those are, are they sound sort of forced? Some of the actors sound forced, and they they haven't really learned how to sound natural in radio like some of the older actors do.   Walden Hughes ** 04:34 Yeah, and I know Bob we call did it for a bike I get thrown off when he generally way. Did have the highway stars remote end, and he had a Stock Company of Chicago after, and I could hear the equilibrium just not quite right. That bothers me. I don't know if the average person picks up on that, and you're right. I don't know if. Is it the style of acting that they teach in film and TV? It needs a radio acting different in a lot of ways, and you got it as you point. It's got to be realistic into the environment. And actors don't get that for radio,   Michael Hingson ** 05:25 yeah, and you talked about the last day for you of real radio was September 30, 1962 and we should probably explain why that is   Walden Hughes ** 05:36 diet throughout the CBS your Troy John and suspense as the two main keys of old time radio. And that was the last day of old time radio out of New York. And I hardcore Lacher sister. Think that's one radio Shane died per se   Michael Hingson ** 05:58 Gunsmoke and Have Gun Will Travel were gone, right,   Walden Hughes ** 06:01 and the soap operas ended in November 2560 I like soap operas. I know a lot of people do not, but there's something can't there's something campy about it that I like. I would, I would like, I prefer to listen to somebody also proper than do some of the new production and make sure the acting style,   Michael Hingson ** 06:27 but I think there's a lot to do with it that that makes that the case. And I think you're absolutely right that so many things are different, but at the same time, radio did sort of continue. And there was, there were some good shows zero hour, the Hollywood radio theater that Rod Serling did later. And of course, NPR did Star Wars.   Walden Hughes ** 06:58 And I like that I did.   Michael Hingson ** 07:02 Yeah, I think that was done pretty well. And what do you think of CBS mystery theater? Honestly, CBS mystery theater, I thought that generally, CBS mystery theater had some good actors, and they did a pretty good job. I I can't complain too much about that, and it was on for a long time.   Walden Hughes ** 07:18 But what do you think of the script, though?   Michael Hingson ** 07:22 Well, part of the problem for me and CBS mystery theater is, and I'm sure it was a cost issue. There weren't very many people in most of the scripts. There was like two or three or so and and that was a problem. But I think that that the scripts suffered because there weren't more people in the scripts to really make it again sound pretty natural. I think that was a problem.   Walden Hughes ** 07:52 Yeah, Hyman Brown really knew how to crank it out. I think it has a good, solid B production, you know, the scripts. And I think the scripts are quite hampered. You couldn't, actually couldn't knock the actors. I thought the actors were Mercedes McCambridge and all those were terrific actors, but you're right. Sam dam wrote a lot of them, yeah, and things like that. But I   Michael Hingson ** 08:21 think, I think they would have been nicer to have more people in the scripts. But I understand that, that that probably was more difficult to do just because of union and scale and the cost. But gee, I think it would have made a big difference in the shows. But Hyman Brown really knew, as you said, How to crank them   Walden Hughes ** 08:39 out. Yeah, that's why, in some ways, I think the series, radio theater, the way 70 is a it's a terrific series. Didn't have the financial backing to make it last longer than the two years I was   Michael Hingson ** 08:52 on. Now, one show I really liked on in PR later was alien world, which I thought was good. I'd never heard any of them, so they were good, yeah, yeah, okay. I'm very happy with alien worlds. There were some actors from radio and in early television and so on. Hans con read, for example, was on some, yeah, I thought alien worlds went really well. I guess we're gonna have to get you some and get you to lose, Okay, interesting.   Walden Hughes ** 09:21 I just got done taking a eight week course on entrepreneurship for disabled people, and my idea is to pitch that we should be doing audio theater as a podcast. I think if it's big enough, it attracts national sponsors. And if you look at the numbers, everybody podcasting, 135 million people in the USA download a podcast once a week. Revenue, $2.46 billion yeah. Worldwide, 5 billion people download a podcast once a week. Revenue, three. $4 billion and so she had a well known he had a podcast with well known stars. I think she could get that 1% in that market, and then you can generate between the 24 to 40 million, $40 million in revenue a year. That would easily sure be a good financial model, and that's what I'm pitching. But when I went to the court, they asked me what to analyze, what's wrong with my what obstacles I have. And one of the things I put down is besides the studio we talked about and the acting, which a really good actor, actress, everybody, like a Beverly Washburn can pick up a script and knock it out of the park right away. Most actors are not able to do that. That's a real gift, as Michael was pointing out. But the other thing most scripts are written for film and TV, which is a verbal which is a eye medium, and a radio script is written for the ear, and I have produced enough the ear is faster than the eye. If you take like a TV script and a book and read it out loud, the mind wander. It has to have a faster pace for the ear. And I don't think more people notice that when they're analyzing a script,   Michael Hingson ** 11:31 yeah, but you you're sort of treading around the edges of something else. I think that is fascinating, that we can start to talk about one of the things that has occurred some over the past few years, and whether it be with a podcast or even just with the mechanisms we're using today, is there are some attempts to recreate some of the old radio shows and and you and I have both Well, we Have to get you acting in one of those shows, Walden. But I have, I've acted in the shows Walden works behind the scenes, and there are a number of people who have been involved with him. And you really can tell some of the good actors who performed in old radio as you said, Beverly Washburn, Carolyn Grimes and others. Carolyn, of course, is Zuzu from It's A Wonderful Life, and by the way, she's going to be coming on unstoppable mindset in the not too distant future. But, but the point is that you can tell those people because they've done it, and they're very comfortable with it, and they know how to make it come across really well. So for example, you're the president of the radio enthusiasts of Puget Sound. Now you're down here in Southern California. How did you work out being the president of reps?   Walden Hughes ** 13:01 Why my closest friends a hobby, Brian Haygood, and Brian's been one of the big movers and shakers of reps over the years. And when the founder, Mike Sprague, decided to step down, they were looking for new people to run showcase back in 2007 so Brian asked me, because I'm the one that has the contacts, you know, I'm the one booking guests for y USA rep, I'm sure the go to person with contacts and phone numbers, everybody. And so I just wound up doing the CO produced showcase back in 2007 with Brian. So that's been one of the things I wound up doing.   13:50 I produce   Walden Hughes ** 13:52 almost 30 923, or four days events of All Time Radio around the country. So tell us about showcase, showcase. It will be September 18, 19/20, 21st is a big event for us, for reps, and we got funding thanks to Ford culture and the state of Washington to do this. And it's free. You can go to reps online.org, and RSVP and come. And people that you get to see this time around are Beverly Washburn from Star Trek, when the bear ministry shows, yeah, when, when the bear man a good, solid voice actress, and also is a coach. Carolyn Grimes, as you mentioned, Margaret O'Brien, of course, you know Margaret from Oscar war winner from meet me in St Louis, Gigi Perot, and she goes back to the 40s and 50s. And did the belly hunting TV show, Tommy cook and Lacher Riley, a radio show. Ivan Kirk. Troy. Bobby Benson. Bill Owen, who you had on ABC TV announcer, author of The Big broadcast, Ron cocking. He and his great wife, Gloria Macmillan ran acting school for children.   Michael Hingson ** 15:15 Bill Ratner Miller, of course, is famous for radio.   Walden Hughes ** 15:18 Right arm is Brooks. Bill Ratner from GI Joe. Bill Johnson, who does Bob Hope around the country. John provoke to Timmy Lacher. Chuck Daugherty, the announcer for second announcer for Sergeant president of the Yukon King and discover the Beach Boys. David Osman from fire sign theater. Phil prosper from fire sign theater. John Iman, who was from the TV show Lacher. And there was Larry Albert and John Jensen, the big band Lacher. John Laurie gasping, and Dan Murphy used to be the program director ki Xi out in Seattle. And so that's gonna be a great weekend. We'll produce close to it, I think, 1819 radio recreation that's still negotiating. And we have several interviews and panel. It's all free. So you can go to repsonline.org, and that's one of our two major events, the other major events at the Christmas show in December, the first week in December. I'm hoping Mike can make it up that   Michael Hingson ** 16:31 weekend, I was hoping to be able to come to the Showcase. And one of my favorite shows, and Walden and I had talked about doing it, is Richard diamond private detective. And I actually asked to be cast as Richard diamond, but then a speaking engagement came up. So unfortunately, rather than being in Washington, I am going to be in Minnesota, I'm sorry, in Pennsylvania, speaking. So I won't be able to be there, but we'll do Richard diamond. That's gonna be a fun show one of these days. We'll do it.   Walden Hughes ** 17:06 We'll put we put it aside. So when Mike can can do it, we can do it so but no, really blessed to have the financial grants to keep audio theater live on a nonprofit basis, and that that that's a great board, and cannot every group's had that financial abilities right now to do that, and it's so expensive around the country to do it, terms of airfare, hotel commitments and Just meeting room costs, I mean, for people who may or may not know, when you go to a hotel a live event now, a lot of hotels expect that that meeting room needs to generate at least $10,000 of income per day. That that's a lot of money. And so we have a place that doesn't, that doesn't do that, and we're able to produce that. And so rep definitely focus on the live, live audio theater part, and also has a large library, like 33,000 shows I heard where we have so people can download, and we're also aggressively buying discs and things to add to the library. And I remember spur back I part of and I'll tell you some of the latest news and that when we talk to that topic, but it's just old time radio is in really good   Michael Hingson ** 18:41 shape at the moment. You mentioned Larry Albert, and most people won't know, but Larry Albert's been in radio for what, 40 years, and has played Detective Harry Niles that whole time, and he's also Dr Watson on Sherlock Holmes again, there are some really good professionals out there, which is cool, yeah, yeah, who understand and know how to talk in a way that really draws people in, which is what it's all about,   Walden Hughes ** 19:15 absolutely. And considering Larry and a co founder, they run all vacations, sure, the after of imagination theater. Sure they carry the banner up in Seattle, and it's pretty amazing what they're able to produce.   Michael Hingson ** 19:32 Yeah. Now, in addition to the Showcase and the Christmas show that reps is going to be doing, reps also does some other shows, don't they, during the year for like veterans and others up in the Seattle area, Tulsa, right?   Walden Hughes ** 19:46 We I thought that idea down here at spur back in 2017 the Long Beach Veterans Hospital, they still have the original theme. Leader, Mike, that Jack Benny and Bob Hope did their shows in front of the Vets at Long Beach. And I know you and I have radio shows from the Long Beach Veterans Hospital. Yes, and the stage is still there. It's the biggest stage I've ever seen. Mike, the seating area is mobile, so that way they can bring patients in who are wheelchairs or whatever, or in bed. They still have the 1940 film projectors and booth up above that they want to run movies in there, and it's just a remarkable feeling to be on stage that Bob Hope and and Jack Bailey did a show, and then the famous broadcast were Ralph Edward consequences, yeah, the Hubert Smith, who was A patient at the hospital and and so in 2017 we did. It's a Wonderful Life. And we had a gigantic crowd. I think it was almost 200 people came to that. And I was for the public and people inside the hospital. And it was, it was a exciting event to have deluxe version of It's a Wonderful Life, which was the 70th anniversary of the broadcast, right? And so I decided to take that concept and take up to Seattle and start performing shows inside the VA hospital system in Seattle. It took a while. It's hard, it's hard to get into the VA, VA system to put on shows, because you got to talk to the right people, and you gotta get a hold of PR and not always easy. So I found the right contacts, and then the state awards, and then has a grant for for veterans or veteran family member to be in shows, and so we're able to get some funding from the state for that so, and then we will also encourage them to come to showcase in September so. But no, that's that's another program we got going for that,   Michael Hingson ** 22:20 someone who I unfortunately never did get to meet, although I heard a lot of his shows, and he helped continue to bring memories of radio to especially the military. Was Frank brazzi, who was around for quite a while, and then he he was also on yesterday USA, a lot. Wasn't he sure where he's   Walden Hughes ** 22:46 from, from 1993 until 2018 so he had a good 25 year run on why USA, Frank and I co host the Friday night show for many years, until he passed away in 2018 show from 2000 to 2018 Frank was amazing guy. He was. He owned his own radio station in South Carolina, South Carolina Island. When he was 19, he had to form the first tape course in Hollywood show Bob Hope would hire him, and he would record all Bob stuff at Paramount Studio and sit to radio station and travel with Bob to record his radio Show. He also was Jim Hawthorne producer for television, Frank wound up developing board games a pass out sold 6 million copies in the new wedding the dating game. He had a company that got gift for game shows on television. He also set up a brother in a company to monitor when commercials were run on TV. Frank also produced record albums every day. He had Walter Winchell record the life of Alex joelson. Met with Jimmy Durante, had Jimmy Durante do an album, Eddie Cantor and so frank is one of these great entrepreneurs that was able to make a lot of money and spend a lot of it on his love for radio. He was the substitute for little beaver, for example, on Red Rider so and he loved doing the show the golden days of radio, which started in 1949 and from 1967 on, it was part of the Armed Forces Radio Service, which was put on 400 stations. And I'm the, I'm the care caregiver, caretaker of. All that items. So I have all the shows and getting them transferred and play them on y USA and Frank wanted to make sure his entire collection was available to collectors. So we want to make sure things were copied and things like that for people to enjoy. But no big part of old time radio, in a lot of ways, not behind the scene a little bit. You know, wasn't a big name person during the golden days of radio, but afterwards, wound up being a major person that carried the fire Troy, full time radio.   Michael Hingson ** 25:35 I know we talked about a little bit, but talk to us about yesterday, USA, that has been around quite a while, and in general, for those who don't know, yesterday, USA is an internet radio station, actually two, if you will. There's a red and a blue network of yesterday USA, and they both stations broadcast to old radio 24 hours a day, although conversations and up to date conversations are interspersed, it still primarily is a a vehicle for playing old radio shows, right?   Walden Hughes ** 26:13 Yeah, been around since 1983 founded by its start. Yeah. Founded by Bill Bragg, Bill started the largest communication museum in the world back in 1979 in Dallas, Texas, and he had a film exchanger. And there was a TV station called a nostalgia channel, and it had these films of old TV shows, but they didn't have the media to transfer it, and so they contacted Bill. Bill agreed to transfer the film. He asked what it is exchanged for him. They said, we can give you an audio channel on satellite. And they gave that to him. And so he tried to decide what to do. So he started a broadcast Old Time Radio over satellite, and he was over the big C span satellite   Speaker 1 ** 27:12 until Oh into the 2005   Walden Hughes ** 27:16 era or so. Wound up being the audio shop carrier for WGN got it high in 2000 at the third most popular internet broadcast site in the world, behind the BBC and CNN around the Lacher saw around 44 that's not too bad, with 15,000 stations online.   Michael Hingson ** 27:41 I remember, I remember it was probably like 1998 or so, maybe 97 we were living in New Jersey, and I was doing something on my computer. And I don't even remember how I discovered it, but suddenly I found yesterday, USA, and at that time, yesterday, USA was one channel, and people could become DJs, if you will, and play old radio shows. You could have an hour and a half slot. And every other week you updated your broadcast, and they put on your shows at different times during the the two week period. But it was a wave that, again, a lot of people got an opportunity to listen to radio, and I'm sure it was very popular.   Walden Hughes ** 28:32 Yeah, yeah, if they'll to Lacher show, we don't, we don't get 40,000 to 60,000 listening hours a month, with it a lot, because a lot, maybe some people might listen to seven minutes, some might people listen to a half hour and all that accumulative, it's almost 60,000 hours a month. So that's a lot of hours that people are accessing in it, there's something nice about being alive. I don't know what you think Mike, but doing something live is pretty special, and that's, that's the nice thing about what yesterday USA can provide, and we can talk, take calls, and then, you know, in the old days, you have more and more people talk about Old Time Radio. No doubting, but a lot of new people don't have those memories, so we we might do some other things to keep it interesting for people to talk about, but it's still the heart and soul. Is still old time radio in a lot of ways, and we're definitely the fiber, I think for new people to find old time radio.   29:43 How did you get involved with it?   Walden Hughes ** 29:47 I became aware of it in the early 80s when sperback mentioned it in the news trailer, so I knew it's out there. And I called, and Bill returned my call. I said, I would like my cable TV. A company to play it, and I contacted my cable TV. They couldn't get to that channel that was on the satellite, so they put big band music on those dead on the community board. And so at the same time as you about 1998 I had a good enough computer with a good enough sound card I could pick up yesterday, USA. I was aware of it. It started on the internet in 1996 I started to listen, and then I would sort of call in around 2000 they would ask a question Bill and Mike and not really know the answer, so I will quickly call and give the answer, then leave. Eventually, they realized that I knew kitty Cowan, the big band, singer of the 40s and 50s. They asked me to bring on and do the interview, which we did September 17 of 2000 and then they asked, Could I do interviews on a regular basis? And so when a kiddie friend who I knew, Tess Russell, who was Gene Autry's Girl Friday, who ran kmpc for the audience, that was the station with the stars down the road, easy listening music,   Michael Hingson ** 31:21 golden broadcasting, and that was the station Gene Autry owned, yep.   Walden Hughes ** 31:26 And I think everybody in the music business but the old touch rush all favor. So she she hooked up, she signed up. She gave me set book 17 guests for me, right away from Joe staff or the Troy Martin to Pat Boone Patti Page, who wrote them all out. So I had a major start, and then I started to contact people via letters, celebrities and things. And I think it's a really good batting average. Mike, I had a success rate of 20% Wow. Wish it was a person that didn't I had no contact with that I could turn into a guess. I always thought I was a pretty good batting average. Yeah, and I got Margaret Truman that way. I mean, she called me, said, Wong, I forgot I did this radio show with Jimmy Stewart. She did jackpot, you know, the screen director of Playhouse. And we talked about her time on The Big Show with Tallulah Bankhead. They said, a big help with Fred Allen to her. She we talked about she hosted a show, NBC show called weekday with what the weekday version of monitor was, Mike Wallace. And she talks about how Mike had a terrible temper, and if he got upset with the engineer, she has to grab his jacket and pull him back in his chair just to try to cool them off. And so we had a great time with Margaret O'Brien, Margaret Truman, but, but I always thought that would a pretty good bat Navy getting 20% and in those days, in early 2000 a lot of celebrities would be were willing to interact with the through the website, with you, and so I did that. So I booked hundreds of celebrity interviews over the years, and so it's been a, I think, an important part what I do is trying to preserve people's memories, right that way we have the recordings.   Michael Hingson ** 33:43 And so how long was Bill with yesterday, USA.   Walden Hughes ** 33:49 I passed away in 2019 so Bill from 83 to 2019, to us, 10 years or so of his wife, though he had   Michael Hingson ** 34:05 Alzheimer's and dementia, and so you could tell he was he was sounding older, yeah, and   Walden Hughes ** 34:11 he wasn't behind the scene. He was really erratic in a lot of ways. So Kim, Kim and I wound up his wife, and I wound up running the station for the last 10 years, behind the scene, okay, Bill wasn't able to do it, and so I would be the one handling the interaction with the public and handling the just jockeys, and Kim would do the automation system and do the paperwork. So she and I pretty much ran the station.   34:43 And now you do   Walden Hughes ** 34:45 it, I do it, yeah, and so I think Bill always had in mind that I'd be the one running the station in a lot of ways. And think to the listeners, we've been able to pay the bills enough to keep it. Going, I would love to generate more income for it.   Michael Hingson ** 35:03 Well, tell us about that. How are you doing the income generation? And so most of it is through   Walden Hughes ** 35:09 a live auction that we have in November this year, will be on Saturday, November 22 and people donate gift cards or items, and people bid on it, or people donate, and that money we basically use to help pay the monthly bills, which are power bills and phone bills and things like that, and so, which is a remarkable thing. Not every internet radio station has a big enough fan base to cover the cost, and so all the internet stations you see out there, everybody, the owners, sort of really have to pull money out of their own pocket. But why USA been around long enough, it has enough loyal following that our listenership really kicks in. I mean, we built a brand new studio here with the with the audience donating the funds, which is pretty remarkable. You know, to do that,   Michael Hingson ** 36:16 yeah, you got the new board in, and it's working and all that. And that's, a good thing. It really is. Well, I have been a listener since I discovered y USA. When we moved out to California for a while, I wasn't quite as active of a listener, but I still worked at it as I could. But then we moved down here, and then after Karen passed, was easier to get a lot more directly involved. And so I know I contribute to the auction every year, and I'm gonna do it again this year.   Walden Hughes ** 36:49 So would you, when you were after what you knew, why you said, Did you did you come with your question still quite a bit when you were working and traveling all the time over the years.   Michael Hingson ** 37:01 Oh, yeah, yeah, oh, I did a lot of times, and still, do I listen to some internet radio stations? Why USA among them when I travel, just because when I go to a new hotel, sometimes I can make the TV work, and sometimes I can't, but also sometimes finding the stations that I want to listen to is a little bit more of a challenge, whereas I can just use my my smartphone, my iPhone, and I've got a number of stations programmed in the only time I have had A little bit of a challenge with some of that is when I travel outside the US, sometimes I can't get direct access to some of the stations because of copyright laws. They don't they don't allow them to be broadcast out of the US, but mostly even there, I'm able to do it. But I do like to listen to old radio when I travel, typically, not on an airplane, but when I when I land, yes, yeah.   Walden Hughes ** 38:08 I think that's one thing that they ended up taking over. I think a lot of people grew up listening to the radio. Enjoy the uniqueness of radio station had. I don't know if you see that today, but I think the internet have replaced that.   Michael Hingson ** 38:24 Well, somewhat, I've seen some articles that basically say that there is a lot more shortwave listening and actual radio listening to radio stations than there is through the internet, but there is an awful lot of listening to the radio stations through the internet as well, but people do still like to listen to radio.   Walden Hughes ** 38:50 What do you think podcast? How you think podcasts fit in? I mean, you'd be hosting your own show. How you think that fit into the overall consumer questioning habit?   Michael Hingson ** 38:59 Well, I think then, what's going on with podcasts is that, like with anything, there are some really good ones. There are a lot of people who just do do something, and it's not necessarily really great quality. They think they're doing great, and they maybe are, but, but I think that overall, podcasting is something that people listen to when they're running, when they're walking, when they're doing exercising, when they're doing something else, running on a treadmill or whatever, a lot More than listening to a radio program that probably requires a little bit more concentration. But make no mistake about it, podcasts are here to stay, and podcasts are very dominant in in a lot of ways, because people do listen to them   Walden Hughes ** 39:56 a niche audience. So you find you find your audience who. Are looking for that particular topic, and so they tune into that their favorite podcast that they knew there really might be covering that topic.   Michael Hingson ** 40:07 Sure, there is some of that. But going back to what you were talking about earlier, if you get some good audio drama, and I know that there are some good podcasts out there that that do some things with good drama, that will draw in a wider audience, and that gets to be more like radio and and I think people like radio. People like what they used to listen to, kids so much today, don't but, well, they never heard old they never heard radio. But by the same token, good acting and good drama and good podcasts will draw people in just like it always has been with radio.   Walden Hughes ** 40:54 What I'm also noticing like the day the disc jockeys are, they somewhat gone. I mean, we grew up in an era where you had well known hosts that were terrific Dick jockey that kept you entertained. And I make it, I don't listen to too much because, for example, everybody the easy listening big band era, pretty much not in LA in the La radio market right now, right and I missed it.   Michael Hingson ** 41:23 I miss it too. And I agree with you, I think that we're not seeing the level of really good radio hosts that we used to there are some on podcasts. But again, it is different than it used to be. And I think some podcasts will continue to do well and and we will see how others go as as time passes, but I think that we don't see a Gary Owens on television on radio anymore. We don't see Jim Lang or Dick Whittington and whitting Hill and all those people, we don't see any of that like we used to. And so even Sirius XM isn't providing as much of that as as it used to.   Walden Hughes ** 42:20 And so what do you think AI is going to fit? I was listening to, I'm a sport fan, and Mike is a sport fan, so I like listening to ESPN and Fox Sports Radio.   Michael Hingson ** 42:32 And I was listening to a discussion over the weekend that they are, they are working some of the immediate it to replace the play by play announcer they're working with. Ai, can I figure eventually that can be a caution. It to do away with all announcers. I'm not sure that's going to happen, because I don't know. It doesn't seem like it could. I'm not sure that that will happen. I think that even if you look at the discussions about audible and other organizations providing AI voices to read books, what people say, and I'm sure over time, this will change a little bit, but and I'll get back to the button in a moment, people Say, I would much rather have a human narrated book than an AI narrated book, and the reason is, is because AI hasn't captured the human voice. Yet you may have somebody who sounds like an individual person to a degree, but you don't have the same pauses, the same intonations, the same kind of thing with AI that you do with humans. Now, will that get better over time? Sure, it will. But will it get it to be as good as humans? I think that's got a long way to go yet, and I don't think that you're going to see AI really replacing people in that regard. I think AI's got a lot that it can do, but I actually had somebody on the podcast last year, and one of the things that he said is, AI will never replace anyone. People will replace people with AI, maybe, although that may or may not be a good thing, but nobody has to be replaced because of AI, because you can always give them other jobs to do. So for example, one of the discussions that this gentleman and I had were was about having AI when you have autonomous vehicles and you have trucks that can drive themselves, and so you can ship things from place to place, keep the driver in the truck anyway. And instead of the driver driving the vehicle, the driver can be given other tasks to do, so that you still keep that person busy. And you you become more efficient. And so you let i. I do the things that it can do, but there are just so many things that AI isn't going to do that I don't think that AI is ever going to replace humans. The whole point is that we make leaps that AI is not going to be able to do.   Walden Hughes ** 45:15 Yeah, I think a good example in the audio book field, a really great reader can give you emotion and play the characters and make it realistic. And I don't know AI ever going to reach that point to bring emotions and feelings into a reading of story   Michael Hingson ** 45:32 not the same way. And as I said, I've been involved or listened and watched discussions where people say, for example, I might use AI to read a non fiction book because I'm not really paying so much attention to the reader and I'm just getting the information. But when it comes to reading a fiction book, and when it comes to really wanting to focus on the reader, I don't want AI is what I constantly hear. I want a person, and I understand that,   Walden Hughes ** 46:00 yeah, I think what you'll see AI, especially, take over the drive thru when people go to a fast food place. I can see AI replacing the interaction and trying to get those things corrected. I can see that   Michael Hingson ** 46:14 maybe, maybe, I mean, you know some of that to a degree, but I think that people are still going to rule out in the end, for quite a while. Well, you know, in talking about all the different radio organizations, I know we talked about a little bit last night last time, but tell me about spurt back.   Walden Hughes ** 46:36 Yeah, I can give you some new updates. Spoke actually been around to 1974   Michael Hingson ** 46:42 I remember when spurred back began a person who I knew, who was a listener to my radio program, Jerry Hindi, guess, was involved with with all of that. My problem with attending spurred back meetings was that it was they were way too far away from me at UC Irvine to be able to do it, but I joined by mail for a while, and, and, and that was pretty good. But by the same token, you know, it was there,   Walden Hughes ** 47:11 it was there. And spur back. Have honored over 500 people who worked in the golden days of radio. A lot of district donated. They had the meetings in the conventions now we're evolving very quickly this year into more preservation work. So we have bought over $10,000 in computers here recently. We bought and we donated, actually, we won a prize, although the first Lacher disk turntables from Japan, which is over a $10,000 turntable, we'll be using that to help dub disc. And the board is just voted in. It's going to increase the board to at least 11 people next year who will have a carryover of the seven board member and we want to have no new board members. So maybe you and I can talk about that Mike for you to be on for next year, because we'll be definitely expanding the board with 11 one. So I think it'd be really strong in the preservation stuff, because perfect got 20 to 30,000 deaths that need to get out there. And with all your new equipment, it's amazing how full time radio sounds so good today terms of the new technology, and compare where I started collecting the 70 and I ran into a lot of even commercial stuff really muddy in those days. Mike, I bet you did too, and it's a remarkable difference. Spur back is planning to be at the Troy Boston festival next April, what does spread back? Stand for the society to preserve and encourage radio drama, variety and comedy. And you can go to spur back.com Join. You can go to repsonlect.org to join. And we then mentioned yesterday, USA. Yesterday usa.com or.net and can go there and listen away and participate in the auction, which will be coming up November 22 Yeah, very important to do as well. But anyway, I really think full time radio is in a really good spot. Mike. I think if it was for the internet, I don't know if we would find all the young people who are interested in it. I think it then it been a double edged sword. It knocked out a lot of dealers. You know, they used to make money selling their tapes and CDs and everything, and I bought a lot. I know you did too over the years, but those days are pretty. Pretty much done, and but if found a lot of new younger people to find the stations or find podcast and they get to learn about yesterday USA and Old Time Radio, and all the different radio ones more and all the different internet station are playing it until they can expose and I don't think that would have happened before the internet, so I think it'll always have it created a whole new listenership.   Michael Hingson ** 50:30 I am still amazed at some of the things that I hear. I remember once when somebody found a whole bunch of old Petri wine sponsored Sherlock Holmes with basil, Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. They were horrible quality. Was it Chris who   Walden Hughes ** 50:50 found? Yep, Chris one best founded me up and found me a bookstore.   Michael Hingson ** 50:55 And the quality wasn't wasn't good at all, but they were remastered, and they sound incredible. They do how they do it, because I'd love to be able to do that with shows that I have, and like to remaster them.   Walden Hughes ** 51:13 Yeah, what happened was, you know, they were two writers, green and Boucher, Lacher, Lacher, right, and Boucher was a famous bachelor Khan. The famous mystery convention is named after him. And Dennis Green was an actor on radio, and he was also a historian. He knew, like all everything about Sherlock Holmes. And so they created the new venture who saw a comb based upon maybe a scene from a previous right story and gets expanded upon it. And so when it when one of them passed away, the collection wound up in a bookstore in Berkeley, California, and crystal investor found out. And so there became a buying group led by John tough fellow, Kenny Greenwald, Dick Millen, Joey brewing and others, got in a bidding war with the Library of Congress, and they outbid and won. They paid $15,000 for the sets of Sherlock, Holmes and so and Shirley Boone was an NBC audio engineer and chief film engineer. He really knew how to dub, and so they they did a terrific job. And then they decided to put out a record album on their own with the first two episodes. And then after that, they decided to market it to Simon Schuster, and they decided to do small vignettes. They could copyright the vignette. These were quite three minutes introduction, so they would get Ben Wright, who wanted to always Sherlock Holmes and Peggy Webber in order to reminisce and or create little scenes to set up the stories that way they could copyright that part. They couldn't copyright the show because they fell in the public domain, right? But they wound up paying the estates of everybody anyway. But that's what how they all came out, and they were hoping to do Gunsmoke. We talked to Kenny Greenwald and others, but that never, that never came off and but that's part of the remarkable thing that Karl Marx done. He's been able to get into CBS, and I think he's working on NBC, and he licensed them, so he'll be able to get into the vault and get more stuff out for all of it to enjoy. And that's an amazing thing that Carl drives for the hobby is to get new stuff out there. It's been locked away for all these years.   Michael Hingson ** 53:53 I am just amazed at the high quality. I'd love to learn more about audio engineering to be able to do that, because I have a lot of recording I'd love to make a lot better than they are.   Walden Hughes ** 54:05 Yeah, Jerry Henry used to use a software called Diamond Cut, ah, and I would the those originally was used for the Edison solder records. And the guy who issued this, Joe, they developed the software. And that's where Joe, hi, who did so much transfer work, that was the program he wound up using to create good sound,   Michael Hingson ** 54:32 yeah, and, and did a lot of it,   Walden Hughes ** 54:36 yep, see there, see, there was a software, everybody, I think original is hardware. And I think originally almost was a $50,000 piece of equipment, harder before 2000 now it's gone to software base and a couple $1,000 that's another way. That's another program that people use to clean disk. Now. Crackles and pop out of the recording.   Michael Hingson ** 55:02 So but it's not just the snap crackle and pop. It's getting the the real fidelity back, the lows and the highs and all that you said, what was the one he used? Diamond Cut. Diamond Cut, yeah. Diamond Cut, yeah. But yeah. It's just amazing. The kinds of things that happen, like with the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and and others.   Walden Hughes ** 55:23 But you also have good ears for that. Because, yeah, I remember about 2025, years ago, it was serious. XM. Everybody has this stereo sound, I know, if you're shooting, has a certain ambiance about it. And there were companies that were taking old time radio and creating that same effect, and that could bug me. I was so used to listen to old radio show in an analog feel about it. And they when they try to put false stereo in a recording, yeah, oh my gosh. It just didn't sound right. And so they've gotten away from that pill, a lot of new dubbing. They do don't have that. So it sounds terrific now, yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 56:15 sounds a lot better. What do you think is the future of the hobby?   Walden Hughes ** 56:19 I think more and more stuff are coming out. A lot of stuff that were with agreements to hold on to the material have disappeared, because a lot of it is passing from generation to generation. And so I think over the next 10 years, you see so much more stuff coming out. In some ways, that's sort of what you John Larry and I do. We collect almost everything, just because you got to make sure it's captured for the for the next generation, even though we might not be listening to it. There's so much stuff we don't listen to do everything. But I think we're, we're short of the wide billions of old time radio so we try to capture all of it and preserve it on hard drives, yeah, but eventually it'll go to future generations. But I really think more and more stuff are coming out. I think with the yesterday USA, more and more people will find it. And I'm hoping, with creating new audio theater, I would like to reproduce the great radio scripts we have no recordings for, like one man, family, I love, a mystery, all those things. That's sort of what I want to do, is one of my goals. And I think be great to hear stories that we've all collected, that we wonder about, and to get audio production behind some of these scripts. And I think it's in very good shape. It will all come down to money, Michael, as you know, you know,   Michael Hingson ** 57:58 but I also think that it's important that we, as we're recreating the shows, that while we can, we have people who understand what we really need for actors who are going to be recreating the shows, are able to find the right people to do it, train them how to do it. I think that's so important.   Walden Hughes ** 58:19 I think so. I think, I think you find a lot of young people who like theater, who are not necessarily radio fan, if they came, if the radio fan, like Brian Henderson and people like that, they become really good actor because they love to listen to the shows ahead of time. Yeah. Beverly Washburn does the same. She likes hearing the original performances that way. She get field for me to the show. And I think you and I think Larry does it that way. And you might not necessarily want to copy everything, but you got a benchmark to work from, and you sort of know what, with the intent when   Michael Hingson ** 59:01 you say Larry, which Larry? Larry Gasman,   Walden Hughes ** 59:03 great, yeah. And I think that's a great help to study and listen how people did it, because I think a lot of old time radio, it's like the prime rib. It was the best of the best of all time of radio drama, and it's a great way to learn the craft, by listening to it and absorbing it.   Michael Hingson ** 59:30 Well, if people want to reach out to you and maybe learn more about yesterday, USA or reps and just talk with you about radio, how do they do that, they can give me a   Walden Hughes ** 59:41 call at 714-545-2071, that's my studio number for the radio stations. Lot of times I can, I'll pick it up and talk to on air, off air. They can always drop me an email Walden shoes at yesterday. Us. Dot com and happy the answer, you can always call my cell phone at 714-454-3281,   Walden Hughes ** 1:00:11 you can chase me down at over, at reps, at reps online.org. You know, get forward to me or spur vac at S, P, E, O, D, V, A, c.com, or you can even get hold of Michael Henson and Mike.   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:26 You can always get a hold of me. And people know how to do that, and I will get them in touch with you as well, you bet. So I'm glad to do that. Well, I want to thank you for being here, and I want to thank all of you for listening. I hope you've enjoyed this. This is a little bit different than a lot of the podcast that we've done. But it is, it is so important to really talk about some of these kinds of concepts, and to talk about old radio and what it what it still adds and contributes to today. So I hope that you enjoyed it. I'd love to hear from you. Feel free to reach out to me. Michael H, i@accessibe.com that's m, I, C, H, A, E, L, H, I at accessibe, A, C, C, E, S, S, i, b, e.com, love to hear from you. Wherever you're listening, please give us a five star rating. We value that a lot, and I hope that you'll go listen to YESTERDAY usa.com, or.net then again, in both, there's the red and the blue Network, or repsonline.com, and we, we have a lot of fun. Every so often we do trivia contests, and we'll take hours and and gentlemen in New Jersey and his wife, Johnny and Helen Holmes, come on and run the trivia, and it's a lot of fun, and you're welcome to add your answers to the trivia questions, and you can come on in here and learn how to even do it through the chat.   Walden Hughes ** 1:01:51 But my kids watch this every Friday night on, why USA too?   Michael Hingson ** 1:01:56 Yeah, I get to be on every Friday night, and that's a lot of fun. Yeah. So we'd love to hear from you, and we'd love you to to help us further enhance the whole concept of old radio show. So I want to thank you again. And if you know of other people who ought to be on the podcast, Walt, and of course, you as well as you know, please introduce us. We're always looking for more people to talk to us about whatever they want to talk about. So I want to again. Thank you all and for being here. And Walden, thank you for being here as well.   Walden Hughes ** 1:02:27 All right, Mike, I'll be talking a little while.   Michael Hingson ** 1:02:33 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

