once you puts stedman and thompson together.n thought he had failedak but then everybody was saying this is a big breakthrough in journalism. and he described that feeling is falling down an elevator shaft, landing in a pool full of mermaids saying he thought was a huge success and immediately 'went back toward and said this is it. masters charter and the mardi gras. scanlon's was already going under there would never be, i think they publish their last in january of 1971. and unfortunately because i think worn deserves a lot of credit for not just pairing those two but conceding conceiving and birthing thompson would eventually find anotheray outlet for that kind of work for. >> her in some ways had gotten him started under warren henkel but of the benefited think he ended up getting a lot of the credit the conception was really scanlon's plan thompson was going.li great match is not a college graduate's a lot of ways he didn't quite fit the mold he saw his stuff might click with "rolling stone" readers. and he encouraged him a

it's going to be the thompson stedman report.we're going to go around, you know to america's cup and the super bowl and the masters tournament and the mardi gras. and you know, this is going to be a franchise and we're going to turn and we're going to take those stories and and put them into book form. so he really thought he had something that the only problem was that scanlons. was already going under and there would never be you know, i think i think they published their last issue in january of 1971. and then, you know, unfortunately because you know, i think warren deserves a lot of credit for not just pairing those two but kind of conceiving and and birthing gonzo journalism. thompson would eventually have to find another outlet. for for that kind of work. so in some ways yon wen or who's the young editor who started rolling stone and had god has started ramparts under warren hinkle young went a really benefited inherited gonza journalism and hunter thompson from warren hinkle at rolling stone. yeah, that's that's absolutel

about fear and loathing in las vegas which to me introduced me as a young reader, hunter thompson, stedman lustration, leapt off the page but that was a collector's item. that issue of rolling stone in which hunter thompson gave birth to gonzo journalism as we know it. my first question about that is for you to define gonzo journalism for those who don't know what it means. what is gonzo journalism? >> sounds like a genre, the new journalism, not really a genre but a description of hunter thompson's work after 1970. and and that piece was totally gonzo. hunter heard him use that term covering a primary in 1968, in exemption and he thought let's call what i'm doing gonzo journalism. very successful as a branding exercise. wasn't really the name of a genre. it was a super important step. it was never the predictable result of a conscious project. he was in la to cover a different story and working with oscar acosta. in the middle of that research, he got an offer to cover a road race in the las vegas desert outside of las vegas. he and acosta, he comes back, writes about the story, submits i