March 13, 2024 • 24 mins
Host Chris Moody provides breaking news on Matt Drudge finally responding to the podcast. Moody and podcast creator Jamie Weinstein travel to Las Vegas to search for Drudge in a city he's spent a lot of time in over the years. If you have a great Matt Drudge story, remember to call the hotline at 301-200-2414 and tell Chris about it!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
I have some major news to announce today. Matt Drudge
has responded to this podcast, and he did so in
the most Matt Drudge way possible through the Drudge Report.
Here's what I mean. I was recently a guest on
the Megan Kelly Show alongside our podcast creator Jamie Weinstein.
(00:25):
We talked to Megan about our search for Matt Drudge,
why we started this show, why Matt Drudge turned on Trump,
and where we think Matt Drudge is today.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
It is one of the great mysteries in media.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Where in the world is Matt Drudge. Not long after
Megan Kelly's show aired, the Drudge Report linked directly to
the episode with the headline Megan Kelly, why did Drudge
turn Folks? This is huge. This is Matt Drudge's first
acknowledgment of our program and a massive development in our search.
(01:05):
As we've already learned in previous episodes, Matt Drudge speaks
directly through his website. If you want to know what
he's reading and what he wants other people to see,
just browse those links on the Drudge Report. So I
assure you it is no accident that he has linked
to an episode talking about our show and Finding Matt Drudge.
(01:26):
We are officially on Matt Drudge's radar. Now it's time
to try to get him on the record in person,
which is why I'm about to hop on a plane
for Las Vegas. I'm Chris Moody. Stay tuned. How could
(01:47):
the most powerful man in media basically just vanish from
public life? From JMW Productions and iHeartMedia? This is Finding
Matt Drudge. In the early days of working on this podcast,
(02:07):
one of the first people I spoke to was Matt
lee Shak, author of Drudge Revolution. It's the unauthorized biography
of Matt Drudge. Lee Shak, who worked for years tracking
down previously unknown details about Matt Drudge's life, would know
as well as anyone where I could find Matt Drudge.
So I asked him directly. Other than staking out one
(02:30):
of his houses, where would I have the best chance
of running into Matt Drudge? And here's what he told me.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Go to one hundred dollars slot machine at Ballet's in
Vegas and just plant yourself in that little room and wait.
There is a good chance that at some point Matt
Dudge will walk by you. What are my Vegas odds
of getting Matt Drudge to sit down with me, It
is possible, not very good.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
You might remember that from an earlier episode. Obviously, Vegas
seems to have a special place in Drudge's heart. Leshak
said he liked to stay for long periods in high
end suites and often visited the cabanas at the MGM
Grand Drudge attended the presidential primary debate at the Venetian
Hotel in twenty fifteen, and he joined Anne Colter and
(03:23):
Mickey Kus for dinner in town afterwards. Drudge returned to
Vegas again for the general election debate between Trump and Clinton,
where he watched backstage with Trump's campaign staff. Drudge also
made Norm Clark's gossipy Vegas Confidential column a featured link
on his site. Drudge dined with Clark at a steakhouse
(03:45):
where they ran into Tom Brady and Pete Rose, who
slapped Clark in the face for something he had written
right in front of Drudge. So of all the places
to find Matt Drudge, Las Vegas seems as lively and
possible as any. Look, I've made worse bets in my life,
so what the hell? It's the final episode let's go
(04:07):
to Las Vegas. This show's producer, Jamie Weinstein, and I
have made reservations at craft Stake in the MGM grand
(04:29):
We emailed Matt Drudge and invited him to join us.
But now it's time to give him a telephone call.
While reporting this podcast, sources have given me telephone numbers that,
at least at one time connected to Matt Drudge's personal phone.
Drudge is known to change his phone number fairly often,
so there's no telling if these are still good. But
(04:49):
I'm going to give them all a shot. Here we go,
let's call Matt Drudge. Okay, here's the first number.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
I'm sorry you re.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Brand to number that has correct.
Speaker 5 (05:12):
There is no honor in serched.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
It's recording an error to remember and trying work all again.
All right, so that number is no good. Let's try
the second number.
Speaker 5 (05:31):
Your call has been forwarded to voicemail.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
The person you're trying to reach is not available at
the tone.
Speaker 5 (05:37):
Please record your message. When you have finished recording, you
may hang up. Hello. This message is for Matt. My
name is Chris Moody. I'm hosting a podcast called Finding
Matt Drudge that looks into your works. Legacy and impact
on media and politics, and I wanted to invite you
to speak with me for the show. This is an
interview request. Also wanted to invite you to dinner this
(05:59):
Saturday with my producer, Jamie Weinstein, and me. We're going
to be in Las Vegas at Tom Colicchio's Craft Steak
at the MGM Grand Saturday at six fifteen pm. We
really hope you can make it. Hope to see you
in Las Vegas this Saturday, and hope to speak with you.
