Sometimes, though, it does seem like its host is simply going through the motions, checking off questions in a perfunctory fashion, and sounding like his heart isn’t into this project quite as much as it used to be. He is, after all, 73 years old, and he has spent more time on the air interviewing a wider variety of people than anyone else that I can think of. Likewise, he has “heard it all” many times over, and it is probably hard to maintain a consistently high level of energy and enthusiasm for topics that are now far from being fresh, new, or original. But how many things, from remote viewing and ufology to the problem of the “lost history” of the human race have gained popular currency through their discussion on this program? For anyone paying attention to these tropes, Coast to Coast has been like an ongoing seminar in Fortean studies (and much more), and it would be hard to overestimate its influence on popular culture.

Moreover, Mr. Noory has accomplished something like the impossible, first by keeping the program current for all of these years and remaining mostly true to its original intent. You don’t have to *believe in* everything that is presented, but it is set forth in a fashion that never demeans the guest and allows him or her a respectful, long forum opportunity to present the best case that they possibly can for their beliefs. In the course of this, he has developed a dependable stable of guest hosts, including Mr. Syrett, who adhere to this philosophy while bringing their own distinctive backgrounds and style to the ongoing search for what’s real.

Finally — and I do see this as rather remarkable — Coast to Coast under Mr. Noory’s tenure has managed to shoot the rapids of political partisanship and pretty much refrain from taking sides in our country’s ongoing cultural civil war. Instead, he has always focused more on what unties us as a country and culture, and Coast has remained (unlike most of the programming on Fox, CNN, PBS, and NPR) as the last open watering hole where all of the animals can safely come to drink. And, I’d like to think, such carefully enforced neutrality has been maintained not out of timidity or lack of conviction but rather out of fundamental decency and respect. Thanks to Coast, once again, for providing this wonderful forum to one and all, agree or disagree what what might be said there.