As you will learn, our guest this time, Walden Hughes, is blind and has a speech issue. However, as you also will discover none of this has stopped Walden from doing what he wants and likes. I would not say Walden is driven. Instead, I would describe Walden as a man of vision who works calmly to accomplish whatever task he wishes to undertake. Walden grew up in Southern California including attending and graduating from the University of California at Irvine. Walden also received his Master's degree from UCI. Walden's professional life has been in the financial arena where he has proven quite successful. However, Walden also had other plans for his life. He has had a love of vintage radio programs since he was a child. For him, however, it wasn't enough to listen to programs. He found ways to meet hundreds of people who were involved in radio and early television. His interviews air regularly on www.yesterdayusa.net which he now directs. Walden is one of those people who works to make life better for others through the various entertainment projects he undertakes and helps manage. I hope you find Walden's life attitude stimulating and inspiring. About the Guest: With deep roots in U.S. history and a lifelong passion for nostalgic entertainment, Walden Hughes has built an impressive career as an entertainment consultant, producer, and historian of old-time radio. Since beginning his collection in 1976, he has amassed over 50,000 shows and has gone on to produce live events, conventions, and radio recreations across the country, interviewing over 200 celebrities along the way. A graduate of UC Irvine with both a BA in Economics and Political Science and an MBA in Accounting/Finance, he also spent a decade in the investment field before fully embracing his love of entertainment history. His leadership includes serving as Lions Club President, President of Radio Enthusiasts of Puget Sound, and long-time board member of SPERDVAC, earning numerous honors such as the Eagle Scout rank, Herb Ellis Award, and the Dick Beals Award. Today, he continues to preserve and celebrate the legacy of radio and entertainment through Yesterday USA and beyond. Ways to connect with Walden: SPERDVAC: https://m.facebook.com/sperdvacconvention/ Yesterday USA: https://www.facebook.com/share/16jHW7NdCZ/?mibextid=wwXIfr REPS: https://www.facebook.com/share/197TW27jRi/?mibextid=wwXIfr About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:20 Well, hi everyone, and welcome to another episode of unstoppable mindset, where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. We're going to deal with all of that today. We have a guest who I've known for a while. I didn't know I knew him as long as I did, but yeah, but we'll get to that. His name is Walden Hughes, and he is, among other things, the person who is the driving force now behind a website yesterday USA that plays 24 hours a day old radio shows. What I didn't know until he told me once is that he happened to listen to my show back on K UCI in Irvine when I was doing the Radio Hall of Fame between 1969 and 1976 but I only learned that relatively recently, and I didn't actually meet Walden until a few years ago, when we moved down to Victorville and we we started connecting more, and I started listening more to yesterday, USA. We'll talk about some of that. But as you can tell, we're talking, once again, about radio and vintage radio programs, old radio programs from the 30s, 40s and 50s, like we did a few weeks ago with Carl Amari. We're going to have some other people on. Walden is helping us get some other people onto unstoppable mindset, like, in a few weeks, we're going to introduce and talk with Zuzu. Now, who knows who Zuzu is? I know Walden knows, but I'll bet most of you don't. Here's a clue. Whenever a bell rings, an angel gets his wingsu was the little girl on. It's a Wonderful Life. The movie played by Carol from Yeah, and she the star was Carolyn Grimes, and we've met Carolyn. Well, we'll get to all that. I've talked enough. Walden, welcome to unstoppable mindset. We're glad you're   Walden Hughes ** 03:19 here. Hello, Michael boy, I mean, you, you had John Roy on years ago, and now you finally got to me that's pretty amazing.   Michael Hingson ** 03:25 Well, you know, we should have done it earlier, but that's okay, but, but you know what they say, the best is always saved for last.   Walden Hughes ** 03:34 Hey. Well, you know, considering you've been amazing with this show on Friday night for the last year. So here yesterday, USA, so we you and I definitely know our ins and outs. So this should be an easy our place talk.   Michael Hingson ** 03:47 Yes. Is this the time to tell people that Walden has the record of having 42 tootsie rolls in his mouth at once?   Walden Hughes ** 03:52 That's what they say. I think we could do more, though, you know. But yeah, yeah. Well, we won't ask, miss, yeah, we won't ask you to do that here. Why not?   Michael Hingson ** 04:03 Yeah, we want you to be able to talk. Well, I'm really glad you're here. Tell us a little about the early Walden growing up and all that.   Walden Hughes ** 04:12 I'm my mom and dad are from Nebraska, so I have a lot of Midwestern Nebraska ties. They moved out here for jobs in 65 and I was born in 1966 and I was the first baby to ever survive the world Pierre syndrome, which means I was born with a cleft palate, being extremely near sighted and and a cup and a recession. So I was the first baby through my mom and dad debt by $10,000 in 17 days, and it was a struggle for my folks. You know, in those early days, without insurance, without any. Thing like that. You know, people really didn't think about medical insurance and things like that in those days, that was not an issue. So, um, so I've always had extremely loving family. Then I went through five retina detachments, and starting when I was seven years old, up to I was nine, and I finally woke up one morning seeing white half circle so the retina detached. Sometime in the middle of the night, went to the most famous eye doctor the world at times, Dr Robert macchermer, who was the one who invented the cataract surgery and everything. Later, he wound up being the head of Duke Medical that was down in Florida, and they took one last ditch effort to save my sight, but it was a 2% chance, and it didn't work out. So they went blind in November 75 and went into school for people who may or may not know California pretty aggressive in terms of education, and so when I wear hearing aids, so I parted a hard of hearing class. Newport school. Mesa took care of the kids who were hard of hearing and the blind children went up to Garden Grove. So when I walked my site, went up to Garden Grove. And so that was my dedication. I was always a driven person. So and I also had a family that supported me everything I ever did. They didn't it just they were ultimately supporting me in education, all sorts of stuff. So I wound up in the Boy Scout Program. Wound up being an Eagle Scout like you, wound up being visual honoring the OA. And this was always side of kids. I was sort of the organizer all decided kid, and there was Walden that was right, I was that way in my entire life, which is interesting that the most kids are all hanging out. We were sighted and and even the school district, which was pretty amazing to think about it, Newport, they told my mom and dad, hey, when Wong ready to come back to his home school district, we'll cover the bill. We'll do it. And so my freshman year, after my freshman year in high school, we thought, yeah, it's time to come back. And so the Newport school, Mesa picked up the tab, and so did very well. Went up, applied to seven colleges, Harvard, a Yale Stanford turned me down, but everybody else took me   Michael Hingson ** 07:53 so, but you went to the best school anyway.   Walden Hughes ** 07:57 So I mean, either like Michael Troy went to UCI and I graduated in three years and two quarters with a degree in economics, a degree in politics, a minor in management, and then I went to work as a financial planner with American Express and then a stockbroker. I always wanted to go back get my MBA. So I got my MBA at UCI, and I graduated with my MBA in accounting and finance in 1995 so that's sort of the academic part Wow of my life.   Michael Hingson ** 08:32 How did your parents handle when it was first discovered that you were blind? So that would have been in what 75 how do they handle that?   Walden Hughes ** 08:42 They handle it really well. I think my dad was wonderful. My dad was the one that took, took me my birth, to all the doctor appointments, you know, such a traumatic thing for my mom. So my dad took that responsibility. My mom just clean house. But they, they My dad always thought if I were going to make it through life, it was going to be between my ears. It could be my brain and I, I was gifted and academically in terms of my analytical abilities are really off the chart. They tested me like in 160 and that mean I could take a very complicated scenario, break it down and give you a quick answer how to solve it within seconds. And that that that paid off. So no, I think, and they they had complete and so they put in the time.   Michael Hingson ** 09:47 What kind of work did your dad do? My dad   Walden Hughes ** 09:51 wound up being a real estate agent, okay, and so that gave him flexibility time. My mom wound up working for the Irvine camp. Attorney, which is the big agriculture at that time, now, apartments and commercial real estate here in oil County and so. So with their support and with the emphasis on education, and so they helped me great. They helped my brother a great deal. So I think in my case, having two really actively involved parents paid off, you know, in terms of, they knew where to support me and they knew the one to give me my give me my head, you know, because I would a classic example of this. After I graduated from college at UCI, I was looking for work, and mom said, my mom's saying, oh, keep go to rehab. Talk to them. They're both to help you out, give it. I really wasn't interested, so I sat down and met with them and had several interviews, and they said we're not going to fund you because either A, you're gonna be so successful on your own you pay for your own stuff, or B, you'll completely fail. So when I, and that's when they flat out, told me at rehab, so I I had more more luck in the private sector finding work than I did ever in the public sector, which was interesting.   Michael Hingson ** 11:39 I know that when I was in high school, and they it's still around today, of course, they had a program called SSI through the Department of Social Security, and then that there, there was also another program aid of the potentially self supporting blind, and we applied for those. And when I went to UC Irvine, I had met, actually, in 1964 a gentleman while I was up getting my guide dog. He was getting a guide dog. His name was Howard Mackey, and when I went to college, my parents also explored me getting some services and assistance from the Department of Rehabilitation, and I was accepted, and then Howard Mackey ended up becoming my counselor. And the neat thing about it was he was extremely supportive and really helped in finding transcribers to put physics books in braille, paid for whatever the state did it at the time, readers and other things like that that I needed provided equipment. It was really cool. He was extremely supportive, which I was very grateful for. But yeah, I can understand sometimes the rehabilitation world can be a little bit wonky. Of course, you went into it some 18 to 20 years later than that. I, in a sense, started it because I started in 6869 Yeah. And I think over time, just the state got cheaper, everything got cheaper. And of course, now it's really a lot different than it used to be, and it's a lot more challenging to get services from a lot of the agencies. And of course, in our current administration, a lot of things are being cut, and nobody knows exactly what's going to happen. And that's pretty   Walden Hughes ** 13:30 scary, actually. When I went to UCI, the school picked it up the pic, the school picked up my transcribing. They picked up my readers and all that. So interesting. How?   Michael Hingson ** 13:39 But did they let you hire your own readers and so on? Or do they do that?   Walden Hughes ** 13:43 They just put out the word, and people came up and and they paid them. So they just, they were just looking for volunteer, looking for people on the campus to do all the work. And, yeah, in fact, in fact, I had one gal who read pretty much all my years. She was waiting to get a job in the museum. And the job she wanted, you basically had to die to get it open. And so she for a full time employee with the read, can I be taking 20 units a quarter? Yeah. So I was, I was cranking it out. And in those days, everybody, you were lucky they I was lucky to get the material a week or two before midterm. Yeah, so I would speed up the tape and do a couple all nighters just to get through, because I really didn't want to delay, delay by examinations. I wanted to get it, get it through. But, uh, but, you know, but also, I guess I was going four times just throughout the quarter, set them into the summer. Okay, I wanted to get it done. Yeah, so that's, that's how I   Michael Hingson ** 14:50 did it. I didn't do summer school, but I did 16 to 20 units a quarter as well, and kept readers pretty busy and was never questioned. And even though we have some pretty hefty reader bills, but it it worked, no and and I hired my own readers, we put out the word, but I hired my own readers. And now I think that's really important. If a school pays for the readers, but lets you hire the readers, that's good, because I think that people need to learn how to hire and fire and how to learn what's necessary and how to get the things that they need. And if the agency or the school does it all and they don't learn how to do it, that's a problem.   Walden Hughes ** 15:36 If fashioning is just a sidebar issue, computer really became a big part. And with my hearing loss, TSI was really, yeah, telesensory, the one Incorporated, right? And they were upscale, everybody. It was, you know, $2,500 a pop. And for my hearing, it was the was for the card, the actual card that fits into the slot that would read, oh, okay, okay, right. And eventually they went with software with me, a lot cheaper, yes, and so, so my folks paid for that in the early days, the mid 80s, the computers and the software and a lot of that were trial and error terms of there was not any customer support from the from the computer company that were making special products like that, you were pretty much left on your own to figure it out. Yeah, and so time I went to graduate in 1990 we figured, in the business world, financial planning, I'm gonna need a whole complete setup at work, and we're gonna cost me 20 grand, yeah, and of course, when we have saying, We biking it, we're gonna finance it. What happened was, and this has helped with the scouting program. I knew the vice president of the local bank. And in those days, if it was, if it was still a small bank, he just went, he gave me a personal loan, hmm, and he, I didn't have to get any code centers or anything. No, we're gonna be the first one to finance you. You get your own computer set up. And so they, they, they financed it for me, and then also Boyle kicked in for 7500 but that was, that's how I was able to swing my first really complicated $20,000 units in 1990   Michael Hingson ** 17:33 the Braille Institute had a program. I don't know whether they still do or not they, they had a program where they would pay for, I don't know whether the top was 7500 I know they paid for half the cost of technology, but that may have been the upper limit. I know I used the program to get in when we moved, when we moved to New Jersey. I was able to get one of the, at that time, $15,000 Kurzweil Reading machines that was in 1996 and Braille Institute paid for half that. So it was pretty cool. But you mentioned TSI, which is telesensory Systems, Inc, for those who who wouldn't know that telesensory was a very innovative company that developed a lot of technologies that blind and low vision people use. For example, they developed something called the optic on which was a box that had a place where you could put a finger, and then there was attached to it a camera that you could run over a printed page, and it would display in the box a vibrating image of each character as the camera scanned across the page. It wasn't a really fast reading program. I think there were a few people who could read up to 80 words a minute, but it was still originally one of the first ways that blind people had access to print.   Walden Hughes ** 18:59 And the first guinea pig for the program. Can I just walk my site in 75 and they, they wanted me to be on there. I was really the first one that the school supply the optic on and has special training, because they knew I knew what site looked like for everybody, what Mike's describing. It was dB, the electronic waves, but it'd be in regular print letters, not, not broil waters, right? What   Michael Hingson ** 19:25 you felt were actually images of the print letters, yeah.   Walden Hughes ** 19:30 And the thing got me about it, my hand tingled after a while,   Michael Hingson ** 19:35 yeah, mine   Walden Hughes ** 19:36 to last forever,   Michael Hingson ** 19:38 you know. So it was, it wasn't something that you could use for incredibly long periods of time. Again, I think a few people could. But basically, print letters are made to be seen, not felt, and so that also limited the speed. Of course, technology is a whole lot different today, and the optic on has has faded away. And as Walden said, the card that would. Used to plug into computer slots that would verbalize whatever came across the screen has now given way to software and a whole lot more that makes it a lot more usable. But still, there's a lot of advances to be made. But yeah, we we both well, and another thing that TSI did was they made probably the first real talking calculator, the view, plus, remember   Walden Hughes ** 20:25 that? Yep, I know a good sound quality.   Michael Hingson ** 20:28 Though it was good sound quality. It was $395 and it was really a four function calculator. It wasn't scientific or anything like that, but it still was the first calculator that gave us an opportunity to have something that would at least at a simple level, compete with what sighted people did. And yes, you could plug your phone so they couldn't so sighted people, if you were taking a test, couldn't hear what what the calculator was saying. But at that time, calculators weren't really allowed in the classroom anyway, so   Walden Hughes ** 21:00 my downside was, time I bought the equipment was during the DOS mode, and just like that, window came over, and that pretty much made all my equipment obsolete, yeah, fairly quickly, because I love my boil display. That was terrific for for when you learn with computers. If you're blind, you didn't really get a feel what the screen looked like everybody. And with a Braille display, which mine was half the screen underneath my keyboard, I could get a visual feel how things laid out on the computer. It was easier for me to communicate with somebody. I knew what they were talking   Michael Hingson ** 21:42 about, yeah. And of course, it's gotten so much better over time. But yeah, I remember good old MS DOS. I still love to play some of the old MS DOS games, like adventure and all that, though, and Zork and some of those fun games.   Walden Hughes ** 21:57 But my understanding dos is still there. It's just windows on top of it, basically,   Michael Hingson ** 22:02 if you open a command prompt in Windows that actually takes you to dos. So dos is still there. It is attached to the whole system. And sometimes you can go in and enter commands through dos to get things done a little bit easier than you might be able to with the normal graphic user interface, right? Well, so you, you got your master's degree in 1995 and so you then continue to work in the financial world, or what did   Walden Hughes ** 22:35 it for 10 years, but five years earlier? Well, maybe I should back it up this way. After I lost my site in 1976 I really gravitated to the radio, and my generation fell in love with talk radio, so I and we were really blessed here in the LA market with really terrific hosts at KBC, and it wasn't all the same thing over and over and beating the drum. And so listening to Ray Breen, Michael Jackson, IRA for still kill Hemingway, that was a great opportunity for somebody who was 10 years old.   Michael Hingson ** 23:18 Really, they were all different shows. And yes, I remember once we were listening to, I think it was Michael Jackson. It was on Sunday night, and we heard this guy talking about submarines, and it just attracted Karen's and my attention. And it turns out what it was was Tom Clancy talking about Hunt for Red October. Wow. And that's where we first heard about it, and then went and found the book.   Walden Hughes ** 23:45 But So I grew up in the talk radio, and then that, and I fell in love with country music at the time on koec, and then Jim Healy and sports, yep, and then, and then we were blessed in the LA market have a lot of old time radio played, and it was host like Mike was here at K UCI, John Roy, eventually over KPCC, Bob line. And so my relatives said you should listen to this marathon KPFK, which was a Pacific did an all day marathon. I fell in love with that. Jay Lacher, then one night, after I walked my site, I tuned in. Ray bream took the night off, and Bill balance had frankly sit in. And the first thing they played was Jack Armstrong, and this is where Jack, Jack and Billy get caught up in a snow storm and a bone down the hill. And Brett Morrison came in during the one o'clock two o'clock hour to talk about the shadow. And so my dad took me to, oh, I'm trying to think of the name of the record. Or if they gave away licorice, licorice at the at the record store tower, yeah, not Tower Records. Um, anyway, so we bought two eight track tapes in 1976 the shadow and Superman, and I started my long life of collecting and so. So here we up to 1990 after collecting for 15 years. Going to spill back conventional meetings. I knew Ray bream was going to have kitty Cowan at the guest. Kitty Cowan was a big band singer of the 40s who later the fifth little things mean a lot. And I figured nobody was going to act about her days on the Danny Kaye radio show. And so I called in. They realized I had the stuff. I had the radio shows, they took me off the air, and Kitty's husband, but grand off called me the next day, and we struck up a friendship. And so they were really connected in Hollywood, and so they opened so many doors for me. Mike I Katie's best friend with Nancy Lacher, SR bud with the one of the most powerful agents in town, the game show hosting, who could come up with a TV ideas, but did not know how to run a organization. So that was Chuck Paris, hmm, and Gong Show, yeah, so I wound up, they wound up giving me, hire me to find the old TV shows, the music, all that stuff around the country. And so I started to do that for the Sinatra family, everybody else. So I would, while we do the financial planning, my internet consulting thing really took off. So that wound up being more fun and trying to sell disability insurance, yeah. So one wound up doing that until the internet took over. So that would that. So my whole life would really reshape through kitty Carolyn and Ben granoff through that. So I really connected in the Hollywood industry from that point on, starting 1990 so that that really opened up, that really sure reshaped my entire life, just because of that   Michael Hingson ** 27:28 and you've done over the years, one of the other things that you started to do was to interview a lot of these people, a lot of the radio stars, The radio actors   Walden Hughes ** 27:39 and music and TV, music,   Michael Hingson ** 27:44 yeah.   Walden Hughes ** 27:45 And I think when Bill Bragg asked me to interview kitty Carol, and I did that in 2000 and Bill said, Well, could you do more? And so one of Kitty friends, but test Russell. Test was Gene Autry Girl Friday. He she ran kmpc for him. And I think everybody in the music industry owed her a favor. I mean, I had Joe Stafford to Pat Boone to everybody you could think of from the from that big band, 3040s, and 60s on the show. Let's go   Michael Hingson ** 28:24 back. Let's go back. Tell us about Bill Bragg.   Walden Hughes ** 28:29 Bill Bragg was an interesting character all by himself. Born in 1946 he was a TV camera man for CBS in Dallas. He was also a local music jockey, nothing, nothing, big, big claims of fame boys working for channel two. And then he in Dallas, he was at a press conference with LBJ, and LBJ got done speaking, and the camera crew decided that they were going to pack up and go to lunch. And Bill thought it'd be fun to mark what camera, what microphone the President used for his address, and the guys were in a rush door in the box, let's go have lunch. So Bill lost track, and that bothered him. So he started the largest communication Museum in 1979 and he collected and was donated. And so he had the biggest museum. He had a film exchanger. So in those early days of cable TVs, you know, we had a lot of TV stations specializing in programming, and there were channels, I think this was called a nostalgic channel, wanted to run old TV shows and films. They had the film, but they didn't. Have the equipment. And they got hold of Bill. He said, Okay, I'll do it for you. But what you're going to give me is games. Bill was a wheel and dealer, yeah. And Charlie said, We'll give you your own satellite channel. And I was talking to Bill friend later, John women in those days, in the 1983 when Bill got it, the value of those satellite channels was a million dollars a year, and he got it for free. And Bill would try and figure out, What in the world I'm going to do with this, and that's when he decided to start playing with old time radio, because really nobody was playing that on a national basis. You had different people playing it on a local basis, but not really on a national basis. So Bill was sort of the first one before I play old time radio. I became aware of him because of bur back, so I was trying to get the service on my cable TV company. Was unsuccessful.   