Jerry Springer Talks Chicago, His Podcast, and If He Were President
Jerry Springer, talk show host of The Jerry Springer Show, stopped by You & Me last week. We had the chance to Take 5 with Jerry on what he misses most about Chicago, his podcast, and the 2016 presidential primaries.
The U: The Jerry Springer show is on its 25th year. Being back in Chicago today, what do you miss most about taping your show here?
JS: Chicago is one of the great cities in the world, probably the thing I miss most are the people. We were here doing the show for 18 of the 25 years. The friends that you make, and the people that worked on the show – that was the toughest thing about leaving. And the truth is, the spring and the fall are just beautiful here to walk along the lake. It was great. And great restaurants, what don’t you like about Chicago? Except the winters…
The U: Viewers can catch you on The Jerry Springer Show, but they can also listen to your podcast. What can they expect when tuning in?
JS: I do a podcast now. My best friend and I, he’s been my best friend for 45 years. I fly to Cincinnati every Tuesday night after taping my shows, and right across the river in Ludlow, Kentucky, we do it at a coffee shop. It’s a folk music coffee parlor. People come in with their guitars, their banjos, their fiddles, and we do a podcast which is about ten minutes of comedy, ten minutes where I give a political rant - pretty liberal - and then ten minutes of the musicians that are there. They come from all over the country now. We tape it live every Tuesday night at 7:30, and then we archive them so whenever you want to listen to a half hour podcast, tune in, just go to Jerry Springer podcast. I think you’ll like it.
The U: Which of the three T’s is your favorite topic on your podcast, “Tales, Tunes and Tomfoolery?”
JS: The original reason I did the podcast was because I wanted some political outlet. I wanted a place where I could rant about what’s going on politically in our country and in the world. And you can’t do it on my show of course - we don’t do any politics on my show. We also like blue grass and folk music, this is a great way to listen to that music as well. So I probably do it because of the political rant, but I really enjoy the music.
The U: As former mayor of Cincinnati, could you see yourself ever getting back into a political role?
JS: Well, I think if I ran for president, which I can’t because I was born in England, but if I ran for president I really would build a wall on the Mexican border because you’d have to build a wall to keep Americans from trying to get out.
The U: You recently mentioned Donald Trump and Ted Cruz "often sound as if their battle is not for the presidency but rather a junior high school yard fight." What advice would you give them on moving from the playground to the real world?
JS: Well, I think what is needed, on the serious note, is more respect for our country and for the presidency, and for what that job entails. I just think it’s outrageous you would think you could be leader of the country and leader of the free world and you’ve never held a political job. You know nothing about how the government operates, how world affairs operate, who these people are. That’s what’s most depressing, not necessarily the stance on the issues, many of which I don’t like anyway. But the idea you think this is like a volunteer job, “Gee, I think I’ll be president, that will look good on my resume” and you know nothing about government and how it works and how it operates and how our country operates. So that’s why you get the schoolyard fight because they can’t really talk about issues. They don’t know anything about it.
The U: What’s next for Jerry Springer?
JS: I think I’m going to be king. I left England, I told you I was born there, I left there when I found out I couldn’t be king, I think America needs a king. And I’d be a really good one, I’d be really nice, I’d be a benevolent king. There’s nothing next for me. I’m 72 years old, we’re enjoying our grandson, I don’t have the right to ask for anything else. I’ve had such a lucky life and I’m so fortunate so whatever happens, happens. I love doing my show; I do it for fun now. I’m lucky I don’t need to make a living anymore. So I just do things that are either enjoyable, such as doing my show or being with my family, or I do things that I think are important like politics, but I have no career next step, I’m not looking to do that.
Tune into The Jerry Springer Show, weekdays at 11AM and Sunday nights at 4AM on The U, and weeknights at 6pm on The U Too!
