Coast to Coast AM

[[File:George Noory at Alien Snowfest 2019 crop.jpg |thumb|right|165px|George Noory]]
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'''Coast to Coast AM''' is a [[U.S.]] [[talk radio]] show that runs in the wee hours of the late night and early morning.<ref name=Knight>Peter Knight [https://books.google.com/books?id=qMIDrggs8TsC&pg=PA120&dq=coast+to+coast+am+history&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjDwJ6c7NzYAhVH64MKHdgPBZ4Q6AEIRTAF#v=onepage&q=coast%20to%20coast%20am%20history&f=false Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia] ABC-CLIO</ref> It was created and hosted by the late Art Bell. Since 2003 the main host has been George Noory, with George Knapp hosting on Sundays. Other guest hosts include Ian Punnett, Jimmy Church, Dave Schrader, Richard Syrett, Connie Willis and Lisa Garr. 

The show focuses on a wide variety of [[conspiracy theories]], [[paranormal]] and [[occult]] topics, typically presented in a [[credulous]] manner intended to mask the overwhelming odor of bullshit; occasionally, Noory will address some political news of the day, always by repeating the standard [[right wing]] [[talking point]]. The show generally consists of two two-hour interviews with a specific guest, the end of which is opened up to callers with questions. Many would argue, however, that the show is at its best on Fridays, when the second half (or sometimes the last three hours, or the entire episode) is left open to callers' personal stories. 

It is distributed by Premiere Radio Networks. Local affiliates exist in nearly every major U.S. city though the show has been removed from some markets in recent years due to decline in audience. The program generally runs seven days a week, from 10 PM to 2 AM Pacific time, although local affiliates may repeat, delay or abridge the program. Many stations that carry ''Coast to Coast'' also carry other Premiere Radio shows, including [[Glenn Beck]] and [[Sean Hannity]], hosts not known for their firm grip on [[reality]].

==History==
The original host, Art Bell, got his start in 1984 with a local talk show in [[Nevada|Las Vegas]]. When he took ''Coast to Coast AM'' national in 1992, it was briefly a political talk show &mdash; Bell was one of the talk radio hosts talking up [[Ross Perot]]'s candidacy and criticism of the [[Waco]] siege &mdash; before he found his calling covering paranormal topics.  

One could literally trace every [[woo]] claim, urban myth, and conspiracy theory of the 21st century to its appearance on ''Coast to Coast AM''. The notion that comet Hale Bopp was being shadowed by a UFO (which inspired the [[Heaven's Gate]] cult suicides in 1997) was given no small amount of credibility on the show, as was [[Remote viewing]], [[EVP]], [[Mel's Hole]], and [[End Times]] predictions too numerous to count. Bell created an art form out of giving the craziest of the crazy their individual 15 minutes of fame. According to The Washington Post in its February 23, 1997 edition, Bell was at the time America's highest-rated late-night radio talk show host, broadcast on 328 stations. In 1999, Bell co-authored ''The Coming Global Superstorm'', upon which the movie ''[[The Day After Tomorrow]]'' was based.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20040603023939/http://www.wunderground.com/education/thedayafter.asp The Day After Tomorrow™: Could it really happen?]</ref>

Bell retired from the show briefly in 2000-2001, during which ''Coast to Coast AM'' was hosted by Mike Siegal of [[Washington|Seattle]]. He returned in 2001 and went into "semi-retirement" again in 2003, with George Noory taking over regular hosting.  

In September 2013, Art Bell returned to the airwaves, somewhat, on SiriusXM Satellite Radio. His new show, "Art Bell's Dark Matter" was broadcast nightly on "Indie", Channel 104, direct from his home studio in Pahrump, [[Nevada]], but abruptly ended in November over web streaming issues.<ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/04/art-bell-resigns-from-sirius-xm-radio_n_4215776.html Huffington Post: Paranormal Radio Host Art Bell Mysteriously Disappears From SiriusXM]</ref> On July 20<sup>th</sup>, 2015, Art Bell debuted his new show, "Midnight in the Desert", that aired Monday through Friday on the Dark Matter Digital Network from 12 AM to 3 AM EST.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150723070432/http://artbell.com/art-bells-new-show-faq/ Art Bell's New Show FAQ], retrieved on August 14, 2015.</ref> This show ended in December 2015, after Bell claimed that he received a string of violent threats to himself and his family.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20151212192931/http://artbell.com/art-hangs-it-up-for-the-last-time/ Art Hangs It Up For the Last Time.] artbell.com. Retrieved on 12 December 2015.</ref> Bell's local sheriff's department opened an investigation, but closed it "due to a lack of evidence".<ref>[http://knpr.org/headline/2015-12/citing-threats-art-bell-ends-radio-program Citing Threats, Art Bell Ends Radio Program]</ref>

==Guests==
Coast to Coast AM features a regular lineup of guests from a wide range of fields, often [[pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]]. Frequent topics discussed on the show are such things as [[Unidentified flying object|UFO]]s, [[alien abduction]]s, [[cryptozoology]], [[ghosts]], [[exorcism]]s, [[astrology]], [[pseudoarcheology]], topics such as the alleged mystical powers of "ancient [[crystal skull]]s", and various forms of [[science woo]]. A frequent guest on Coast to Coast is [[Remote viewing|remote viewer]] and doomsayer [[Ed Dames]], who makes predictions of impending worldwide destruction. Another is [[Gerald Celente]], whose economic forecasts would have had the [[USA]] back to the Stone Age by now if they had only been accurate.