Michael Hingson ** 30:58 So what he did is he broadcast through the satellite channel, and then different television stations or companies could if they chose to pick up the feed and broadcast it. Did, they broadcast it on a TV channel or   Walden Hughes ** 31:13 on radio public asset channel. Okay, so remember note day a lot of public it would have the bulletin boards with the local news of right community, and lot of them would play Bill can't   Michael Hingson ** 31:28 play Bill's channel because the only because what they were doing was showing everything on the screen, which didn't help us. But right they would show things on the screen, and they would play music or something in the background. So Bill's programs were a natural thing to play,   Walden Hughes ** 31:44 yeah, and so Bill wound up on a stout then he wound up being the audio shop Troyer for WGN, which was a nice break and so. And then Bill got it to be played in 2000 nursing homes and hospitals, and then local AMFM stations would pick us up. They were looking for overnight programming, so local throughout the country would pick it up. And so Bill, Bill was a go getter. He was a great engineer, and knew how to build things on the cheap. He was not a businessman, you know, he couldn't take it to the next level, but, but at least he was able to come up with a way to run a station, 24 hours a day. It was all the tapes were sent down to Nash, down to Tennessee, to be uploaded to play into the system. Eventually, he built a studio and everything in Dallas. And so,   Michael Hingson ** 32:38 of course, what what Weldon is saying is that that everything was on tape, whether it was cassette or reel to reel, well, reel to reel, and they would play the tapes through a tape machine, a player or recorder, and put it out on the satellite channels, which was how they had to do it. And that's how we did it at kuci, we had tape, and I would record on Sunday nights, all the shows that we were going to play on a given night on a reel of tape. We would take it in and we would play it.   Walden Hughes ** 33:13 And so that's how it's done in the 80s. Eventually built bill, built a studio, and then started to do a live show once a week. Eventually, they grew up to four days a week. And so here is about 1999 or so, and they were playing Musa from kitty cat, and did not know who she was. I would quickly, I would quickly give a couple background from AIM hang up. I didn't really they had no idea who I was yet. I didn't talk about what I would do and things like that. I was just supplying information. And eventually, after two years, they asked me to bring kitty on the show, which I did, and then I started to book guests on a regular basis for them, and then eventually, the guy who I enjoyed all time radio shows listening to Frank Percy 1976 built decided that I should be his producer, and so I wound up producing the Friday Night Live show with Frankie, and eventually we got it up and running, 2002 So Frank and I did it together for 16 years and so that so Bill built a studio in Texas, mailed it all to my House. My dad didn't have any engineering ability. So he and my bill got on the phone and built me a whole studio in six hours, and I was up and running with my own studio here in my bedroom, in 2002 and so overhead, I'm in my bedroom ever since Michael, you know, there you go.   Michael Hingson ** 34:58 Well and to tell people about. Frank Bresee Frank, probably the biggest claim to fame is that he had a program called the golden days of radio, and it was mainly something that was aired in the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service on the radio, where he would every show play excerpts of different radio programs and so on. And one of the neat things that's fascinating for Frank was that because he was doing so much with armed forces, and doing that, he had access to all of the libraries around the world that the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service had, so he could go in and oftentimes get shows and get things that no one else really had because they were only available in at least initially, in these military libraries. But he would put them on the air, and did a great job with it for many, many years. Yeah, Frank   Walden Hughes ** 35:53 was an interesting character, a pure entrepreneur. He invented a game called pass out, which was a drinking game, board game, and he for 20 years, he spent six months in Europe, six months in United States. And he was making so much money in Europe, he would rent out castles and lived in them, and he would and he would spend months at a time in Germany, which was the main headquarter of art, and just sit there in the archives and make copies of things he wanted to play on his show, yeah. And so that's how he built that. And then he he started collecting transcriptions when he would to 10 he was a radio actor, and so he had one of the largest collection, collection, and he his house, his family house was in Hancock Park, which was the, it was Beverly Hills before Beverly Hills, basically, what did he play on radio? Well, when he was, he was he was deceptive. He was the backup little beaver. When someone Tommy, writer, yeah, when, when Tommy Cook had another project, it was Frank be was a substitute. And so that was a short coin of fame. He did bit parts on other shows, but, but that's what he did as a kid. Eventually, I think Frank came from a very wealthy family. He wound up owning the first radio station when he was 19 years old on Catalina Island in 1949 and then he wound up being a record producer. He worked with Walter Winchell, created albums on without about Al Jolson worked on Eddie Cantor and Jimmy Durante and anyway, Frank, Frank had a career with game with creating board games, doing radio and having an advertising company. Frank was responsible for giving all the game shows, the prices for TV and the way he would do it, he would call an advertise, he would call a company. He said, you want your product. Beyond on this section, go to say, yes, okay, give us, give us the product, and give me 150 bucks. And so Frank would keep the cash, and he would give the project to the TV shows,   Michael Hingson ** 38:17 Dicker and Dicker of Beverly Hills. I remember that on so many shows   Walden Hughes ** 38:23 so So Frank was a wheeling dealer, and he loved radio. That was his passion project. He probably made less money doing that, but he just loved doing it, and he was just hit his second house. The family house was 8400 square feet, and so it was pretty much a storage unit for Frank hobbies, right? And we and he had 30,000 transcriptions in one time. But when he was Europe, he had a couple of floods, so he lost about 10 to 20,000 of them. Okay? Folks did not know how to keep them dry, but he had his professional studio built. And so I would book guests. I arranged for art link writer to come over, and other people, Catherine Crosby, to come over, and Frank would do the interviews. And so I was a big job for me to keep the Friday night show going and get Frankie's guess boy shows. I would have been. He died,   Michael Hingson ** 39:22 and he was a really good interviewer. Yeah, I remember especially he did an interview that we in, that you played on yesterday USA. And I was listening to it with Mel Blanc, which is, which is very fascinating. But he was a great interviewer. I think it was 1969 that he started the golden days of radio, starting 49 actually, or 49 not 69 Yeah, 49 that was directly local, on,   Walden Hughes ** 39:49 on Carolina, and K, I, G, l, which was a station I think heard out in the valley, pretty much, yeah, we could pick it up. And then, and then he started with on. Forces around 65   Michael Hingson ** 40:02 that's what I was thinking of. I thought it was 69 but,   Walden Hughes ** 40:06 and well, he was, on those days there were armed forces Europe picked them up. And also, there was also the international Armed Forces served around the far eastern network, right? Yeah. And so by 67 he was pretty much full on 400 stations throughout the whole world. And I that's probably how you guys picked him up, you know, through that capability.   Michael Hingson ** 40:30 Well, that's where I first heard of him and and the only thing for me was I like to hear whole shows, and he played excerpts so much that was a little frustrating. But he was such a neat guy, you couldn't help but love all the history that he brought to it   Walden Hughes ** 40:46 and and then he would produce live Christmas shows with with the radio. He would interview the guest he, you know, so he had access to people that nobody generally had, you know. He worked for Bob Hope, right? So he was able to get to Jack Benny and Bing Crosby and yes, people like that, Groucho Marx. So he was, he had connections that were beyond the average Old Time Radio buff. He was truly a great guy to help the hobby out, and loved radio very much.   Michael Hingson ** 41:21 Well, going back to Bill Bragg a little bit, so he had the satellite channel, and then, of course, we got the internet, which opened so many things for for Frank or Frank for, well, for everybody but for Bill. And he started the program yesterday, usa.net, on the radio through the internet,   Walden Hughes ** 41:44 which he was the first one in 1996 right? There's a great story about that. There was a company called broadcast.com I bet you remember that company, Mike. Anyway, it was founded by a guy who loved college basketball, and he was a big Hoosier fan, and he was living in Texas, and so he would generally call long distance to his buddy, and they would put up the radio. He could went to the basketball games. And eventually he decided, well, maybe I could come up and stream it on my computer, and all these equipment breaking down, eventually he came up with the idea of, well, if I had a satellite dish, I could pick up the feed and put and stream it on the computer, that way people could hear it right. And he hired bill to do that, and he offered bill a full time job installing satellites and working Bill turned them down, and the guy wound up being Mark Cuban. Yeah, and Mark Cuban gave every every employee, when he sold broadcast.com to Yahoo, a million dollar bonus. So Bill missed out on that, but, but in exchange, Mike Cuban gave him broadcast.com While USA channel for free. So Bill never had to pay in the early days, until about 2002 so when Yahoo decided to get out of the streaming business for a while, then that's when we had to find and we found life 365 eventually, and we were paying pretty good. We're paying a really good rate with like 265 Bill was used to paying free, and we were paying, I think, under $100 and I knew guys later a couple years, were paying over $500 a month. And we were, we were, but there was such a willing deal able to get those things for really dope less   Michael Hingson ** 43:45 money, yeah. Now I remember being in New Jersey and I started hearing ads for an internet radio station. This was in the very late 90s, maybe even into 2000 W, A, B, y. It was a company, a show that a station that played a lot of old songs from the 50s and 60s and so on. And it was, it was, if you tuned on to it, you could listen. And after four or five hours, things would start to repeat, and then eventually it disappeared. But I started looking around, and I don't even remember how I found it, but one day I heard about this radio station, www, dot yesterday, usa.net. Right, yep.net.com,   Walden Hughes ** 44:31 yep, and yeah. And   Michael Hingson ** 44:33 I said, Well, oh, I think I actually heard an ad for it on W, A, B, y, when it was still around. Anyway, I went to it, and they were playing old radio shows, and they had a number of people who would come on and play shows. Everyone had an hour and a half show, and every two weeks you would have to send in a new show. But they. They played old radio shows, 24 hours a day and seven days a week, except they also had some live talk shows. And I remember listening one day and heard Bill Bragg talking about the fact that he was going to have his standard Friday night show with Walden Hughes, it would start at nine o'clock. I had no idea who Walden was at the time. And the problem is, nine o'clock was on the in Pacific Time, and it was, I think, Midnight in New Jersey time, as I recall the way it went anyway, it was way too late for me to be up. And so I never did hear Walden on yesterday USA, or I may have actually listened. Just stayed up to listen to one and fell asleep, but the show, the whole innovative process of playing radio all the time on the internet, was intriguing and just opened so many opportunities, I think. And of course, the internet brought all that around. And now there are any number of stations that stream all the time. And Bill Bragg passed away. What in 2016   Walden Hughes ** 46:15 2018   Michael Hingson ** 46:18 1819 2019 Yeah. And Walden now is the person who directs, operates, and is the manager of yesterday USA. And so when I go ahead,   Walden Hughes ** 46:30 it's fascinating. In the height of the station, there was 15,000 internet radio stations out there in 2000 they did a survey yesterday, USA was number three in the world, behind the BBC and CNN, which I thought was a pretty nice number to be concerned. We had no budget to promote, right? And the last time I saw the numbers been a couple years, we were number 44 in the world, which I don't think of, 15,000 radio stations. Not bad. No, not at all. You know, really not bad. But now there is more talk than there used to be, because Walden and the gasmans, who we had on years ago on this podcast, but   Michael Hingson ** 47:16 have interviewed a lot of people, and continue to interview people. And of course, so many people are passing on that. We're trying to talk to people as much as we can, as they can, and all of us now, because I've started to come a little bit and become a little bit involved in yesterday USA. And as Walden said on Friday night at 730 Pacific Time, see it's earlier, we we do a talk show. Bob Lyons, who did a lot of radio out here, and for 50 years, had a program called Don't touch that dial. And John and Larry and Walden and I get on the air and we talk about, Gosh, any number of different things. We've talked about Braille, we've talked about sometimes, everything but radio. But we talk about a lot of different things, which is, which is a lot of fun.   Walden Hughes ** 48:04 And I think it probably is, you know, in the old days, it would pretty much no entertainment, and Bill telling some stories and things like that. But with me, I always had a focus in interviews, but it's so much more fun to do radio as a co host. And that's when Patricia and I connected back in the 2007 I knew was in 2005 she's my co host. And Patricia didn't grow up with whole town radio. She became a fan after she found yesterday, USA into 2000 but she's a very articulate person, and so through the shows, what she and I did on Saturday night, the audience grab it and just we should talk about everything, and I just generate calls. I mean, when she and I were doing eight hours a night, we would average about 18 calls a night, which was pretty amazing, but we would cover the gamut, and I think a really good talk show host had to know a little bit about a lot of things. Yes, he got it. You got to be flexible. And Patricia and I compliment each other that way, that we're able to cover history and politics and music and just everything. And so when I do a show with her, you never know what direction we go with where. When I'm with John Roy, it's more radio centric. So it depends on what night a week people tune in, is what you're going to   Michael Hingson ** 49:40 get. And Walden has Patricia on now Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, but we know why she's really on there, because she likes hearing Perry Como song Patricia that starts out every show Walden plays that he's in love with Patricia. One of these days, there's still the possibility. But anyway, we. We, he, we love it when he, he has Patricia on, and it's every week. So, so it is really cool. And they do, they talk about everything under the sun, which is so fascinating. Tell us about Johnny and Helen Holmes.   Walden Hughes ** 50:15 Ah, well, it's an interesting story. I I say the second biggest old time radio station in the country, after yesterday USA. It's about half the size in terms of audience basis. Radio once more, and you can find them at Radio once more.com and they do a good job. No else with probably yesterday USA branch offers own internet radio station, and he found he would go to the east coast to the nostalgic convention, and he connected with Johnny and Helen. Holmes and Johnny and Helen are people who love to attend nostalgic convention and get autographs and things. And they became really friends. So Neil convinced them, why don't you come on? Just come on radio once more. And so after a while, they do the presentation the coffee shop. Neil convinced them to take it, take it to the air, and they started to have their own show, and I was aware of them, and I produced the spirback convention, 2017 in Las Vegas. So Johnny helm came to the convention, and Johnny wanted to say hi to me. I said, I know who you are. I think he was for by that that I knew who he was, but I invited Johnny and Helen to come on with Patricia and I one night to talk about their coffee shop presentation and their show on Radio once more. And we just bonded very quickly and easy to bond with Johnny. They really are really fabulous people. He's really a generous guy, and so over the last six, seven years, we have developed a great friendship on you, and almost have created a whole subculture by itself, playing trivia with them. Every time they come on,   Michael Hingson ** 52:17 they do a lot of trivia stuff, and Johnny produces it very well. He really does a great job. And he'll put sound bites and clips and music, and it's gotten me such a major production with Johnny and Helen. And people look forward to it. I sometimes count the interaction people hanging out in the chat room, on the phone, email, about 18 to 20 people will get and get an answer question, was it amazing that that many people will be interested in trivia like that? But and, and Johnny also collects, well, I guess in Helen collect a lot of old television shows as well. Yep. So we won't hold it against him too much, but, but he does television and, well, I like old TV shows too, you bet. Well, so you know, you are, obviously, are doing a lot of different things. You mentioned spurred vac oop. They're after you. We'll wait. We'll wait till the phone die. You mentioned, well, I'll just ask this while that's going on. You mentioned spurred back. Tell us a little bit about what spurred vac is and what they've been doing and what they bring to radio.   Walden Hughes ** 53:23 Sprint vac started in 1974 it's the largest full time radio group in the country, called the society to preserve and encourage radio drama, variety and comedy. John Roy Gasman were two of the main driving force behind the club. It reached up to a membership of 1800 people, and they've honored over 500 people who worked in the golden days of radio and to speak at their meeting, come to the special conventions. And so I attended some dinners at the Brown Derby, which was a great thrill. I started attending their conventions, and it was just, it was wonderful. So I so I really got to meet a lot of the old time radio personality and become friends with Janet Waldo and June for a and people like that. And so I eventually got on the board. I eventually became one young, somewhat retired. I wound up being the activity person to book guests, and started producing conventions. And so that became a major part of my life, just producing those things for spur back and in other places, and I first started to do that for reps. Was it the Old Time Radio Group in Seattle in 2007 so they were actually the first convention I produced.   Michael Hingson ** 54:54 And rep says radio enthusiasts of Puget Sound,   Walden Hughes ** 54:57 right? Reps online.org, G and so I would produce new convention. I was helping super vac, and I also helping the Friends of all time radio back in New Jersey and so. And it probably helped my contact, which is 300 pages long, so, and I would book it. I would also contact celebrities via the mail, and my batting average was 20% which I thought were pretty good. I got Margaret. I got Margaret Truman. She called me, said, Walden, I got your order, and I forgot that I did the show with Jimmy Stewart. I'd be happy to come on talk about my memory. You know, she talked about Fred Allen on the big show, and how, how Mike Wallace had a temper, had a temper. She was a co host. Was among weekdays, which with the weekday version of monitor. Monitor was weekend and weekday, we see NBC. And so she was just fabulous, you know, so and I would get people like that 20% bad average, which was incredible. So I met, that's how it's up to two, my guess was, so I, I was sort of go to guy, find celebrities and booking them and and so in that help yesterday, USA helped the different conventions. And so it and so you're so you're booking the panels, and then you're coming up with ideas for radio recreations. And so I produce 37 of them, ranging from one day to four days. And I get counted, over the last 18 years, I've produced 226 audio theater plays with it. A lot at least, have an idea of how those things   Michael Hingson ** 56:55 work. So right now, speaking of recreations, and we're both involved in radio enthusiasts of Puget Sound, and for the last couple of years, I've participated in this. Walden has done radio recreations, and twice a year up in the Washington State area, where we bring in both some some amateurs and some professionals like Carolyn Grimes Zuzu and so many others who come in and we actually recreate old radio shows, both before a live audience, and we broadcast them on yesterday USA and other people like Margaret O'Brien who won   Walden Hughes ** 57:46 Gigi Powell coming this year. Phil Proctor. David Osmond from fire sign theater. Chuck Dougherty from Sergeant Preston. John Provo from Timmy from Lassie, Bill Johnson, who does a one man show on Bob Hope. Bill Ratner from GI Joe. Bill Owen, the who might have had he is the author of The Big broadcast, Ivan Troy who Bobby Benson, Tommy cook from the life O'Reilly Gigi parole, a movie actress of the 50s, as you mentioned, Carolyn grime, Beverly Washburn and others, and it's just the radio folks are really down to earth, really nice people, and you get to break bread with them, talk to them and reminisce about what was it like doing that radio show, this movie, or that TV show, and then They still got it, and they can perform on stage,   Michael Hingson ** 58:43 and they love to talk about it, and they love to interact with people who treat them as people. And so yeah, it is a lot of fun to be able to do it. In fact, I was on Carolyn Grimes podcast, which will be coming out at some point in the next little while, and Carolyn is going to be on unstoppable mindset. So keep an eye out for that. Bill Owens program is coming out soon. Bill and I did a conversation for unstoppable mindset, and we're going to be doing Bill Johnson will be coming on, and other people will be coming on. Walden has been very helpful at finding some of these folks who are willing to come on and talk about what they did, and to help us celebrate this medium that is just as much a part of history as anything in America and is just as worth listening to as it ever was. There is more to life than television, no matter what they think.   Walden Hughes ** 59:40 And also, we do a Christmas thing too. And hopefully Mike, if his speaking engagement allow him, will be with us up at Christmas saying, Well, I will. I'm planning on it. We're gonna do, It's a Wonderful Life. Keith Scott, coming over from Australia, who's a he's the rich little of Australia. And we'll do, It's a Wonderful Life. We'll do. The Christmas Carol, milk on 34th Street film again, Molly Jack Benny will have a great time.   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:07 These are all going to be recreations using the the original scripts from the shows, and that's what makes them fun. And for those of us who don't read print, we do have our scripts in Braille, absolutely so that's kind of fun. Well, Walden, this has been absolutely wonderful. We're going to have to do it some more. Maybe we need to get you, John and Larry all together on that. That might be kind of fun. But I really, I don't think we need a host if you that. No, no, we just, you know, just go on. But this has been really fun. I really enjoy it. If people want to reach out to you, how do they do that?   Walden Hughes ** 1:00:45 Oh, I think they can call my studio number 714-545-2071, I'm in California, or they can email me at Walden shoes at yesterday, usa.com, W, A, l, D, E, N, H, U, C, H, E, S at, y, E, S T, E, R, D, A, y, u, s a.com, I'm the president of radio enthusiast sound, that's reps online.org or on the board of Sper back, which is S, P, E, R, D, V, A, c.com, so while waiting shakes me down, when   Michael Hingson ** 1:01:25 will the showcase actually occur up in Bellevue in Washington?   Walden Hughes ** 1:01:30 That will be September 18, 19 20/21, and then our Christmas one is will be Friday, December five, and Saturday, December the sixth. And then we're also going back and spir back, and I bet we'll see you there. We're going to go back to the Troy Blossom Festival next April, 23 to 26 and we'll know, are we set up to do that now? Yep, looks like that gonna happen? Yeah? Oh, good, yeah. So kick out the phone with Nicholas here a few days ago. So everything's gonna go for that, so that will be good.   Michael Hingson ** 1:02:03 Yeah, we will do that. That's cool. Well, thank you for being here, and I want to thank you all for listening. I hope you had fun. This is a little different than a lot of the episodes that we've done, but it's, I think, important and enlightening to hear about this medium into to meet people from it. So thank you for listening wherever you are. We hope that you'll give us a five star review of unstoppable mindset wherever you're listening or watching. Please do that. We'd love to hear from you. You can reach me at Michael H, I m, I C, H, A, E, L, H, I at accessibe, A, C, C, E, S, S, i, b, e.com, and you can also go to our podcast page if you don't find podcasts any other way. Michael hingson.com/podcast, that's m, I C, H, A, E, L, H, I N, G, s, O, n.com/podcast, singular. So thanks again for being here and for listening to the show, and Walden, once again, I want to thank you for being here. This has been great.   Walden Hughes ** 1:03:01 Thank you, Michael,   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:07 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

