February 16, 2026 • 23 mins
(February 16, 2026)
Why a dart frog poison believed to have killed Alexei Navalny points to the Kremlin. Ford will make a play for a different battery market. Michael Monks and Chris Merrill join the show. They join the KFI weekday lineup tomorrow with their debut after GaS at 12p PT; John Kobelt follows from 3p-6p and Tim Conway Jr from 6p-10p PT.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to Bill Handle on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Good morning, everybody, and it is Monday morning, February sixteenth.
You can podcast any part of this show. Obviously, we're
on for three hours, and if you miss any segment,
just go to the podcast, go to the iHeartRadio app
and you'll see the podcasts of the show. For example,
coming up at the bottom of the hour, Michael Monks
and Chris Merrill.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Are joining us.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
They have a new show starting tomorrow from twelve to three.
There is a new lineup, well, same lineup, it's just
a new show is at at different times, and we'll
talk more about that. Also, the partial government shutdown is
still happening and will for at least another week. And
the Olympics are going on and America is not doing
(00:49):
very well. There's some absolutely delicious scandals which we always enjoy. Now, well,
this is some information that just came out and this
week accusations of Russian poisoning well came out again because
Western governments and a laboratory analysis found that there is
(01:11):
a toxin called epitodine and it's derived from the Ecuadorian
poison dart frogs. And this was found in a body
of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Now did they didn't.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Actually find the frog in the blood of Navalny, but
they did find the poison, and therein lies a story
because this is just some more proof that Putin is
a dictator who will kill people who are in opposition,
(01:48):
and he has done so several times.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Now.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
It's a long and deeply contested narrative around this very
high profile poison. Russia has used radio active tea nerve agents,
which of course it denies, and this is why Putin
has this reputation among others. So a joint statement by
the UK, France, Germany, Sweden the Netherlands said forensic tests
(02:14):
concluded that Epitodine was president in the Valny system after
his death in a Siberian prison in twenty twenty four.
And what did the prison system do when he died
in twenty twenty four, They said in the Vaal, Andy
forty seven years old, died because he wasn't feeling well
following a walk around the facility. It's right above the
(02:37):
Arctic Circle and it's a maximum security facility. He was
serving a thirty and a half year jail sentence for
opposition to Putin and tax evasion and just all kinds
of infractions, and he didn't have to come back to Russia.
He was poisoned in Russia. He was on an airplane
(03:00):
and the poison was going through his system, and he
survived and went to Germany for recovery and then went
back even knowing he was going to get arrested, and
he did. Of course, Russia dismisses the allegations completely. Now
let me tell you about this poison. It comes from
a frog, Anthony's Poison arrow frog found in Ecuador. It
(03:22):
is about three quarters of an inch long, that's how
small this frog is. Lethal doses are measured in micrograms,
minuscule amounts, as little as one point four micrograms. And
if you look up what one point for micrograms equals,
(03:43):
you'll see.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
That it's teamy ween.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
See, tiny amount of this poison can kill. And the
other thing, it's possible to synthesize it chemically, so you
don't even have to go to Ecuador. You know what
the airfare is to Ecuador, it's pretty pricey. It's one
of those countries where it's not cheap to go to.
(04:08):
So The scientists are telling us that once someone starts
developing system, it's too late. International law bars the use
of chemical agents to harm people. Do you know that
during World War Two even Hitler didn't use chemical weapons
against fighting forces. On the other side, he did use
chemical weapons against Jews and some ten million or eight
(04:32):
million other people. But even he held off because chemical
weapons were used in World War One and they're so
dangerous that international treaty banned them.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Russians have a document.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
They documented a history or we have documented a history
of toxic targeted attacks.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Two thousand and six, I don't know if you remember this.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
There was a defector, a former Russian spy, Alexander litton
Venko or Lytton lit Venenko got it so good names.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
He died after.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Drinking green tea laced with polonium two ten at a
London hotel. He was poisoned radioactively. There was an agent
we know that nerve agent Navachuk used against the former
double agent Sergei Skripoll and his daughter. And they put
this agent this particular it was actually a powder they
(05:29):
put on the doorknob of his house and as he
touched the doorknob, he was infected with this.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Particularly nerve agent.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
And it goes on and on and on with the
Russians doing what they did, and it's just more proof,
not that it matters. It doesn't matter. They will deny
it totally. It's none of it is true. And Russia
continues to be a pariah in the world. And what
happened and what's been happening after the Ukraine invasion is
(06:03):
it became a true pariah. And I wonder if Putin
wakes up in the morning and says, maybe I blew this.
You know, maybe this wasn't such a good idea to
invade Ukraine because everybody thought Kiv would fall in three
would fall in three days, and now we're entering year four.
