March 28, 2025 • 21 mins
In this episode, Erick Erickson shares his journey from a young political enthusiast to a prominent conservative talk radio host. He reflects on personal challenges, including health scares and family dynamics, while emphasizing the importance of community and genuine relationships. The discussion also delves into the evolution of the conservative movement, the impact of online culture, and the hope for future generations to reconnect with traditional values. The Karol Markowicz Show is part of the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Podcast Network - new episodes debut every Wednesday & Friday.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome back to the Carol Markowitz Show on Biheart Radio.
My guest today is Eric Ericson. Eric is a very
popular conservative talk radio host and author of three books,
most recently Before You Wake, Life Lessons from a Father
to his Children. Hi, Eric, so nice to have you on.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
So.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
I've known you and of you like a million years.
You're really og in this movement and it's so nice
to talk to you. I'm not sure we've ever done
a show together before, but I've been looking forward to this.
Where did you get your start? How did this all
happen for you? You know?
Speaker 2 (00:41):
So politics.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
I grew up overseas and politics was just a way
to connect into American culture, and then went to college,
started college Republicans at my college, started volunteering for campaigns,
kind of fell into it, and went to law school
because the congressman I was working for said a law
degree is an MBA in politics. So I did that,
got married, and my wife was like, I'm not moving
(01:04):
to Washington. So I became a lawyer, start at Red State,
and one thing led to another, and a local radio
show host got arrested in a crack house literally, and
they needed someone to fill in for him.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
So I did, Uh so this is yeah exactly.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
So Herman Kane was running for president at the time
and his station needed someone, and his boss drove through
my town all the way to Disney World thought it
was my show. I knew Rushland bought the time who
lied and said I was totally a radio pro. So
they gave me Herman Kane's job. Wow, and here we
are all these years later, now the longest job I've
ever had. It's been a wild ride. I mean, from
(01:42):
Red State in two thousand and four to now talk
radio and kind of doing my own substacking.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
But it's been a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
That's amazing. I mean, just the fact that it wasn't
even your show and somebody happened to hear it. I
you know, that's really a kismet. So what kind of
lessons do you tell your son in that last book?
I'm interested in the path that you took to get here.
It was sort of I mean, I don't want to
say lucky wasn't you know? Luck played a role? But
(02:09):
so how do you impart lessons when there is that
luck factor?
Speaker 3 (02:14):
So the background for the book kind of the genesis
of it was in twenty sixteen. I was, as every
nightmare story begins, I started CrossFit trying to get back
into shape, and I couldn't breathe. I couldn't keep up,
and I thought, God, I've hit forty. I'm old. That's
the problem. And finally my wife was like, you got
(02:36):
to go to the doctor. So I go to the
doctor and.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
They send me to the emergency room.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
And literally the guy who does my CT scan freaks out,
straps me to the table and says, sir, you can't
get up. You should be dead right now, which was
kind of like, oh, there's something going on. It turns
out my lungs is filled up with blood clots. They
gave me twenty four hours to live. They told me,
you've got to call your family. As I'm trying to
call my wife, my wife is calling me and she says, hey,
(03:04):
I got a call from the Mayo Clinic and they
think I have lung cancer. So literally like they're wheeling
me into an ICU of twenty four hours live and
my wife is getting this phone call that they think
she has lung cancer, which she does. She's got stage
four of a very rare genetic form of lung cancer.
And it was kind of like, you know, if we
both die, I need to write something for my kids.
(03:26):
I got to include their favorite recipes. I've got to
give them some life lessons. And it also was an
epiphany as well that my God, if they google me,
they're going to think I'm a horrible person. And so
it was kind of a I want you to believe
in God, because we believe in God, I believe in eternity.
I want you to so we can see each other
again if something happens. And also you need to actually
(03:49):
model your life of good character. Don't worry what other
people think, but also worry what God thinks. That was
kind of the genesis of the book.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Wow, and you survived over the twenty four hours? And
how are you doing?
Speaker 2 (04:02):
H You know, I'm fine. My lungs.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
I finally several years ago, got the all clear that
there's nothing left. There's some damage in my lungs. But
my wife does have cancer. She was given two years
to live and now almost nine years later she's still here.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Well, I'm so glad to hear that. That's really a miracle.
I mean, how do you when you're dealing with all
your day to day stuff and all the politics and
all the nonsense that we all kind of go through
and living on our lives on the internet. I mean,
how much perspective does what you went through give you?
