Go With Your Palate

E94 Marcus In The Morning | Joe Wagner

• Joe Wagner • Season 1 • Episode 94

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0:00 | 42:44

The Bay Area radio voice you’ve heard for decades just joined us - for his first time as a podcast guest.
Marcus D opens up on staying relevant for 34 years, hitting #1, and why only our second-ever three-part episode felt worthy of making this one an event.

🎙️ Go With Your Palate: Marcus D | Radio Gold, Real Talk & a 3-Part Ride

This one’s special - only our second time ever doing a three-part episode - and we couldn’t have asked for a better guest to bring back this extended format than Marcus D of Marcus in the Morning on Star 101.3, whose show has climbed to #1 status and whose voice has been entertaining listeners for 34 years (including 25+ in the Bay Area).

In a fun twist, this was Marcus’ first time joining a podcast as the guest instead of the host, and he absolutely brings it. We dive into how he got into broadcasting as a teenager, how he’s stayed relevant across generations, and why authenticity still wins in any era of media. We also get into his food and wine side, his Chef’s Day Off world, and some behind-the-scenes gems from a guy who’s made everyday life entertaining for decades.

And because this is Go With Your Palate, we wander into the good stuff - relationships, keeping chivalry alive, what men can still learn from women (with some fresh younger-generation perspective from producer Taylor in Part 3), and yes… a little nod to the magic behind Second Date Update.

Part of what makes this mini-series extra fun is Taylor joining us in the final episode - her first time in Napa and a great voice on broadcasting, culture, and generational perspective.

There’s radio wisdom, Napa stories, plenty of laughs, and one of our warmest conversations yet.

🎙️ Marcus fans - drop your favorite on-air bit or Bay Area memory in the comments. We’d love to hear what’s made you tune in over the years.

Grab a glass and settle in - this one unfolds like a great trilogy. 🍷📻✨

SPEAKER_03

All right. Welcome back to another segment of Wet Your Palette. We uh have some very special guests today talking with Marcus from Marcus in the morning. Everything that he's uh been enjoying doing, a lot of random questions, random thoughts, but a lot of insights. And then we had his producer come on, Taylor. Welcome to the show. Thank you for uh giving us your insights as well and your history and how you're you're ascending to new realms and broadcasting. So cheers, dude. Any any highlights?

SPEAKER_02

Uh my favorite was uh when everybody learned how to hook a story. When Chris hit me with uh hooked me with a story and um I didn't see it coming.

SPEAKER_03

Well, it it's all about the hook, like you said. So if you want to hear some good hooks, you gotta listen to go with your palate.

SPEAKER_00

Well, thank you so much. I'm I'm truly encouraged by your guys' presence here.

SPEAKER_02

Your storytelling just evolved during the during the podcast to just like just go for it, bro.

SPEAKER_01

Well, we had so much fun. I think that's why this even ends up being like a three-part episode. So you're gonna have a lot of fun here. You gotta check it out, you gotta stay all the way to the end for Taylor's exclusive, the closer.

SPEAKER_03

Taylor's man takes are also romantic. Do we learn a lot of things? No, that was that was one of my favorites. So then your man takes. I think you had at least four, if not five, and I'm sure there's more. They should all be written down and publicized.

SPEAKER_04

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03

Uh well, thank you both for being here. It was a pleasure. And now everybody go listen to Go With Your Palette. Yes, let's do it. I you know what I can't stand about those things? No. The heated seats.

SPEAKER_01

You don't like the heated seats on the Japanese toilet?

SPEAKER_02

I

Those Japanese toilets tho...

SPEAKER_02

hate I hate when I got the heated seats. I don't like heated seats in my car. My wife will turn it on full blast all bars. Yeah. My butt is on fire.

SPEAKER_01

I I like a little heat sometimes. You know what I mean? On the back. I do like the Japanese toilets. I'm just gonna say I like it's kind of cool walking into a bathroom being welcomed, you know, and the light comes on, and I think some of them may say your name and no, I listen.

SPEAKER_02

I walked into the Barde Sono in Yachtville and I told these jokes at the Yachtville Little League that kids serving the spaghetti didn't get them because they're a little off color, but uh they have bidets in the lobby. And so I'm so I'm I'm doing the auction at the at the Little League thing, and I'm literally like I'm in Yauntville, and I go, has anybody else spent like an inordinate amount of time at the Bar di Sono? I mean, they have bidets in the lobby, and everybody knew where I was going. And I was like, I walked in there and told the lady at the front desk, I can't work here because I would go on break and never come back. I literally, first time I used that thing, I was like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna give you two hours to cut that out.

SPEAKER_03

Anyway, so okay, I got I gotta ask maybe a little more of a private question. Sure. Do you do you when you both have the opportunity to use one of those? Uh do you actually use the little the one let the wand come and clean you off? Yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_02

You're being environmentally and is you know and hygienically, you know, superior. How does it clean itself? It has a self-clean. I don't ask the questions. Yeah, I mean, it's not on my toilet knows what it's doing. I've done my job, okay?

SPEAKER_01

Could you imagine an argument with the toilet? You're like, how do you clean yourself? It's like you know what?

