Howard Hughes in Las Vegas

Episode of Stuff You Should Know · May 28, 2026 · 49 min

Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant recount Howard Hughes's reclusive, drug-addled years at the Desert Inn and his buying spree that reshaped Las Vegas.

Summary

Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant devoted this Stuff You Should Know episode to Howard Hughes's time in Las Vegas from 1966 to 1970. After a shout-out to friends Ben Harrison and Adam Pranica, who had left the Maximum Fun network, Bryant outlined Hughes's background as a Houston oil heir, film producer and aviator whose plane crash led to chronic pain and morphine addiction. Clark argued that Hughes's wealth, fame and lack of anyone telling him no compounded predispositions to serious mental illness.

The hosts described Hughes's life on the sealed ninth floor of the Desert Inn: blacked-out windows, candy bars and milk, a 200-gallon special order of Baskin-Robbins banana ripple ice cream, elaborate tissue-based rituals, and minute instructions for staff, which both attributed to obsessive-compulsive disorder. They discussed his aide Robert Maheu, who reportedly never met him face to face, and the 'Mormon Mafia' who attended him, as well as his purchase of a local TV station to control movie programming.

Bryant recounted how Hughes bought the Desert Inn rather than leave, then acquired six mob-linked casinos until federal antitrust action stopped him. The hosts covered his utopian and often objectionable political wish list, including keeping schools segregated, his attempt to cancel a tennis tournament over Arthur Ashe's participation, his feud with Kirk Kerkorian, and mob skimming estimated at $50 million. Clark argued that the Justice Department, not Hughes, drove the mob out, but that Hughes's name and corporate ownership legitimized Vegas.

The episode closed with Hughes's 1970 departure for the Bahamas, his 1976 death, the contested estate, Raymond Fowler's psychological autopsy, and listener mail correcting the kangaroo-name myth.

Chapters

1:57
Intro and shout-out to Ben and Adam
The hosts promote Ben Harrison and Adam Pranica's newly independent podcasts and joke about the Cheesecake Factory.
4:34
Howard Hughes's background
Bryant and Clark cover Hughes's oil fortune, aviation and film ventures, plane crash and opioid addiction.
9:30
Arrival in Vegas and life at the Desert Inn
Hughes moves to Las Vegas for tax reasons and holes up on the Desert Inn's ninth floor amid squalor and strange diets.
15:07
OCD rituals and tissue boxes
The hosts describe his elaborate germ-avoidance instructions and the photo of him wearing tissue boxes as shoes.
22:15
Maheu, the Mormon Mafia and the TV station
Hughes's aides, communication by memo, and his purchase of a TV station to program movies.
26:53
Movie tangents
The hosts discuss their most-rewatched films and recommend Onyx the Fortuitous and a Dazed and Confused oral history.
29:42
Buying the Desert Inn and a casino empire
Threatened with eviction, Hughes buys the hotel and then five more casinos with a vision of a respectable Vegas.
33:20
Political wish list and racism
Hughes's demands to local government and his racism, including the Arthur Ashe episode, and the antitrust block.
42:59
Rivalry with Kirk Kerkorian and mob skimming
Hughes's petty competition with the International Hotel and the $50 million the mob skimmed from him.
47:09
Departure, death and legacy
Hughes leaves for the Bahamas, dies in 1976, and his estate and psychological autopsy are discussed.
55:30
Listener mail
A listener corrects the kangaroo-name myth and links it to the film Arrival.

Key points

What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.