Or maybe in terms of what's happening in Gaza, do
(06:28):
any of the Kamas people wake up in the morning
and go, Wow, maybe we made a mistake in attacking
Israel with that terrorist attack October seventh. Do they look
in the mirror, Well, they don't have any mirrors because
they're all broken, you know, they've all been bombed to hell.
But you know, at what point do you go, hey,
(06:49):
you know, this isn't such a good idea. But when
it comes to poisoning with various toxins. Those people who
are against the Russians, the Russian govern opposition forces, politicians, writers, journalists.
Bottom line, as you die, you die. Okay, all right,
(07:11):
I want to tell you a story about Ford Ford
Motor Company. There is a factory in Louisville, about an
hour's drive south of Louisville, Kentucky, belonging to Ford. It
is about eight million square feet and it is empty.
There ain't anything there now that gets expensive. What used
(07:34):
to be produced in that factory were batteries for EVS
electric vehicles, which have not sold as well as Ford expected,
as every other manufacturer is in.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
The same position.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
So what Ford is doing and they're doing batteries again,
but making large batteries, some as big as shipping containers
that utilities and data centers and companies are using to
manage fluctuation and energy supply inshore against blackouts. And they
figure converting the factory will help Ford avoid the cost
(08:10):
of maintaining an unused plant for starters and at the
same time tap into this fast growing demand for large
storage batteries. Kentucky Governor Andyabasher said, I'm confident they can
compete because the.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Demand for these large batteries is enormous.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
So Ford is going to start production next year and
it's enormous. It is investing another two million, two billion
dollars into that plant. What happened well, President Trump's tariffs
have totally up ended supply chains. The Biden administration, its views,
(08:51):
and its laws on alternative energy have been just scrapped.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
So you got to figure out something else.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
To do if you've been building car batteries, and that's
exactly what they're doing.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
They are. Ford is going to the bigger batteries.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Trump administration is gutting clean air rules, which means Ford
and others are going to sell more. Big gas powered
pickups and sport utility vehicles tend to be the most
profitable and cause emissions and are very people just like
doing them. Just everybody likes big vehicles. We're enough people
that Ford does just well as well as the other companies.
(09:28):
So the US market is out of sync with the
rest of the world because the rest of the world
is rapidly moving to electric vehicles. Now, this factory made
batteries for the F one fifty Lightning, the F one
fifty of course, the biggest seller for the last generation
of pickup trucks, and they stop producing the Lightning Why
(09:49):
because it's an electric vehicle, it's an ev So companies
while General Moltors, Delantis, Ford have taken multi billion dollar hits.
Now is Ford going to be able to pull it off? Well.
Ford has been around since the beginning of the twentieth century.
It was the first major car manufacturer under Henry Ford,
(10:12):
and they're hoping that's going to give customers the confidence
that Ford will be able to service its products.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
Ford has a.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Real interesting history and that is at one point, this
is at the turn of the last century, they had
rubber plantations, iron and coal mines. However, now it's just
a car company. As you know, here's a little bit
of a little factoid, a little bit of history that
I know you don't know, and that is in the teens,
(10:44):
we're talking about one hundred years ago. In the teens,
Henry Ford decided that he was going to supply his
own rubber for the cars. So he went to the
middle of the jungle in Brazil, right outside of Manaos,
which is the capital of Amazonia, which is the state,
(11:04):
and he built ford Longia, ford Landia's like Disneyland, except
it's ford Land ford Land, but in Portuguese is Fordlandia.
And he set up an entire city, I mean the
whole thing, infrastructure, fire department, police department, housing, roads, toilet
(11:26):
facilities or sanitation lighting for the whole town. He built
an entire city, and it didn't work out so well.
He shut it down after just a few years. So
in case you ever get asked at at in jeopardy,
you'll know it's ford Lngia fordlandiay.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Neili didn't know that, did you. I had no freaking clue.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
I know historical factoy, which is completely completely useless.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
Okay, that's it.
Speaker 4 (12:01):
Okay, Tomorrow, every time you choke on something, you've got
Gary Hoffman running in Mike exactly.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Today's the day talking about choking up on something. A
new show starts tomorrow. How is that for a segue?
New show starts tomorrow. It's uh, Michael Monks and Chris Merrill.
You know who Michael is. He's our newsperson here or
one of the news people. Chris Merrill, who's been Philly
in forever. And tomorrow at noon, noon to three they
(12:31):
start their show. So, Michael and Chris, good morning, welcome aboard.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
I give you about I give you about a month.