SPEAKER_02

It would be with AI and everything, it would probably answer you like soon. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

That's another thing we're gonna have to touch on at some point is AI. Not right now, but where we're in the middle of some uh dirty talk about the days. They're life changers, man. Life changers. Uh so uh, so what what were you doing at Bartow?

SPEAKER_02

Uh uh at one point just hanging out, having brunch. My wife used to like to go there. We knew the food and beverage manager. Shout out to my guy Ross Wheatley from back in the day. Um and so we'd go hang out, have dinner. I never actually stayed there, but uh, but I have yeah, spent time in the lobby. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

That's a good restaurant, too. Yeah, it's delicious. Yeah. They've done a great job with that place. All Leonville, like still, you know, best culinary town in the valley overall. Just you can walk, eat, enjoy. It's pretty nice. I miss red.

SPEAKER_02

I do too. Oh, that those uh the pizza there and also the um like the Chinese buns that they had. I don't think I've ever had those. Yes. All their bar stuff was great.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. So uh we were talking about uh the the the uh little league, the Yauntville Little League thing, right? And and telling some jokes that were kind of flying over the kids' heads. Yeah. Like the like the bidet thing.

SPEAKER_02

It's kind of what I do for work because we were talking uh off mic about like whether your personality should be different when you're on mic versus off mic in the wild. And I've always thought, and it's always done well for me over 30 years, is like I'm the same guy. I'm the same guy right now. This is me doing the show as I am in the studio. Yeah. Um, but but it hasn't always been that way because like in the 90s,

OG DJ Host: Mic on or off same guy....

SPEAKER_02

like I started in '92, and it was all about there was a saying, keep it tight and bright. Keep it, keep it happy, keep that smile on your face. You're a DJ, and they're counting on you to keep the room hype. Even if you're having you can have the worst day, and you still gotta still gotta make it happen. Like I literally did a show one time with salmonella. I'd given myself salmonella because I I so I I went, I did the copycat El Pollo Loco chicken recipe, which I was obsessed with. I grilled it, and I didn't grill it enough, and I bit into it, and it was pink, and I just I'll just play through. Gave myself salmonella and had to go on the air the next day. So literally I would do 10 to 15 second breaks. This is before the morning show, um, and then I would double over in pain. Oh, but that's not something that you would think about talking about, but but but transitioning to do a morning show, that the number one hallmark, and it's the same with podcasts, is to me, is like just be authentic, be yourself. Yeah. So the more you can just really dig into that, um, the the the more that I think the listeners will connect with you. So, you know, I was telling you that that I um I was at it was post-Giants game, and this is a great example of me just really being myself and not caring. And we're walking back to the car, and there was a guy on the side of the of the street selling Modellos out of a cooler, and it's 11 o'clock at night on a Wednesday. I have to get up at 4 a.m. to do my show, and I'm just have the problem is I don't know how you guys get, but I'm a werewolf. There's a certain time of night where I just start coming alive.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, and when I hit it early, I mean I gotta drop myself in bed early, otherwise, yeah. I should as well.

SPEAKER_02

Uh, but so, anyways, we're we're leaving the Giants game, and my wife and her friend are in front, and then I disappear to go buy a Modello for no reason. And my wife's like, What are you doing? I guess I don't know. I'm feeling the vibes, man. They had won, the streets were filled, or whatever. So I posted a story, and one of my old program directors was like, I don't know if a morning guy in the base should be posting that he's drinking on a Tuesday night after a Giants game. What would the listeners say? I would hope that if you listen to our show, that you know who I am and that you would roll up, give me a hug, and we would do a beer together. Because that's on brand for me. Just hanging out, yeah, like being with everybody, hanging out is my thing. I'd be like, I trust this guy. Yeah, yeah. I'm not trying, I'm not trying to hide. You'd get in the van.

SPEAKER_03

If I had candy and a puppy, he'd get in the van.

SPEAKER_00

Well, that's that's a real kind of puppy.

SPEAKER_03

That's a that's a real one, right? They're gonna that I think I think you were a real one and be like, oh yeah, this guy's like down. He's just like, this is who he is.

SPEAKER_02

But for the first 20 years of my career, before I started doing the morning show, it was all about I have to present my had this block. I felt like I had to present myself in a fashion that I think the listeners would like. I was petrified. So it doing a morning show and doing an afternoon show or a midday show or what is very different because when you're when you're music intensive, you're playing 14 songs an hour and you're talking 20 seconds at a time. Now I'm taxed with keeping people's attention for two, three, four minutes. And and I would always think like I would always think about what I want to say, but then I would think, I don't want to be myself because what if I am myself and nobody likes me?

SPEAKER_03

Even after years of doing this, even for the time frame that that you you were concerned about the time frame of what we're doing.

SPEAKER_02

We were trained as DJs, we were trained to just give the people what they want. You can't you and then it and then it kind of shifted kind of mid-2010 or so to be like, okay, be authentic. And then by the time I got on the morning show, my boss literally would say, I'm gonna beat the DJ out of you. I'm gonna make you a real person. And and I feel like he did it. And there was there was one very poignant moment, you know. I saw one of the questions on here. Where was a moment you had on the air where you thought this is either gonna be amazing or I'm gonna get fired? I'm not saying like being fired, that's such a uh doomsday thing, but I did have a moment where I was like, Oh, I just said that. And but it really shifted my my mode of thinking to becoming a real person, authentic person on the air. We were so my first partner and I, Sandy, it was Marcus and Sandy for a lot of years. And um, again, we had we're just learning how to do a morning show together. It was terrible. We had no ratings, we had no listeners. Um, this was 2013, and we're on the air and we're talking about okay, why is the real reason you stalk your ex's

Marcus & Sandy show moment: Why do people follow their ex's online...

