Charlotte & Peter Fiel on Watch Collecting, Matt Wolfe on Hollywood Shakeups, Theo Lewis Clark on Movie Trivia

Westwood One presents America at Night. Here's your host, McGraw-Milhaven. Let's get right to it. We've got a busy night for you. This first hour, we're going to talk about watches. Watches, yeah, stay with me on this one. Watches are no longer just something to tell time with. Watches have become collector's items. They've become investment vehicles. People are performing arbitrage on watches. It's become a cottage industry on the Internet. And we have a couple who wrote a book, the definitive book, on watches. And wait until you hear what's going on in the world of watches. That's coming up this first hour. Second hour, we're going to talk to Matt Wolfe, entertainment reporter, guru. We're going to talk to him about this Warner Brothers purchase from Paramount. Also, some of the latest movies and TV shows out there. And then Theo Lewis-Clark is going to be joining us. It's Hollywood Exec for a Day. And then in hour number three, it's all about phone calls. But we start off tonight with some sad news. Pop icon Neil Sedaka passed away at the age of 86. Some of his songs, Calendar Girl, Happy Birthday Sweet 16, Breaking Up is Hard to Do, not to mention Laughter in the Rain. The list goes on and on. Neil Sedaka passes away at the age of 86. Did I mention Calendar Girl? Did I mention Love Will Keep Us Together? Bad Blood? Holy mackerel. Neil Sedaka, listen to this. Neil Sedaka grew up in Brooklyn. And in high school, he dated Carole King. He lived across the street from Neil Diamond. Also in his neighborhood was Barry Manilow and Barbra Streisand. But Carole King, Neal Sedaka, Neal Diamond, Barbra Streisand, Barry Manilow all grew up in Brooklyn at the same time. Holy mackerel. Is that unbelievable? Yeah, it was in the 19, he was born in, what was it, what did I say, born in 1939, died at the age of 86. Neal Sedaka passes away tonight. And so in honor of Neil Sedaka, because I, the first Victrola we ever had in the house, right? One of those old, you know what they are, those like consoles. Man, I played Neil Sedaka until the grooves wore out. Man, I loved me some Neil Sedaka as a kid. So in honor of that, we are going to dedicate today's show to the passing of a truly classical music prodigy and a precious, precious songwriter, teenage pop idol, pop music fixture, Neil Sedaka passes away at the age of 86. We're going to dedicate tonight's show to him. We're back with watches, but a Neil Sedaka on the way out. Back in a moment. America at Night with McGraw-Millaven. Join the nightly conversation, America at Night, with McGraw-Milhaven. Welcome back, America at Night. Thanks for joining us. Tonight we're going to talk about watches, because watches no longer are made just to tell time. They have become statement pieces. In fact, they have become investment vehicles. and we're going to talk to two people who have written the ultimate book on watches. The book is called Ultimate Collector Watches. We've got Charlotte and Peter Fiel joining us. Charlotte and Peter, welcome to America at Night. Hello there. Hello. Hi. Let's talk about watches in general first, because you don't have watches becoming a statement piece first, and then you have your book coming second. So let's go back in time. When did watches become this sort of newfangled investment vehicle? What happened to watches? Oh, that's a really good question. Basically, what happened was a crisis, the quartz crisis in 1969, when Seiko introduced the world's first quartz movement watch. It was called the Seiko Astron. and it just sent shockwaves through the watch industry. And the Swiss watch industry was just almost decimated. But it made people think about what was being lost in Switzerland. And so you've got this new generation of young collectors coming in, seeing an opportunity, just a handful of them, But they really helped make the market in the late 70s, 80s. And then there was another thing that really helped, which was the swatch. So if any of your listeners bought a swatch, they actually helped, you know, save the swatch industry. And that was because Nicholas Hayek, this genius management consultant, was brought in by the Swiss banks to basically merge these two watchmaking conglomerates. One spoke French, one spoke German, and it was hugely inefficient, and he merged them. And that same year, in 1983, launched the Swatch, and the Swatch was a totally different watch. Yes, it was a courts movement, but it was a fashion statement, too, and it was fun. And it got people actually collecting watches who'd never collect watches before because, you know, you bought a watch as a second watch or, you know, you got young people collecting watches for the first time. Yes, but what's important in terms of the present Swiss watch industry is that it focused minds on the wonderful mechanical watchmaking skills, watchmakers, watch industry that existed in Switzerland for hundreds of years. And those mechanical watches from the great vintage period, which from, let's say, the 1920s up to the 1950s, started to become collectible, highly collectible. And then an auction house based in Geneva held the first ever wristwatch-focused auction in the early 1980s. And that really kick-started the whole thing for vintage mechanical Swiss watches. And then you had the launch of the Apple Watch in 2015, which, again, people started wearing watches again because of the Apple Watch. And that actually fueled the collecting market, too, because people suddenly thought, well, I'd actually like quite a nice, you know, I've got this event and I'm going to be wearing a suit and I'd like a nice watch to go with it. So that was another big sort of fuel injection. That's Charlotte and that's Peter Fiel. They've written a book called The Ultimate Collector Watches. It's a coffee table book, two volumes. When did you buy baseball cards, you buy stocks, you buy bonds, you buy gold, but people are starting to buy watches as part of their investment portfolio. Yes, but the real collectors, of course, the ones with the real passion for the subject, are not collecting them for their asset value. They're collecting them for their extraordinaryness, their rarity, their exquisiteness. I mean, these things are incredible. These little machines, like the micro components that go into a watch, like a perpetual calendar. So that's something known as a complication in watchmaking that, in terms of its calendar keeping, accounts for every fourth leap year. I mean, it's an incredibly complicated set of mechanical devices and cogs and gears and things to keep track of that, all without a single line of code. I mean, it's extraordinary. And so with the onset of the so-called quartz crisis in the Swiss watch industry, there are a whole new generation of collectors that began recognizing how special these wristwatches were. And hitherto, all the watch collecting was in pocket watches. And it really wasn't until this auction in Geneva, this landmark auction, where all of a sudden, certain brands, certain reference models of watches came into sort of public attention and began generating a huge amount of interest. We've got 100 of the greatest, most desirable, most exceptional, extraordinary watches in this book, and the average value is $2.12 million. Average. Okay? So it is not unusual for a watch to sell for over $10 million. That's not unusual these days. But the watches, you would think, hearing about a $2 million watch, is gold-plated with the Hope Diamond in the middle, right? It's not necessarily decked out in diamonds and jewels, right? No, no, not at all. Not at all. Some of the most valuable watches are the most simple. Some of them are even so-called time-only watches, right? So there are no complications. All it does is just tell the time. And that has to do with, you know, how rare it is in the first instance. You know, many of the watches that we show in this book, they're unique. They're one-offs, you know, one-of-a-kind watches. And, you know, sometimes the value is driven by who owned them. Like, say, for example, the most famous watch collector ever was this very wealthy New York banker called Henry Graves, Jr. He was the greatest collector of Patek Philippe watches. And his first ever wristwatch, which was a 1927 Patek Philippe minute repeater. Okay, so that's another complication that, you know, it chimes the hours, the half hours and the quarter hours. Okay, and this particular model was made specifically for him. And there's a school of thought that it was the first ever minute repeater wristwatch made by Patek Philippe. So that in itself is a really big deal, right? But this watch, the fact it was owned, it was Henry Graves' first wristwatch, this Patek Philippe, and it sold in 2019 for $4.6 million at Christie's. All right. But that is by no means the most expensive. And I think also, sorry, the market has really matured in the last sort of 20 years because, say, 20 years ago, you'd have certain watches, and it didn't really matter what material they were made of, whether it was gold, platinum, stainless steel. They all were about the same. Now, there's so much more scholarship in the market that people know, okay, there were only three stainless steel ones made, but 100 gold ones. So it's actually the stainless steel ones that are the really, really valuable ones. Yeah, it's completely counterintuitive. Stainless steel, it's a wonderful material, no doubt. But, you know, if you're comparing it to like platinum or pink gold, you'd think it would be way less valuable. But no, it has to do with the numbers of these things that were actually made. And it has to do with rarity. And that's one of the main, main drivers of value. But also, you know, what the brand, who the brand was that made it, what kind of a watch it is. You know, is it an ultra complication? Is it a time-only watch? And then who owned it, you know? What was the provenance? There are many different factors that go into value. Sure. But we can see the watch market is on fire. Yes. And the watch industry in general is in really good shape. Ultimate Collector Watches, Charlotte and Peter Fiel, our guests. We're going to take a break here in a second. But let's go with the Internet, because the Internet must have just poured gasoline on the high-end watch market, right? You've just been able to get more people to see more watches and then add more demand to these rare watches. Absolutely. I mean, you couldn't – yeah, absolutely. And I think certain sites like Houdinki, a collected man, have been really instrumental in that, in actually educating people. People can go onto their sites and, you know, read about this watch, that watch, historic watches. And they've built communities of watch collecting people. And I think actually one of the things about watch collecting is most watch collectors are male. and it's a really good conduit for male bonding. You know, men like to bond over talking about, you know, shared interests, and watches is one that, you know, most men can understand and appreciate. Well, it's worth mentioning that one of the attractions of a watch, a nice watch, is that it's one of the only accessories that a man can wear without raising eyebrows, you know. I mean, it's really a nice thing to have, you