From the high desert and the great American Southwest
October 13, 2023 10:48 AM Subscribe
"Ghost stories, real ones from all of you, all night long." Art Bell "Ghost To Ghost" 30 Oct 1996 [3h14m]
The Art Bell Ghost To Ghost Collection at Internet Archive has 22 streamable or downloadable Ghost To Ghost episodes from across the years 1993-2010.
The Art Bell Ghost To Ghost Collection at Internet Archive has 22 streamable or downloadable Ghost To Ghost episodes from across the years 1993-2010.
Oh man, I definitely stayed up more than once to catch one of these in high school.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 11:20 AM on October 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 11:20 AM on October 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
It's sad that Art Bell was in the end just a right wing crank a few steps from Alex Jones (who was not uncommon as a guest on Coast to Coast in the early days), and would 100% be a Q-anon/Trump guy today. Because man I loved listening to this show, especially before the George Noory days. Phone calls from Satan. Ghost stories. Aliens are real. To me it was obvious how much of it was bullshit, but it was entertaining bullshit. I think for a lot of the audience it was a beacon of truth.
posted by dis_integration at 12:02 PM on October 13, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by dis_integration at 12:02 PM on October 13, 2023 [10 favorites]
What a great find! Thanks for this, hippybear.
posted by Pope Guilty at 12:03 PM on October 13, 2023
posted by Pope Guilty at 12:03 PM on October 13, 2023
This is one of those itches that's hard to scratch these days without veering suddently into capital C Conspiracy shit.
Late night Coast to Coast AM was like, at least for me, on par with watching the X-files in the late 90's, mostly because it never seemed super earnest. Several late night long distance drives in college in the early aughts were done listening to the show, and man, was that perfect.
Where do y'all go to fill this type of void? Not quite fiction, not quite conspiracy theory these days?
posted by furnace.heart at 12:18 PM on October 13, 2023 [6 favorites]
Late night Coast to Coast AM was like, at least for me, on par with watching the X-files in the late 90's, mostly because it never seemed super earnest. Several late night long distance drives in college in the early aughts were done listening to the show, and man, was that perfect.
Where do y'all go to fill this type of void? Not quite fiction, not quite conspiracy theory these days?
posted by furnace.heart at 12:18 PM on October 13, 2023 [6 favorites]
Furnace.heart,
A little "Welcome to Nightvale", a little SCP. Some creepypasta.
posted by now i'm piste at 12:24 PM on October 13, 2023 [3 favorites]
A little "Welcome to Nightvale", a little SCP. Some creepypasta.
posted by now i'm piste at 12:24 PM on October 13, 2023 [3 favorites]
For quite a while when I first was listening to Coast to Coast, I thought Art Bell was broadcasting from the "Kingdom of Nigh." When I found out it was basically Nye County Nevada, a little bit of the fun went away.
Later on a lot more of the fun went away when it turned out that a rather unsettling percentage of the audience took the content dead seriously rather than what I guess would be better characterized as a more detached, touristic perspective.
posted by tclark at 12:29 PM on October 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
Later on a lot more of the fun went away when it turned out that a rather unsettling percentage of the audience took the content dead seriously rather than what I guess would be better characterized as a more detached, touristic perspective.
posted by tclark at 12:29 PM on October 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
Where do y'all go to fill this type of void? Not quite fiction, not quite conspiracy theory these days?
Desert Oracle Radio.
posted by mykescipark at 1:23 PM on October 13, 2023 [5 favorites]
Desert Oracle Radio.
posted by mykescipark at 1:23 PM on October 13, 2023 [5 favorites]
I adored this show back then, and am grateful to hippybear for sharing it. My wife and I are listening now.
posted by doctornemo at 1:41 PM on October 13, 2023
posted by doctornemo at 1:41 PM on October 13, 2023
AB played a role in our current conditions, agitating and popularizing conspiratorial thinking...
I was thinking about this earlier today, how some MetaFilterites have been reviewing some beloved pop culture as now having a role in today's right wing menace. Reminds me of our recent conversation about the X-Files, where Art Bell made a brief appearance.
posted by doctornemo at 1:44 PM on October 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
I was thinking about this earlier today, how some MetaFilterites have been reviewing some beloved pop culture as now having a role in today's right wing menace. Reminds me of our recent conversation about the X-Files, where Art Bell made a brief appearance.
posted by doctornemo at 1:44 PM on October 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
some MetaFilterites have been reviewing some beloved pop culture as now having a role in today's right wing menace.
