I liked Art Bell more and more, the older he got.

[steveyraff]

Just a random thought as a huge Art Bell fan.

I listen to his shows for hours each day. Without realising it, I found I go for more recent Podcasts. Its not just that the topics are more up-to-date, its that I think Art developed as a person continually. Something I loved about Art is that he was very much his own person. He never changed who he was for different guests, or to callers. I didn't always agree with him, or some of his views, but I still respected him for being true to himself. I like how he gave the craziest of callers a chance, but then to others he was sometimes just "no, bye" lol.

Another odd thing - not always, but a lot of the time I tend to prefer podcasts post 9/11. Strange thing that. I think he became more similar to my way of thinking after that. He used to be quite patriotic and would say things like he honestly doesn't believe the American peoples own government would ever deceive them, or do anything to put the people in harms way for poor reasons. That changed too.

I think out of everything, despite being a massive A.B fan, one of the things that disappointed me the most, was hearing in some much older podcasts how he would say some things that to me sounded blatantly homophobic, or misogynistic. I might be quite liberal, but I am not into political correct "madness", I can take a joke. I heard him in an old podcast seriously debate the notion of gays being allowed in the military - something which to this day I can't figure out what the problem is. I said that in the comments of the Youtube video of that podcast, and other fellow A.B fans sent me a lot of hateful comments. Art said "maybe its ok, I dunno, but they better keep their hand off my knee". I find it strange when men presume every gay man is going to be all over them lol. Someone told me its because it'd be a "distraction" in combat. How? If it was a distraction in combat, that would be the fault of the person worrying about it needlessly, not the gay person. There are heterosexual men and women working side by side in combat every day - plenty of distractions there. Yet, then in more recent podcasts, in musings with Terrence McKenna and other deep thinkers, he softened up on these ideas, and I've heard him completely contradict those feelings and express much more open minded views on the matter.

That again is something I liked about him. Even if he was true to himself and held his own views no matter what anyone else thought, he wasn't blindly biased and stubborn, he was always open minded enough to change his mind and views. Something else he often admitted in later years, how his views on various things had changed. I really respect that - it means you are not clouded by ego to be able to say you've changed your mind on something. You don't get enough of that today. The right just keeps getting more right, the left keeps getting more left. Its gone to crazy town.

Anyway, I digress. I think Art learnt and developed right until his final years. Open minded and constantly re-evaluating, but always himself at the same time.

Maybe some people out there are the opposite and preferred his older shows. Thought it would be interesting to hear if anyone else had similar thoughts

Cheers fellow fans 

[tootsie_wootsy]

loved and still love Art.. No one will ever come near him as a radio/podcast host. he had a magical gift

[steveyraff]

loved and still love Art.. No one will ever come near him as a radio/podcast host. he had a magical gift

I agree. Since his death I have tried really hard to listen to other C2C presenters and the like, trying to fill that void. So far, it just ain't happening. But, I am trying to channel his open mindedness and embrace those trying their best to carry on his radio legacy. If we don't do that, we won't have anything like this on the airwaves anymore.

In saying that, he really will never be replaceable in many ways. I listened to him daily for years - it was like I knew him well!!

[Dyna-X]

Just a random thought as a huge Art Bell fan.

I listen to his shows for hours each day. Without realising it, I found I go for more recent Podcasts. Its not just that the topics are more up-to-date, its that I think Art developed as a person continually. Something I loved about Art is that he was very much his own person. He never changed who he was for different guests, or to callers. I didn't always agree with him, or some of his views, but I still respected him for being true to himself. I like how he gave the craziest of callers a chance, but then to others he was sometimes just "no, bye" lol.

Another odd thing - not always, but a lot of the time I tend to prefer podcasts post 9/11. Strange thing that. I think he became more similar to my way of thinking after that. He used to be quite patriotic and would say things like he honestly doesn't believe the American peoples own government would ever deceive them, or do anything to put the people in harms way for poor reasons. That changed too.

I think out of everything, despite being a massive A.B fan, one of the things that disappointed me the most, was hearing in some much older podcasts how he would say some things that to me sounded blatantly homophobic, or misogynistic. I might be quite liberal, but I am not into political correct "madness", I can take a joke. I heard him in an old podcast seriously debate the notion of gays being allowed in the military - something which to this day I can't figure out what the problem is. I said that in the comments of the Youtube video of that podcast, and other fellow A.B fans sent me a lot of hateful comments. Art said "maybe its ok, I dunno, but they better keep their hand off my knee". I find it strange when men presume every gay man is going to be all over them lol. Someone told me its because it'd be a "distraction" in combat. How? If it was a distraction in combat, that would be the fault of the person worrying about it needlessly, not the gay person. There are heterosexual men and women working side by side in combat every day - plenty of distractions there. Yet, then in more recent podcasts, in musings with Terrence McKenna and other deep thinkers, he softened up on these ideas, and I've heard him completely contradict those feelings and express much more open minded views on the matter.

That again is something I liked about him. Even if he was true to himself and held his own views no matter what anyone else thought, he wasn't blindly biased and stubborn, he was always open minded enough to change his mind and views. Something else he often admitted in later years, how his views on various things had changed. I really respect that - it means you are not clouded by ego to be able to say you've changed your mind on something. You don't get enough of that today. The right just keeps getting more right, the left keeps getting more left. Its gone to crazy town.

Anyway, I digress. I think Art learnt and developed right until his final years. Open minded and constantly re-evaluating, but always himself at the same time.

Maybe some people out there are the opposite and preferred his older shows. Thought it would be interesting to hear if anyone else had similar thoughts

Cheers fellow fans 

I agree wholeheartedly the 1995 Art and 2015 Art were very different in terms of worldview. What I noticed is that as some of the larger existential threats to the planet became more apparent, Art softened on some of the political battle stations he was willing to take up earlier. When a 20 mile wide asteroid, EMP, or a Global Superstorm is lingering in the future, the other issues become pointless minutiae.

