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Good afternoon, everybody.
Todd Albaugh, along with Mr. Aaron Zommerns, our producer and engineer on the board.
It is six minutes past the hour of two o'clock.
Welcome in.
It is Thursday, August 7th, 2025.
It is a great day to be Wisconsinite.
Back in the world headquarters of Civic Media, downtown Madison on State Street.
Little cloudy skies, little smoke in the air, a frog in my throat.
And apparently, Zommerns, I'm not the only one who is losing my voice.
Terry Barst
It
We just it didn't play right which it would happen sometime every once in a while the cart just didn't play the that's the old term We call them carts.
They still do column card really even though they're electronic.
All right It was not Terry bars fault.
It's just that we didn't play it right the the opening so we always because we love it when she says live
from the WMDX Studio, the World Headquarters of Civic Media.
We gotta bring that back.
That's my opinion on that.
So seven minutes past the hour of two o'clock.
Glad to have you along on a Thursday.
Great show ahead coming up to the bottom of this hour.
Casey Hicks of Wisconsin Conservation Voters is going to be here.
I cannot believe it.
We're already into the in the 7th of August, first full week of August.
Summer is winding away.
Still summer left, but we're getting closer and closer to Labor Day weekend, the unofficial end of summer.
And but we're all trying to squeeze in that last kayak trip, that last hike, camping, what have it.
And so.
Casey is going to be in to talk about conservation issues because it doesn't matter what we do out of doors.
All of us want to have some good conservation practices to allow us to continue enjoying the out of doors.
So Casey Hicks from Wisconsin Conservation of Orders will be here at the bottom of the hour.
And then in hour two, not going to want to miss this.
Of course, we had the show yesterday up in beautiful lacrosse.
for the ethics and leaders seminar up there on fusion voting to give many thanks to them and united wisconsin for helping us put that on was outside for that entire show on the banks of the black river the cicadas were mating we did not anticipate that very loud sake but i'm sorry for the uh the audio quality vestry show it had nothing to do with anybody other than a bunch of horny cicadas
apparently so
So we're back in the home studios today, but I've been spending a lot of time outside and I thought, well, you know, it doesn't really, I'm not coughing or anything because of this wildfire smoke, but it's having an effect and I'm losing my voice.
So I'm going to try to behave and stay inside.
Anyway, I was coming back to Madison last night and it was one of those perfect nights last night in terms of just temperature.
where you really could leave the truck windows rolled down as you meandered back down to Madison.
And I thought, well, I could go back the way I came up, which was on the interstate.
But I'm like, I just don't feel like doing that.
And so I took the extra 45 minutes to an hour to get home.
And I went down Highway 14 through beautiful Southwest Wisconsin.
And let me tell you, I had not been through kind of Coon Valley, Westby, Verroqua.
in in a couple three weeks or more.
It's just right now it's everything is lush and green and the corn is at its peak.
Hayfield's second and third crop being cut and baled up.
And it's from now until about the first of November is my favorite time of year in Wisconsin.
Because right now you get the the the greenest the lushness and then slowly it starts getting cooler and the leaves start changing color I just it's healing for me to be amongst the driftless and the hills out there So I got a little hungry on the way back.
So I pulled over in Veracruz speaking of and I pulled over at Culver's as I often do You'll never guess who pulled into Culver's
We're gonna tell you in hour two and thus is the impetus for today's what's worse Culver's or Chick-fil-A Gonna discuss that in hour two as well right now first of all the 10 minutes all going on 11 minutes past the hour of two o'clock I Want to start here?
Because this week and of course we were in Richland Center at WRCE and WRCO last week
The community up there does this great event called Grace, Greater Richland Area Cancer Elimination Event.
WRCO and WRCE staff alone, well, I mean, they sponsored the radio auction last week, but because of the community sponsors, the bidders and everyone involved, they raised almost $27,000, $28,000 in a radio auction to put towards fighting cancer.
at all.
Fantastic.
