Podcast appearances and mentions of stevie van zandt

EPISODE 159: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:41) SPECIAL COMMENT: Apparently it's the 12 DAYS of Trumpmas: the Judge who was supervising Special Counsel Jack Smith's Grand Jury wrote that Smith had presented prima facie evidence "that the former president had committed criminal violations" and the documents - and NOTES OF AUDIO RECORDINGS - she ordered Trump's attorney to turn over to Smith were part of Trump's "criminal scheme."  And all this has NOTHING to do with the Stormy Daniels story. But per The New York Times, Trump, in his madness, "has told friends and associates that he welcomes the idea of being paraded by the authorities before a throng of reporters and news cameras. He has even mused openly about whether he should smile for the assembled media... and is said to have described the potential spectacle as A FUN EXPERIENCE." Norma Desmond Trump is ready for his close-up, Mr. D.A. DeMille! B-Block (20:00) IN SPORTS: It was the greatest performance in basketball history, and he only scored 4 points during it. New York Knicks legend Willis Reed, who won the 1970 NBA title virtually only by showing up, has died. And ESPN has parted ways with the executive who did the most to direct SportsCenter away from what the audience wanted. (26:10) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: The U.S. government is terrified of Elon Musk's foreign partners and might yet step in to end his ownership of twitter, while somebody FINALLY asks Rep. James Comer about his college girlfriend's allegation that he beat her and threatened her life - and he confesses to leaking damaging emails about the blogger who first reported the story! C-Block (32:00) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Moose Tracks, on death row in New York (33:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: It was Episode 7 of Aaron Sorkin's "Newsroom" and Jeff Daniels said one line - and every one of my old girlfriends contacted me and said "Wait. Wasn't that what your Dad always said?"See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

UPDATE 158: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:41) SPECIAL COMMENT: What if they gave a Trump Rally and nobody came? It happened, yesterday, at Trump Tower. My exclusive report from the scene as TWO people showed up, 22 showed up downtown, and today's big California rally is scheduled in the parking lot of a Laguna Hills In-N-Out Burger apparently because THE NEAREST FOUR SEASONS TOTAL LANDSCAPING WAS BOOKED. While the rest of us celebrate the thrilling holiday season before Mugshotmas, the far right continue to act as if the gravity has been turned off in their universe. DeSantis defends Trump; Trump implies he's a pedophile or he's gay. McCarthy insists Trump wants no protests; Trump tries to get New York police to NOT defend anti-Trump residents. And in the case against those who allegedly defamed on Trump's behalf, as Dominion Voting and Fox go back into a courtroom in Delaware today, the Fox "News" case comes apart. The former producer of Maria Bartiromo's show, now a Tucker Carlson guest booker, says Fox lawyers tried to make her take the fall. She sues them; they try to stop her from testifying against them. But her testimony leaks: she says her bosses called Bartiromo "a crazy b*tch" and Carlson's producer asked if Bartiromo were having an affair with Kevin McCarthy. She also alleges Carlson's staff made jokes about Jews, and conducted a mock debate about who they'd rather sleep with: Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer or her challenger Tudor Dixon. On the other hand: Rupert Murdoch is getting married again, because love means never having to say you're sorry you're 92. B-BLOCK (15:07) A special summary of 20 years ago as this nation attacked Iraq based on a series of lies by a series of liars named George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld. At this milestone anniversary, liberal media is quite rightly assailed for 'letting it happen.' But I want to give some context for it, especially as one of the few who risked their careers to be anti-war (and my first anti-Iraq War broadcast was in October 2002). I was once almost fired for simply telling the truth about the rescue of Private Jessica Lynch, and I expected to be when I aired the first Special Comment against Iraq and Rumsfeld's attempt to demonize dissent. I'll re-read that commentary, too. C-BLOCK (34:35) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Fenix in Tennessee (35:32) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: On JULY 2, 1979 I was just a fan in the stands cheering Thurman Munson of the New York Yankees. On AUGUST 2, 1979 I was the anchor on a 1000-station radio network having to cover his sudden death, as it flashed across the wire machine two minutes before my first sportscast.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 157: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:41): The "Lock Her Up" Crowd needs to speak to the manager! It thought it made itself perfectly clear! It's "Lock HER Up!" It CANNOT BE "Lock HIM Up!" Whether Trump is arrested tomorrow, next week, or never, the fascist orgasm of naked pusillanimous fear over the rumors Trump himself spread, is COMPLETELY WORTH IT. But the general "wisdom" is complete nonsense. These are bullies who have never before been stood up to. They do not know what to do next but utter dark threats they have no means of acting upon. A "human moat" to encircle Trump? Crashing the economy? Storming key cities in the blue states? As my cousin by adoption and marriage Mike Tyson says, verybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth, and Trump's cult just got punched in the mouth. And if a Trump arrest would guarantee him a "landslide victory" then the obvious Democratic nominee next year is Hunter Biden, on a chain gang with his father, Pelosi, Fauci, Hillary, and Vice President Harris. I understand we've all been worn down by eight years of this Fun-House-Mirrors-crap but relax. Gravity still works. Honestly: the arrest thing isn't even the most important Trump story. What a Washington judge did Friday to attorney-client privilege with Trump and lawyer Evan Corcoran - and what she did with Corcoran's notes that must implicate Trump in perjury - is the real deal. Plus there was an omen in Manhattan yesterday. The Proud Boys attacked "Drag Story Hour" - and got the crap kicked out of them. B-Block (18:18) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Capitol Police confirm what I guessed at: they not only NEVER saw the Tucker Carlson January 6 Gaslighting Video but they were tricked by Speaker McCarthy and Rep. Bryan Steil into setting up a viewing station the cops thought was for Congressman but was actually for Fox "News." (20:49) IN SPORTS: The World Baseball Classic has a problem and it's not just the injuries to Jose Altuve and Edwin Diaz. Why insurance may cancel or reschedule the next WBC. And a bigoted NHL goalie ruins another pride night, but with a twist: He says he can't be a Homophobe because one of his best friends is Muslim. (29:43) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Kayleigh McEnany tries to say "Ingraham Angle" while guest hosting the show. It goes poorly. The weakest flex ever by a failed candidate for governor. And does Senator Marsha Blackburn sound like an escapee from every 1987 TV Magazine Show special on streamlining your style? That's because she IS - and there's proof. C-Block (40:00) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Nacho in Brooklyn (44:40) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Now it's The New York Times burying CNN's Chris Licht. I'd just like to point out I started the Moby-Licht ball rolling, and I should tell you the tale of how when we worked together at MSNBC he was infamous as Joe Scarborough's henchman who tried to interfere with Maddow's show and Matthews' and mine and get preferential coverage for Joey Scars' buddies.