Tom Magliozzi Opines and NPR Goes Into Reverse
By Mark Leibovich
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 4, 2005
The guys who host "Car Talk" on National Public Radio -- brothers Tom and Ray Magliozzi -- were in Washington yesterday to visit with some of the powerful government officials whose support for public radio is so vital. They also sat for a rare interview.
"George Bush is a [unprintable vulgarity]," Tom Magliozzi says, about three minutes into the interview.
Rule Number One: When you're trying to ensure government funding, it's best not to refer to the head of said government as an unprintable vulgarity.
Maybe this is why the "Car Talk" guys rarely give interviews.
"Yeah, you probably shouldn't say that," says Doug Berman, executive producer of public radio's most popular weekend show, who is sitting across the breakfast table at Cafe Luna on P Street. NPR spokeswoman Jenny Lawhorn agrees. As do Ray and Tom, aka "Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers" at least until Tom essentially repeats himself, twice.
This is the part of the story where NPR officials make it clear that the views of the show's personalities do not reflect those of its management.
"I'd like to point out that 'Car Talk' is editorially independent," Lawhorn says.
"Their jokes and jabs," she further states in a follow-up e-mail, "aren't in any way the official views of NPR and its member stations."
This is an important distinction, since local public radio stations rely partly on the largess of Congress, some of whose members are Republicans. These stations, in turn, pay fees to NPR for programming. So NPR executives are understandably sensitive to what they call their "perception problem" -- that NPR is often considered a bastion of liberal sensibilities that are winning little love from Washington these days, or, for that matter, funding.
But the Magliozzis are prime assets for the radio network, given that their stock in trade -- cars and humor -- is largely apolitical and is enjoyed across party lines. About 30 members of Congress of both parties attended a reception with the Magliozzis in the Rayburn Building last night.
The duo attracts 4.7 million listeners a week on nearly 600 stations. They debuted on Boston's WBUR in 1977 and took "Car Talk" into national syndication 10 years later.
Click and Clack's radio shtick is indistinguishable from their real-life conversations, say people who know them. "People say, 'You sound just like those shmucks on the radio,' " Ray says. In other words, they sound like drunk raccoons with Boston accents who cackle perpetually and occasionally dispense car-related wisdom.
"Eventually the conversation rolls around to car problems, no matter where we are," says Ray, 56, who still works a few days a week at the brothers' Good News Garage in their hometown of Cambridge, Mass. Tom, who is 67 and semi-retired, dabbles in building picture frames, among other pursuits.
But Tom and Ray are essentially blue-collar wiseacres, albeit with degrees from MIT (Tom graduated in 1958 and Ray in 1972). "They are equal-opportunity quipsters," Lawhorn says in her ongoing disclaimer over Tom's Bush quip. "They pick on everybody."
Click and Clack's favorite everybodies include their callers, each other, their late mother (whom they have referred to on the air as a drunk and a criminal) and the nation's automakers. They once suggested on air that the Ford Festiva should come equipped with a funeral wreath. At breakfast yesterday, Tom Magliozzi characterized automobile executives with the epithet that he used to describe Bush.
Speaking of which, here comes another e-mail disclaimer from Lawhorn, the NPR spokeswoman: "Doug Berman says, 'We've never had a president Tommy liked.' "
Followed, two minutes later, by a phone call from Berman himself, emphasizing that the Magliozzis aren't really politically inclined and that it would be a shame if this story included Tom's unfortunate quote about the president. But in the event that it does, Ray wishes to distance himself from the sentiment.
Followed, a few minutes later, by a more formal statement from Ray Magliozzi, issued through Lawhorn.
"It is my policy to vehemently disagree with Tommy, no matter what the issue," the statement says.
Now that that's cleared up, we move on to something car-related. Like, what do Click and Clack drive themselves?
"We drive ourselves crazy," Tom says. Among others.