Before the advent of the "podcast generation," we had Talk Radio. The three-hour program was the standard.

Granted, talk radio was rather formulaic. Usually, 4 blocks per hour with commercials in between.

"Hard breaks" at the bottom and the top of the hour. Occasionally, interviews (or rants by the host) can go a little past the quarter-hour break. But no real free-form/long-form conversations or monologues last more than about 12 minutes.

However, when the Internet arrived, it changed the landscape of "spoken media." The barrier of entry was lowered in many respects.

Get a microphone. Record what you say. Put it out there for the world (or your friends) to hear.

Eventually, this begat "podcasts." Audio files that could be played like a radio show on the Apple iPod music player (and eventually many similar devices).

Radio is still king, as far as I'm aware. But…podcasting developed into a legitimate medium and the typical fan of podcasting rarely listens to talk radio in this age.

If podcast listeners do listen to "terrestrial radio" shows, more likely than not it is the condensed version with little commercial interruption. It's great for the listener.

As far as radio shows go, I listened to a lot of them. I can't say I was a huge "fan" of most shows apart from the Jim Rome Show—nationally syndicated since the mid-1990s—and the Dennis Miller Show (2007-2015).

I bought the gear. I supported these guys who gave me so much enjoyment when I listened.

Romey came to Portland for one of his "Tour Stops" and it was bonkers. He took a military helicopter into the appearance and landed behind the stage. The "Clones" all went nuts.

I still have my "JR Tour Stop Portland" lid. I bust it out on occasion for old time's sake.

With the great Dennis Miller, I became a member of his "DMZ," a membership site where you could access all the previous shows (no commercials), buy merchandise, and get a few more nice bonuses.

Dennis even gave you a DMZ ballcap—with his visage front and center—when you signed up. I wore that puppy with pride. Still do (when I can find it).

The other thing that Dennis offered was a regular Q&A video "podcast" of sorts for the DMZ membership. He would roll out of bed, into his studio (occasionally he recorded at other times and in normal clothing) and answer questions for the folks. You'd typically get at least one of his famous rants, too.

He usually recorded in his bathrobe, though, and thus this private video "podcast" became known in the DMZ as "The Bathrobe Sessions."

Dennis has been off the airwaves since 2015. I miss the show dearly.

However...

As an homage to my great comedic hero, and the lack of any other Bathrobe Sessions on the 'Net these days, I decided to pick up the slack.

It's a work in progress, but you can find my version—"Bathrobe Sessions #1"—on Twitter/𝕏. I recorded it this morning.

As always,

Brian