Speaker 2 (04:33):
You know, a lot, you know.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
So we're recording this a couple of days after Rush
Limbaugh died. He was actually a good friend of mine
before I got into radio. I remember talking to him
one time and this was before this had happened, and said,
I never wanted to do a national radio show because
there was no chance of being number one as long
as he was around.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
And he laughed.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
He said, even if I'm dead, You're not going to
be as good as me, So just be yourself.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
And so I had that actually.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Around this time while this happened, and I finally thought,
you know, I really am. I'm pretending to be this
biblical donkey, if you will, and jackass to people on
the internet, and I'm playing someone other than myself. I
should just be myself. And that really was kind of
(05:20):
a life turning moment for me. Was I just the
secret to my success is I am exactly on the
radio and on the internet exactly as I am off
the radio and off the Internet. I'm a middle aged,
fat white dude who's perfectly comfortable being married and enjoys
my kids and lives in Middle Georgia, not in Washington
or New York, and relate to people accordingly.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Do you can recognize a lot?
Speaker 2 (05:44):
You know?
Speaker 3 (05:45):
I believe yes, it's for a guy who's mostly on
the radio. Yes, And it's very weird. If I go
to a restaurant and I sit and I face people,
no one really pays attention, and the moment they hear
my voice and don't recognize me, it's like, I know
who that guy is. I actually have literally now probably
four times in my life, including right after the election
(06:07):
in November, I've been standing at a urinal in the
airport and someone recognized me and began yelling at me.
Like literally, I'm peen and I'm getting yelled at by someone.
It it's a very weird life.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
That's so interesting because how do they know who you are? Like?
Are they listening to conservative radio and they hate it?
It's like hate listening.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Yeah, to some degree, I think. So.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
You know, I've been on I was on CNN for
three years, on Fox for five, and occasionally still do TV.
So I do get recognized, and yeah, man, the people
who recognize me. And right after the election, when emotions
were raw, that guy just I mean, I'm literally just
trying to mind my own business and dude is yelling
at me because Donald Trump won. And then, you know,
the same day, literally someone followed me to my car
(06:50):
when I was leaving the airport. He was so excited
by the election. And I finally was like, I gotta
like win the lottery so I can find plyer for
private or something.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
What's the best part about being a person.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Oh, you know, the kindness of strangers at the same time,
the number of people who pray for my wife and
for me, who send notes just that pray for you today.
We've got a family, their kids. My wife gets a
note from their church regularly that she's been put on
their prayer list. And it's just the kindness of strangers.
As much as people can kind of get upset and stuff,
(07:22):
just the random kindness from individuals who they're not wealthy people.
They just they're reaching out and they're praying for you
and cheering you honor they see they buy you a beer.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
I love that. That's actually, you know, worth all the
people yelling at you as Parnels, I think, yeah, maybe
it's kind of a trade off. You know, yeah, what
would you be doing if not this? What would be
the Eric ericson.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Plan b Oh, you know, probably cooking in a restaurant somewhere.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Really, I love to cook.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
In fact, my parents thought I should go to culinary school,
and I was just like, this is this is what
I love to do. I don't want to turn it
into a profession. But the older I get, the more
I think, if if I wasn't doing radio and conservative politics,
I probably would be a chef somewhere. I genuinely love
to cook for other people. Half the stuff I make
I don't even eat.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
I just make it for the Really, I mean, don't
you have to eat it or taste it at least?
Speaker 3 (08:15):
I mean, yeah, yeah, you taste a little bit. But
I mean if I'm smoking a brisket for someone, I'm
pretty sure I've got it right so I can give
it to them and or a cake or something. But yeah,
I just I love to cook. On Sundays. Several years ago,
my wife is like, you're live in an isolated existence,
you don't have a lot of friends. Start inviting people over,
so on Sundays, I invite a group of friends over.
We saw on my front porch, watch sports, smoke cigars
(08:37):
and drink bourbon. And I cook every week. This past
Sunday I roasted a pork loin and made Cuban sandwiches,
and the week before I did a brisket, and the
week before that, I did fried shrimp tacos, and I
just I love to do it for people.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
That sounds amazing. I mean, your wife had to pressure
you to have friends.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Over though, yeah she really did.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Like all lesbians, I guess.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Yeah, I just you know, I do.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
It is kind of an isolated existence, and I pay
to go to a gym to work out by myself
because I tried going with other people and they're like, oh,
let's talk politics while I'm trying to do a burpie
and not pute my guts up. So I just live
somewhat of a private life. But I enjoy it being
surrounded by friends and being able to cook for people.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
A right trip to Georgia. I think it is in
my future some of that. I want to sit on
that front porch. What do you worry about?
