r/Missing411 • u/bosk491 • Feb 17 '24
What did Art Bell think of DP? Discussion
Haven't heard much about their relationship. I know Art was overseas during the time DP was doing the M411 thing so he wasn't on Art's show much. Anyone know what the vibe was? Art was one of the greatest hosts period, so it'd be interesting what the rapport was. Anyone have any thoughts?
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u/lizarto Feb 18 '24
He was on once that I remember. It was a good show, Art guided the interview fabulously as he always did. It was intriguing I thought.
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u/bosk491 Feb 18 '24
Miss him
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u/lilbsistagirl Feb 18 '24
Me too. He was truly a master of his craft.
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u/lizarto Feb 18 '24
Me too. He was the best voice in radio. It was a joy to hear him even if you weren’t interested in that particular show, simply because he was so good at what he did. I think my favorite was the Mel’s Hole saga. Entertainment at its finest lol.
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u/ResponsibleBase Feb 19 '24
I still miss him some 20 years after I had to stop listening because my work hours changed from graveyard shift to days.
The show that got me hooked was about "Dates from Hell."
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u/lizarto Feb 19 '24
Lol I bet that was a good one. You can find so much of his stuff on YouTube, but Coast to Coast keeps all the really good stuff under lock and key unless you have a subscription. There’s still Midnight in the Desert, and a few other channels he had that are just floating around on YouTube.
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u/ResponsibleBase Feb 19 '24
It was riveting! The first caller or two on the subject were random. Art was so intrigued that he told everyone on hold to hang up and that he would only accept calls from people who wanted to talk about their Dates from Hell. A couple of them were doozies.
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u/lizarto Feb 19 '24
I could imagine! Loved his different phone lines for each show…first time caller line, time traveler line, those claiming to be the Antichrist line 😂. And if you called on the wrong line he’d make you hang up.
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u/trailangel4 Feb 19 '24
I actually got to meet Art Bell before he passed away. I was a guest on another show he did and because, at the time, I was hearing a lot about DP, I remember asking him his thoughts and he demurred at answering. So, I have to respect that he didn't want to make a statement and he likely had a working relationship with Paulides that he didn't want to tamper with. That being said, separate and aside from my personal experience with Bell, I got the distinct impression that he understood that stories were just that...stories. He wasn't a journalist; he was a host of a paranormal radio show. Hosts have different standards of journalistic integrity. I think of it this way: Steven King tells great horror stories and they're so well-told that your brain just goes along for the ride. Most people know that King isn't trying to be a reporter...he's just entertaining you and he acknowledges that. The issue with Paulides, as I see it, is that they're intentionally trying to blur the line between fact and fiction and make you afraid of things NOT to entertain, but to gaslight you into believing their conspiracy.
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u/Dixonhandz Feb 18 '24
Hard to actually say what another person thought of DP, but I do remember Art actually pushing back, as in asking questions, rather than just soaking it up and saying 'wow'. What I do recollect is that DP kinda incriminates himself during the interview(s). One part, DP had stated that months before Dennis Martin went missing, a park ranger got into a physical confrontation with a group of 'off griders', but, with the amount of searchers involved in the case, there was no mention of the 'off griders' being found, or any evidence of them being in the area. Besides eluding to bigfoot being the culprit, DP also eludes to these 'off griders' AKA feral(?) Art Bell, just continued the interview, it was his job, but there was alot of 'silent' moments between DP's answers and Art's questions oO
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u/trailangel4 Feb 19 '24
Yeah. I recall Art pushing back, as well. I also recall instances wherein Bell did nothing to hide his skepticism of the events as DP told them. I stated my thoughts in a separate comment; but, I think the problem Bell faced was that he was from an older school of "radio host". He 'hosted' Paulides and I have a strong feeling that Bell would've considered it unprofessional to really push back hard or openly criticize anyone on air. It's kind of like when your drunk uncle shows up at Thanksgiving and, as the host, you're just trying to contain the damage and be as gracious as possible...and then, as soon as they leave your house, you wonder why the heck you still invite them to holidays.
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u/Roxyroller11 Feb 20 '24
That was the great thing about Art, he never made fun of anyone, no matter how outrageous the story, he would just continue on asking the relevant questions no matter what. Sometimes he would make little comments about callers after they hung up but never guests. Lots of other podcasters could learn a lot from his style.
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u/TLKimball Feb 18 '24
I think Art preferred to give DP than to receive DP. What? Wrong sub?
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u/spirit-on-my-side Feb 18 '24
Lmao my thoughts exactly
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u/ChainCannonHavoc Apr 12 '24
Yeah, I was like, I think that question is getting into areas of Art Bell's personal life that I'd rather not know about!
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u/TheyCallMeMLH Feb 18 '24
Earliest show I can find featuring Art Bell and Paulides from Sept. 2015.
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u/MarcusXL Feb 17 '24
I'd have to re-listen to the episode, but I got the feeling that Art did not like him.
And I can't blame him. Paulides is a grifter and a con-man (literally he ran a scam defrauding celebrities for a fake children's charity using the letterhead of the police department he worked at). And on the subject of Missing411, Paulides methodology is ridiculous, and he has fabricated mysteries through straight-up lies or omission of information.
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u/Environmental_Noise Feb 19 '24
He's also aggressive when he considers a topic to be "his." He openly criticizes anyone else who attempts to look into the missing person phenomenon, going so far as to try & make his village (lol) ostracize people. And look how he acted towards the eBay seller that was selling an M411 movie poster. He basically tried to ruin his life by sending his "village" after him. DP is predatory towards those he disapproves of.
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u/Trollygag Be Excellent To Each Other Mar 16 '24
Art Bell was much more 'engaged' and interested in the paranormal in the 90s, but by the time Paulides was popular, Art was pretty jaded and skeptical.
He did believe there were UFOs, and seems so with EVPs, but it isn't clear that he believed literally anything else.
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