The year 2008 represents a fascinating pivot point in the Howard Stern archive, marking a period where the "King of All Media" had fully settled into his satellite radio era while the world around him was undergoing massive cultural and political shifts.
December 31, 2008. 11:59 PM. Howard is alone in the studio, the staff already gone to a party he refused to attend. He pulls the old Jackie chair close and spins it. He lights a cigarette—illegal in the building—and exhales toward the smoke detector.
To understand the 2008 archive, you have to understand the vertigo of the era. In early 2006, Howard signed a five-year, $500 million contract with Sirius. He was the king of a kingdom of 6 million subscribers. By 2008, everything changed.
