Mark Halperin Is More Famous Than Ever, With or Without Imus's Help

During an interview that tested Mark Halperin's patience, Imus marveled at his guest's rising star, dug for more dirt on the "characters" in Halperin's book "Game Change," and delved into personal issues that are, frankly, none of his beeswax.

"Game Change," which Halperin wrote with John Heilemann, is still the number one non-fiction book on the New York Times Bestseller list, a feat surprising to no less than the authors themselves.

"It's been bigger than we thought, but you knew all along," said Halperin, appropriately stroking the I-Man's ego. He chalked the book's success up to two elements (besides, of course, Imus's humping of it).

"One was the incredible plot twists," he said. "And the other, even more important thing, was the incredible characters-to have the Clintons, the Obamas, the McCains, the Palins, the Bidens, and the Edwardses all in one story-these are not Dick Lugar and John Kerry. These are people who are fascinating by any standard."

When he's not penning salacious political tell-alls, Halperin is an editor-at-large for TIME Magazine, which, unlike its competitor Newsweek, is managing to stay afloat despite difficult times in the "old media" business. Also a senior political analyst at TIME, Halperin explained to Imus just what Republican Senator Jim Bunning from Kentucky was doing these last few days.

"He didn't want more spending on government programs without finding a way to pay for them," said Halperin of Bunning's decision to filibuster a $10 billion spending bill. He has since acquiesced, which Halperin owed to pressure from within his own Party.

"Republicans have to be a little bit careful now," said Halperin. "They don't want to be known as the Party that's only obstructing, particularly on issues where jobs are involved, and part of what Bunning was obstructing was spending on transportation projects around the country that mean jobs in the short term."

Imus lends more credence to Halperin's observations than he did before "Game Change" was published, and congratulated his heretofore profile-challenged guest on "blowing the doors off" his celebrity status.

He then unfortunately wondered if Halperin's resounding success had led him to reconsider marrying the woman with whom he lives, which Halperin dismissed by saying little more than, "She's a great, independent person."

So, does Imus's inquisitive yet rude nature bother Halperin to the point of never wanting to come on this program again?

"Nothing you do irritates me," said Halperin. "Because I consider A, the source, and B, your long history in broadcasting."

Smart guy.

-Julie Kanfer

The Gatlin Brothers on Life, Jesus, and Their New Album, "The Pilgrimage"

The Gatlin Brothers, Larry, Steve, and Rudy, sat down this morning for a chat with the I-Man, and tried to fit in on the Fox Business Network. Having just sung their song "All the Gold in California," Larry wondered why someone would sell their gold for dollars.

"Do me a favor," said Imus. "Shut up and sing."

Imus and Larry go way back to what we'll affectionately call the I-Man's "lost decades" of the 1970s and 80s. "On two or three occasions back in those years, when we weren't exactly living at the foot of the cross, we crossed paths," said Larry, who, like Imus, is now drug and alcohol free.

Caught off guard by this trip down memory lane, Imus wondered if the three Gatlin brothers always get along, because Larry "seems like a long day."

"We get along extremely well," said Rudy or Steve Gatlin.

They got their start when Larry, the oldest, was just six years old and nobody was quite sure if Rudy, the youngest, could even talk. But their Aunt Nell urged their mother to enter them in a talent contest in Abilene, Texas, and so she did.

"We won first place in the six-year old division," Larry boasted. "We were the only ones in the six-year old division."

Their winning song all those years ago was "Feeling Mighty Fine," about heaven and joy and the lord, leading Imus to wonder if the brothers Gatlin loved the Talladega Nights baby Jesus (weighing 8.5 lbs), or "the grown one who caused all the trouble."

"We're more partial to the grown one," Larry said. He paused, and asked, "What kind of question is that?"

The Gatlin Brothers' latest album is called "The Pilgrimage," and one of the songs has special meaning to Larry, to whom Johnny Cash "was kinda like a big brother."

During a recent car ride, Larry's son, named Joshua Cash Gatlin, had asked his father what was wrong with country music today. Larry explained it was just different, but that, as a country music family, they should root for "the kids."

"We have to understand something," Larry had told Josh. "The world, country music, Nashville—nothing will ever be the same because Johnny Cash is dead and his house burned down."

And thus the song, "Johnny Cash is Dead and His House Burned Down" was born. Imus wondered if the Gatlin Brothers would play it today, to which Larry replied, "We didn't come here to get a haircut."

-Julie Kanfer

Eating David Kirby's Book "Animal Factory" Is Probably A Better Idea Than Eating Meat

David Kirby's new book "Animal Factory" has an interesting, if not widespread, demographic: anybody who eats.  Best known for his stunning bestseller "Evidence of Harm," about the effects of thimerasol-laden vaccines, Kirby focused this time on another subject that should sufficiently scare the hell out of everybody.

"Animal Factory" follows three different American families-one in Washington State's Yakima Valley, one in Illinois, and another in North Carolina-whose communities were "invaded by giant animal factories that came in and started polluting the air, the ground, and the water," said Kirby.

Most of these families are farmers themselves, "bedrock, Conservative Americans," Kirby added, who started out as Republicans but "they're not anymore." Far from being anti-agriculture, the people in "Animal Factory" are merely trying to defend their communities, and inspire reform at both the local and national level.

The family in Washington spent years in the Yakima Valley farming cherries and other fruits, and immediately noticed a change in the late 1980s, when "mega-dairies" moved onto their turf. Also known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOs, these mega-dairies are considered factory farms.

"Almost immediately there were air pollution problems," Kirby said of the CAFO's impact in the Valley. The offensive smell of cow dung infiltrated the family's house, and the giant waste lagoons that hold liquefied manure leeched into the ground, leading to high levels of nitrates in the ground water there.