know, and you can see why men get, you know, create collections of watches. And it's, you know, because you can actually wear it and people can appreciate it to know something about watches. With COVID had a huge impact because people were stuck at home and they were, you know, using the Internet to go to these sites to buy watches and everything else. And there was a huge peak during COVID of the market. You know, values soared during COVID. And then it, like, settled down a bit, and there's been a correction in the market. But, yes, again, you're absolutely right. The Internet had a huge impact. There's a huge knockoff world of watches. How big of that is a problem when it comes to buying these nice watches? not much of a problem at all because really the way the market works it's the same for collector cars uh we did a book on that i mean that was the first book in the series so we're focusing on the world of collecting and i might add here that you know charlotte's just finishing a phd where um really the um the the main thrust of it is in the on the psychology of collecting and she's probably going to be one of the world's leading authorities on the on that the psychology to collecting once you finish it, right, Charlotte? But anyway, so the thing is, the market at the important end, okay, is driven by the sale rooms. So these are the auction rooms. And the ones that really dominate are in Geneva, obviously, and then New York, and then Hong Kong. Those are the three major centers of watch auctions, okay? And then there's this whole layer of very reputable and scholarly dealers underneath. You know, somebody that's going to be spending a huge amount of money on a watch just doesn't do it casually. And, you know, what they're buying into is, you know, the mechanical geniusness of the people that made it, the history behind the brand, the beauty of the thing. So knockoffs, the sort of things that you can buy cheaply in Southeast Asia, whatever, they have no bearing at all on the high end of watch collecting. It's all very carefully controlled by the sale rooms, by the brands themselves, by dealers, by the collectors. It's a whole community. It's just like cars. You can't imagine having a knockoff Ferrari, really, can you? Right, yeah. The book is called Ultimate Collector Watches. It just came out. It's a two-volume set. You can get it where all fine books are sold. And it talks about some of the greatest, most legendary vintage the world has ever seen. We'll come back and talk more with Charlotte and Peter Fiel here on America at Night. Back in a moment. This is America at Night with McGraw-Millhaven. Thank you. Believe. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. Welcome to America at Night with McGraw-Milhaven. We're talking watches. Watches in the 21st century on America at Night tonight. And it's an interesting conversation with two people who have written the book, The Ultimate Collector Watches. It's a two-volume coffee table book about watches, Charlotte and Peter Fiel. Charlotte and Peter, let me ask you this question. Where did watches come from? Tell me the – give me a primer on where was the first watch? How did it all start? It is one of the most interesting things that we discovered to our amazement on our first research trip to Geneva. And, you know, one might ask themselves, how is it that Switzerland, such a small country, should so dominate this world of mechanical watchmaking? Well, the story goes back to the 16th century to John Calvin, who moved to Geneva and was like the main kind of like instigator of the Protestant Reformation. And while he was basically running Geneva from the cathedral there, he issued an edict that said there shall be no more gratuitous wearing of luxury goods. So what happened was all the fantastic goldsmiths and jewelers that were working in Geneva, they were all of a sudden out of work. So what did they do? they turned to clock making. And clock making then turned into pocket watch making. And pocket watch making then turned into wrist watch making. And the interesting thing is that there's this incredible hub of expertise in this most beautiful Swiss valley called the Valley de Jus in the Jura Mountains. And what happened was many of the farmers who had nothing to do, you know, over the winter stayed indoors and just made components for first clocks and then watches and then wrist watches. And they became so skilled over time. And they'd take their components over the hills into Geneva when the snow melted, and they'd be assembled in Geneva by the different brands. But isn't it ironic that, here's John Calvin, right? I mean, Geneva was called the Protestant Rome. That's how important the city was, right, in the 16th century. Isn't it ironic that the Swiss watch industry now is known for one thing, luxury watchmaking, contrary to Calvin's edict, right? The book is Ultimate Collector Watches. Let's talk about some of the watches in the book. You point out some famous people, and the watch is famous because of somebody who owned it. But you've seen Neil Armstrong's watch. I can only imagine the watch Neil Armstrong wore. Well, that's an interesting story because it's in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, as all the NASA watches are. And the reason for that, I mean, no one really thought about it. But, I mean, all those watches issued, Omega Speedmasters, by the way, issued to the astronauts. I mean, starting actually with Gemini, the Mercury astronauts had their own watches. And we have one that was owned by John Glenn when he was part of the Mercury program. But anyway, so after each mission, the astronauts had to return their watches, or when they retired, I guess, from NASA. They had to return their watches because they were government property. And so Neil Armstrong's watch is in the Smithsonian. But the important thing is this. It wasn't on the surface of the moon. He left it in the LEM as a backup. So Buzz Aldrin's Speedmaster was, in fact, the first wristwatch on the surface of the moon. But when he was asked to return it to the government, it got, in inverted commas, lost in the post. So Buzz Aldrin's watch, no one knows where it is. Somewhere out there. But all the other ones are in the Smithsonian. It might be in Buzz Aldrin's dresser drawer, but who knows? Well, I'm not seeing anything. What about Albert Einstein's watch? Okay, so this watch is the one I'm most proud of bagging for this book. Because this, I mean, here, Albert Einstein redefined our concept of time. So the wristwatch he wore, you'd think is kind of important, right? So anyway, the watch that we show is a 1929 Largin, and it was gifted to him in Los Angeles by the Jewish community of America. In thanks for everything he did. That was in 1931 he got the watch, and it was inscribed. Okay, so people have known about this watch. Like it's a mythical thing, but no one had ever really seen it. so I had to get in touch with the head of heritage of Longines in Switzerland and ask him whether it would be possible if he knew to reach out to the owners to see who they were and whether they'd be amenable to us photographing the watch for inclusion in the book and good lord he did that and they agreed and it's two russians a father and a son in washington dc of all things right and yes they had this watch and they were agreed to us sending around a photographer to their home and specially photographing for inclusion in the book but the story behind this watch is just astonishing because albert einstein was having an affair with a russian lady and she was almost certainly a Russian spy. So this is why Oppenheimer didn't have Einstein on the Manhattan Project. A lot of people don't know this. I mean, he was too important to kind of like ban or, you know, exile from the U.S. They kept him at Princeton, but they didn't let him on to the Manhattan Project because they knew that he was having this affair. And so anyway, when the war ended and this Russian lady had to go back to the USSR, he gave her this watch. And she had it for years. And when she passed away, it went to her son. And it was her son that consigned it to auction in Geneva many years ago, which is where this Russian father and son collector duo bought it. and they were obviously fascinated with the backstory and that's we tell the story in the book and I should say by the way you know this is not really a coffee table book it's big and with luxurious photographs but there's over 200,000 words of text in it I mean it took us three years to make this thing right I mean this is a serious piece of scholarship and you know Now, when people describe books as coffee table books, it sort of implies a certain content likeness, you know, in terms of text. This book couldn't be further from that. It's a real piece of scholarship, and we're super proud of having done it and all the effort that we put into it. Sure, absolutely, and I didn't mean to impugn your work. Not at all. I'm just sort of trying to give a sense of great pictures, but also great stories as well. What's that Albert Einstein watch worth today? Do we have any idea? Wow. That's a good question. My personal guess, you're probably looking at $4 million to $5 million anyway. Yeah. One more I want to ask you about in the book, Ultimate Collector Watches with Charlotte and Peter Fiel. Paul Newman's watch. Tell me about Paul Newman's watch. Oh, wow. We have Paul Newman's Paul Newman. and again it was a real go find it and catch it and bring it back and really what was interesting about this book more than anything else it was the thrill of the chase of these watches it was finding where they were, making the contacts, getting the images whether they existed or if they didn't exist, getting them photographed So, yeah, the Paul Newman watch was a really big game trophy. What that watch is, it's a Rolex Daytona. So that model is super collectible in its own right. Then you have variations on that Daytona with the so-called Paul Newman dial. So it's a certain style of dial, a certain color, and the sub-dials are a contrasting color, like they're black on a white primary dial. so this is Paul Newman's Paul Newman Daytona okay and the thing about it is the thing that makes the Daytona so collectible is it's a chronograph so it's like a stop watch okay and a lot of racing drivers and people involved in competitive events where speed is measured they have a chronograph watch and this is one of the best you know chronographs you can buy Rolex kind of you know in terms of like so sports watches Rolex really dominates. And the Daytona is probably their premier, you know, chronograph in that regard. So, again, it's the brand, Rolex, the type of watch, the chronograph. And then beyond that, it's a Paul Newman dial. And then it's the provenance Paul Newman. So this watch sold for nearly $18 million in New York a few years ago. Wow. $18 million. Wow. I would think that the Albert Einstein watch would be worth more than the Paul Newman watch. But a Paul Newman's Paul Newman, I guess, has a lot of cachet to it. I had a jeweler tell me that a used Rolex, well, I mean, you buy a car and you drive it off the lot and it goes down in price. Rolex you buy today is a very good chance that it'll be worth more tomorrow. And that used Rolex or a experienced Rolex is oftentimes much more