I'm nobody.

I said that to Bill O'Reilly on my podcast. He'd just told me he knows everybody. "Even you, James."

That's how you know he means everybody.

This was his third time on my podcast. At the end, he thanked me for reading his book.

"Many interviewers don’t do that," he said.

Bill’s written more bestsellers than I've written grocery lists. He goes on show after show. And the host flips to the back cover five minutes before airtime and asks, "So what's the book about?"

That's how you get the same interview forty times in a row.

Maybe I’m the only podcaster who reads every guest’s book. I’ve done it for over a decade. And I always learn something new and hear stories nobody’s heard before. 

Like this one… 

How Often Does This Happen? 

After the election, before Trump was sworn in for his second term, Biden's national security team needed to reach the president-elect. Hostages were sitting in Gaza. Netanyahu wanted Trump's sign-off on the mechanics of a deal.

They couldn't get through.

So Jake Sullivan called a friend of Bill's. Bill set up the call.

He moderated it. He offered no opinion. Trump was on the line and knew every detail, Bill says. About two weeks later, four hostages walked free.

I sat there thinking: how many phone calls like that happen every day that we never hear about?

Most of them. That's how the world works. The real story is almost always the one nobody reports.

Which brought us to talking about the media. 

Why The Media Hates Good News 

Bill knows how the media works better than anyone. He said they hate good news. 

He pointed to a recent report—American households have more assets than ever, and the poverty rate is at a record low. He says CNN never mentioned it.

I pushed back. Americans have had record assets almost every year since 2010. Is that even news?

Bill's answer: the numbers are new, and they keep going up. Meanwhile all you hear about is gas and groceries.

He has a point. Fear sells. Fear always sells. I've been reading headlines for 40 years. If I'd traded on every scary one, I'd be broke. Actually, I have been broke. More than once. Usually because I listened to the scary headlines.

Then I asked him an uncomfortable question.

What About Bill? 

Didn't shows like his start this? The O'Reilly Factor launched in 1996. Opinion all day. Didn't that open the door? 

He said the Factor told you it was opinion. Every newspaper has an op-ed page. TV didn't. So he built one. Back then his audience was roughly 60% conservative and 40% liberal. He wanted it that way. He brought on people who disagreed with him and got into shootouts.

Now? Every channel brings in people who agree with the channel. Easy money. Preach to the choir and the choir pays.

Trump just kicked CNN, MS NOW, and Politico out of the White House. Bill has no love for any of them. Bill said it was a bad move. 

"I would have shunned them," he said. Seats in the back. Never call on them. But never kick them out. 

That's a business lesson, too. Don't fight the people who want a fight. Ignore them. Attention is oxygen.

A Life Fully Lived

I'll admit it. 

I was more opinionated in this interview than I usually am. We talked about New York City, where I lived my whole adult life. We talked about Mayor Mamdani's plan for city-run grocery stores that charge 20% less.

Grocery margins are about 1%. Do the math. Every bodega near one of those stores goes out of business. The bodega owner opens at 6 a.m. and closes at midnight. He's the one who pays.

Bill agreed. You don't have to. Listen and decide.

But the part I keep thinking about came at the end.

In the book, Bill writes that his father's final words were about never reaching his potential. That's a heavy thing to hear from your dad. Some people spend their whole lives running from a sentence like that.

So I asked Bill: Have you reached yours?

I expected him to say no. Everyone ambitious says no. There's always one more mountain.

He said he's pretty much done everything. No more quests. He still wants to do a good show every day. But if someone walked in tomorrow and said, "O'Reilly, you're out," he'd say thank you.

I don't know if I'll ever feel that way.

But I'd like to.

Maybe that's the real potential. Being able to say "enough" and mean it.

The book is Confronting America: What Has to Change. The episode is live now.

Even if you disagree with Bill, the podcast is worth a listen.