Talkback: Emperors of Air

'You're a despicable little person, you are. You despicable piece of trash' .Stan Zemanek, on air 'Let [Howard] be warned that every woman of childbearing age in China will be watching Australia s decision. So half of 1.2 billion people Let's get on the next boat, they'll say.' Alan Jones, on air 'I don't kick around with the big nobs at all' .John Laws, on air 'Knowledge is power, and knowledge is reading and reading and reading, and listening to me'.Bob Francis, on air 'Well the UN tells Canberra what to do, or not so much the UN, it ll be a giant regional government in Beijing. I m not joking. This is what they're planning.' Brian Wilshire, on air 'Hi. Thanks for being with us today. Hope we can be good company and comfort to you in these troubled times, with panic and punishment combining to create another crisis for the public'.Howard Sattler, on air 'Unpretentious, tendentious opinion. Aggressive opinion. Scoffing, sneering, scandalising opinion. That's clearly what the market wants.' Phillip Adams, on talkback The emperors of air are funny guys. Sometimes funnier than they realise. They re also irresistible salesmen, but what are they selling? Talkback brings to book readers what the proprietors of radio stations would perhaps want to leave on the airwaves transcripts of the wit and wisdom of the talkback emperors introduced with customary flair by Phillip Adams. Hilarious, shocking, depressing and outrageous, Talkback calls into question the values, methods and influence of these self-proclaimed arbiters of public opinion.