valuable than a new Rolex. Oh, completely. I mean, yeah, I mean, totally. And I think sometimes it's quite you can't tell when some when you see a Rolex on someone's wrist, if it's a really expensive one or not, because actually sometimes it's the older stainless steel ones. that are the ones that are way more valuable than, say, a more flashy gold one that's new. So, yes. And also, they do appreciate in value or have done. But, you know, with anything that you collect, you really have to just collect what you love and not for the investment because, you know, markets go up, markets go down. And also, there's always generational shifts in the collecting market. So, you know, as one generation comes up, they often will collect what they coveted when they were in their, like, teens and 20s. And as people, you know, get older, then they can afford those, and that's what they buy. So there are generational shifts. So you will get certain watches that maybe, you know, are flying high now, but maybe in 10 years they won't be, whereas there's other watches that you can be collecting, and they could appreciate hugely in 10 years. It's probably worth mentioning the extraordinary breadth of the demographic of the watch collecting community. I mean, age doesn't matter. Nationality doesn't matter. Religion doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is passion for the subject, right? And it's unbelievable. I mean, I think the watch collecting demographic is bigger than the card collecting demographic. Well, it must be because they're generally less, you know, at the high end, there's less money involved. I mean, if you're wanting to buy a very, very special Ferrari today, you've got to spend tens of millions where, you know, you can buy a really super nice watch for only a couple million. Also, you can – no, Peter, come on. You can also collect at the bottom end and have really great fun. I have like a – I have a little watch collection. There's nothing like anything in our book. And, you know, you can get some fabulous watches for, you know, maybe even $50 and have enjoyment from them. And there's actually nothing better than waking up in the morning and thinking, well, what watch shall I wear today? And I totally get why men, you know, collect watches. And you can do it at any level. You know, a lot of funding had to go, you know, into a flea market or a yard sale and find, you know, treasures. I found a wonderful Porsche design IWC watch for whatever, $20 in a car boot sale in the UK. You know, you can do it. I was walking in the streets of Venice one day, and the back street of a back alley of a back alley of a back alley, and I looked at this window and saw this most beautiful watch. It was €125, and I was late to get back to the hotel, and I'll come back, and I didn't get the name of the watch or the picture or anything. It just broke my heart that I never bought that watch, and it was only €125. But let me leave you with this, Charlotte and Peter Fiel, the authors of a great book out there, The Ultimate Collector Watches, where all fine books are sold. Let's go back to where we started this conversation, and that is with the swatches. And you said how swatch helped save the watch industry. I had a great swatch in college. It was black on black. It had a black face, a black band, and black numbers. And I had to sort of, you know, just sort of move my wrist to the right sort of angle of the light so I could read the numbers. I lost that thing. Please don't tell me that's worth a million dollars today. Well, people collect. I mean, that's often, as Charlotte was mentioning earlier, where people start watch collecting, and then they graduate up to mechanical watches. and um i actually know that watch you're talking about because i had one i had a woman's one and it was so stunning it was real sort of matte black yeah yeah yeah i don't know how much but it was the it was like the first family of swatches and yeah super collectible yeah yeah i don't actually know exactly how much but yeah i'd love one yeah yeah all right guys that's uh charlotte and peter uh fiel who have written the book and put together the book the ultimate collector watches. Charlotte, when you finish with your new work, make sure we are on the list. We'd love to have you back and talk more about it. The mind of a collector. I think that would be fascinating as well. But the book. Oh, that would be a privilege. You got it. Ultimate collector watches. Talking about high end watches. A fascinating conversation with Charlotte and Peter. Charlotte, Peter, thank you very much for spending time with us. Good luck with the book and good luck down the road. Thanks so much. You got it. America at Night. Back in a moment. America at Night with McGraw-Milhaven, where the nation comes to talk. Welcome to America at Night with McGraw-Milhaven. We are lamenting the passing of an icon tonight. Neil Sedaka passes away at the age of 86. He was taken to the hospital earlier Friday, earlier today, and then died there. The cause is not immediately known. He wrote and co-wrote some of the most definitive songs of a generation. And I still can't believe that on a block in Brooklyn, he hung out with Carol King. He dated Carol King in high school. And also, he hung out in high school with a guy named Neil Diamond. And he hung out with Barbra Streisand and this other guy, Barry Manilow, all in high school. Think about that for a second. Talk about a time and place. There should be a movie or a book about that block in Brooklyn. that produced all of those people. It must have been an incredible time. He was born in 1939 in Brooklyn. And, you know, that's also the famous Brill Building in New York. And it's just, I guess it would be just north of Times Square. Last time I was in New York, I walked by the Brill Building just to say I was there. But that's where all the songwriters went. And if you were a songwriter, you went to the Brill Building in New York City, and you walked in and you tried to pitch your songs. And it was like a mini Hollywood. And for songwriters in the 50s and 60s, that was where you went to try and cut your chops. So we are dedicating today's show to Neil Sedaka and the passing of a true legend. Stay right there. We're getting started. Matt Wolfe's going to join us. Maybe we'll talk a little Neil Sedaka with him. But we've got to talk some movies. We also have to talk what's going on with this Paramount buyout in Warner Brothers. Also, the new Paradise is out. We're going to talk to him about all sorts of things. Matt Wolfe is our go-to entertainment guru. And then Hollywood exec for a day, Theo Lewis-Clark, is going to come in. He has three projects. Two of them are real. One of them is fake. We need to figure out which is the real one and which is the fake one. And then, third hour, it's open phones. So we're just getting started. Stay right there. Our executive director is Alex Hinton. Our engineer tonight is Richard Good. I'm McGraw-Milham. And this is America at Night on Westwood One. Westwood One presents America at Night. Here's your host, McGraw-Milhaven. All right, welcome back. Hour number two. Don't forget, open phones next hour with the text messages. 1-844-2-McGRAW, 1-844-262-4729. Now, in this hour, though, when the news broke that Netflix was going to buy Warner Brothers, who did we turn to? We turned to Matt Wolfe because this is the man who's all-knowing. And so now when Netflix dropped out and Paramount wins the day, who are we going to go to? Matt Wolfe, entertainment guru who knows just about everything in the business. Good friend of the show, Matt Wolfe. Welcome back, my friend. You must really be having some lack of sleep right now if you're turning back to me. I don't know what's going on here, dude. Really? I mean, did it snow that much in your neck of the woods that you're, like, hallucinating what? Oh, wait, it didn't snow over there. Okay, right. That's right. Let's check in. How did you handle the snow in New York? How much did you get, and how did you dig out? Well, you know, like everything happens when three feet of snow suddenly comes down. You just hunker up, break open the bottle of Tito's, and just be done with it. Actually, a lot of it is melted, believe it or not. Like, it's going to be, like, almost spring-like here in the city, like, almost 50 degrees tomorrow. But it's hard to believe, like, just days ago they were using, you know, mine removal equipment to get the snow out of here. I mean, it was something else. But then, you know, you just hunker down and you, as to your suggestions, start watching Love Story. And, man, what a flick that is. What a series. We've got to talk about that after this whole Netflix Paramount thing. We will. We will talk about it. But this Paramount deal, let's get to it, because Paramount now buys Warner Brothers. And this rivals Disney. This rivals Fox. This is a game changer. Talk about how big this really is. I mean, we talked about this, you know, last month when Netflix was in the running, right, for $82.7 billion for a takeover of Warner Brothers Discovery. and we all lamented on how, like, you know, this was, you remember when Netflix was that little company that started out in a garage, basically, and now it had the power to completely change Hollywood as if it hasn't already? Well, you know, Paramount was always the outlier, right? They were, you know, they just kept coming at it, coming at it over and over again. And you still think, eh, you know, it's still going to be Netflix. But in a really shocking turn of events in the last 24 hours, you know, you can make all the jokes you want. Warn them out, as a lot of people are calling this company now. $111 billion this thing is worth, okay? Paramount just came in and just offered them the barn and then some. $31 a share versus Netflix's offer of $27.75 a share. And Netflix had four days to match. You know, McGraw, they said, you know what, we're out. Good luck to you, right? Now, Paramount's bids includes also the $2.8 billion breakup fee. Can you imagine this? There's a breakup fee that Warner Brothers Discovery owes Netflix. So the transaction should be clean, right? Must be nice with that sort of numbers. But there's a lot of hurdles to cross, as you can imagine. Regulatory scrutiny from the Department of Justice, the Senate, that sort of thing. But it looks like it's going to clear at this point because Paramount really played a shrewd move here. Check this out. In the event that they would win this thing last week, this is crazy, but again, super smart. You know, Paramount preemptively won ahead and started filing paperwork with the Department of Justice through their chief legal officer. And he's looking to expedite the process should Netflix's offer fall through, which it did on Thursday. Essentially, they completed the merger review with the feds before they even secured the deal, just in case. That's crazy, but that's just one of the many, many things that makes this deal such an eye-opener, dude. All right, let's talk about that breakup fee for a second. You're saying Paramount's got to pay Netflix $2.7 billion because the deal broke up? $2.8 billion, a breakup fee. Can you imagine? Wow. I wouldn't feel so bad about Netflix, right? Exactly. We should have tried to buy it and then broke up with them. That's