Join us for part two of our insightful discussion with George Whittam and Rob Reider on the VoiceoverGurus podcast. This episode delves into the nitty-gritty of audiobook production, covering essential topics such as handling hot peaks, normalizing audio files, and leveraging iZotope tools for audio restoration. Learn how to achieve consistency in audio quality through mastering and embrace the art of batch processing for efficiency. Discover the significance of maintaining proper recording levels and the importance of choosing the right equipment and setup to enhance your voice talent performance. Whether you're a beginner or seasoned pro, this episode is packed with valuable insights to elevate your recording sessions to meet audiobook industry standards. Guests Bios: About George: Since 2005 George Whittam has dedicated his life to serving the technical needs of voice actors and recording studio owners. In August 2017 George launched GeorgeTheTech.com to assist anyone who records voiceover with tech support, training, studio design, and audio processing templates. George is a 1997 graduate of Virginia Tech with a Bachelor's degree in Music and Audio Technology with a Minor in Communications. George went on to acquire considerable expertise in music recording by working with various musicians and artists in the Philadelphia area, and gained broadcast engineering experience working at 94 WYSP (now WIP) as the remote engineer for the NFL Eagles Radio Network. From a handful of satisfied clients, George has now built his reputation working solely with voice-over studios and clients. He is globally considered a top authority in voice-over recording technology, investing thousands of hours researching studio design, recording equipment, and creating training materials for voice actors. Among his many successful clients are the late Don LaFontaine, Bill Ratner, Melissa Disney, Randy Thomas, Joe Cipriano and Scott Rummell. George is co-host of the podcast The Pro Audio Suite.   Find George at http://georgethe.tech   About Rob:   As a pilot and Hall of Fame air show announcer, Rob Reider has recently retired from that endeavor and now brings his skills to the world of audiobooks. His extensive knowledge of aviation and the military has attracted the attention of authors who need that experience to bring their works to life. Rob's acting career began in high school, continued in musical theater roles at the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music and won him 5 Regional Emmys for on-air performance and musical compositions during a 13-year Midwest television career. He's also an accomplished guitarist and lover of acoustic music. Rob has worked with several audiobook coaches, including Hillary Huber, P.J. Ochlan, and Jennifer Jill Araya to hone his craft and focus on thrillers, non-fiction, and faith-based titles. He recently was the “voice” of James Patterson in his book, “The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: True Stories of the Magic of Reading."   Visit his website: http://www.robreidervoice.com/   We are honored to be listed in the top 30 of podcasts about Voiceover. Check out the list! https://podcast.feedspot.com/voice_over_podcasts/ FOR MORE INFO ON THE SHOW AND THE GURUS, PLEASE VISIT: Coaching Website: https://voiceover.guru/  and https://learnwiththegurus.com/ Linda Bruno Voice Actress  https://www.lindabruno.com Alyssa Jayson Actress and Musician http://www.alyssajayson.com Kevin Kilpatrick Voice Actor   https://kevinkilpatrick.com/ Join our Circle Community: https://the-voiceover-gurus.circle.so/home