They had the survivors banquet or event last night and tomorrow night will be the the walk at Croskup Park Very powerful encourage you to stop there.
They'll continue to take donations They're gonna raise a lot of money to fight cancer and It doesn't matter who who you vote for in the ballot in a voting booth
Doesn't matter what kind of yard sign we put up Unfortunately, the sad reality is almost all of us have been touched in some way shape or form by cancer My paternal grandfather my granddad all ball died of lung cancer and about other family members cancer survivors and So people all across the state from Superior to Milwaukee Green Bay to Plattville
Wisconsin Rapids, Wausau.
All of our, there's always some kind of an event in all these communities to raise money locally to help people with cancer.
I think all's people are asking is just let us take care of our own and don't impede what we're doing.
And that's why this story out of DC to me is so disturbing.
this from National Public Radio, public health experts dismayed at RFK Junior's defunding of mRNA vaccine research.
The Trump administration is canceling almost $500 million in contracts to develop mRNA vaccines to protect the U.S.
against future viral threats.
The move thrilled critics of the technology but horrified many public health and biosecurity experts.
The federal Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, BARDA, which oversees the nation's defense against biological attacks, is terminating 22 contracts with university researchers and private companies to develop new uses.
for the mRNA technology according to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
The mRNA technology was used by the first Trump administration to create the most commonly used COVID-19 vaccinations.
I want to step away from this story.
That's something we've got to forget about, right?
That in the first Trump administration, love them or leave them,
Donald Trump's administration deserved some kind of credit for putting the COVID vaccinations on the fast track.
Warp, they called it project warp speed.
Back to the story.
Those COVID vaccinations, which are widely considered a medical triumph that safely and effectively saved millions of lives.
But vaccine mandates during the pandemic sowed fierce antipathy.
Towards the technology we need to widespread public opposition Let's step away from the story again to clarify in other words the manga folks Trump decided to make it political Back to the story The announcement by Kennedy dismayed many who study infectious disease quote
This may be the most dangerous public health judgment that I've seen in my 50 years in the business, unquote, says Michael Osterholm, who runs the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.
Quote, it is baseless and we will pay a tremendous price in terms of illnesses and deaths.
And I'm extraordinarily worried about it, unquote.
But the decision was welcomed.
by vaccine critics, like the group's Children's Health Defense, which Kennedy himself founded.
Not going to read you the quote from that.
Because it's anti science, it's just simply baseless.
Skipping down.
Jennifer Nuzzo runs Brown University School of Public Health's Pandemic Center and says the move could erode preparedness.
for future pandemics quote this is profoundly disappointing development she says when there's the next pandemic we're going to be caught flat-footed it absolutely leaves the country vulnerable unquote here's the connection to cancer according to people a lot smarter than me in the health industry either directly or through offshoots
through these mRNA vaccines and the research that goes into it, it has estimated some 14 million people.
One for 14 million people have been saved as a result of these vaccines or the research around them who have cancer.
14 million people in the United States.
have had their lives saved, birthdays extended, anniversaries with spouses go on, seeing their first grandchild born going to the first baseball game, the dance recital.
They've seen that because of a direct or indirect result of mRNA vaccines.
And yesterday, Donald Trump
and his minion RFK Jr.
for political purposes, decided to say what the hell.
We'll just end this.
All those people in Richland Center and every other great community across Wisconsin who are sweating their rear end off, helping raise money locally for cancer victims, all they're asking for is for government to stay out of the way.
Don't make it worse.
Be supportive.
Take the monies that we raise that don't go directly locally, that we give to places for cancer research, use them wisely.
And now RFK Jr, along with Trump, have cut this off.
Many outside experts say Kennedy's claims that this is quote unquote, bad or wrong.
Dr. Peter Hoads, who is the Dean of Baylor College of Medicine's National School of Tropical Medicine and who runs the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, says his Kennedy science is backwards as it often is.
