A minor memorial for Leo Laporte’s terrestrial AM radio show

http://oldvcr.blogspot.com/2022/12/a-minor-memorial-for-leo-laporte-on.html

97 87 4 years ago

oldvcr.blogspot.com

photoGrant• 4 years ago

Leo, Dick & Steve are some of the most personable and knowledgable hosts I ever had the privilege of listening to. I'll also forever be a fan for calling out Calacanis

classichasclass8• 4 years ago

(author) It's also a very kind show. I think the folks he gets (or got) on the radio are a different audience than those who might call into an Internet streaming show. I suspect the experience on the new show will lack some of that variety even though it'll still be the same great people, unfortunately.

ravenstine• 4 years ago

Wow, this is the end of an era. Leo's been on KFI in LA for as long as I remember.

As much as I like the guy, I think this is for the best. I haven't listened to his podcasts, but I think podcasts and online content creation have a greater potential for a better quality audience.

Not gonna lie, one of the reasons I've listened to "The Tech Guy" a lot less than I used to is that most of the people calling in these days need to get their printer to work or simply have someone listen to them. That's all well and good, but it doesn't make for nearly as good of listening as back in the heyday when computer tech was hot and people under the age of 60 were calling in. Just sayin'. I don't want to be ageist, but I also cannot avoid it here. When I'm in the car on the weekend, I'll tune into KFI and Leo's talking to a guest who's totally clueless about basic computer skills in 2022. It's good that Leo's been there for these people, but it's more cringe than entertaining.

On the other hand, Leo's an older guy himself, and I'm usually impressed with how he's kept up his general tech knowledge. Other hosts might get too comfortable over the years, but I can usually tell that Leo's been reading things that are relevant.

Leo actually got me into Linux. I remember a show back in 2006 where he was recommending someone try out Ubuntu to give new life to an old computer, so that's how I learned about Ubuntu.

classichasclass8• 4 years ago

(author) Dick DiBartolo once joked recently he was looking forward to Leo's hard hitting review of the Atari 800.

RF_Enthusiast• 4 years ago

I agree on everything you said.

The pitch to potential TWIT advertisers is that they can reach a highly engaged, influential (and affluent) tech-savvy audience. The syndicated terrestrial radio show hurts that positioning more than the wider exposure helps.

I listened not for the advice, but for the "how will Leo answer this one" factor. He's very patient!

He would end up spending 5-10 minutes explaining to someone how to recycle power to a router or demystifying the basics of OTA television.

todd38344• 4 years ago

I listened to this week in tech for years. Then it got a little too political for my personal preference. I would take a break and come back but sure enough it just went deeper down the political podcast category than I felt like listening too. Calling Tucker Carlson a nazi was an interesting one. I don’t watch his show but this just reeked of a left talking point instead of addressing anything specific he said. I consider myself middle of the isle libertarian leaning… I see a lot of good and bad from both sides. Sometimes I love a good political debate. Just wasn’t interested in it from TWiT. His show though. He had a right to talk about anything he wants. I did try to email them just to discuss as a long term fan. Someone, his wife I think, made it pretty clear my input was not wanted. fair enough but that’s when I stopped listening.

Mountain_Skies2• 4 years ago

Petaluma is 17% Republican, which is probably high for the Bay Area. While I also dislike when politics leak into a show that's subject based (not general interest nor specifically political), he keeps his shows from having much in the way of dead air and some of that requires filling in with whatever topic is on the top of the head of the host. For the Bay Area, that's often going to be about how some conservative is bad. I used to watch lots of TWIT shows but these days I pretty much only watch 'Security Now' and even that only once in a while, but for what it's worth, I don't recall too much political content, at least not content unrelated to security, during that show.

whynotminot2• 4 years ago

If you’re offended on behalf of Tucker Carlson, I don’t think you can really call yourself a “middle of the isle” guy.

todd38344• 4 years ago

Don’t watch his show but I can definitely call myself what I want ;)

meltyness• 4 years ago

TSS was a sensation for adolescent me.

rmason• 4 years ago

I had only known Leo from TV and the web. I was on vacation and during a long drive and found him on AM radio in the car and was delighted. Forget Howard Stern, Leo LaPorte is the King of all media.