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 156: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:41) SPECIAL COMMENT: It doesn't MATTER whether Marjorie Taylor Greene really is so stupid that when she insisted yesterday she's never seen any Putin plan to invade Europe, she doesn't know Ukraine is in Europe. All that matters is whether she makes sure that something like 51% of the COUNTRY is so stupid that IT doesn't know Ukraine is in Europe. It's MAKE AMERICA STUPID AGAIN. And its weapon is a rapidly strengthening, rapidly escalating feedback loop centering around Fox "News" and we goddamned better do something about it soon. Because not only is it being used against Ukraine and for Russia, but it's now reached the equivalent to tertiary syphilis: McCarthy gives Carlson meaningless January 6 video which Carlson lies and says is 44,000 hours of the Zapruder film so that yesterday Rep. Barry The January 5th Tour Guide Loudermilk can lie and say "this means we need a new January 6 Committee to investigate the OLD January 6 Committee!"  The long-term solution would be a truth based liberal television network with a billion dollars behind it, but who's going to do THAT? The short-term solution is Senate hearings into Fox "News" and Murdoch and whether its interest in destroying the current form of government is funded in any way by a foreign power. It doesn't have to BE funded by a foreign power. Just at the moment, we just need something we can put on against the Barry Loudermilk Hearings To Clear Barry Loudermilk!  (10:20) IN SPORTS: Stop The World Baseball Classic before it kills again (18:35) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: A bad day for Kellyanne Conway as she reveals Kushner was the only Trump family member to make billions during the Junta, and then shocks the world by confirming China is sending arms... to China! But she's no match for Marianne "Non Disclosure Disagreement" Williamson, and SHE'S no match for Ron "I Eat Pudding With My Fingers" DeSantis. B-Block (24:30) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: It was the greatest scoop of my career to that point, an exclusive told in pantomime by the athlete we were staking out, another gift handed to me without a moment's hesitation by a hockey and football owner and curmudgeon named Harry Ornest. And it would've upended the entire coverage of the 1991 National Football League draft. Except the cameraman forgot to roll tape. I'll be getting over it any day now. C-Block (39:00) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Archie, a Missouri puppy, was shot in the leg (40:00) FRIDAYS WITH THURBER: Two of his stories of man not against others, but against life: "Nine Needles" and "The Mouse Who Went To The Country."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 155: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:42) SPECIAL COMMENT: "A Democratic president," writes Will Saletan (whose brother and I co-wrote a book of poems in 4th grade, "is standing up to Putin. And he's facing a Republican who would rather attack Mickey Mouse." But Ron DeSantis's ignorant, naive, isolationism is much worse. It opens the door for a full-on Republican campaign pledge (under him or Trump) to betray Ukraine as of 1/20/25. Just last night a retired American military officer went on Fox and told Carlson "The truth is coming out that this war was not started by Russia." What happens on 1/20/25, if one of them is inaugurated as president, and moments later Putin bombs...Poland? Because that just went from farfetched scenario to tangible possibility as the Polish Security Agency discovered Russian agents installing hidden cameras along the Polish railroad lines on which Western ammunition and weapons are transported to Kiev. If Putin has already game-planned an attack on NATO, we have to wonder: Would Trump or DeSantis be so committed to the anti-Ukraine, pro-Putin stance that THEIR United States would wind up permitting or even supporting a Russian war against NATO? It is a long, interwoven saga of DeSantis and Fox and Trump and Georgia 2020 and Marjorie Taylor Greene disclosing classified information at the Mexican border and how you won't hear this on Fox - or on CNN for that matter, where David Zaslav publicly recommitted to Chris Licht (who when we were at MSNBC together we all thought used to eat paste) in a meeting with 600 CNN Managers (CNN? 600 Managers? There's your problem right there). The New CNN's recommitment to useless, pointless, banal stenography was brilliantly characterized by Dylan Byers of Puck: "Nearly one year in, it's clear that Zaslav still believes in his vision for CNN as a nonpartisan, broadcast-style news digest, and still believes that Licht is his Captain Ahab." Captain...AHAB? Wait, doesn't Moby-Dick (or is it Moby-Licht) end with mass death?  CALL ME ISHMAEL. MY BOAT SANK. THE END. B-Block (19:18) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Shenanigan and Banshee, 14-week old shep/husky puppies in Devore, CA. (20:15) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: My career at the RKO Radio Network, where my boss was Charley Steiner, and where he once tasked me with finding out when and where a secret meeting between Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner and Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn would be held. And after I gave up and went to get some pizza, I literally RAN INTO STEINBRENNER ON THE STREET YELLING OUT THE DETAILS OF THE MEETING. C-Block (43:40) MORE THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: A little under the weather today so let me re-tell the adventures of another '80s job, which I waited 10 months to be able to start, and which lasted only half that long. Why almost nobody remembers me as "Keith Olbermann, SportsCenter 5, Boston."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 154: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:41) SPECIAL COMMENT: DeSantis dismissed Ukraine as not being one of our "vital national interests" and exactly six hours later a Russian fighter jet was knocking one of our intelligence drones out of international air space 75 miles off the Ukrainian coach. DeFascist looks like an idiot today, especially since Republican grown-ups pounded the crap out of him all day, and even more so because as a Congressman, the Rube-In-High-Heels demanded offensive and defensive weapons be sent TO Ukraine.  