This is a proven technology for emerging respiratory viruses or respiratory virus pandemics and is extremely safe and has been incredibly effective.
mRNA vaccines work by stimulating the immune system with a key protein from a virus Kennedy says the federal government is instead investing in an alternative technology that uses whole killed viruses and can produce quote-unquote natural immunity stepping away from the story remember Kennedy himself Testified this year to Congress and said well, you know
People really shouldn't be taking their medical advice from me.
But still, this.
855-752-4842.
Your phone calls after this.
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started.
This story out of DC, yesterday RFK Jr.
announcing that they're going to defund by $500 million, the Trump administration, the work on mRNA vaccines, which is partially credited towards, I shouldn't say I'm largely credited, towards helping the COVID vaccine get developed in record time.
Jerome Adams.
Father, physician, author of Crisis and Chaos, Purdue University Distinguished Professor, former IN Health Commissioner and 20th U.S.
Surgeon General, Jerome Adams, knows his stuff, tweeted this out last night, I've tried to be objective and non alarmist in response to current HHS actions, but quite frankly, this move is going to cost lives.
mRNA technology has uses that go far beyond vaccines.
And the vaccine they help develop in record time is credited with saving millions.
Just to make sure I'm keeping myself honest with myself and you all, the facts about 14 million people being saved, an estimate by HHS,
How it relates to cancer is this.
Again, for the medical community, we're fairly close to being able to effectively treat cancer with RMNA.
And this will be a huge setback.
To be blunt, people you care about will die of cancer because of this decision, unquote.
So I'll make sure I'm clear on that, that the 14 million lives were people that were not necessarily with cancer now, but were for other causes, but they're using, again, the offshoot of the research that goes into the mRNA vaccines, and they're very close to actually being able to treat cancer with byproducts from this.
And so by killing the project, undoubtedly people with cancer in the future are going to die because this won't be available.
855-752-4842.
Let's go quickly to the phone lines.
Wisco, Paul, thanks for calling.
We'll see you.
Hey, good afternoon, Todd.
You're correct about Trump, the first COVID.
They did a good job with that, or a lot more people would have died.
But his president administration, especially JFK, for lack of other words, this is insane.
My dad died of cancer.
If anything comes along other than that, well, it would have been great to cure that also.
We're not.
Hey, the bottom line is, for lack of other words, this is insane and people are going to die.
Thanks
for
the heads up shot.
Yeah.
Thanks, Wisco.
No, I appreciate it.
And again, to clarify my own, my own feelings on this, I think Wisco and I are on the same, same page.
Look, I'm not, I'm not a Trump fan.
People that watch or listen to this show know that.
But I also feel in giving people their due when they do do something well, and whether you want to credit Trump or the poor, I credit the people that he had around him in his first term, which were, in my opinion, smarter than the current iteration of Trump folks in the White House.
But the folks in the White House in the first term were at least smart enough to say, look, let's use what we have here to develop this vaccine.
I'm not, I'm not letting Trump off the hook for other things.
I'm just saying, Hey, in that one moment, as my granddad who died of cancer was fond of saying on the farm, even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.
Eight, five, five, seven, five, two, four, eight, four, two.
Kurt in Madison.
Kurt, just a couple of minutes left.
Let's see you.
Um, first I'd like to say this isn't my opinion.
This is stated by professionals, including the family that he is mentally ill.
This guy.
is not right.
And others know everybody that surrounds this guy knows he's not right in the head, yet they're not saying anything, which makes them all, all the way up to Trump, complicit in the follow-up from this.
Second is a guarantee that our allies and European nations are going to be working fast and furious on
keeping these mRNA vaccines current and when the next thing hits like bird flu and something will hit will be the last in line to get whatever they have left or what they have available because we've burned all of our bridges.
So we're in severe danger and I'm just appalled that it
It's not being hammered like crazy in all the networks and saying this guy's going to get us killed.
Yeah.
Thanks, Kurt.
Appreciate the call.
Appreciate the call.
I'm glad Kurt brought up the, you know, that Trump has problems mental health wise.