a pretty good dowry on the way out the door. Holy mackerel. My goodness. We were talking earlier today. You said something interesting. In a sense, you said that for the movie theaters, this might be the lesser of two evils. Talk about that for a second. Yeah, you know, the flip side of all this is like, listen, it's about the movie theater owners here to a certain extent. You know, they were not happy with the Netflix end of things when this was on the table because Netflix is coming in with the streamer model, right? They thought that because if a Netflix merger would have gone down, it could have messed with the theater release windows for all of these major Warner Brothers films that will be coming. Even though Netflix said it would have kept it to a 45-day window in the theaters, you think, well, for a company that bases all of their product on home streaming, how are you really going to keep that in? And this end of the industry, McGraw, they haven't quite recovered yet from the pandemic, from the rise of all these streaming services, and plus the strikes as well. They're struggling to get back to that 2019 state of mind, and it's tough. So now comes this proposition with Paramount, and it's still a contracting move here. Two huge legacy movie houses about to consolidate if all goes well. And does this equal lesser movies being released? That's the rub that people are concerned with here. Interesting. Let's talk about the TV side of this, because a lot of people mention CBS and CNN are going to be owned together. A lot of people are lamenting it, worried, oh, my goodness, regulatory issues aside. They're worried the White House is going to start writing news copy for CNN or whatever else. Putting all that aside for a second, economies of scale, right? NBC has MSNBC. ABC has their own digital and cable stuff. This could be an interesting move to sort of help breathe some life into CNN and, you know, to sort of use some of those resources together, you could, if done right, you could see a pretty powerful news organization. Absolutely. But there is, as you can imagine, lots of concern right now over CNN. You know, journalistically, as you mentioned before, with this proposed merger. Listen, the CNN CEO, Mark Thompson, said, you know, listen, let's not everybody jump to conclusions just yet about the future. But, you know, McGraw, listen, you say merger, no matter how big or how small, you also have to think of the human aspect of this whole thing, too. Are jobs going to be on the line? They're going to get rid of duplication, that sort of thing. Where is it going to go? And in this world of mass media consolidation, which is basically run of the mill, that's what they're contending with right now. I think, you know, you bring up an interesting point about maybe this is reinvention time for CNN. You know, you have to keep evolving. You have to keep changing. You have to keep finding new ways to maintain your audience. That's what's most important because in this day and age, whether it's streaming, whether it's satellite, whether it's terrestrial programming, everybody is fighting for a piece of the pie right now, and it gets sticky out there. We'll see where it goes. Okay, so let me ask you this question. Well, first of all, in terms of the assets, they also have Oracle, right, which is a huge, huge computer company. And then they also have 15% of TikTok. So they've got the database software with Oracle, and they own 15% of TikTok. So you've got streaming. You've got social media. You've got database giant with Oracle. You've got TVs and movies. This is a giant store. That's why I don't think people realize if they do, they should. But if they don't, this is going to be the 700-pound gorilla going forward. Uh-huh, and that's why we're still not exactly sure if this is truly a done deal. Because when you put all that in, you really start thinking of monopolies and competition and free market and all of that stuff. How are you going to compete with something like that? It's almost akin to how Disney was gobbling up everything in the last decade, from Marvel to Star Wars and Pixar and everything like that. I mean, it makes sense, certainly on paper. But then you start thinking of the other guy. You start thinking of choice, and you start thinking along things of that nature. So, again, we'll see what the next couple of weeks bring as far as the review of this thing goes. I want to talk about Love Story, but one more question about this. So go back to 2001 when we woke up that morning when we heard that AOL is buying Time Warner for $60-something million. And everybody said, this is a game changer. And it turned out to be arguably one of the worst mergers in the history of mankind. Is it possible that this deal could go south with Paramount and Warner Brothers? Well, there's always that possibility, right? I always joke around. You know, we love to root for chaos, right? We love to root for something that, you know, all of a sudden you're looking at like, yeah, done deal. And they're like, wait a minute. Something's going to happen here. But I don't know, man. You know, from a regulatory standpoint, you're seeing a lot of these sort of things. And I think it all depends. Again, there's a big question mark here. It's going to have to really lay on the government now and the feds to see if they approve and push this thing through. And, you know, listen, what you were referring to was a long time ago. Again, you didn't have things like streaming and all these other foundations pushing in here. You know what I'm saying? This is a big deal, McGraw, if it does go through. And again, I go back to that thing about competition. Bottom line, is it fair? Will it pass muster? We're still going to have to see. Yeah, I still remember waking up that morning saying to myself, I don't get this AOL-Time Warner merger, but they're clearly smarter than I am. And, you know, I was like, I can't stream The Sopranos on AOL. Why do I need AOL to do that? Why can't I just stream it on my own? Exactly. This AOL thing? I mean, what's going on? But I think I remember, like, Ted Turner back in the day when that happened. You know, his son worked for AOL or some sort of thing. And he basically said, your job is toast. I mean, it's like, and now here we are so many years later. It's a blip. All right. I am obsessed with this movie or this TV show on Hulu Love Story, and it's the story of JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. It seems like this is taking the country by storm. You know, I got to tell you, I'm scrolling through my feeds and everything, and you and I were talking earlier this week about it, and you're kind of in love with it, and I said, you know, again, there's 100,000 things on that I have to keep up with, but I said, you know what, let me give this thing a watch today, and I can't wait to get off the phone with you. No offense, but I want to finish watching this because it is so well done. And for those of you who don't know about it, it's basically a dramatization of JFK Jr. and Caroline Bessette and their life together and everything leading up to that awful plane crash. And it makes you think about the 90s for one thing, and it paints a gorgeous picture of the 90s. Like, you know, my heart kind of skipped a beat when we see JFK biking downtown in Tribeca over the cobblestones. And then we look up and we see the World Trade Center, and I'm like, oh, man, come on. A lot of tragedy in the 90s when you go back. You think about Princess Di and Dodie. You think about JFK. And the music, too, puts you right back with songs from the Divinals, Beastie Boys on the soundtrack. I don't know how much the producers paid for all this music, but, man, they're going broke from this right now. But I think it is so well worth it. I love the scene when they're in Calvin Klein's office and this unknown sort of Mark Wahlberg doesn't want to do the Calvin Klein commercials anymore. And they're like, oh, like Marky Mark and the Fung Bunch has an image to protect, right? Yeah. But Sarah Pidgeon, I have to tell you, as Caroline Bissett, she just knocks it out of the park. And also Paul Anthony Kelly in his first major gig. This is like an unknown actor that they discovered, I think, working at some clothing store in Canada or something like that. And he took some acting gigs, and then he started, you know, just getting noticed here and there. and he scores this gig, and he looks uncannily like JFK Jr. It's quite a thing, and it's on Hulu. And if you guys want to check that out over the weekend, by all means, do so. No, and, you know, Ryan Murphy, tip of the cap to Ryan Murphy, everything that guy does is just spot on. He's one of the good ones. Now, you know this is part of an anthology series, so I don't know where the next love story goes and who it focuses on, But it's going to be interesting to see what comes after this, too. Yeah, no, absolutely. And the other thing I love is JFK's buddies are giving him grief, you know, about sleeping with Madonna and being on the cover of, oh, best looking man in America. Shut up. Your socks are stinky or something, right? I mean, it's just the ribbing he gets from his friends and his mom and his sister. And he's trying to date Daryl Hannah, who doesn't come out looking good in this series. No, she does not. You're absolutely right. But, again, a great portrait of the 90s. And it just makes me miss, you know, that time, and especially New York City from that time. You and I, I think, both came up in that area there and everything. It just brings back a lot of good memories, too. Yeah, good stuff. Matt Wolfe, that's why he's our go-to. Matt Wolfe, keep your phone on. We will call back as needed. Our entertainment guru, thanks for checking in, my friend. We'll talk to you soon, brother. Take care. There you go. He's back to watching Love Story on Hulu. We are back in a moment. America at Night. Back in a moment. From the heart of America, this is America at Night with McGraw-Milhaven. You're listening to America at Night with McGraw-Milhaven. All right, the phone numbers and text line, 1-844-2-MGRAW, 1-844-262-4729. Listen to this. What was the name of the book by your travel guy, Bill? All of his books are on BillOnTheRoad.com. Here's another text message. Hi, Julie from Minnesota. You can drive or walk by Bob Dylan's boyhood home in Hibbing, Minnesota on the Iron Rage. I love Bob Dylan. I am such a fan of Bob Dylan. He lived there from 1948 to 1959. It's privately owned, so you can't tour it. But there is a plaque on the front of the house. It's blocks away from the beautiful, historic Hibbling High School where he attended and where the principal famously pulled the curtain down on him in a school talent show thinking his music was not appropriate. There you go. And the other one, she says, I thought there was, she also said that Hibbling High School is where Kevin McHale went to high school. Here's another one. Catherine says, you must write a book. I love your stories. Here's another one from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, listening on KDKA. Called you the first week you were on the air and haven't stopped listening. Love your show. Thank you very much. Here's another one. The original Million Dollar Quartet happened when Carl Perkins and Mickey Gilley were in the