John Leslie

Talking About Radio with John Leslie

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Talking about Radio with the greatest broadcast professionals everywhere. If you would like to be a guest on Talking About Radio to share your favorite stories, send an email to talkingaboutradio@yahoo.com. Use any search engine and enter "Talking About Radio with John Leslie" to find the treasure trove of memorable radio stories.

Author

John Leslie

Episodes

Some radio stories you just can't make up. They were not funny at the time, but they are now. Here are two of my favorites for six decades of broadcasting 06.06.2026 23:45

Send us Fan Mail We all have great stories to tell. If I ever write a book here are two of the stories that will be in it. Listen now to 22 minutes of radio mayhem. One when I was brand new to the business and the other when I was near the peak of my career. https://talkingaboutradiowithjohnleslie.buzzsprout.com A product of John Leslie's World Radio Inc.

CBS Radio news is a thing of the past. 30 year correspondent and space reporter Peter King talks about his time with the world's most respected Radio News Network 18.05.2026 58:19

Send us Fan Mail CBS Radio News is no more! It ended abruptly for 700 affiliates in May of 2026. CBS Radio Correspondent Peter King ends a 30 year association with the 99 year old institution of CBS Radio News. Amonng reporting and anchoring duties, Peter was the space reporter for the network for 3 decades. Peter joins host John Lelsie in this episode of Talking About Radio to talk about his...

Talking to Ronald McDonald got me into a lot of trouble. 02.04.2026 17:32

Send us Fan Mail Five words! That’s all it took for the stuff to hit the fan and collapse one of the biggest media promotional agreements in modern history. And, I was the one poor soul who inadvertently short circuited the whole mega deal. Here is an 18 minute podcast with all of the gruesome details. A product of John Leslie's World Radio Inc.

Who was left standing when the smoke cleared? Taking Kansas City by storm, but was it enough to grab the radio morning show ratings. Here is the story about giving it my best shot and how well it worked. 28.03.2026 43:16

Send us Fan Mail The brightest promotional ideas. The best execution. The local, national and international media attention. It's all part of this amazing morning show barrage of spotlight promotions in one of Mid America's largest markets. How did it all work? What was the payoff. Who was left standing when the smoke cleared? https://talkingaboutradiowithjohnleslie.buzzsprout.com/...

I used my secret formula. This is the next installment of getting and keeping ratings. In 1976, I took the Great Country KSO morning ratings from 9 to 27 in my first book. Here's the story in a 43 minute episode 28.10.2025 43:22

Send us Fan Mail I was "on the air" at WFBL in Syracuse in 1976 when Stoner Broadcasting System hired me to host the morning show on their flagship station in Des Moines, Great Country KSO. I arrived one week before the fall sweeps began. The show went fom a 9 share to a 27 share in that book. Here is the continuation of my audio commentary on I managed to get at keep high morning show...

Just like arriving in the "Big Time." At least that’s the way it sounded when we put a top shelf staff together in Syracuse, New York. My podcast, Talking About Radio" continues now. 13.10.2025 37:57

Send us Fan Mail I had never worked with such a talented staff. The station was filled with magic when our new team of talent arrived in 1974. This is a continuation of my audio book memoirs on how I was able to muster double digit ratings year after year for nearly 5 decade. My year at WFBL in Syracuse introduced me to a stable of the nations top talent. What I learned from them has stayed wi...

How did I get a 38 share 12+ in my very first ratings book ever? This is episode one of my six part audio narrative about how I was able to get and maintain double digit ratings for 25 years. 19.09.2025 33:50

Send us Fan Mail Episode one is a 34 minute look at my very earliest days as a morning show host. My friends and family have encouraged me for years to write a book about my morning show adventures. I would rather do it in the form that I know best, an audiobook as a podcast. There will be six episodes in the series This is the first one and it dates back to the early 70s in Binghamton, New York...

Part 2. Being a foreign correspondent sometimes brings with it life threatening surprises that fall outside the framework of the original assignment. Here is an example! 28.08.2025 33:12

Send us Fan Mail There was plenty of opportunity to find myself in awkward, creepy and sometimes life threatening situations during my decade of being a foreign correspondent for Stoner Broadcasting System. Bizarre events seemed to be my constant companion while on my assignment behind the iron curtain in the former USSR. This is part two of my adventures in Siberia and Armenia. You will enjoy...

