Dilbert creator Scott Adams warned that his Thursday podcast might be his last.
Adams opened his podcast explaining how he’s now having difficulty staying awake, and that his exhaustion and slurred voice have nothing to do with any medication. “Today’s going to be a tough one,” he said. “Because I fell asleep about five times just getting ready” for the show.
Adams announced his prostate cancer diagnosis last May, and that the cancer had already “spread to my bones.”
At the time, he wasn’t certain he would last the summer. He did. But earlier this month, he announced his chances of surviving were now down to zero and that he expected to “transition” sometime in January. Since then, he’s become noticeably weaker.
For the next 30 minutes of his Thursday podcast, Adams went on with his regular routine, where he runs through the day’s headlines and offers his thoughts, which have been insightful and unique enough to earn him a huge following outside and on top of the Dilbert fan base.
In the show’s final minutes, however, Adams said, “As of today, based on how I feel, I don’t know if there will be a show tomorrow or ever again. If I feel better, there will be.”
He added, “If I feel the way I felt today, this might be the last show. But I don’t know that for sure. I’ll probably be fast asleep two minutes after I’m done here.”
“Thank you for all the support, this crazy support,” he said to his fans. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. Thank you for letting me come into your home and simultaneously sip with you.”
He then explained why Thursday morning’s show might be his last. “I’ve also been told that my mental acuity is sort of dropping pretty fast,” he said. “And I definitely felt that today… I’m not on a painkiller right now… So this decline that you can see, that’s actually just my body.”
“This is going to be a tough week,” he continued, “because I’m doing some goodbyes in person, and for the most part, it’s people I know I’ll never see again. And that’s pretty tough, pretty tough.”
“Bye, for now,” he said in closing. “I hope to see you later, but it might not be.”
Earlier this week, Adams said he would convert to Christianity.
“I’ve not been a believer,” Adams explained. “You’re going to hear for the first time today that it is my plan to convert [to Christianity]. I still have time,” he added. “My understanding is that you’re never too late.”
“So, to my Christian friends, yes, it’s coming.”
Throughout the Trump era, Adams has been a calm voice of reason, someone many have counted on to explain the world in a way we can understand and through a unique and brilliant lens that puts things into a perspective available nowhere else.
I do hope that Adams will add baptism, last rites, and confession to his conversion. My beliefs say those are vital, and there’s no downside to crossing those Ts and dotting those Is.
Godspeed, sir. He will be missed, and the grace he’s shown while facing his mortality has been equal parts moving and inspirational.
John Nolte’s first and last novel, Borrowed Time, is winning five-star raves from everyday readers. You can read an excerpt here and an in-depth review here. Also available in hardcover and on Kindle and Audiobook.