Honoring Art Bell And The Night Shift That Healed Our Loneliness

We slow down to honor Art Bell and the late-night spirit he sparked, from open phone lines to the calm voice that kept night workers company. Memories, texts, and classic calls remind us why curiosity without judgment still matters.

• paying tribute to Art Bell’s legacy in late-night radio
• night-shift companionship and listener texts across the Northwest
• why Art’s interviews felt genuine and respectful
• the “Area 51” pilot call and Mel’s Hole revisited
• thinking freely amid today’s noise and algorithms
• the lineage from Coast to Coast to modern podcasts
• Pacific Northwest hauntings and local lore
• gratitude for nurses, truckers and first responders
• carrying forward an open, thoughtful interview style

Text us at 775-990-5151

Link of Area 51 caller

Transcript

Tribute To Art Bell Begins

VO 0:01

Welcome to U.S. Phenomenon, where possibilities are endless. Put down those sable headlines. It's time to expand your mind and question what if. From paranormal activity to UFOs, Bigfoot sightings, and unsolved mysteries. This is U.S. Phenomenon.

Night Shift Companionship And Text Line

Why Art’s Interviews Felt Real

Finding Calm In A Familiar Voice

From DJ To Questioner

Think For Yourself In A Noisy World

Cooper, Jones, And The Conspiracy Lineage

The Area 51 Caller Remembered

Mel’s Hole And The Power Of Story

Phones Open, Judgment Closed

Haunted Northwest Lore

Light Moments And Time Travelers

Music, Prep, And Paying Homage

The Loss Of A Voice, The What-Ifs

Mario 0:22

From the Pacific Northwest in the shadow of the 1962 World's Fair, the Space Nino. Good evening, good morning, good afternoon, wherever you are on this huge planet of ours. Thank you for listening to US Phenomenon. I am your host, Mario Magania, and tonight, for just one hour, we're gonna slow things down. We're gonna do something a little different. Before podcast, before streaming, before the endless noise, there was a voice that kept people company in the dark. Tonight we honor the legacy, the life of Art Bell. He also hosts the show here on our flagship station KVI. If you're a huge fan of Art, you can listen to him prior to US Phenomena on our flagship station 570 KVI. It's always a treat to listen to Art and to be on after him. I'm telling you, this is one of the voices that inspired me back in the day to get into broadcasting, but who also intrigued me on that drive home as a second shift employee working at Boeing. If you're one of those who works the night shift, send us a text. You know, we'd love to hear from you. He was one of those voices that you heard at 2.17 in the morning on your drive home on the highway that was empty. Or maybe you're working a night shift at the hospital while the halls were quiet, when sleep wouldn't find someone. For those night shift workers, especially nurses across the Pacific Northwest, our bell used to keep you company, including myself. Working that late shift, coming home from Boeing, working OT, working at till two o'clock in the morning. Tonight we share some of those stories tonight. Send us a text at 775-990-5151. If you were listening to those shows back in the day live, or maybe you're listening to him now on a podcast or um on YouTube, you can find him there as well. We'd love to hear from uh hear some of your favorite Art Bell uh memories uh that you might uh recall. Send me a text, 775-990-5151. It was amazing back in those days listening to these stories. Uh, for new listeners who may not know of Art Bell, he was a longtime host of Coast to Coast AM. Show that explored the UFO, the near-death experiences, time travel, and the unexplained, you know. Uh that that those were the things that would just I remember driving home and just be enthralled on that drive on down I-5, right over by as you're heading up the hill on uh Tuquila, overlooking the dark. And you know that Mountain Rainier is in the in in the view, but you can't see it. South center to your left as you're I'm heading south to head back to Federal Way from Boeing, Tuquila, back in those days at Pl right across from the street from the Museum of Flight. Quite interesting gig back in those days, yeah. Um but just being in listening to him do these interviews and they were genuine. These conversations were real, they were raw. I mean, taking it it just was so incredible to listen to art and just get sucked into this these conversations, and you felt like you were at the water cooler, right? You felt like you were a part of the conversation, like you were there. It felt like that, at least for me. So tonight we uh take stories that come, we're gonna take stories across the Pacific Northwest from people who have listened uh to him and may have had restless nights with art. Here's one of our first messages coming in from Tacoma, uh