SPEAKER_02

Facebook, page, or social media? And they had, you know, Reddit had listed out all the reasons. Yeah, and I and I, this is the moment I said, Well, you just want to make sure they got fat. I said that the most honest thing I'd ever said up to that point, and everybody agreed with you. And then I and then and then and then I doubled down, and then Sandy looked at me and I said, Yeah, I mean, I was on uh ex-girlfriend's Facebook page just the other day, and yeah, like it wasn't pretty. And I thought to myself, boy, it's a good thing I hopped off that sled. Am I right, people? And the room was just dead silent, but it felt so cathartic and real and honest. It was the most honest moment I'd had on the show up until that point. And and then as we as I became more honest, I realized everybody's a little screwed up, right? Yeah, we we all have thoughts, but nobody wants to talk about it, right? Now I have to temper my inside voice and my outside voice, but but when I share vulnerable moments, um, I feel like somebody out there listening goes, That happened to me too, and I've been too afraid to talk about it. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Well, and I I think that people, you know, more and more now, and I think it'll continue in this trend, they they want that authenticity. They want to know they'll they'll we went through that whole phase where like you couldn't say anything without getting in trouble, it seemed like for a period. Right. Or you were always worried about it. But now it seems like there's this rise of you can say something that I don't agree with or that offends, you know, me, or whatever, but as long as I know who you are, where you're at, what you what you think, and like we can get along. And I think that that's good, that's a trend that's gonna continue. Yeah, 100%. I hope employers continue to foster that rather than silence it. Sure.

SPEAKER_02

And the one thing that I I'm always mindful of a few things. I don't ever want a mom or a dad to have to have a car hard conversation in the car with the kids because of something that I said. Um, and I want to make sure that I represent my company and my brand properly, right? So, so there is a line. Like, I'm not sitting here telling you there's no line. But like, you know, it's it's always so my sister has two kids, and I'll never forget there was one time we were talking about something kind of off-color. It might have been adult toys, or it was sexual in nature, and my sister texted me and she goes, Hey, thanks for talking about that. I got both the kids in the car. Now I have to have the birds and the bees talk on the way to school. I was just trying to get my Starbucks. Yeah, hell yeah. No, that's the one thing I'm trying to avoid.

SPEAKER_03

Because my line of the sand is way farther down the beach than yours.

SPEAKER_02

I understand, I understand, but I have to be mindful that I've got a lot of parents on drop off. They want to have I my my thing with my show is a little smart, a little stupid, always funny.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

That's why I got into radio, was to make you laugh. A lot of people got in for different reasons. You love music, you want to go to shows, you want to meet chicks. I don't know. I just want to make you laugh. That's why I'm here.

SPEAKER_03

So purely you were an entertainer from your core from a young age. Yes. So I think it's about time we do an introduction because

Welcome Marcus Host of "Marcus in the Morning"

SPEAKER_03

people you're listening, you're probably like, who is this guy? I want to hear. So, all right, so we got special guests today on Go With Your Palette. We've got Marcus in the morning. Um I'm gonna say local radio legend here in the Bay Area, but uh but also loosely legend. Okay, I'm gonna give it a legend. How many years you said you've been doing this?

SPEAKER_02

So I've been doing radio for 34 years. 34 years. I've been doing radio in the Bay Area for 25 plus, and I've been doing the morning show on Star 1013 um for iHeartRadio for going on 14.

SPEAKER_03

Right. And so and and so that was another thing. iHeartRadio. So on the app, you people can listen to it across the globe.

SPEAKER_02

Literally, if you if you download the free iHeartRadio app, you can just search out Marcus in the morning and you will see our second date update uh podcast. You'll see our trivia game podcast. I've got my cooking podcast, Chef's Day Off, uh, and then the whole show on demand. So you can listen anytime you want. You don't have to get up early to do it.

SPEAKER_03

So so 34 years in the industry in general, I would say, you know, I always kind of like correlate uh how how long people have been doing a craft or or a profession. And I always think of it as like your doctorate level. Right? Like, I mean, you you can't go get a maybe you can, I don't know, doctorate of of you know being a regular.

SPEAKER_02

I look at it more like I don't know how to do anything else. I'm a dancing monkey by trade. I think it was Bill Burr that went on stage and said, I I don't I'm a dancing monkey.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, he's always why would you take my advice? I'm a comedian. Yeah, I'm a dancing monkey.

SPEAKER_00

Bill Burr, dude.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, that's great. Yeah, so so uh so you feel like as you've moved into this the morning show piece for 25 years. That's going on 25 years? So 25 years in Bay Area Radio.

