Live data from Hacker News

Tom Magliozzi, Co-Host of NPR's 'Car Talk,' Dies at 77

npr.org

41–50 of 116 posts

Re: Tom Magliozzi, Co-Host of NPR's 'Car Talk,' Dies at 77

#41
I listen to reruns on a regular basis, and what continues to amaze me about the show is their ability to "debug" cars and make it sound fun. They were always helpful, never looking down on the caller or the predicament they found themselves in. Us techies could learn a few things from them.

He'll be missed.

Re: Tom Magliozzi, Co-Host of NPR's 'Car Talk,' Dies at 77

#42
post #25

> Tom and Ray haven't done the show live for two years; Car Talk has been airing archives of old shows. Berman says Ray would like to continue doing that, as a tribute to his brother. Soo… Apparently the show as you all have known it for the last two years will be unaffected. Alternately, the show died two years ago and you never noticed. EDIT: I thought that this news meant the show was ending and was surprised to r…

> Soo… Apparently the show as you all have known it for the last two years will be unaffected. Alternately, the show died two years ago and you never noticed. You really sound like you're an asshole. Maybe you didn't intend that, but you do.

That was not my intention, no.

Re: Tom Magliozzi, Co-Host of NPR's 'Car Talk,' Dies at 77

#43
post #25

> Tom and Ray haven't done the show live for two years; Car Talk has been airing archives of old shows. Berman says Ray would like to continue doing that, as a tribute to his brother. Soo… Apparently the show as you all have known it for the last two years will be unaffected. Alternately, the show died two years ago and you never noticed. EDIT: I thought that this news meant the show was ending and was surprised to r…

>So I thought I’d highlight this fact that nothing substantial would change.

Nothing substantial, aside from the fact that world has lost one of smartest, funniest, and most humble people ever to provide untold hours of entertainment on the radio...

The show has been playing reruns for a couple years now (I thought this was common knowledge?), but Tom's passing is indeed a sad day. He was absolutely someone who embodied the hacker ethic.

Re: Tom Magliozzi, Co-Host of NPR's 'Car Talk,' Dies at 77

#45
post #2

RIP. They were so entertaining. I never knew shit about cars but always felt a bit of excitement when I was in the car and heard that we'd be listening to them instead of some of my parents' music. Also this is pretty great: > Tom and Ray Magliozzi did open that do-it-yourself repair shop in the early '70s. They called it Hackers Heaven.

makes sense... weren't they MIT grads?

Yup, and they warned me not to follow in their footsteps. I didn't listen, though.

Re: Tom Magliozzi, Co-Host of NPR's 'Car Talk,' Dies at 77

#47
post #31

I started listening to Car Talk in high school in the 1980s. I loved the wit, the banter with callers, and the weird questions about cars ... which (as others have noted) were often really about people. Tom and Ray showed the value of personality and wisdom when it comes to mass media programming, especially in an age when so much information is available online. Yes, many of the problems experienced by the callers c…

Or the guy that "lost a frozen turkey" in the car before thanksgiving, finding it much later after having not driven, and their advice of just selling the car because no one would never be able to get the smell out..

I also fondly remember then appearance on a Nova science special where they pretended to be water molecules passing through a fuel cell with balloons taped to their bottoms.

Re: Tom Magliozzi, Co-Host of NPR's 'Car Talk,' Dies at 77

#48

My kids (7 and 5) and I loved sitting in the car and listening to Car Talk. They didn't have a clue about the content, but just loved listening to the brothers joking and having a good time with each other and the callers. So many Saturdays on the way to this or that, did I get the request to turn on the radio for Car Talk. In all honesty, Car Talk was almost like an audio-only cartoon for them, with those jovial and…

Yup, us and the kids always listen to the Car Talk podcast whenever we're in the car going anywhere that takes at least 45 minutes. Awesome show.

R.I.P. Tom. Such unique warmth and joy.

Re: Tom Magliozzi, Co-Host of NPR's 'Car Talk,' Dies at 77

#49
post #4

I hope Melissa "the Twerp" Peterson ( http://www.wnyc.org/story/1421-my-dog-hates-you-too/ ) does a eulogy for him. (Girl who wrote a letter complaining that the show sucked and that she had to listen because her parents did in the car... they had her on and she'd periodically call in for years) My all-time favorite was the episode where someone called in and said that their vehicle would run pretty well but with lot…

"The odometer on this thing reads about 60 million miles."

That was John Grunsfeld - he used to work on his car at Hacker's Haven in the late 70's (a DIY garage that Ray and Tom ran in Cambridge for a few years). That's just awesome that he was able to call in from the Space Shuttle.

Re: Tom Magliozzi, Co-Host of NPR's 'Car Talk,' Dies at 77

#50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

makes sense... weren't they MIT grads?

Yup, and they warned me not to follow in their footsteps. I didn't listen, though.

Looks like I need to expand on that a bit. Nowadays we say "Tech is Hell" but it was even worse back in their day and they had a lot of stories about their experience that, them being them, were both hilarious and awful. I ignored their advice because, hey, don't get a teenage boy to not do something by telling him it's hard.
Post reply on HN