Until COVID I was in the Valley almost yearly. I have family in Marin and it's still on my bucket list to be an audience member on Leo's show some day. I have a close friend here in Michigan who has done it and she told me not to question whether it would be worth it or not.

perardi• 4 years ago

Bit tangential, but hey, the theme is nostalgia…

I don’t believe I ever heard Leo Laporte before podcasts—can’t recall Tech Guy Show being syndicated where I grew up in central Illinois.

But this prompted to see if Kim Komando is still on the air, and, yup!

https://www.komando.com/the-show/

The idea of a call-in radio show for computer help seems impossibly quaint nowadays, but in the old days, before you kids had your TikToks and your broadbands, these really were valuable resources.

deaddodo• 4 years ago

I don’t believe I ever heard Leo Laporte before podcasts—can’t recall Tech Guy Show being syndicated where I grew up in central Illinois.

Did you not have TechTV in your area? That’s probably by far what he was most known for and was a good decade and a half before podcasts.

jimmygrapes• 4 years ago

Kim Komando is on my local FM/AM talk station every Saturday and she sounds the same as she did 20 years ago. It's comfy listening, sometimes. The main problem is as another poster mentioned is that most of the callers are elderly folk (or people my age who simply don't "get" technology) asking the most simplistic questions over and over such as "how do I back up my family photos" and "how do I stop my grandkids from using my credit card on Roblox" or similar. The second problem is the dissonance - in one segment she will discuss the hazards of privacy threats and cookie tracking, and in the other she will shill an advertiser that does even worse. I can't tell anymore whether she cares.

bityard• 4 years ago

I had occasion to listen to Kim Kommando once or twice back in the late '90s.

My impression at the time was that she didn't seem to actually know _that_ much about computers and software. But she knew which words to say so that she sounded competent to anyone who didn't know any better (which was almost everyone back then).

Presumably, she's had some time to brush up on things since then...

teddyh2• 4 years ago

Clickbait: He’s not dead. Yes, the article says so in the first sentence, but a clickbait title is a clickbait title.

birdymcbird• 4 years ago

This guy helped me find my love for computers and all things tech back in the late 90s. Call for Help and The Screen Savers sent my life in a very particular direction, and I regret none of it.

So yeah, the bs headline gave me a mini panic and quite frankly pissed me off. Sad to see the current state of what gets posted on HN.

echelon• 4 years ago

I choked up a little bit reading the headline. I have good memories watching him on Tech TV when I was a teenager. Kevin Rose, too.

He definitely helped kindle my early interest in tech.

classichasclass8• 4 years ago

(author) Why? He's not on AM radio anymore, so the radio show is indeed done.

teddyh2• 4 years ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial

_ea1k• 4 years ago

Its not wrong, but its ambiguous. I'd have preferred less ambiguity in matters of life and death.

Thankfully, in this case this is neither the end of the world nor the end of Mr. Laporte.

nickstinemates• 4 years ago

First thing I thought reading the title. He's a bay area native. Glad to see he's not dead, but his radio show was terrible and hope that he can pivot to something more interesting.

robertoandred• 4 years ago

He pivoted to podcasts a long long time ago: https://twit.tv. Tons of shows covering tons of topics.

Mountain_Skies2• 4 years ago

AM radio doesn't consume very much of the radio spectrum but I wonder how much longer it is going to keep going. When I lived in California in the 90s, I'd often listen to whatever KFI was playing while driving up and down the coast multiple times a week. If I lived there today, I'd probably end up listening to audiobooks or podcasts rather than terrestrial radio. Wonder how much the market for AM can shrink before it can't cover the bills.

hackernudes• 4 years ago

I fondly remember listening to his show on KGO while hanging out on IRC. I even played Quake 2 with him (hosted on his shiny new cable modem, of course). Good times! He really was ahead of the curve engaging with his audience. I followed along with TechTV for a little bit, but it just wasn't the same.

jccalhoun• 4 years ago

I started watching Leo when I discovered ZDTV (which became TechTV). I watched him build up twit and used to watch him record ever show.