That's generous. Yeah, I'll take the under.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
So, uh, you've both been around and you, Michael, you've
had a show for a bunch of times on weekends,
a bunch of of time, and then Chris is filled
in across the board for years.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Tell us a little bit about what the show is about.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
Well, I think what we are looking to do is
to bring the topical nature of KFI into a robust
conversation between Chris and I and also the community. We
really want to integrate the talkbacks. We think we're going
to flip the phone on. It's been a long time,
you know. I used to see clips of you Bill
taking phone calls all those years ago, and like it's
(13:19):
good radio sometimes. And that's something that I think we're
interested in exploring is making sure that we are talking
about the entirety of southern California, all the important issues,
but also doing it with personality and genuine interest in
what's going on out there.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
And we want to dive a little bit deeper into
these things, like we want to understand why the Amazonian
dart frog is so poisonous, and why the ticket fares
to fly to Ecuador to pick one up are so high.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
It seems ridiculous and I think we want to get
into it deeply.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
By the way, guys, that was a good read that
both of you just had very very well done. I
must tell you we up to six weeks now, So
are you going to be taking phone calls?
Speaker 3 (14:02):
I don't know when.
Speaker 4 (14:03):
It's certainly not going to be the first day is
we have to work out just the kinks of getting
started and finding our own rhythm. The cool thing about
this opportunities we're going to be learning how to do
it together in front of everyone, with everybody watching. You know,
Between the announcement and the technical maneuvering that has to
take place with getting people physically into Kafi, it hasn't
really allowed for a lot of just rehearsal. Even so well,
(14:27):
we were both you know, knowledgeable about how to perform
on the air. But it's going to be fun to
get to do this together with everyone watching. And I
know that we can both take we can both take
a punch. So we're looking forward to the feedback that's
both positive and constructive.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Yeah, one of the things.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Yeah, one of the things about working as a team
is working on the chemistry and working on how you
get along. For example, when I first started broadcasting, I
had a very difficult time because I hated me all right.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
So dealing with both of us was very difficult. So
have you guys, have you sat.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Down already and spent time talking about the show? Which
way it's going to go?
Speaker 1 (15:11):
I would say a little bit. It's been just broad conversations.
I think there's a lot of trepidation. I think that's
a fair word. I'm scared. This is an arranged marriage.
I love Michael, I've ever reasonab believe everything's going to
be great. But you know, we don't know each other's tempo,
we don't know each other's you know, quirks, speech patterns,
those sorts of things that really like you talked about,
(15:33):
chemistry that comes out very quickly, and we're going to
find out real fast. But like Michael said, you kind
of get to watch this in real time, which is
exciting and terrifying all.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
At the same time. Yeah, it's no joke.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
John and Ken, for example, we're together for together for
thirty five years, and obviously they were flawless staring. Shannon
been together now for I don't know how long, you know,
a dozen years maybe, and it does take a little
bit of time to get together. So the show is
is Monks and Merrill. Correct, yes, okay, how did the
billing come out? How did Monks come out first and
(16:07):
Meryll come out second? And why aren't you really pissed off?
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Chris? No, it's not that at all.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
I was.
Speaker 4 (16:12):
I was happy to yield top billing to Meryl. He
mentioned that this was an arranged marriage. He's right, he
paid quite a dowry for me. I want to make
sure he gets his money worth. But yeah, that's not fun.
We wanted to make sure that when you say the
name it it, it doesn't sound like something else. And
when you say Monks and Merril, it's clear what the
show is. If you say Marilyn Merril and Monks and
(16:35):
you're not clear, it sounds like, you know, it sounds
like my aunt.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
No, No, you're right, No, that that works.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
I hadn't thought about that, but it does roll off
the tongue a little bit easier.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Okay, I'll buy that. If you were my agent, would
you a fought harder to have me as top Biller. Absolutely,
that's why, that's why.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Absolutely, Okay, Michael Monks and Chris Merrill new show tomorrow
from twelve to three, and the times have changed. The
only time has not changed is our show wake Up
Calls still at five and the rest of the show
six to nine, and then it changes completely. It's Gary
and Shannon nine to noon. Then you have Monks and
(17:11):
Merrill coming from noon to three. John then takes over
from three to six, and then Tim Conway goes back
to is old time. He goes till ten o'clock. He's
the only one that has a four hour stint. And
so here we go. We're back with Michael Monks and
Chris Merrill on their new show starting tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
And we got a little.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Bit of explanations to which way the show's going to go.
But you guys really don't know, do you how this
show is going to spin out.
Speaker 4 (17:40):
We're both news commentators or analysts or reporters, so it's
gonna be that. And for big, diehard KFI listeners who
catch our shows on the weekends, Mine on Saturday night,
Chris Merrill on Sunday nights, you get a sense of
our vibes and our areas of expertise the rhythm that
we have.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
So it's what we don't know.
Speaker 4 (18:00):
What we're saying we don't know is how those blend
for three hours every single day, and that's what we're
looking forward to figuring out together on the air.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Now. You have not actually tried a three hour show together,
have you? On weekends?