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Well, that's that. Hopefully he shows up, we will see.
I left the same voice message on a third number
we have, and I texted both of the working numbers
from the Blue Bubbles. I can tell they both went
to iPhones. It says the messages were delivered before we
head to dinner. Jamie Weinstein and I are going to
(06:37):
sit down and have a chat about Matt Drudge. We've
been working on this show for a long time together,
and you've heard a lot from me over the past
few months. Now, I want to hear Jamie's perspective. Finding
Matt Drudge was his idea. After all, you met Jamie
in an earlier episode when we were in Washington, d C.
(06:58):
At a restaurant that Matt Drudge had just come into,
and Jamie nearly saw I him, nearly caught him. Now
we have Jamie Weinstein back to talk to us about
this show, why he wanted to produce it, and why
I thought it was important. Jamie's great to have you
on your own show.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
It's wonderful. It's wonderful to talk to you one on one.
I've been hearing you just like everybody else for the
last seven episodes, and you know, it's good to reflect
on this final episode.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Here right now, we're sitting in Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas,
and we have invited Matt Drudge to dinner at the
MGM Grand tonight. We have a reservation for three and
we have an open seat. We have reached out to
him over email, over text let him know that we're
going to be here. Jamie, can you talk a little
(07:47):
bit about why we're in Las Vegas in the first place,
why this place?
Speaker 2 (07:52):
He has been known in the biography to spend time
in Vegas large amounts of time. We're eating dinner at
an MGM a hotel rest a wide MGM hotel restaurant,
because in the book about that, Dredger talks about him
going to the kabealis the EDGM, So we know that
he either stays there sometimes or eats there or certainly
(08:13):
socializes there. He can find his way to the restaurant,
and you know, we were hoping to interview him there.
It's just one of those places, one of those many
places around the world that Dredge has spent time and
worked on his site, because he is not a stationary figure,
and you know, we hope to run into him.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
I think that's a really important point, Jamie. I think
some people might say, why don't you just go to
Matt Drudge's house and knock on the door or whatever.
It's because he's so elusive. He lives so many places,
and he moves around. By the time we got to
his house in Florida was already for sale.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Right.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
He does have a property that we have records of
in Arizona. We know he spends time in Israel. We
know he spends a lot of time staying at hotels
here in Las Vegas. The guy is Carmen San Diego.
He's always moving.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
As your reporting suggests, it's intentional. He helps build the
mystery around his site and him, and it's worked.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Why are you interested in Matt Drudge at all?
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Well, first of all, he's important. He has been an
influential media figure for over twenty five years, and you
might say that his influence has waned sometimes during certain
seasons of his career, but it comes up again every
once in a while, becomes even more important than he
was previously, like we saw with helping Donald Trump win
(09:36):
the presidency. Number two, we don't actually know that much
about him, and usually we should know a lot about
the people that are influential in our lives. And when
I say our lives, I mean the lives of the country,
because he's shaped and continues to shape in many ways
the media narrative, so we ought to know kind of
who that person is and what influences him and what
(09:57):
drives him. But then it's also kind of a mystery town,
and there's a lot of mysteries that you are answering
and trying to answer in the show, including why did
Drudge become increasingly reclusive throughout his career, why did he
turn against Donald Trump after so vociferously and passionately at
his site so versiferously and passionately supporting him. And then
(10:20):
the question that even some of the people that we
interview think is possible, which is that he doesn't run
the site anymore. He sold it to in I guess
some variations, a multi billionaire liberal who could turn the
site into something different than what it was, which was
at the time it switched kind of a megaphone for
MAGA and Donald Trump.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Do you remember when you first ran into the Drudge
Report or heard about this guy.
Speaker 6 (10:45):
Well, I certainly.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Remember in high school reading it incessantly, and actually the
first time I ever someone said, oh, that's that conservative site,
and I never thought of it like that at the time,
I said, really, there's post news articles. It's a conservative site,
and obviously is it does have You know, Matt Drudge
is certainly considered a right of center figure, but that
(11:08):
was not my first impression of the site. It was
a place to go to find the news, to see
what is important, and I think I wasn't the only
one that did that. A lot of people in the
media did left right in center. But yeah, I have
I have memories on a nine to eleven, I was
a senior in high school being glued to the Drudge
Report to see what news was coming in while they
(11:31):
gathered some students. We were in a room watching TV
live on TV, but I was at the computer. Back then,
not everyone had a phone an iPhone, they didn't exist,
and I was looking at the Drudge and Board to
keep refreshing it to see what would pop up. He
is just so pervasive in the two thousands and early
twenty tens for reporters politically, in the political media in Washington, BC,
(11:52):
you had to be interested in the drudg I board.