Ep 157 - Mastering Your Voiceover Space with George The Tech and Rob Reider Welcome to the Voiceover Gurus Podcast, hosted by Linda Bruno and featuring special guest George Whittam. In this episode, Linda, despite nursing a knee injury, dives into a fascinating conversation with George about his unique journey from being an engineer to a voiceover studio tech expert, assisted by Rob Reider. Discover how George's musical family background and interest in gadgets evolved into a passion for audio engineering and voiceover production. Through anecdotes and personal experiences, George shares his path from struggling in college to creating a mobile recording studio in an RV and finally establishing himself in the voiceover industry against numerous challenges. Join the discussion as Linda, George and Rob delve into the intricacies of setting up a home studio, navigating acoustic challenges, and understanding the nuances of audio technology. Uncover valuable tips on making the most out of your recording space, the essentials of normalizing audio, and the balance between front-end and post-processing in voiceover work. This episode is a treasure trove of knowledge, packed with insights for aspiring and seasoned voice actors alike, aiming to enhance their understanding and mastery of the techincal aspects of the craft. Don't miss out as the conversation continues in part two next week! Guests Bios: About George: Since 2005 George Whittam has dedicated his life to serving the technical needs of voice actors and recording studio owners. In August 2017 George launched GeorgeTheTech.com to assist anyone who records voiceover with tech support, training, studio design, and audio processing templates.   George is a 1997 graduate of Virginia Tech with a Bachelor's degree in Music and Audio Technology with a Minor in Communications. George went on to acquire considerable expertise in music recording by working with various musicians and artists in the Philadelphia area, and gained broadcast engineering experience working at 94 WYSP (now WIP) as the remote engineer for the NFL Eagles Radio Network. From a handful of satisfied clients, George has now built his reputation working solely with voice-over studios and clients. He is globally considered a top authority in voice-over recording technology, investing thousands of hours researching studio design, recording equipment, and creating training materials for voice actors. Among his many successful clients are the late Don LaFontaine, Bill Ratner, Melissa Disney, Randy Thomas, Joe Cipriano and Scott Rummell. George is co-host of the podcast The Pro Audio Suite. Find George at http://georgethe.tech   About Rob: As a pilot and Hall of Fame air show announcer, Rob Reider has recently retired from that endeavor and now brings his skills to the world of audiobooks. His extensive knowledge of aviation and the military has attracted the attention of authors who need that experience to bring their works to life. Rob's acting career began in high school, continued in musical theater roles at the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music and won him 5 Regional Emmys for on-air performance and musical compositions during a 13-year Midwest television career. He's also an accomplished guitarist and lover of acoustic music. Rob has worked with several audiobook coaches, including Hillary Huber, P.J. Ochlan, and Jennifer Jill Araya to hone his craft and focus on thrillers, non-fiction, and faith-based titles. He recently was the “voice” of James Patterson in his book, “The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: True Stories of the Magic of Reading." Visit his website: http://www.robreidervoice.com/   We are honored to be listed in the top 30 of podcasts about Voiceover. Check out the list! https://podcast.feedspot.com/voice_over_podcasts/ FOR MORE INFO ON THE SHOW AND THE GURUS, PLEASE VISIT: Coaching Website: https://voiceover.guru/  and https://learnwiththegurus.com/ Linda Bruno Voice Actress  https://www.lindabruno.com Alyssa Jayson Actress and Musician http://www.alyssajayson.com Kevin Kilpatrick Voice Actor   https://kevinkilpatrick.com/ Join our Circle Community: https://the-voiceover-gurus.circle.so/home

