Talked to Death

On June 18th, 1984, Denver radio talk show host, Alan Berg was assassinated in front of his house, his bullet-riddled corpse found in his driveway in a pool of his own blood. Berg was an acerbic, gonzo personality who was an equal opportunity annoyer. Christian or Jew. Liberal or Conservative. White or Black. NAACP or KKK. All were fodder for his popular radio show. He could be described as a cross between Groucho Marx and Tom Hanks’ character in the film: “A man called Otto.” A colleague once said of him: “Meeting Alan for the first time was like seeing an 8-piece band come through the door playing out of tune.” A truly one-of-a-kind individual, he never shied away from a debate no matter how serious or mundane the subject was. On one program he would spend an hour berating an antisemite caller or challenging a priest on the topic of “Sex without Pleasure.” The next day he would open the floor for a discussion on which way to roll your toilet paper- over or under. Callers would respond for hours some got so angry they hung up! So who assassinated Alan Berg? Was it as simple as an irate listener or was it something much more sinister. To help us answer that question, I turned to author and journalist, Stephen Singular. His book on Alan Berg, TALKED TO DEATH, was used as background for the Oliver Stone movie, TALK RADIO, written by and starring Eric Begosian.