SPEAKER_02

So going on 14 years on the morning show. Okay, okay, great.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. So uh your preference between those two. Let's let's start with that.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, this is the most fun I've had in my entire life. Yeah. In my entire career. I literally get to go on and uh so I used to be an assistant program director and a program director because you would have dual roles, kind of like what you guys do here, where everybody kind of uh cross-trains and does different things. So now in radio, you have your program director, and a lot of times they have an airshift. They're doing afternoons or they're doing middays. I used to think afternoons was awesome because you get into the office at like 11 and you're done by seven, you can still go watch primetime TV. But this morning show thing is genius. And and the issue with being a program director is now you're a manager. And I used to always say, like, I used to, I used to have to deal with what I called other people's problems, and now I just paint. Now I'm just an artist. It's so great. I'm in Napa doing a podcast, and it's two o'clock in the afternoon on a weekday. We just drank some wine. Like, and you had meatballs for breakfast. Meatballs for breakfast.

SPEAKER_03

I get to hang out with you guys. That was something you mentioned, and I I loved your point. You're like, you wake up that early, lunch is anytime. Yeah, anytime.

SPEAKER_02

We've had ribs, meatballs. I uh I think we drew the line at uh Moroccan chicken. I brought in Swarma one time and stank up the studio. The other thing we're not allowed to do is bring any kind of seafood or like uh clam chowder, anything of that nature.

SPEAKER_03

That's a good call. I've had some issues in our office with that. Yeah, we have the break room rule.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah, the break room rule. People were microwaving salmon, which I know they're not with us anymore, but R.I.P.

SPEAKER_03

We don't blink. I would have taken them up too. They could have been talking shit. They'd be employed. But no, man, you you've microwave salmon.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

We don't we don't mess around.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. No, I I I'm fully enjoying the morning show because I just genuinely feel like we refer to everybody as our listening family. I genuinely feel so connected to every single person who just takes

Staying so connected with fans and looking for radio show monogamy :)

SPEAKER_02

a second to comment on social media or follow us or send me a note or hey Marcus, I'm going to Hapman Bay this weekend. Can you give me a recommendation? We have a talk back feature where you can leave a message and I will call you back. If your phone number's on there, I will call you and thank you for leaving a talk back. And and how's your day going? And you know, when we do our trivia game, it's always, hey, uh, Chris, where are you calling from? I'm Napa. What do you got going on today? I'm dropping the kids off. Cool. What are their names? Like, I genuinely want to know everyone. Yeah, that's that's a that's a great quality. Because yeah, I had a I had a buddy who when I was in Seattle, and he could walk down the street anywhere, and people would come out of their stores or whatever else, say hi to him, whatever. I was like, I want to be that guy.

SPEAKER_03

I just want to know everybody. So you you also you also mentioned that that uh um you kind of have like it's more of a family like extension, right? And so um and and that you don't just turn off at the end of your morning show.

SPEAKER_02

Much to my wife's chagrin.

SPEAKER_03

And and so you want to get out there and kind of relating it to being a politician. I thought that was a really interesting uh point where you know you're looking at your your listeners as your constituents in a way, in a way, because because once once we meet, like you're not allowed to listen to anybody else. So you're looking for monogamy and listenership.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, 100%. Yeah, 100% monogamy.

SPEAKER_01

We are locked in right now.

SPEAKER_02

The other powerful thing that I learned over the years is uh when you have an opportunity to meet somebody and you see how much joy you've brought them with what you do for work, if somebody tells me you, you know, we got through the pandemic together, or when you were taking care of your dad and he finally passed, I really I really felt for you because I was doing the same thing at the same time, you know, we we went through caregiving together. I know we I know you don't know me, but I feel like I know you. That's a very powerful tool. Yeah, like it it means everything. If if if somebody can tell me that I made them laugh or I made them cry or I made them think, or I gave them I gave them time with their kid in the car, you know, it blows me away. I met a guy the other day who um at an event I was doing, he said he walked, he said, I just want to say thanks. I've been listening to you since junior high. And I looked at him, I said, You're six foot six. How old are you? He said, I'm 31. You know, and I was like, Well, I guess he was a sophomore in high school, then my math's not mathing, but but that's powerful to me. Or like the kid that was six years old, and then I get an invite to his graduation party because he just got accepted on the drum line at Howard University. You know what I mean? It's mind-blowing, and I just I can't express how much I love our listeners. I just can't like it.

SPEAKER_03

So you well, you you become a part of their family then. Yeah, really. But I mean, that yeah, both. But it's I mean, that's you're an indelible mark in their mind if they're listening every morning. And uh, I will say I used to I used to have more time, windshield time. Um now it's very little, uh, which is unfortunate because I really do enjoy it. And I used to listen to a lot of a lot more radio than I do now. Um, but uh, but there were a few like even talk shows back when I was younger that I was listening to that really like, you know, it felt like you get to know these people. And and those were they weren't doing any music. It was just all pure, you know, like um could have been about politics, could have been about local BS, like some funny guys, Armstrong and Getty, if you ever heard them. Of course. Yeah, so they were they were uh they were pretty funny. They didn't get too political, they just you know talked a lot of shit about whatever's going on in the world. Yeah, yeah. But yeah, it was it it really is a connection there. Um and so it's I mean it's awesome to see. You're it drives you're getting multi-generational now at this point.