Dr. Nick and Benny welcome Bill Ratner, one of America's best-known voice actors, a published writer, poet, storyteller, and performance artist, who opens up about how experiencing significant death in his life inspired him to find solace and expression through writing poetry books. Explore the connection between grief and creativity in this heartfelt discussion. https://billratner.com/

Explore how the art of poetry transforms pain into resilience and helps navigate life's toughest moments.In today's episode, I'm joined by the renowned voice actor, author, and poetry therapy facilitator Bill Ratner. Bill brings a deeply personal and insightful perspective to the episode, sharing the profound impact of early losses on his emotional and creative development. He reveals intimate stories from his life, delving into themes of grief, healing, and personal growth. Throughout this episode, Bill reflects on his mother's remarkable approach to discussing her terminal illness with him as a child, the role of therapy in his life, and the complex dynamics of his family after tragedy. Bill's stories are rich with introspection, exploring how grief influenced his relationships, career, and eventual passion for writing.Highlighting his work as a poetry therapy facilitator, Bill explains how writing provides a safe outlet for emotional expression, both for himself and for those he teaches. He discusses the process behind his poetry and the intention behind his new book, which blends dark humor and grief into a reflective narrative. His contributions offer a message of hope, emphasizing the value of creativity and connection in navigating loss.In This Episode, You Will Learn:A life shaped by loss (0:59)The power of early emotional support (6:14)A second mom and her struggles (15:31)Adolescence, anger, and diverging paths (20:44) The healing power of poetry therapy (29:15)The creation of Lamenting While Doing Laps in the Lake (31:10)A journey from estrangement to connection (34:11)Closing Reflections: Embracing Creativity for Healing (37:30)Connect with Bill Ratner:WebsiteInstagramLinkedInFacebookXGet Bill's books!Let's Connect:WebsiteLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterPinterestThe Grief and Happiness AllianceBook: Emily Thiroux Threatt - Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How does loss become poetry? Bill Ratner's losses lived in the depths of his soul and over time, found expression. Creativity can help us to move grief through us, transforming the shape of it. What was that process for Bill? What moved him to put words to his losses? Every griever wants to be heard, but capturing grief in language is challenging. Join us to learn how Bill was able to embody his experience through his writing.

How does loss become poetry? Bill Ratner's losses lived in the depths of his soul and over time, found expression. Creativity can help us to move grief through us, transforming the shape of it. What was that process for Bill? What moved him to put words to his losses? Every griever wants to be heard, but capturing grief in language is challenging. Join us to learn how Bill was able to embody his experience through his writing.

Bill Ratner joins the show to discuss the 80s voiceover industry and his appearance at fan conventions!

What's the best way to usher in the New Year? On this week's episode, legendary voiceover artist Bill Ratner shares a true story from his early days in Radio: When his green card bride Claudine leaves him, he's alone during the Holidays in an empty double wide and his evening shift duties at KJOI (LA's easy listening music station). So when a fan requests something a bit more intimate than the Percy Faith Orchestra, why not make her happy? And on New Year's Eve, they produce their own live show together over the air waves, using the station's 50,000 watts of power to make the world a bit less lonely.  And Dixie ends the year with the story you've been asking her for. #HappyNewYear   Song: ‘Love's A Stranger' (Warhaus)   New Year l Radio DJ l Drive by Fucking l Anonymous Sex | Music Request Line l Radio Antenna l 1970's l Lubrication l Harlequin Romance Novel l Top of Topanga Mobile Home Park l Double Wide l Vaseline l Instrumental Radio l Muzak l Muumuu | Terrycloth Bathtub Animals l FM Transmitter l Top of the Hour l Station ID l Honda Civic l Radio Console l Blinking LEDs I Percy Faith Orchestra l Middle Age l Smog l Order Up a Man l Microphone l Los Angeles l Happy New Year l Divorce l Radio Tower l Lawrence Welk l Green Card l Quell l Radio Station l Marriage l Swiss l London l LA l Radio Announcer l Chief Engineer l Sales Manager l   About our Storyteller:   Bill Ratner is one of Hollywood's premier voiceover artists and a published poet, essayist, and fiction writer. He narrates movie trailers for Pixar's Inside-Out, Marvel's Ant Man, The Kid Who Would Become King, Cold Pursuit, The Emoji Movie, Coen brothers' Hail Caesar, Will Ferrell's The Campaign, MegaMind, Talladega Nights, etc., commercials for Hyundai, Sprint, Pizza Hut, etc., promos for CBS-TV, NBC-TV, ABC-TV, Cartoon Network, documentary narrations for Discovery, History Channel, Smithsonian Channel, Disney World, and is the game voice of "Donnel Udina" on Mass Effect 1, 2 & 3, and the cartoon voice of "Flint" on G.I. Joe, Robot Chicken, Community, and Family Guy.   One of America's leading storytellers, Bill is a 9-time winner of The Moth Story Slam and a 2-time winner of The Best of The Hollywood Fringe Festival Extension for solo performance. Bill's spoken word performances can be heard on National Public Radio's Good Food, The Business, and KCRW's Strangers. He has told stories at Comedy Central Stage, National Storytelling Festival, Long Beach Comic Con, G.I. Joe Con, Portland Storytelling Festival, Timpanogos Storytelling Conference, National Storytelling Network Conference, and Los Angeles Unified School District classrooms since 1992.   Episode links: Needle Play Acupuncture: Needle Play Acupuncture was made by and for the Kink, Leather, and LGBTQIA+ communities. We deserve to have our whole selves treated, because feeling great, playing hard and having spectacular sex can be health goals too. NeedlePlay specializes in Transgender-affirming, kink-aware, and trauma-informed care that is sex and body-positive. They offer Expertise in Transgender care, from HRT enhancement to hair growth support. Plus, as you'd expect: Back pain, muscle pain, injuries, digestive issues, libido issues, mental health, inflammation, graceful aging through micro-needling, cosmetic acupuncture, and more.   For a limited time, Bawdy Storytelling Listeners  can use the discount code “May I Have Another”, and you'll get 25% off. It's holiday time and an Acupuncture certificate is the perfect gift for your Dominant, your Metamours, or for the self-care you need after those exhausting family gatherings.   SUBSCRIBE: Want to be the first to know where Bawdy is headed to on our National Tour? The best place to stay abreast is our email newsletter. Ticket links will be released on the Bawdy newsletter; as soon as we confirm a date, you can find out there.   You'll be the first to see upcoming Tour Dates, get access to Tickets, Storytelling Workshops, Livestreams, Podcasts, Fan Meetups and Special Events. I've been shadowbanned on Social Media (which means no one can see my posts - and that sucks when you're headed out on a big Tour). So having my social media accounts deleted is probably next. If that happens, the only sure way for you and I to stay in touch is for you to sign up for Bawdy's email newsletter. Please ask your friends to sign up, TOO. Let's be Friends!   Subscribe to the Bawdy Storytelling email list at https://bawdystorytelling.com/subscribe   TOUR DATES for Bawdy's East Coast Tour : • Baltimore MD (Friday, January 19th, 2024) https://tinyurl.com/BawdyBaltimoreFriday   • Baltimore MD (Saturday, January 20th, 2024) https://tinyurl.com/BawdyBaltimoreSaturday Philadelphia PA (City Winery on January 26th, 2024)http://tinyurl.com/BawdyPhilly   Pittsburgh PA (City Winery on February 4th, 2024)https://tinyurl.com/BawdyPittsburgh   Nashville TN (City Winery on Friday, February 9th, 2024):http://tinyurl.com/BawdyNashville   New York City (City Winery on Wednesday, February 14th, 2024):http://tinyurl.com/BawdyNYC   Atlanta GA (City Winery on Saturday, February 17th, 2024): Tickets at https://tinyurl.com/BawdyAtlanta2024 Boston (City Winery on Friday, February 25th, 2024):http://tinyurl.com/BawdyBoston   I'm currently working on Bawdy in Chicago, Milwaukee and St Louis too. Fingers crossed! Want me in your city? Send me a message and let's make a plan! BawdyStorytelling@gmail.com   And YES, Bawdy is truly struggling right now. This Tour is my Hail Mary pass. So If you love the podcast and want it to continue, please HELP.   Your one-time Donation can make a huge difference to Bawdy. Our donation links are: Venmo: Venmo.com/BawdyStorytelling Paypal: paypal.me/bawdystorytelling Zelle: BawdyStorytelling@gmail.com BuyMeACoffee: buymeacoff.ee/bawdy Ca$hApp:   I'll need to fly to certain shows, so Your Airline Miles can help immensely, too. Message me at BawdyStorytelling@gmail.com - and Thank You.   Patreon Special Offer:   All-You-Can-Eat Video Special: Need some Entertainment to keep you thrilled and connected til the world warms up again? Right now, I have an End of Year Special Offer: 40+ Hours of Bawdy on Video! Sign up (or Increase your support) for Bawdy's Patreon and you get: Stories from Margaret Cho, Sunny Megatron, Dirty Lola, Slutever, ReidAboutSex and many more Music from Rachel Lark, Jefferson Bergey, Shirley Gnome - All your favorites 16 Full Livestreams You'll be helping Dixie fulfill her Bawdy Storytelling Tour Dreams • Available at the $25/month or greater level at: https://www.patreon.com/Bawdy   Not a Patreon member yet? Join Bawdy's Patreon now to get exclusive Patreon-only rewards (and my eternal gratitude)   And by the way: THANK YOU for everything you do to keep Bawdy going!   PRIVATE COACHING with Dixie: Want to work one-on-one with me? Right now I'm offering personal branding (your dating profile, website, etc), Storycoaching a nervous new keynote speaker, and I help develop documentaries, craft personal stories for the stage, and write their books - because storytelling is everywhere you wanna be. I can help you live the life that you've always dreamed about: communicate with clarity, help you land your dream job, and discover your own story … Whether it's getting onstage for the first time, writing your memoir, creating a podcast, or learning brand storytelling for your business, I can help. Email me at BawdyStorytelling@gmail.com and let's make it happen.   My upcoming Substack 'The Dixie Ramble' is at https://substack.com/profile/22550258-dixie-de-la-tour #Subscribe   Bawdy Got Me Laid perfume, Bawdy Butter & more: Dixie has created her own fragrance: You'll love #BawdyGotMeLaid perfume, scented with golden honey, amber, ylang ylang, and warm vanilla. There's also our (scented or unscented) creamy Bawdy Butter, Hair & Bawdy Oil, & more. Bawdy Got Me Laid Merchandise means you can deliver your own great smelling Motorboats while supporting Dixie and Bawdy. Get yours today at https://bawdystorytelling.com/merchandise   Check out our Bawdy Storytelling Fiends and Fans group on Facebook - it's a place to discuss the podcast's stories with the storytellers, share thoughts with your fellow listeners, & help Dixie make the podcast even better. Just answer 3 simple questions and you're IN! https://www.facebook.com/groups/360169851578316/ Thank you to the Team that makes this podcast possible! Team Bawdy is:   Podcast Producer: Roman Den Houdijker Sound Engineer: David Grosof Storytelling support by Mosa Maxwell-Smith Dixie's Virtual Assistant is Roillan James Video & Livestream support from Donal Mooney Bawdy's Creator & Host is Dixie De La Tour & Thank you to Pleasure Podcasts. Bawdy Storytelling is proud to be part of your s*x-positive podcast collective! Website: https://bawdystorytelling.com/ On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bawdystorytelling/ Like us at www.Facebook.com/BawdyStorytelling Join us on FetLife: https://fetlife.com/groups/46341 Support us on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/Bawdy Watch us on YouTube at http://bit.ly/BawdyTV Find out about upcoming Podcast episodes - & Livestreams - at www.BawdyStorytelling.com/subscribe  

Hey Joes. It's been awhile, but Brother Head is once again solo, to talk about the G.I. Joe Field Manual. This episode, we're digging in to the third chapter, talking about The Joe Team from The Revenge of Cobra! So if you have a copy of the Field Manual, pop it open and take a look with me. Otherwise, sit back, relax, and listen as I go through the third chapter and talk about the Joes from the second mini-series. Write in to gijoe@headspeaks.com and let us know what you thought of this book! You can visit us on the web at http://headcastnetwork.com On Facebook, Google+ and Twitter, we can be found by searching for G.I. Joe: A Real American Headcast And be sure to look for us on Patreon. If you like what we're doing, throw a few bucks in the tin at http://patreon.com/HeadcastNetwork. Yo Joe!

Hey Joes. Spinning out of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero issue 45 or 46 or maybe it was 44.... Anyway.... G.I. Joe Yearbook 2. Brad and myself take a look at the second G.I. Joe Annual. An original story entitled, Triple Play, The Television Joes, The Covers, and The Adventure Continues. Join us as we explore this annual. Write in to gijoe@headspeaks.com and let us know what you thought of this book! You can visit us on the web at http://headcastnetwork.com On Facebook, Google+ and Twitter, we can be found by searching for G.I. Joe: A Real American Headcast And be sure to look for us on Patreon. If you like what we're doing, throw a few bucks in the tin at http://patreon.com/HeadcastNetwork. Yo Joe!