Speaker 3 (09:29):
I worry about my kids becoming too online. I mean,
we try to get them to not stare at phones
and stuff. But I see this with friends of mine
who they're less and less happy because they're less and
less in the world around them and more in the
world they've created online. I mean, we can all create
communities of interest where everybody thinks like us and looks
(09:52):
like us.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
We don't know the homeless.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
Guy down the street or our next door neighbor. I
started going to seminary a number of years ago, go
I talk about faith on radio and figured out how
to go back to seminary. And one of the things
that has struck me for years is as a Christian,
Jesus says, you love your neighbors as yourself. And when
I look at that, I try to tell my friends
that even though I may not agree with transgenderism as
(10:18):
a philosophy or a way of life, I've got to
love my transgender neighbors so much when they go on vacation,
they leave a key at my house or something just
I mean, we're in a community together, and I want
my kids to understand that you can't just surround yourself
with people who agree with you, because you're going to
be a shallow angry person.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
How do you keep them kind of off of that
online existence. I mean, I'm asking for myself because obviously,
I think again, in our world, we're just online so much.
We have to keep up with the latest of what
people are saying and what X is. You know, character
of the Day is all of that. How do you
keep them away from it?
Speaker 3 (10:53):
You know, so one, if you come to my house,
you can't get into Snapchat, you can't get into Twitter
unless you have the password for the WiFi to be
able to access those websites. So my kids aren't on it.
We let them do Instagram and that's about it. But volunteering,
participating in a church community, in a religious community, it's
(11:13):
important to us having my kids involved in sports and music.
My daughter is a great artist. My son has taught
himself how to play the piano and the cello, and
so now we're getting in lessons. But making them get
out of the house and get offline and actually be
in the world around them is important to us. You know,
we knew we had a problem one time when our
son we would as all I think real parents do,
(11:36):
babysit with an iPad, and we were going to see
my in laws one time, my son loves maps, and
literally we're driving across the Chattahoochie River here in Georgia,
and my son's not even looking out the window. He's
looking at his iPad. He says, we're about to go
over a river. It's like, we need to like take
the devices away, make me look out the car window.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
But the problem, of course, is that like I'm on
my device, and it's kind of you know, my kids
are like look up and talk to me, you know,
when we're trying to tell me something. Obviously I can
give them the advice of like stay offline. But when
I'm myself and so so into it a lot tougher
it is.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
And I'm a bit of a hypocrite on this with
my kids all the time. We'll say my kids have
a brilliant sense of humor. It's actually a pretty dark
sense of humor, exactly like their father. And so I
do enjoy sharing memes with my kids on Instagram a lot.
But you know, when we're we have we try to
have dinner together, sit around the table, all devices facing
(12:34):
the table or not at the table, and actually break
bread together like I do with friends. Where we're not
staring at our devices. We're actually talking to each other,
and when my kids start talking, it really is just
the funniest part of the day.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Yeah, I love.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
That We're going to take a quick break and be
right back on the Carol Marcowitch Show. What advice would
you give your sixteen year old self if you had to,
you know, offer yourself some.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Thoughts honestly, to exercise.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
I was never a big into exercise when I was
growing up and now trying to lose weight to get
back in shape, tell my sixteen year old self just
get out and take a walk. You know, we had it,
I guess to a degree easier. We didn't have the internet,
at least I didn't when I was growing up as
a sixteen year old. But get outside and enjoy nature
is something I would have told myself as a kid
instead of sitting behind my Nintendo playing video games.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
That's interesting. I feel like kids just naturally exercise all
the time. I would say, maybe just keep going. But yeah,
I definitely was never a big working out person either,
and it would have been good to start at sixteen
if somebody.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
Else you know, so I grew up in Dubai and
then move back to South Louisiana, So it was either
hot and dry or hot and humid, and either way
it was hot and I just wanted to stay inside.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
What are some changes you've seen in the conservative movement
over your career, Like, what do you what do you
think is good about the changes? Let's start there.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
Actually, you know, okay, So what I think is good
about the changes is that it is much more communal
in that because of the way the Internet works, there
are a wider swath of people across the nation who
have a say in what it means to be a
conservative in what direction it goes. It's less of an
(14:23):
elitist movement than I think it used to be in
the sixties, seventies and early eighties.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
And the worst part.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
That also it's conservatives are herding cats more than Democrats
because we are more individualistic. At the same time, I
think probably the worst part is there are a lot
of voices that have invaded the conservative movement that are
more there for profiting off the movement than committed to
the movement. And I think the Internet has caused all
(14:52):
of us, myself included, to lose a level of discernment
we went once had as to the voices we should
listen to and the ideas that we should be fostering
as opposed to festering.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
Is it possible for the tech to get too big?
