That's Why They Pay Him The Big Bucks

I remember the first time I heard Rush Limbaugh. I think it was the early 90s. I was driving around Detroit, flipping through the stations, when I heard, to my surprise (especially on AM), the riff from "My City Was Gone."

But instead of going into the song, this guy started talking. Some sort of right-winger--at a time when there wasn't that much political talk on radio. He was actually pretty entertaining, as I, and millions of others, soon learned.

I don't listen to Rush much these days. I mostly listen to radio in my car, and I'm not generally driving when he's on. But when I've driven across the country, I've listened to him regularly, for two reasons. First, he's on everywhere. Second, when you're in your car all day, you're starved for entertainment, and he puts on a pretty good show--better than almost anyone else.

Anyway, there's a pretty good profile of Rush in last weeks New York Times Magazine. It's made some waves, though in general it's sympathetic. In it, Ira Glass, of all people, sums up Rush's appeal pretty well.

Years ago, I used to listen in the car on my way to reporting gigs, and I’d notice that I disagreed with everything he was saying, yet I not only wanted to keep listening, I actually liked him. That is some chops. You can count on two hands the number of public figures in America who can pull that trick off.

A lot of people dismiss [Limbaugh and Howard Stern] as pandering and proselytizing and playing to the lowest common denominator, but I think that misses everything important about their shows. They both think through their ideas in real time on the air, they both have a lot more warmth than they’re generally given credit for, they both created an entire radio aesthetic.

I agree with Glass that Stern and Limbaugh, who may seem polar opposites, are masters of the intimate medium of radio. So is Glass. A lot of people think it's about the politics, but there are hundreds of conservative talk shows--there must be some reason Rush stands above the rest.