SPEAKER_02

And it's a lot of fun. And then with the advent of like podcasting for us, it gives me an opportunity, it gives an opportunity for us, me and the listener, to hang out all day. And so a lot of you know, and you know, I know we're gonna get into this with kind of you inventing the reinventing the wine industry and us trying to reinvent kind of the radio industry in a way, but a lot of DJs would resist doing a podcast because like, well, first of all, it's extra work, and we're all inherently kind of lazy by nature, to be honest. But we were bred that way, you know. It was always you do four and hit the door, you do your four hours and you're gone. Now, you know, you do your four hours, but now you're podcasting, you're you're uploading podcasts, you're doing social media videos. There's a lot more to do. It's still amazingly fun. Yeah, but it's a lot and you're getting out and pressing scan. Correct. Um, but um the the the thought process is okay, I was with you in the morning. You're gonna go listen, go look for something to listen to anyway. I would rather we stayed together because I'm otherwise I'll miss you. I like this audio monogamy. Yeah, audio monogamy. I'm all about it. I'm all about it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and I also really enjoy even like your social content and that hustle there because I feel like it's something that really me being like an older guy, like if it's something, you know, where your Gen Z uh employee is coming in to ask you for something and you're fighting your way out of a sweater or something like that, or the dad jokes. But what I also love about it is there's always that connection to the other generation happening too, where I think there's a little something for everybody, and like that's basically keeping that flow is like how is the next level it seems of things you have to do. Now it really is how broadcasting's changed.

SPEAKER_02

And anybody, you know, we talked about it kind of off-mic, but I uh in in in my generation, again, the DJs resisted doing extra things. And if if you are uh you know a DJ, uh a radio personality who doesn't want to do social media or doesn't want to get out in the community, you're not gonna have a gig.

SPEAKER_03

We we have that same problem in

DJ hustle and evolving with the times (Social Media, Podcasting, Community presence...)

SPEAKER_03

in wine. I think in most industries now, people are are vying for whatever, like you know, authenticity that at a at a higher level, right? See the people, know the people behind it, whether it's a voice, a product, whatever, it it is so important right now. And you're not gonna survive if you're not if you're not putting it. Pushing on all those buttons. Gotta get out there. How do they want to interact? Find a way to interact with them that way. Yes. I think that that's that's uh that's something we we've really taken to heart. And um we get criticized for it, which I I appreciate. You know, it's we're making wine not serious enough. You know, I referred uh to uh to one of our wines as uh well this morning what was it? I said something like Um the Taylor Lane Vineyard is is like your mom's third husband, cold as fuck. And so and so you know somebody take like, well, you can't talk about like a hundred and fifty dollar bottle of wine like that. It's like the hell we can't. Yeah, we're gonna talk about it.

SPEAKER_00

So but I thought your second take was sugar daddy.

SPEAKER_03

Oh my gosh. Is that a called sugar daddy of wine? So you know, you gotta you gotta like you gotta be authentic about it. I think I think that uh especially since your voice is so like out there, I mean, that and and consistently delivering on on that kind of personality touch. That's that's uh I you know to quote Ariel from uh uh uh the Disney movie Little Mermaid?

SPEAKER_02

Well, from Little Mermaid, I want to be where the people are, I want to see them see them dancing. Yeah, I love um you just reminded me of a of a quick tasting room story. If we could take it off ramp really quick, because I got chastised by a very well-known winemaker. But I was so I'm I was in my flow and I'm pouring the Syrah, and I said, All right, gentlemen, you're gonna catch nacho cheese on the nose. And he was walking by and he looked at me and he goes, I think you mean green pepper. I was like, Yes, sir. Sorry, green pepper.

SPEAKER_03

People get so caught up in the shit, don't they?

SPEAKER_00

It's yeah, I would have been all about that though. Nacho cheese, the glass would have been empty, by the way.

SPEAKER_03

What kind of Chardonnay is it? All right, so you you were talking about the evolution of, and I do want to get into this because radio has has been such a big part of I mean the American or you know, our culture for what, over a hundred years now? Something like that, hundred, hundreds of something. It's gotta be somewhere in there. And and so um where is it going? Where where do you see your I mean it's not just the podcast now and in-person stuff,

The future of Radio

SPEAKER_03

but the the return back to radio, the return back to FM. Is that like where where do you see that?

SPEAKER_02

I mean, what I know, and this is like quantifiable, is like like our our company in particular, iHeart, I think really took the bull by the horns and saw kind of the force through the trees and said, you know what? We're going to be just a media company. They do all the things, and it's kind of why I love being aligned with them because there are so many platforms to put your voice on. At the end of the day, it's all a platform, but my company literally, we reach nine out of ten Americans, period. More than anybody else. Anybody that tells you radio's dying, whatever. You know what? We're having to reinvent ourselves just like everybody else, but we are still the big dog. Yeah, and I'm proud of that, having dedicated more than half my life to it. Um, and I think the the again, the smart ones are just putting their voices on all the platforms, whether it's the FM or it's the digital space, the podcast, or live events, and all the things that we talked about. Yeah. So, so to me, I just I feel a renaissance coming. I really do. Because the number one thing is I, you know, I was telling you guys off mic that I'm trying to be like the AI guy in my building, the guy that understands AI the most. And the one thing that keeps coming back from all the experts is the number one thing that AI cannot replace is that human connection. So as many, um the you know, whatever business you're in, whatever community you can create, whatever live event experience you can create for as many people as possible, that's to me, that's how we win. And I just I feel it right now. The show, um, you know, with all of the the changes, because you know, I went from Marcus and Sandy to Marcus and Corey. Corey was with me for three and a half years. Well, like every other industry in America, we've had layoffs, you know, Corey got laid off, and I in that moment thought that my career was over. I thought I was cooked. And they came to me and said, we want to get you a little help. And so you, you know, you're gonna meet my producer Taylor. Yeah, and she has reinvigorated me because now we're just we do all we were like a production house. We're doing videos all day long, we're going out and meeting people all day long, and everything becomes an extension of the show. And so, and and we just went number one.