It's not just the standard story of a local yokel stepping onto the Republican national stage and promptly plummeting into the orchestra bit. DeSantis's flip-flop underscores the Republicans' century-long inability to make up its mind about any of the various incarnations of Russia. The America First DeSantii of 1939 wanted to ignore Russia even after its pact with Hitler. The post-war Republicans turned the actual Soviet threat into spies inside every home fallout shelter. Then Nixon went for detente. Then Reagan joked about beginning the bombing of Russia in five minutes. Then Reagan both destroyed the Soviet Union and 'brought peace.' Then Trump sold the GOP to Putin. Now DeSantis doesn't know which side of which is the Wokey-Fenokee Swamp. Meanwhile after a day of utter silence, Russia's second-favorite American Tucker Carlson actually mentioned Jacob Chansley, the Q Shaman. One mention. Literally. No explanation what happened to his wall-to-wall-coverage of the worst attack on American freedom unwoke non-CRT conspiracy. And coincidence or maybe more: heard anything from ANY Republican besides Gosar about it? Or about this "visit" to the January 6 defendants inside the DC Jail? They've gone silent too. But a DC judge hasn't: he says not only aren't the J6'ers NOT being mistreated, all their complaints have been addressed by the jailers AND they all have access to tablets to review...guess what...January 6th video for their defense. Something's up and it isn't Fox's ratings. B-Block (16:19) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Biden again notes that caving to Freedom Caucus demands to freeze spending at 2022 levels as their price to vote for a debt ceiling hike means...De-funding the police. Ohhhhhh are the Republicans pissed. Trump's indictment is days away and always will be. And he championed Veterinary Ivermectin for 11 years. Right up to the day it killed him. (20:40) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Brian Kilmeade calls Trump "the most disciplined I've ever seen him" because he hasn't dined with any white supremacists lately. The NHL televises a New York Rangers game live in cartoon without calling them the New York POWER Rangers. And a Minnesota state senator says there's no need for free school breakfasts or lunches because HE'S never met a hungry person.  C-Block (26:30) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Hopper, in Missouri (27:15) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Dan Abrams of "News Nation" humiliated himself on his show on the Nick-At-Nite of TV News networks. Which reminded me of the day in 2006 the geniuses at NBC decided to make him General Manager of MSNBC. He was so bad so fast that ONE WEEK LATER they took all the power away from him. It's a long laugh.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 153: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:42) SPECIAL COMMENT: Wait - what? After a lurid week of claiming the entire January 6 Insurrection was just "peaceful sight-seers" disturbed by "hooligans" and insisting that the greatest conspiracy in the history of the country had been effected to transform the country and weaponize this and lie about that, Tucker Carlson suddenly, abruptly, completely and without explanation DROPPED THE JANUARY 6TH VIDEO STORY LAST NIGHT. No Jacob Chansley. No withheld video. No punish Liz Cheney.  It's quiet. It's too quiet. What happened? The Department of Justice released three videos implicating Chansley, putting him within feet of a Senator (probably Chuck Grassley) during mid-evacuation. A New York State Supreme Court judge let the OTHER voting machine company's defamation lawsuit against Fox proceed. For all we know, Rupert Murdoch called Carlson and said "shut your pie hole." But the sudden silence was almost universal. Seen a tweet from a Congressman lately? Even Elon Musk stopped trying to convince people - on Saturday. B-Block (19:26) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Yes, you read right. South Carolina state representative introduces bill to institute death penalty for women who get abortions (be pro-life or we'll kill you). A (dubious) report CNN may fire Chris Licht before Labor Day (22:14) IN SPORTS: Garrapolo to Raiders; Bauer to Japan; Unknown Nicaraguan WBC star gets big league contract; in memory of Joe Pepitone. (25:43) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Wall Street Journal blames SVB failure on bank not having enough white guys; Trump talks about education, like he ever had one; and Ron DeSantis can do an interview AND throw a baseball while wearing high heels! C-Block (34:00) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Sloane in California (35:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Sportscaster Gary Lineker beats the BBC. It ends his suspension, he keeps expressing his political opinions. Utter deja vu for me. In 2010 MSNBC suspended me for doing something I had the right to do, vowed to not pay me for months. That was Friday. By Tuesday I was back on the air and they owed me much, much more money than they had owed me on Friday.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 152: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:41) SPECIAL COMMENT: New government document in a separate January 6 case filed yesterday, sworn under oath and under penalty of perjury, confirms that by September 2021 Jacob Chansley and his attorneys were given all but 10 seconds of the J6 video Carlson showed last week. Carlson's claim that Chansley and his lawyers had never seen the video, is a lie. Carlson's claim that it was "withheld" from Chansley and America, is a lie. Carlson's claim that they were sightseers, is a lie. Carlson's claim that it's a false flag, is a lie. Tucker Carlson is a liar. What's worse: he could be guilty of Obstruction of Justice. Because what has this all been about? This was Kevin McCarthy providing Tucker Carlson access to the materials with which to lie, gaslight, and whitewash. He did all three things. This is a conspiracy to turn guilty perpetrators of insurrection, coup, and violent attack on the Capitol during the official transfer of power, into victims - and the victims into defendants. And THAT is called "Obstruction Of Justice." B-Block (20:47) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Yay Capitalism until its speculative bank fails then it's Yay Socialism. At least it shuts up Junior Trump. Mike Pence talks tough against Trump but still won't lift a finger to stop him. And Tom Hanks broke my Cummerbund at the Oscars. (24:23) IN SPORTS: DeSantis's brilliant idea to get a hated tennis player arrested, MSG's Jim Dolan vows to win alcohol fight (it'd be his first win) and what sportscaster solidarity can do: BBC's Gary Lineker has brought the UK's fascist government to its knees. (30:50) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: On the other hand, the UK mailed in its uniforms for the World Baseball Classic. The House Freedom Caucus's debt limit demand includes...Defunding the police? And why DeSantis needs to read every snowflake first. C-Block (35:20) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: My Dad died, 13 years ago today. But instead of telling you some somber remembrance let me tell you about something he did that, 47 years later, still strikes me as the epitome of selfless parenting and still leaves me speechless. Oh and it features me meeting Howard Stern when he was 20 and I was 15.