The stars at night are big and bright…
He’s all Texan. From his zip code to his boots. Will Cain is confident and accomplished. But, like any good Texan, he has his priorities.
“I like my beer cold,” Will Cain explained. “As Matthew McConaughey said in True Detective, ‘I’ll take a sixer of Old Milwaukee or Lone Star, nothing snooty.”
Will Cain is the guy you see and think, ‘How the hell did he get so lucky?’ He’s got the looks, a good job. He probably has a fast car too.
He’s co-host of Fox & Friends Weekend on Fox News. Cain was also the host of The Will Cain Show on ESPN Radio, which ran from January 2018 to June 2020. So Cain made a relatively seamless transition from sports to news.
“Everything I do is with intentionality,” Cain said. “That doesn’t mean I think I’m perfect. I make plenty of mistakes. I talk entirely too much about sports. Not just because I love them, but because they are the perfect metaphor for life. Winning, avoiding a loss. I’m constantly driving with my fingers and hands on the steering wheel.”
Cain said he’d like to think he’s down to earth. “I just love talking about news and sports. Politics is so polarizing. Sometimes because of that, it can get in the way of seeing things the way they are.”
Being at ESPN was a privileged situation for Cain, a dyed-in-the-wool sports fan.
“There was always some turbulence on First Take,” he said. “That was more of a polarizing show. It becomes a debate, and you show up with your strong opinions. Listeners understand my biases, where I was when I said something. I’m interested and open to people that disagree with me. In the world of sports, politics, and news, you have to be. Let’s all be human beings if you’re willing to give that a shot.”
Cain grew up in a small country town on seven acres in Sherman, Texas. This town is about an hour north of Dallas. His father was an attorney, and the younger Cain also earned his Juris Doctorate and believed he was going to follow in his father’s footsteps.
“I made the choice not to become an attorney when my father was still alive,” Cain said. Instead, he said he thought being a writer was his calling.
“I went to Montana because I wanted to write,” Cain said. “I thought if I was going to be somewhere to write, where would that be? I guess I’ve always romanticized Montana.”
He said the writing thing didn’t quite manifest in the way he’d hoped.
“I always took radio very seriously,” Cain explained. “A lot of guys that turn on a microphone think charm or personality carries everything. I think it’s all about content. Delivery.”
Reading was always encouraged in the Cain household.
“My parents read a lot,” Cain said. “I think I read more non-fiction than they do. They read for fun; I tend to read to keep informed. I think people overvalue being a lawyer. There are other things that pique my curiosity more.”
Something he’s read recently was by Pete Hegseth, Battle for the American Mind.
“He talks about the roots of the educational system, compulsory schools,” Cain said. Battle for the American Mind is the untold story of the Progressive plan to neutralize the basis of our Republic – by removing the one ingredient that had sustained Western Civilization for thousands of years.
Cain and I talked a bit about some of the contentious issues of the day.
“When you think about our founding fathers, they were incredible,” Cain said. “They were educated in classic Western Thought. They were not ‘shoot from the hip’ kind of guys. They looked into checks and balances, anticipating what might happen. Those ideals have been enshrined for thousands of years. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, bear arms. It’s all put into historical science.”
Cain said there are a lot of terms in our lexicon that have become catchphrases. I asked him about a theory that postulates Donald Trump and his ilk represent an ‘existential threat to Democracy.’ The result of which would be an ‘authoritarian leader.’
“I don’t think we’re on the edge of that,” Cain said. “There are threats on a deeper level. On a cultural level, we need to ask ourselves who we are. What is of value to us as it pertains to society? People also use the term ‘far right.’ What does that even mean? President Trump far right? From a policy perspective, his administration was interested in unfettered free trade. Tariffs were more Left, yet Trump embraced trade restrictions. That’s not traditionally a ‘far right’ position. It’s a Libertarian kind of thought.”
Far-Right is a term Cain finds misused. He said it’s difficult for him to think of one particular issue where the right has become what is seen as far-right. “Maybe immigration,” Cain said. “We’re more hawkish on immigration than we were 20 years ago. We’re in a populist moment. In a lot of ways, it feels the game is rigged in power to retain power. Both on the left and right. Bernie Sanders has given voice to that.”
Cain is thorough when he approaches prep for his show. Pretty much like he approaches everything. “You think about what you’re going to say. Outline thoughts, sometimes come up with bullet points.
He said he’d always create an outline for everything he did in life. Still does. “I’ve never devoted myself to long-form artistically understanding. I need to know the sentence, paragraph, and chapter,” Cain said.
You get the feeling with Cain, even with all his successes, his family still means everything to him. “With my sons, I’m blown away by them,” Cain said. “Despite this passion to help shape them into men. Who are we to think kids are blank slates? They’re not. A lot of who we are is innate to our genetic personality and makeup. In terms of my sons, one is more empathetic and kinder than anyone I’ve known in my life. I need to train him to be a little less sweet in a tough world. The younger son is so insightful. Comedic. I don’t understand the way he thinks. I guess the younger one tends to work things out on their own.”
He said every man wants to leave some kind of legacy. “We all have a Roman Empire Builder inside of us after we’re gone. What you were surrounded by. Maybe we can all do our best and speak to each other more. That would certainly build relationships.”
Cain has always been somebody interested in ideas rather than politics. Philosophy rather than horse races. “I’m still fascinated,” Cain said. “When it comes to something like the Supreme Court, I’m interested in the ideas that help shape an opinion. Want to read the rationale. How they read the constitution.”
Conversely, when Congress gets involved in the machinations of putting together a stimulus bill or running for re-election, Cain’s interest starts to taper off.
“I’m more interested in philosophy than horse races. I think a lot of what we do rests on the importance of faith. Where we place things in our hierarchy, you’re only choosing what you put at the top. Sometimes I place too much emphasis on raising my boys and not enough on being a great husband.”
To appear on an ESPN show, it helps if you’re a fiery guy.
“I’m passionate and think it’s my personality for the most part,” he said. “That was the culture of First Take. You’re encouraged to lean in and be passionate about a subject. It’s the same with most guys on that set. It’s not a personal attack. I’d say 90 percent of the time; it’s not personal. When you get emotional, sparks can fly.”
He said he couldn’t recall how many times people have asked him if First Take is staged. “It’s not staged in the sense it’s theater,” Cain said. “There is a theatricality in terms of delivery and emotion.
“I covered a boxing match in Las Vegas and dressed in a boxing robe and a towel around my neck. I guess you’d say that was a bit of theater. I’ve mimicked shooting birds out of the sky to make a guy eat crow.”
“What we’re talking about is being overly tribal with politics,” Cain said. “I believe passionately about my ideas. That doesn’t mean I want to be tribalistic. I think we’re inherently tribalistic. It’s part of how we survived during evolution. You should have to root for the team where you were born,” Cain joked.
“You’re geographically born into your teams, unless your parents brainwashed you. I think sports is a cathartic exercise. I’m a Mavericks fan; I hate the Spurs. I think it’s good to have an irrational attachment to something. I’m tribalistic and it’s okay to hate the Spurs,” he quipped.
When his family lived in New York, he said his boys were raised as Longhorn, Mavs and Rangers fans. Now that they’ve gone back to Texas, they’re all set. They didn’t have to change their loyalty.
“I’m really big on this. You’ve got to hold on to the things that are provincial. I don’t like the fact that America has devolved into a mono-culture. We roughly listen to the same music. I like that Boston has a unique and weird accent. I’m proud of being from Texas.”
…(clap, clap, clap, clap,) deep in the heart of Texas.
