Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Rainn Wilson as Terry Carnation from Dark Air

Audioboom Original Podcasts and Rainn Wilson have teamed up to launch Dark Air with Terry Carnation. The darkly comedic podcast explores the on and off-air life of Terry Carnation, a late-night talk-radio show host who deals with bizarre topics and outrageous callers…and gets caught up in a mystery of his own.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with the man, the myth, the legend himself, Terry Carnation.

PC: Thank you for taking the time to chat with us, Terry!
Terry: Thank you for taking time out of your day to get to know me a little better. Knowing me, knowing you, there’s nothing more and better that we can do.

PC: You recently made your long-awaited return to Dark Air. How does it feel to be back?
Terry: The greatest feeling I’ve ever known in my life was when there was a semi-truck accident in front of my house when I was a child. What was the semi-truck toting? An entire truckload of bubble wrap, which was carried by the winds into my yard. I made a bathtub of bubble wrap. I was like Scrooge McDuck. Instead of a swimming pool of money, I was in a swimming pool of bubble wrap, popping to my heart’s content.

I tell you, coming back to the radio waves of Dark Air, back to my old job, interviewing callers from all over the world about the paranormal is a very, very close second to my orgasmic relationship to hundreds of pounds of bubble wrap.

PC: You had a lot of naysayers who questioned whether or not you should return. How did you know now was the right time?
Terry: I’ll tell you something: my therapist, Dr. Norman Kesden, has cautioned me against returning to the airwaves. He said, and I quote, “Don’t do it. This is the worst mistake of your life. If you do this, you will rue this decision until the end of your days. Please, Terry, please do not go back to the radio. You’re not ready. You’re still too unstable. Your entire life, everything we’ve worked for, could collapse and fall apart.” I was like, “Nah, I’m ready. Let’s do this. Let’s get this show on the road. The show must go on!”

PC: For readers who may be unfamiliar with you, could you introduce us to yourself and Dark Air?
Terry: Well, I don’t know who those readers are. Have they been living under a rock for the past thirty years?

My name is Terry Carnation. I am a late-night, AM radio talk show host of a show called Dark Air, where we feature conversations having to do with anything paranormal and supernatural. We take callers from coast to coast, calls about time travel, inter-dimensional beings, cryptids (such as the Loch Ness Monster or the Swamp Ape), and we have convivial conversations.

PC: How did you become an expert in the paranormal? Have you had any paranormal experiences?
Terry: It started when I was quite young, and my mother witnessed me levitating above my crib in my diapers. Now the legend continues, and it gets stranger from there. However, it must be said that my mother liked to smoke the hashish. So, it can all—and must—be taken with a grain of salt.

I did, however, see Bigfoot in my backyard when I was seven years old. It also must be said that we had an enormous Russian sheepdog that used to walk around on its hind legs a great deal. All of these things must be taken in perspective, but I have been captivated since a very young age with all things mysterious.

PC: You’ve had a wide range of callers dialing into each show. What’s been the most memorable call? What’s been the most outrageous?
Terry: There are so many calls. I get regular calls from a woman named Marguerite, who is a time traveler. She calls in from all different times and places: Ancient Rome, the firebombing of London, Jerusalem circa the crucifixion of Christ, the Mongol invasion of the Himalayas. I’ve received some wonderful calls. I get so much out of it because I learn about history. I learn about geography. It shifts my perspective to be able to speak to someone from those various time zones, various arenas of history.

PC: Terry, how is that even possible?

Terry: Well, she has a cell phone. She takes her cell phone with her. It’s quite simple. You may say, “Well, in the Himalayas during the Mongol invasion in the year 1100, there were not even cell towers.” I say to you, “5G.” Look it up. 5G is not only possibly responsible for the Coronavirus and the microchip implantation but also allows one to make calls from anywhere in time or space. Just wait until 6G.

Dark Air with Terry Carnation is an Audioboom Original Podcast available wherever you stream your podcasts including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Photo Credit: Dennys Ilic