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 151: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:42): New Tucker Carlson bombshell in the Dominion Documents Dump. Media Matters discovers a text in which Carlson praised and disseminated the writings of a racist holocaust denier, only 2-1/2 years ago. He sent somebody close enough to Carlson to have his cell number a link to a column written by David Cole - who denies that Auschwitz was an extermination camp and questions whether six million Jewish people perished in the Holocaust. Carlson added "This is a good piece." That Carlson would praise such scum is hardly news: he works for Fox "News." But this shocker coming out at such a critical time for him and Fox is indeed news. Because it reopens the 2019 scandal that vanished into the pandemic year, in which radio recordings surfaced of Carlson being crassly racist and sexist, and insulting in those ways to the likes of everybody from Barack Obama to Martha Stewart's daughter. Carlson also defended convicted child rapist Warren Jeffs and attacked statutory rape laws. His other problems continue. A fourth night of "January 6 Video" produced only more re-runs. And he impeached his own Wednesday guest. The Q Shaman's first attorney Albert Watkins was, on Wednesday, a victim of the vast plot Carlson claimed to have uncovered. But last night Watkins became a villain who had let the "shaman" down. In point of fact, Watkins had been fired after he called his client "retarded" and one of the "short bus people" and Watkins was cited for "ineffective assistance of counsel." Every time Rupert Murdoch and Fox have squirmed out of a scandal they've done so by firing somebody big: Roger Ailes, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly. Rupert is in survival mode and the new revelations make it easier for him to scapegoat Carlson. B-Block (19:03) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Yeah yeah sure Trump's gonna be indicted any day now (says the Times. Again). Jenna Ellis, the Canary in the Rudy Giuliani gas coal mine, confesses. Lauren Boebert can't count nor tell time and shock of shocks, a new George Santos scandal. (22:25) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Trump has a new book that sums him up. It's stuff other people wrote TO him. Letters. Now I may have to publish the letter HE wrote to ME. Elon Musk's novel way to promote employees. And Lindsey Graham. No - not that one. A far funnier one. C-Block (28:00) FRIDAYS WITH THURBER: When he went to the 4th Grade at the turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries, the great writer lived in a world where if you failed the 4th Grade, you stayed in the 4th Grade. If his wonderful account is true, some of his classmates had been there for more than a decade, and constituted the best amateur baseball team in the state of Ohio, good enough to beat Ohio State. "I Went To Sullivant."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 150: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:42) SPECIAL COMMENT: Tucker Carlson's Trump Derangement Syndrome Dance Party went into re-runs last night, then was cancelled, and then the star ran away. Carlson literally ran out of new 1/6 video and re-ran much of his Monday segment; his conspiracy theory rant went from the rage and drama of Monday to something closer than kvetchy. It ended with not a bang but a whimper. Did Carlson sense that his schtick was less gaslight and more stomach gas and it couldn't have done more damage to himself and Fox "News" if it had planned that way? Did somebody at Fox tell him to stop? There certainly was no mistaking what Carlson did after bailing on 1/6: he had a reporter do the softest, squishiest, credulous report on Trump's promise that if elected everybody would get their own new "Freedom City" - and a flying car. The message was obvious: Trump heard about the "I hate him passionately" text and exacted retribution. But while Carlson bailed out, America piled on. Carlson was slammed by everybody from Ben Shapiro to Joe Biden. Liz Cheney attacked the possible new investigation of the 1/6 Commission by tweeting "bring it on" and four presidential ethicists asked the House to investigate the McCarthy/MAGA Congressmen/Carlson deal. B-Block (13:51) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Comer and Marjorie Traitor Greene are going to jail. Unfortunately we think they won't be staying. In Paste Eating news, CNN's boss tells his employees not to go for the "sugar high of ratings." He needn't worry about the ratings - there aren't any. (18:30) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Jesse Watters thinks he can arrest Dr. Fauci. A new trick in high school book-banning: just check out all copies of the book you want to shadow ban. And the Texas state legislator pushing a secession referendum also wanted the death penalty for abortions and wanted a tax break for married straight couples. Then a reporter found out the legislator seems to have gotten his wife off a website that bills itself as an alternative to "mail order brides from Thailand and the Philippines." Ooops. C-Block (24:45) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Basil, in New York (25:45) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Somebody asked me the other day: "Where In The World Is Mitt Lauer?" And I said I didn't know, but I hoped it was somewhere unpleasant. Before the ugly violent stuff came out, everybody at NBC knew he was a dangerous manipulative vindictive jackass. One day I got a scoop he thought he deserved, so he tried to get me fired. We should have done more to stop him.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 149: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:43) SPECIAL COMMENT: Free advice for Rupert Murdoch: Fire Tucker Carlson - now. And Ingraham. And Hannity. Because between how the January 6 Video Gaslight Gambit failed and backfired and self-owned, and Round 3 of the Dominion Lawsuit Document Dump, it's gonna be him or them and history has proven again and again that it's ALWAYS him. Carlson's fraud was so bad, and angered so many, that Senator Thom Tillis said "It's bulls**t" and Mitch McConnell said Fox News made a mistake and half a dozen other Republicans ripped the network. And internally, no other Fox host said ANYTHING supportive, on the air or off, until Laura Ingraham finally hit McConnell back at 10 PM last night. And the Dominion 3rd Tranche may be the killer. Not only is there now a paper trail to Murdoch sharing info - maybe even a copy - of Biden's commercials with Jared Kushner. But in a phrase you will soon see on every political billboard everywhere, there's Carlson texting a Fox producer on January 4 2021: "We are very very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can't wait. I HATE HIM PASSIONATELY." How much would you pay to charity for the privilege of showing Trump that text? B-Block (21:0) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Why are TVs in the US Capitol required to be tuned to Fox 'News?' Trump's genius plan to solve Ukraine: give it to Russia. Marjorie Taylor Greene talks about women who take testosterone what was that about every Republican accusation being an admission? (24:21) IN SPORTS: For the third time, the NHL (The National Hypocrisy League) has screwed up Pride Night. Is this a Russian problem? (28:52) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Before signing a deal to become "Sister Cities" make sure the other one exists. The UK's Prime Minister touts the nation's Modern Slavery (?) And poor Musk thought he was just mocking the differently-abled. Actually he was confirming he owed somebody $100 million. C-Block (35:00) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Four poor pups in Dallas (36:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: A lot about Russia and Ukraine in this episode so time to tell the tale of my musical genius Great Grandfather. Ever heard the story of the guy who gave away the name "General Motors" for free? That was my Ukrainian Great Grandpa, Antony Zelensky, whose saving grace was: he TOLD that story on himself every day of his life!