#1 Show: Marcus in the Morning (manifesting the dream)!

SPEAKER_02

The show is number one all formats. Really? Hell yeah. Awesome, congrats just last week. You didn't share that with us.

SPEAKER_01

I stopped. Wait until it was he.

SPEAKER_02

No, I didn't tell him.

SPEAKER_00

He didn't tell me.

SPEAKER_02

No, I didn't, but I but it, you know, and and it and it and it and it reminded me of a funny moment because it comes back to the valley because when I started the show, um you know, a few months later I had my 40th birthday at Travigne uh in the in the in the cellar. Oh yeah. And the Cantonetta. Yes, and uh what I did was I had everybody bring their favorite bottle of wine, they waved the Corkage fee, and I said, just be prepared to tell a story with your wine. Because to me, wine is stories. Um, and so uh everybody stood up and did their thing and whatever, and then I stood up very brazenly because I'd been drinking, and I said, Well, uh and the show had been on the air for I don't know, eight minutes. I said, We'll be number one within the year. And I had another buddy at the table who also had a pretty well-known morning show. If you remember Fernando and Greg on uh another station, but uh there, you know, Fernando was one of my best friends, and he just laughed because he knew how hard it was. So it only took me 13 years, but we just went number one. Oh yeah, and that is awesome. And I just I can't thank the people that listen enough. I can't do it without them, you know, and and without Taylor and without Jose, my other producer, like we're a team, we're squad now. And and I I wanted to ask you, as someone who is trying to help reinvent the wine industry, because I had this moment of like, even after 30 years, the voices am I doing this right? Do I know what I'm doing? Can I actually pull this off? And and we did it. Yeah, so like it's so like have you ever had that moment? I know you grew up in the industry.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I mean, it's still, I mean, last couple years, it's it's been wild. It's you know, what but it's it's maybe not so much just for our individual business, but the industry at large. Sure.

Reinventing the wine world for the next generations

SPEAKER_03

So kind of like as you think of of radio and and how people interact with it, are they gonna continue to interact with it? Um, and I I think that there needs to be a breaking point for a lot of people that are involved in it to come to the table that's a totally different setting on that table and and try some new things and get out of their own way of whatever you know philosophies they had and storylines that they had and really just be real people. I think that's what it comes down to. And people are so scared of like having the psalms and the critics look at them in a negative light and and maybe not not help uh move their wines in a positive direction from the viewership. And psalms and critics don't matter anymore at all. I, in my opinion, it's like those those critics, like they it's it's a guide for some people, but overall, if people can get access to your product and they like it, they're gonna continue coming back, and it I would imagine no different for radio. No, once you find your station, put a good product on it. And yeah, and they like it, then they keep keep coming back. They might go explore and cheat on you a little bit, but you know, fucking non-monogamous people, you know.

SPEAKER_02

Um I always had I always had my number one rule for wine tasting is if you like it, it's good. If you don't, it's not. Yeah. And that's it. It doesn't matter how expensive it is or what somebody else thinks. Yeah, you know, to your point.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I I I think that rein the reinvention is like the name of the game right now, but I think it's just we're starting to really see this generational shift where, you know, in in the younger, or uh say the older millennial, younger gen uh X, that's where you know that they had some exposure to digital um in their formative years and in kind of later teens, early 20s, but they really had a childhood that was really true Americana in many ways, right? And so it was all outdoors and all the classic shit, riding a bike up and down the street, playing hockey in the street, whatever, come back when it's you know sun sundown and have a big thing. We were raised feral. Yeah, we were feral, and now everybody's so protective of their kids, and and in many cases, rightfully so. I mean, I've I've got kids and I I sure don't let them do the shit I was doing. No. But uh, but no, I I think that right now we're just starting to really uh need to understand what what this new complete like digital uh generation is is looking for. Are you guys of the generation?

SPEAKER_02

I don't even know how old you guys are, but uh back in the day on the 10 o'clock news, they'd have to run a PSA at the end at 10 o'clock that said literally, it's 10 o'clock. Do you know where your children are? Art knows. Remember that? I don't remember that, but I wasn't watching. Literally, yeah, because our parents, we were raised. I was talking to my buddy about this yesterday. Literally, you would get home. Maybe your parents are home, maybe not. There was, I mean, the latch key generation was a real thing. You showed yourself in, you made yourself a snack. Don't touch the knives, don't touch the stove. Those were the rules, and that was it. That's how we were raised.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yep. It's very true. But I I mean, I think that if you're not throwing spaghetti at the wall right now and trying new things, and I mean we've tried some eggs. Yeah, we we've tried shit that doesn't work. Uh, your your your goal is to try and stop doing that as fast as possible. Right. But or or adjust as quick as possible. But uh I think that's there's also a lot of fun in that. You know, that's like even talking to my kids and understanding what uh what you know what what gets them going. And so even that line that I had just said about, you know, your your mom's third uh husband, right? Um that was from a brief conversation that I had just had with with them about the hook being the most important thing. Like you gotta have like this hook in the beginning and then go into education, um, and uh and and just making sure that entertainment is at the forefront of your your sharing of knowledge

Combating the Goldfish attention spans...

