About Live Wire: The Loud Life and Shocking Murder of Alan Berg
Alan Berg was starting over as a divorcee, disbarred lawyer and recovering alcoholic when he found his true calling on the radio. His brash and bold on-air persona made him one of the true renegades in a “shock jock” revolution that took over broadcast media in the 1980s. Despite the numerous enemies the brash Berg made through his radio show, the world was stunned when he was assassinated outside his Denver home. The case would languish for months before uncovering the shocking truth about the white-supremacist militia that marked Alan Berg for death.
Decades after his shocking murder, Alan Berg was mostly forgotten, even among the people of Denver who had fallen in love with his radio show. That tide turned in 2022 when the Denver Press Club finally inducted him into their Hall of Fame. But what took so long? And what could Alan Berg have become had his life not ended so tragically and so abruptly? All that and more is explored in our final episode.
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12 Aug 2025TRANSCRIPT
Episode 9: The Trial of the Order.
After their leader is killed in a violent firefight with federal agents, the remaining members of the Order come together to stand trial in a Seattle courtroom. For the first time, Alan Berg's friends and colleagues are privy to all the details of exactly who killed this titan of talk radio and the lengths they went to in order to track him down. And one particular detail in the prosecution's case truly shocks the staff at KOA radio in Denver, revealing that at one point a member of the Order actually walked amongst them.
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
5 Aug 2025TRANSCRIPT
Episode 8: Standoff at Whidbey Island.
Following the discovery of the weapon used to murder Alan Berg, Wayne Manis and the FBI close in on the Order's leader, Robert Mathews. Their attempt to bring Mathews to justice culminates in a violent and fiery exchange on Whidbey Island, Washington. And the details of that standoff between Mathews and authorities proved just as startling as the decision made by Denver's district attorney, Norman Early.
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29 Jul 2025TRANSCRIPT
Episode 7: Cracking the Case.
Following the shocking murder of popular radio host Alan Berg, local law enforcement in Denver went weeks without much of a lead. But all that changed when an armored car was held up hundreds of miles away in Ukiah, California. A single piece of evidence from that brazen robbery swiftly cracked the case wide open, with FBI agent Wayne Manis uncovering a direct link between Berg's murder and a violent organization no one had heard of up to that point.
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
22 Jul 2025TRANSCRIPT
Episode 6: Mourning a Friend, Investigating a Murder.
In the wake of the shocking assassination of Alan Berg, KOA staff were forced to balance mourning their friend with the task of reporting his murder. All while the Denver Police Department struggled to find any leads. As station manager Lee Larsen worked to maintain calm and order at KOA, his producers got to work finding out who could have committed this crime. And eventually the case broke wide open in a way nobody could have expected.
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
15 Jul 2025TRANSCRIPT
Episode 5: The Danger Zone.
As the biggest name in Denver talk radio, Alan Berg knew a thing or two about which topics got callers and listeners riled up. And nothing got the phonelines buzzing quite like the nexus between religion and race. That realization inspired Berg to invite a number of high-profile white supremacist leaders onto his show. It's a formula that earned Berg plenty of enemies. So many that his shocking 1984 murder left Denver police absolutely perplexed.
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
8 Jul 2025TRANSCRIPT
Episode 4: Boiling Point.
This episode explores how Alan Berg's radio show sparks controversy and attracts attention from white nationalists and 60 Minutes as his provocative discussions intensify, ultimately making him a target.
1 Jul 2025TRANSCRIPT
Episode 3: The Man You Love to Hate.
This episode explores how Alan Berg's shrewd business sense and outspoken radio persona, covering politics and sex, ultimately made him a target.
24 Jun 2025TRANSCRIPT
Episode 2: First day at KOA.
Alan Berg joins KOA and immediately stirs controversy by engaging and antagonizing listeners, particularly regarding religion, showcasing his confrontational style in Denver radio; this is an episode about his early career.
17 Jun 2025TRANSCRIPT
Episode 1: Who was Alan Berg?
This episode explores the life and career of controversial radio personality Alan Berg, who rose to fame before his shocking murder in 1984, revealing his impact.
10 Jun 2025TRANSCRIPT
Introducing: Live Wire: The Loud Life and Shocking Murder of Alan Berg
This episode introduces the podcast, "Live Wire: The Loud Life and Shocking Murder of Alan Berg," but provides no specific details about the content.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
419,108,275
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
3.8 / 5
39 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 67 / 100
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