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Yeah, I definitely think so. I think there's some people
who want it smaller than it should be. There are
people who definitely want it too big. Not all ideas
are compatible with freedom and liberty, and I think a
conservative movement's got to be family focused and committed to
individual responsibility and individualism. This idea that I think some
(15:26):
people are trying to infect the movement with that we
need to be some level of Christian nationalist deocracy or
Catholic governance in some way. I think there is a
growing disrespect for the individual family within parts of the
conservative movement.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
That's dangerous.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
That at the end of the day, the free market
is you and me operating at arm's length to decide
what's best for our family, and inevitably we wind up
through a series of compromises in the free market doing well,
but having some sort of populous pullet bureau pulling the
levers and flipping the switches is as doomed to failure
as it is on the left.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Are you hopeful about the future of the conservative movement.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
I am.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
I mean, I'm hopeful because I've read the end of
the book. I know how it ends, and I think
people of faith are going to turn out okay in
the end. I do think that there's a danger in
us making an idol of our country and wanting things
to be a certain way. I hear people say all
the time, still, what is conservatism? Conservatives like your first
(16:27):
Amendment right that Jade Vans just lectured Europe about as
a great example.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
But at the same time, I do.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
Think that there are people who have a vision of
the country that is an idealized vision that never really was,
and the danger is trying to impose that vision on
everyone else.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
What do you think Rush would be saying right now?
Would he be excited about.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Where we are? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (16:48):
I think he would be having a blash, just just
laughing at both the frenzy on the right. And also
I do think one thing that Rushed at a very
good job that people in the conservative movement have forgotten
is the other side is right for laughter. We don't
need to be angry at them. I mean, it's actually
kind of hilarious the insanity that has infected the left.
We should be mocking them and laughing them.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Yeah, I think mockery is actually way underutilized by the right.
I think that that has to be how we attack
the left. I think in a joyful fashion. Making fun
of them is often the way to go.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
This anger and even some of the unhealthy anti Semitism
that's just cropping up in parts of the right, that's
doomed to failure, and it should fail. To see some
people voices on the right suddenly sounding very anti Semitic
these days, I think we have to police our movement
and drive those voices out.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
I mean, I obviously agree, but I also I'm hopeful
because I think that a lot of that is only online.
Like when I go the deeper, the red the area
is the more pro Israel, a pro Jew or you know,
just generally not antisemitic. It is I think where you're
seeing these anti Semitic outbursts or you know, dominantly in
blue areas, and I think on our side it's still
(18:03):
and you know, in my Jewish world, when I say this,
people think I'm being naive or something, but I think
I really do think the more conservative areas are safer
for Jews.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
You know, I tend to agree with you as well
in that, and I do think it is mostly online.
And I think the danger for the right right now
is much like the left was in twenty fifteen or so,
that we think that what happens on teter is reality,
and I've seen more and more younger guys on the
right say that, no, actually, what's happening online is a
(18:34):
reflection reality. I don't think it is. And I do
think that in the heartland outside of New York and DC,
people tend to really get along regardless of their politics,
and they have the backs of their Jewish neighbors as well.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Yeah. But other thing that I'm worried about on the right,
and maybe you are too, is just this whole you know,
it's sort of the Andrew Tate thing, but it's like
that don't get married message to men. I find that
that is growing on the right, and that is something
I feel like I'm worried about leaping into real life
because our marriage rates are already into decline.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
What do you think, Yeah, listen, I'm glad you said that.
And this is again, it's where my fear is that
there are so many people who take what's happening online
and try to impose it offline or translate it offline.
And the marriage movement is something that I worry about.
There are helpful signs offline though, about the number of
young people who are going back to religious institutions, to
(19:33):
synagogue tipples and churches, who are trying to reconnect with
their faith. And that's a data point that does give
me some hope on this that we have these cycles
of life, and it's reflective in the West right now,
a birth decline across the Western world. But I do
think there's an opportunity for it to rebound, and a
younger generation that actually is more connected to its faith
(19:56):
probably is where it's going to happen.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
I love that optimism because I think we really need it.
We need that rebound, and I think that the right
needs to be driving the conversation where marriage is a
good thing for both men and women. We need to
get back to it and have those numbers go up.
You know, I'm hopeful, but I definitely am concerned too.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Right.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
Yeah, there's a lot of data out there that does
give me hope for the younger generation, and it's one
of those weird cyclical things where you go through, like
with kids and group work, you have a generation that
wants to collaborate, wants to do group work.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
And then you have these individualists.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
And I see it in my kids that their generation
right now is very their individual thinkers. They don't like
group work, but they're also much more committed to institutions
than kids just a few years older than them.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
I love hearing that. Thank you, Eric. This has been
so amazing for my last question that I ask all
my guests leave us here with your best tip for
my listeners on how they can improve their lives.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
Know your actual neighbors if you live in an apartment complex,
if you live in a community, actually know the people
you live next to and try to have some even
mild relationship with them, so that I mean, your Facebook
friend is not going to come take care of you
if you're sick, but your next door neighbor might. So
you want to rebuild your community, I mean, look to Jeremiah,
(21:18):
seek the welfare of the community in which you live,
because there you'll find your welfare.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Love it. I have to go meet some neighbors for sure.
Thank you so much, Eric for coming on. He's Eric Ericson.