Speaker 4 (18:12):
We did election night coverage together in November of last year,
so we were in here doing that together, and we
also did some coverage of the immigration protest back in June.
He was from the studio and I was out in
the streets.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
All right, so how did this come together that you
suggested it?
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Program director Brian Long came in and when eeny meenie,
my nemo, you two are it?
Speaker 3 (18:41):
Kind of yeah?
Speaker 1 (18:42):
I think I think what happened was Brian boss Long
came through and he said he wanted something fresh and
you kind of mix things up a little bit. And
he said, you know, Monks is one of the best
guys in the building, and then I have dirt on him,
and so he said, well, I think there's something here.
I think we can put this together. And I've worked
(19:02):
with Brian for many years actually, and I'm mean I
don't think he's listening. So I feel comfortable saying this,
and that is that I trust him implicitly when it
comes to programming radio. The man is absolutely a genius.
He's brilliant, and he sees he sees radio in a
way that most people don't. And and he's far more
(19:23):
confident than even I am. You know, I've I've still
got this imposter syndrome going on in my head. So
I'm excited to put my faith in his vision and
then see what happens here.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
God, you, your head is so far up his ass.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
I know, right, I can't believe it.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Okay, you already have the gig, so I don't know
the second contract.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Yeah, I don't know why you're doing that.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Now you are moving to Los Angeles, Southern California, right, yeah, yeah,
I have a place in Pasadena. Oh what you decided?
Which under which bridge in Pasadena are you living? Considering
the cost of living here, Yeah, I rotate bridges.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
What I found is that there are some areas where
the police are they really try to keep it cleaning.
Other places where they kind of let you go, you know,
they go, you can just stay there like the closer
I get to Arcadia the closer. They said, that's fine,
you can just Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
On a serious note, Chris, because I know Michael's already
been here for a while.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
So this goes to you.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
And that is, did you really know the price of
housing here or as you started looking it hit you
big time that this is an insanely expensive place to live.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
It was both. So I knew it on paper.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
I mean, I've been doing the show for a while,
and so I pay I pay attention, and I cruise
Zillow like like any middle aged white guy does, and
so I kind of keep an eye on things, and
I've and I've noted, you know, where the areas are
that are more expensive. But then it's a little bit
different when you're actually writing the check. You know when
when when all of a sudden they go, okay, well
you have to have your four thousand dollars just to
move in, and then we'll start charging you rent. That
(20:56):
That's that's a conversation I had to have with my
wife and I went, Okay, well, you know the dog
doesn't get fed this month.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Yeah, I guess, depending on the dog. So I want
I want to point something out too, is uh that
uh there's a lot of talk out there about de
I and inclusivity, and I want to point out that
our new new show is two white guys, and I'm
sure we're not going to get any flak from that.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
At all, are we? I probably think so from our listeners.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
No. Yeah, I just wanted to prove that's a that's
an anti KFI jibe as all that was. Anyways, this
is exciting and you guys start tomorrow, and you know,
keep in mind, uh and uh I sort of mean
this seriously, uh in kind of a weird way.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
If you guys, if the two of you know you're
going to suck, uh starting tomorrow. And I mean it
by the way, Uh, if you're comfortable with the idea
that you start off completely sucking until the rhythm comes
into place, until you know what you're doing, Uh, then
just relax and know that it's going to suck. People
going to tell you that's the worst show they've ever heard.
(22:05):
And that's basically the best advice I could ever give anybody.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Advice. It means a lot real thanks all.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
Actually, I remember once, matter of fact, when I just
started here at KFI and I was only doing weekends
and I talked to a talk show host who was
pretty popular here.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
I'm not going to I don't want to mention any names.
Tom Alikus and.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
The advice, the advice that he gave me, and I said,
you know, Tom, how do you get to be as
good as you are? Those were the days where I
was parly, I was fairly naive in this world. And
he said, you know what, today you're horrible. Five thousand
or a thousand hours from now, you'll be better.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
And it's just a question. It's a ten thousand steps business. Obviously,
it doesn't take ten thousand steps.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
So I'm looking forward to you guys completely sucking for
a while, and then when you start getting better, I'm
out of it.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
I stopped this sole handle motivational. Yes, correct, Hey, good
luck to you guys.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
I'm looking forward to seeing what happens to you. It's
a new show, and we're thrilled here. I'm not, but
we are thrilled here, all right, guys, Michael Monks, Chris
Merril tomorrow, starting noon, the new show, and we are
done Boys and Girls tomorrow. Well, obviously Gary and Shannon
who come aboard and they will what is at nine o'clock.