You had to be interested in Matt Drudge, and in
many cases a lot of publications you know, I think
you mentioned it or do it? We know people that
had gotten significant raises because they had an ability to
get on the Drudge Report.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
You've talked with reporters that have not wanted to be
part of this podcast. What have they told you about
their relationship with Matt Drudge? Their thoughts that you can
reveal here without revealing who these people are.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
I'd have always been one step removed from Matt Drudge.
I mean, one of my good friends I believe is
the editor of Matt Drudge right now, and he obviously
didn't respond to any of my queries about this. I
haven't seen him in many years, but it's a guy
that you know for many years. I knew very well
as a good friend of mine.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
And we don't know conclusively if he is because he'll
never confirm or deny, but we know that he is
or has been. There was a writer that we spoke
to who talked about where he'd rather be linked to,
and he compared the New York Times of the Drudge Report,
and he said to this day he would rather be
(13:01):
on the Drudge Report than in the New York Times
in terms of the amount of readers he would get
to his work. If somebody at the New York Times
mentioned him, Okay, it'd be fine. I mean, it's prestigious,
but to get on the Drudge Report opens you up
to so many more readers. Even though we talk about
the waning influence of the Drudge Report, the readership is
still massive, still very big.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
It's very clear that people still get a big buff
more than you know, probably any other site on the
Internet when they're linked to the Drug Report.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
What did you learn from this podcast or in making
this podcast about Matt Drudge that you didn't know before?
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Well, he's definitely conspiratorial, you know, he obviously is linked
to more and more over the years conspiracy sites, but
he's not really motivated by politics. He's motivated by the
story and being different and changing perhaps the tune of
his site from time to time to keep it interesting.
(14:02):
And there's a clip I don't think we use it.
I remember watching it on c SPAN in nineteen ninety nine.
I think it was when Papyuchanan was about to run,
and Drudge just talks about, Oh, that would be exciting,
that would be different. And he's all about the different
and exciting and changing the script and not just being
you know, whatever you think of him. You know, maybe
it's worse than being a partisan hack, but he doesn't
(14:24):
want to be a partisan hack. He wants to be
different than that for better goals.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
How hopeful were you that Matt Drudge would speak to
us for this show.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
I thought he would play around with us more like
I thought he might link to articles about the show,
and he still might actually, you know, so as you know,
Chris that we're still hopeful that he'll sit down with
us and we will come back with episode number nine,
the Matt and Drudge episode. If he comes around sitting
(14:55):
down with us, and I think he should because I
think we were fair. I think you were fair in
the way you portrayed his legacy, and I think this
is something that you know that you didn't pull any punches.
But if he has family members out there, you know
he can show this to them and say this is
my legacy, because I think you described as legacy pretty well.
(15:18):
Again for good and ill, but I think he described
his legacy pretty well. And Matt Drudge, I think as
someone who would be okay with someone describing him fairly,
even if it's not always.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
He seems to be somebody who genuinely just doesn't want
to take part in this, who like made a concrete
decision not to be publicly around so far.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Maybe he's so funny waiting for the eighth episode to
evaluate the product, But you know, I would say, I
believe he's listening to every episode. I think he's one
of the first listeners to every episode. I think he's
intensely interested in each episode and what these people that
he knew for in his life are saying about him.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Wouldn't you want to know?
Speaker 5 (16:04):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Absolutely. Look. I used to ask a common question on
the old podcast they would post called the Jamie Weinstein
Show where I'd ask guests of, you know, do they
know Matt Drudge and what do they think of him?
And occasionally we get interesting answers, and to drive more
traffic to the article, I would send him a link
with a link to the podcast. Drudge a genius. Some
(16:25):
guest says, hop being linked to that, and as you know,
he did a lot. He did link, he links, and
I think Carl talks about it. He links to things
that talk about him. He like prominent people saying nice
things about him or he maybe even bad things. But
he's intensely interested to what people say about him.
Speaker 6 (16:42):
I think.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
So it would shock me if he's not the first
listener every Wednesday when an episode is released.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
What's the next step do we keep putting, you know,
requests out to him over the next few years, like
just keep trying to you know, reach out. Really, at
some point feedback from that Drudge will get back to
us in some capacity. I think so.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Again, we're right around to the extent Drudge has contacts
like they're either friends of ours or people that we
run into a lot. So you know, I think it's
very possible that we will get some feedback from Matt
Drudge after the eighth opposite of this, and I think
it's still very very very possible. But after he hears
(17:29):
the eight episodes that he says, you know what, I'll
do it.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
If he joins us for dinner. What weird questions would
you love to ask him? Other than where you've been?
Why'd you disappear? Why did you turn against Trump? Has
there been any lingering queries?