Read him, check him out. Such a great voice on
the conservative side. And I just I've been listening to
you for years and I really loved having you on.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
Thank you, thank you, thanks so much, Thanks so much
for joining us on the Carol Marca Woich Show.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Welcome back to the Carol Markowitz Show on Biheart Radio.
My guest today is Eric Ericson. Eric is a very
popular conservative talk radio host and author of three books,
most recently Before You Wake, Life Lessons from a Father
to his Children. Hi, Eric, so nice to have you on.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
So.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
I've known you and of you like a million years.
You're really og in this movement and it's so nice
to talk to you. I'm not sure we've ever done
a show together before, but I've been looking forward to this.
Where did you get your start? How did this all
happen for you? You know?
Speaker 2 (00:41):
So politics.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
I grew up overseas and politics was just a way
to connect into American culture, and then went to college,
started college Republicans at my college, started volunteering for campaigns,
kind of fell into it, and went to law school
because the congressman I was working for said a law
degree is an MBA in politics. So I did that,
got married, and my wife was like, I'm not moving
(01:04):
to Washington. So I became a lawyer, start at Red State,
and one thing led to another, and a local radio
show host got arrested in a crack house literally, and
they needed someone to fill in for him.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
So I did, Uh so this is yeah exactly.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
So Herman Kane was running for president at the time
and his station needed someone, and his boss drove through
my town all the way to Disney World thought it
was my show. I knew Rushland bought the time who
lied and said I was totally a radio pro. So
they gave me Herman Kane's job. Wow, and here we
are all these years later, now the longest job I've
ever had. It's been a wild ride. I mean, from
(01:42):
Red State in two thousand and four to now talk
radio and kind of doing my own substacking.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
But it's been a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
That's amazing. I mean, just the fact that it wasn't
even your show and somebody happened to hear it. I
you know, that's really a kismet. So what kind of
lessons do you tell your son in that last book?
I'm interested in the path that you took to get here.
It was sort of I mean, I don't want to
say lucky wasn't you know? Luck played a role? But
(02:09):
so how do you impart lessons when there is that
luck factor?
Speaker 3 (02:14):
So the background for the book kind of the genesis
of it was in twenty sixteen. I was, as every
nightmare story begins, I started CrossFit trying to get back
into shape, and I couldn't breathe. I couldn't keep up,
and I thought, God, I've hit forty. I'm old. That's
the problem. And finally my wife was like, you got
(02:36):
to go to the doctor. So I go to the
doctor and.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
They send me to the emergency room.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
And literally the guy who does my CT scan freaks out,
straps me to the table and says, sir, you can't
get up. You should be dead right now, which was
kind of like, oh, there's something going on. It turns
out my lungs is filled up with blood clots. They
gave me twenty four hours to live. They told me,
you've got to call your family. As I'm trying to
call my wife, my wife is calling me and she says, hey,
(03:04):
I got a call from the Mayo Clinic and they
think I have lung cancer. So literally like they're wheeling
me into an ICU of twenty four hours live and
my wife is getting this phone call that they think
she has lung cancer, which she does. She's got stage
four of a very rare genetic form of lung cancer.
And it was kind of like, you know, if we
both die, I need to write something for my kids.
(03:26):
I got to include their favorite recipes. I've got to
give them some life lessons. And it also was an
epiphany as well that my God, if they google me,
they're going to think I'm a horrible person. And so
it was kind of a I want you to believe
in God, because we believe in God, I believe in eternity.
I want you to so we can see each other
again if something happens. And also you need to actually
(03:49):
model your life of good character. Don't worry what other
people think, but also worry what God thinks. That was
kind of the genesis of the book.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Wow, and you survived over the twenty four hours? And
how are you doing?
Speaker 2 (04:02):
H You know, I'm fine. My lungs.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
I finally several years ago, got the all clear that
there's nothing left. There's some damage in my lungs. But
my wife does have cancer. She was given two years
to live and now almost nine years later she's still here.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Well, I'm so glad to hear that. That's really a miracle.
I mean, how do you when you're dealing with all
your day to day stuff and all the politics and
all the nonsense that we all kind of go through
and living on our lives on the internet. I mean,
how much perspective does what you went through give you?
Speaker 2 (04:33):
You know, a lot, you know.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
So we're recording this a couple of days after Rush
Limbaugh died. He was actually a good friend of mine
before I got into radio. I remember talking to him
one time and this was before this had happened, and said,
I never wanted to do a national radio show because
there was no chance of being number one as long
as he was around.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
And he laughed.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
He said, even if I'm dead, You're not going to
be as good as me, So just be yourself.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
And so I had that actually.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Around this time while this happened, and I finally thought,
you know, I really am. I'm pretending to be this
biblical donkey, if you will, and jackass to people on
the internet, and I'm playing someone other than myself. I
should just be myself. And that really was kind of
(05:20):
a life turning moment for me. Was I just the
secret to my success is I am exactly on the
radio and on the internet exactly as I am off
the radio and off the Internet. I'm a middle aged,
fat white dude who's perfectly comfortable being married and enjoys
my kids and lives in Middle Georgia, not in Washington
or New York, and relate to people accordingly.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Do you can recognize a lot?