Josh Clark
Clark argued that Hughes's extreme wealth and lack of anyone refusing him exacerbated his predisposition to mental illness.
“he was gobsmackingly rich, did not have to worry about anyone saying no to him for any reason, was beloved by the public”
Listen from 8:01 · Howard Hughes
Josh Clark
Clark said that by the mid-1950s Hughes was completely dependent on opioids and stopped appearing in public by 1961.
“By the middle of the 1950s, he was completely addicted to opioids, like totally dependent on them”
Listen from 8:22 · Opioid addiction
Chuck Bryant
Bryant said Hughes went to Las Vegas for tax-shelter reasons after selling his TWA stock, not out of interest in casinos.
“he heard about it being a great tax shelter. And he had sold a ton of stock, I guess all of his stock in TWA that year”
Listen from 10:24 · Howard Hughes
Josh Clark
Clark said Hughes clearly had some form of OCD, evidenced by his minute instructions such as 12 steps for opening a can of peaches.
“he wrote 12 steps to opening a can of peaches and putting it in the bowl that it would be served in”
Listen from 15:41 · Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Josh Clark
Clark explained that Hughes likely wore tissue boxes as disposable sterile slippers.
“he was basically using tissue boxes as disposable sterile slippers”
Listen from 17:28 · Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Chuck Bryant
Bryant said Maheu worked for Hughes for years without ever meeting him face to face.
“this is fairly shocking, but apparently never met him in person”
Listen from 22:47 · Howard Hughes
Josh Clark
Clark said Hughes hired Mormon aides because they did not drink, smoke or gamble, making them trustworthy in his eyes.
“five of the six were Mormon, because Howard Hughes was like, well, they're not allowed to drink, not allowed to smoke or gamble”
Listen from 23:26 · Mormon Mafia
Chuck Bryant
Bryant recounted that when management threatened eviction for New Year's Eve, Hughes bought the Desert Inn for $13.25 million.
“he bought it for 13.25 million and was all of a sudden in the hotel and casino business”
Listen from 30:40 · Desert Inn
Chuck Bryant
Bryant said Hughes envisioned Las Vegas becoming as respectable as the New York Stock Exchange rather than a mob town.
“he had a vision of Las Vegas to be, I think he said, as respectable as the New York Stock Exchange”
Listen from 31:18 · Organized crime in Las Vegas
Linked moment · 33:20Skip to 33:20 using a listen link in the info box.
Chuck Bryant
Bryant said Hughes's licence-free purchase opened the door to the Nevada Corporate Gaming Act, easing public companies' entry into gaming.
“that would open the door for the Nevada Corporate Gaming Act, which made it easier for public companies to get into the business”
Listen from 34:25 · Nevada Corporate Gaming Act
Josh Clark
Clark said that despite sympathy for his mental illness, Hughes held terrible views and was abusive, citing his first wife's divorce after he locked her in the house.
“his first wife divorced him because he locked her in the house for three weeks. Like he was an abusive person even”
Listen from 37:29 · Howard Hughes
Chuck Bryant
Bryant said Hughes tried to cancel the Desert Inn tennis tournament because Arthur Ashe would compete, and Ashe went on to win.
“he tried to cancel it because he found out that Arthur Ashe, an African-American, was going to be competing”
Listen from 37:57 · Howard Hughes
Chuck Bryant
Bryant said the mob skimmed about $50 million from Hughes's casinos in under four years.
“in less than four years, the mob skimmed about 50 million bucks off of Howard Hughes”
Listen from 46:57 · Organized crime in Las Vegas
Chuck Bryant
Bryant suggested Scorsese took artistic license in showing Hughes walking out of his room to see Ava Gardner.
“I think that's definitely where Scorsese went off book and made stuff up”
Listen from 48:00 · The Aviator (2004 film)
Josh Clark
Clark argued that the Justice Department, not Hughes, drove the mob from Vegas, though Hughes's name and corporate ownership legitimized the city.
“The mob getting out of Vegas was mostly the Justice Department. But his, again, his name attached to Vegas made it okay for Americans”
Listen from 50:30 · Organized crime in Las Vegas
Chuck Bryant
Bryant said Hughes's germophobia likely stemmed from his mother constantly checking him for signs of polio.
“his mother was a germophobe and constantly worried about little Howard getting sick from polio”
Listen from 53:42 · Obsessive-compulsive disorder

People

In the conversation

Josh ClarkCo-host of Stuff You Should Know
Chuck BryantCo-host of Stuff You Should Know

Discussed

Robert MaheuHoward Hughes's chief aide and representative in Las Vegas
Kirk KerkorianBusinessman who built the International Hotel in Las Vegas
Arthur AsheAmerican tennis champion who won the 1968 Desert Inn tournament
Martin ScorseseAmerican director of The Wolf of Wall Street, cameoed in Hill's Outcome
Leonardo DiCaprioActor who played Hughes in The Aviator
Jimmy HoffaTeamsters leader said to have intervened for Hughes's hotel stay
Raymond FowlerPsychologist who conducted a psychological autopsy of Hughes
Ben HarrisonPodcaster, co-host of The Greatest Generation
Adam PranicaPodcaster, co-host of The Greatest Generation
Ava GardnerActress who dated Hughes
Katharine HepburnActress who dated Hughes

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From the publisher

From 1968 to 1972 Howard Hughes holed up in a suite in the Desert Inn casino in Las Vegas. Addicted to morphine and living on candy bars and milk, he was in bad shape. When he was told to leave, he bought the hotel and stayed. Soon he owned half of Vegas. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on September 28, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.

Categories: History·Mental Health