SPEAKER_03

at this moment where I could listen to total geek out stuff that just goes straight into the details, but we also need to be conscious of the fact that there is a a new generation that is looking for um not just authenticity, but they need a spike of dopamine like on the ones.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, the attention spans are just are just so low now, right? And so like you gotta capture them.

SPEAKER_03

Okay, we everybody talks about that. Don't aren't they gonna grow? What do you mean? They're at the attention spans, you don't think so? No, are you kidding me? It's getting worse. I'll put money on I would love to put money on this. I gotta think that this generation, if you take a whole sampling of let's call them 21-year-olds right now, when they're 35.

SPEAKER_02

I mean, they're you think if the analog revolution kicks in the way that I want it to, if we absolutely uh unequivocally just reject AI and technology and everybody gets burnt out on social media and and whatever, whatever, then yes. But but research shows right now, this moment, the average adult has the attention span of a goldfish, like literally nine seconds. And you don't think that's gonna turn around at some point.

SPEAKER_03

I don't know. I hope it does analog, which I would love to see analog. I hope it does.

SPEAKER_02

I hope everybody just it just just collectively implodes on the idea of technology, and we go back to all the things. We did do a segment on the air the other day that like peep kids are looking into the trades now. Oh, yeah, because they want to get away from the desk job, they want to get away from just being latched down at all times, you know, and and from a group that grew up in front of a screen.

SPEAKER_01

It's amazing to see that they want to be out and about grass, dude.

SPEAKER_03

Touch grass, touch grass. They missed it though. That's the pro that's the problem. Growing up, they missed it. And so I think they're trying to fill a void. Just like you see so many of them getting away from these dating apps, right? They're actually wanting to go out now.

SPEAKER_01

So the attention span thing is that's how you're gonna get them. How do you get a goldfish, man? Get that hook. Right. So you gotta start teaching them. I feel like once you start grabbing the attention, let's be optimists, let's think that it's gonna turn around from where it's at right now.

SPEAKER_02

So literally, like, so I tell stories for

Every story needs a good hook nowadays...

SPEAKER_02

a living, and and you had you really had to shift how you tell a story. You have to hook at the beginning. I literally, I'll use a stupid quote of a song. Literally would be like, So, Joe, uh, I once shot a man in Reno just to watch him die. And then I tell you the story. Yeah. Back in the day, it was always so it was a dark and stormy night. Not much of a hook. And the and the story would build and then it would crescendo right here. Whereas these days, I've got about five or six seconds to grab you, yeah, and then tell my story.

SPEAKER_03

Do you think that that's a bad way to go about it though? You have to. I don't have a choice. Oh no, but I mean, I mean like for the long term, even for let's call them, you know, a 60-year-old listener. Is is that a bad way to go have a hook in the beginning? I don't I don't think so because it's fun. I like it too. Yeah. That's even just as a listener, as a consumer of media, I actually like to have a bit of like an entertainment hook right on right at the onset.

SPEAKER_02

I love to do it to people in real life, just like as I'm talking to them. Like, for example, I'd be like, if we were having breakfast, you know, the three of us, I'd be like, all right, fellas, well, I gotta go to the bathroom. But when I come back, I'm gonna tell you about how I save my career in about 10 seconds. Hell yeah, dude. And then I would get up and walk.

SPEAKER_01

On the edge of your seat.

SPEAKER_02

And probably I would be like, Chris, we'll be right back after this. Literally. So, so Taylor will tell you, I'm always hooking. Um when I when you want to use that, you don't even know what's happening. You don't even know what's happening, but just it's a great, especially for you want to do a podcast. Uh um, or I'm sorry, you're doing a podcast. It's good practice to when you're talking to people in conversation, yeah, hook them.

SPEAKER_03

We're we're still trying to do a podcast.

SPEAKER_02

You know, I didn't want to offense. It's gonna work out, right, guys? But like it's we're all having a good time. It's all muscle memory, it's all reps, right? So the more that you can practice your hooks, and I'll be honest with you, for the first five or six years of of the show, I couldn't hook to save my life. I didn't even understand what he meant. And my boss would say, like, do you know what I'm saying? And I'd be like, No, but I will. I'll get it. And now I'm pretty good at it. You know what I mean? If I've got a story to tell you, uh, I will always look for the hook first. So you what you would the exercise you would do is you would ask yourself, all right, I'm gonna tell this story. Where's the hook? Yeah, and well, put it at the front end, just like a video.

SPEAKER_03

I think everybody listening, take that point to heart. That I think you just summarized such an important part of communication going forward that not just the younger generation is really catering or understanding, the older generation loves it. Like you I put myself in that. Like I I I love it, it's it's impactful, and then I'm curious.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Make them curious within the first six seconds. Yeah. And it's fun. It's fun. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

It's just like tell yourself the story and then find the hook and lead. Get that hook, you motherfuckers. Yeah. Yeah. That too.