Speaker 2 (17:47):
So I would ask him, I think, is this the
life that you wanted when you were young? Is this
the life that when you used to go and try
to find the big haunchos and see them and want
them to recognize greatness in you? Is this what you imagined?
Are you let down in any way about how it
(18:09):
turned it?
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Jamie Weinstein, thank you for coming on the show. It's
been great to talk with you. It's wonderful to watch
it evolve to this point.
Speaker 5 (18:17):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Chris.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Do you know where Matt Drudge is? If you have
a great Matt Drudge story, they can shed insight into
the mysterious mogul and help us on our search. Call
us at three zero one two zero zero two four
one four and tell us about it. If you want
us to credit you, please say so and leave your name.
(18:45):
All right, Jamie, let's hit the casino. Leshak said to
wait at the one hundred dollars slots. Maybe we'll find
him there.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
We're at the Horseshoe Casino, which used to be the Valley's.
You know, no sign of Matt Drudge at one hundred
dollars slots all around Las Vegas, but we're keeping our
eyes peeled.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
We head across town to the Wind to try our
luck at the slot machines. There we pull out a
bill to play our hand.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
All right, hundred dollar slots.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
And we promptly lose.
Speaker 5 (19:30):
Just like that.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
That's that's the end of bad.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
All right, It's time for dinner. Off to the MGM,
where we have a table for three waiting for us.
Speaker 4 (19:43):
We've just walked up to Craft Steak in Las Vegas
getting our table.
Speaker 5 (19:49):
We're gonna have an.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Open seat for Matt Drudge. You think he'll show, Jamie.
Of course, of course he'll show. Why wouldn't he. He's invited.
Speaker 4 (19:59):
In that A Lee Shackt's book, he chronicles how Matt
Drudge would get a cabana at the mgm Grand in
Las Vegas.
Speaker 5 (20:07):
This is a place he knows well.
Speaker 4 (20:08):
He spent a lot of time here, and that's why
we invited him here to dinner. It's a place he likes,
so we kept an open seat at the table at
the Craft Steak restaurant.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
We start by ordering cocktails, then the first course caesar salads.
The steaks arrive and still no sign of him.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
We're at the steakhouse and there's an empty seat sitting
here with a place Matt wine glass and a water
glass table chair plate, but no Matt Drudge. This seat
has remained empty. Matt has not shown up. Maybe he
(20:57):
came in and had a drink at the bar, but
he didn't come. Sit down at our table.
Speaker 6 (21:03):
Still hopeful. It's not over yet, dessert doesn't come. He
still may come for at least dessert.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Dessert comes and empty plates go, No Matt Drudge. Jamie's
looking at the empty seat.
Speaker 6 (21:22):
Like Elijah on Passover, we keep an empty seat for him. Tonight,
we kept an empty seat for Matt. Just like Passover.
Elijah never shows of tonight. Matt didn't show either, but
did he.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
Show in spirit?
Speaker 6 (21:38):
Like Elijah, he pervades over the news world and shapes
us all without us sometimes knowing it. So in a way,
he is here because we are producing news, which he
surely appreciates.
Speaker 4 (21:54):
We wouldn't be here without Matt Drudge, that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
It looks like we'll be leaving Las Vegas empty handed,
but you know what, I'm still encouraged. We called this
show Finding Matt Drudge, of course, in part because we
wanted to literally find Matt Drudge. We wanted to talk
to him, to ask him for his thoughts about the
media and the political world that he helped shape, to get
him to break his long standing silence. But we also
(22:25):
hoped that through this show we would learn more about
him through the stories of the people who knew him personally,
who dined with him, who fought with him, who went
through life even just digital life with him. Over the
last episodes, we have spoken with people who encountered Matt
Drudge in four separate decades, and I'd say we've learned
(22:45):
quite a bit. Am I disappointed we didn't get to
hear from him yet, you bet, But I know this
was all worth the search. Drudge helped create the world
we live in today. It has been a story well
worth telling. But you know what, this isn't necessarily the end.
While this is the last episode we have planned, We're
(23:07):
going to keep the door wide open. Matt Drudge. If
you're listening to this, give me a call. You have
my number by now, We'll reserve an entire episode just
for you to our listeners. Thank you for riding this
wave with me. If you like the show, please tell
your friends, and of course give us a good rating
(23:27):
and leave a review, and do stay subscribed to the show.
We might just have a ninth episode to share in
the near future. My name is Chris Moody. I hope
you've enjoyed Finding Matt Drudge. Thank you for listening, and
until next time, always keep searching. Finding Matt Drudge has
(23:50):
been a production of JMW Productions and iHeartMedia. It was
created by Jamie Weinstein and Michelle Fields. The show was
edited by Sean W. Malone and Stephen Pez for Return
On Ideas and I've been your host, Chris Moody. Hopefully
you'll be hearing from us again very soon. Remember to
(24:11):
call us at three zero one two zero zero two
four one four if you have a great tip or
a great Matt drudge story
I have some major news to announce today. Matt Drudge
has responded to this podcast, and he did so in
the most Matt Drudge way possible through the Drudge Report.