(23:25):
They're going to go till noon starting tomorrow, so they
basically this day the same, and then wake up call happens,
of course tomorrow morning with Amy and Amy.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
And Will Coleschreiber, and then Neil and I.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Jump aboard, and Ann and Kno are always here, unfortunately
and as much as they don't want to be.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
This is KFI A M six forty.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
You've been listening to The Bill Handle Show Catch My
Show Monday through Friday, six am to nine am, and
anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app
You're listening to Bill Handle on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Good morning, everybody, and it is Monday morning, February sixteenth.
You can podcast any part of this show. Obviously, we're
on for three hours, and if you miss any segment,
just go to the podcast, go to the iHeartRadio app
and you'll see the podcasts of the show. For example,
coming up at the bottom of the hour, Michael Monks
and Chris Merrill.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Are joining us.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
They have a new show starting tomorrow from twelve to three.
There is a new lineup, well, same lineup, it's just
a new show is at at different times, and we'll
talk more about that. Also, the partial government shutdown is
still happening and will for at least another week. And
the Olympics are going on and America is not doing
(00:49):
very well. There's some absolutely delicious scandals which we always enjoy. Now, well,
this is some information that just came out and this
week accusations of Russian poisoning well came out again because
Western governments and a laboratory analysis found that there is
(01:11):
a toxin called epitodine and it's derived from the Ecuadorian
poison dart frogs. And this was found in a body
of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Now did they didn't.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Actually find the frog in the blood of Navalny, but
they did find the poison, and therein lies a story
because this is just some more proof that Putin is
a dictator who will kill people who are in opposition,
(01:48):
and he has done so several times.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Now.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
It's a long and deeply contested narrative around this very
high profile poison. Russia has used radio active tea nerve agents,
which of course it denies, and this is why Putin
has this reputation among others. So a joint statement by
the UK, France, Germany, Sweden the Netherlands said forensic tests
(02:14):
concluded that Epitodine was president in the Valny system after
his death in a Siberian prison in twenty twenty four.
And what did the prison system do when he died
in twenty twenty four, They said in the Vaal, Andy
forty seven years old, died because he wasn't feeling well
following a walk around the facility. It's right above the
(02:37):
Arctic Circle and it's a maximum security facility. He was
serving a thirty and a half year jail sentence for
opposition to Putin and tax evasion and just all kinds
of infractions, and he didn't have to come back to Russia.
He was poisoned in Russia. He was on an airplane
(03:00):
and the poison was going through his system, and he
survived and went to Germany for recovery and then went
back even knowing he was going to get arrested, and
he did. Of course, Russia dismisses the allegations completely. Now
let me tell you about this poison. It comes from
a frog, Anthony's Poison arrow frog found in Ecuador. It
(03:22):
is about three quarters of an inch long, that's how
small this frog is. Lethal doses are measured in micrograms,
minuscule amounts, as little as one point four micrograms. And
if you look up what one point for micrograms equals,
(03:43):
you'll see.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
That it's teamy ween.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
See, tiny amount of this poison can kill. And the
other thing, it's possible to synthesize it chemically, so you
don't even have to go to Ecuador. You know what
the airfare is to Ecuador, it's pretty pricey. It's one
of those countries where it's not cheap to go to.
(04:08):
So The scientists are telling us that once someone starts
developing system, it's too late. International law bars the use
of chemical agents to harm people. Do you know that
during World War Two even Hitler didn't use chemical weapons
against fighting forces. On the other side, he did use
chemical weapons against Jews and some ten million or eight
(04:32):
million other people. But even he held off because chemical
weapons were used in World War One and they're so
dangerous that international treaty banned them.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Russians have a document.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
They documented a history or we have documented a history
of toxic targeted attacks.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Two thousand and six, I don't know if you remember this.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
There was a defector, a former Russian spy, Alexander litton
Venko or Lytton lit Venenko got it so good names.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
He died after.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Drinking green tea laced with polonium two ten at a
London hotel. He was poisoned radioactively. There was an agent
we know that nerve agent Navachuk used against the former
double agent Sergei Skripoll and his daughter. And they put
this agent this particular it was actually a powder they
(05:29):
put on the doorknob of his house and as he
touched the doorknob, he was infected with this.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Particularly nerve agent.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
And it goes on and on and on with the
Russians doing what they did, and it's just more proof,
not that it matters. It doesn't matter. They will deny
it totally. It's none of it is true. And Russia
continues to be a pariah in the world. And what
happened and what's been happening after the Ukraine invasion is
(06:03):
it became a true pariah. And I wonder if Putin
wakes up in the morning and says, maybe I blew this.
You know, maybe this wasn't such a good idea to
invade Ukraine because everybody thought Kiv would fall in three
would fall in three days, and now we're entering year four.
Or maybe in terms of what's happening in Gaza, do
(06:28):
any of the Kamas people wake up in the morning
and go, Wow, maybe we made a mistake in attacking
Israel with that terrorist attack October seventh. Do they look
in the mirror, Well, they don't have any mirrors because
they're all broken, you know, they've all been bombed to hell.
