In 1996, Howard Stern received a call on his show from a 17-year-old listener who attempted to promote her vegan lifestyle. This was met with the typical off-the-wall grilling and mockery towards one should come to expect from Stern’s broadcasts that either elicits utter disgust or hysterical joy depending on the listener. Last year, in promoting her own vegan cookbook, longtime co-host Robin Quivers revealed that Stern was actually adapting to a vegan diet, a shocking revelation to anyone who fondly remembers that 1996 phone call. Stern's infamous raunchy vernacular has been a phenomenon after four decades of broadcast and satellite radio and has been both a blessing and curse. A cruse only in the sense that he was generally seen as too unpredictable for celebrity interviews for the earlier part of her career. However, in 2016 Howard Stern has now become one of the most coveted talk-shows slots in the industry for marketing a celebrity. This transition of Stern was beautifully explored in a New York Times column by David Segal, which chronicled his maturity from radio bad boy to one of the most sobering and genuine interviewers on the airwaves. Stern looks at his controversial past the way anyone would their own life, with doubts and regrets, but he has learned to carry it all with humanizing humility. It is this mediation on his past and his honest, introspective personality during interviews that make him essential listening for young minds looking to laugh and ponder.
At a time when political correctness plays a heavy authoritarian stance among millennials, many young adults might be skeptical of adopting The Howard Stern show into their lives. After all, a Google search for Howard Stern is likely to bring up an interview with "Tan Mom" or Ronnie Mund providing “Pokémon Go! sex tips"; funny bits to seasoned Stern fans, but juvenile enough to be taken as frat-boy humor at face value. Whether or not these antics stick all comes down to one’s personal taste, but these are just part of the atmosphere that Stern has built into an entertainment empire which is propped up by his own personality. He has a fascination with the weird and erotic, and is able to channel it through both humor and conversation. Whether that be with a call from a member of the "Wack Pack" or an interview with a well-known celebrity. Although Stern has changed in ideologies over the years, the one thing that hasn't is his honesty and it is that along with a perspective of humility that makes him a calming voice for a youthful mind.
Perhaps the most defining trait of Stern's potential appeal to millennials today is his ability to carry out interviews with pop-culture icons in an ironically unexposed environment. He has an uncanny ability to stealth probe for answers that any pop-culture magazine writer would kill for in a journalist. This is perhaps most successful with comedian Amy Schumer, who has made multiple appearances on the show, each one presenting the most down-to-earth look into her personal life. During her last appearance on August 23rd, she opened up about her past history of sexual abuse under a controlling ex-boyfriend, taking a very passive and introspective look at her trauma. She expressed that she hoped her story would help young women who have ever been caught in such a toxic relationship. With moments such as this, Stern has created not just a sobering platform for his own voice, but for the voices of those celebrated by millennials today.
However, Stern's approach has proved to not always work its magic at times. During an interview with Robert Downey Jr. on May 4th, Stern brought up the "Iron Man" actor's romantic past with Sarah Jessica Parker and whether or not longtime friend Kiefer Sutherland ever interfered with them? This prompted an agitated response from Downey Jr. but right before it seemed the conversation was about to become heated, Stern was able to successfully and swiftly bring Downey Jr. back to the friendly repertoire they had been carrying throughout the show. It is this awareness of knowing his boundaries and the respect he gives to the guests in his studio that truly highlights Stern's class as an entertainer and a friendly presence. Both desirable traits that are not carried out by most interviewers in the industry today, much less the American youth.
"The Howard Stern Show" in 2016 not only provides a sanctum of honesty from Stern himself, but also for the pop-culture icons who take a seat on his couch. By providing such a service, he is able to lift the lens of target marketability and sell an individual simply on their personality, and the trials and tribulations they face through their daily lives. Sure videos of James Corden singing in a car with a hip celebrity are fun to share on Facebook, but they do not leave the same lasting impact as Stern talking to Tracy Morgan about trying to forgive the truck driver who almost took his life?