As we know, conspiracy culture used to be more populated by the Left than the Right. It was mainly the Left who didn't trust the government back then. It's one of many things that have weirdly flipped sides.
posted by Liquidwolf at 1:57 PM on October 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
As we know, conspiracy culture used to be more populated by the Left than the Right. It was mainly the Left who didn't trust the government back then. It's one of many things that have weirdly flipped sides.
posted by Liquidwolf at 1:57 PM on October 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
Yes, but is thinking that previous pop culture artifacts have played a role in creating today's right wing conspiracy culture possibly a left wing conspiracy? Inquiring minds want to know!
posted by hippybear at 2:00 PM on October 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 2:00 PM on October 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
That's what they want you to think.
posted by doctornemo at 2:19 PM on October 13, 2023
posted by doctornemo at 2:19 PM on October 13, 2023
It's sad that Art Bell was in the end just a right wing crank a few steps from Alex Jones...
Yes, but was he, really? Asking a sincere question. I always got the sense that Art Bell was a very pragmatic centrist, especially when listening to his revival shows before he finally went off the air, where he seemed to be dropping hints about his own political persuasion. Now George Noory, the host that filled in for him, he was another story altogether.
posted by nanook at 2:49 PM on October 13, 2023
Yes, but was he, really? Asking a sincere question. I always got the sense that Art Bell was a very pragmatic centrist, especially when listening to his revival shows before he finally went off the air, where he seemed to be dropping hints about his own political persuasion. Now George Noory, the host that filled in for him, he was another story altogether.
posted by nanook at 2:49 PM on October 13, 2023
Because man I loved listening to this show, especially before the George Noory days...
Art Bell was a libertarian whose favorite guests included Terence McKenna -- Noory, on the other hand, takes the crypto out of cryptofascist, especially with his go to Trump loving/Biden hating "non-partisan" political expert "Dr" John M. Curtis. One of Noory's other favorite persons is Jerome Corsi, the OG Obama's-a-Kenyan birther.
On air, Coast-to-Coast AM is now 25% bogus good-for-man-woman-and-dog "It cured my lumbago in 15 minutes!" Carnivora (made from Venus Fly traps, btw) ads, 25% Biden's-inflation-is-destroying-the-economy so buy virtual gold bars we keep for you in virtual online bank vaults ads, 25% plays-the-whole-damn-song! pop hits of the 50s & 60s bumper music and 25% "interviews" where Noory interrupts the guest du jour to whom he never listens with the lamest non-sequitur questions possible. Plus about 50% of the callers are the same lame cortical null node regulars night after fucking night. I'll Mel's Hole you!
See also r/coasttocoastam...
posted by y2karl at 6:20 PM on October 13, 2023 [3 favorites]
Art Bell was a libertarian whose favorite guests included Terence McKenna -- Noory, on the other hand, takes the crypto out of cryptofascist, especially with his go to Trump loving/Biden hating "non-partisan" political expert "Dr" John M. Curtis. One of Noory's other favorite persons is Jerome Corsi, the OG Obama's-a-Kenyan birther.
On air, Coast-to-Coast AM is now 25% bogus good-for-man-woman-and-dog "It cured my lumbago in 15 minutes!" Carnivora (made from Venus Fly traps, btw) ads, 25% Biden's-inflation-is-destroying-the-economy so buy virtual gold bars we keep for you in virtual online bank vaults ads, 25% plays-the-whole-damn-song! pop hits of the 50s & 60s bumper music and 25% "interviews" where Noory interrupts the guest du jour to whom he never listens with the lamest non-sequitur questions possible. Plus about 50% of the callers are the same lame cortical null node regulars night after fucking night. I'll Mel's Hole you!
See also r/coasttocoastam...
posted by y2karl at 6:20 PM on October 13, 2023 [3 favorites]
I was thinking about this earlier today, how some MetaFilterites have been reviewing some beloved pop culture as now having a role in today's right wing menace. Reminds me of our recent conversation about the X-Files, where Art Bell made a brief appearance.