But over the last 5 years I have basically stopped paying any attention to him. He pushed out the people I liked and I just found myself with less and less patience for him.

djkoolaide• 4 years ago

I feel the same way. I was done by the time Tom Merritt left. But I will forever have gratitude towards Leo for all the things he taught me on ZDTV/TechTV growing up. I probably owe my entire career to him and Patrick Norton.

CraigJPerry• 4 years ago

This was my first exposure to the US style where the host reads out the advert. I’ve gotten used to it now obviously but it was jarring at first. It felt wrong even, i remember thinking surely it’ll cause some people to buy the product just because they like the host. I suppose that’s the idea.

I met him once and accidentally offended him. I didn’t mean to, just crossed wires. I think he misheard me, probably thanks in no small part to my accent!

googletron• 4 years ago

I was a big fan, growing up. Screensavers etc. I haven't kept up as much since, but he was a big reason, I got into computers as a kid. Big up Leo.

GoofballJones2• 4 years ago

Back in the day, he used to be a really nice guy. At least that's how he projected himself. I met him a few times at different trade shows and he was great.

Then he got his own "empire". He became the boss. He married his business partner and then he totally and completely took a 180 and became a jerk and treated his employees terribly. None of the original crew that were instrumental into making TWiT into a big thing (back then), are left. It's just a shell of what it formally was. It's really sad when I see people I used to admire turn into something like this, but I moved on.

breput• 4 years ago

Do you have first hand knowledge?

Because there is at least one person who has been trolling Leo for years, reposting every dumb thing he says, which is easy since he is probably talking at least 15-20 hours a week on a wide variety of topics.

https://shawnjroberts.com/this-just-in-leo-laporte-is-no-mar...

KyeRussell2• 4 years ago

There’s a whole community of Leo/TWIT haters. There’s a website and everything. It really seems like a bunch of people have gone off the rails and the rolling of the dice has dictated that this is their obsession.

GoofballJones2• 4 years ago

From ex-employees that used to work for him mainly. As far as some guy that's trolling him, I had no idea. Sarah Lane, Tom Merrit, Eileen Rivera, Brian Brushwood etc. Just things they've said since leaving/being fired from TWiT.

cabaalis• 4 years ago

I love Leo and have been a fan since TechTV days. His inability to remove political opinions from his netcasts, primarily the loathing echo chamber that he fosters, make it very difficult to listen to TWIT regularly. But I still power through it occasionally because it's a good show and his guests are very informed.

tshaddox• 4 years ago

What are his political views? I used to follow him way back in the TechTV days and the very early TWiT.tv days and I can’t say I have the slightest clue what his political views are. A quick Google doesn’t reveal anything either.

silverspoonin2• 4 years ago

He states pretty clearly that he's fairly liberal. However, in the occasional times there's an important politics angle to a tech story, he does a reasonably good job of discussing it objectively. Even when there are guests across the political spectrum, the discussion never degrades to mud-slinging or name-calling.

Strongest political stance I can remember him making lately is ridiculing the idea the last presidential election was stolen.

Honestly, I think any complaints about the "politics" in his netcasts says more about the person complaining than about the actual contents of his podcasts.

whynotminot2• 4 years ago

What are you even talking about? He’s no Mark Levin.

haswell2• 4 years ago

As a regular listener of many of the TWIT shows, this comment really doesn't make sense to me. Politics do often surface due to the increasing intersection of politics and tech, but I'd hardly call it a loathing echo chamber, and have generally found the guests to keep things honest.

kolanos• 4 years ago

Stopped listening around the time he and John C. Dvorak parted ways. Laporte started taking TWiT a bit too seriously.

phone8675309• 4 years ago

John is too busy doing the No Agenda show to have a cogent thought at this point.