sending us a text at 775-990-5151. Uh hey Mario, I worked uh Graveyard Shift in the ER in the late 90s. Art was always on low in the break room. It helped us stay awake, but more than that, it made us feel less alone. You know, it's interesting that you say that. Thank you for sending us a text. Um yeah, he he really did. Uh, and that's what I just loved about Art Bell. He would just make you feel like you're a part of the conversation, even if you were by yourself, you felt like you were there with them. And and what was so interesting about those days, or just listening to art back in the late 90s, was he was asking the questions that you wanted to ask, right? I mean, it was just one of those things where you were like driving home and you like you're you're enthralled. And I can I can think of a an example of UFOs and like people sharing their stories about having these encounters, and you're like, well, what and he would ask the questions that you would think that you would want to be asked. But more importantly, I just loved how Art never judged anybody. He always asked the right question and always just stuck with it. Like he wasn't he didn't you didn't feel like he was like mocking you uh or mocking the person that was either calling in or the interview. He just didn't I don't feel like you got I felt like you got a genuine art bell. Like he was genuinely, genuinely interested in the conversation and in and really wanted to know about your encounter. Uh so thank you for sending in your text at 775-990-5151. Uh I worked the ICU at nights. We used to joke that art could predict the full moon because the crazies, the crazier callers came in at that time, and sure they were a lot different on those nights. It's funny that you say that because you know you go back and I listen to some of the I mean, I still do listen to it, and and if you're uh at one of our other affiliates, uh K-A-P-Y or KOSW and Ocean Shores, uh, you know, our our the flagship station KVI does play art, but for those who may be driving around, you can find them on YouTube. Um and and I sometimes I'll wake up in the middle of the evening or I'll I'll wake up and I I try not to doom scroll and I turn turn on the radio or the stream and boom I'm back out. You know, I'll go I'll go back to sleep. And it's because it's a familiar voice, right? And I I'm not I've either heard the show before and I don't need I'm not I'm not d engaging in the the conversation, so it usually takes puts me back in a in a comfortable place to to go back to sleep. That's probably not the best idea, but yeah, you know, I I I do recall those um that's how I listen to art now. If I'm not if I'm out and about and driving, I'll tune in on a Saturday evening and listen to art for four hours, you know, on uh on KVI uh 570 KVI from six to to ten before I come on the radio for those who listen to us on 570 KVI. It's it's it's interesting because you you go back and you listen to some of these stories and it's something that even for myself who has been in the broadcast business for such a long time, you know, being on, you know, either a top 40 radio station or a rock station or a country station back in the day, um, to be so um, you know, either to be on a radio station, um, you know, 101.5 or you know, whatever the the station may be here locally in town, it it came to my attention that I was like, I can't be a ra regular DJ. I gotta I gotta learn some new chops. And I think the thing that enthralled the thing that really inspired me during the pandemic was was art and and it just felt like it was time to do what art does best. Like it was time to just ask questions, let people share their true stories and listen and and have a normal conversation. And I hope that the show comes off that way, and art really inspired so many of us um you know, across many platforms, and you know, we've had um Mark Jacobson on, who has uh who's the author of Pale Horse Rider, who talks about William Cooper, um not to be confused with DB Cooper, which has been talked about on the show. But what's interesting about that whole piece is there were a lot of people that inspired art to do what art did and did really well, including myself. I'm not a you know, I would say I do my best, and we've had some really great interviews and some really interesting interviews. And sure, we would love to take more calls. Hell yeah, of course. Um it's just a different day and age, you know, not a lot of people are spending a lot of time next to their phone in regards to talking on them. Doom scrolling and checking out on social plugs and everything else, yes. But that was the one thing about art that he did well and did well, is he came across genuine, but he also made you think about what was going on. Like, really made you think, like, is that really? Like, is that real? Or