Hey Joes. This month I'm joined in the Headcast Studio by a LEGEND. You know him as the voice of Flint, from G.I. Joe. I know him as the magnificent Bill Ratner. Join me as I talk with Bill and find out more about how he got started, what he did after and what he's doing now! And search Amazon for his works, Parenting for the Digital Age, Fear of Fish, and To Decorate a Casket. And thank you Bill for taking time out of your day to speak with me. Take a listen and let us know what you think. You can visit us on the web at http://gijoe.headspeaks.com On Facebook, Google+ and Twitter, we can be found by searching for G.I. Joe: A Real American Headcast And be sure to look for us on Patreon. If you like what we're doing, throw a few bucks in the tin at http://patreon.com/HeadcastNetwork. Yo Joe!

Inspired by a tale from Armenia, this story starring Amber Nash (Archer, How To Ruin The Holidays), Bill Ratner (Family Guy, G.I. Joe), and Alondra Delgado (All American, Is Mejor to Say ADIÓS) shows how small risks -- and acts of kindness -- can pay off in big ways.

Veteran voice actor Bill Ratner may not be a name you're familiar with, but you've certainly heard his voice. Whether during a cartoon like G.I Joe, an MCU movie trailer like Ant-Man, in a video games like Grand Theft Auto or Mass Effect, or countless other projects, he has worked as a voice actor for over 40 years. Bill talks with us about how he got started working as a voice actor while living in Minnesota, the biggest changes in the voiceover industry and Hollywood since the start of his career and how actors need to have an entrepreneurial quality about them. Thanks for tuning in! If you enjoyed the episode, please subscribe to the channel to never miss an episode!

Talking Joe - Bill Ratner Interview - Voice of Flint from GI Joe YouTube episode with video available here https://youtu.be/rAwIk_XCOss Tim and Mark speak with Bill Ratner, the voice actor for Flint in the GI Joe cartoons. A highlight is that during the interview as a bit of fun, we recorded a Public Service Announcement based on the new PSAs in the back of the Saturday Morning Adventures book. Link to just the PSA segment: https://youtu.be/oN67WOSB0TQ About Bill Ratner: Bill Ratner is one of Hollywood's premier voiceover artists and a published poet, essayist, fiction writer and spoken word performer. His voice can be heard on movie trailers, TV promos, commercials, documentaries and Video Games… But most importantly he is the cartoon voice of "Flint" on the G.I. Joe Sunbow cartoon, appearing in 45 or so episodes 1984-86 and GI Joe the Movie, celebrating its 35th anniversary. This summer… Talking Joe talks to Bill Ratner! http://www.billratner.com

This week the Dashing Duo welcome a legendary guest to the podcast,  voice actor Bill Ratner.  Bill was the voice of the  character Flint in the original G. I. Joe cartoon,  and he had a lot of great stories to tell.   It was a great interview,  and the Dashing Duo were very excited to talk […]

#billratner #gijoe #voiceactor Legendary voice actor Bill Ratner drops in with Brett today on the show! He's most well-known as the voice of Flint from the iconic GI JOE animated series and movie (which just celebrated its 35th anniversary). Gamers may remember his voice from the Mass Effect (voice of Donnel Udina), Grand Theft Auto, and Final Fantasy franchises as well. Nearly anyone, though, would recognize Bill's voice from the countless commercials and programs he has narrated over the years – from MARVEL and Pixar trailers, to Academy Awards telecasts, to news programs all across the country (CBS, NBC, and ABC), and shows like “Air Crash Investigation,” “I (Almost) Got Away With It,” and “Surviving the Mount St. Helens Disaster” – he has truly done it all. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3puy8KHi_4&t=718s Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Agents of Fandom are joined by a familiar voice, known for his narrating of blockbuster trailers, and iconic voices such as Flint in Hasbro's TV cartoon G.I. Joe, Bill Ratner.

The good guys and girl of G.I. Joe including Michael Bell "Duke", Bill Ratner "Flint", Mary McDonald-Lewis "Lady Jaye", Will Ryan "Footloose, Francois Chau "Quick Kick", Neil Ross "Shipwreck", and Hank Garrett "Dial Tone" answer fan questions during our...

Author and acclaimed voice actor Bill Ratner joins Christopher Robbins, CEO and co-founder of Familius, to discuss his work and his book Parenting for the Digital Age. https://www.familius.com/book/parenting-for-the-digital-age/ About Bill: Bill Ratner is an American voice actor. He is best known for being the voice in movie trailers and for being the voice of Flint in Hasbro's syndicated TV cartoon G.I. Joe. He reprised the role of “Flint” in episodes of Family Guy and Robot Chicken. In addition to his successful career in voiceovers Bill is a master storyteller—National Storytelling Festival Slam Teller, Best of Hollywood Fringe Festival winner, 8-time Moth StorySLAM Winner, published short story writer, essayist, and playwright. He performs his stories in comedy clubs, theatres, taverns, schools, and storytelling festivals across the country. About the Book: From how to deal with cyberbullying to the strange, true stories behind Barbie and G.I. Joe, media insider Bill Ratner takes an inside look at our wired-up world in a fascinating book—part memoir, part parenting guide—for the digital age. Landing his first job in advertising at age fourteen, Ratner learned early that the media doesn't necessarily have our best interests at heart. His career as one of America's most popular voiceover artists and his life as a parent and educator gives readers a first-hand look at the effects of digital media on children and what you can do about it.

YO! JOE RAPS is a weekly CelebWorx Live Inside Look Into The Iconic Saturday Morning Cartoon Series: G.I. JOE! Hosts Christopher Arsaga and Nery Lemus, and SPECIAL GUEST Bill Ratner, legendary voice-over actor behind Flint, will discuss stories behind the iconic series. Join us every Thursday for an EXCLUSIVE behind the scenes discussion with the CelebWorx duo that brings many of your childhood heroes to a convention near you! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/celebworx-live/support

On this latest installment of LEVYCAST, host Dan Levy digs into the world of voice over with one of the country's biggest voice over talent's. You've heard his voice in movie trailers, TV affiliates around the country, commercials and he's also the voice of GI Joe's; "Flint"! Hollywood's Bill Ratner is a great friend of mine and we discuss the inner workings of the industry and advice that he has for all those that would like to jump into the world of voice over! As always, please like, comment, subscribe and share! Most of all stay safe and enjoy! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/dan-levy8/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/dan-levy8/support

What better way is there to look back at the 2010s (aka The WOJM Decade) than with our tribute to the running jokes that have fueled our discussions since 2011?  It was impossible to catch everything, but hopefully your favorites will show up somewhere in this well-placed tribute to the most overbearing running joke in the English language, the number 69.  Mike, Joe, and an ironically-debuting Wristlock Wes Whitlock invite you to enjoy the end of the WOJM Decade with a complete lack of class but good intentions and lots of love!  We'll catch you again in 2020... the start of The WOJM Decade Part II: Electric Boogaloo! Special thanks to the talent heard on this episode: Erik Arana, Chuck Averitt, Justin Bell, Michael Bell, Jared Bunnell, Jon M. Chu, Joe Colton, Brian Cummings, Sara Detrick, Ryan Drost, Chuck Emanuele, Shannon Gallant, Gary Godsoe, George Greenoe, Larry Hama, Gary Head, Zack Hoffman, Eddie Inman, Mike Irizarry, Rob Irizarry, Jamie Johnson, James Kavanaugh, Carson Mataxis, Chris McLeod, Kate McLeod, Craig Moore, Johnny Pottorf, Bill Ratner, Kevin Michael Richardson, Neil Ross, Hawk Sanders, Brian Savage, Greg Schueller, David Tree, Brian Tudor, Bobby Vala, Page Wagner, Kevin Watts, and Mark Weber, and a shout out to everyone else who has made making this show so much fun!

Bill Ratner is an American voice actor. He is best known for being the voice in movie trailers and for being the voice of Flint in Hasbro’s syndicated TV cartoon “G.I. Joe.” He reprised the role of Flint in episodes of “Family Guy” and “Robot Chicken.” In addition to his successful career in voiceovers Bill is a master storyteller—National Storytelling Festival Slam Teller, Best of Hollywood Fringe Festival winner, 8-time Moth StorySLAM Winner, published short story writer, essayist, and playwright. He performs his stories in comedy clubs, theatres, taverns, schools, and storytelling festivals across the country. Bill is the author of “Parenting for the Digital Age: The Truth behind Media's Effect on Children and What To Do About It,” published by Familius Press. Bill Ratner’s Social Media Twitter: @BILLRATNER  LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/bill-ratner-77a5316/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/billratner.voiceover.author/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/billratner/ Websites: BillRatner.com   Jones.Show’s Social Media: Twitter: @randallkjones @siriouslysusan  Instagram: @RandallKennethJones @SiriouslySusan  Facebook: www.facebook.com/mindzoo/ www.facebook.com/siriouslysusan/ Join us in the Jones.Show Lounge on Facebook Jones.Show RandallKennethJones.com SusanCBennett.com

We speak with iconic voice actors Mary McDonald-Lewis & Bill Ratner who, among other things, voiced Lady Jaye & Flint in the classic 80's G.I. Joe cartoon series!!!

We speak with iconic voice actors Mary McDonald-Lewis & Bill Ratner who, among other things, voiced Lady Jaye & Flint in the classic 80's G.I. Joe cartoon series!!!   Support the show by clicking through to Amazon via our affiliate link and then shop like you normally would bit.ly/geektome

Hi all! Happy Thursday! Today I chat with the ever-lovely Bill Ratner. You may recognize him as the voice of multiple movie trailers. In this week's episode, we talk about trends in voiceover, how to find success in voiceovers and finding your authentic voice. Be sure to check out Bill's upcoming workshops! I know I'll be there!

Voice Over Body Shop Our guest this THis Week on Voice Over Body Shop, BILL RATNER, is one of Hollywood's premier voices and storytellers, narrating movie trailers, Documentaries, voicing Cartoons, Games, Promos, and storytelling conferences and festivals. He is a 9-time winner of The Moth Story SLAM and a 2-time winner of The Best of The Hollywood Fringe Festival Extension for solo performance! Check out BillRatner.com and you'll instantly know his voice! Bill just published an insightful book called ‘Parenting in the Digital Age. In that vein, joining us will be his Daughter Arianna! An accomplished voice talent in her own right, voicing commercials and video games! A great night of stories and VO tips for all! ALSO!!! Dan and George want to answer your home voice over studio questions sent to: theguys@VOBS.tv and share the latest in VO tech, our topic of the week and much more!

Episode 301 - Chuck & Stacey are here for Part 1 interview with highly sought after movie trailer manager, Jason Helzner and one of the voice over industry's top movie trailer voice actors, Scott Rummell. Some of Scott's recent movie trailer work includes: Mile 22, Avengers: Infinity War, The Shape Of Water, Darkest Hour and many others. Jason Helzner represents some of the most in-demand movie trailer voice actors such as: Jeff Collins, Chris Corley, Ben Patrick Johnson, Bill Ratner, Brian Lee, Melissa Disney, among others. The show starts off with some fun and laughs, but then ends with us talking all about the in's and out's of the trailer business. Including the difference between having an agent and a manager, when you need a manager to represent you, how to become a great trailer voice actor, what types of voices and read styles are popular in today's movie trailer business, how the read changes when targeting a male vs. female audience, the daily demands and quick turnaround required for working movie trailer voice talents. SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL: https://goo.gl/fEKnBm Watch more videos and get the latest voiceover news, advice and updates on exclusive contests and giveaways at http://vobuzzweekly.com and make sure you join our newsletter. Past giveaways include: Coaching, Books, Studio Gear and even Agent Representation. #VOBuzzWeekly #VoiceOver #MovieTrailerVoice CONNECT WITH US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/VOBuzzWeekly Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/VOBuzzWeekly Instagram: https://instagram.com/vobuzzweekly Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/vobuzzweekly/ VO BUZZ WEEKLY IS SPONSORED BY: Demos That Rock http://www.demosthatrock.com Neumann Sennheiser Microphones USA http://www.neumannusa.com http://en-us.sennheiser.com Throat Coat Tea http://www.traditionalmedicinals.com Entertainer's Secret http://www.entertainers-secret.com Najla's Bodygood Bars http://najlas.com/index.php/products/... Stacey J. Aswad http://www.staceyjaswad.com Voiceover Essentials http://voiceoveressentials.com Voiceover T-Shirts, Hats, Jackets, and MORE! http://www.vobuzzweekly.com/store.html Have you ever wanted to be a voice actor? Maybe you’ve heard the voice from a movie trailer, TV commercial, video game, cartoon, celebrity impressions, internet or radio ad, and thought, “I want to do that!” Do you wonder what it takes to succeed in the voice over business? Or, are you a fan looking to finally put a "face to the voice" of the biggest and best celebrity voice artists? Well, your search is over! VO Buzz Weekly is the hit global voice over web show that's inspiring, educating and entertaining viewers in over 85 countries around the world. Every week, you get up close and personal with a top narrator, voice actor or actress from your favorite cartoons, animation, television promo, TV show, movies, audiobooks, movie trailer, TV commercials and video games, along with the top voice casting directors and agents working in the industry today. You’ll get the inside scoop on how voice artists work from home in their own home studio! Get tips for setting up your vocal booth and voice over equipment. Learn proper microphone technique and other critical skills to enhance your audio and find the right sound for your voice to nail voice over auditions and casting calls. Learn what to look for when seeking a voice coach, and peek behind the voice casting curtain to learn the secrets that improve every voice over audition and narration. VO Buzz Weekly is so much more than just “how to do voice over.” From voice coaching to home business advice, every episode is full of tips, inspiring personal stories and insights to help you succeed in the booming voice over industry, and in life. It’s comprehensive voice over training like you’ve never seen before. Whether you’ve been doing voiceover work for years, or are interested in voice acting, VO Buzz Weekly has something for you! Subscribe now and never miss an episode! VO Buzz Weekly primary focus points: How To Do Voice Over, Voice Over Training, Voice Over Classes, Voice Over Business, Voice Over Coach, Voice Over Lessons, Learn Voice Over, Voice Over Technique for Voice Actors.

Jordon sits down with voice over artist Bill Ratner, known for dozens of voices you've heard before on TV and radio, yet most famous (at least to Jordon) as the voice of Flint on the popular cartoon G.I. Joe. Before finding success as an artist and a storyteller, Bill essentially became an orphan at an early age, losing his mother at 7, his brother at 13, and his father just 3 months after that. For over 50 years, Bill has found ways to continually strive to bask in the light, driven by the loving and supportive environment he enjoyed for far too little time. We talk about the helpful nature of various forms of therapy, and how our loved ones find ways to reach out and continue to be a force in our lives. Follow Bill on Twitter @BillRatner Check him out online and find out where you can see him live! http://billratner.com/

What an amazing guest we have for you this week! Mr. Bill Ratner, the voice of Flint, joins the Joe on Joe show to dig deep into the history of making the show we all love! We talk about everything, from the casting session, to recording the show, and beyond. This is an episode that you will not want to miss! Oh, and the Joe team has to stop Cobra with the help of a James Bond type, an amazing episode! Our Filecard Feature is on the G.I. Joe Pilot Ace! This episode was brought to you by Wildkat Wrestling! Visit wildkattv.wildkatwrestling.com and enter the promo code JOEONJOE to get your first month free of the best wrestling in the south!  