I just want to clarify my own position as someone who has a dad who's going through dementia right now, because a lot of people say, well, he's got dementia.
I'm no doctor.
I'm not going to diagnose Trump or anybody else.
All based on my own family experience.
I just don't see Donald Trump.
exhibiting symptoms of dementia.
I think he has other real mental health issues.
I just don't think it's dementia.
8-5-5-7-5-2-4-8-4-2.
Let's try to get Mark from the prayer to sack in quickly.
Mark, thanks for calling.
We'll see you.
Well, I think Kurt was saying that it's RFK that's got the mental
health issues.
Oh, I see.
Mental health issues.
Got it.
Okay.
And this is just horrific because I see these St.
Jude commercials all the time.
And what could this research do for those children, cure these children of cancer for goodness sakes?
And like has been said before, the cures that we are waiting for, but the bottom line is these people don't even believe in, they don't believe in social distancing, they don't believe in wearing masks even if another pandemic hits.
And we're in a world of hurt there because that's what saved us the last time, kept that down, is a little bit of social distancing and actually having shut down operations
for a time to avoid the kind of catastrophe that awaits us if another pandemic hits, and we don't reverse this utter nonsense.
Thanks, Mark.
Appreciate the call as always.
Jean Eau Claire, hang on the line.
You're coming up after we do a little business with Pam Yankee in the Midwest Farm Report, because guess what?
Casey Hicks summers is right, is here at hour two.
So we'll continue this discussion of RFK, Jr., Trump, and find out what else.
Trump's got a bug for late night.
We'll explain after this in the civic media ready pursuing truth Wherever it may lead and having fun doing it and my voice will hold out welcome back to the top I'll show the civic media ready network glad to have you along 35 minutes now past the hour of two o'clock been spending too much time.
I hate to say it outside and yeah, I
Think well, I'm fine.
This this smoke wildfire smoke isn't bothering me.
I'm not like hacking up along or short of breath really But we've been doing the show outside and I like to be outside and it's just I guess it's just like it's affecting my throat So I found smoke.
Yeah, I found some reishi tea having in my CBS this morning mug reishi tea
It's a I've never seen this way.
It's a like rose, bud, lip and ginger, something like that.
I don't know.
at least had similar
and some some gentle breeze, honey from beautiful Mount Horrib, Wisconsin.
Right.
Exactly.
It's so it's I apologize for the raspy voice.
I mean, I'm going to try other than outside the show not to talk too much.
And then I'm going to have to stay indoors this weekend summers.
Maybe a little movie watching or something like that trying to get the voice back back in touch.
So breaking news at this hour, by the way, speaking of our current topic here of cancer and what Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
announced yesterday, Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Trump administration is going to defund.
M RNA vaccines by $500,000 and Again, I I've known too many people that have died of cancer.
I've known too many people that have battled cancer and won It doesn't discriminate doesn't discriminate on money Social economic class race
Cancer doesn't care as they say it affects all of us in some way shape or form unfortunately a Reminder of that across the wires at this hour Probably somebody told me I shouldn't say that because it's an old term Old terms are fun old terms are fun, but all seriousness across the the news desk at this hour courtesy of CBS Brandon Blackstock
Probably a name that doesn't mean much to many people or at least when you say the name Brandon Blackstock, a talent manager who was the ex-husband of pop star Kelly Clarkson has died of cancer.
According to a family representative confirming to CBS News he was only 48 years old.
Quote, it is with great sadness that we share the news that Brandon Blackstock has passed away
Brandon bravely battled cancer for more than three years.
He passed away peacefully and was surrounded by family.
We thank you for your thoughts and prayers.
Ask everyone to respect the family's privacy during this difficult time on quote, according to a family statement.
Clarkson postponed her Las Vegas residency for the remainder of her August studio session dates today, saying on social media that Blackstone had been ill.
I guess she put that out yesterday right before he died.