But you know, at what point do you go, hey,
(06:49):
you know, this isn't such a good idea. But when
it comes to poisoning with various toxins. Those people who
are against the Russians, the Russian govern opposition forces, politicians, writers, journalists.
Bottom line, as you die, you die. Okay, all right,
(07:11):
I want to tell you a story about Ford Ford
Motor Company. There is a factory in Louisville, about an
hour's drive south of Louisville, Kentucky, belonging to Ford. It
is about eight million square feet and it is empty.
There ain't anything there now that gets expensive. What used
(07:34):
to be produced in that factory were batteries for EVS
electric vehicles, which have not sold as well as Ford expected,
as every other manufacturer is in.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
The same position.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
So what Ford is doing and they're doing batteries again,
but making large batteries, some as big as shipping containers
that utilities and data centers and companies are using to
manage fluctuation and energy supply inshore against blackouts. And they
figure converting the factory will help Ford avoid the cost
(08:10):
of maintaining an unused plant for starters and at the
same time tap into this fast growing demand for large
storage batteries. Kentucky Governor Andyabasher said, I'm confident they can
compete because the.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Demand for these large batteries is enormous.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
So Ford is going to start production next year and
it's enormous. It is investing another two million, two billion
dollars into that plant. What happened well, President Trump's tariffs
have totally up ended supply chains. The Biden administration, its views,
(08:51):
and its laws on alternative energy have been just scrapped.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
So you got to figure out something else.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
To do if you've been building car batteries, and that's
exactly what they're doing.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
They are. Ford is going to the bigger batteries.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Trump administration is gutting clean air rules, which means Ford
and others are going to sell more. Big gas powered
pickups and sport utility vehicles tend to be the most
profitable and cause emissions and are very people just like
doing them. Just everybody likes big vehicles. We're enough people
that Ford does just well as well as the other companies.
(09:28):
So the US market is out of sync with the
rest of the world because the rest of the world
is rapidly moving to electric vehicles. Now, this factory made
batteries for the F one fifty Lightning, the F one
fifty of course, the biggest seller for the last generation
of pickup trucks, and they stop producing the Lightning Why
(09:49):
because it's an electric vehicle, it's an ev So companies
while General Moltors, Delantis, Ford have taken multi billion dollar hits.
Now is Ford going to be able to pull it off? Well.
Ford has been around since the beginning of the twentieth century.
It was the first major car manufacturer under Henry Ford,
(10:12):
and they're hoping that's going to give customers the confidence
that Ford will be able to service its products.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
Ford has a.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Real interesting history and that is at one point, this
is at the turn of the last century, they had
rubber plantations, iron and coal mines. However, now it's just
a car company. As you know, here's a little bit
of a little factoid, a little bit of history that
I know you don't know, and that is in the teens,
(10:44):
we're talking about one hundred years ago. In the teens,
Henry Ford decided that he was going to supply his
own rubber for the cars. So he went to the
middle of the jungle in Brazil, right outside of Manaos,
which is the capital of Amazonia, which is the state,
(11:04):
and he built ford Longia, ford Landia's like Disneyland, except
it's ford Land ford Land, but in Portuguese is Fordlandia.
And he set up an entire city, I mean the
whole thing, infrastructure, fire department, police department, housing, roads, toilet
(11:26):
facilities or sanitation lighting for the whole town. He built
an entire city, and it didn't work out so well.
He shut it down after just a few years. So
in case you ever get asked at at in jeopardy,
you'll know it's ford Lngia fordlandiay.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Neili didn't know that, did you. I had no freaking clue.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
I know historical factoy, which is completely completely useless.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
Okay, that's it.
Speaker 4 (12:01):
Okay, Tomorrow, every time you choke on something, you've got
Gary Hoffman running in Mike exactly.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Today's the day talking about choking up on something. A
new show starts tomorrow. How is that for a segue?
New show starts tomorrow. It's uh, Michael Monks and Chris Merrill.
You know who Michael is. He's our newsperson here or
one of the news people. Chris Merrill, who's been Philly
in forever. And tomorrow at noon, noon to three they
(12:31):
start their show. So, Michael and Chris, good morning, welcome aboard.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
I give you about I give you about a month.