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 148: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT: As he set out to gaslight his Gullibles into believing the January 6th video "proves" there was false flag, with "sight-seers" led astray by a few "hooligans," what was the ONE thing Tucker Carlson could NOT do? What, as the prospect of a $1,600,000,000 damage judgment against Fox loomed in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation case, did he need to avoid at all costs? Say something like "The 2020 election was a grave betrayal of American democracy, given the facts that have since emerged about that election. No honest person can deny it." He RE-ENACTED FOX'S LIES FROM 2020 as documented in the Dominion depositions and texts. If that weren't good (bad) enough he also defamed Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. I guess they'll have to co-own the channel with Dominion. Now what? Does Rupert Murdoch throw Carlson overboard? Fire him to try to tamp down the Dominion Crisis AND the Cheney/Kinzinger crisis? How did Fox let him put this on? How did Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham and the others not strangle Carlson into unconsciousness rather than let him do what he did? Carlson's shtick was unsurprisingly thin. But at least he added a catchphrase to the lexicon of lying and manipulation: "The Video Proves This." (NARRATOR: The video didn't prove this). B-Block (22:03) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Transgenderism eradicator Michael Knowles doubles down, Senator Mike Lee defends him, Adidas may burn Yeezy Shoes (26:44) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Never TWEET a QR code, Mr. Prime Minister. Speaking of, Boris Johnson nominates Dad for a knighthood. And Elon Musk needs two guards to escort him to the bathroom, fulfilling the old joke about the guy too stupid to relieve himself without the help of a committee. C-Block (32:55) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: August, in California (33:50) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Since we're talking Fox and Dominion and whether Rupert Murdoch is now going to scapegoat Tucker Carlson, how about the other guy he DID scapegoat, Lou Dobbs? 42 years ago Lou Dobbs' rumored messy personal life led directly to the start of my TV career at CNN.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 147: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:42) SPECIAL COMMENT: Donald Trump is this close to declaring himself God. His announcement to his ever-grieved angry real-victim-here Cult of Karens -- "I AM YOUR RETRIBUTION" illustrates that even his eight-year long terrorist attack on this country had at least one more level to go. Trump has now imbued the 2024 GOP race with vengeance and vendetta. And a vote for Trump in 2024 is a vote for retribution and vengeance - and bloodshed. And thanks to a failed actor who looks disturbingly like the cartoon character "Quagmire" from "Family Guy," Michael Knowles, we now know the first targets of Trump's mob. "Transgenderism must be eradicated from public life, entirely." While Knowles tries the fascist trick of saying he never said transgender PEOPLE must be eradicated, most people have missed the key word in that hateful utterance. It's not "eradicated" it's "entirely," and it renders Knowles's hairsplitting meaningless. B-Block (16:45) IN SPORTS: One of the best of baseball's announcers, Dave Wills of the Tampa Bay Rays, has died suddenly, and the sport is grieving. (23:13) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: The Russian prime minister gets laughed at, a Florida Republican does something so dumb Newt Gingrich slams him, and Mr. Non-Opinion Journalism at Fox "News," Bret Baier, turns out to be just as bad as the rest of them. C-Block (30:48) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Brothers Brooklyn and Butter (31:49) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: One minute I was ruminating on the unappreciated beauty of the Hudson River as seen from a commuter train. The next they were prying me loose from the window I had become frozen to.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 146: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:42) SPECIAL COMMENT: As Rupert Murdoch prepares to scapegoat Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott for the Dominion Documents scandal, a reminder that no matter how hopeful we might be right now, Fox "News" isn't going to destroy itself! Here are ten steps to take to help kill the thing so that democracy may live. There are recommendations for actions by Democrats invited to appear as guests, for what the White House Correspondents Association and RTCA should do, what the Senate should do, what prosecutors should do, what media should do, what the network should do. Plus: there are three steps YOU can do at home to hasten the demise, including hurrying over to UnFoxMyCableBox-dot-com. Plus I will answer the question: How does Sean Hannity sleep at night (on a bed made out of money) and tell you that the man most responsible for Fox "News" existing today is, of all people, Rudy Giuliani. It's almost forgotten now, but what he did as Mayor of New York in October 1996 saved this godforsaken poisoner of this nation from vanishing almost before it began. B-Block (26:06) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Jim Jordan's "Weaponization" Committee is coming apart at the seams; DOJ says yes you can sue Trump over 1/6. But that doesn't mean you'll win, and Daniel Ellsberg says goodbye. (30:53) IN SPORTS: Did the New York Rangers' social media director abuse an LGBTQ fan because other LGBTQ fans complained when the Rangers screwed up Pride Night? And the ESPN offer of a true public service: a centralized place where you can find your game, no matter who's streaming it (35:30) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: The NFL team where players say rats ran the practice facility; who would've guessed Marjorie Traitor Greene's press flak is an asshole; and the Florida legislator who wants to force bloggers who write about Ron DeSantis to REGISTER WITH THE STATE OR FACE HUGE FINES. C-Block (40:30) FRIDAYS WITH THURBER: The only Thurber character who owns his own pet...Thunderstorm: "The Black Magic Of Barney Haller."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 145: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:42) SPECIAL COMMENT: The President must fire FBI Director Christopher Wray, and the Senate must conduct hearings into Fox "News" to see if it can be stopped and if the citizenships of Rupert Murdoch, Lachlan Murdoch, and the others, can be revoked.  