Pardon me Clarkson said well, I normally keep my personal life private this past year My children's father has been ill and at this moment I need to be fully present for them The two have two children together It's just a a sad and tragic but important reminder again that all that money all that prestige all that power Doesn't keep you from getting cancer and in this case
didn't keep me alive.
And again, the closer to home reminder is being in Richland Center and their great organization, greater elimination, greater Richland area, cancer elimination event, raising over $28,000 or close to it, a radio auction alone.
There could be many more thousand dollars raised in the Richland Center area tomorrow night during the walk.
And this
This event is unique to Richland Center, but it doesn't matter whether you're in Ashland or Green Bay, Wauwatosa, Plattville, Amory, Wausau, all these wonderful communities around the state, somebody somewhere is raising money for cancer as a group or when they hear their friend or family or neighbor has cancer, the woman up in Butternut with Jane and Greg and I said it best.
You don't ask the stupid question, what happened?
You show up with a casserole on one hand and cash in the other.
That's how you do it in Wisconsin.
And you help your neighbor.
And all people in Wisconsin are kind of asking is just don't hinder us.
And now the Trump administration announcing they're cutting $500 million.
for mRNA research, according to the medical professionals that I quoted before the break, are getting very close because that's the thing.
I'm not smart enough to understand all the nuances of medical technology.
I am smart enough to understand this, that oftentimes in medical research, you start going down a rabbit hole, my terms, a medical rabbit hole, and you're a holy cow.
Not only can we kind of
use this to what we thought it would be used for but holy smokes look at this we could also use this to help something else and there's something else in this case according to medical professionals are getting very close to treating many types of cancers with mRNA vaccine offshoot technology and now this program is gone and thereby
reasonable to say that millions of people will die because this program is being cut off.
855-752-4842, 855-752-4842.
Is the cut worth playing Zomers the RFK a little bit of it or is it just nonsense?
heard it.
Well, here's RFK with part of this announcement tomorrow.
I'll give you a couple or give you a minute or so of it.
Here we go.
Here's RFK.
Hi, it's Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
here, your HHS secretary.
At HHS, we have a division called the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA.
BARDA drives some of our most advanced scientific research.
It funds developments of vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, and other tools to fight emerging diseases and national health threats.
Over the past few weeks, BARDA reviewed 22 mRNA vaccine development investments and began canceling them.
Let me explain why.
Most of these shots are for flu or COVID, but as the pandemic showed us, mRNA vaccines don't perform well against viruses that infect the upper respiratory tract.
Here's the problem.
mRNA only codes for a small part of the viral proteins, usually a single antigen.
One mutation and the vaccine becomes ineffective.
All right, let's stop it there.
Just because actual medical professionals have already debunked and said most of what he said in this announcement is medically and factually untrue, inaccurate,
or exaggerated for political purposes.
Right.
Here's where our friend Stuart Stevens, former Republican like myself at the Lincoln Project said, tweeted this out yesterday.
Stuart Stevens has quote, at every point, Secretary Kennedy has made disastrous and destructive personal health choices.
He was a drug dealer in college.
He spent a large portion of his adult life shooting heroin.
He shot so many steroids into his body, his voice is destroyed.
His drug use has helped alienate him from his own family.
His 10 siblings have called him, quote, a national threat, unquote.
And now he's trying to destroy America's health.
This is a sad and broken man with deep self-destructive pathology, unquote.
The assessment of RFK Jr.
from Stuart Stevens.
Megan in Appleton, sorry,
in Madison says, thank you both for this topic today.
It hits close to home.
And I'm so worried about how many folks will suffer going forward.
Cancer awareness is so important.
Get your screenings.
Thank you, Megan.
Absolutely.
I've talked about this before, particularly like all of us should be doing this.
I've got my, uh, my annual physical scheduled for later this month.
Never fun anytime, but I think particularly for guys, we get this, you know, I'm fine.
I'm fine.
I'm fine.
I'm fine.
Well, guess what?
Sometimes we're not.
