Oliver Stone's controversial career

“Talk Radio” (1988)

It’s obvious enough today that talk radio is a powerful and influential medium. But "Talk Radio," released some 20 years ago, was one of the first films to survey a world in which extremism begets ratings, and where fandom can quickly mutate into celebrity worship and obsession.

The hero, a local Texas talk show host (Eric Bogosian), is not just any radio personality. He’s a raging, self-hating exhibitionist who mocks and threatens his listeners on the air, and who embraces threats against his life because it leads to better ratings (he brings a possible mail bomb into the studio and opens it during his show).