The FBI: The Washington Post's reporting on the FBI's attempt to shut down the investigation, then the search, and finally the prosecution in the Trump case requires nothing less than the immediate dismissal of the director - if we can get him off Fox Non-News for a moment - and most of the now-rogue FBI Washington Field Office. Agents and then the Bureau Chief believed Trump and his attorney, instead of their bosses, and the judge, and the Constitution. Fire everybody. Fox Non-News: Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries sent a searing six-paragraph letter to Murdoch et al. It demands they chose between "lying to their viewers" and "honest reporting." The money is in the former, and Rupert Murdoch made this decision in 1952. What is necessary is something to scare the crap out of Murdoch: charges against hm for an illegal contribution-in-kind to the Trump campaign, if Tucker Carlson shows any of the 1/6 video - and convening a hearing dragging these bastards before the Senate. B-Block (20:53) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: I got Senator Mike Lee's twitter account suspended briefly yesterday. So THAT happened. And boring as he is, Merrick Garland still managed to blow up Ted Cruz yesterday. (25:00) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Rep. Boebert forgets about them new states, Alaska and Hawaii; Rep. Donalds, who met with a 1/6 Seditionist INSIDE THE CAPITOL, and Ronda Santis, who has forgotten one detail in his scheme to dictate what Disney does and doesn't put in their movies and shows. C-Block (30:15) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Poor Magnus got pulled out of the NYC pound only to come down with pneumonia. (31:15) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: A sports fan so ardent he used to wager on baseball spring training games AND do impressions of sportscasters, including me. It's the story of the day I got to meet the late great actor Walter Matthau.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 144: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:42) SPECIAL COMMENT: Good news everyone! We don't have to worry about Kevin McCarthy turning over 44,000 hours of January 6 Video to Tucker Carlson. Because Tucker has promised Kevin that he won't use any of the sensitive stuff that could get congressmen or senators or Vice Presidents killed next time. And we know how we can trust Tucker Carlson! Just look at all those Carlson texts from the Dominion defamation suit! His word is the coin of the realm. Provided the realm in question is Russia. Perhaps never before in American history has their been such a pairing of Political Scum with Media Scum as McCarthy and Carlson. And McCarthy's response to the criticism of his unprecedented and indefensible act: "It almost seems like the press is jealous...He'll have an exclusive. Then I'll give it out to the entire country." And McCarthy's henchman in this sleazy nightmare turns out to be Barry Loudermilk, the Georgia Congressman caught ON the January 5-6 video giving at least one January 6th defendant a tour of security checkpoints. There are still steps the Biden Administration and the Democrats can do to stop this farce. It stops with ending access to all representatives of all NewsCorp employees, for the simple reason that Fox News and its cousins are NOT news organizations. I'm not holding my breath. B-Block (21:03) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: The Fools on the Hill: Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene humiliate themselves during congressional hearings, while trying to play "gotcha" with people smarter than they are. (26:02) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Chris Licht again, this time for putting on an ex-Norfolk Southern lobbyist to comment on the Norfolk Southern disaster; How could you possibly misspell Jackie Robinson's name? And help us: NYC has elected a messianic theocrat as mayor. Eric Adams goes nuts - again. C-Block (31:00) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Dora and Lee, starved puppies in Arkansas (32:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: The Fox News/NewsCorp perfidy is not limited to television. When the tv arm of the octopus is criticized and threatened, the Murdoch monster uses the print arms to try to strangle the opponent. When a right wing would-be terrorist sent fake anthrax to me and a dozen other liberals, the FBI asked me - and all news organizations - to keep it quiet just for a day. Murdoch's New York Post not only refused, but wrote the story concluding that the person to blame here was...me.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 143: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:43) SPECIAL COMMENT: Rupert Murdoch showed Joe Biden's 2020 Presidential Campaign Commercials to Jared Kushner before they were public. This - the most startling of the second tranche of revelations from the Dominion Voting Systems defamation suit against Fox and NewsCorp - doesn't just violate electoral and journalistic ethics. It may be criminal - and it certainly should mean the metaphorical 'Death Penalty' for a dark, evil propaganda channel masquerading as a news organization. Fox News must be de-platformed and the company drive into bankruptcy. We can have democracy in this country, or we can have Fox News. We cannot have both. Fox is still in a position to do the damage outlined in the newest revelations (including, in essence, selling time on Fox News panels to Mike Lindell, and when its own researchers confirmed the crazy claims against Dominion were false, ignoring them and firing them) in part because in 2009 MSNBC and NBC cut a deal with Fox to circumscribe what news it could report about Fox, and what news Fox could report about MSNBC, NBC, and parent company GE. It's time to tell that nauseating story in full detail. B-Block (30:56) SPECIAL COMMENT: The 2009 NBC-Fox collusion began with conversations among then-NBC President Jeff Zucker and Roger Ailes of Fox, and included a threat by GE Chairman Jeffrey Immelt to take MSNBC off the air, and the attempt to buy off Fox by having GE advertise on Fox Networks. C-Block (53:30) SPECIAL COMMENT: The saga of NBC's deal to help Fox News stay out of the full glare of public criticism climaxed in a July dinner in the GE Chairman's Private Dining Room on the top floor of 30 Rock. It was a scene worthy of the movie "Network" - only they didn't wind up actually assassinating me - only symbolically.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 142: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:42) SPECIAL COMMENT: Merrick Garland is going to appear in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday morning. And it looks like there'll be yet another new and big and shiny thing to ask him about, about the arrested ex-FBI man Charles McGonigal and the Russian linked via Paul Manafort to Trump, Oleg Deripaska. Once, McGonigal was in charge of investigating Deripaska. The next thing you knew, he was WORKING FOR Deripaska. Exactly WHEN that happened keeps changing. 2020? 