And if we don't go into for annual screenings, prostate screenings should be aware of self-examination, testicular screenings, women, of course, self screenings for breast cancer.
Take care of yourselves.
And yes, the quick follow-up.
Our healthcare system is largely broken because I understand that there are many people out there that don't have insurance or who are under-insured and don't have the ability to pay or have the coverage for many of these screenings.
But if you're able, make sure you get them.
And for the rest of us, it's incumbent upon all of us to keep talking about it and fighting for it.
Because at the end of the day, prevention is always cheaper and better than treatment.
And going down that whole rabbit hole.
Mark in protest act says, take it from me, cancer sucks and this research could well save lives.
It might even provide cures for such diseases as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, even the common cold, maybe even multiple sclerosis and muscular dystrophy.
absolutely have to be aware folks.
And I just think it's a good, I realize it's a pretty serious way to start out the show today.
But sometimes it's necessary to be aware.
And a lot of times when we go to the voting booth, we think, oh, there's all these, all these commercials.
Who do we know?
How do we know what's really true and what not true?
I don't know.
But I think this is one where hopefully,
Unfortunately, we can all agree because either we or a direct family member or a friend or somebody in our friend group or family group has been touched by cancer.
And most of us took the COVID vaccine and nor continue to take it.
We know this stuff works and we know that when you cut the funding by 500 million dollars, it ain't going to end well.
and I hope people keep these types of provable things in their mind as we continue with politics and when we go to the voting booth.
47 minutes now past the hour of two o'clock on the lighter side, but yet not, but yet not.
From late nighter calm president Trump again took aim at the 1135 late night lineup on Wednesday night using a Q&A with the White House press corps mocking Stephen Colbert's cancellation and to signal that he does not expect Jimmy Kimmel or Jimmy Fallon to stick around much longer Trump's comments gave a response to a question from Brian Glenn
of the right-wing news outlet Real America's Voice, referencing the late night late show's cancellation and rumors that Howard Stern is leaving SiriusXM.
Glenn asked the president whether the quote, hate Trump business model, unquote, in entertainment was collapsing.
Gonna come back and let you hear it in Trump's own words discuss it a bit because again, it's it's goofy in one way But it's also serious another By the way, we've talked about this paramount plus global paramount or the parent company of CBS News The deal closed earlier today.
They are now owned by Skydance Thanks to that little 16 million
Paid to Donald Trump back with more after this is the all ball show of the civic media ready now
You're listening to civic media find the latest news information and archives of all your favorite shows on the civic media website civic media dot US
Let's just watch that we don't need any more this show.
Let's just watch that
Welcome back to the Todd Allwell show.
Not nearly as entertaining as late night with David Letterman.
It's eight minutes before the hour of three o'clock.
That was great.
I
Yeah.
And I'm sure that was Wendell or who the announcer was on that one couldn't quite hear.
But yeah, it was always a great open for late night with David Letterman.
Gonna be talking about all right.
Perry is listening.
Which announcer was that?
Was that Wendell or was that the other one?
Perry he'll tell us in a second here.
He knows Letterman like the back of his hand gonna be talking about late night Donald Trump spouting off that at the at the White House Yesterday Alan Coulter Matt says that was that was Alan Coulter.
That's the other guy couldn't think of it So thank you Alan Coulter great guy.
I also believe I think like battle cancer as well and Yes, Roger confirms it was Alan Coulter as well before you
I want to do this late night story because it's a kind of funny, but B, there is a serious part to it.
But I want to go back to a moment.
The top story we were talking about RFK Junior announcing to cut a $500 million to the mRNA program, which many people in the medical community say is on the verge of leading to treatment with cancer.
One of our great callers, one of our great listeners to this program, Joe, listening on MDX and Madison One to weigh in.
Joe, thanks for calling and listening.
We'll see.
Great topic to bring up and really great comments from your listeners.
I'd like to echo markets and great thoughts, but I also wanted to echo the thoughts of one of your callers.