That's generous. Yeah, I'll take the under.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
So, uh, you've both been around and you, Michael, you've
had a show for a bunch of times on weekends,
a bunch of of time, and then Chris is filled
in across the board for years.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Tell us a little bit about what the show is about.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
Well, I think what we are looking to do is
to bring the topical nature of KFI into a robust
conversation between Chris and I and also the community. We
really want to integrate the talkbacks. We think we're going
to flip the phone on. It's been a long time,
you know. I used to see clips of you Bill
taking phone calls all those years ago, and like it's
(13:19):
good radio sometimes. And that's something that I think we're
interested in exploring is making sure that we are talking
about the entirety of southern California, all the important issues,
but also doing it with personality and genuine interest in
what's going on out there.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
And we want to dive a little bit deeper into
these things, like we want to understand why the Amazonian
dart frog is so poisonous, and why the ticket fares
to fly to Ecuador to pick one up are so high.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
It seems ridiculous and I think we want to get
into it deeply.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
By the way, guys, that was a good read that
both of you just had very very well done. I
must tell you we up to six weeks now, So
are you going to be taking phone calls?
Speaker 3 (14:02):
I don't know when.
Speaker 4 (14:03):
It's certainly not going to be the first day is
we have to work out just the kinks of getting
started and finding our own rhythm. The cool thing about
this opportunities we're going to be learning how to do
it together in front of everyone, with everybody watching. You know,
Between the announcement and the technical maneuvering that has to
take place with getting people physically into Kafi, it hasn't
really allowed for a lot of just rehearsal. Even so well,
(14:27):
we were both you know, knowledgeable about how to perform
on the air. But it's going to be fun to
get to do this together with everyone watching. And I
know that we can both take we can both take
a punch. So we're looking forward to the feedback that's
both positive and constructive.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Yeah, one of the things.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Yeah, one of the things about working as a team
is working on the chemistry and working on how you
get along. For example, when I first started broadcasting, I
had a very difficult time because I hated me all right.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
So dealing with both of us was very difficult. So
have you guys, have you sat.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Down already and spent time talking about the show? Which
way it's going to go?
Speaker 1 (15:11):
I would say a little bit. It's been just broad conversations.
I think there's a lot of trepidation. I think that's
a fair word. I'm scared. This is an arranged marriage.
I love Michael, I've ever reasonab believe everything's going to
be great. But you know, we don't know each other's tempo,
we don't know each other's you know, quirks, speech patterns,
those sorts of things that really like you talked about,
(15:33):
chemistry that comes out very quickly, and we're going to
find out real fast. But like Michael said, you kind
of get to watch this in real time, which is
exciting and terrifying all.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
At the same time. Yeah, it's no joke.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
John and Ken, for example, we're together for together for
thirty five years, and obviously they were flawless staring. Shannon
been together now for I don't know how long, you know,
a dozen years maybe, and it does take a little
bit of time to get together. So the show is
is Monks and Merrill. Correct, yes, okay, how did the
billing come out? How did Monks come out first and
(16:07):
Meryll come out second? And why aren't you really pissed off?
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Chris? No, it's not that at all.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
I was.
Speaker 4 (16:12):
I was happy to yield top billing to Meryl. He
mentioned that this was an arranged marriage. He's right, he
paid quite a dowry for me. I want to make
sure he gets his money worth. But yeah, that's not fun.
We wanted to make sure that when you say the
name it it, it doesn't sound like something else. And
when you say Monks and Merril, it's clear what the
show is. If you say Marilyn Merril and Monks and
(16:35):
you're not clear, it sounds like, you know, it sounds
like my aunt.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
No, No, you're right, No, that that works.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
I hadn't thought about that, but it does roll off
the tongue a little bit easier.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Okay, I'll buy that. If you were my agent, would
you a fought harder to have me as top Biller. Absolutely,
that's why, that's why.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Absolutely, Okay, Michael Monks and Chris Merrill new show tomorrow
from twelve to three, and the times have changed. The
only time has not changed is our show wake Up
Calls still at five and the rest of the show
six to nine, and then it changes completely. It's Gary
and Shannon nine to noon. Then you have Monks and
(17:11):
Merrill coming from noon to three. John then takes over
from three to six, and then Tim Conway goes back
to is old time. He goes till ten o'clock. He's
the only one that has a four hour stint. And
so here we go. We're back with Michael Monks and
Chris Merrill on their new show starting tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
And we got a little.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Bit of explanations to which way the show's going to go.
But you guys really don't know, do you how this
show is going to spin out.
Speaker 4 (17:40):
We're both news commentators or analysts or reporters, so it's
gonna be that. And for big, diehard KFI listeners who
catch our shows on the weekends, Mine on Saturday night,
Chris Merrill on Sunday nights, you get a sense of
our vibes and our areas of expertise the rhythm that
we have.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
So it's what we don't know.
Speaker 4 (18:00):
What we're saying we don't know is how those blend
for three hours every single day, and that's what we're
looking forward to figuring out together on the air.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Now. You have not actually tried a three hour show together,
have you? On weekends?
Speaker 4 (18:12):
We did election night coverage together in November of last year,
so we were in here doing that together, and we
also did some coverage of the immigration protest back in June.
He was from the studio and I was out in
the streets.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
All right, so how did this come together that you
suggested it?
