With all the division, noise, and straight-up madness happening in the world right now, I keep circling back to one thought: what would George Carlin have to say about all of this?

Carlin wasn’t just a comic — he was the right voice at the right time. In the 1970s, everything was shifting: politics, religion, culture, values. It was messy. And then here comes Carlin, standing onstage with nothing but a mic and a brain like a buzzsaw, slicing straight through the lies. He didn’t sugarcoat. He didn’t care who he offended. He said the things people were thinking but were too afraid to say out loud. That was power — raw, unfiltered, and absolutely necessary.

And here we are in 2025, drowning in division, spin, and bullshit. We’ve got plenty of voices out there, but none of them hit like Carlin. His mix of rage, wit, and brutal honesty was lightning in a bottle, and it feels like the world is running on fumes without that spark. If he was losing his mind in the ’70s, imagine the firestorm he’d unleash today.

That’s why this week we’re spending the evening with George Carlin. We’re going back to his early work from 1972 to 1976 — Class Clown, Occupation: Foole, and Toledo Window Box. This is the Carlin that rattled cages, got banned, and still made you laugh so hard it hurt. The genius of it is that you can hear these routines nearly 50 years later and realize just how damn relevant they still are.

So pour yourself a drink, turn up the volume, and let’s spend a night with the man who never pulled a punch and never wasted a word. Carlin still has something to teach us — and maybe what’s missing today is more people brave enough to listen.

Playlist

Hour 1

Artist – Song – Time – Album – Label – Year

George Carlin – 01 – Class Clown – 16:06 – Class Clown – Little David Records – 1972

George Carlin – 02 – Wasted Time – 02:26 – Class Clown – Little David Records – 1972

George Carlin – 03 – Values – 05:15 – Class Clown – Little David Records – 1972

George Carlin – 04 – I Used To Be An Irish Catholic – 02:57 – Class Clown – Little David Records – 1972

George Carlin – 05 – The Confessional – 04:12 – Class Clown – Little David Records – 1972

Hour 2

Artist – Song – Time – Album – Label – Year

George Carlin – 06 – Special Dispensation – Heaven, Hell, Purgatory And Limbo – 04:05 – Class Clown – Little David Records – 1972

George Carlin – 07 – Heavy Mysteries – 01:46 – Class Clown – Little David Records – 1972

George Carlin – 08 – Muhammad Ali-America The Beautiful – 03:05 – Class Clown – Little David Records – 1972

George Carlin – 09 – Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television – 12:09 – Class Clown – Little David Records – 1972

George Carlin – 01 – News – 06:56 – Occupation: Foole – Little David Records – 1973

George Carlin – 02 – Kids Are Too Small – 04:20 – Occupation: Foole – Little David Records – 1973

Hour 3

Artist – Song – Time – Album – Label – Year

George Carlin – 03 – Rules, Rules, Rules! – 02:41 – Occupation: Foole – Little David Records – 1973

George Carlin – 04 – Parents’ Cliches And Children’s Cries – 03:50 – Occupation: Foole – Little David Records – 1973

George Carlin – 05 – Grass Swept The Neighborhood – 01:21 – Occupation: Foole – Little David Records – 1973

George Carlin – 06 – Tits n’ Clits – 02:30 – Occupation: Foole – Little David Records – 1973

George Carlin – 07 – Sex In Commercials – 07:04 – Occupation: Foole – Little David Records – 1973

George Carlin – 01 – Teenage Masturbation – 02:03 – Toledo Window Box – Little David Records – 1974

George Carlin – 02 – Fat And Flabby Twat – 01:46 – Toledo Window Box – Little David Records – 1974

George Carlin – 03 – The Metric System – 05:22 – Toledo Window Box – Little David Records – 1974

Rolling with Scissors airs live every Tuesday from 2–5 AM on 89.9 FM in Madison and streams at wortfm.org. Missed it? You can catch the episode for two weeks after broadcast at archive.wortfm.org or at rwsradio.com.

While the audio disappears after two weeks, the episode notes and playlists don’t. Every deep dive, rant, and full album breakdown stays right here — so you can revisit the details any time.

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