Speaker 2 (05:44):
You know?
Speaker 3 (05:45):
I believe yes, it's for a guy who's mostly on
the radio. Yes, And it's very weird. If I go
to a restaurant and I sit and I face people,
no one really pays attention, and the moment they hear
my voice and don't recognize me, it's like, I know
who that guy is. I actually have literally now probably
four times in my life, including right after the election
(06:07):
in November, I've been standing at a urinal in the
airport and someone recognized me and began yelling at me.
Like literally, I'm peen and I'm getting yelled at by someone.
It it's a very weird life.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
That's so interesting because how do they know who you are? Like?
Are they listening to conservative radio and they hate it?
It's like hate listening.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Yeah, to some degree, I think. So.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
You know, I've been on I was on CNN for
three years, on Fox for five, and occasionally still do TV.
So I do get recognized, and yeah, man, the people
who recognize me. And right after the election, when emotions
were raw, that guy just I mean, I'm literally just
trying to mind my own business and dude is yelling
at me because Donald Trump won. And then, you know,
the same day, literally someone followed me to my car
(06:50):
when I was leaving the airport. He was so excited
by the election. And I finally was like, I gotta
like win the lottery so I can find plyer for
private or something.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
What's the best part about being a person.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Oh, you know, the kindness of strangers at the same time,
the number of people who pray for my wife and
for me, who send notes just that pray for you today.
We've got a family, their kids. My wife gets a
note from their church regularly that she's been put on
their prayer list. And it's just the kindness of strangers.
As much as people can kind of get upset and stuff,
(07:22):
just the random kindness from individuals who they're not wealthy people.
They just they're reaching out and they're praying for you
and cheering you honor they see they buy you a beer.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
I love that. That's actually, you know, worth all the
people yelling at you as Parnels, I think, yeah, maybe
it's kind of a trade off. You know, yeah, what
would you be doing if not this? What would be
the Eric ericson.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Plan b Oh, you know, probably cooking in a restaurant somewhere.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Really, I love to cook.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
In fact, my parents thought I should go to culinary school,
and I was just like, this is this is what
I love to do. I don't want to turn it
into a profession. But the older I get, the more
I think, if if I wasn't doing radio and conservative politics,
I probably would be a chef somewhere. I genuinely love
to cook for other people. Half the stuff I make
I don't even eat.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
I just make it for the Really, I mean, don't
you have to eat it or taste it at least?
Speaker 3 (08:15):
I mean, yeah, yeah, you taste a little bit. But
I mean if I'm smoking a brisket for someone, I'm
pretty sure I've got it right so I can give
it to them and or a cake or something. But yeah,
I just I love to cook. On Sundays. Several years ago,
my wife is like, you're live in an isolated existence,
you don't have a lot of friends. Start inviting people over,
so on Sundays, I invite a group of friends over.
We saw on my front porch, watch sports, smoke cigars
(08:37):
and drink bourbon. And I cook every week. This past
Sunday I roasted a pork loin and made Cuban sandwiches,
and the week before I did a brisket, and the
week before that, I did fried shrimp tacos, and I
just I love to do it for people.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
That sounds amazing. I mean, your wife had to pressure
you to have friends.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Over though, yeah she really did.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Like all lesbians, I guess.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Yeah, I just you know, I do.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
It is kind of an isolated existence, and I pay
to go to a gym to work out by myself
because I tried going with other people and they're like, oh,
let's talk politics while I'm trying to do a burpie
and not pute my guts up. So I just live
somewhat of a private life. But I enjoy it being
surrounded by friends and being able to cook for people.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
A right trip to Georgia. I think it is in
my future some of that. I want to sit on
that front porch. What do you worry about?
Speaker 3 (09:29):
I worry about my kids becoming too online. I mean,
we try to get them to not stare at phones
and stuff. But I see this with friends of mine
who they're less and less happy because they're less and
less in the world around them and more in the
world they've created online. I mean, we can all create
communities of interest where everybody thinks like us and looks
(09:52):
like us.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
We don't know the homeless.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
Guy down the street or our next door neighbor. I
started going to seminary a number of years ago, go
I talk about faith on radio and figured out how
to go back to seminary. And one of the things
that has struck me for years is as a Christian,
Jesus says, you love your neighbors as yourself. And when
I look at that, I try to tell my friends
that even though I may not agree with transgenderism as
(10:18):
a philosophy or a way of life, I've got to
love my transgender neighbors so much when they go on vacation,
they leave a key at my house or something just
I mean, we're in a community together, and I want
my kids to understand that you can't just surround yourself
with people who agree with you, because you're going to
be a shallow angry person.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
How do you keep them kind of off of that
online existence. I mean, I'm asking for myself because obviously,
I think again, in our world, we're just online so much.