Here's what I mean. I was recently a guest on
the Megan Kelly Show alongside our podcast creator Jamie Weinstein.
(00:25):
We talked to Megan about our search for Matt Drudge,
why we started this show, why Matt Drudge turned on Trump,
and where we think Matt Drudge is today.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
It is one of the great mysteries in media.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Where in the world is Matt Drudge. Not long after
Megan Kelly's show aired, the Drudge Report linked directly to
the episode with the headline Megan Kelly, why did Drudge
turn Folks? This is huge. This is Matt Drudge's first
acknowledgment of our program and a massive development in our search.
(01:05):
As we've already learned in previous episodes, Matt Drudge speaks
directly through his website. If you want to know what
he's reading and what he wants other people to see,
just browse those links on the Drudge Report. So I
assure you it is no accident that he has linked
to an episode talking about our show and Finding Matt Drudge.
(01:26):
We are officially on Matt Drudge's radar. Now it's time
to try to get him on the record in person,
which is why I'm about to hop on a plane
for Las Vegas. I'm Chris Moody. Stay tuned. How could
(01:47):
the most powerful man in media basically just vanish from
public life? From JMW Productions and iHeartMedia? This is Finding
Matt Drudge. In the early days of working on this podcast,
(02:07):
one of the first people I spoke to was Matt
lee Shak, author of Drudge Revolution. It's the unauthorized biography
of Matt Drudge. Lee Shak, who worked for years tracking
down previously unknown details about Matt Drudge's life, would know
as well as anyone where I could find Matt Drudge.
So I asked him directly. Other than staking out one
(02:30):
of his houses, where would I have the best chance
of running into Matt Drudge? And here's what he told me.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Go to one hundred dollars slot machine at Ballet's in
Vegas and just plant yourself in that little room and wait.
There is a good chance that at some point Matt
Dudge will walk by you. What are my Vegas odds
of getting Matt Drudge to sit down with me, It
is possible, not very good.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
You might remember that from an earlier episode. Obviously, Vegas
seems to have a special place in Drudge's heart. Leshak
said he liked to stay for long periods in high
end suites and often visited the cabanas at the MGM
Grand Drudge attended the presidential primary debate at the Venetian
Hotel in twenty fifteen, and he joined Anne Colter and
(03:23):
Mickey Kus for dinner in town afterwards. Drudge returned to
Vegas again for the general election debate between Trump and Clinton,
where he watched backstage with Trump's campaign staff. Drudge also
made Norm Clark's gossipy Vegas Confidential column a featured link
on his site. Drudge dined with Clark at a steakhouse
(03:45):
where they ran into Tom Brady and Pete Rose, who
slapped Clark in the face for something he had written
right in front of Drudge. So of all the places
to find Matt Drudge, Las Vegas seems as lively and
possible as any. Look, I've made worse bets in my life,
so what the hell? It's the final episode let's go
(04:07):
to Las Vegas. This show's producer, Jamie Weinstein, and I
have made reservations at craft Stake in the MGM grand
(04:29):
We emailed Matt Drudge and invited him to join us.
But now it's time to give him a telephone call.
While reporting this podcast, sources have given me telephone numbers that,
at least at one time connected to Matt Drudge's personal phone.
Drudge is known to change his phone number fairly often,
so there's no telling if these are still good. But
(04:49):
I'm going to give them all a shot. Here we go,
let's call Matt Drudge. Okay, here's the first number.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
I'm sorry you re.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Brand to number that has correct.
Speaker 5 (05:12):
There is no honor in serched.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
It's recording an error to remember and trying work all again.
All right, so that number is no good. Let's try
the second number.
Speaker 5 (05:31):
Your call has been forwarded to voicemail.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
The person you're trying to reach is not available at
the tone.
Speaker 5 (05:37):
Please record your message. When you have finished recording, you
may hang up. Hello. This message is for Matt. My
name is Chris Moody. I'm hosting a podcast called Finding
Matt Drudge that looks into your works. Legacy and impact
on media and politics, and I wanted to invite you
to speak with me for the show. This is an
interview request. Also wanted to invite you to dinner this
(05:59):
Saturday with my producer, Jamie Weinstein, and me. We're going
to be in Las Vegas at Tom Colicchio's Craft Steak
at the MGM Grand Saturday at six fifteen pm. We
really hope you can make it. Hope to see you
in Las Vegas this Saturday, and hope to speak with you.
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Well, that's that. Hopefully he shows up, we will see.