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Program director Brian Long came in and when eeny meenie,
my nemo, you two are it?
Speaker 3 (18:41):
Kind of yeah?
Speaker 1 (18:42):
I think I think what happened was Brian boss Long
came through and he said he wanted something fresh and
you kind of mix things up a little bit. And
he said, you know, Monks is one of the best
guys in the building, and then I have dirt on him,
and so he said, well, I think there's something here.
I think we can put this together. And I've worked
(19:02):
with Brian for many years actually, and I'm mean I
don't think he's listening. So I feel comfortable saying this,
and that is that I trust him implicitly when it
comes to programming radio. The man is absolutely a genius.
He's brilliant, and he sees he sees radio in a
way that most people don't. And and he's far more
(19:23):
confident than even I am. You know, I've I've still
got this imposter syndrome going on in my head. So
I'm excited to put my faith in his vision and
then see what happens here.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
God, you, your head is so far up his ass.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
I know, right, I can't believe it.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Okay, you already have the gig, so I don't know
the second contract.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Yeah, I don't know why you're doing that.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Now you are moving to Los Angeles, Southern California, right, yeah, yeah,
I have a place in Pasadena. Oh what you decided?
Which under which bridge in Pasadena are you living? Considering
the cost of living here, Yeah, I rotate bridges.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
What I found is that there are some areas where
the police are they really try to keep it cleaning.
Other places where they kind of let you go, you know,
they go, you can just stay there like the closer
I get to Arcadia the closer. They said, that's fine,
you can just Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
On a serious note, Chris, because I know Michael's already
been here for a while.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
So this goes to you.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
And that is, did you really know the price of
housing here or as you started looking it hit you
big time that this is an insanely expensive place to live.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
It was both. So I knew it on paper.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
I mean, I've been doing the show for a while,
and so I pay I pay attention, and I cruise
Zillow like like any middle aged white guy does, and
so I kind of keep an eye on things, and
I've and I've noted, you know, where the areas are
that are more expensive. But then it's a little bit
different when you're actually writing the check. You know when
when when all of a sudden they go, okay, well
you have to have your four thousand dollars just to
move in, and then we'll start charging you rent. That
(20:56):
That's that's a conversation I had to have with my
wife and I went, Okay, well, you know the dog
doesn't get fed this month.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Yeah, I guess, depending on the dog. So I want
I want to point something out too, is uh that
uh there's a lot of talk out there about de
I and inclusivity, and I want to point out that
our new new show is two white guys, and I'm
sure we're not going to get any flak from that.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
At all, are we? I probably think so from our listeners.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
No. Yeah, I just wanted to prove that's a that's
an anti KFI jibe as all that was. Anyways, this
is exciting and you guys start tomorrow, and you know,
keep in mind, uh and uh I sort of mean
this seriously, uh in kind of a weird way.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
If you guys, if the two of you know you're
going to suck, uh starting tomorrow. And I mean it
by the way, Uh, if you're comfortable with the idea
that you start off completely sucking until the rhythm comes
into place, until you know what you're doing, Uh, then
just relax and know that it's going to suck. People
going to tell you that's the worst show they've ever heard.
(22:05):
And that's basically the best advice I could ever give anybody.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Advice. It means a lot real thanks all.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
Actually, I remember once, matter of fact, when I just
started here at KFI and I was only doing weekends
and I talked to a talk show host who was
pretty popular here.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
I'm not going to I don't want to mention any names.
Tom Alikus and.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
The advice, the advice that he gave me, and I said,
you know, Tom, how do you get to be as
good as you are? Those were the days where I
was parly, I was fairly naive in this world. And
he said, you know what, today you're horrible. Five thousand
or a thousand hours from now, you'll be better.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
And it's just a question. It's a ten thousand steps business. Obviously,
it doesn't take ten thousand steps.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
So I'm looking forward to you guys completely sucking for
a while, and then when you start getting better, I'm
out of it.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
I stopped this sole handle motivational. Yes, correct, Hey, good
luck to you guys.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
I'm looking forward to seeing what happens to you. It's
a new show, and we're thrilled here. I'm not, but
we are thrilled here, all right, guys, Michael Monks, Chris
Merril tomorrow, starting noon, the new show, and we are
done Boys and Girls tomorrow. Well, obviously Gary and Shannon
who come aboard and they will what is at nine o'clock.
(23:25):
They're going to go till noon starting tomorrow, so they
basically this day the same, and then wake up call happens,
of course tomorrow morning with Amy and Amy.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
And Will Coleschreiber, and then Neil and I.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Jump aboard, and Ann and Kno are always here, unfortunately
and as much as they don't want to be.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
This is KFI A M six forty.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
You've been listening to The Bill Handle Show Catch My
Show Monday through Friday, six am to nine am, and
anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app
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