Voiceover actor, Bill Ratner, joins Emily to talk about his journey as a theatre-loving Minnesotan to one of the most recognizable voices in Hollywood.To check out Bill's website, go to www.billratner.com 

June's Interview:GI Joe interview panel: Bill Ratner / Mary McDonald-Lewis / Neil Ross G.I. Joe is still one of the best cartoons ever made - come and listen to Flint, Lady Jaye and Shipwreck talk about this amazing cartoon! Don't forget to donate to help keep us going - even if it's a dollar: DONATEPlease rate us on iTunes: iTunesVisit our website: www.SaturdayMorningRewind.comFollow us on Twitter: @SaturdayRewindFollow us on Facebook: Facebook

VOICE-OVER ACTOR | NOVELIST - Bill Ratner is one of Hollywood's most popular voice-over artists on movie trailers, computer games, commercials, documentaries on the Discovery Channel, History Channel, Travel Channel, Smithsonian Channel, the voice of "Flint" in the G.I. Joe TV cartoon, Robot Chicken, Community, and Family Guy, "Ambassador Donnell Udina" in Mass Effect 1, 2 & 3. His spoken word stories air on National Public Radio's Good Food, The Business, and KCRW's Strangers. Mr. Bill Ratner is a 9-Time Winner of The Moth Story Slams and 2-Time "Best of Hollywood Fringe Festival Extension Winner for Solo Performance." Familus Press just published his latest book about the business, "Parenting for the Digital Age" and they did a rave review about it in TIME Magazine. INTERVIEW QUESTIONS INCLUDE: Why are so many A-List celebrities doing voice-over work now when they used to avoid it like the plague? If you're not financially surviving as a voice-over union actor and accept non-union work, what will happen? Explain the royalty system of union voice-over actors? What are the pros and cons of a union voice-over actor and a non-union voice-over actor? WEBSITE: BillRatner.com

VOICE-OVER ACTOR | NOVELIST - Bill Ratner is one of Hollywood's most popular voice-over artists on movie trailers, computer games, commercials, documentaries on the Discovery Channel, History Channel, Travel Channel, Smithsonian Channel, the voice of "Flint" in the G.I. Joe TV cartoon, Robot Chicken, Community, and Family Guy, "Ambassador Donnell Udina" in Mass Effect 1, 2 & 3. His spoken word stories air on National Public Radio's Good Food, The Business, and KCRW's Strangers. Mr. Bill Ratner is a 9-Time Winner of The Moth Story Slams and 2-Time "Best of Hollywood Fringe Festival Extension Winner for Solo Performance." Familus Press just published his latest book about the business, "Parenting for the Digital Age" and they did a rave review about it in TIME Magazine. INTERVIEW QUESTIONS INCLUDE: Why are so many A-List celebrities doing voice-over work now when they used to avoid it like the plague? If you're not financially surviving as a voice-over union actor and accept non-union work, what will happen? Explain the royalty system of union voice-over actors? What are the pros and cons of a union voice-over actor and a non-union voice-over actor? WEBSITE: BillRatner.com

"Parenting for the Digital Age: The Truth Behind Media's Effect on Children, and What To Do About It" Show Guest: Billl Ratner Children are a major target of today's media marketers. So, in middle-age, Bill Ratner went back to college and pioneered a program in the Los Angeles public schools to educate children about the major purpose of TV and the internet-to sell. In his new book, "Parenting for the Digital Age: The Truth Behind Media's Effect on Children, and What To Do About It". This book is a valuable guide for parents on how to view, teach, and control today's new media and technology available to children.

"Parenting for the Digital Age: The Truth Behind Media's Effect on Children, and What To Do About It" Show Guest: Billl Ratner Children are a major target of today's media marketers. So, in middle-age, Bill Ratner went back to college and pioneered a program in the Los Angeles public schools to educate children about the major purpose of TV and the internet-to sell. In his new book, "Parenting for the Digital Age: The Truth Behind Media's Effect on Children, and What To Do About It". This book is a valuable guide for parents on how to view, teach, and control today's new media and technology available to children.

Voiceover Artist/Author Bill Ratner talks about old Hollywood, screen time, and how to parent in the digital age. Listen now on any one of your digital devices! Here's a few links to help you get the most out of Story Worthy- if you're listening on an iPhone, all you need to do is tap the cover art while the show is playing, and you'll see the episode notes, including the links. There is one to subscribe, http://bit.ly/2eSlJZw please do! There's one to our Facebook page and to our email address. We'd love to hear from you, either there, or on our survey at wondery.com/survey. You'll also find some special deals courtesy of our sponsors like Hello Fresh (promo code STORY30) Casper Mattress, and Audible (promo code STORYWORTHY). It's good karma guys! See our Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and our California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Voiceover Artist/Author Bill Ratner talks about old Hollywood, screen time, and how to parent in the digital age. Listen now on any one of your digital devices! Here’s a few links to help you get the most out of Story Worthy- if you’re listening on an iPhone, all you need to do is tap the cover art while the show is playing, and you’ll see the episode notes, including the links. There is one to subscribe, http://bit.ly/2eSlJZw please do! There’s one to our Facebook page and to our email address. We’d love to hear from you, either there, or on our survey at wondery.com/survey. You’ll also find some special deals courtesy of our sponsors like Hello Fresh (promo code STORY30) Casper Mattress, and Audible (promo code STORYWORTHY). It’s good karma guys!

A fascinating and relevant phone interview with our guest Bill Ratner, who wrote "Parenting for the Digital Age." What is going to be of our kids, who are exposed to so much online?

A fascinating and relevant phone interview with our guest Bill Ratner, who wrote "Parenting for the Digital Age." What is going to be of our kids, who are exposed to so much online?

Bill Ratner is BACK!  Yes, the man you know as Flint has BLOWN up lately.  You can hear his voice on commercials from cars to cookies.  Despite being a most awesome guest, he holds GI Joe near and dear to his heart.  You can catch him next at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, June 18-21 and 25-28 performing LIVE and ON STAGE: The True Life Adventures of Barbie and GI Joe.  What has Flint gotten himself into THIS time?  Also...Arune Singh is BACK!  That's right, our good buddy with Marvel Television stops in to talk about how cool (or not cool if you are Gary) a Joe/Transformers crossover would be.  Prompted by the new IDW title, Arune thought the time was right to put it up for debate.  You might be surprised how the gang reacts.  In addition, all the latest about the Boss Fight Kickstarter, mailbag and all the good stuff we got in since JoeCon.  We're back on track!  Enjoy!

The man with a voice of an angel - or perhaps the voice of God actually - takes us back to 1970's Topanga Canyon.

Wayne and Natalie discuss their experiences as SAG-AFTRA members. They chat with special guest, Bill Ratner about his 35 year voiceover career, get his advice on training and working as a voiceover actor and even hear from G.I.Joe's Flint. For more information on Bill Ratner, check out www.billratner.com.

Well, it's finally here!! The 100th episode of Star Joes!! To help celebrate this momentous episode, the guys brought back some of their favorite guests from the past. Robert Atkins is made an official host on the show. Mike Costa talks about what 80s property might be next for him. Shannon Gallant keeps the guys guessing what he might say next. And new for this special episode, the guys welcome voice actor Bill Ratner (the voice of Flint from the 80s G.I. Joe cartoon series) to the show. All of this and C-3PO raps!! Enjoy this mammoth episode!!

Master storyteller Bill Ratner explains what happens when a Jew, an Episcopalian, and a Unitarian go to his parents wedding.   

Master storyteller (and Story Worthy announcer!) Bill Ratner explains what happens when a Jew, an Episcopalian, and a Unitarian go to his parents wedding. Here's a few links to help you get the most out of Story Worthy- if you're listening on an iPhone, all you need to do is tap the cover art while the show is playing, and you'll see the episode notes, including the links. There is one to subscribe, http://bit.ly/2eSlJZw please do! There's one to our Facebook page and to our email address. We'd love to hear from you, either there, or on our survey at wondery.com/survey. You'll also find some special deals courtesy of our sponsors like Hello Fresh (promo code STORY30) Casper Mattress, and Audible (promo code STORYWORTHY). It's good karma guys! See our Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and our California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Master storyteller (and Story Worthy announcer!) Bill Ratner explains what happens when a Jew, an Episcopalian, and a Unitarian go to his parents wedding. Here’s a few links to help you get the most out of Story Worthy- if you’re listening on an iPhone, all you need to do is tap the cover art while the show is playing, and you’ll see the episode notes, including the links. There is one to subscribe, http://bit.ly/2eSlJZw please do! There’s one to our Facebook page and to our email address. We’d love to hear from you, either there, or on our survey at wondery.com/survey. You’ll also find some special deals courtesy of our sponsors like Hello Fresh (promo code STORY30) Casper Mattress, and Audible (promo code STORYWORTHY). It’s good karma guys!

In this episode the guys recorded the voice actors panel at Joe Con. The panel had Bill Ratner, the voice of Flint, and Mary McDonald-Lewis, the voice of Lady Jaye, from the Sunbow G.I. Joe cartoon. They do an impromptu script reading live where you can still hear the characters come to life and they give some insight to some of the behind the scenes that occurred while doing the show. All of this plus a Patton Oswalt rant at the end for your enjoyment!

Remember Flint from the original GI Joe? Yep, that’s right, we persuaded voice over artist and award-winning storyteller Bill Ratner to sit down with us and chat about 80’s cartoons, good ol’ fashion broadcasting, and the upcoming book from this multi-hypenate storyteller-author-omni-present voice. 

January’s Interview: Bill Ratner Bill was the voice of ‘Flint" in the original G.I. Joe! (intro recorded by Larry Kenney from Thundercats) Please rate us on iTunes. Find us online: www.hitrockbottom.org/saturdaymorningrewind.html And follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Thom Pinto, freelance voice actor and iconic status. At least to me! He says that makes him sound old. To him! Join Rebecca as she speaks with Thom about his iconic status, Susan Blu and the book ‘Word of Mouth'… It's an after Thanksgiving cornucopia of VO goings-on, mimicking the tv, radio commercials and then his own studio. But there's also the Hawks Recording studio in the seedy part of Hollywood where Orson Welles liked to hang out and record… Peter Falk…. Crossing paths with Bill Ratner.   Thom Pinto, a Commercial, Promo and Documentary voice actor since the early 80s, has national campaigns including Pacific Life, NetZero, Honda Motorcycles, Chevron and Staples.  He's doing promos for every major network and is currently heard daily on the CBS Evening News as well as affiliates across the country.  Thom's narration credits run the gamut of serious documentaries on the History Channel and Smithsonian network to lighter projects for the Travel Channel.  He's been recognized for his audio book narrative of “The Little Book of Common Sense Investing.”  And on ‘the side' he is Coach to hundreds of working voice actors in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Learn more at www.thompinto.com and on facebook. Love That VoiceOver is a podcast showcasing in-depth interviews unveiling the personalities and projects behind the mic, with your fun loving host LoveThatRebecca, aka Rebecca Haugh!  Every week it's a new interview with a fresh perspective on the art and artistry behind the microphone....

Find out what everyone is talking about!  "Shotgun Story Worthy" the game show, with judges writer Annabelle Gurwitch and MOTH producer Gary Buchler.  And featuring storytellers Jim Coughlin, Bill Ratner, Kevin McGeehan, Wendy Wilkins, Sharon Houston, Evan Gore and Nikki Levy.  Spin that Wheel!! Here's a few links to help you get the most out of Story Worthy- if you're listening on an iPhone, all you need to do is tap the cover art while the show is playing, and you'll see the episode notes, including the links. There is one to subscribe, http://bit.ly/2eSlJZw please do! There's one to our Facebook page and to our email address. We'd love to hear from you, either there, or on our survey at wondery.com/survey. You'll also find some special deals courtesy of our sponsors like Hello Fresh (promo code STORY30) Casper Mattress, and Audible (promo code STORYWORTHY). It's good karma guys! See our Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and our California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Find out what everyone is talking about!  "Shotgun Story Worthy" the game show, with judges writer Annabelle Gurwitch and MOTH producer Gary Buchler.  And featuring storytellers Jim Coughlin, Bill Ratner, Kevin McGeehan, Wendy Wilkins, Sharon Houston, Evan Gore and Nikki Levy.  Spin that Wheel!!

Find out what everyone is talking about!  "Shotgun Story Worthy" the game show, with judges writer Annabelle Gurwitch and MOTH producer Gary Buchler.  And featuring storytellers Jim Coughlin, Bill Ratner, Kevin McGeehan, Wendy Wilkins, Sharon Houston, Evan Gore and Nikki Levy.  Spin that Wheel!! Here’s a few links to help you get the most out of Story Worthy- if you’re listening on an iPhone, all you need to do is tap the cover art while the show is playing, and you’ll see the episode notes, including the links. There is one to subscribe, http://bit.ly/2eSlJZw please do! There’s one to our Facebook page and to our email address. We’d love to hear from you, either there, or on our survey at wondery.com/survey. You’ll also find some special deals courtesy of our sponsors like Hello Fresh (promo code STORY30) Casper Mattress, and Audible (promo code STORYWORTHY). It’s good karma guys!

Comic Wayne Federman and MOTH producer Kerry Armstrong judge amazing storytellers as they spin the Wheel of Truth and tell a 1 minute story on the topic they land.  Enjoy Shotgun Story Worthy with Wendy Wilkins, Richard Lucas, Brian Farrell, Jude Shelton, Sharon Houston, John Grady, Peter Spruyt, Bill Ratner, Jim Coughlin, Jennifer Vally, and the winner Betty Goldstein! Here's a few links to help you get the most out of Story Worthy- if you're listening on an iPhone, all you need to do is tap the cover art while the show is playing, and you'll see the episode notes, including the links. There is one to subscribe, http://bit.ly/2eSlJZw please do! There's one to our Facebook page and to our email address. We'd love to hear from you, either there, or on our survey at wondery.com/survey. You'll also find some special deals courtesy of our sponsors like Hello Fresh (promo code STORY30) Casper Mattress, and Audible (promo code STORYWORTHY). It's good karma guys! See our Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and our California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Comic Wayne Federman and MOTH producer Kerry Armstrong, judge amazing storytellers as they spin the Wheel of Truth and tell a 1 minute story on the topic they land.  Enjoy “SHOTGUN STORY WORTHY” with Wendy Wilkins, Richard Lucas, Brian Farrell, Jude Shelton, Sharon Houston, John Grady, Peter Spruyt, Bill Ratner, Jim Coughlin, Jennifer Vally, and WINNER Betty Goldstein!

Comic Wayne Federman and MOTH producer Kerry Armstrong judge amazing storytellers as they spin the Wheel of Truth and tell a 1 minute story on the topic they land.  Enjoy Shotgun Story Worthy with Wendy Wilkins, Richard Lucas, Brian Farrell, Jude Shelton, Sharon Houston, John Grady, Peter Spruyt, Bill Ratner, Jim Coughlin, Jennifer Vally, and the winner Betty Goldstein! Here’s a few links to help you get the most out of Story Worthy- if you’re listening on an iPhone, all you need to do is tap the cover art while the show is playing, and you’ll see the episode notes, including the links. There is one to subscribe, http://bit.ly/2eSlJZw please do! There’s one to our Facebook page and to our email address. We’d love to hear from you, either there, or on our survey at wondery.com/survey. You’ll also find some special deals courtesy of our sponsors like Hello Fresh (promo code STORY30) Casper Mattress, and Audible (promo code STORYWORTHY). It’s good karma guys!

Comedian Jimmy Dore and MOTH producer Kerry Armstrong judge 15 storytellers as they play SHOTGUN STORY WORTHY LIVE! The contestants spin the Story Worthy Wheel of Truth and tell a true, 1-minute story on the spot. Join Frank Nicotero, Sharon Houston, Evan Gore, Kevin McGeehan, Bill Ratner, Michael Kass, John Grady, Jessie Kahnweiler, Betty Goldstein, Jennifer Vally, Adam Gropman Brian Farrell, Jackie Marriot, and WINNER Wendy Wilkins! Say it with me- SPIN THAT WHEEL! Here's a few links to help you get the most out of Story Worthy- if you're listening on an iPhone, all you need to do is tap the cover art while the show is playing, and you'll see the episode notes, including the links. There is one to subscribe, http://bit.ly/2eSlJZw please do! There's one to our Facebook page and to our email address. We'd love to hear from you, either there, or on our survey at wondery.com/survey. You'll also find some special deals courtesy of our sponsors like Hello Fresh (promo code STORY30) Casper Mattress, and Audible (promo code STORYWORTHY). It's good karma guys! See our Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and our California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Comedian Jimmy Dore and MOTH producer Kerry Armstrong, judge 15 storytellers as they play “SHOTGUN STORY WORTHY LIVE!” The contestants spin the Story Worthy Wheel of Truth and tell a true, 1-minute story on the spot...(insert Shotgun Sound here!) Join Frank Nicotero, Sharon Houston, Evan Gore, Kevin McGeehan, Bill Ratner, Michael Kass, John Grady, Jessie Kahnweiler, Betty Goldstein, Jennifer Vally, Adam Gropman Brian Farrell, Jackie Marriot, and WINNER Wendy Wilkins! Say it with me- SPIN THAT WHEEL!

Comedian Jimmy Dore and MOTH producer Kerry Armstrong judge 15 storytellers as they play SHOTGUN STORY WORTHY LIVE! The contestants spin the Story Worthy Wheel of Truth and tell a true, 1-minute story on the spot. Join Frank Nicotero, Sharon Houston, Evan Gore, Kevin McGeehan, Bill Ratner, Michael Kass, John Grady, Jessie Kahnweiler, Betty Goldstein, Jennifer Vally, Adam Gropman Brian Farrell, Jackie Marriot, and WINNER Wendy Wilkins! Say it with me- SPIN THAT WHEEL! Here’s a few links to help you get the most out of Story Worthy- if you’re listening on an iPhone, all you need to do is tap the cover art while the show is playing, and you’ll see the episode notes, including the links. There is one to subscribe, http://bit.ly/2eSlJZw please do! There’s one to our Facebook page and to our email address. We’d love to hear from you, either there, or on our survey at wondery.com/survey. You’ll also find some special deals courtesy of our sponsors like Hello Fresh (promo code STORY30) Casper Mattress, and Audible (promo code STORYWORTHY). It’s good karma guys!