GE 1995 Season 2 Episode 6: Linda Reardigan Interview
Note: this is not a transcript, but a working draft of the script, so there may be differences in the aired version.
LINDA REARDIGAN -- SHOW # 6
PAUL: One of this show's former hosts,
Linda Reardigan, went on to international
radio notoriety. She hosted hit shows in
Cuba and in Europe. She has just published
her autobiography, "Breakfast with Fidel".
It's a great thrill to welcome her back to
the Great Eastern. Linda Reardigan, you are
looking muy fabuloso.
LINDA: Thanks, Paul. It's been, what? twenty-five
years?
PAUL: Wow -- very full years for you.
LINDA: I do my best.
PAUL: Reading your autobiography is like looking
behind every major headline in living
memory. But, you know, first thing's first:
I always thought you'd hi-jacked that plane
to Cuba in 1972 ?
LINDA: No, regular economy.
PAUL: Smoking or non ?
LINDA: Smoking.
PAUL: Window ?
LINDA: Aisle.
PAUL: And you walked right off that plane and into
revolutionary celebrity.
LINDA: Ya, I started doing your basic propaganda /
variety / record spin on co-op radio. And
it became the first local programme in years
that Cubans actually listened to.
PAUL: Why did the show have such amazing popular
appeal ?
LINDA: It was in English. And the music was always
excellent.
PAUL: And this brought you to the attention of the
authorities ?
LINDA: Yeah, and for services to the revolution, I
was awarded the "Order of the New Man for
Women."
PAUL: Quite an honour.
LINDA: Communists give good medal.
PAUL: And this is where you met El Presidente ?
LINDA: After the ceremony, there was a little
party. Fidel just couldn't keep his eyes
off my awards.
PAUL: I can see how that might happen.
LINDA: We danced, ... Fido suggested that workers
of the world should unite ... I said that it
was definitely the moment for a breakthrough
in north-south relations ... we agreed that
the sugar cane was unusually juicy this year
and should be harvested as soon as possible
...
PAUL: And then ?
LINDA: He dipped me.
PAUL: So, a good dancer obviously, but bottom
line, here, Linda: Fidel Castro: great Latin
lover ?
LINDA: A typical guerrilla: rearguard action and a
quick withdrawal.
PAUL: Well from each according to his abilities
...
LINDA: But to each according to her needs.
PAUL: Now, surprize, surprize, we have a tape of
one of your programmes ...
LINDA: Where did you get that ?
PAUL: I have friends that used to ... do a lot of
... sailing in the Caribbean and they used
to send me ... tapes. This is Habana Linda
on Radio Florida Libre!
SFX: LATIN RADIO CRAZINESS
STEVE: LATIN RADIO CRAZINESS
LINDA ON RADIO: So the marines are rolling ashore in
Grenada, huh ? Keeping the world free for
banking, are we ? Hey, Uncle Sam, try
picking on someone your own size for a
change ! Moral Pip-Squeaks ! Try taking on
Cuba, Ronny ! Remember the Bay Of Pigs.
Come on over ! Come on ! I'll take ye all
on ! Come at me, boys ! Come on ! Take
your best shot !
PAUL: They never let me have that kind of reverb
here at the BCN. Now, you and Fidel are no
longer an item, why'd you break up?
LINDA: Communication problems, ironically. I'd say
it was his turn to pick up Ricki from
daycare, and he'd go on for hours about the
need for one more sacrifice for the
revolution.
PAUL: Of course ... you had a child together.
LINDA: I had the child; we were together. Ricki
just turned twenty-three. He's just
graduating from the Harvard Business School.
PAUL: Say it ain't so.
LINDA: Thinks everything should be privatized.
PAUL: Even public broadcasting ?
LINDA: Fraid so.
PAUL: The worst !
LINDA: Well, you try to love your kids, but seeing
him writing for The Globe and Mail and The
New Republic, hanging out with the likes of
David Frum.
PAUL: Oh my god, Linda, I'm so sorry. What do you
think could have happened ?
LINDA: I really don't know. He spent his whole
life taking advantage of the very
"entitlements" that he's now attacking with
such virulence. When he was a baby I did,
accidentally, drop him down the Odessa
Steps, maybe that's it.
PAUL: So, after Cuba, international acclaim.
LINDA: Ya, we'd been interviewing all the socialist
leaders as they came to Cuba, and my
producer, Fat Tony Figueroa, had a great
idea ... repackage the shows and syndicate
them in Europe. And that's how "Red Heads"
was born.
PAUL: A huge success. Were you surprised?
LINDA: Not at all: the sensitive side of communist
despots ? Guaranteed hit. I had Kim Il
Sung weeping over memories of his mom --
huge numbers.
PAUL: And almost overnight, you were the Socialite
International. But what's left for old
lefty's now, Linda, with the collapse of the
wall, etc. What are they doing ?
LINDA: Starting microbreweries, organic
greenhouses, free-range chickens, importing
exotic lumber ... hanging on desperately to
their civil service jobs ...
PAUL: In Cuba ?
LINDA: No, Paul, Canada.
PAUL: Ya, it's pathetic. Now, what's this I hear
about you getting into the video market.
LINDA: That's right, Paul. I'm about to release a
"Boxercising" video in conjunction with
Zagner Cable International.
PAUL: How'd you get mixed up with Zagner's people?
I think I should warn you...
LINDA: Well, Paul, this is as good a time as any to
announce to the Newfoundland public my
engagement to Aaron Zagner.
PAUL: No way.
LINDA: Yes, next October.
PAUL: Wonders never cease. Congratulations, I
guess. Thanks for coming in, and hasta la
vista, baby.
LINDA: Thanks for having me.
PAUL: Linda Reardigan's new book, "Breakfast with
Fidel," is published by Yorkville.