Being a foreign correspondent isn't exactly what I signed up for, but I got the assignment. Here is part one. A 20 minute episode of a special edition of Talking About Radio With John Leslie. It's about life on the road as a foreign correspondent. 20.08.2025 22:22

Send us Fan Mail Being a foreign correspondent on the other side of the world brings with it excitement, danger and intrigue, specially if you had never done it before. This is 20 minute episode is part one of a multi part special edition of Talking About Radio with John Leslie. This assignment took me as far away from home as one can possibly get. https://talkingaboutradio.buzzsprout.com A p...

This is an epic retrospective of a radio broadcast assignment that took me deep behind the Iron Curtain. This is the complete story of an historic chapter in the thawing of the cold war, using the power of radio. 08.08.2025 1:52:18

Send us Fan Mail For the first time, the entire story of this historic radio broadcast event is told in Audio Book fashion. Production of this epic retrospective required 39 separate creative sessions, 39 separate editing sessions, 39 separate rehearsal sessions, 45 separate recording sessions and 39 separate productions sessions. No other radio broadcaster on the planet owns this story. It is o...

The story of this radio promotion is said to be one of the most elaborate, complex, dangerous and successful in broadcast history. I know, because I did it. This is a special documentary episode of Talking About Radio with John Leslie 28.06.2025 1:03:33

Send us Fan Mail This radio promotion is so complicated, there is only one way to tell the story in its entirety. None of the original sound exists so now I tell this story in a 57 minute mini audio book style so that all of the twists and turns can be described in detail. It is chronicled in this podcast to be saved for all of history. All of us in the radio industry have had great "on...

Doug Clark, also know as Jack Scott, has done it all. He is a 4 decade radio veteran who knows the secrets to successful local radio. He is the guest on this edition of Talking About Radio With John Leslie 10.06.2025 1:17:23

Send us Fan Mail Any broadcasting job you can imagine, Doug Clark, known professionally as Jack Scott, has done it. From early radio and television, morning show host on both coasts, program management, general management and ownership, Doug is a thru broadcast professional. He joins us on this edition of Talking About Radio to talk about his transition from banking to broadcasting and what it...

What a fun and exciting episode of Talking About Radio. We had a guest host, the entertaining, polished and veteran broadcaster Elizabeth Grattan, who switched scripts with me. I was her guest on this episode of Talking About Radio. 26.05.2025 1:07:47

Send us Fan Mail This podcast episode is Talking About Radio with, yours truly, John Leslie…with guest host Elizabeth Grattan. I recently had the opportunity to interview Elizabeth on a previous episode about her career in the industry and we decided it might be interesting to flip the script and the result is an entertaining and insightful look into my very own journey. Elizabeth is known all a...

Brian Wilson is a hoot. If you missed this entertaining episode last December, with one of New York's most celebrated morning show talents, we have this summer rerun for you. 20.05.2025 1:18:55

Send us Fan Mail In honor of the memorial day weekend Z-morning Zoo special with Ross Brittain and Brian Wilson, we are re-running this entertaining episode of Talking About radio featuring the ever talented Brian Wilson. It aired December 14, 2024 and if you missed it or would like to hear it again, I am pleased to air this entertaining episode of Talking About Radio with John Leslie. A product...

"RadioElizabeth" is Elizabeth Grattan and she is among the best voice talents in America today. Elizabeth joins John Leslie on this episode of Talking About Radio. We had lots of fun. 01.05.2025 1:05:16

Send us Fan Mail All you have to do is listen to Elizabeth for five minutes to hear high quality that she puts in her voice tracking, imaging, voice overs and everything else that she says professionally. She stumbled onto the moniker RadioElizabeth by accident and it not only stuck by has served her well in her profession. She is also a talented writer, producer and speaker. Elizabeth has don...

Personalities, Formats and Radio Stations. They come and they go. The tears and heartbreak: This is a special editions of Talking About Radio With John Leslie 10.04.2025 47:15

Send us Fan Mail A retrospective on the birth, life and end of radio stations, their formats and their personalities. The tears, the anger and the heartbreak not only in the station but from their audience as well. You'll hear actual audio of stations big and small who met their early end. This is the most comprehensive report of its kind anywhere on the internet. It was six weeks in the...

From Zero to 200 in just two years. From the first episode in March of 2023 'til today, two years later, we have had 200 of the worlds best radio professionals as guests on Talking About Radio. This is an anniversary special episode. 10.03.2025 1:05:51

Send us Fan Mail In this anniversary special episode we have put together segments from 11 great episodes featuring some of the to names in the Radio Industry. It was impossible to include all 200, but we think you'l enjoy hearing interesting and amusing stories. Thanks to everyone who has, in just two short years made Talking About Radio with John Leslie one of the to radio industry podcast...