KyeRussell2• 4 years ago

Yeah. Different stokes for different folks I guess. Personally the less Dvorak the better in my books. I stopped listening to TWiT ages ago and even by that point you could really tell that he was a bit unhinged.

kalleboo• 4 years ago

Listening to Dvorak and Pournelle(RIP) going on about old war stories on TWiT was lots of fun, but on his last few appearances Dvorak was really out of touch with the tech stories they were covering and was just very confidently wrong, making a net negative contribution to the show. I think he's a lot more comfortable covering politics on No Agenda.

TeeMassive2• 4 years ago

He still seems to co-host Security Now! (https://twit.tv/shows/security-now)

Really loved that show, tho I didn't listen to it for a while.

haswell2• 4 years ago

He continues to host This Week in Tech, Mac Break Weekly, and others. The content on the TWIT network is pretty decent for staying up to date on a variety of topics.

TeeMassive2• 4 years ago

Yes, and Twit really is a trove of historical information, dating back to Windows XP!

leolaporte4• 4 years ago

Thanks for the kind words. No I'm not dead. I'm just not on the radio any more. I've been podcasting for longer than most (started in 2004) and plan to continue as long as I am able.

Scoundreller• 4 years ago

Member since 2008 and first post!

jzl• 4 years ago

Noticed that too. Nice. He probably registers on nearly every tech related website to save his username at the very least.

John23832• 4 years ago

Leo, I've listened to all of your podcast (Security Now, Twit, even Windows Weekly as a non windows user) for ages (maybe since I was 15?). Pre-vista (I remember you and paul going on about that). I think I came across you while watching diggnation (though obviously you stand on your own).

Thanks a lot.

wjossey• 4 years ago

I was lucky enough to visit the broadcast studios seven or so years ago for a taping of windows weekly. It was a bucket list item of mine after I started listening to Leo in 2008 during grad school.

It beat my wildest expectations, getting to watch live one of the best in the business. Even after taping for nearly two hours, with a fast turn around to his next show, he was kind enough to grab me his fez hat, take a couple of photos behind the desk, and chat with me about life.

I still look at that photo from time to time, and remember the joy I felt that day. Those are those special moments that make life so beautiful.

leolaporte4• 4 years ago

I'm not crying, you're crying!

chris222• 4 years ago

Same story for me! I had just moved to San Francisco in ~2014 after landing my first Silicon Valley tech job. One of the first things I did was head up to the studios to watch This Week in Tech live. Leo was so nice and we chatted for a bit after the show and took pictures. I love that photo! I’ve been a fan since TechTV!

Leo in many ways has spawned a whole industry with podcasting and youtubers covering tech. Kevin Rose did a great interview years back with Leo as the subject and it was fascinating hearing about how it all came to be. Much respect!

fragmede3• 4 years ago

Thank you for TWiT!

nataz• 4 years ago

Yay - you're still alive!

Seriously, I read that title and panicked. I remember watching ZDTV in high school, and listening to twit podcasts up until 2011-ish? We're taking about the foundation of my love of tech. The early-90's to early 2000's pre crash was an amazing time to come up in the internet. Even the post crash boom was like the wild west compared to today. You were there producing content through it all.

I got off the habit of tuning in after I abandoned itunes and the iphone for Android. There just wasn't as a robust podcasting network on Android at the time.

It sounds like twit is still going strong. Time to check back in!

anotherevan• 4 years ago

I'm pretty sure I can say I've listened to every episode of This Week in Google¹ since the very beginning. It's a pause whatever else I'm listening to and start listening to it event whenever it hits my podcast player.

¹ https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google

¹ Has been an increasingly inaccurate show title for many years now - covers many areas in the world of online companies and journalism these days.

Balgair• 4 years ago

Leo! Thanks for all the hard work and effort you legend!

sockaddr• 4 years ago

Been a fan since your techtv days on the screensavers. Used to watch your shows religiously as a young kid. Just wanted to say thanks for all of the entertainment and knowledge throughout the years.

Stratoscope2• 4 years ago

Leo, thank goodness you are alive! That headline had me worried.

It's unlikely you would remember me, but we met sometime around the late 1970s or early 1980s. We were attending some kind of est spinoff workshop in San Jose. It may have been Playground or Summit Workshops or some such? There were so many of them that I have lost track.

