Skeptical Briefs March 1998
Late-Night Radio's Art Bell
Tom Genoni interviewed Art Bell late last year. This article is based on
that interview. --Editor
Thomas C. Genoni Jr.
Living in Los Angeles, I've grown accustomed to seeing neon-signed
psychic storefronts, sidewalk fortunetellers, aura readers, channelers,
spiritualists, and New Age advocates of all kinds. The "fringe"
is well represented here.
But none of this -- not even the psychic cat that occasionally shows up
on Venice Beach -- could have prepared me for the bizarre parade of
paranormal oddities appearing regularly on the late-night radio program
"The Art Bell Show." Carried live five days a week on AM stations all
over the country, "The Art Bell Show," officially known as "Coast to
Coast AM," is America's most-syndicated late-night talk radio program.
(The show "Dreamland" airs on Sundays.)
The program began roughly fourteen years ago; that's when Art Bell says
he first became interested in the paranormal. As it grew in popularity,
"Coast to Coast" gradually picked up affiliates and sponsors and
today leads the late-night pack in ratings with an estimated nightly audience
of eight to ten million. In addition to hosting the program, Bell
publishes the After Dark Newsletter, based on his show's topics, helps
maintain a large Internet site (www.artbell.com) filled with images and
links to pro-paranormal sites, and has published two books, The Art of
Talk and, most recently, The Quickening, both available only through his
800 number. (See Robert Baker's column, "Art Bell's Quickening Is
Sickening," S.B. December 1997.)
If you ever down enough coffee to catch the show (it airs live on the
West Coast from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m.), you are likely to hear Bell and his
guests discussing topics commonly found in the supermarket tabloids:
ancient structures found on the moon and on Mars; extraterrestrials
living on Earth -- and how to spot them; the latest crop-circle
sightings; the use of remote viewing to see into the far-off future and
the distant past. (One "remote-viewer" settled a long-standing
historical debate by confirming to Bell that Jesus did indeed look as
modern artists have portrayed him.) You are also certain to endure one
of the many lengthy on-air product endorsements, ranging from water
filters to tape recorders, that Bell seamlessly (and rather sneakily)
weaves into his monologues. The topic may occasionally switch to
politics or current events, but it inevitably returns to the wild and
fantastic tales of the supernatural -- his five unscreened phone lines
for incoming calls make sure of that.
Bell says that he's been "in search of wisdom" throughout his life
and has investigated many religions, but he claims he makes no judgments
about whether the numerous paranormal topics he discusses are real or
not. (He does, however, confess a personal interest in life-after-death
and UFOs. And, yes, he has seen one.) Bell says he doesn't like to "tear
apart his guests" with tough questions and frequently expresses his
desire to "let listeners make up their own minds." Where, then, are
the tools to enable listeners to do this? Why is the show and his regularly
advertised Web site so completely devoid of any critical, skeptical
material?
Bell believes there is already an "automatic skepticism" about
his program's paranormal subject matter and that plenty of skeptical
information is available (though he didn't mention where). Furthermore,
as Bell points out, his program is simply about the paranormal, and he
feels it's not productive for him or anyone else to criticize what are
frequently subjective stories. Perhaps, but many of the phenomena
discussed on his show do involve questions of a scientific nature --
phenomena that have been researched and investigated and can be
considered without belittling the subjective experience. Nevertheless,
although Bell insists he doesn't want his listeners to blindly accept
the paranormal claims of his guests, he says, in apparent contradiction,
that he is comfortable letting everyone have a chance to tell his or her
story, unchallenged.
Not to be eclipsed by the perpetual weirdness of his callers and guests,
Bell periodically refers to his own "millennium madness" theory
named, ominously enough, "The Quickening." Bell says that for
about the last decade or so he has been noticing changes of ever-increasing
severity in our culture and environment; that "in many areas of our
lives the gravity of events seems to be intensifying" and may be
leading to some great "change" -- and this by the end of the
century. Bell cites the increase in violent crime and broken families,
frequent climactic catastrophes of all kinds, the growing national debt,
dishonest politicians, general lack of respect for others -- about any and
every "bad" thing you can imagine -- as evidence of this coming
global transformation. The multitude of factors contributing to "The
Quickening " are conveniently vague, and, like any good apocalyptic
forecast, can easily be modified and re-explained to encompass facts that
may, at first, appear contradictory. For instance, when I pointed out that
last year's violent crime rate was the lowest since 1989 (this according
to FBI statistics released in October of last year), Bell's response was:
"Yes, but the increase through 1989 was horrendous."
Does Bell fear that he may be contributing to the "dumbing down"
of America by refusing to be critical of his paranormal topics? Hardly.
Although he acknowledges that there is indeed a "dumbing down," Bell
scoffs at suggestions that he bears any responsibility. "If America is
getting dumber it's not because of my program. . . . There are a million
shows like mine. Look at (the television show) `Strange Universe' --
they don't feel an obligation to present contradictory materials." For
Bell, the root of the quandary is our educational system, but he's
emphatic that it is not his role to instruct listeners on subject matter
he regards as "absolute entertainment" -- even though comments
from listeners that tout "Coast to Coast" as an informative and
important source of news are proudly displayed on his Web site.
Not surprisingly, the real reason for the show's divergent postures --
simultaneously existing solely as entertainment and presenting
supposedly reliable, scientific information -- has little to do with any
"search for wisdom." The "Art Bell Show," and others
like it, exist because of a formula, one that their producers rarely
concede and one that invariably precludes any meaningful, balanced
discussion of the paranormal. "These programs," Bell admits,
"are on the air for a very specific reason: they're businesses. They
wouldn't be in business if people weren't watching. People watching equals
ratings, ratings equals money." He discusses the paranormal because,
as he says, "it's what people want." And if it contributes to
a population increasingly unable to critically evaluate his show's topics?
"It's not my responsibility" is his refrain. Bell doesn't seem
to care.
About the Author
Tom Genoni is the CSICOP West Coast Bureau Chief.
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