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A six-year-old at Larry King's table
Overnight Radio
Larry King hosted a national overnight show on the Mutual radio network from 11 p.m. to five in the morning, interviewing guests or telling stories, and for many night workers he was like a friend. Once he anchored CNN at 9 p.m., he told viewers to find him on the radio at 11.
The Breakfast Table
In 2008, a writer, Cal Fussman, went to Los Angeles to help him write his autobiography, and King told him to come to breakfast. Everyone at the table was 75 or older except Fussman. Anyone who walked in and knew King was there would come over, among them Mike Milken, Rupert Murdoch, and the Patriots' owner, Robert Kraft.
Breakfast Every Day
King introduced him to visitors as the man who helped write his books, and all of a sudden they were his friends. Fussman had breakfast with King every day they were both in town for about 12 years. His daughter started coming on Saturdays at age six, then on Saturdays and Sundays, and she became a member of the club. Years later, interviewing for jobs, she found older men across the table and felt completely at ease. She got a really good job, and those breakfasts were one of the reasons.
Why did overnight radio build loyal listeners?
Overnight audiences are small but include truckers, nurses, factory workers, and others awake on the late shift. A single steady voice on air for hours can feel like company. King's national show on the Mutual network began in 1978 and ran as a call-in program.
Why do shared meals build bonds?
A 2017 study by Robin Dunbar's team at the University of Oxford found that people who ate socially more often felt happier and more satisfied with life. They also reported more friends they could count on. Dunbar has proposed that eating together may trigger the brain's endorphin system, as other group activities do.
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