I do seem to recall that people at this workshop were promoting the latest pyramid scam, Circle of Gold or something like that. You would be expected to bring in ten of your friends, and then they would each bring in ten of their friends, etc.

I tried to use simple logic to explain to one of the promoters that the math just didn't work out. Exponential growth, anyone? I said that after a very few generations, we would have signed up every human being on Earth. And then what do you do?

Their response was "That's not a problem. Everyone can just sign up again!"

A few of us went out to lunch and sat at a round table at the corner of the restaurant. You were sitting near the corner and I was across from you.

Memory is a funny thing. Mine is very positional. I don't remember the name of the workshop, the restaurant or type of food, but I do remember where we sat. (If it jogs your memory, I had a fuzzy red Afro thanks to my Neanderthal heritage - wish I still had hair like that! - and I was probably wearing some kind of South American jacket.)

You may have just been starting your radio career around that time, and I distinctly remember thinking "this guy has a radio voice!"

I don't suppose you happen to remember what workshop that was? Don't worry, no offense taken if none of this rings a bell. :-)

leolaporte4• 4 years ago

I don't remember the Circle of Gold and, like you, would have been very unlikely to support such a thing. I did take est in San Jose in 1978 and participated in quite a few graduate seminars for some years after so your story checks out. Sorry I don't remember your red afro. I'm amazed you remember me!

As scammy as it probably was (Werner Erhard mostly just cribbed from Alan Watts and others) est was a very formative experience for me as a 21-year-old. I think it has stayed with me ever since. I was just thinking about that the other day, in fact.

classichasclass8• 4 years ago

I apologize for the confusion. I really didn't mean the original title in the way it came out. I did enjoy the day on the show. If you would like the post removed, I'll do so.

leolaporte4• 4 years ago

Absolutely not! I loved the post! I remember you well.

And I got a little peak at what it will be like when I actually do die. Not many get that privilege. ;-)

telman17• 4 years ago

Seeing you post here is one of the reasons I love Hacker News! I grew up listening to your show, glad you are well!

ehnto• 4 years ago

Glad to hear you plan to keep the podcast going, it's practically an institution. Growing up in rural Australia, your shows were one of the only connections I had to technology education, and you were the only one making it look fun and exciting! I used to spend hours watching TechTV (when perhaps I should have been at school even). Technology has become my career, and I can fairly say you were a big part of how I got here. So thank you for that, Leo and I am glad to hear the show will go on.

silisili• 4 years ago

Leo, I watched you in my formative years on ZDTV. My only question is where is the burned Mandrake CD you promised us if we wrote?

Kidding, kinda. Seriously though, thanks for all that you've done.

NovaVeles• 4 years ago

Something something, bring back Maxwells house! J/k Glad to see Twit rolling along as always

hjkl02• 4 years ago

I had to stare at this for a minute or too before I understood that Leo Laporte died. Even as clickbait it’s confusing, because of the word “minor”.

One of the worst titles on HN in some time. Please change it.

fragmede3• 4 years ago

You read it wrong, Leo Laporte is alive! The (poorly titled) link is about his AM radio going off the air.

CountHackulus• 4 years ago

I'll always remember when Leo Laporte and Kevin Rose were racing to see who would be the first person to 1M Twitter followers. Only for Britney Spears to join Twitter and demolish the follower counts.

boomboomsubban• 4 years ago

I was interested in this story, and tried to find out more. I'm guessing it was a race to 100,000, but it's bizarre to think there was a time when both Laporte and Rose had more twitter followers than Obama. Also, it's amusing to see The Guardian unsure whether it should tweet. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/blog/2008/may/18/leol...

justhere4beer• 4 years ago

I remember first watching back when he was on cable via hacked DirecTV cards. Fascinating back in the day. When it went to the podcast/vid, I started losing interest when it became a smart phone centric, then came the two inadvertent D pics live on air. Never watched a segment since. Great run though, congrats.

A minor memorial for Leo Laporte’s terrestrial AM radio show

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