A recording of Howard Stern's live radio broadcast from the morning of 11 September 2001 has resurfaced as the United States prepares to mark the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. The clip shows Stern reacting in real time as the World Trade Center was struck, abandoning his usual show format to relay breaking news and grapple with the unfolding horror alongside his listeners. It has drawn renewed attention for a particularly candid exchange in which Stern gave a blunt, emotional explanation for the attacks to a distressed young caller.

During the broadcast, a listener named Kathy phoned in relaying a question from her nine-year-old sister: why did people hate Americans? A visibly shaken Stern replied that it was "an easy question to answer," attributing it to America's wealth, freedom and organised way of life, and suggesting others were "jealous". Earlier in the show he had interrupted proceedings to report the first plane strike on the North Tower, watched live as a second aircraft hit the South Tower at 9.03am, aired expert warnings the attacks bore the hallmarks of Middle Eastern terrorism, and later named Osama bin Laden as a possible suspect. Investigators subsequently confirmed that 19 al-Qaeda hijackers had seized four commercial aircraft that day.