There was also a spiritual change when he learned about the wonders of astronomy and the universe. It was towards the atheist/agnostic viewpoint. A big turning point was about 1998 or so when he put the Hubble images on his page. Interviewing hundreds of paranormal experts he knew there was something to this as well, but knew the field had plenty of charlatans.

Dave Schrader remarked the other night about how difficult it is bring on credible and more scientific leaning guests and not have people get bored. On the other hand some of the most entertaining guests are full of BS and everyone, including the host knows it! Its tricky to find that middle ground, and Art was just plain skilled at whatever was before him from the charlatan to the scientist and everyone between. Those skills were always evolving. Better everyday

[21st Century Man]

Just a random thought as a huge Art Bell fan.

I listen to his shows for hours each day. Without realising it, I found I go for more recent Podcasts. Its not just that the topics are more up-to-date, its that I think Art developed as a person continually. Something I loved about Art is that he was very much his own person. He never changed who he was for different guests, or to callers. I didn't always agree with him, or some of his views, but I still respected him for being true to himself. I like how he gave the craziest of callers a chance, but then to others he was sometimes just "no, bye" lol.

Another odd thing - not always, but a lot of the time I tend to prefer podcasts post 9/11. Strange thing that. I think he became more similar to my way of thinking after that. He used to be quite patriotic and would say things like he honestly doesn't believe the American peoples own government would ever deceive them, or do anything to put the people in harms way for poor reasons. That changed too.

I think out of everything, despite being a massive A.B fan, one of the things that disappointed me the most, was hearing in some much older podcasts how he would say some things that to me sounded blatantly homophobic, or misogynistic. I might be quite liberal, but I am not into political correct "madness", I can take a joke. I heard him in an old podcast seriously debate the notion of gays being allowed in the military - something which to this day I can't figure out what the problem is. I said that in the comments of the Youtube video of that podcast, and other fellow A.B fans sent me a lot of hateful comments. Art said "maybe its ok, I dunno, but they better keep their hand off my knee". I find it strange when men presume every gay man is going to be all over them lol. Someone told me its because it'd be a "distraction" in combat. How? If it was a distraction in combat, that would be the fault of the person worrying about it needlessly, not the gay person. There are heterosexual men and women working side by side in combat every day - plenty of distractions there. Yet, then in more recent podcasts, in musings with Terrence McKenna and other deep thinkers, he softened up on these ideas, and I've heard him completely contradict those feelings and express much more open minded views on the matter.

That again is something I liked about him. Even if he was true to himself and held his own views no matter what anyone else thought, he wasn't blindly biased and stubborn, he was always open minded enough to change his mind and views. Something else he often admitted in later years, how his views on various things had changed. I really respect that - it means you are not clouded by ego to be able to say you've changed your mind on something. You don't get enough of that today. The right just keeps getting more right, the left keeps getting more left. Its gone to crazy town.

Anyway, I digress. I think Art learnt and developed right until his final years. Open minded and constantly re-evaluating, but always himself at the same time.

Maybe some people out there are the opposite and preferred his older shows. Thought it would be interesting to hear if anyone else had similar thoughts

Cheers fellow fans 

In my mind, he went further right in his last years. He was an avid Trump supporter and was highly concerned about the illegal immigration entering the country.  It is more like he was conservative, veered to the left in the early Obama years and then went back to the right again.

Regarding the military, women in combat forces are still relatively rare and if so they are usually what people have called "bulldykes"- rather masculine lesbians.  I'm sure there are some het women too but not common.  The mixing of sexes in combat does cause some problems.  A man might value a female soldier over another male soldier when all soldiers should be equally concerned about each other.  The same goes with gay male soldiers.  Plus, sexual relationships are more likely to form and are likely to distract soldiers from their missions.    You've got to keep things professional.  Just my thoughts.  I'm not trying to diss gays or women but face realities.

[steveyraff]

Dave Schrader remarked the other night about how difficult it is bring on credible and more scientific leaning guests and not have people get bored. On the other hand some of the most entertaining guests are full of BS and everyone, including the host knows it! Its tricky to find that middle ground, and Art was just plain skilled at whatever was before him from the charlatan to the scientist and everyone between. Those skills were always evolving. Better everyday

Great point. I loved that juxtaposition. Personally, for the 'most' part I loved the more scientifically credible guests, Michio Kaku etc - but even when he had serious guests on, or deep thinkers, I then loved the often comedic relief of the unscreened open lines that followed. Straight back into a call with a trucker who just drove over his 4th Bigfoot... brilliant!!!! 

[steveyraff]

In my mind, he went further right in his last years. He was an avid Trump supporter and was highly concerned about the illegal immigration entering the country.  It is more like he was conservative, veered to the left in the early Obama years and then went back to the right again.

Regarding the military, women in combat forces are still relatively rare and if so they are usually what people have called "bulldykes"- rather masculine lesbians.  I'm sure there are some het women too but not common.  The mixing of sexes in combat does cause some problems.  A man might value a female soldier over another male soldier when all soldiers should be equally concerned about each other.  The same goes with gay male soldiers.  Plus, sexual relationships are more likely to form and are likely to distract soldiers from their missions.    You've got to keep things professional.  Just my thoughts.  I'm not trying to diss gays or women but face realities.

Yea, I think your observations are correct there - he did go a little left and then a little right again towards the end.
Interesting points about your views on gays in the military. I am not sure I can say I agree, but I do take your point onboard for consideration, and its an interesting thought.

[Username]

That's cool, but I respectfully disagree.