I've forgotten the name where this person said, hey listen, this technology is going forward.
And if we choose to drop it and not go forward with it,
Believe me, other countries will be looking at this and deciding, hey, this is something that we can develop and not only serve humanity by creating this, but also create a profit.
And we're going to be left behind.
We're absolutely going to be left behind.
I would add into this conversation to this.
arrogance on the part of RFK that, of course, I know better than all the doctors, all these people who are saying, don't do it, don't do it.
And I would add into the mix that this particular methodology, this messenger RNA process was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2023.
So, um, hotshot Robbie thinks that he knows more than the Nobel Prize winners.
And I think it comes down to this idea that, um, well, isn't he really interesting?
He's going to blow it up.
You know, he's
a
renegade and he's going to blow it up.
You don't want that with science.
You build, you build, you build and you look at things and it just, it's so.
studious to go after research and to go after cures, to just sort of toss us by the wayside, one can only guess at what has been lost by these grants and this research being stopped in its tracks by a country that used to lead the world in medical and scientific development, sadder than sad.
It is really sad and sad with really
terrible consequences.
So thanks for bringing it up, Todd.
It's really a good topic to explore.
Appreciate it.
Appreciate you, Joe.
Thank you so very much.
I always appreciate it.
And as she always does, bring some great facts that I did not know about the Nobel Peace Prize.
So great insight there by Joe.
We appreciate that.
And yet another reason why, to Joe's point, we should be building on this.
Look, I got no problems asking questions.
Things could always be improved, but you don't just...
to use the cliche throughout the baby with the bathwater, especially when medical professionals are telling us research professional professionals are saying we are in the verge through mRNA technology here of actually treating beyond viruses, but but I actually can't start with that.
So we'll continue to stay on top of that.
Maybe get to one of our great people from University of Wisconsin, Madison in here to talk a little bit about it as well.
So I want to finish this up on Trump yesterday, the White House.
Again, of course, CBS already announced the cancellation of the aforementioned late show, which Letterman, of course, hosted, created on CBS.
And then Colbert took over.
And now there are rumors that Howard Stern is leaving Sirius XM.
And so Trump was asked by the right wing group, Real America's Voice, if, quote, the hate Trump business model and entertainment was collapsing.
Here's the Trumpster.
I've got an entertainment-based question for you.
A few weeks ago, Stephen Colbert announced that he was leaving a show.
Howard Stern announced that him and Sirius XM Radio are parting ways.
Do you think the hate-Trump business model that's been in the entertainment business is going out of business because it's not popular with the American
Well, it hasn't worked, and it hasn't worked really for a long time.
And I would say pretty much from the beginning, Colbert has no talent.
I mean, I could take anybody here.
I could go outside on the beautiful streets and pick up a couple of people that do just as well or better.
They get higher ratings than he did.
He's got no talent.
Fallon has no talent.
Kimmel has no talent.
They're next.
They're going to be going.
I hear they're going to be going.
I don't know, but I would imagine because Colbert has better ratings than Kimmel or Fallon.
You know that.
Uh, Howard Stern is the name I haven't heard.
I used to do a show, used to have fun, but I haven't heard that name in a long time.
What happened?
He got terminated?
Yeah, they're going to separate ways because I think what they're off from salary wise is real low than what he's getting.
You know when he went down?
Number one.
Howard Stern is like 70 something years old and the last he was gonna retire and then he saw like a two or three year extension and said this is probably it because you know I want to go have a life and and so that was he was his show is coming to an end on on Sirius XM anyway.
Number two Stephen Colbert was the number one rated show in late night television.
So that is all water and yeah sure Don.
You can go out and find anybody on the street that does what Colbert does.
No, I don't think so.
The spooky part is the Skydance thing went through.
They now own Paramount, which owns CBS, the 16 million dollar bribe, my word, that Skydance Paramount paid to the Trump administration to approve the merger worked.
And pretty soon we're just going to have state run television.
Hour two after this, Culver's versus Chick-fil-A.
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