I've listened to Talk Back for about 2 years now. It's always been like that. I think to a certain extent, Larson is an emotional masochist. He gets off on having people call him names.

As for the part about an 800 number to give him money and a regular one to get help, yeah i've wondered about that one myself.

As for the satanic connection, Larson is a great believer in the satanic conspiracy theory. He believes that there are literally thousands of groups, some multigenerational that regularly commit gruesome ritual murder, rape, and torture. They are supposed to even have "breeding programs" to manufacture babies for sacrifice as quickly as possible. He gets calls from people who speak of being victimized. "My father molested me regularly. He made me pregnant 3 times before i was 15, and they took the babies and cut them up." "They threw me in a pit full of body parts" "They cut my grandmother's heart out after she died and made me eat it". These calls of course are the most entertaining, er, enlightening. And they help prove how badly his ministry is needed.

And sometimes the calls go a step further. He once had a caller, proportedly a 16 year old girl who said she had been born into a satanic cult, abused and molested all her life, and now marked for sacrafice on halloween. He tried to get her to pray. "You need the help of Jesus: say Help me, Jesus" "Help me Jee--hisssss" "Go ahead say Help me, Jesus" "Help me, J-gargle" "Try again, Help me Jesus" "Help me-- hisss gargle (gruff voice) BOB LARSON! YOU CAN'T HAVE THIS GIRL, SHE'S OUR-R-R-R-R-RS!" [funny how he didn't call the cops]

This was followed by about 45 minutes of attempted excorcism, interrogation, and of course, threats against Larson and his ministry. Despite the fury and invective of the "demon", it managed to stay within FCC language guidelines, and waited patiently on the line during commercial breaks. Over the next few days, Larson reported on his research. He discovered that the victim's family had been satanists for 400 years. There was more than one demon in the girl. The chief of that group was Baphomet. The group included the spirit of the founder of the cult, a german. A scholar contacted by Larson confirmed that the voice spoke authentic 16th century german of the dialect appropriate to the city this man had lived in.

This went on for a couple of weeks. Then a new development. The girl was actually dead, she'd been sacrificed several years previously. The caller was in fact the girl's mother, who had done the sacrifice and was now inhabited by her spirit. Or else just plain crazy. Larson eventually announced that the woman had become known to some other people in his "business" and had managed to destroy other ministries that tried to help. He said he wasn't so sure anymore it was real demons, but no doubt there was demonic inspiration behind it. And he left it at that. Oh well not quite. You see the whole story is available on tape, if you send a donation $$$.