I left the same voice message on a third number
we have, and I texted both of the working numbers
from the Blue Bubbles. I can tell they both went
to iPhones. It says the messages were delivered before we
head to dinner. Jamie Weinstein and I are going to
(06:37):
sit down and have a chat about Matt Drudge. We've
been working on this show for a long time together,
and you've heard a lot from me over the past
few months. Now, I want to hear Jamie's perspective. Finding
Matt Drudge was his idea. After all, you met Jamie
in an earlier episode when we were in Washington, d C.
(06:58):
At a restaurant that Matt Drudge had just come into,
and Jamie nearly saw I him, nearly caught him. Now
we have Jamie Weinstein back to talk to us about
this show, why he wanted to produce it, and why
I thought it was important. Jamie's great to have you
on your own show.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
It's wonderful. It's wonderful to talk to you one on one.
I've been hearing you just like everybody else for the
last seven episodes, and you know, it's good to reflect
on this final episode.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Here right now, we're sitting in Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas,
and we have invited Matt Drudge to dinner at the
MGM Grand tonight. We have a reservation for three and
we have an open seat. We have reached out to
him over email, over text let him know that we're
going to be here. Jamie, can you talk a little
(07:47):
bit about why we're in Las Vegas in the first place,
why this place?
Speaker 2 (07:52):
He has been known in the biography to spend time
in Vegas large amounts of time. We're eating dinner at
an MGM a hotel rest a wide MGM hotel restaurant,
because in the book about that, Dredger talks about him
going to the kabealis the EDGM, So we know that
he either stays there sometimes or eats there or certainly
(08:13):
socializes there. He can find his way to the restaurant,
and you know, we were hoping to interview him there.
It's just one of those places, one of those many
places around the world that Dredge has spent time and
worked on his site, because he is not a stationary figure,
and you know, we hope to run into him.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
I think that's a really important point, Jamie. I think
some people might say, why don't you just go to
Matt Drudge's house and knock on the door or whatever.
It's because he's so elusive. He lives so many places,
and he moves around. By the time we got to
his house in Florida was already for sale.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Right.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
He does have a property that we have records of
in Arizona. We know he spends time in Israel. We
know he spends a lot of time staying at hotels
here in Las Vegas. The guy is Carmen San Diego.
He's always moving.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
As your reporting suggests, it's intentional. He helps build the
mystery around his site and him, and it's worked.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Why are you interested in Matt Drudge at all?
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Well, first of all, he's important. He has been an
influential media figure for over twenty five years, and you
might say that his influence has waned sometimes during certain
seasons of his career, but it comes up again every
once in a while, becomes even more important than he
was previously, like we saw with helping Donald Trump win
(09:36):
the presidency. Number two, we don't actually know that much
about him, and usually we should know a lot about
the people that are influential in our lives. And when
I say our lives, I mean the lives of the country,
because he's shaped and continues to shape in many ways
the media narrative, so we ought to know kind of
who that person is and what influences him and what
(09:57):
drives him. But then it's also kind of a mystery town,
and there's a lot of mysteries that you are answering
and trying to answer in the show, including why did
Drudge become increasingly reclusive throughout his career, why did he
turn against Donald Trump after so vociferously and passionately at
his site so versiferously and passionately supporting him. And then
(10:20):
the question that even some of the people that we
interview think is possible, which is that he doesn't run
the site anymore. He sold it to in I guess
some variations, a multi billionaire liberal who could turn the
site into something different than what it was, which was
at the time it switched kind of a megaphone for
MAGA and Donald Trump.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Do you remember when you first ran into the Drudge
Report or heard about this guy.
Speaker 6 (10:45):
Well, I certainly.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Remember in high school reading it incessantly, and actually the
first time I ever someone said, oh, that's that conservative site,
and I never thought of it like that at the time,
I said, really, there's post news articles. It's a conservative site,
and obviously is it does have You know, Matt Drudge
is certainly considered a right of center figure, but that
(11:08):
was not my first impression of the site. It was
a place to go to find the news, to see
what is important, and I think I wasn't the only
one that did that. A lot of people in the
media did left right in center. But yeah, I have
I have memories on a nine to eleven, I was
a senior in high school being glued to the Drudge
Report to see what news was coming in while they
(11:31):
gathered some students. We were in a room watching TV
live on TV, but I was at the computer. Back then,
not everyone had a phone an iPhone, they didn't exist,
and I was looking at the Drudge and Board to
keep refreshing it to see what would pop up. He
is just so pervasive in the two thousands and early
twenty tens for reporters politically, in the political media in Washington, BC,
(11:52):
you had to be interested in the drudg I board.