studio in Sun Studios working on a track, and Mickey Gilley called his cousin the killer for help, and in walks Elvis Presley to make the Million Dollar Quartet. Look it up. There you go. That's how the text line works. You give us a call, you give us a text, and we read the text on the air. Limited, edited, right? I can only read some of them. I can't read all of them. But I try to get most of them on the air. And if you want to join the menu, the America at Night menu, all you have to do is text in 1-844-2-MGRAH, and we will send you a link, and then you register for the link, and then each and every day we'll send you a rundown of the show. It's a way to stay on top of the show and see what guests we got going on. And if you can't catch the show when it's live, you can certainly catch the podcast where all fine podcasts are hosted all over the spectrum. They're all podcasted everywhere you go. America at Night. Take a peek. Do a search. Download it so you can have it in your queue when you're ready. and then sign up for the texts, 1-844-2-MGRAH, so you can find out if there's a guest or an interesting author or a story or a conversation you missed that you want to go back and listen to. It's all part of the plan. America at Night, Hollywood exec for a day. Theo Lewis-Clark is going to try and stump us. Back in a moment. Coming to you from the heart of the nation, this is America at Night with McGraw-Milhaven. We'll be right back. to America at Night with McGraw Milhaven. Alright, it's Friday night and every Friday night we play Hollywood Exec for a day. You play along with us. Alex, is the poll question up? I think the poll question is up. Okay, it is up. Alright, so here's the deal. So the poll question you guys can play at home and you text in your vote 1 1 You do not need photo ID to vote and you do not need to be registered and you can vote numerous times, actually. So here's the way the game is played. Theo Lewis-Clark, our Hollywood executive, who is going to be joining us, he has come up with three vehicles. Two of them are real movies that have been greenlit by actual Hollywood executives. One of them has come from his brilliant mind. We have to determine which is real, which is fake. We also do a deep dive in one of the Oscar-winning movies, and then he'll try and play Stump the Panel, and if he stumps the audience, then he gets bragging rights for the week. So the audience, here are the first three, and then, of course, chime in, 1-844-2-Mcgraw. Text 1-2-3 to 1-844-262-4729, depending on which one you think is the fake one. Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, Theo Lewis-Clark. And it's a doozy for you this week, people. Let's go with number one instantly. A mysterious man shows up to the county fair with a sleepwalking man who can predict the future. Now, when a series of murders begin, a young man starts to think, oh, that sleepwalker is being controlled by the mystery man to commit these crimes. Or is it number two, a shy, warm-hearted teddy bear living alone in a dusty pawn shop, his only pals are the characters in the books nearby. So one stormy night, he's magically thrust into a book of fairy tales. Now he has to find the courage to rescue Goldilocks from the three ferocious bears. I told you it's a doozy. Or is it number three, a disgraced Wall Street trader flees to Jamaica to lay low, only to get roped in to helping a struggling family run a jerk chicken stand that sits beside a beautiful, serene giraffe preserve. Now, when a corrupt investor tries to buy the land to build a luxury resort, he uses his market savvy and the giraffes to outsmart the investor and maybe even redeem himself. So, yeah, number one, you've got the mysterious man, Country Fair, sleepwalking dude, or you got the shy, warm-hearted teddy bear in the pawn shop, or you got the disgraced Wall Street trader with the jerk chicken stand and the giraffe preserve. So ponder on that, gentlemen, as you don't know what's going on. All right. Here are the options. You choose one. Text 1-844-2-MGRAW. If you think one is the fake one, text 2 to 1-844-262-4729. if you think number two is the fake one or that same number. That's the same number you use to call in or text. That's the poll question. 1-844-262-4729. Text 1, 2, or 3, and then Alex will chime in. Richard will check in. I will chime in. The audience will chime in, and we'll see if you can have the clean sweep and beat all four. What's our deep dive movie tonight, Theo? You know what? We're going gladiator. It won the Oscar in the year 2000. So the first thing about the gladiator, it wasn't supposed to be Russell Crowe, it was Mel Gibson. Mel Gibson was supposed to be your gladiator. He turned it down. Russell Crowe said, I'll do it. Hold on a second. That was Russell Crowe's sort of breakout role, wasn't it? That was his role. That was the one he really, really said, okay, I'm Russell Crowe. Okay, the second thing is he performed most of his own stunts. He suffered a dislocated shoulder, broken ribs, and a broken hand. He insisted on doing his own stunts like Tom Cruise. And then here's one I thought was interesting. The guy that played Poximo, remember the gladiator trainer? The guy that trained all the gladiators? He died of a heart attack during the filming of the movie. He and Russell Crowe famously did not get along at all. But the best thing about this is he died before all of the scenes were done. So this was one of the first movies to use CGI, one of the very first movies to use the computer-generated imagery because they had to finish the scenes. And so they did it with the computer. And lastly, the film also plays a secret homage, if you will, to the movies Ben-Hur of 1959 and Spartacus of 1960. So when Maximus is riding across that big battlefield, that's in slow motion. That's Ben-Hur. And then, of course, when he comes in and he's got these big grand entrances, that's Spartacus. Did you ever see Spartacus? Saw both of them, but I don't remember them because I was young. But I heard it made. Yeah, Spartacus was, believe it or not, back in the day, we watched Spartacus in, like, history class or English class, I think. And they brought in the monitor on that metal. For Douglas. Yeah, they brought in the monitor on that sort of metal sort of frame that they wheeled in. And I think it was, like, two or three days where we watched Spartacus. And I never would have watched it on my own. But, man, Spartacus was a great movie, man. I saw Spartacus on KPLR-TV 11 here in St. Louis, Missouri, late at night. Yeah. The cast was Lawrence Olivier, Peter Euston, Kurt Douglas. I am Spartacus, right? I am Spartacus. I am Spartacus. there's a story of a slave who was saved, right? He was supposed to die or was a slave for years and escaped and sort of started this rebellion. Yeah, no, Spartacus was a really, really good movie. I don't know if it stands the test of time, but Kirk Douglas, one of the great Hollywood movies of all time. All right, good. And, you know, I watched Gladiator once, and I remember it being a good movie, but I don't have many other. Yeah, I remember it being, and then I remember visiting the Roman Coliseum and sort of that Roman Coliseum, go visit that Roman Coliseum is amazing to see the... The great line from Gladiator, are you not entertained? Well, and who was the king, right? It was Joaquin Phoenix, right? Joaquin Phoenix, yes. He played that role really well. One of his breakout roles. Yeah, he was the bad emperor type of deal. Yeah, all right, cool. All right, let's get to it. Let me pull up the poll numbers here. Let me see what we got for the polls. You might want to go ahead and kind of, you know, give them a brief overview of which one is one, two, and three. One more time. Yeah, okay, so why don't you give us one, two, and three again so we know. Okay, is it number one? A mysterious man shows up to the county fair with a sleepwalking man who can predict the future. When the series of murders begins, a young man starts to think, hey, that sleepwalker is being controlled by that mystery man to commit these crimes. Or is it number two, the shy, warm-hearted teddy bear? He lives alone in the dusty pawn shop. His only pals, they're the characters in the books that are nearby him on the shelves. So one stormy night, he's magically thrust into a book of fairy tales. Now he has to find the courage to rescue Goldilocks from those three ferocious bears. Or is it number three, a disgraced Wall Street trader who leads to Jamaica to lay low, only to get roped into helping a struggling family run a jerk chicken stand that sits beside a beautiful, serene giraffe preserve. And when a corrupt investor tries to buy the land to build a luxury resort, he uses his market savvy and the giraffes to outsmart the investor and maybe even redeem himself. Right now, Richard and Alex have no idea. All right. One, two, or three. We'll start with Alex. Alex, what do you think? He has no idea. This week, my gut is telling me it's got to be number two, the bear in the pond shop. I don't really have a reason. It's just, like I said, I'm just going with my gut on this one. All right. The shy teddy bear sitting on the shelf that gets off the shelf, jumps into the books, and saves Goldilocks and the three bears. You think that's fake. All right. uh richard what do you got i'm gonna have to say number three you got the giraffe jamaican jerk shop and a day trader it just there's too much going on here i have to say number three all right number three you know i i was leaning towards number three quite a bit uh it does sound it does sound ridiculously stupid but remember hollywood executives are not that smart i'm gonna i'm going to say number one the sleepwalking man who predicts the future i i'm i i'm either that's a twilight zone or it's been completely made up by the creative mind of theo lewis clark so i'm going to say number one so we've got a clean sweep here somebody wins somebody loses one two or three horrible now listen to this listen to this the audience what the audience the audience is split But 48% say number one, and 52% say number two. Great. So nobody in the audience thinks number three. Nobody in the audience. So 52% and Alex say number two, correct? That is correct. The shy, warm-hearted teddy bear, lives alone, dusty pawn shop, only pals, you know, whatever, or save ferocious bears, you know, that's a movie called Theodore. 