Signalling a gradual shift of the show's material in a political direction, a frequent news-segment guest in 2020 was [[Jerome Corsi]], a blowhard from the right wing of the Republican party.

===Robert Zimmerman===
This Robert Zimmerman is no relation to the Robert Zimmerman who sang of brass bedsteads and changing times. A space historian with four books and a master's degree to his credit, Zimmerman was appointed science adviser to the radio show in July 2015, replacing the completely unqualified [[Richard Hoagland]].

He had previously had many spots on the show, especially commenting on spaceflight news but also interpreting science and technology more generally.

===Steve Kates "Dr. Sky"===
A radio/TV journalist based in Phoenix, Arizona, "Dr. Sky" is a Monday night regular in the program's News segment, offering updates in  astronomy.

===Peter Davenport===
Director of the '''National UFO Reporting Center'''. Another News segment regular, summarizing the latest UFO sightings.

===Steve Quayle===
[[Steve Quayle]] spews an endless stream of overlapping nonsense involving the entire grab-bag ranging from UFOs to the [[end of the world]] with plenty of pseudoscience like [[chemtrails]]. He supports far-right political views and hatred: during [http://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2014/06/30 a recent radio appearance] he took a page out of the [http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/worldnetdaily-warns-undocumented-immigrants-will-stage-bio-terror-attack-us basic xenophobic playbook] and called immigrants coming into the US "infectons", claiming they could be [http://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2014/06/30 "intentionally exposed to some of the most deadly pathogens with the goal of spreading disease"] as Coast to Coast put it. Nobody thought to tell him that perfectly legit businessmen returning from exotic foreign locations are every bit as much of a potential threat.

During the same show, Quayle uttered the dread words "[[quantum]] frequencies." According to him, the bombardment of the US embassy in Moscow with [[microwave]]s (1953-76) was not, as reported at the time, a form of 
radio jamming
 electronic eavesdropping using items built into the embassy as resonant chambers, but a successful scheme to project [[viruses]] through thin air. Amazing what quantum frequencies can achieve.

===Whitley Strieber===
Science fiction author and close friend of Art Bell who took over Art's other show ''Dreamland''. Dreamland is still airing new episodes but is now on a podcast-only format. Whitley claims to have had experiences with what he terms "the visitors" and is a prolific author of both fiction and non-fiction with one of his books having been adapted into a major motion picture starring Christopher Walken.

===Michio Kaku===
One of the few relatively sane folks that appear on the show. Dr. [[Michio Kaku]] is a theoretical physicist who specializes in trans-humanist and future technology topics.

===Alex Jones===
Conspiracy posterboy [[Alex Jones]] used to occasionally show up to sponsor worthless survival products, but Noory distanced himself and stopped inviting Jones due to his highly controversial claims denying the Sandy Hook school shooting.

===[[Joel Wallach]]===
A pseudo-physician who hands out worse-than-useless advice such as that all diseases are due to mineral deficiency.<ref>[http://skepdic.com/wallach.html ''Joel D. Wallach, the "mineral doctor"''] --The skeptic's dictionary</ref> Also flogs pseudo-medical products such as colloidal mineral supplements using the brand name '''Youngevity'''.<ref>[http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/DSH/colloidalminerals.html ''Colloidal Mineral Supplements:Unnecessary and Potentially Hazardous''] --Quackwatch, by James Pontolillo</ref> Wallach makes genuine doctors and dieticians cringe by telling us all to eat ten eggs a day. Wallach and [[Alex Jones]] are partners in "Infowarshealth," a web site that sells pseudo-medical supplements.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160305004344/http://infowarshealth.com/about-us About Us.] Infowarshealth. Retrieved on 19 February 2018.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Carnivora]]
*[[Sean David Morton]]

==External links==
*[http://www.coasttocoastam.com/ The Coast to Coast AM website]
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqWPCsNke24 Listening to Coast to Coast] (YouTube video), a song by [[UFO Phil]]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMATUkJMAxo Coast to coast AM receives a call from... Gordon Freeman (and no one notices)]

==References==
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[[Category:Alternative medicine promoters]]
[[Category:Chemophobes]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theorists]]
[[Category:Cryptozoology]]
[[Category:Folklore]]
[[Category:Media]]
[[Category:New Age]]
[[Category:Paranormal]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience promoters]]
[[Category:Radio]]
[[Category:Ufology]]
[[Category:Woo]]

Categories: Alternative medicine promoters, Chemophobes, Conspiracy theorists, Cryptozoology, Folklore, Media, New Age, Paranormal, Pseudoscience promoters, Radio, Ufology, Woo