Liberal talk radio

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Liberal talk radio (also called progressive talk radio) has been around a long time. Many people have heard of the launch and subsequent ups and downs of the Air America Radio network, but there are many other less well-known but still significant players on the stage. Conservative talk radio currently enjoys a 9:1 advantage over liberal talk radio in air time, which has led to talk of reviving the Fairness Doctrine.[1]

Contents

[edit] Personalities

This is a brief overview of liberal talk radio personalities that various RationalWiki editors are familiar with. Times for shows given are when they run live, and in their local time zone.

[edit] Peter B. Collins

Peter B. Collins broadcasts his three hour daily show "Live from the Left Coast", which is a mix mostly consisting of interviews with a wide range of guest experts early in the show, followed with as many calls from as many kinds of people as he can fit in. Often the guests and callers are able to interact when technology permits. Peter B. has been in radio since the 70's, working many talk time slots at many stations. His style is low-key and non-confrontational, even when arguing with people who strongly disagree with him.

[edit] Alan Colmes

The Alan Colmes show has been on the radio since the 1980s and was unabashedly liberal back then; indeed, his was one of the few liberal voices on the radio during the early 1990s. His show included a segment called Radio Graffiti, which was sampled (some might say in an anti-Semitic dig at Colmes, who is Jewish) by the rap group Public Enemy on their 1990 album Fear of a Black Planet. Since 1996 he has come under increased criticism for playing "token liberal" on the Fox News Channel opposite Sean Hannity, and since there are now much stronger liberals on talk radio there is no reason to listen to Colmes any more, although during the darkest days of the 1990s he was a refreshing change from the all-Limbaugh-all-the-time format, and in some markets the only game in town.


[edit] Scott Dick

Scott Dick, a frequent guest on Peter B. Collins' (now defunct) show, has his own show now, where he "shoot[s] from the lip and takes no prisoners". Peter B. is expected to be a regular guest.

[edit] Jon Elliott

Jon regularly reads the names and ranks of every soldier to die in the Iraq War the previous month on his first show of each month. Elliot alleged that Randi Rhodes was "mugged" by "right wing(ers),“ questioning whether the incident was 'an attempt by the right-wing, hate machine to silence one of our own?...Are we threatening them? Are they afraid that we’re winning? Are they trying to silence intimidate us?” while substituting for Rhodes during her absence. Elliott later issued an apology for his on-air comments of speculation without evidence, "I shouldn't have speculated based on hearsay that Randi Rhodes had been mugged and that it may have been an attack from a right-wing hate machine,I apologize for jumping to conclusions."[2]

Air America cancelled his show as of 15 May 2009. He can still be heard in his home town of San Diego, California, on a Mexican station at the high end of the AM band. He also still broadcasts on XM Satellite Radio.

[edit] Jeff Farias

[edit] (Cary) Harrison

Slogans:

  • "Mainstream Broadcasting for Free Range Humans"
  • "Preventing Truth Decay"

[edit] Thom Hartmann

See the main article about this subject, Thom Hartmann.

Thom is a well-spoken, mild mannered host with a wealth of historical knowledge in his grasp. His show, like many others, features well-informed guests from across the political spectrum, and listener telephone calls.

[edit] Jim Hightower

Jim Hightower has a two minute commentary called Hightower Radio aired on many stations. He had long-format shows on the ABC and United Broadcasting networks.

[edit] Bob Kincaid

Yet another tireless internet-only "broadcaster" on the HORN network.

  • 6 - 9 PM EST

Probably available here

[edit] Tom Leykis

Tom Leykis was an unabashed political liberal during the 1990s, and used to advertise himself as "the talk show not hosted by a conspiracy theorist or a convicted felon". He has since turned into something more like a shock jock, and is less political than he once was.

[edit] Rachel Maddow

Rachel Maddow PhD, has been a regular part of Air America Radio since its inception. Formerly one of three hosts of "Unfiltered," in AAR's original morning line-up (along with Lizz Winstead and Chuck D), she now has her own show and evening time slot. She also appears regularly as a guest speaker on Keith Olbermann's Countdown and other television shows, and now has her own MSNBC show. Rachel focuses on reporting humorous right-wing absurdities in the news and features guests rather than taking calls from the public.

  • 6 - 8 pm EST on AAR.

[edit] Mike Malloy

See the main article about this subject, Mike Malloy.