even those conversations of well, I don't know about that. In regards to what's going on right now in today's day, a lot of noise, a lot of noise right now. What do you think art would say? What would art approve of what's going on right now? I'll tell you what I think art would say. I think art would tell you to use your free mind and will to think about what's going on. And that's honest, that's just being raw and real. Everyone's got an opinion, everyone's making noise, but not a lot of people are listening and thinking. And sometimes I feel like we let social media dictate how things are going for us. It's super unfortunate for our younger generation, our older generation. I mean, we have seen some of the most intriguing things known to man right now. If if you were someone who has read Behold the Pale Horse and has like who understands that book, you would be you would be thinking twice. And it is a book that is very interesting. It's been it's you can pick it up still. But was William Cooper right about some of the stuff he was talking about? How the government wants to have control over everybody? Is he right about that? That was a question that art would ask too. But everyone's level during these what I would call the godfather of this type of medium of radio, you know, act I don't want to call it paranormal, but just this platform of what art did. There are so many different levels. The the there was the Art Bells, there was the William Cooper who didn't like Art Bell, or even Alex Jones. So th these stories are intertwined in their uh it's interesting to me because when you think about um these situations, you you had people who learned from art, right? They were inspired by Art Bell, and then did their own thing. And, you know, like Alex Jones was a huge fan of of um not of not Mark Jacobson, but of um William Cooper. And needless to say, if you're into the conspiracies, the UFOs, art is the godfather of this show, of that platform. And before there was streaming, art was doing everything that was groundbreaking, using technology to its highest potential with the wormhole and you know, sending messages in, and uh, even later in his uh life, art, you know, would go into retirement and come out of retirement and you know leave his show to go, you know, and of course, art is a regular, he's a radio guy. He wanted to be on the radio. Now, were there some grievances with art and in in his situations? Heck yeah, there was. But that's what made art so good. You didn't know what was truly going on unless he told you, unless he let you into that you know, little piece of his world. Uh dear family man who loved his wife's, you know, his his wife that passed away, and his you know, his widow now, and you know, he loved it, he was a family man and loved his cats. And uh Art was just one of those guys that just was an amazing individual who was just a great person who did really well at interviewing people, and that's what got me hooked at that young age, you know, 22, 2019, listening to art, and then he took a hiatus, and I was like, What what happened to art? And then you you had other guys come in, it just it just wasn't the same, right? It just wasn't that smooth voice, that those those pipes, you know, that the radio pipes of Art Bell were just deep and just calming, but be able had a presence to be able to project, but to have that authority of calmness and intriguingness, to be able to ask questions, to be a that was what art did so well, and that's what you know for me kept me dialed in. You know, hospitals around you know, hospitals at night felt like no other world. Uh, here's a a reflection that someone sent in as a text. Art understood night people, the thinkers, the watchers, the ones who stay awake. So important, so important nowadays. I mean, take a take that and and reflect for a second on that. While the world is sleeping, there are individuals that are working nights. The people these people are thinking while everyone else is asleep. The people that are watching the world. What was that like for you? I mean, I re I remember one of my favorite stories about art, um, and I'll see if I might be able to find it, but uh the story goes that he had a caller call in one time, and um you couldn't really make it out, but he was like, Hey, I'm I'm flying in an airplane, and this is you know uh back in the late nineties, maybe early 2000s, because he had some he must have had a cell phone because he called art. Um but what's interesting about that was he said he was flying into Area 51. Now, Hart took him seriously. If you I'll I'll if I can't uh I'll put it in the podcast for sure. Uh I know we won't be able to play the audio, but um I'll put it in the podcast link so you can listen to it. But when you're when he's taking this call, he is genuinely telling the guy, he's