The Max Headroom Pirate TV Incident Part 2

Astonishing Legends

Scott Philbrook

History, Society & Culture

4.6 • 9.8K Ratings

🗓️ 27 April 2025

⏱️ 142 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In Part 2 of our series on the Max Headroom Broadcast Signal Interruption, we dig deeper into the analog chaos that unfolded in 1987 Chicago — a surreal, rebellious hijacking that mocked media itself. We explore the investigation, the lingering mystery, and what it says about how we interact with technology, culture, and entertainment today. Who was behind that mask? Who wielded that fly-swatter? Let’s get into it.

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Transcript

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0:32.4	Astonishing Legends Network.
0:35.8	Astonishing Legends would like to thank Hymns, Squarespace, MintMobil, or contributors
0:40.3	at patreon.com and you are listeners for making tonight show possible.
0:48.2	Welcome to part two of our series looking into the bewildering Max Headroom Broadcast
0:52.6	Signal and eruption incident that took place in Chicago in 1987.
0:56.0	A series of events so strange, even now, they feel almost mythic.
1:02.0	It was pure analog chaos in its finest form.
1:06.0	The flickering screens, the warped visuals, the figure in the mask, an enigmatic avatar of analog rebellion,
1:13.6	loudly commandeering the airwaves and barreling into living rooms of tondry imagery and language.
1:19.6	It was a parody of a character that was originally created to mock the slick-talking heads popping up in the media to sell you the next big thing.
1:28.5	But this story is more complicated than that.
1:31.9	Tonight, we dig deeper.
1:34.1	What happened after those two fateful broadcasts?
1:37.0	Who might have done it?
1:38.3	And more importantly, how do they pull it off?
	...

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