2019? Now it's 2018? Could it have been 2016? Judiciary Chair Dick Durban and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse want to know, and they want to know if Garland knows if McGonigal was aware of his FBI New York Field Office and how it was already trying to fix the 2016 election for Trump by forcing James Comey to re-smear Hillary Clinton eleven days before the election. Meanwhile Trump CAN get the GOP nomination because the GOP hierarchy is moronic: it actually believes it has "cornered" him by demanding a pledge of all would-be nominees to support whoever gets the nomination because OF COURSE he always lives up to his promises. And Tucker Carlson doubles down on the January 6th video scam. B-Block (18:08) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: First you could say "Dilbert" isn't funny. Then you could say it isn't appropriate. Now, after Scott Adams' racist rant, you can say it just...isn't. Happily Elon Musk is there to defend him. And the Department of Energy says Covid-19 was a lab leak? Oh they say it with "low confidence" that they're right? And it's the Department of ENERGY? (21:43) In sports: baseball's pitch clock seems to work (I'll be DAMNED), but where is it going to come up with the money to pay Manny Machado? Four more Regional Sports Networks pumping baseball (and the NBA and NHL) full of cash say they will likely go bankrupt within a month. (25:20) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Did the anti-Drag governor of Tennessee dress up IN drag in High School? Why does one writer keep calling CNN's Chris "Maybe Ate Paste" Licht a genius when he's never finished higher than last in the ratings? And how do you spell "NINTH" and "TWELFTH"? Don't ask the Florida Department of Education - the folks there have no clue. C-Block (32:00) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Peanut, in North Carolina, who weighs 20 pounds when she should weigh 60, needs your help. (33:15) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: On one day I was supposed to have coffee - at her invitation, as a prelude to a date, with Uma Thurman, AND the president of Current TV was taking me to dinner to explain how we could get rid of the idiot co-owner who didn't know what "DVR" was and so bought ratings showing only "Live" viewers, not "Live + DVR" viewers. If I tell you I had coffee and dinner alone, can you guess what happened?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 141: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:41) SPECIAL COMMENT: Where is the Department of Justice? Homeland Security? The House Democrats? The Senate Democrats? The Capitol Police Board? When those who are supposed to protect us make it a four-day week, WHO will step up to stop Kevin McCarthy's criminal collusion with Tucker Carlson on the 1/6 Security Video? Mike Lindell. No, seriously.  Lindell alone acts as the implications of McCarthy's Quid Pro Quo become more evident. As the argument is made that the Democrats should now release all the video to all news organizations so some of them will be prepared to push back against Carlson's Conspiracy Theories and False Flag claims, the 44,000 hours of pure unadulterated high grade brainwash is clearly designed to be used to whitewash Trump. And it fits into the Gaslight Ecosystem, which last night expanded to include an organization trying to blacklist ALL former staffers on the House January 6th Committee, and blacklist their new employers, and blacklist their new employers' clients. B-Block (15:02) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Ron DeSantis and his press secretary are losing a battle with a newscaster who fell asleep on the air the other day; Alaska's advocate for child abuse death is censured; and George Santos not only signs on to legislation honoring a gun, but lies about it as well (19:22) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Does a publisher get to purge mildly offensive words like "fat" or "bald" from the works of a dead author? Wouldn't a warning note be enough? Upping the ante: the author is Roald Dahl, the man who created Willy Wonka. Upping the ante again: he was both an often terrible human being and an often exceptionally kind one. Upping the ante one last time: when I was seven years old, Roald Dahl and I corresponded. C-Block (39:40) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Ben in Brooklyn (40:40) FRIDAYS WITH THURBER: His most darkly humorous story, the one that prophesied Trump: "The Greatest Man In The World."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 140: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN:  A-Block (1:41) SPECIAL COMMENT: Speaker Kevin McCarthy has jeopardized the security of every Representative and every Senator and every staffer, and the continuity of the government of the United States, and thus the safety of every CITIZEN of the United States - and he has publicly admitted to, and boasted about, committing the act by which he did so. This is treasonous. Indict him and arrest him. We now know that Tucker Carlson gained access to the January 6 video by the deception of McCarthy and/or House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil. Steil asked the Capitol Police for a video terminal on which he personally could look at the video. Without warning the Capitol Police, McCarthy unilaterally gave Carlson access to that terminal.  And then, yesterday, McCarthy not only admitted "he released" the video - he began to FUNDRAISE OFF HIS DECEPTION. "The Speaker," says Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, "is needlessly exposing the Capitol complex to one of the worst security risks since 9/11..it also risks exposing the carefully laid out and highly guarded plans for the continuity of government, intended to preserve our democracy in the event of an attack." These are not minor infractions, nor mere political conflicts. This is treachery. McCarthy admits to doing it. Indict him and arrest him. B-Block (15:00) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Special Counsel subpoenas Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner (Trump) and before you think they can't try to evade it by making up yet another ludicrous privilege: You forgot Nepo-Baby Privilege, didn't you? GOP still denies it wants to cut Social Security and Medicare while Paul Ryan and Mike Pence announce they want to cut Social Security and Medicare. And in the new Marist Poll Biden does what 100% of political pundits insisted he could not do. (18:18) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Never light a Pride Flag on fire. Especially not if there's a high-def surveillance camera right next to it. Sean Hannity endorses a plan to disenfranchise Sean Hannity. And Barney Rubble's Body Double explains why "black people" should be proud of Confederate statues. C-Block (22:50) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Since I'm calling for the government to shut down "Fox News" I probably need to fess up: I went out on two dates with Laura Ingraham. Admittedly, it was a century ago, but I think you need to know. Besides which it's cheaper than telling it to a therapist. Thank you.