You had to be interested in Matt Drudge, and in
many cases a lot of publications you know, I think
you mentioned it or do it? We know people that
had gotten significant raises because they had an ability to
get on the Drudge Report.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
You've talked with reporters that have not wanted to be
part of this podcast. What have they told you about
their relationship with Matt Drudge? Their thoughts that you can
reveal here without revealing who these people are.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
I'd have always been one step removed from Matt Drudge.
I mean, one of my good friends I believe is
the editor of Matt Drudge right now, and he obviously
didn't respond to any of my queries about this. I
haven't seen him in many years, but it's a guy
that you know for many years. I knew very well
as a good friend of mine.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
And we don't know conclusively if he is because he'll
never confirm or deny, but we know that he is
or has been. There was a writer that we spoke
to who talked about where he'd rather be linked to,
and he compared the New York Times of the Drudge Report,
and he said to this day he would rather be
(13:01):
on the Drudge Report than in the New York Times
in terms of the amount of readers he would get
to his work. If somebody at the New York Times
mentioned him, Okay, it'd be fine. I mean, it's prestigious,
but to get on the Drudge Report opens you up
to so many more readers. Even though we talk about
the waning influence of the Drudge Report, the readership is
still massive, still very big.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
It's very clear that people still get a big buff
more than you know, probably any other site on the
Internet when they're linked to the Drug Report.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
What did you learn from this podcast or in making
this podcast about Matt Drudge that you didn't know before?
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Well, he's definitely conspiratorial, you know, he obviously is linked
to more and more over the years conspiracy sites, but
he's not really motivated by politics. He's motivated by the
story and being different and changing perhaps the tune of
his site from time to time to keep it interesting.
(14:02):
And there's a clip I don't think we use it.
I remember watching it on c SPAN in nineteen ninety nine.
I think it was when Papyuchanan was about to run,
and Drudge just talks about, Oh, that would be exciting,
that would be different. And he's all about the different
and exciting and changing the script and not just being
you know, whatever you think of him. You know, maybe
it's worse than being a partisan hack, but he doesn't
(14:24):
want to be a partisan hack. He wants to be
different than that for better goals.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
How hopeful were you that Matt Drudge would speak to
us for this show.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
I thought he would play around with us more like
I thought he might link to articles about the show,
and he still might actually, you know, so as you know,
Chris that we're still hopeful that he'll sit down with
us and we will come back with episode number nine,
the Matt and Drudge episode. If he comes around sitting
(14:55):
down with us, and I think he should because I
think we were fair. I think you were fair in
the way you portrayed his legacy, and I think this
is something that you know that you didn't pull any punches.
But if he has family members out there, you know
he can show this to them and say this is
my legacy, because I think you described as legacy pretty well.
(15:18):
Again for good and ill, but I think he described
his legacy pretty well. And Matt Drudge, I think as
someone who would be okay with someone describing him fairly,
even if it's not always.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
He seems to be somebody who genuinely just doesn't want
to take part in this, who like made a concrete
decision not to be publicly around so far.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Maybe he's so funny waiting for the eighth episode to
evaluate the product, But you know, I would say, I
believe he's listening to every episode. I think he's one
of the first listeners to every episode. I think he's
intensely interested in each episode and what these people that
he knew for in his life are saying about him.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Wouldn't you want to know?
Speaker 5 (16:04):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Absolutely. Look. I used to ask a common question on
the old podcast they would post called the Jamie Weinstein
Show where I'd ask guests of, you know, do they
know Matt Drudge and what do they think of him?
And occasionally we get interesting answers, and to drive more
traffic to the article, I would send him a link
with a link to the podcast. Drudge a genius. Some
(16:25):
guest says, hop being linked to that, and as you know,
he did a lot. He did link, he links, and
I think Carl talks about it. He links to things
that talk about him. He like prominent people saying nice
things about him or he maybe even bad things. But
he's intensely interested to what people say about him.
Speaker 6 (16:42):
I think.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
So it would shock me if he's not the first
listener every Wednesday when an episode is released.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
What's the next step do we keep putting, you know,
requests out to him over the next few years, like
just keep trying to you know, reach out. Really, at
some point feedback from that Drudge will get back to
us in some capacity. I think so.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Again, we're right around to the extent Drudge has contacts
like they're either friends of ours or people that we
run into a lot. So you know, I think it's
very possible that we will get some feedback from Matt
Drudge after the eighth opposite of this, and I think
it's still very very very possible. But after he hears
(17:29):
the eight episodes that he says, you know what, I'll
do it.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
If he joins us for dinner. What weird questions would
you love to ask him? Other than where you've been?
Why'd you disappear? Why did you turn against Trump? Has
there been any lingering queries?
Speaker 2 (17:47):
So I would ask him, I think, is this the
life that you wanted when you were young? Is this
the life that when you used to go and try
to find the big haunchos and see them and want
them to recognize greatness in you? Is this what you imagined?