like, hey, look, I'm flying low level right now. I'm just outside of area 51, maybe two miles out. I'm gonna fly in. I want to find out what's going on. And art is like legitimately saying, Sir, I don't think this is a good idea. Where are you at? Um, I would advise you not to fly into Area 51. You realize that you will be shot down. Our art is pleading to the individual to not take this action to fly into Area 51. Now, regardless of what was going on, it sounded very staged in regards to the person who had called in, the sound effects, the uh, you know, the noise that you would get from an airplane cockpit. It just it's interesting when you listen back to the call now, back in the in the late 90s, early 2000s, and you're driving, it sounded really great. And you're like, oh, this guy's about to fly into Area 51. Should he? Hell no. Because you know you're going to die. They're going to shoot you out of the sky. And art is pleading with this individual. Hey, sir, you probably don't want to do that. No art, I'm gonna do it. And he's like, sir, I'm telling you, you probably shouldn't fly in there. And um, and so he takes action and you you hear all these sound effects going on in a you know in the background. No art, I'm gonna fly in. I'm telling you, I'm gonna fly in, I'm gonna tell you what. UFOs are there. I'm going to tell you what's going on. And he art tells the guy, he's like, Sir, they're probably going to shoot you out of the sky. They're probably going to shoot you down once if you go into enemy territory. If you pass the no-fly zone or whatever art said back in those days. And it really did do this one thing. And it does this. What art did well was he didn't think the guy was faking. He believed him. And that was that dude's truth, right? Now, I think art left it up to us as listeners and people a part of the show to make a sound decision like, oh, this guy's totally pulling one over. But art never treated anyone or disrespected anyone. Maybe art may have, you know, tongue-in-cheek played, but in this situation, art didn't do that. Art was locked in on that call where he just gave everything and told the guy, don't do it. You don't want to be flying in there. And I believed it. I was like, wow, that dude is crazy. Parked already at my place, but I'm in my car still. I don't want to get out of the car because in the late, you know, whenever that was, I was like, I was locked in. It was just one of those strange stories where you just you got you you were locked in. And there were times I remember spending the full time during those segments, as as you know, we go to break or we play, you know, have breaks in the show, where you were locked into art show, where you were, I didn't get out of the car until you went to break. And art was just masterful at that. He just knew how to keep people engaged, including people who were calling in to get the right information, to ask the right questions. It was so good back in those days. Um just one of my favorite things about Art Bell that um just kept me locked in and inspired, you know, so many of us to do what we do on social platforms now, podcasts that are out there that are available. There's like a whole paranormal podcast platform, you know, that would not exist if it wasn't for Art Bell. That's the crazy thing that he was the godfather of, and and I always say that because it's true. And and for me to pay tribute to art uh and how I try to deliver my opening line, that was one of art's things. You know, he always said, from the kingdom of Nye or uh from from you know high in the high desert, you know, whatever, however, he used to start his show, there are some things that I tried to play play tribute to art for, to because he was such an inspiration to me. And there are a lot of uh uh radio you know DJs across uh our great you know planet that are great. Wolfman Jack, you know, the late Wolfman Jack, you know, the late Howard Stern, well, not Howard Stern, he's not dead, but um, you know, IMUS, also uh an interesting character. Not that I listened to Imus, but I did see Imus later in life uh coming across him on his morning show platform back in the day, which was interesting to watch. And I don't know if I was more into I just love the inner workings of watching radio live on TV, which really intrigued me back in the day. And that and I think that would have been something really cool if Art had that opportunity to do his show. And I know he wrote tons of books, he wrote a couple books with Whitley Streber and or uh Ian Punnett, and I don't know, no, it was Whitley, and so I apologize for making that mistake, but it you know, Art was just one of those individuals who was a believer of what he was doing. You know, he understood, he wanted to ask questions to make individuals think, and and I think that art today would be you know killing