The Back Booth
WBDG 1040 AM | Broadcast Log No. 2 | Night of Saturday, October 10, 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, up and under]
1:03 a.m.HOSTGood morning or good night, whichever one you're holding. This is The Back Booth on WBDG, ten-forty AM. I'm Hap Larder, in the back booth of the Big Dog Diner, the one by the pie case.
1:04 a.m.[kitchen noise, plates, a fryer hissing]
1:05 a.m.HOSTPru's on the dock. Ines has the east kiosk lit. Walter's circling the block with the meter off. Hello, all three of you. Coffee's fresh. Well, it's hot.
1:14 a.m.HOSTI've got a note from management. I have to read it as written.
1:15 a.m.HOST[paper rustling] Quote. Nezbec Fruit Co. conducts business in writing and does not take telephone inquiries. Nothing broadcast on this program is a communication of the Organization. End quote. There. Read under protest, with a mouthful of toast.
1:22 a.m.ADPeach Pepper Jam. Brushfire Farms makes it, ten dollars a jar. I put it on a biscuit last Tuesday and then I stood in the walk-in for a minute. Just stood there. Sweet first, then the pepper comes up behind it like somebody in a hallway. Ten dollars. Available through Madeline's.
1:31 a.m.HOSTPhones are lit. Go ahead, you're on the Back Booth.
1:32 a.m.CALLER (TOMASZ)Hap. Long time. I wrote the desk and asked who was here before you. Before the Organization, I mean. Nobody answered me.
1:33 a.m.HOSTWell, Tomasz, they write back slow. Before the Organization there was an older outfit with no name. Before that, Pappa Chaga's kiosks, every corner, a griddle and a radio. I wasn't here for the start of it.
1:34 a.m.HOSTSome of the records got lost in the Wars. We don't go into that. And there's a year the paperwork gets shy about. You know the one. I'll leave it on the shelf.
1:35 a.m.CALLER (TOMASZ)Fair enough. Thanks, Hap.
1:48 a.m.[music, slow piano, 3 min]
2:02 a.m.HOSTWalter just honked outside. That's his hello. Everybody wave at the window.
2:09 a.m.CALLER (BEA, NORTH LOT)Evening. Morning. I asked the desk to tell me my fortune and they said no. So I'm asking you.
2:10 a.m.HOSTBea, the Committee declined that one too, and they've got a whole room for it. All I can see from here is a cherry pie, and it's going fast. That's your fortune. Somebody's about to be disappointed about the pie, and it won't be you if you come now.
2:11 a.m.CALLER (BEA, NORTH LOT)I'll take the pie.
2:18 a.m.ADGolden Reserve Black Tea, plant-based tea bags, from so gud. Eighteen dollars a box. I don't know what plant-based tea bags are made of and I'm not going to pretend. I just like the little paper square. Steep it in a thick white mug. Eighteen dollars. Available through Madeline's.
2:30 a.m.CALLER (LOU, EAST KIOSK)Hap, where does the fruit come from? I sell it by the bag and people ask me and I make something up.
2:31 a.m.HOSTLou, make something up. That's tradition. The honest answer is Primary Operations, and the regions are restricted. The crates come in on Pru's dock. I don't ask past the dock.
2:32 a.m.[Pru, distant: "Pears Thursday!"]
2:33 a.m.HOSTPears Thursday. There you go, Lou. Founder says rivers move. So does fruit.
2:46 a.m.HOSTI'll tell you a bit of gossip, and then I'll never say it again. There's an old memo, one-nine-nine-five dash two-oh-eight, about a phone line nobody owns. Billed since 1987. It runs into a wall in Room 6B. I think about that line when it gets quiet. Anyway.
2:47 a.m.[dead air, 12 sec]
2:55 a.m.ADEight-Year-Aged Cheddar, from Cheese Brothers, Incorporated. Twelve ninety-five. Eight years. I can't keep a houseplant eight months. Slice it thick, put it on rye, say thank you to the brothers. Twelve ninety-five. Available through Madeline's.
3:04 a.m.CALLER (INES)Hap, it's Ines. Somebody asked me for provisions for a closed-door meeting. I said I'd ask you.
3:05 a.m.HOSTAsk them to put it in writing, Ines. A request, to the desk. And whoever's behind the door, I hope somebody remembers to bring something to eat. Meetings run long.
3:06 a.m.CALLER (INES)I'll tell them. Counter's quiet over here. Good night, Hap.
3:20 a.m.[kitchen noise, a spatula dropped, laughter]
3:21 a.m.HOSTThat was the new fry cook. He's fine. He's learning the grill.
3:35 a.m.HOSTOne more reminder from the Organization, in their words. The napkin census is a single night. Count your dispenser, leave it full, and report in writing. I counted mine. I won't say the number. It's a nice number.
3:52 a.m.HOSTGetting on toward morning. Truckers, nurses, Tomasz, Bea, whoever you are. Thank you for keeping me company.
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: Peach Pepper Jam
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. 1 | Night of Saturday, October 3, 2026. First Back Booth broadcast: a napkin census notice, a caller asks what the Committee eats, coat check gossip, three ads. |
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