Mike Malloy has been broadcasting his particular brand of insightful analysis, listener conversation, and disgust with the Limbot Party (and those who should, but do not, oppose them), from a secret location near Atlanta since the early 1990s locally, and nationally since October 2000.

His wife and producer, Kathy Bay, also joins in on air, and does a very credible Laura "Pickles" Bush impression. Much to his pain and disgust, she also does a good Sarah Palin. Luckily, due to the shifting winds of politics, these two imitations have mostly been shelved.

"...once again, the right-wing moon bats tremble at the realization the Malloy program continues, unabated and as dangerous and borderline psychopathic as ever. Maybe more so, after our experiences recently with Nova M and, um, On Second Thought." - from the "blog" page 3/5/2009 [1]

His regular bumper music consists of orchestral versions of Pink Floyd classics to open each hour.

"Rage, rage, against the Flying Monkey Right".

  • 9 - 12 PM EST on Air America Radio on Nova M radio on On Second Thought radio Broadcasting independently via several "affiliates" linked from his website.
  • http://www.mikemalloy.com

[edit] Stephanie Miller

"Mama" Stephanie Miller's three hour daily show is more of a sketch and outrage liberal comedy show, also featuring her producer, Chris Lavoie, and "voice diety" Jim Ward. Many regular features are repeated every day, such as Right Wing World, Stand Up News, and Tinsel Talk.

Jim Ward has professed belief in 9/11 conspiracy theories on the air on several occasions. Miller tends to quickly dismiss his arguments when he does this.

A bit of trivia: Stephanie is the daughter of former congressman William E. Miller, Barry Goldwater's vice-presidential running mate in 1964.

[edit] Mike Newcomb MD

  • 6 - 9 PM EST on On Second Thought radio

Mike Newcomb is from Phoenix, Arizona and was a candidate for governor of Arizona, losing the Democratic primary to Janet Napolitano in 2002.

[edit] Bill Press

Bill Press was a Los Angeles television reporter and commentator until he was selected to chair the California Democratic Party in the 1990s. After that, he went to work for CNN where he represented the left side of the argument in their famous screamfest shows, Crossfire and The Spin Room. He later paired with his former Crossfire adversary Pat Buchanan on MSNBC.

His national radio show has the arguably enviable position of having few if any competitors thanks to its time slot—6-9 AM Eastern Time. His show is syndicated to a few radio stations. It is also available on Sirius and XM satellite radio.

He also blogs for The Huffington Post and the Capitol Hill newspaper/website, The Hill.

On 14 December 2009, Press announced that he had been denied Congressional press credentials because he had asked his listeners and readers to call and write to Senator Joe Lieberman and tell him that he was wrong about the health care bill. (Press holds credentials to White House press conferences.) Among those who voted to deny giving credentials to Press -- Fox News (aka, "The Teabagger Channel") and Al Jazeera.[3]

[edit] Randi Rhodes

A stalwart of liberal radio since the 1980s, Randi regularly beat major conservative talk hosts in her home Florida market on WJNO before commuting to New York (she still calls Florida home) to work at Air America from its founding on March 31, 2004. Ms. Rhodes has particular credibility on defense topics as a former Air Force aircraft mechanic.

On some unspecified date in 2007, Rhodes had a drinking-related accident, which Jon Elliot claimed was in some way related to the "internet hate machine".[4]

  • 3 - 6 PM EST on AAR
    • Rhodes was suspended by AAR on April 3, 2008 over a personal appearance in which her performance included controversial material
    • Rhodes terminated her contract with AAR on April 9, 2008
  • She returned to the airwaves on April 14, 2008
  • 3 - 6 PM EST on NovaM, and probably many of your "favorite" AAR affiliates.
    • Rhodes has been off the air since February 2, 2009, owing to a dispute (details undisclosed) with NovaM
  • http://www.therandirhodesshow.com

[edit] Ed Schultz

A former sports radio announcer turned political talk radio host. Ed broadcasts from North Dakota and supports the Democratic Party. He used to frequently describe himself as a "gun-totin', red meat-eatin' Democrat", but has begun describing himself as a progressive. Schultz went to Moorhead State University (now Minnesota State University - Moorhead) on a football scholarship. After playing one season of professional football in Canada, Schultz moved to Fargo, North Dakota as a radio sports reporter. He is currently the #1 progressive liberal radio talk show host in the U.S.

In 2009, he got his own MSNBC show, so now he broadcasts out of New York City. He maintains a house in the lake district of Minnesota east of Fargo.

