# How do callers know what the guys or the previous caller just said? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Show\ **Created:** [December 9, 2017, 5:43pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-know-what-the-guys-or-the-previous-caller-just-said/110150 "2017-12-09T17:43:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Vchimpanzee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ba8739/32.png) [@Vchimpanzee](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Vchimpanzee)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 5:43pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-know-what-the-guys-or-the-previous-caller-just-said/110150/1 "2017-12-09T17:43:19Z")
I continue to listen to the new podcasts through the NPR site. If callers get a response from the guys (which has to be at a time when they’re not listening to the show they will be on) and pretend they’re calling in to a live show, how do they know what happened? ---
**Author:** ![VOLVO-V70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8e8cbc/32.png) [@VOLVO-V70](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VOLVO-V70)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 6:55pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-know-what-the-guys-or-the-previous-caller-just-said/110150/2 "2017-12-09T18:55:25Z")
I really do not understand your obsession over something like this. There are not any program directors here . ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 8:05pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-know-what-the-guys-or-the-previous-caller-just-said/110150/3 "2017-12-09T20:05:32Z")
Plus all of the programs are re-runs so the callers have been gone years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Purebred](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/purebred/32/46796_2.png) [@Purebred](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Purebred)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 8:36pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-know-what-the-guys-or-the-previous-caller-just-said/110150/4 "2017-12-09T20:36:22Z")
I called into a different program. While I was waiting my turn I could listen on the phone. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 10:22pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-know-what-the-guys-or-the-previous-caller-just-said/110150/5 "2017-12-09T22:22:04Z")
> [@bing](#): > > Plus **all** of the programs are re-runs… …from as long as 20 years ago… 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![shanonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@shanonia](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shanonia)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 10:30pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-know-what-the-guys-or-the-previous-caller-just-said/110150/6 "2017-12-09T22:30:53Z")
The show is edited. It started as a call-in show but “does anybody screen these calls?” became a factor. Then they took calls and questions off-air and called back the people they might have wanted on the show. Those pre-arranged conversations were made, taped, and eventually edited and pieced together to make a one hour show. ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2017, 1:59am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-know-what-the-guys-or-the-previous-caller-just-said/110150/7 "2017-12-10T01:59:37Z")
Not sure what you mean. When a call was recorded, the caller was in fact talking in real time to Tom and Ray. the caller didn’t have to listen to the show (on the radio) to hear what Ray and Tom said, they were talking w/Ray and Tom on the phone. The callers were screened by the producers to insure the calls would be interesting and of general interest, but Tom and Ray were not privileged to that info before taking the call. They were just told to pick up the phone & talk to whoever was on the line. The main difference with a live call-in show was that Car Talk was taped on Thursday, then broadcast on the following weekend by the NPR stations, at whatever time each station chose. ---
**Author:** ![Vchimpanzee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ba8739/32.png) [@Vchimpanzee](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Vchimpanzee)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2017, 6:36pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-know-what-the-guys-or-the-previous-caller-just-said/110150/8 "2017-12-10T18:36:36Z")
How is this an obsession? I’m asking a question. The callers have not heard any of the show, and yet they seem to know what happened on the show that they will be on. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2017, 10:04pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-know-what-the-guys-or-the-previous-caller-just-said/110150/9 "2017-12-10T22:04:36Z")
> [@vchimpanzee](#): > > The callers have not heard any of the show, and yet they seem to know what happened on the show that they will be on. All of that is actually in the **past** tense when you are listening to these old, recycled programs. ---
**Author:** ![Vchimpanzee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ba8739/32.png) [@Vchimpanzee](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Vchimpanzee)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2017, 5:22pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-know-what-the-guys-or-the-previous-caller-just-said/110150/10 "2017-12-11T17:22:25Z")
That’s irrelevant to the question. I’m asking how they know what was on the show before their call. Someone mentioned that there was a time when it was a live show. Maybe at least some of these callers heard something on the actual show before their call was answered. However, they put the show together from calls made earlier for such a long time that I doubt this is true. ---
**Author:** ![insightful](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/insightful/32/2732_2.png) [@insightful](https://community.cartalk.com/u/insightful)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2017, 5:24pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-know-what-the-guys-or-the-previous-caller-just-said/110150/11 "2017-12-11T17:24:54Z")
> [@vchimpanzee](#): > > I’m asking how they know what was on the show before their call. Because it’s all recorded over one hour with all callers listening on the phone. ---
**Author:** ![VOLVO-V70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8e8cbc/32.png) [@VOLVO-V70](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VOLVO-V70)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2017, 5:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-know-what-the-guys-or-the-previous-caller-just-said/110150/12 "2017-12-11T17:27:33Z")
> [@vchimpanzee](#): > > That’s irrelevant to the question. I’m asking how they know what was on the show before their call. The last new show was in 2012 , just listen and enjoy the repeat podcasts . ---
**Author:** ![Vchimpanzee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ba8739/32.png) [@Vchimpanzee](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Vchimpanzee)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2017, 5:59pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-know-what-the-guys-or-the-previous-caller-just-said/110150/13 "2017-12-11T17:59:37Z")
That’s an interesting idea. I never heard they did that. I thought they talked to each individual caller separately and put it all together. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2017, 6:36pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-know-what-the-guys-or-the-previous-caller-just-said/110150/14 "2017-12-11T18:36:35Z")
I’m crushed. Crushed I tell you. ---
**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2017, 9:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-know-what-the-guys-or-the-previous-caller-just-said/110150/15 "2017-12-11T21:40:02Z")
From my understanding…the calls were done hours if not days in advance. I use to work with a guy who went to MIT with Tom and played poker with him a few times a year. They would sometimes record up to 10 (sometimes 20) people, but not use them all on the show. Most of the time they did, but not always. ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 2:46am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-know-what-the-guys-or-the-previous-caller-just-said/110150/16 "2017-12-12T02:46:08Z")
> [@insightful](#): > > Because it’s all recorded over one hour with all callers listening on the phone. I’m guessing that’s the way it was done, although it probably took 2-3 hours of callers talking to Tom and Ray to come up with one hour’s of show content. ---
**Author:** ![Vchimpanzee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ba8739/32.png) [@Vchimpanzee](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Vchimpanzee)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 4:50pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-know-what-the-guys-or-the-previous-caller-just-said/110150/17 "2017-12-13T16:50:20Z")
So I guess anyone actually listening to the calls that went into the one-hour show could make the comment about content that wasn’t part of that caller’s question. ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 12:50am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-do-callers-know-what-the-guys-or-the-previous-caller-just-said/110150/18 "2017-12-14T00:50:32Z")
Yes, if they heard an earlier call they might comment about it during their own call. I don’t recall that happening very often though. Presumably if a caller commented about an earlier call, but one that didn’t make the cut for the broadcast, they’d edit that comment out.