2011, it's a short film called Theodore, a short fantasy adventure film with my namesake. All right. A new Richard. Alex, how could you think about that? And the audience. Okay. So the 48% and McGraw say one, and Richard says three. So it's either 48%, audience, and McGraw, or Richard winning alone for the first time. So let's try it. A mysterious man shows up to the county fair, sleepwalking man, predict the future, series of murders, begins a young man, starts pink, sleepwalker, whatever. That's a movie called The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari in 1920. It's a German silent horror film, which means Richard wins outright by himself. The distraught lost-seed trader flees to Jamaica to lay low, only to get roped in to help a good struggling family run a jerk chicken stand, sits behind a beautiful serene giraffe preserve, when a corrupt investor tries to buy the land to build a luxury resort. He uses his market savvy and the giraffes to outsmart the investor and maybe even redeems themselves. This is on Theo's world, and it's called Jerk Chicken and Long Necks. There you go. There you go. Jerk Chicken and Long Necks. Richard, I can't believe you guessed that. Wow. I've never heard of no Jerk Chicken, Giraffe, and Daytraining. Yeah, that was – Of course you have. I was leaning that way. That's why I did it. I was leaning that way. I was leaning that way. All right, there you go. That's why I did it. That's how you play Hollywood Exec for a Day with our Hollywood executive, of Theo Lewis-Clark. Theo, thanks for checking in. Have a good week, my friend. Absolutely. Thank you, gentlemen. You got it. We're also dedicating tonight's show to Neil Sedaka, who passed away at the age of 86. He wrote songs for Carole King. He wrote songs for Captain and Tennille. And later on in his life, he went over to Europe and he, as his As his obituary talks about, later in life, when he was no longer topping the charts, he went over to Europe and started working with some European bands and helping them out with writing songs and making things work. So the man has got a resume like no one's business. He recorded with the Philharmonic Orchestra of London. He was classically trained at the Juilliard School. He wrote everything from Breaking Up is Hard to Do to Bad Blood, Laughter in the Rain. Neil Sedako passes the way of 86. And again, I know I've said this before and I'll say it again. Just wrap your brain around this one. He grew up in the same block in Brooklyn. Grew up in the same block in Brooklyn with Carole King. He dated Carole King in high school. Neil Diamond, who lived across the street. He also hung out with Barbra Streisand and Barry Manila. All in Brooklyn, all at the same time. That is just staggering. They all lived in Brooklyn. What a crazy world we live in. And they all got their start at the Brill Building in New York City. All right, America at Night, back in just one moment. Miss a portion of tonight's show? Not a problem. Go to AmericaAtNightLive.com to find a replay of every show. You're listening to America at Night with McGraw-Milhaven. Well, Bill Clinton testified today at the Jeffrey Epstein hearings. And, yeah, I could only imagine what that was. Apparently we're going to get the transcripts and we're going to get the video at some point. But somebody, apparently, according to CNN, two different sources familiar with the testimony, told CNN that somebody asked, you know the picture of Clinton in the hot tub with his arms around his head, relaxing in a hot tub, and then just to the right of him, it's hard to pick out, but there's a box with a woman, it appears to be a woman with her face blocked out. And apparently, according to two sources, the former president was asked if he had relations with that woman during the testimony. Now, remember the last time he was asked that question under oath. That's what started the whole Monica Lewinsky thing. However, he said he did not. Apparently he did not equivocate. He did not pause. He just said that he did not. The Justice Department released a photograph of Clinton in the jacuzzi as part of the Epstein files. Hillary Clinton recently told the BBC about that trip that the image came from. He said it was one of the stops that they made to look at philanthropic and charitable work that my husband has done, saving literally millions of lives around the world. Several hours into the president's deposition in Chappaqua, lawmakers asked many specific questions about those appearances, including the flight logs and everything else. Two of the things I think that came out of this that are most interesting was Ghislaine Maxwell wasn't invited to Chelsea Clinton's wedding. She was a plus one. Who knew? She was dating somebody or somebody, and they asked her to be their date. And so just like every other wedding, you don't know who a guest is going to bring to your wedding. So go figure. That was interesting. And then there was something else from Hillary that I thought was kind of interesting, the fact that she didn't know anybody. But I'm telling you, man, Republicans are playing a dangerous, dangerous game. If they lose control of the House, you watch them subpoena Melania and Donald to sit for a deposition. And, you know, talk about fireworks, right? If they asked Melania to go, just like they asked her, right? You asked Hillary. She went. She did it. Now we're going to ask Melania. She knew him. What can she tell us about it? So this game of tit for tat is just going to get worse. So hold on to your hats. I'm not so sure this hasn't boomeranged and going to come back and hurt our Republicans more than they tried to embarrass the Clintons over all this. But we'll just have to grab our popcorn, put our feet up, and watch the circus continue. Open phones next hour, text messages, phone calls. We'll talk about everything under the sun. It has been a crazy, crazy week, not to mention I've been trying to quit caffeine all week. And that's given me more of a headache than Tony in Montreal, if you know what I mean. Start lining up the phone calls. We'd love to hear from you. 1-844-2-Mcgraw. Our executive director tonight is Alex Hinton. Our engineer tonight is Richard Good. I'm McGraw-Millhab. And stay right there. Open phones next hour. This is America at Night on Westwood One. Westwood One presents America at Night. Here's your host, McGraw-Millhaven. All right, welcome back. It's been a crazy, interesting week, to say the least. And all the while, I've been trying to quit sniffing glue. Took the wrong week to quit sniffing glue. No, I tried. I am trying to. Excuse me. Oh, excuse me. I'm sorry. I had a nice long break, and the sneezes came up out of nowhere. I apologize for that. Trying to quit caffeine. I've been somewhat of a caffeine hound for the last number of years, and my caffeine delivery system of choice was Diet Coke. And so I guess, what, Monday morning I had a Diet Coke, and I said, that's it. I'm done. and all week long, man, that caffeine headache is no joke, man. It starts at your nose and it goes up. Sweats, aches, pains. I don't want to make light of this. It's just caffeine. But, yeah, anyone went through caffeine withdrawal, that is no joke, man. It's so much more fun to do a show without a headache than doing a show with a headache. Tonight feeling much, much better. So thanks for putting up with me. If I was a little testy earlier in the week, well, now you know why. Tim in Washington, we got into it about Stephen Hawking. A little testy. I was jonesing for a little caffeine hit. But, you know, caffeine's everywhere. I went to a fish Friday night. We had a great time at the fish Friday night. and didn't have a soda, didn't have any beverages, but I picked up an iced tea. And I'm drinking the iced tea. I'm like, oh, man. I had like one sip. I was like, man, what are you? Oh, that's caffeine. Then I ordered some, you know, I got some M&Ms later in the day. And I was like, oh, man, chocolate. It's got caffeine in it. So I only had a couple of M&Ms. So I'm doing my best. But, yeah, trying to weed myself off of caffeine. It is no joke. All right. It's open phones. The hour is all yours. It was 1-844-2-Mcgraw, 1-844-262-4729. Let's go to the phones. Paul in Boise, you've been holding on way too long. Paul, welcome to America at Night. Thank you for taking my call. Yeah, I don't mind just kicking back and listening to the show. You know, it's just as entertaining. Well, thank you very much. Yeah. Like I said before, you know, I appreciate somebody with a good sense of humor. It was just dry, except for the Diet Coke part. Sorry about that. We all have our crosses to bear, don't we? Yeah, that's exactly right, because it wasn't any better. Yeah. No, it's been 47 years since I recall us having an issue with Iran, and I was a 19-year-old kid, And, man, I wanted to jump in a television screen and put on a uniform and just start running through the sand with an M1 and take care of them. That's what I wanted to do. Yeah, a lot of people forget. I was a young, young, youngster when the hostages were taken. And I remember the very first night line, right, with Ted Koppel. And they would, you know, day 42, day 43, day 117, right, every single night they did the latest. And then, you know, 444 days. And I remember I was in science class. Mr. Seidman, I want to say I was in seventh grade, and they broke in in the school over the intercom. they said President Reagan was sworn in as president, and just moments ago the hostages left Iranian airspace. And I remember everyone in the class clapped, and they all stopped, and we all ran home and watched it on TV. No, that was a huge monumental moment. We don't have those monumental moments anymore. I mean, thank goodness we don't have hostages being held for 444 days. But those sort of shared experiences, I don't know if we have those anymore. Well, I think we have them still, but we don't have them with any kind of frequency. There's such a divide and lack of unity now that it doesn't matter if you win the gold medal, if you're the male skaters on the hockey game. One side jumps up and down and claps for them, and the other side doesn't care whether or not they... Well, I don't know if that's the case. With the Olympics, I would say that the boys and the girls won it, and it was great, and they tried to get them. Hold on a second. I've got another sneeze cupboard. Oh, I'm sorry. They tried to hang the politics on them, right? All these youngsters wanted to do was go out and win the gold medal for their country, And then when they're done, everyone thrusts the toxic politics on them. And I think they did a great job of trying to stay above the fray. And shame on all of us for superimposing our own political ideology and our own political angst and our own cesspool of anger on these kids who all they wanted to do was play for their country and, you know, stay above the fray and not cause any controversy. And yet, and yet, be true to themselves, right? Whether the women who said, look, I didn't like the joke, I was disappointed in it. Whether it was the Kachuk brothers who had to deal with the fake post of them, you know, bad-mouthing Canada and the Canadians. I think they handled it all wonderfully, quite frankly. I think they deserve a gold medal in public relations. and it couldn't be any prouder of either team, not only for what they did on the ice, but off the ice. So that's my two cents. I'm concerned about Trump and how he reacted to it. I thought he did a pretty good job considering he's, at times, he's a bore. I think he's taken over by the alligator. You know, shame on him too a little bit, right? I mean, I know he was joking. Is it a federal offense? No. Was it that terrible of a thing, right? I mean, when he's calling Caitlin Collins, when he's dressing her down for asking a question, or one of the other female reporters calling them ugly or stupid or whatever, right? I mean, that's just so inappropriate and unnecessary and just shameful, shameful acts by the president of the United States. The joke wasn't that. The joke he made about, oh, if I don't invite the women, they're going to impeach me. You know, that's so mild that if anybody else would have said it, they wouldn't have gotten angry with it. But since they