Following his appearance at the MTV Music Video Awards as his superhero character Fartman (Howard Stern), radio personality Howard Stern boards his flight home and is seated next to Gloria who is visibly repelled by him. Stern, thinking she sees him as a moron, begins to tell his life story, starting with the verbal abuse he received as a boy from his father Ben. As a youngster, Stern dreams of being on the radio after visiting his father's recording studio and grows up to be a quiet, socially awkward teenager. He decides to work in radio and studies Communications at Boston University. He becomes a DJ at WTBU (college radio), the college station, and meets his girlfriend Alison.