it. He would be asking a ton of questions of like, what is going on? Why are these things happening? You know, some of these conspiracies that are you know taken to social social media platforms, the TikToks of the world, the Instagrams, you know, there's tons of so many new social media conspiracies that are running rampant uh through the halls of our phones. You know, the Charlie Kurt stuff, the the the coronavirus, you know, COVID-19, um you know, the JFK assassination, and you know, the modern day, you know, the the Epstein files. These are huge, you know, and then you have the DB Coopers of the world, the Loch Ness monsters, the the Sasquatch, the Bigfoot stories, the UFO encounters, the uh the abductions, the have having been abducted by an alien and having having that opportunity uh to have firsthand experience. But art did it so well to be able to ask those questions. And that was the gift that I think that made us all love art the most was the way he just didn't make you feel like a buffoon if you were on the phone sharing your stories. I remember calling in '99. Um, I was it was just before Y2K. And you know how Y2K was? Everybody thought the whole world was gonna come to an end and everything was gonna go dark, right? That was a thing. And you know, listening to the show, I mean, I was like locked in every night, paranoid that Y2K was going to jack us up. So I call art, I mean, first time caller, longtime listener, call art bell. And he said, West of the Rockies, or maybe it was the first time caller line. I will I don't remember which one, but I'm per I I was I was astounded that I was able to get through. And Art, you know, picks up the phone. I he goes, caller your life. Hello, who's this? I'm like, hi, it's my name is Mario, I'm from Seattle, Washington. Um, he's like, Go ahead, Mario. I was like, what do you think, Art? You think I should go to Mexico for Y2K? Should I travel? And Art said, no, stay home. Should stay. Now I still traveled because I was with my family, but um sure enough, I was like scared out of my wits. You know? I was like, oh man, I shouldn't go. And nothing happened. Everybody, you know, everybody was we all know that we all made it through the Y2K situation. And I think the biggest thing too is how many people truly loved art, but how many people were envious of art or didn't like art, you know. I mean, you you had a show that was a counterpart of art, that there was an indiv an individual, like I said, Behold the Pale Horse. You know, you had William Cooper doing, you know, his radio version of that same show. But at night, I mean, he just did not like Art Bell at all. But his situation was quite different. And um what I would say is that if you were to take this book, Behold the Pale Horse, there are a lot of things in the book that has been, I have said, would say, plays heavy in today's in the last five years. Some of that stuff came out in in in the playbook, but it tells you who's connected, who's you know, who's a part of the elite, uh, and a part of this Freemason, and and it's just an interesting read. Why? Because William Cooper thought the the government was after him. You know, he he he alleged he c was able to predict 9-11. He he had stories in the book that talked about people reporting to the local post office during you know, some type of martial law and why the interstates were built. It was to be able to m move people around the country freely, you know, without you know, it just it was just an interesting read. Now that was one individual who had what he thought was knowledge, and was he right or was he wrong? No, that was what he was that was his thoughts, those were his things that you he shared. Now you go back and you read through some of the stuff, you're like, okay, wow, very interesting. Now, I always tried to look at that book because after reading it and then 9-11 happened, I was like, oh, here we come. New World Order. I mean, I was totally paranoid, I was like freaked out. Now, later in life, you know, I I become more wiser, more calm to be to use my mind to be able to think freely, to be like, oh, is this real? Um, but there are people out there right now that are like the government's after us, and there's people out there that's like the government's not after us, you know, they're here to help us. And I I I look at it both ways, and you just have to remind yourself, is this the right thing? That's how I always try to like approach things in regards to when I'm getting when some information is brought to my attention or whatever. But and that's the one thing I loved about art. I I mean I could tell you so many stories. And we one of my favorites is uh another one of my favorites is uh the story about Mel's hole. You know, he had this gentleman call in about right here in the Pacific Northwest talking about um one