The Steve Austin Show – Evel Knievel Talk (Dec. 8, 2015)

The Steve Austin Show
Guest: Lathan McKay, President of Evel Knievel Enterprises
Release Date: December 8, 2015

DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD

Recap by Corey Freedman

Top Newsworthy Items

– Austin and McKay talk about Evel Knievel memorabilia that McKay has collected throughout his life that he will be turning into a museum in Kansas.

– Austin discusses his lifelong love for Evel Knievel and they discuss the trials and tribulations of the iconic daredevil.

Subjects Covered (w/ Timestamps)

0:00 – Sponsor Ads
2:30 – Introduction
19:30 – Sponsor Ads
21:45 – Interview begins with Lathan McKay
37:30 – Sponsor Ad
38:52 – Interview Resumes
1:12:15 – Conclusion
1:15:35 – Show Ends

Show Highlights

Introduction: Steve welcomes his wife to the show for the introduction. Austin talks a bit about hunting deer with his father. He and his wife talk about how much work they have do down at the Broken Skull Ranch. Austin also tells a story from his time at the Texas Motor Speedway. Austin yells at a woodpecker that is making noise in the background of the podcast. He and his wife talk about their respective driving habits.

Interview with Lathan McKay: Austin is a huge Evel Knievel buff and he begins a discussion with McKay to talk all things Evel Knievel. McKay talks about getting into Knievel because he started skateboarding. McKay talks about playing Layne Staley in a movie. He also talks about starting his Evel Knievel memorabilia collection by purchasing a set of leathers online. His original goal was to collect as much as possible to have a traveling exhibit. McKay talks about how he goes about finding some of the memorabilia and what some of the most sought after items are. McKay is going to open a museum dedicated to Knievel in Topeka, Kansas.

Second half of interview with Lathan McKay: McKay talks about life on the road. He mentions that he wanted to have the same sponsors as Knievel. He talks about getting into business with Mack Trucks. McKay talks about two documentaries that he participated in. Specifically, he talks about wanting to provide new pictures/videos so that these new documentaries features new material/footage than ones people may have previously seen. They talk about the incident with Shelly Saltman. McKay says that Knievel’s problem with Saltman was that he trusted him as a friend to record him and write about him and he didn’t like some of the things that were written and took it as a personal attack. He notes that perhaps if he had not known Saltman personally, it wouldn’t have been a problem. Austin asks about the creation of the Evel Knievel character and how the “gimmick” developed.

The two talk about some of the bikes Knievel used to do some of his stunts. They also break down the Snake River jump. They talk about some of the ventures McKay has undertaken related to Knievel such as Evel Ale and some other beers that they are working on. They talk about an incident with the Hells Angels as well. They talk a lot about the documentary “Being Evel” which McKay was producer on. Austin and McKay talk briefly about Knievel’s wife and how she was able to stick by him for so long. McKay has events planned all throughout the year that will intertwine with the launching of the museum in Kansas. For more information, he has a facebook page under Evel Knievel Enterprises.

Conclusion: Ted Fowler will be Austin’s guest on Thursday’s Unleashed show.

Score and Review

Score (7.0): Another tough one to score from Austin and crew. I think this review can be pretty brief. If you are interested in Evel Knievel or are at least intrigued, than this is an entertaining/informative listen. Austin is a great interviewer and he and McKay have a nice, free-flowing conversation detailing many topics related to Knievel. However, if you are a wrestling fan only looking for wrestling discussion, then I would skip this entire show. Even in the introduction, Austin doesn’t talk about wrestling at all. That said, this was a well put together show and I always enjoy Austin’s interviews regardless of the topic. I knew nothing about Evel Knievel before the interview, and I thought it was an entertaining show.

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