Long before Limbaugh built an unprecedented national media platform, before he was deemed an honorary member of the Republican congressional delegation, before he helped bring conspiracy theories and racist, misogynistic vitriol into mainstream political discourse, he was a desperate 33-year-old guy who had all but given up on his broadcast dreams. It was 1984, and young Limbaugh had been fired from at least five stations in three cities. He’d even left radio for a few years, and then returned — only to be fired once again after less than a year at KMBZ in Kansas City. At the time, he w...