[edit] Norman Goldman

Born and raised in New York City, Goldman got his start in 2006 when he started filling in for Ed Schultz, which he still does from time to time. He also gives Schultz on-air legal analysis regarding current issues. He also appears on MSNBC.

[edit] Sam Seder

An initiate into talk radio hosting with the genesis of Air America Radio on a show he co-hosted with Janeane Garaofolo, "Majority Report", Sam developed a style all his own, and proved himself to the manner (or manor) born. After Janeane left to pursue her acting career, and to get away from Sam's stutter, he carried the three hour "Sam Seder Show" himself for a year or so. He is one of the few talk radio hosts who will stay with an angry "oppositional" caller and just keep on arguing with them. When AAR 2.0 launched, the bean counters relegated him to the 4-7 (EST) slot on Sundays - a surefire way to build ratings in the (northern hemisphere) summer (not). As of May 2008 the Seder on Sundays show has ceased operation, perhaps due to Sam wanting Sundays off.

Maybe it's just that opening bumper music that gets me - The Clash's version of "Pressure Drop".

Seder seems to be the gadfly of liberal talk radio—by early 2008 he was the substitute host of choice whenever Randi Rhodes or Mike Malloy were unavailable. The result of this is that sometimes he gets more airtime in a week than any other host.

By late 2008 he had largely disappeared from talk radio, occasionally appearing as a call-in guest on some AAR shows.

[edit] Nancy Skinner

She came to one editor's attention in February 2009 as a "temporary replacement" for Randi Rhodes on NovaM. Nancy ran against future President Obama for his Illinois Senate seat, and he endorsed her 2006 Michigan congressional run. Nancy hosted a weekday show for 8 years on WLS-AM Chicago. For the past decade Nancy has been a guest host and expert on MSNBC, CNN, and FOX News.

  • 3 - 6 pm EST on On Second Thought radio

[edit] Bernie Ward

Bernie Ward, formerly known as the "Lion of the Left", broadcast from San Francisco for nearly two decades, and has been a contributor to Democracy Now, CommonDreams, and was for a period nationally syndicated from his radio home at KGO 810 AM. In 2008 Ward was indicted on child pornography charges, having been caught passing such materials during sex-chats in which he described molesting his own children.[5] Now he is known amongst his fan base as, alternately, "Former Catholic Priest" or "Victim of Bushco Hit Job", depending on who you're reading.

[edit] Richard Greene

Clout!, aka Hollywood! Clout, debuted on Air America on 26 May 2007.

[edit] Other programs

These programs either have multiple hosts, rotating hosts and/or hosts that have "real" day jobs while doing talk radio on the side.

[edit] Ring of Fire

Hosted by attorneys Ray Papantonio and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Debuting on 1 May 2004,[6] this may be the oldest continuously running show on Air America. Both hosts are renowned for representing labor unions and environmental issues. Both subjects dominate the topics on Ring of Fire.

Papantonio broadcasts from a studio next door to his law office in Pensacola, Florida. Kennedy, who teaches at the Pace University School of Law, broadcasts from a studio near the campus in White Plains, New York. David Bender and John Morgan are former co-hosts.

Footage of Papantonio's portion of the show was included in the movie Jesus Camp.

[edit] State of Belief

Hosted by the Reverend C. Welton Gaddy, a Baptist pastor, this show takes on the wingnuttery of the growing fundamentalist right wing of Christianity and its non-Biblical teachings like the prosperity gospel.

Gaddy is also chairman of The Interfaith Alliance, an ecumenical organization that promotes the community service aspects of Christianity.

[edit] Keep Hope Alive

Reverend Jesse Jackson hosts this show which promotes social justice.

[edit] Networks

[edit] On Second Thought

NovaM was founded in 2006 by the original founders of Air America Radio, Anita and Sheldon Drobny. So far their reach is small, but their syndicated hosts are often found mixed in with AAR shows on some affiliates. In February 2009, in the wake of contractual issues resulting in Randi Rhodes' show leaving the air, their intent to file for bankruptcy protection was announced (but not acted on as of 2/24/09), and the network has "rebranded" itself as On Second Thought Radio, LLC.

Their offerings consist of Skinner (3 - 6 PM, EST), Newcomb (6 - 9 PM), and Malloy (9 - 12 PM), five days a week.

(Defunct, apparently, as of March 3, 2009 or so)

[edit] H.O.R.N.