We have to keep up with the latest of what
people are saying and what X is. You know, character
of the Day is all of that. How do you
keep them away from it?
Speaker 3 (10:53):
You know, so one, if you come to my house,
you can't get into Snapchat, you can't get into Twitter
unless you have the password for the WiFi to be
able to access those websites. So my kids aren't on it.
We let them do Instagram and that's about it. But volunteering,
participating in a church community, in a religious community, it's
(11:13):
important to us having my kids involved in sports and music.
My daughter is a great artist. My son has taught
himself how to play the piano and the cello, and
so now we're getting in lessons. But making them get
out of the house and get offline and actually be
in the world around them is important to us. You know,
we knew we had a problem one time when our
son we would as all I think real parents do,
(11:36):
babysit with an iPad, and we were going to see
my in laws one time, my son loves maps, and
literally we're driving across the Chattahoochie River here in Georgia,
and my son's not even looking out the window. He's
looking at his iPad. He says, we're about to go
over a river. It's like, we need to like take
the devices away, make me look out the car window.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
But the problem, of course, is that like I'm on
my device, and it's kind of you know, my kids
are like look up and talk to me, you know,
when we're trying to tell me something. Obviously I can
give them the advice of like stay offline. But when
I'm myself and so so into it a lot tougher
it is.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
And I'm a bit of a hypocrite on this with
my kids all the time. We'll say my kids have
a brilliant sense of humor. It's actually a pretty dark
sense of humor, exactly like their father. And so I
do enjoy sharing memes with my kids on Instagram a lot.
But you know, when we're we have we try to
have dinner together, sit around the table, all devices facing
(12:34):
the table or not at the table, and actually break
bread together like I do with friends. Where we're not
staring at our devices. We're actually talking to each other,
and when my kids start talking, it really is just
the funniest part of the day.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Yeah, I love.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
That We're going to take a quick break and be
right back on the Carol Marcowitch Show. What advice would
you give your sixteen year old self if you had to,
you know, offer yourself some.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Thoughts honestly, to exercise.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
I was never a big into exercise when I was
growing up and now trying to lose weight to get
back in shape, tell my sixteen year old self just
get out and take a walk. You know, we had it,
I guess to a degree easier. We didn't have the internet,
at least I didn't when I was growing up as
a sixteen year old. But get outside and enjoy nature
is something I would have told myself as a kid
instead of sitting behind my Nintendo playing video games.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
That's interesting. I feel like kids just naturally exercise all
the time. I would say, maybe just keep going. But yeah,
I definitely was never a big working out person either,
and it would have been good to start at sixteen
if somebody.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
Else you know, so I grew up in Dubai and
then move back to South Louisiana, So it was either
hot and dry or hot and humid, and either way
it was hot and I just wanted to stay inside.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
What are some changes you've seen in the conservative movement
over your career, Like, what do you what do you
think is good about the changes? Let's start there.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
Actually, you know, okay, So what I think is good
about the changes is that it is much more communal
in that because of the way the Internet works, there
are a wider swath of people across the nation who
have a say in what it means to be a
conservative in what direction it goes. It's less of an
(14:23):
elitist movement than I think it used to be in
the sixties, seventies and early eighties.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
And the worst part.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
That also it's conservatives are herding cats more than Democrats
because we are more individualistic. At the same time, I
think probably the worst part is there are a lot
of voices that have invaded the conservative movement that are
more there for profiting off the movement than committed to
the movement. And I think the Internet has caused all
(14:52):
of us, myself included, to lose a level of discernment
we went once had as to the voices we should
listen to and the ideas that we should be fostering
as opposed to festering.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
Is it possible for the tech to get too big?
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Yeah, I definitely think so. I think there's some people
who want it smaller than it should be. There are
people who definitely want it too big. Not all ideas
are compatible with freedom and liberty, and I think a
conservative movement's got to be family focused and committed to
individual responsibility and individualism. This idea that I think some
(15:26):
people are trying to infect the movement with that we
need to be some level of Christian nationalist deocracy or
Catholic governance in some way. I think there is a
growing disrespect for the individual family within parts of the
conservative movement.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
That's dangerous.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
That at the end of the day, the free market
is you and me operating at arm's length to decide
what's best for our family, and inevitably we wind up
through a series of compromises in the free market doing well,
but having some sort of populous pullet bureau pulling the
levers and flipping the switches is as doomed to failure
as it is on the left.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Are you hopeful about the future of the conservative movement.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
I am.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
I mean, I'm hopeful because I've read the end of
the book. I know how it ends, and I think
people of faith are going to turn out okay in
the end. I do think that there's a danger in
us making an idol of our country and wanting things
to be a certain way. I hear people say all
the time, still, what is conservatism? Conservatives like your first
(16:27):
Amendment right that Jade Vans just lectured Europe about as
a great example.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
But at the same time, I do.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
Think that there are people who have a vision of
the country that is an idealized vision that never really was,
and the danger is trying to impose that vision on
everyone else.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
What do you think Rush would be saying right now?