SPEAKER_02

Sorry, we're not on, we're not on live radio. We're not even drinking. That's the crazy part. We're about to open the water. Dude, what do you do? Then you were gonna open it

Open the vino already! It's about to get lit...

SPEAKER_02

with everybody.

SPEAKER_00

Dude, we grew up in the valley.

SPEAKER_03

Then they wanted to do some kind of photo too. He's thirsty. I can do two things at once. Yeah, and uh we'll see. Challenge accepted challenge accepted. All right, yeah, so it was one of the new wines, but uh, we didn't even get to get in the red barrels when we were at the winery today. I know. Uh, we're gonna jump through a bunch of whites.

SPEAKER_02

I I wanted to make sure because with my producers, it was their it's their first time to Napa Valley. Like, I'm a seasoned professional. I've been drinking professionally competitively since I don't know, '99. But you know, the if we were to talk about like the rules of wine tasting, in my opinion, you gotta make sure to eat. Yeah, for sure. You know, that's the that's the number one pitfall I see. People come to the valley, they got that one wine tasting in the morning, and then they don't eat because they're late for their next appointment. And next thing you know, you know, you're you're face down in a in an in-and-out burger on a Mola, you know.

SPEAKER_01

Which I mean, it's not that thing, it's not a bad thing, but you know, I was at I think it's happened.

SPEAKER_02

It's happened. I was uh designated driver on a on a on a a girls' trip one time for my friend's bachelorette party, and they all got drunk twice. Have you ever had that happen?

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Um I think you do a good, like, good morning kind of like brunch, yeah, kind of day drinking, and then you then you take a nap, and then you kind of wake up and you do it all over again.

SPEAKER_02

This luscious juice. Late night. He really is talented, this guy.

SPEAKER_01

Don't blow he don't blow his head up too big, okay?

SPEAKER_02

Why is my glass so far, Joe?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I was just gonna say it. I don't I don't mean to make you lean over too far. Oh, this smells nice. This, yeah, this is one of our new ones, so that'd be fun to try it out. Um but yeah, it it is all, you know, this is this is all about stories, right?

SPEAKER_02

Same thing. It's uh telling stories is my favorite, and frankly, it's my favorite thing about about drinking wine too. I told you off mic that like I I would always tell people, they would ask me what I do at at the wineries. I pour wine and I tell stories. And and you know, if it if it's a situation where as a facility or establishment where I could just go in, hit a button and get a glass of wine, I'm not in on that.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I want to know the story. It's boring, yeah. The Corv, not Coravin, the uh those little enomatic things, right? Yeah, I can never get it's like here, go charge your card and then you get to you know use your credits and stuff. And I'm like, yeah, I I want I want the service.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

One thing that I found that was interesting, um that that uh that is being kind of uh reviewed right now is um that the difference between ordering a glass of wine, cheers, cheers, cheers, big guy. For consumers, the difference in ordering a glass of wine or a cocktail for the same price, it comes down to one simple thing. It is the craftsmanship of that cocktail in that moment from the person that they can see. Right. Versus the pouring of a bottle of wine and just or into into a glass and just saying, here's your Pinot Noir or whatever. Right. That's I mean that that just summarizes a lot of what we're talking about.

SPEAKER_02

A lot of the issues that that maybe the wine industry's having.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, that well, that the wine industry is having, but I mean, just how people want to interact with other people, right? And and how I don't want to be pushing a button for my glass of wine. I don't want uh, I mean, I I want independent retailers most of the time, is what I'd prefer. Like if I'm going grocery shopping. I love the exploration of all that. I love asking questions. You have good service staff. You want to you want to like discover stuff.

SPEAKER_02

Yes, I love so so I love and I didn't come up with this, but I I don't know who did, but it's um I love finding things I didn't even know existed that I can no longer live without. You know, like uh we have a tremendous uh mom and pop grocery store in my neighborhood. Shout out to Spangler's Market in Hafoon Bay. Um it has one in West Portal and SF2, but I go in there and I'm like, of course I need a jar of Calabrian chilies for my sandwiches. Oh my god, they pre-fry shallots? Do people buy what do I need mustard power for? I don't know, but I'm getting it. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, that's that to me is just genius. It is. It's and and it's it, I mean, that's part of human nature. Yeah, exploration, right? We all get we all get bored. If you're if you're not getting bored of just doing the same thing every damn day, I don't know, man. Fold up shop, go, go move somewhere and find some new new motivators.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, if you're not putting caviar on your chicken nuggets, yeah, you're missing out.

SPEAKER_02

By the way, the Sunshine Market, same kind of deal. Yeah, yeah. They have one of the best tequila programs I've ever seen. Oh, really? Oh, yeah. Okay. Anyway.

SPEAKER_01

I didn't want to leave you hanging on the cheers.

SPEAKER_02

What is this? This is this is my adaptive.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, cheers.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, cheers. You're drinking mushrooms? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I'm all about that. Okay. No, I just I just can't drink wine since the incident.

SPEAKER_03

Anyway, there's the metal.

SPEAKER_02

You did it. You did it. That was a 20.