KSEV Mornings · October 7, 2026 · Hour 2
Wayne’s eighth-grade band, a camera finally centered on Wayne’s face, and the phones lighting up about the price of everything.
The second hour opened with Wayne Dolcefino singing, which led Craig Coglianese to ask where, exactly, Wayne had ever sung. The answer: in eighth grade, in a band called Optical Illusion, behind an orange drum kit. Craig wants a camera on producer Russell, if only to capture the head shake when Wayne started singing well off mic. Russell’s answer to the camera idea was, by Craig’s reading, “we’ll think about it.”
Talking when the cameras are on
The hosts picked up an off-air conversation about how people talk when they don’t think anyone is recording. Wayne pointed out that in the recordings of the Cornell case, no one bothered to disguise the young men’s voices. Craig said the whole picture often arrives late in high-profile stories, and that people hate it when the facts complicate the narrative. Wayne’s summary: once a narrative is established, people weigh in with very little information.
Craig thinks the ubiquity of cameras and microphones means fewer people are themselves anymore, and he hates how often an obvious joke gets taken out of context. Wayne pointed to President Trump using Los Angeles and San Diego as examples of what an attack would look like, and the headlines that followed. “You people are like linguistics experts now.” Craig’s broader worry: a lot of people wake up every morning ready to be mad and just waiting to be told what to be mad about.
Know what the other side is saying
Wayne had sent Craig a clip of a left-wing Louisiana candidate promising health care, education, clean air and clean food, and saying, “I am a fighter and I don’t play nice.” Wayne said it is important for a conservative audience to hear what the other side says, because he doesn’t like playing defense. “I’m an offensive guy.” Craig did agree with one line: you can’t keep electing the same people and expect a different result. He said that is exactly what Houston and Harris County should try.
Should Paxton debate?
That brought the hosts to the big question. Both had thought Ken Paxton should debate James Talarico. Wayne isn’t so sure anymore. Craig laid out the risk: Paxton could be excellent for 70 minutes of a 72-minute debate, and the left would play the two bad minutes everywhere. Wayne’s counterpoint is that a debate also gives supporters content of their own, clips of Paxton sounding nothing like the caricature.
Russell played a Talarico ad that contrasted Paxton cutting off reporters at a press conference with the sheriff’s department, “I’d like to keep today to law enforcement,” with Talarico promising a town hall he would take every question, shake every hand and be the last person to leave. Wayne called Paxton probably the best attorney general in the country. He said his son, as an assistant attorney general, worked on efforts against abortion pills being shipped from overseas and a Medicaid investigation involving Texas Children’s. “I want to see Ken Paxton the fighter, not Ken Paxton I’m afraid to answer a question.” He renewed his offer to interview Paxton himself, tough but fair and without interrupting. Craig noted that Talarico never answers a question in the ad; he only says he’s willing to.
Why prices stay high
Wayne had asked why prices remain high now that COVID is over and supply chains are back. A caller from outside Columbus, Ohio, phoning while dropping a granddaughter at preschool, had an answer. To lure workers back from generous unemployment, he said, $9 and $10 jobs became $14 and $15 jobs, everything above them rose too, and none of it is coming back without a major recession. Wayne agreed from experience: his payroll for about 12 employees is well above where it was four years ago, and if he cut his rates to make America great again, “I will be in money trouble in a matter of weeks.”
Craig added that corporate greed is real, but consumers have power they rarely use. Stop buying what costs too much, and the price comes down. The caller noted that stadiums are still sold out with $10 beers and $30 parking, and Craig noted that Amazon’s Prime Day was doing incredible numbers. Wayne’s verdict: the economy is not nearly as bad as you think it is.
The midterm math
Another caller cited Victor Davis Hanson on how even left-leaning papers are admitting the economy has expanded for 17 straight months. A third said Senate polls are tight even in places like Kansas and blamed Trump’s antics and gasoline prices. Craig asked whether Republicans would have kept control without the Iran fight driving up gas. Wayne said maybe, but the Trump hatred is real, and the president is the best messenger only until the day after the election.
Craig’s warning for 2028: Republicans have to be the people they say they are, or they risk the narrative that everyone is corrupt. He sees a disgruntled young slice of the right ready to give up on the system entirely. Wayne said James Talarico, a grenade aimed at the system, is the antithesis of a regular Texan, but also very effective at turning things around, and Paxton’s team needs to help him come up with ten-second answers.
Also in this hour
- Wayne’s camera is finally centered, so viewers see his whole face instead of what Craig called the Don Corleone chin shot.
- A headphone wire wound up under Wayne’s chair, and Craig plans to fix it at Wayne’s office even though, by Wayne’s account, he’s banned.
Hear Craig and Wayne live weekdays from 7–9 AM Central on AM 700 KSEV, The Voice of Texas. Visit the KSEV Mornings show page for live-listening controls and more episodes.
