The Back Booth
WBDG 1040 AM | Broadcast Log No. 1 | Night of Saturday, October 3, 2026
Log transcript of the overnight broadcast from the booth at the Big Dog Diner. Host: Hap Larder. Transcribed by station staff; portions inaudible.
1:02 a.m.[music, brass band, scratchy, fades under]
1:03 a.m.HOSTWBDG, ten-forty on your dial. This is The Back Booth, coming to you from the back booth. Hap Larder here. Coffee's on and the grill is warm.
1:05 a.m.[kitchen noise, a plate set down close to the microphone]
1:06 a.m.HOSTThat was Dolores with the pie. Say hello, Dolores. She says hello. She did not say hello. She waved.
1:09 a.m.HOSTQuiet out there tonight. Nice quiet, though. The kind you can set a cup down on.
1:14 a.m.HOSTI've got a note here that came taped to the register. I'm told I have to read it. Under protest. Here it goes.
1:15 a.m.HOSTQuote. The Organization advises that a one-night census of napkin dispensers at the Big Dog Diner and its former kiosks has been approved, reference VP-2026-0001. Staff are requested not to refill dispensers pending the count. The Organization does not take telephone inquiries regarding this matter. End quote.
1:16 a.m.HOSTSo that's that. Don't call about the napkins. I know you will.
1:22 a.m.ADLet's do a little business. Bison Hickory Smoked Snack Stick. Pearson Ranch Jerky. Two ninety-nine. That's a dollar short of three, and I checked the math twice. Keep one in the glove box, one in the coat. Available through Madeline's.
1:23 a.m.[music, short, a few bars]
1:31 a.m.HOSTPhone's lit up. Line one. You're on The Back Booth.
1:32 a.m.CALLER (INES)Hap, it's Ines, east kiosk. Somebody left a question on my counter tonight. Wants to know what the Committee eats.
1:33 a.m.HOSTHa. Ines, good question. Honest answer, I don't know.
1:34 a.m.HOSTNobody from upstairs has ever sat at my counter. Not once. But I'll tell you what I've noticed. Orders come in writing. Never a voice. A slip comes down, and it says coffee, and it says toast, and it says nothing else.
1:35 a.m.CALLER (INES)That's all? Toast?
1:36 a.m.HOSTDry toast, plain slice. I'd guess they eat what the paperwork allows. Though I'd like to think somebody in that room sneaks a Big Dog Burger home in a napkin. We can't count the napkins yet, so we'll never know.
1:37 a.m.CALLER (INES)Ha. Okay. Thanks, Hap.
1:38 a.m.HOSTAnytime, Ines. Watch your lights out there.
1:50 a.m.[music, slow, a clarinet]
2:04 a.m.HOSTStill here. Still pouring. Somebody at table six is asleep with his hand around a fork. Let him be.
2:11 a.m.ADHere's one I can't say much about, and I'll be plain with you. Fat Gold Standard 2024. From Fat Gold. Thirty-two dollars. I have not opened one. The card says what the card says, and I'm reading you the card. Available through Madeline's.
2:13 a.m.[dead air, 12 sec]
2:14 a.m.HOSTSorry. Lost my place. Where was I. Right. Line two.
2:15 a.m.CALLER (WALTER)Hap, Walter. Parked out front. Listen, you hear about that paper? NF-GA-1998-112. Somebody brought a coat check ticket from this very diner, for a coat that was already picked up.
2:16 a.m.HOSTI heard it was a rumor. A number going around the cab stand. I'll say this. We still have the hooks. We do not have the old ticket book. A lot got lost in the Wars, and we don't go into that on this program.
2:17 a.m.CALLER (WALTER)So whose coat was it?
2:18 a.m.HOSTWalter, I wasn't there. I'd say somebody has two coats and one hook. Happens to the best of us.
2:19 a.m.CALLER (WALTER)Fair enough. Pie's on me next time.
2:20 a.m.HOSTYou always say that.
2:34 a.m.[kitchen noise, a pan scraped, a short laugh in the background]
2:41 a.m.HOSTPru's on the loading dock tonight. Pru, you out there? Flash the porch light.
2:42 a.m.CALLER (PRU)Light's flashing. Hap, that napkin count. Is it all the dispensers, even the old kiosks? Some of those boxes are sealed since ninety-six.
2:43 a.m.HOSTPru. We don't say that year on the air. We say the year before, and we say the year after.
2:44 a.m.CALLER (PRU)Right. Sorry. Sealed since a while back.
2:45 a.m.HOSTThat's better. The note says every dispenser. I suppose they mean every one. Take a pencil.
3:05 a.m.HOSTOne more word from Madeline's, then I'll let the night get on with itself.
3:06 a.m.AD5 Year Aged Cheddar. Keystone Cheese. Fifteen dollars. Five years is a long time to wait for anything, and this wedge did it without complaining. Put it on a plate with whatever bread you've got. Available through Madeline's.
3:08 a.m.[music, piano, soft]
3:25 a.m.HOSTFounder says breakfast comes from two climates. I used to think that was just a saying. Then I worked the grill a few winters and I understood it a little.
3:41 a.m.[dead air, 40 sec]
3:42 a.m.HOSTThat's the sound of the whole diner chewing. I love it.
3:50 a.m.HOSTGetting on toward morning. Truckers, nurses, whoever you are. Thank you for keeping me company. The napkins are all still in the boxes, for now.
3:57 a.m.HOSTThis was The Back Booth on WBDG, ten-forty. I'm Hap Larder. Eat something. Goodnight.
3:59 a.m.[music, brass band, fades out]
Heard on the program: Bison Hickory Smoked Snack Stick5 Year Aged CheddarFat Gold Standard 2024
Earlier Broadcasts
| No. 3 | Night of Saturday, October 17, 2026. Hap takes calls from Pru, Walter and Ines, reads a stiff notice under protest, and sells almond butter, marinara, maple syrup. |
|---|---|
| No. 2 | Night of Saturday, October 10, 2026. Hap takes calls on prior occupancy, fortunes, fruit and closed-door meetings, reads a stiff notice, and sells jam, tea, cheddar. |
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