all hate Trump, no matter what he says, everything he does is a five-alarm fire. Yeah, I would just like to end with this, that he wouldn't hardly be human if he didn't say something like that. I'm guilty of that on a daily basis. and I don't have 360 million people looking at me, shaming me for saying something like that. I have a room full of people. Well, I have more than I got. I make my living with my voice, and I am very sympathetic to those who put their foot in their mouth from time to time because we all do it, and, you know, we should be, you know, We can forgive those who put insert foot in mouth from time to time. We'd be better off if we apologized and accepted people's apologies a lot more. Paul, thanks for the phone call. Have a good weekend. I agree. Great call. You got it. Gil. Gil in San Antonio, welcome to America at Night. I am a great Neil Sedaka fan. Oh, yeah. I have two. I'm born in 1948. When I was coming of age, his songs were number one. But I have two quick stories for you. First one, you know that he wrote, Oh, Carol, dedicated to Carol King. did you know that Carole King wrote a song dedicated to Neil Sedaka called O'Neal I did not I did not know that yeah I knew they dated I didn know they dated in high school I didn know that And I didn know all those people grew up on the same block or two in Brooklyn I didn't know that either. Okay. The second one, in 1975, I was with a friend going to Las Vegas to see Neil Sadaka. He was the opening act for the Carpenters. And three days before we got there, Richard Carpenter blew up and fired Neil Sedaka as his opening act. So I had tickets, and we went to the Riviera, and we saw the Carpenters, but I never got to see Neil Sedaka. And that was the reason I went to Vegas. What year was that? 75, August. I would think that Neil Sedaka would be a headliner by 1975, that he wouldn't be opening up for the Carpenters. That seems like an odd pairing. His career was on a downward, kind of a downward trajectory because his fans were all my age. Yeah. And the Carpenters fans were a younger generation. They were the ones that were buying the records. Yeah, well, you know, Captain and Tennille, right, he wrote Love Will Keep You Together. Muskrat Love, I believe, was also his that Captain and Tennille had. There was another one, right? Anyway, you know, he was, I don't know, I must have been a weird kid because I remember distinctly that radio console, right, That phonograph with the eight-track tape and the radio, and it was a piece of furniture. I would sit there, and one of my sisters brought home a Neil Sedaka album, and I would sit there and listen to that album over. I loved that album. And I was about, when I was, what, 9, 10, 11 years old? So that was, what, you know, late 70s? Yeah, no, I was a big, I was a huge Neil Sedaka fan as a kid. One quick thing. Yes. Carolyn Carpenter covered Neil Sedaka's song Solitaire, and she sold more copies than anybody of that particular song. So she was putting money in Neil Sedaka's pocket because, of course, he got royalties from his song on her album. Solitaire. Was that Solitaire, the loneliest game in town, Solitaire? Oh, well, Gil, now that you've sung it, now I know exactly what song it is. You're as bad as I am. There's a reason why you listen to talk radio, because I can't carry a tune across the floor if I had a knapsack. So, Gil, thanks for checking in. Take care of those dogs. We'll talk to you next week. Thanks, man. Bye-bye. You got it. Yeah, Neil Sedaka passed away, if you're just finding out. Neil Sedaka grew up with, dated Carole King in high school. Lived in the same block with Neil Diamond. Hung out with Barry Manilow and Barbra Streisand, all in Brooklyn at the same time. Must have been something in the water. Hey, it's open phones, 1-844-2-MIGRAU, 1-844-262-4729. Text your comments. Give us a call. What are you doing on a Friday night? Where are you? What are you doing? What are you thinking? What's on your mind? to ask me anything, anything you want to ask me. Want to talk about whatever. Doesn't matter. Baseball, politics, not politics, you name it. Anything we talked about earlier in the week, you want to go rogue. Love it when people go rogue. So Open Phones continues. America at Night, back in a moment. Call now, 844-262-4729. That's 844-2-MGRAW. The floor is yours. Call or text 844-262-4729. That's 844-2-MGRAW. All right, let's do this. Let's go to Catherine in Vancouver. Catherine, welcome to America at Night. Hey, were you in town when they were doing Muppets in Manhattan in New York? Was I in town? Yeah, when they were filming it. I don't remember when the Muppets took Manhattan. I might have been a little bit too older for the Muppets. Now, I was prime age for Sesame Street and the Sesame Street Muppets, but they weren't Muppets. This is actually very important. The only crossover. The movie, the movie, the movie. No, no, no. I understand. Right. But the only crossover between Sesame Street and the Muppets is Kermit the Frog. Everybody else was totally separate. Yeah, well, okay, okay, because that's what I want to talk about. Okay? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, Daryl is on frog radio, and they said some guy named McGraw, right, when they were finished filming, was heckling Kravitz the frog. So wait, you heard this? It was you. No, no, no. First of all, I would never heckle somebody like that, never, never in a million years. You said that you. No, no. Kravitz. Hold on a second. Where did you hear this from? frog radio. You were going in the restaurant and Frog, Kirby was sitting out there having this, you know, drink. And you went, we're going in and you said to Frog, said to Kirby, you said, oh, nice frog legs you got there. And you know what? That was a restaurant. Like, come on! Catherine, have you been dipping into the sauce a little early tonight? Is she gone? Did we let her go? She might have been, she might have, she might have had, she might have had one too many. Look, here's the deal. I got a couple phone calls on. I got to take a bottom of the hour break. I do not want to bring you on and cut you off. So we're going to hold you guys through over the break to give you plenty of time on the other side. I do want to mention, though, there was a story. Remember that wildfire in Oklahoma last week that rippled through and devastated all that land? There was another wildfire that swept through central Ohio today. It killed about 6,000 hogs that were trapped in a barn. Workers at the Fine Oaks Farm in London, Ohio, about 30 miles west of Columbus, told investigators that the disaster began when a refrigerator in the break room caught fire. The farm can house up to 20,000 hogs. However, 6,000 hogs were trapped in a barn and burned. after a wildfire ripped through a farm. What a terrible story that is. Scott, Dennis, Eduardo in Tampa, we'll get to all of your phone calls. I want to take a break. Make sure I give you guys plenty of time. You want to text in? You want to comment? You can certainly do that at 1-844-2-Mcgraw, 1-844-262-4729. We also got a bunch of text messages coming in. We'll get those, too, as well to you as well. Lots more to get to. America at Night. Open phones. Back in a moment. You're listening to America at Night with McGraw-Milhaven. Thank you. Good night with McGraw-Millagher. All right, let's go back to phones. No more waiting any longer. Let's go to Scott on line one. Scott in St. Louis, hello. Yeah, yeah, Anthropic, they must have said no to Trump because, you know, he's cutting them off. But what that tells me is that Anthropic has integrity, you know? You got like, yeah. Go ahead. No, I've read this story numerous times, and it's a huge fight, but I don't really understand what's going on. Anthropic said to the Pentagon, don't use our chips in certain ways, and don't spy on Americans and don't use it with autonomous weapons. And the military said, we're not. How dare you insinuate we are. We want to use it for anything we want. We want to use it for whatever we want. We're not using it that way or the highway. And Anthropix said, well, then you can't use our chips. And everyone's now blown up at this thing. It's a very confusing story. Well, as soon as I'm able, they're not publicly traded right now. As soon as I'm able and I have the money, I'm going to buy a share of Anthropic because this is a company with integrity that said no to Antichrist Don. Okay? Okay. Okay, maybe he's not Hitler. He's the Antichrist. Now, on the opposite side, you have Palantir, which unfortunately I do own one share of their stock, which I'm ashamed of. And they are proud of their 666 tattoo. Well, I don't want to burst your bubble, but I hope you're not a fan of OpenAI. because OpenAI, their leader, Sam Altman, tweeted out tonight that they have cut some type of deal with the Pentagon. I thought he supported Anthropic. Well, hours later, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, I'm reading from the Associated Press here, announced on Friday that his company struck a deal with the Pentagon to supply its AI to classified military networks, potentially filling a gap created by Anthropics Ouster. Well, then they followed the example of Palantir, which is Palantir, they helped them to round up the immigrants, and they've been helping Israel to commit genocide. All right, well, we've got to go. Scott, I appreciate the phone call. I've got lots more to get to. Let's see here. Taking them as fast as they come. Dennis in Columbia, Missouri. Thanks for holding on, Dennis. Welcome to America at Night. Hello. Yeah, sure. I do this radio program here on the community radio here in Columbia, and I've got a couple of stories you might be interested in. I'll start with the first one, the most recent one. So a couple of weeks ago I played, I was on the air at 3 a.m. I played a couple of tunes featuring Oscar Peterson at the piano. Clark Terry was at the trumpet. A couple of other guys. Ray Brown was on there. And anyway, after playing the tunes, I mentioned that perhaps the listeners may have heard some of the grunting sounds that Oscar Peterson was making during the performance. They were faint. But anyway, I went out to explain that the first time I heard about that trait was Earl Garner had the same trait, and he said that it helped him keep the correct beat as he was playing the tunes. And I actually got a live call in. A listener called in live that morning and said, yeah, he heard what I was talking about. he mentioned that Lionel Hampton had the same trait. It's the grunting sounds, the extra sounds that they made. Particularly, it seemed to run in keyboard artists and that. Okay. That's good to know. At least it wasn't anything else. At least they were in grunting during something else. Right, right. Anything else, Dennis? Yeah, I've got another story here. Real quick. Picture yourself. Okay, so picture yourself in the studio about 3 or 3.30 in the morning, and you pick up a CD. The name of the group is Sylvia Harold and the Rhythm Bugs, and the name of the group, the name of the CD is The Spider and the Flying. You play the first tune, which is all the cast join in. Pick that up and see if that doesn't throw you against the wall. That is one of my, that's my opening theme. All right, Dennis, thanks for the phone call from Columbia, Missouri. Let's