The Last Schmooze

Your weekly dose of music, media & money—click here to subscribe fully.

The first and last time I tried calling in to New York sports talk radio station WFAN, I was about nine years old. I had a question about baseball player Jeff Kent’s contract status—but when I dialed the station, I was informed I’d reached a taxi company, and promptly hung up. 

I’ll never know if the person on the other end was a befuddled livery dispatcher or a prankster radio host. But I decided if I ever called again, I’d d...