The main problem with the CAFOs is the feeding process, which is really the main purpose for keeping the animals-whether cows, hogs, or chickens-in confinement. The goal of the CAFO, Kirby explained, is "to get them to market as quickly as possible;" additives in the feed hasten that process, but also further contaminate the product.

"They need to be outside on pasture," Kirby said of the animals. "They need to have a social life, establish pecking order, they need to mate, they need to nest, to forage."

Instead, they are crammed by the thousand into spaces more suitable for ten, because CAFO's seek to produce very large amounts of food in very short periods of time at a profit for the company. But Kirby insisted not all farming has to be this way.

"We need more of a mixture," he said, acknowledging that the CAFO's won't go away anytime soon. "As long as they're here, we should try to reform them."

Reform will occur by encouraging different policies and consumer behavior, and by promoting small, independent, localized, sustainable farms. Despite Imus's needling, Kirby said he would have no problems eating a chicken from a farm like that. When Imus called him a murderer, Kirby was confused.

"I thought I was a pansy?"  he asked.

The most important message in "Animal Factory," said Kirby, is that current methods of raising most animal protein in this country are unsustainable, and will not last in the long run. "Mother Nature may very well have the last word," he said.

With the origins of viruses like swine flu, MRSA, and mad cow disease all linked to factory farms, Kirby warned that nobody, not even vegetarians are safe. "We all live downstream, we all live downwind, even if you're not consuming the product," he said, happily giving it back to the I-Man.

-Julie Kanfer

Imus Ponders Bo's Demise

Bo Dietl wanted to talk politics this morning, and became so incensed at some points that Imus fantasized about what would happen should Bo actually pass away on this show. More on that later.

First, Bo announced something we already knew, which is that Harold Ford, Jr. will not run for Senate in New York. Among the least sorry to hear this news was Imus, who joked, "I was ready to support Harold!"

Kinky Friedman, however, did not have to worry about an endorsement from the I-Man, who encouraged listeners and viewers in Texas to vote for Kinky for Agriculture Commissioner in today's Democratic primary.

"Today's the day to vote for Kinky!" Imus happily declared. His mood quickly soured, however, when Bo suggested that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was doing a good job by "chopping and dicing" the state budget.

"I'm not thrilled to death with that fat boy either," said Imus. "The clock is ticking on when he gets indicted, by the way."

Time was also of the essence for Bo, who was reprimanded for bringing up a subject (Dubai's financial crisis) that Imus cared nothing about.  "Talk about something that affects me," he implored his guest, who, by this point, should really know better.

So Bo brought up fiduciary responsibility, which interested the I-Man no more than Dubai, causing him to play Willie Nelson's radio ad for Kinky Friedman right in the middle of Bo's sentence.

Bo is so enthusiastic about Kinky running for Agriculture Commissioner in Texas, he promised to donate money to the campaign, something Imus learned the hard way never to do.

"I gave Kinky $1,000 when he was running for Justice of the Peace in Kerrville, because he told me-he assured me-that when he was elected Justice of the Peace, next time I was in Kerrville I would have a leg up on everybody else," Imus said.

But it was not to be. "A woman won, a dog murderer was second, and Kinky was third," said Imus, who wondered if the many colors of Bo's face were an indication of imminent death. He further wondered how Bo's death would affect this show.

"Would the headline be, 'Guest Dies on Imus Show?'" he wondered. "Or would the headline be, 'Bo Dietl Dies on Show?'"

Bernard assured him it would be more along the lines of, "Somebody Else Dies Before The I-Man."

-Julie Kanfer

John Hiatt Sings About Some Freaky Stuff On His New Album "The Open Road"

John Hiatt, the singer/songwriter who, among other claims to fame, appeared on the Imus Ranch Record, Volume One, was just 11 years old when he caught the music bug.

"My older brother brought rock-and-roll records into the house, and I just caught the bug," said Hiatt, whose most recent album is "The Open Road."

He picked up the guitar around the same age, and benefited from friends with similar interests. "A couple of kids in my class picked it up around the same time I did, and we started a band about six months after we learned three chords," Hiatt added.

Not long after he learned a few chords, Hiatt, who just finished up a European tour with Lyle Lovett, began writing and singing songs.  Imus, a longtime fan, noted that some of the songs on "The Open Road, " Hiatt's 19th album, are edgier than his usual fare.

"I sat home, I took a year off from the road, and I think I just got a little antsy, Don," said Hiatt. "I wanted to rock and roll. I drove my wife crazy."

In the track "What Kind of Man," Hiatt references stealing morphine, which he said he actually did. "I stole my mother's morphine," he admitted. "My sisters had to remind me, that's how much of a mess I was."

But that was back in the early 1980s, and Hiatt promised Imus he's since straightened out. "Some of this is fiction," he said of his song lyrics on "The Open Road." "Some of it is so fictional, it's true; some of it is truer than fiction."

He praised his friend and tour buddy Lovett, saying he thinks the world of him on personal and professional levels. "Artistically, he's unbelievable," said Hiatt. "He's just got a certain slant on things. He studied journalism in school, and I think it shows in his thoroughness in his songs, the way he can kind of tell a story and get all the little details of the situation."

Hiatt will perform March 10 at Irving Plaza in New York City, and later this year he'll appear with The Levon Helm Band for some dates in Virginia.

"He's a saint," Imus said about Levon. "I can see this aura around him."

Hiatt's praise for Levon was equally spiritual. Shortly after Levon got his voice back a few years ago, Hiatt went to see him perform at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville and was blown away.

"He opened his mouth for a song, and it was as if the phoenix had arisen from the ashes," said Hiatt, who is no slouch himself.

-Julie Kanfer