go to Eduardo in Tampa, Florida. Welcome to America at Night. Yeah, Margot, thank you for taking my call. First, I got to say, Laughed in the Rain, that's my ball for Mr. Sudeikov. Yeah, I love that song. That is such a great song. It's raining here in Tampa Bay anyways. Yeah. Oh, there you go. All right. Yeah. I want to bring your attention to this was one of the stories on 60 Minutes, McDermott of West Virginia. This used to be a big coal mining. They don't have water. I mean, it's coming out black or a different color other than white. These people live in food stamps. They have oil port crisis. I think both sides missed something they could have brought up on State of the Union night, a story like this from McDermott, West Virginia. because, you know, giving money to some other places. I think if anybody needs money, it's McDermott, West Virginia. Well, you bring up an interesting point, right? And that's the Marjorie Taylor Greene argument is, what are we doing picking a fight with Iran? What's the point of going in and regime change in Iran when we could use the money on our own issues, right? We still have, you know, veterans in the streets. We still have towns that have been decimated by all sorts of technology, and we need retraining for our citizens. And all these, right? We don't have money to subsidize the health insurance for 20-something million Americans in this country. But we do have money to save the people of Iran from a terrible regime. that's marjorie taylor green's argument is that she says she's america first and america first means america first it doesn't mean we don't have money for subsidizing our high cost of health insurance but we you know we need to go help the people of iran so that's she should have been the one giving the talk on tuesday yeah i mean look that's that's that's that's not my argument that's her argument that she's she's not MAGA she's not anti-Trump she's America first and that's why it's so weird that Marjorie Taylor Greene and AOC are saying a lot of the same things yeah which makes people's heads explode but that's sort of what's going on yeah yeah yeah yeah all right McRaw thank you very much have a good weekend take care thank you sir yeah Laughter in the rain. Neil Sedaka, that's a good one. Rich in Florida, thanks for joining. Welcome to America at Night. Hey, how you doing, McGraw? Thanks for having me on. You betcha. I want to talk a little bit about Neil Sedaka, and can I add some comments on talent here? Absolutely. Go ahead. Okay, so Neil Sedaka, like, I mean, grew up with that, and the fact that he dated Carole King just blows me away, because Carole King, you know, who was her partner songwriter? Was it Jeffrey Geffen or something? Yeah, I saw that Broadway musical, The Carole King Story. Beautiful. It was, dare I say, beautiful. It was wonderful. Again, you walk out of there and you're like, I had no idea she was connected to so many songs. But she did have – Incredible. Incredible. Yeah, yeah. And there's a great scene in there where they're in the Brill Building, and they are busy, you know, writing songs in the Brill Building. And that Brill Building has come up in numerous musicals. I think the Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Jersey Boys, it's in there. It's in beautiful Carole King. There's a couple more where they should do a whole documentary on this one building where all these songs were written. it's incredible i mean i heard your comment earlier tonight like what was in the water there in brooklyn you know right right i mean carol king neil sadaka neil diamond barbara and and barry manilow and uh i'll let you continue but i got i i went to a barry manilow concert which was phenomenal i'll tell that story in a minute um anything else rich you want to comment about palantir okay singer songwriters like carol king i mean i was uh I grew up with it. And the Neil Sedaka thing, it's a shame that, you know, I mean, he's passed away, and God bless him. But I think that song, Happy Birthday, Sweet 16. Yeah. I mean, I can't remember. I was in grade school, I think, you know. But I remember the big kids, if you will, singing, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, happy birthday, Sweet 16. And, like, you've turned into the prettiest girl I've ever seen. And you kind of, you know, Neil Sedaka kind of stylized. I can't do the song, but of course he said, you've turned into the prettiest girl I've ever seen. Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen. And these other songs that he wrote are just incredible. Piano songs and the whole singer-songwriter process, I'm just amazed by it. And then, you know, you had that. And then, of course, out west you had Joni Mitchell and the Eagles, like Stone Canyon, something like that. Yeah, well, Joni Mitchell, Did you ever see the movie CODA? I haven't. Oh, my goodness. It won. It was the quietest best picture movie ever by the Oscars. It came out a couple years ago. CODA stands for Children of Deaf Adults. And Joni Mitchell, there's a Joni Mitchell song, Clouds, right? What's her song, Clouds? Oh, yeah, made famous by Judy Collins. Yeah, I've looked at the clouds that way. Yeah, yeah. And there is, you are not human if you don't watch this movie Coda. And at the end of the movie, if you're not crying and bawling your eyes out, one of the best movies of the 21st century. Do yourself a favor. Sit down. Grab your wife. Grab the kids. It's a wonderful, wonderful movie. Coda. Go see it and tell me back and tell me all about it. Sounds good. One sentence about Palantir? Yes. Okay, so they make a lot of revenue. I think it's like 70% government contracts, 30% private industry. And then the whole thing with Peter Thiel, you know, there's like, I don't know if it's good information or bad information, but I think, you know, Palantir, because, you know, I think I heard earlier on your show, somebody was like, oh, no, they're, you know, they're, you know, 666, whatever, you know. Yeah. No, I think there's some good people. Just like every other company, GM, okay, they prospered during a war. You know, every big corporation. So Palantir, AI, nice platform. A lot of people are buying that platform. So I don't think it's all bad. And yet I'm close to pause. Like the gentleman before, he had one share, and he was sort of fretting over having one share of Palantir. Yeah, I don't. Yeah, I don't. Yeah. Well, I think that was more of a statement share than a financial stake in his portfolio. So, hey, I'm a CPA. I'm going to do some research and see. Like, you know, I'd like to figure out, like, hey, AI is here to stay. Let's face it. Chad, GBT, Grock, you know, Elon Musk's thing. Right. I mean, you've got to use it. I mean, a lot of accounts are using it. No, I hear you. The volunteers seem to be getting a lot of scrutiny and a Peter Thiel, which hooked up with J.D. Vance. And, you know, so I think like, yeah, I mean, some of these things are coincidence. And some of them, maybe there's something there to be aware of. Rich, Rich, do yourself a favor. CODA, C-O-D-A. Go watch it and make sure you got plenty of tissues because it's a tearjerker. Thanks so much. Rich, thanks for checking in. All right, here's my Barry Manilow. For years, I mean, I would be ridiculed, mocked, ostracized, made fun of because I always loved Barry Manilow. I was not ashamed to say I love Barry Manilow. And because I was usually bigger than everybody else in school and I was halfway decent in sports, I wasn't really bullied then. Now they bully everybody. But I wasn't really bullied as a kid. But I was not ashamed to say I loved Barry Manilow. And we're going back a number of years. And Barry Manilow was in town, and I said, oh, we've got to go see the Barry Manilow concert. And this woman I was dating at the time who ended up being my double-ex-fiancee, which is a whole other story. And so she was like, really? You want to go see Barry Manilow? I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, we have to go see Barry Manilow. So we went to go see Barry Manilow. So front row, it wasn't front row, but I splurged for the really good seats. And he starts playing Mandy. Okay? Well, he comes out, and he says, oh, my goodness. He says, you know, back in the day, I was on the Mike Douglas show, and, you know, we have a clip, and this big giant screen comes, and it shows, it's this giant screen, and he's in this pink sequenced outfit, And this purple and pink sequence and the hair is out to here, and he starts playing Mandy on the Mike Douglas show. And he's getting into it, and he's really getting into it. And all of a sudden, the screen starts to rise up. And as the screen rises up, this piano pushes forward under the screen. And it's Barry Manilow on a piano doing a duet with Barry Manilow on the screen from the Mice Douglas show playing Mandy. It was so insanely fantastic. I know Barry's had some health issues here, and I don't know if he's still touring. I know he's trying to tour, and he's canceled a couple of venues. But if you ever get a chance to see Barry Manilow perform, I know he's getting up there in age and his voice isn't what he is, but, man, Barry Manilow in concert is fantastic. And you know what? Everybody loves Barry Manilow, but not everyone's man enough to admit they like Barry Manilow. But the truth is, everybody loves Barry Manilow. They just don't like to say it because they're afraid they might get made fun of. Me? I don't care. 1-844-2-Mcgraw, America at Night. Back in a moment. America at Night with McGraw-Milhaven, where the nation comes to talk. Share what's happening in your world. Call 844-2-MGRAW and be a part of America at Night with McGraw-Milhaven. All right, from the text line in Kansas. Good evening, McGraw. We had lunch today at Duke Zebert's place. Today's special was baked pork chops and fried apples. Oh, how I wish that was so. From Michigan, a texter. Gil is a wonderful caller. We cherish him. Jimbo and Rich loved him, too. Maybe Larry did as well. How about this one from Illinois? Weaned off caffeine. I've been there. My doc said it's take the weekend and killer headaches. My doctor said, don't go cold turkey. A little caffeine will stop the withdrawal symptoms and won't get you addicted. Let your brain be happy with a tiny amount of caffeine, and you'll still conquer that addiction in due time. We need you pain-free so you can stay sweet, too, and so does your family. Stay the McGraw we are coming to love. Thank you very much from Illinois. And how about this? From Lansing, Michigan. In all caps, I absolutely love the show and baseball. You're so refreshing, McGraw. Looking forward to every night. Carla in Lansing, thank you very much. We are done for the week. We're back next week with a whole host of shows. Thanks for everybody. The calls, the texts, the time, the conversation. It is truly a joy. Our executive director tonight is Alex Hinton. Our engineer tonight is Richard Good. I'm McGraw-Milhaven, a caffeine-free McGraw-Milhaven. This is America at Night. Have a great weekend, everybody. This is Westwood One. They are freaking out. It's the comeback everyone's been waiting for. Lovers, haters, friends, supporters, detractors, you're all welcome. I want to hear it all. The Dan Bongino Show. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. See you there.