Hate Howard Stern or love'em,he's given us a priceless audio clearinghouse

[henslee]

a pipeline for an unimaginable trove of rare comedy, satire, political discussions and unclassifiable cultural minutia, worthy of a Smithsonian retrospective. Beyond the porn, the perviness and the commercials, Howard has given us thousands and thousands of hours of amazingly candid celebrity interviews and anecdotes that would otherwise be lost for ever. He's given us poltical discussions, news discussions, one of kind fan-crafted sound bites, satirical songs and hysterical phony phone calls. And of course, he's given us the one and only Gilbert Gottfried.

Maybe you don't listen to Stern due to his vulgarity -- I usually turn him off during a stripper bit that's going nowhere. But there is no denying Howard's genius, his contribution to culture and no matter how flawed he is, his honesty. Yes, that's it, his honesty.

[Webster Green]

1. I can't stand to listen to him...

The one and only time I turned off the Daily Show was when he was on the other night.

Blechh!

[henslee]

2. The TV show should not be confused with the Radio show. It is

a totally different beast. The TV show are mostly raunchy sex segments-- eye candy. Discussions have usually been edited out. Remember,the show is hours long -- all morning.

[ToeBot]

5. Wow, did you make it all the way through Peggy Noonan?

Or did you not tune in that night? What intestinal fortitude!

[SoFlaJet]

3. that's the word these days

the only one left that holds any weight in this day and age HONESTY.Eminem-I heard a song of his last weekend on the radio and he took you right inside his world-I was blown away-I hadn't heard such honesty in I don't know how long.All the artist CAN be is himself and those that can get closest-Like HOWARD and EMINEM-well they get rich but more importantly-they're never forgotten and the fans never go away-like Stern's-I've outgrown him with the sex stuff he does but I'll always be a fan.Springsteen-Randi Rhodes-these people mean a lot to a lot of us-Honesty-it's principle to forever strive towards

[henslee]

7. The song about his daugher, wife, the fans etc.? Been hearing it too.

I am glad he is kicking a pos. message.

And back to honesty, in the age of the photoshop, the Dean Scream coverage, secret miitary trials and all sorts of manipulated media tactics, its scarcer than ever.

[AlCzervik]

4. I like Howard, i don't all of his bits but many are very good, the non-sex

ones and kudos to him for defending Howard Dean.

[Beetwasher]

6. Yeah, Howard's Great

And you're right, his honesty is what makes him so great. He lays his whole life on the table for his listeners everyday. Hardly anything is off limits to talk about. If you're on the show ALL your personal life is up for discussion and he WILL get the truth out of you somehow.

I'm constantly amazed at how he can get celebrities to truthfully answer some of the questions he asks. His interviews are always the most riveting because he WILL ask the questions no one else will.

[wndycty]

8. I agree. . .

. . .first of all I will acknowledge that his edgier stuff DOES NOT turn me off and I find it kind of humorous because, we just because. However I think what has really drawn me to Stern over the last few years is a certain honesty, a certain perspective that is needed today. For those of you who are not Stern fans one of the best interviews Howard ever had was of JFK Jr., I never heard it live, but I saw it years later on E! and it was his ability to 1) get the interview and 2) get JFK Jr. to open up to him and his audience as if he was sharing his life with friends over dinner.

[dutchdemocrat]

9. I think

He's the Lenny Bruce ... of our generation.

[shenmue]

10. His show...

includes such gems as the old ABC days, when he used to lambaste DJs in other cities, even showing up outside their buildings to harrass them and have mock throw-'em-out-of-town celebrations; his news bits, including calling the Libyan embassy to annoy them during the bombing back in the 80s; and countless other incidents that are, to my mind, actually better than the stuff he's doing today. You haven't lived if you didn't get to see his Channel 9 show in the New York area a number of years back.

I am not sure I'd praise someone for honesty alone--hell, anybody could be honest, they could be honest about being a**holes, for that matter--but Howard just presents himself as unwilling to put up with stuff that drives him crazy. I don't like everything he does, but on a good day, when he's riffing on the news or something, he can't be beat.

:rofl:

[AlCzervik]

11. he's worth listening to for his IMUS ripping alone!

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. Sorry I can't stand him

I liked his movie but I can't listen to him on the radio. He's as bad as rush.