of the infamous 80,000-foot hole or this deep hole that this gentleman calls in by the name of Mel Waters. He calls in the art show, and the guy's like, What are you doing up late? Art asks him, What are you what are you doing up late? And he says, Hey, um, I just want to share the story about this hole I have in my backyard. And Art's, okay, yeah, sure. And uh Mel Waters uh proceeds to tell him that he has he started to measure with fishing line and weight, tackle weight, to be able to see how many uh feet of yarn or you know, fishing line that would go down there. He said he never hit bottom. And it was an intriguing story. And people, you know, the government got involved and he shared stories about how um his neighbor whose dog passed away, he ended up putting his dog in the hole, the endless hole, and he said the dog came back and came back to life and came to visit him. Now, is that story true or not? I I you know I can't vouch for that. But that was that gentleman's Melwater story. And I think the one thing um, and I don't remember which there's a TV series out there about this giant hole um that's out there on on whichever social media platform. I watched some of it, just not as interesting and intriguing. To me, I don't need a series about a big hole. Um, but I'll listen to you talk about one in regards to uh painting a picture for an hour, sure. I'm into it. I'm I'm into someone sharing their true life story. But to hear a story that had been taken from this, I'm like, I'm just not interested of watching a TV series about it. It's the same thing that uh that came out about DB Cooper and them having like a four or six-part series on Netflix about DB Cooper and who was it really? Was it, you know, was it, you know, who was D.B. Cooper? Was it these different individuals? Um and and was it Richard McCoy who were you know who also did the same type of hijacking, uh, same style of hijacking that DB Cooper did back in the day, after D.B. Cooper did his. Um it's you know, and then you know, the stories that came out in recent years about you know who D.B. Cooper really was, and they really weren't gonna say anything until after the parents passed away, or whoever this whatever it was, where they were like, oh no, that this is the you know, Richard McCoy. I think uh they said once his wife passed away, his his you know, kids came out and said, No, Richard McCoy was you know DB Cooper. But it's interesting because you know you had all these great stories, and even listening to people call in to talk about the Loch Ness monster, uh UFOs was probably the big one that I think that really just kind of got me. But listening to people talk about you know Loch Ness or you know uh other humanoids, um, I don't know that they ever did like uh those like flying bats or you know, human bats or anything of that. I don't I don't recall those shows very and I don't remember our talking about those types of things back in the day. And if they did, I totally missed them. Um but I loved when he would just open up the phone lines too, you know, and just take calls. And I think that was one one of the beauty, like he not even what we do in the what they call in the business is screening the calls, where you like have someone say, Hello, who are who is this? Oh, okay, Mario from where are you? Federal Way, okay, uh Mario from Federal Way, stand by, we'll we'll get you on with art. Art didn't have a call screener, he just took the calls, as is, just said, hey, okay, you know, West of the Rockies, you're you're live. You know, I mean, he just was masterful at letting the phone lines work themselves and let these individuals and give everyone a platform for two minutes or whatever the case may be. If it was an intriguing story, let them let them run. And that was one of Art's gifts, just being able to let people share their stories. And those stories were incredible. Some of them were questionable, right? You know, I've never had an encounter. Never have I had an encounter, no ghost encounter, no Yeti Bigfoot Sasquatch encounter, no, no bat, human bats. Never seen one of those. But I love how rich the history around the Pacific Northwest, you know, how much history there is here, even in you know, some of our affiliate stations, Duval, with all the lumber and all the history that's there. And down same with uh, you know, down at Ocean Shores, where they were trying to turn that into like uh a Pacific Northwest Las Vegas back in the day, and then it were not successful. And that's why when you drive down to Ocean Shores, you have those highways that were enlarged. I was like, what in the world is this? Why are these highways, these are these roads this big? But that was they were they were really trying to put a Vegas in there, like a Pacific Northwest version of Vegas. Casino, the whole nine yards. Um and