Would he be excited about.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Where we are? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (16:48):
I think he would be having a blash, just just
laughing at both the frenzy on the right. And also
I do think one thing that Rushed at a very
good job that people in the conservative movement have forgotten
is the other side is right for laughter. We don't
need to be angry at them. I mean, it's actually
kind of hilarious the insanity that has infected the left.
We should be mocking them and laughing them.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Yeah, I think mockery is actually way underutilized by the right.
I think that that has to be how we attack
the left. I think in a joyful fashion. Making fun
of them is often the way to go.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
This anger and even some of the unhealthy anti Semitism
that's just cropping up in parts of the right, that's
doomed to failure, and it should fail. To see some
people voices on the right suddenly sounding very anti Semitic
these days, I think we have to police our movement
and drive those voices out.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
I mean, I obviously agree, but I also I'm hopeful
because I think that a lot of that is only online.
Like when I go the deeper, the red the area
is the more pro Israel, a pro Jew or you know,
just generally not antisemitic. It is I think where you're
seeing these anti Semitic outbursts or you know, dominantly in
blue areas, and I think on our side it's still
(18:03):
and you know, in my Jewish world, when I say this,
people think I'm being naive or something, but I think
I really do think the more conservative areas are safer
for Jews.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
You know, I tend to agree with you as well
in that, and I do think it is mostly online.
And I think the danger for the right right now
is much like the left was in twenty fifteen or so,
that we think that what happens on teter is reality,
and I've seen more and more younger guys on the
right say that, no, actually, what's happening online is a
(18:34):
reflection reality. I don't think it is. And I do
think that in the heartland outside of New York and DC,
people tend to really get along regardless of their politics,
and they have the backs of their Jewish neighbors as well.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Yeah. But other thing that I'm worried about on the right,
and maybe you are too, is just this whole you know,
it's sort of the Andrew Tate thing, but it's like
that don't get married message to men. I find that
that is growing on the right, and that is something
I feel like I'm worried about leaping into real life
because our marriage rates are already into decline.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
What do you think, Yeah, listen, I'm glad you said that.
And this is again, it's where my fear is that
there are so many people who take what's happening online
and try to impose it offline or translate it offline.
And the marriage movement is something that I worry about.
There are helpful signs offline though, about the number of
young people who are going back to religious institutions, to
(19:33):
synagogue tipples and churches, who are trying to reconnect with
their faith. And that's a data point that does give
me some hope on this that we have these cycles
of life, and it's reflective in the West right now,
a birth decline across the Western world. But I do
think there's an opportunity for it to rebound, and a
younger generation that actually is more connected to its faith
(19:56):
probably is where it's going to happen.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
I love that optimism because I think we really need it.
We need that rebound, and I think that the right
needs to be driving the conversation where marriage is a
good thing for both men and women. We need to
get back to it and have those numbers go up.
You know, I'm hopeful, but I definitely am concerned too.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Right.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
Yeah, there's a lot of data out there that does
give me hope for the younger generation, and it's one
of those weird cyclical things where you go through, like
with kids and group work, you have a generation that
wants to collaborate, wants to do group work.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
And then you have these individualists.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
And I see it in my kids that their generation
right now is very their individual thinkers. They don't like
group work, but they're also much more committed to institutions
than kids just a few years older than them.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
I love hearing that. Thank you, Eric. This has been
so amazing for my last question that I ask all
my guests leave us here with your best tip for
my listeners on how they can improve their lives.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
Know your actual neighbors if you live in an apartment complex,
if you live in a community, actually know the people
you live next to and try to have some even
mild relationship with them, so that I mean, your Facebook
friend is not going to come take care of you
if you're sick, but your next door neighbor might. So
you want to rebuild your community, I mean, look to Jeremiah,
(21:18):
seek the welfare of the community in which you live,
because there you'll find your welfare.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Love it. I have to go meet some neighbors for sure.
Thank you so much, Eric for coming on. He's Eric Ericson.
Read him, check him out. Such a great voice on
the conservative side. And I just I've been listening to
you for years and I really loved having you on.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
Thank you, thank you, thanks so much, Thanks so much
for joining us on the Carol Marca Woich Show.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Host
Karol Markowicz
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