Are you let down in any way about how it
(18:09):
turned it?
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Jamie Weinstein, thank you for coming on the show. It's
been great to talk with you. It's wonderful to watch
it evolve to this point.
Speaker 5 (18:17):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Chris.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Do you know where Matt Drudge is? If you have
a great Matt Drudge story, they can shed insight into
the mysterious mogul and help us on our search. Call
us at three zero one two zero zero two four
one four and tell us about it. If you want
us to credit you, please say so and leave your name.
(18:45):
All right, Jamie, let's hit the casino. Leshak said to
wait at the one hundred dollars slots. Maybe we'll find
him there.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
We're at the Horseshoe Casino, which used to be the Valley's.
You know, no sign of Matt Drudge at one hundred
dollars slots all around Las Vegas, but we're keeping our
eyes peeled.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
We head across town to the Wind to try our
luck at the slot machines. There we pull out a
bill to play our hand.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
All right, hundred dollar slots.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
And we promptly lose.
Speaker 5 (19:30):
Just like that.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
That's that's the end of bad.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
All right, It's time for dinner. Off to the MGM,
where we have a table for three waiting for us.
Speaker 4 (19:43):
We've just walked up to Craft Steak in Las Vegas
getting our table.
Speaker 5 (19:49):
We're gonna have an.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Open seat for Matt Drudge. You think he'll show, Jamie.
Of course, of course he'll show. Why wouldn't he. He's invited.
Speaker 4 (19:59):
In that A Lee Shackt's book, he chronicles how Matt
Drudge would get a cabana at the mgm Grand in
Las Vegas.
Speaker 5 (20:07):
This is a place he knows well.
Speaker 4 (20:08):
He spent a lot of time here, and that's why
we invited him here to dinner. It's a place he likes,
so we kept an open seat at the table at
the Craft Steak restaurant.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
We start by ordering cocktails, then the first course caesar salads.
The steaks arrive and still no sign of him.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
We're at the steakhouse and there's an empty seat sitting
here with a place Matt wine glass and a water
glass table chair plate, but no Matt Drudge. This seat
has remained empty. Matt has not shown up. Maybe he
(20:57):
came in and had a drink at the bar, but
he didn't come. Sit down at our table.
Speaker 6 (21:03):
Still hopeful. It's not over yet, dessert doesn't come. He
still may come for at least dessert.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Dessert comes and empty plates go, No Matt Drudge. Jamie's
looking at the empty seat.
Speaker 6 (21:22):
Like Elijah on Passover, we keep an empty seat for him. Tonight,
we kept an empty seat for Matt. Just like Passover.
Elijah never shows of tonight. Matt didn't show either, but
did he.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
Show in spirit?
Speaker 6 (21:38):
Like Elijah, he pervades over the news world and shapes
us all without us sometimes knowing it. So in a way,
he is here because we are producing news, which he
surely appreciates.
Speaker 4 (21:54):
We wouldn't be here without Matt Drudge, that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
It looks like we'll be leaving Las Vegas empty handed,
but you know what, I'm still encouraged. We called this
show Finding Matt Drudge, of course, in part because we
wanted to literally find Matt Drudge. We wanted to talk
to him, to ask him for his thoughts about the
media and the political world that he helped shape, to get
him to break his long standing silence. But we also
(22:25):
hoped that through this show we would learn more about
him through the stories of the people who knew him personally,
who dined with him, who fought with him, who went
through life even just digital life with him. Over the
last episodes, we have spoken with people who encountered Matt
Drudge in four separate decades, and I'd say we've learned
(22:45):
quite a bit. Am I disappointed we didn't get to
hear from him yet, you bet, But I know this
was all worth the search. Drudge helped create the world
we live in today. It has been a story well
worth telling. But you know what, this isn't necessarily the end.
While this is the last episode we have planned, We're
(23:07):
going to keep the door wide open. Matt Drudge. If
you're listening to this, give me a call. You have
my number by now, We'll reserve an entire episode just
for you to our listeners. Thank you for riding this
wave with me. If you like the show, please tell
your friends, and of course give us a good rating
(23:27):
and leave a review, and do stay subscribed to the show.
We might just have a ninth episode to share in
the near future. My name is Chris Moody. I hope
you've enjoyed Finding Matt Drudge. Thank you for listening, and
until next time, always keep searching. Finding Matt Drudge has
(23:50):
been a production of JMW Productions and iHeartMedia. It was
created by Jamie Weinstein and Michelle Fields. The show was
edited by Sean W. Malone and Stephen Pez for Return
On Ideas and I've been your host, Chris Moody. Hopefully
you'll be hearing from us again very soon. Remember to
(24:11):
call us at three zero one two zero zero two
four one four if you have a great tip or
a great Matt drudge story
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