when that changed, you know, that that whole situation passed, you know, kind of died out. And um that I love that type of history. You know, Aberdeen, Washington, you got some of the most amazing history down there, haunted as well, Snohomish County, tons of hauntings. Everyone from the Malby Cemetery to you know the the the saloon in Snohomish County, the Oxford saloon in Snohomish. And then you got the Merchants Cafe here in Seattle, you know, Cale's Irish Bar, haunted, Post Alley, haunted, uh, El Bistra haunted. But these are people that aren't there to haunt and scare you, they're there because that's where they were, that was their part of life. And and there have been times where people have shared those stories. You know, if you haven't had an opportunity to do these, you know, tours and things of that nature, there are tons of them. You know, talk to our buddies that are out there doing their tours. You know, Ross doing tours and hanging out. I'm sorry, excuse me for yawning on the show like that. You know, I I just that was the one thing I I I will say about Art. He just he he he had that. He was good at that kind of thing. Not every moment that Art had was heavy and serious. Some were just, like I said, strange. Uh let's go back to the text line 775-990-5151. Here's one from uh uh a text comes in from Olympia, Washington. Hey, um I wanted uh I was charting a uh uh a patient's note when a caller claim he heard a time traveler. I stopped writing and I was laughing hard. Art never laughed at a caller, and that somehow made it even better. Like I said. Even time travelers where you're like Yeah, they have the time machine, they can't make it work on the radio. Art was fair. He just was open to listen to your truth. Uh taking another text from uh the from Seattle here at 775-990-5151. I kept the radio low so patients wouldn't hear it. Shadow people's stories at 3 a.m. were not comfortable for everyone. Fair enough. I mean, especially if you're working at a hospital. I mean, come on. Right? I mean, there's there are tons of those types of stories that would just I'd have to put on something. Else after like getting out of the car and running home or running to my apartment back in the day, however, wherever I was at that point in time in my life. It's dark. It was scary. And that's just me, you know, being stuck in like, I don't know. What if what if there was shadow people? You know, people talking about the Ouija boards and people being having all these different types of, you know, having people calling in to say that they had to do an exorcism on people because they were, you know, just crazy to me. Some of those stories were just like, ooh, those are, you know, crazy and haunted. But that was the one thing that I that I loved too about art was when he was funny and and and lighthearted, it was typically when it needed to be, right? He wasn't one of those individuals who just didn't share. Or just he just was just the right amount of right in regards to how he did most of the show and just gave enough. And always gave show prepping and playing his favorite songs, and uh and you see that in some of our shows. If you don't listen to the podcast and you you truly listen in, um I try to pick songs that either fit the show uh of what we're you know talking about, and sometimes it's just a song I wanted to hear, or I'm vibing off. And sometimes, like in tonight's intro, it's a tribute to art. Because I just I had that much respect for the for the man who who did this. And I remember that day when he passed away in 2018. I was like, whoa, no way. You know, and I had to tune into Coast to Coast. You know, I'm so I'm uh you know, a lot of us, some of us are thankful and lucky that we get to listen to our Bell, you know, who's on prior to me on KVI. 570 KVI, you can listen to our bell from 6 to 10. But I was in shock. I was like, no way. The godfather of conspiracy or this type of platform is gone. We weren't gonna hear his voice again. We weren't gonna have the opportunity to call in. We weren't gonna have the opportunity to listen to new content. What was Art gonna say about COVID-19? What would Art say about any of this stuff that's going on? You know, I go back and I listen to some of the stories that you know he you he would do the headlines at at night or in the beginning of the show. And I remember listening to one of his in 2016 before he passed. Um he was doing a show talking about the candidates. And I he I think he kind of shrugged his shoulders about you know some of these candidates, including, you know, the you know, now the poor the president of the United States. I I think at that point in time, I don't think he I don't think anyone was taking him seriously, you know. And you know, like him or love him, you know, he is the president. It was just like, I don't know what