The Head On Radio Network is an internet-only broadcast, sponsored by a labor union, featuring a very "down home chat" style of discussion, usually between a two "hosts". Not currently known if these people are affiliated with the "apply directly to forehead" folks, let's hope not.

[edit] Air America Radio

Air America Radio was founded in March 2004, with a roster of well-known and lesser-known hosts, ranging from long time liberal talk radio hosts to celebrities with moderate to liberal tendencies. Its imminent bankruptcy and dissolution is gleefully and prematurely announced by some conservative at least once a year.

The network was relaunched the week of May 21, 2007 under the new ownership of brothers Stephen and Mark Green with a greater emphasis on political and cultural celebrities.[7]

On January 21, 2010 AAR ceased live programming, and on the 25th ended its operations.[8]

[edit] Jones Radio Network

A long-time provider of music programming for "automated" stations, Jones now also offers progressive radio talk shows, including Stephanie Miller, Ed Schultz and Bill Press.

[edit] Pacifica Radio Network

Pacifica owns five stations, in New York, Washington, Berkeley, Los Angeles, and Houston, which split their time between eclectic music and cultural programs, and left-wing political talk. They have been around for decades and are well to the left of most other liberal talk radio.

Democracy Now is their best known program because it is carried by over 700 stations. It is a daily TV/radio one-hour news and analysis program, hosted by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. It has news and commentary from outside the usual mainstream and corporate sources.

[edit] i.e. America Radio Network

(now defunct)

The United Auto Workers started this in 1996 as the United Broadcasting Network. Chuck Harder was originally involved in a joint venture but in a dispute was forced out, and sued UAW over the deal. In 2000 they became i.e. America Radio Network. The network was always a money-losing venture for UAW though, and their final broadcasts were in February 2004, one month before Air America Radio debuted. i.e. carried Chuck Harder (during its first few months), Ed Schultz (during its last few months), Jim Hightower, Mike Malloy, Thom Hartmann, labor-oriented programming from the Workers Independent News Service, and shows on non-political topics like pets and home improvement. Many of those who got their start on i.e. moved on to become fixtures on Air America stations and on Sirius Satellite Network's Sirius Left channel.

[edit] Local stations

These are all AM stations unless otherwise specified:

[edit] Alaska

[edit] Arizona

[edit] California

[edit] Colorado

[edit] District of Columbia

[edit] Florida

[edit] Illinois

  • Willow Springs (Chicago): WCPT 820 (daytime hours only)
    WCPT operates three FM satellites that operate full time:
    • Arlington Heights (northern suburbs): WCPT-FM 92.7
    • Dekalb (western suburbs): WCPY-FM 92.5
    • Park Forest (southern suburbs): WCPQ-FM 99.9

[edit] Massachusetts

  • Boston: WWZN 1510
    Mornings and afternoons: "Revolution Boston" (progressive radio)
    Evenings: "1510 The Zone (sports radio)
    Midnight to 6 a.m.: carries Brother Stair
  • Northampton: WHMP 1400
    WHMP operates two satellites:
    • East Longmeadow (Springfield): WHNP 1600 (daytime hours only)
    • Greenfield: WHMQ 1240

[edit] Michigan

[edit] Minnesota

  • St. Louis Park (Twin Cities): KTNF 950

[edit] Nevada

[edit] New Hampshire

  • Keene: WZBK 1220 (rebroadcasts WKVT in Brattleboro, Vermont)

[edit] New Mexico

[edit] New York

[edit] North Carolina

[edit] Oregon

[edit] Texas

[edit] Vermont

[edit] Virginia

[edit] Washington

[edit] Wisconsin

[edit] See also

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ↑ Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio
  2. ↑ "Air America Host Randi Rhodes Wasn't Mugged"
  3. ↑ Calderone, Michael. "Radio-TV board denies Bill Press", Politico.com website, 14 December 2009, accessed 17 December 2009.
  4. ↑ http://gawker.com/news/developing/was-talk-show-host-randi-rhodes-jumped-by-14-ketel-ones-311453.php
  5. ↑ http://www.nbc11.com/download/2008/0214/15305344.pdf
  6. ↑ A liberal show that debuted on May Day. Just a coincidence . . . or is it?
  7. ↑ "Relaunch for US left-of-centre radio network" Ed Pilkington, The Guardian, Retrieved May 22, 2007
  8. ↑ http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/air-america-to-cease-broadcasting-immediately/
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