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 139: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:43) SPECIAL COMMENT: The Kevin McCarthy/Tucker Carlson Scandal has blown wide open as The Capitol Police Board meets to vote on whether or not to stop the Speaker from giving the Fox News Liar what Rep. Zoe Lofgren calls "a blueprint for bad guys on how to more successfully attack the Capitol." House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries convenes his caucus this afternoon to take what action it can as Jeffries calls the collusion between McCarthy and Carlson "an egregious security breach." In essence, Kevin McCarthy has STOLEN the January 6th video and handed it to Tucker Carlson, and Tucker Carlson and Fox News have already done more damage to this country than Al-Qaeda or ISIS or Atomwaffen or any other terrorist group could dream of. We're approaching the 20th anniversary of the day Geraldo Rivera, live on Fox News Channel, gave away the position and movements of the 101st Airborne Division, and was literally escorted out of Iraq by the U.S. military. This underscores the reality that Fox News has NEVER cared about the troops, about freedoms, about America. It sells a product. The product is phony patriotism. The product is a distorted picture of America. The product is hate. The product is lies. It's time to put the manufacturers of the product, Fox "News," out of business. B-Block (20:27) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Trump Georgia Grand Jury presents Hint Number 32,753; Barney Rubble's Body Double doubles down on the Red State/Blue State divorce but adds taking away voting rights for Democrats; Democrats make criminal referral on Ohio Train Disaster while Republicans hesitate to offend their corporate masters (31:20) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: an unfortunate Washington Post headline, a really dumb Oklahoma congressman, and a really disturbing Alaska state legislator who believes if an abused child is killed, "it's actually a benefit to society." C-Block (31:20) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: When I talk about Fox and its core value - evil - I'm not just repeating what I've heard. I was once fired, personally, by Rupert Murdoch, for telling the truth, and my bosses got dragged for it as well.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 138: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:42) SPECIAL COMMENT: Only Marjorie Taylor Greene would be stupid enough to demand a "national divorce" in which the United States "separates by red states and blue states" - when SHE LIVES IN A BLUE STATE. But then again, what do you expect? She was raised on a diet of Fox News. Speaker McCarthy has now unilaterally handed over 41,000 hours of 1/6 Capitol Security Video to Tucker Carlson and Carlson can now provide a roadmap to the next seditionists on how to avoid security while also gaslighting the story of 2021. Last week, we learned of the astonishing cynical manipulation of America by Carlson, Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity and the others, who didn't believe a word of the denialist crap they sold the country. Between those two stories it's time for the country to act to de-platform and close down Fox News as a clear and present danger to the future of the United States of America. The Department of Justice needs to seek a Restraining Order to keep Fox from manipulating the video McCarthy gave it. I've been arguing since 1998 that Fox News was a mortal peril. Since 2007 I've said it was more damaging to this country than Al-Qaeda has been. We must shut them down the way we shut down Big Tobacco and Big Pharma. B-Block (23:15) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Moscow commentators react to Biden's trip to Kyiv: "We should've blown him up." Flaco leaves the nest. Adams schools DeSantis. (26:51) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: All she did was tap the balloon. But it wasn't a balloon, it was a $42,000 ceramic sculpture and it crashed to the floor. The Texas School Superintendent whose gun was found by a 3rd Grader. And CNN owner John Malone has to admit one of two things: that after the Don Lemon debacle, Chris Licht is a complete failure, or he hired Chris Licht BECAUSE he'd be a complete failure. C-Block (33:45) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Mr. JoJo in Shreveport (34:45) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: The influence of Fox News and the belief by some of its hosts like Carlson that they are in fact running this country is in large part the result of mainstream media negligence. In 2009, Fox tried to avenge itself against me by attacking GE's Chairman and he folded up because his mother was a Bill O'Reilly viewer and she saw what O'Reilly said and called up her son and yelled at him.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 137: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:41) SPECIAL BREAKING NEWS EDITION OF THE COUNTDOWN PODCAST: Joe Biden's shock visit to Ukraine and the near-genius of its message to multiple audiences: (A) The American people, rarely surprised by anything, waking up to their president in Kyiv with Zelensky as air raid signals go off - on Presidents' Day no less! (B) To the Republicans trying to undermine support for Ukraine here (C) To buck up the Ukrainians with at least another year of war ahead (D) To Russia if it thought its proxies here could really undermine this country's foreign policy (E) To China amid rumors it might support Russia with materiel that maybe its role could be peacekeeper, what with the Chinese Foreign Minister in Moscow today of all days (F) And lastly, a message so profound and obvious even the American News Media can't miss it nor fail to fit it easily into one of the four or five templates it can process. B-Block (14:30) On Russian disinformation through Musk, Carlson, Republicans. C-Block (22:10) My lunch with Joe BidenSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 136: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:41) The death of baseball's legendary television analyst Tim McCarver, easily one of the most beloved people in the sport, and in broadcasting. I knew him for 42 years and for whatever criticisms he took late in his career from listeners who didn't realize all the other ones were merely doing impressions of him, in 1983 he literally, personally, saved my love of the game. He was a pleasure to work with, and as I have been saying for 20 years, his insight in literally the last 60 seconds of the bottom of the 9th inning of the 7th Game of the most emotional season in baseball history was the television equivalent of Bill Mazeroski's home run to win the 1960 World Series. B-Block (19:55) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: The Fox News texts are out. Tucker Carlson was afraid Trump would destroy them, but telling the truth about him would tank the stock price. He, Ingraham and Hannity all thought Rudy Giuliani was crazy. The News Chief tried to stop news. Perjury in the Trump Atlanta case? How many people did Senator Fetterman help yesterday? Now that he's proven he can live on his own, why is the Central Park Zoo setting a honey trap to re-capture Flaco the Owl? And can anyone stop the Killer Windows of Russia? (25:48) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Nikki Haley would struggle with the math part of her own Presidential Candidate Mental Competency Test, Ann Coulter makes you feel sympathy for Nikki Haley, and a German choreographer says: I am an artist and you have criticized me, so, I will now smear my dog's feces on your face. C-Block (31:50) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Falcon, Rio, Titan, Torino, and Tundra - five pups with Parvo in Texas (32:50) FRIDAYS WITH THURBER: fittingly on the occasion of the loss of a great baseball broadcaster, Thurber's story that begins with the words of another great baseball broadcaster: "The Catbird Seat."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.