Podcast Summary: Harold's Old Time Radio – “Good Gulf Program 35-05-05: The Rogers Plan”

Host: Harolds Old Time Radio
Date: September 9, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode dives into one of Will Rogers’ classic satirical radio monologues from the 1930s, focusing on “The Rogers Plan”—a tongue-in-cheek proposal for solving national problems through a giant lottery. Mixing humor with keen social commentary, Rogers playfully critiques relief funding, government intervention, and America’s obsession with chance, while lampooning political and economic structures.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Historical Context of Lotteries and Public Funding

• Rogers sets the stage with stories of how lotteries were historically used for public works funding, such as in 1812 and Louisiana.
  • [00:12]: “They financed the money for public works by lottery. Not by lottery. Got public works in 1812 by lottery. Now they do it by magic lottery in our history...”
• He draws parallels to contemporary practices, highlighting recurring patterns of relying on luck and games of chance for raising money.

2. The (Temporary) Rogers Lottery Plan

• Rogers offers his satirical “temporary” plan for economic relief:

  • A massive, government-run (or possibly by organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, AFL, Elks, Legion, women’s clubs, etc.) national lottery.
  • Every organization competes to sell the most tickets; the one selling the most is “automatically the best organization.”
  • Quote [01:20]: “Let the government, you know, a big one. It’s the biggest put on by the government... Or maybe the American federation of labor or the elks or the Legion. My plan is to let each organization sell all the tickets they can...”

• Allocation of Funds:

  • 50% goes to relief
  • 10% to expenses/commissions
  • 40% to the lottery winners
  • Quote [02:18]: “I take 50% of the whole fund. It goes to relief and 10% goes to expenses. See what I mean? And commissions to the people that sell the ticket. Now the 40% goes to the winners... And the winners ought to be tickled to get that much back.”

3. Ensuring Universal “Participation” and Fairness

• The plan mandates everyone buy tickets, particularly the rich.
  • Every earner must spend 5% of their income on lottery tickets; half of these go into a fund supplying free tickets to the poor, women, children, and patients in hospitals.
  • Quote [03:30]: “If he makes $100,000 a year, he’s got to buy $5,000 worth of tickets. If he makes a million, he’s got to buy $50,000 worth of tickets... this fund is to provide tickets for all people that can’t afford to buy any.”
• Rogers frames this as a democratic equalizer—rich and poor alike have a shot, and the wealthy only comply because of the allure of personal gain.
  • Quote [04:12]: “It’s the only plan that a rich man won’t pick on. For he still is holding thousands of tickets of his own... You can always get money out of a rich guy if you can show him where there’s a chance that he’s liable to bring something home with him with it, you know.”

4. Making the National Election a Lottery Event

• Rogers ups the ante by suggesting the biggest lottery should be based on the upcoming national (presidential) election, as a way to reignite interest in politics.

  • Names of all candidates are put into the draw; tickets are sold for each, and supporters are incentivized to campaign for their “ticket.”
  • Quote [05:15]: “Don’t make the lottery on horse race. I propose that the real big lottery... be made on our national election, see, on the presidential election, which is about, you know, it’s about to die out on account of interest anyway...”
  • Memorable Moment [07:21]: “In the draw you may get Mr. Hoover, Mr. Vandenberg, Franklin Delano Roosevelt or Teddy Roosevelt or Eleanor Roosevelt or Buzzy Roosevelt or Misty Roosevelt or Father Coughlin, Upton St. Clair, Townsend Dewey, Governor, Kansas, Ogden Hill, maybe Clark Gable...”

• Rogers lampoons the similarity among parties and apathy toward the process, suggesting this would turn elections into a grand gambling event, like the Grand National or Kentucky Derby.

  • Quote [08:10]: “So in the draw you may get... now, when the drawing is over, then those that have drawn tickets on these various candidates... they get out and start working for them, don’t you see? They start working for them. So that’s where you get the interest in the election which you haven’t got now...”

• He muses about even selling tickets worldwide, attracting foreign money back into the country.

5. Final Reflections and Satirical Conclusion

• Rogers mockingly analyzes the “flaws” in his system and concludes humorously that it would please everyone—poor, rich, even the politicians—while giving national elections a new sense of “dignity and prestige.”
  • Quote [09:45]: “I’ve looked the whole plan over and I can’t find a flaw in it myself because I haven’t showed it to anybody else, told anybody else about it... Here’s the main thing it would do. It would give a national election the thing they lack now, which is, you know, which is dignity and prestige. You know, that’s what it would give. Thank you very much.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On motivations for charity:
  “You can always get money out of a rich guy if you can show him where there’s a chance that he’s liable to bring something home with him with it, you know.” [04:20]
• On American electoral apathy:
  “Our two national parties have got to a where there’s no difference in them anyhow. You can’t tell a Democrat — whatever one will promise, the other will see them and then raise them.” [05:38]
• On democratising lotteries:
  “Every man, woman and child in this country must have a ticket. We keep it a democratic country.” [03:55]
• On the real draw for engagement:
  “Not because they want him for president, but they want to collect all this ticket, don’t you see? In that way we can make our elections a big event.” [08:25]

Timeline of Key Segments

• [00:02 – 01:18]: Historical context: Lotteries and public works, the Louisiana lottery.
• [01:18 – 02:48]: Introduction of the “temporary” Rogers Plan.
• [02:48 – 03:55]: Funding breakdown and participation requirements.
• [03:55 – 04:49]: Ensuring democratic access; poking fun at the rich.
• [04:49 – 07:30]: Extending the lottery to national elections; lampooning political parties and candidate selection.
• [07:30 – 09:45]: Global ambitions; joking about flaws (or lack thereof); conclusion on returning dignity and prestige to elections.

Tone and Style

The episode showcases Rogers’ trademark wit, using gentle mockery and sharp observational humor to highlight flaws in social programs, electoral politics, and American culture. His delivery is amiable but pointed, making complex commentary palatable and engaging through satire and relatable analogies.

Summary Takeaways

Those tuning in are treated to a masterclass in comedic social critique, as Rogers turns the concepts of charity, government intervention, and political engagement upside-down—proposing a national, all-inclusive lottery as a solution to public apathy and funding woes, all while highlighting the absurdity of the era’s politics and economics.

This episode stands out as a prime example of how the Golden Age of Radio harnessed humor for sharp social commentary—still resonant decades later.