Don Clark is a truly unique radio professional. His upbeat, amusing style just flows out of the radio and into the audience. He is Talking About Radio with John Leslie 02.03.2025 1:10:45

Send us Fan Mail When I first heard Don Clark, I said to my wife, "listen to this guy, he is really great." Turns out Don has been entertaining audiences and making them laugh all across the midwest, northeast and south. His humor is contagious and fun to listen too. In this podcast, I believe Don Clark and I did more laughing than we did talking. After 30 years of spinning the hits a...

Very few broadcasters have have reached the heights that Jeff Young did in his long news career. He is Talking About Radio with John Leslie. 22.02.2025 1:20:51

Send us Fan Mail Washington DC native Jeff Young began his radio career while in college in Miami. He worked his way up and up from early "free form" radio to distinguished positions with ABC radio news, the Z100 morning Zoo in New York as well as other radio positions in the Big Apple. His news positions took his back to his native Washington, then got the job of a lifetime, rebuilding...

Jamie Grout is a midwest radio fixture. He has been heard radio stations in many markets in Iowa, Nebraska, Michigan and others. He is talking About Radio with John Leslie 15.02.2025 1:08:03

Send us Fan Mail Jamie Grout was a master at doing what makes radio work the best. He was always live and he was always local. Fund raising, amazing charity work, service club membership and ear catching promotions. Currently working at legendary WHO in Des Moines and hosting a podcast, Jamie is still a busy broadcaster after 50 years of service. He is a great guest on Talking About Radio with...

Dave Freeman was heard on Binghamton, New York radio and television for many decades. He started his long broadcast career as part of an Explorer post while in High School. He is talking About Radio with Host John Leslie 09.02.2025 1:10:37

Send us Fan Mail Triangle Broadcasting in Philadelphia was one of the nations largest media conglomerates back in the 50s, 60s and 70s. One of their radio television groups was in Binghamton, New York, where they initiated an experimental program to attract young men interested in broadcasting. They formed Explorer post 12 which was an arn if the Boy Scouts of America but dedicated strictly to t...

For over a quarter century Matt Ward, sometimes known as Tom Rivers was voice of traffic and transit reporting in and around New York City. He is Talking About Radio with John Leslie. 31.01.2025 1:03:36

Send us Fan Mail It takes a lot of practice and skill to be a radio traffic reporter, specially in a bustling city like the Big Apple. Matt Ward, who sometimes went by the name Tom Rivers worked for Shadow Traffic for 25 years on some of the biggest and best known stations in New York. In this episode of Talking About Radio with John Leslie, Matt takes us into the Shadow Traffic operations area a...

Jimmy Diele has been a radio broadcast fixture in and around New York City all his life. He is currently host of the wildly popular internet show "Celebrity Spotlight." Jimmy is Talking About Radio with John Leslie. 27.01.2025 59:02

Send us Fan Mail Jimmy Diele started his radio career like many of us. He worked at small suburban New York City radio stations on weekends running the religious tapes. At the same time, he was working for Robin Leach, host of "The lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." Pretty soon Jimmy found himself working in the Big Apple at some of the top stations. WPLJ, WYNY Country Y-107 and m...

Very few Disc Jockeys are better known than John Records Landeker of WLS fame. This episode is a remix of his rare guest appearance on Talking About Radio with John Leslie 25.01.2025 54:40

Send us Fan Mail This is a remastered episode featuring the legendary DJ John Records Landecker who. appeared on Talking About Radio when it was in its infancy back in early 2023. Many of you may not have heard it since it it buried in a haystack of 220 episodes of this podcast. But you don't want to miss this rare appearance of Landecker on an interview program. Even if you have heard it,...

Logtime radio and television professional Steve Newvine has researched the unique relationship enjoyed by Jack Benny and Johnny Carson. He joins host John Leslie on this episode of Talking About Radio 19.01.2025 1:05:22

Send us Fan Mail Entertainment giants Johnny Carson and Jack Benny became good friends over the years. Each appeared on the others programs, and many people recognize Jack Benny's comic mannerisms in Johnny Carson. Steve Newvine, who spend many years in radio and television broadcasting broadcasting spent two years researching the relationship between the two and cronicled it in a book title...