Raw tape for the award-winning TV series The 90's. Tom McKean, radio and television broadcaster and former drug addict, hosts his radio talk show at Chicago's WLUP AM 1000. He covers various addiction related topics during his show.
00:00Copy video clip URL Several people prepare for a radio show. They explain the idea behind Tom McKean’s radio show, which typically has a theme and a few pieces relating to that theme. The camera is set on a table, and records nothing in particular. They discuss a broadcast about hemp and marijuana.
04:34Copy video clip URL The camera cuts to a shot of McKean and a microphone. He talks about his radio show and some programs that he works with that have anti-drug campaigns.
06:22Copy video clip URL Cuts to McKean doing some paperwork, and the camera jolts around.
08:54Copy video clip URL Large letters show the radio station’s name (The Loop FM 98, AM 1000) behind McKean. He sits in front of a microphone, and McKean’s Mother’s Day broadcast begins, and he starts by talking about some of the schools that he recently visited. He says one school applauded him for being an ex-convict, and he finds that a bit disturbing. The kids that he has talked to already know about drugs, and he wants to share with his listeners what the kids said. He details what the schedule for the upcoming show will be: legalizing marijuana, drunk driving, and mothers on drugs.
15:35Copy video clip URL He gives away t-shirts for answering multiple choice trivia questions about alcohol. For instance: “How much alcohol can your liver process per hour?” He asks people to call in if they know the answers.
18:52Copy video clip URL A man has sent McKean a song about his daughter, who was almost killed by being in the car with a drunk driver. His song is called “the 6 pack mile,” and the song is played. The radio staff organizes the quiz answers while the song plays.
22:38Copy video clip URL McKean starts talking again, and the first caller has the correct answer to the first question. The caller is very quiet, and says something about opium accumulating in your system when you eat poppy seeds. They talk about drug testing and privacy. The second caller says that the amount of alcohol processed depends on the size of the person, but he got the answer wrong. Another caller gets it right, and says people process one ounce of alcohol per hour. Then they talk about whether occasional cocaine users fuel the drug trade. McKean says that the problem with drug use is that it is not private, and people leave their homes.
31:46Copy video clip URL A commercial break while they organize the next segment. Videomaker Joel Cohen asks about the “Say No to Drugs” slogan and program, and McKean says it’s “shallow” and “a lot more is necessary.
34:07Copy video clip URL Back to the broadcast, where a caller talks to McKean about codependency.
35:34Copy video clip URL The tape cuts, and McKean talks to a man on the phone about Mother’s Day.
36:04Copy video clip URL The tape cuts again, and McKean defines addiction as “the substance controlling the user’s behavior.” They talk about “Just Say No” campaign. The man’s child is young, but he is still afraid for his son, because of what he himself did at a young age. They talk about how to talk to children about drugs, and not lecturing. They talk about the Catholic church somewhat, and say that drugs have changed over the years, even if the kids haven’t.
42:39Copy video clip URL McKean invites students to call in and make statements. He goes to a caller who was in a codependent relationship. The tape cuts, and a woman says she came from a sexually and emotionally abusive family, and that she abused alcohol at a young age. She got married multiple times, and endured physical abuse. She says in her fifth marriage she is happy, and that her problem was that she didn’t love herself. She talks about drugs making her feel normal, and says that insecurities in childhood might have driven her to drugs. He asks about her transition, and she says that she wanted to save her grandchildren, even though she couldn’t save her children, and she sought out psychiatric help. She starts to talk about God, and McKean turns the conversation to denial. He lists things to look out for in relationships, such as jealousy.
55:49Copy video clip URL The tape cuts after the end of the call, and then McKean asks for calls about legalizing marijuana, and then it goes to a commercial break. Cohen asks how McKean sees himself, and he says “as an intervener.”
58:02Copy video clip URL The tape cuts to the results of school surveys that McKean found. Ages fourteen through seventeen said that the number one drug in Chicago was crack, and alcohol and marijuana were at the bottom of the list. McKean lists statistics having to do with drug popularity. He then brings up racial issues, both national and local.
01:02:01Copy video clip URL Cuts to another commercial break, and Cohen mentions the lack of religion in McKean’s message, and McKean answers, “I preach morals and values.” They talk about changes in values over time.
01:04:11Copy video clip URL Cuts to another caller, who believes that marijuana is better than other drugs, and McKean says he does not believe that drugs are drugs and there is no such thing as a hard drug or a soft drug. They talk about drugs driving people to commit crimes, the physical effects of drugs, and gateway drugs, before the tape cuts in the middle of call.
01:11:46Copy video clip URL End of tape.
1 Comment
i remember him coming to my school when i was young he would talk about drugs.