I'm sorry that I missed that. One of the things that always bemused me about The X-Files was how much of the content was recycled from stuff that was taken deadly seriously (at least by a certain percentage of the population); if you look at the episode list of the Leonard Nimoy-hosted In Search Of..., you get a good précis of the X-Filesverse. (It's not an accident that the 2002 revival of ISO was hosted by Mitch Pileggi, aka Skinner of The X-Files.) Whether that somehow got reversed--that ironically a nineties TV show that used seventies paranoia and woo as grist for scripts resulted in people taking it seriously all over again--is possible, although I think that there were other, probably more important causes, such as that the right wing sought to delegitimize their center-left opponents by any means possible, including encouraging conspiratorial thinking.
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:41 AM on October 14, 2023
I'm sorry that I missed that. One of the things that always bemused me about The X-Files was how much of the content was recycled from stuff that was taken deadly seriously (at least by a certain percentage of the population); if you look at the episode list of the Leonard Nimoy-hosted In Search Of..., you get a good précis of the X-Filesverse. (It's not an accident that the 2002 revival of ISO was hosted by Mitch Pileggi, aka Skinner of The X-Files.) Whether that somehow got reversed--that ironically a nineties TV show that used seventies paranoia and woo as grist for scripts resulted in people taking it seriously all over again--is possible, although I think that there were other, probably more important causes, such as that the right wing sought to delegitimize their center-left opponents by any means possible, including encouraging conspiratorial thinking.
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:41 AM on October 14, 2023
Skinner had an In Search Of? That's perfect.
posted by doctornemo at 11:35 AM on October 14, 2023
posted by doctornemo at 11:35 AM on October 14, 2023
Art Bell actually helped inocculate me against excessive conspiratorial thinking. His shows were fun, but after a while it became clear that they were part shtick, big part so wild as to be ridiculous, and occasionally a small part of...just maybe.
posted by blue shadows at 9:52 PM on October 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by blue shadows at 9:52 PM on October 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
Art Bell actually helped inocculate me against excessive conspiratorial thinking. His shows were fun, but after a while it became clear that they were part shtick, big part so wild as to be ridiculous, and occasionally a small part of...just maybe.
I’ve sometimes wondered if early exposure to things like C2C helped me form a bs detector for these kinds of ideas, or at least a fighting chance against vulnerability, whereas “the average person” was blindsided when Q etc became mainstream.
posted by Claude Hoeper at 10:17 PM on October 14, 2023
I’ve sometimes wondered if early exposure to things like C2C helped me form a bs detector for these kinds of ideas, or at least a fighting chance against vulnerability, whereas “the average person” was blindsided when Q etc became mainstream.
posted by Claude Hoeper at 10:17 PM on October 14, 2023
I haaaaated the Ghost to Ghost episodes when I worked the overnight shift at a radio station. Listening to disembodied voices describe the creepy things they had experienced while alone was way too scary for me, a certified scaredy-cat.
posted by joelhunt at 9:47 AM on October 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by joelhunt at 9:47 AM on October 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Listening to disembodied voices describe the creepy things they had experienced while alone was way too scary for me, a certified scaredy-cat.
And this is why I linked this entire catalog of shows now, during Spooky Season.
posted by hippybear at 3:28 PM on October 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
And this is why I linked this entire catalog of shows now, during Spooky Season.
posted by hippybear at 3:28 PM on October 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Someone asked where to find similar kinds of stuff without the right wing nightmare attached today, and I think two of the best resources are the QAnon Anonymous and Oh No Ross and Carrie podcasts. Both of them dive into the worlds of unreality that plague our modern media landscape with skeptical and critical eyes (Qanon Anon focuses more on following Qanon cranks but has episodes about things like the resurgence in belief in ancient Giants and alien related stuff as well). You get to hear the cranks and their crankstuff and find out about their weird little worlds but with the filter of comedic critical commentary.
posted by dis_integration at 9:20 AM on October 18, 2023
posted by dis_integration at 9:20 AM on October 18, 2023
« Older Seemingly [Blue] Ranch | It’s just someone holding a piece of steel against... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by Claude Hoeper at 11:15 AM on October 13, 2023 [12 favorites]