you just didn't know what art's stance was in regards to politics as well. You could you you you thought you had an idea of what art and how art leaned. But um art was good at that. You know, those were those were his gifts making sure that individuals just felt like they belonged, regardless if they were right or part of the left or center or however that played out. But you didn't hear a lot of that conversation at night. A lot of those conversations got to breathe, right? They just got to sit there. Sure, he talked about the headlines, but that was what's great about art. He got into that piece, and and and like a true journalist just told the story and and and just played off of what was going on. And art was good good about you know, like I said, staying in the center and and he he you know, later he kind of you know gave some stuff, but he we he didn't. It was just enough to kind of have an idea, like I said, but just you really still had no clue. He was trying to be have that integrity of being open-minded and being able to listen and and even listening to Art talk about like I don't he didn't listen to other shows. He didn't want to be tainted in later in life, after doing his terrestrial radio show, going to extraterrestrial, doing the Sirius XM show, Art wasn't listening to a lot of the he wasn't listening to other shows or his former show, as he said, that he just didn't want he had a fear that if he didn't um if he listened that he would have a prejudice or that he would bring some of that over from that whatever show he was listening, and he wanted to just genuinely ask questions. And that and that typically is how I try to do it too. I try not to do a lot of short prep. I'd like to have an idea of who our guests are and and then just go with it, you know. That way it's not so what do you you know? I just wanted to make it feel like we're all hanging out at a water cooler. Um because that's what's important, you know. You want to be able to have these conversations and just be say, hey, you know what? I'm I'm happy where we're at. I'm happy that we're able to have a conversation and not be scripted. Um and that's what's important. Um to me, I I just want to make sure that uh when I'm doing this, um I want it to feel as genuine as what art did. You know, if I could pay tribute and homage to the godfather uh of radio. Um I mean today everyone uh everyone's talking, right? And some like I said, no one's not no one is listening. Art showed us another way. Curiosity without being cruel. Wander without shouting. For the nurses, the truckers, the truck drivers out there, the first responders, those working late shift, graveyard. Art wasn't just background noise. He was company for a lot of us. As we get close to wrapping things up here in the Pacific Northwest, I'd like to thank our text us for sending a text in uh at 775-990-5151 to all our truck drivers out there who are listening to us on one of our affiliates, K-O-S-W-K-A-P-Y, or our flagship station KVI. Thank you. For you, there wouldn't be food in the grocery stores in the morning. There wouldn't be those new hot items at the local stores that we go to. If it's a local Target or Costco or you know, Safeway or Albertsons or QFC, Whole Foods, or you know, whichever one of your favorite grocers, or even little stores like Target where you're, you know, you maybe you still do the brick and mortar stores. That has to get there somehow. So I thank our truck drivers out there who are working late at night to get these items to us, to our nursers, to our nursers, to our nurses, doctors who are keeping us on on the radio at night. Thank you as well. Art was one of those who was able to take open phone calls but had a calm voice. He always gave you the permission to just wander. I want to thank Art Bell listening out there in the high heavens. Thank you, Art, for being who you were, for being a pioneer and godfather of what we do. So many of us, if it's on this platform, on a radio platform, if it's in a podcast platform or a video uh blog platform, Art, we thank you. I thank you. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to just think and be ourselves. From the Pacific Northwest, I'd like to thank all of our texters uh for uh sending us a text this evening, sharing their stories. Um thank you for our affiliates, KOSW. We appreciate you uh out there listening and hanging out with us uh tonight. Uh for our affiliates uh also KAPY, thank you so much. Um for our flagship station 570 KVI, thank you for hanging out with us as well. All right. From the Pacific Northwest, I'd like to thank all of you again. For uh my entire team, Sofia Magania and myself, Mario Magana, be sure to look up at the sky because you never know what you might see. Good night.

VO 50:38

You're listening to U.S. Phenomenon with your host, Mario Magagna.