The animosity and mind-numbness caused by the world of media sound bites is exacerbated by most radio talk show hosts. Some are not as bad as others. There is one, however, who stands head and shoulders above the rest-- Greg Allen. Catch him weekdays on The Right Balance. Update for Utah listeners (9-15-2007): You can listen to Greg's show on KNAK 540 AM and KHQN 1480 AM.If you're tired of sound bites and if you're tired of pseudo-intellectual combat, then I hope you're not listening to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Bill O'Reilly. If you want in-depth perspective about important issues, Michael Medved and Glenn Beck aren't too bad, but if you want in-depth in conjunction with a down-to-earth, always-educational radio program, your best bet is The Right Balance with host Greg Allen. This morning's show, for example, included the following:
- Lanny Davis -Former Clinton Administration official discussed President Bush's address to the nation last night, as well as how Democrats aren't doing a good job of elucidation their position on the Iraq troop drawdown.
- Phyllis Schlafly - Eagle Forum president discussed threats to United States patents.
- Dr. Alejandor Badia - Discussed how he recently performed successful reconstructive surgery on NFL football star Terrell Owens' hand.
- Yuri Felshtinsky - Former associate of Russian intelligence expert Yuri Litvinenko, talked about the recent machinations of Vladimr Putin in a possible effort to shore up his personal 'legacy'.
- Flemming Rose - Editor of Danish newspaper told why he allowed anti-Islamic cartoons to be published in his paper.
- Sean Hannity - The Torquemada treatment. If you disagree with him, this radical Christian fundamentalist well tell you to 'get off my phone.'
- Rush Limbaugh - As a listener you are assumed to have a 'mind full of mush' and are expected not to listen to the news over the weekend, because on Monday Mr. Limbaugh will tell you what you need to know.
- Bill O'Reilly - If you disagree with him, speak fast, because as soon as he's onto you, he'll give you no quarter as his shouting diatribe continues just longer than the length of your attempted contribution to the 'conversation'.
- Michael Medved - He's a pretty good talk show host, as long as you call in to talk about something that he agrees with.
- Glenn Beck - If you don't care that your talk show is punctuated by long bouts of mindless entertainment, Glenn Beck is all right.
- Michael Savage - If we could learn to harness anger, Savage could power the entire city of San Francisco.
You can listen in to The Right Balance from 10 AM to noon (Eastern Time) weekdays on TheRightBalance.org or AccentRadioNetwork.com. Rebroadcasts are from 10 PM to midnight eastern. If your local radio station doesn't carry it, ask them why they don't.
For Utah Listeners: Tune into KNAK 540 and KHQN 1480 AM from 8 to 10 AM Mountain Time to catch the show live, and from 8 to 10 PM for rebroadcasts of The Right Balance. Don't forget to check out all the other excellent shows and events broadcast by KHQN and KNAK as well.
Rebroadcasts can be heard as well on www.iowanewstalk.com from 2-4 PM central time.
Check it out.
How about Hugh Hewitt?
ReplyDeleteFrom what I can tell, he's pretty good, too. I haven't listened to him a ton, though. What's your opinion?
ReplyDeleteI will try to remember to listen on Monday. I love talk radio. I even like Rush (but not Hannity). My favorite is when he is out of town and Walter Williams substitutes. He is excellent.
ReplyDeleteGood point. Walter Williams is one of my idols. I love reading his books and syndicated columns.
ReplyDeleteI kind of like the long comedy bits in Beck's show... It brings a welcome break to the garbage being poured out by Washington.
ReplyDeleteAs for Hannity and Rush, I stopped listening to both when I realized they had stopped being objective and were following the party line in arguments.
I think I could listen to pretty much anyone, liberal or conservative, as long as they bring some independent thought to the table.
I'll have to give "The Right Balance" a go.
Thanks for the tip!
When I found The Right Balance, I knew it was the golden needle in the rust-filled haystack of talk radio. On the rare days when I miss a show, I really feel I might have missed something. It's like getting invited to a party with really interesting people. It's also amazing how many things Greg Allen has brought to my attention before I've heard it any place
ReplyDeleteelse. Big Bucks Mama (PS I'm not certain I know how to do this, but I wanted to put my two cents in.)
Is this show broadcast on any of the local stations? Unfortunatey my employer screens out streaming programs of this nature. I am usually too busy at that time of day to tune in anyway, but it might be fun to catch snippets on occasion.
ReplyDeleteUrban Koda, you say you stopped listening to Rush and Hannity when they stopped being objective. I think that for Rush that occurred sometime around 1988 (maybe earlier). I don't ever remember Hannity being objective. At least neither of these guys have a problem flaying Republicans if they disagree with them. But both have a default setting of flaming Democrats at every chance.
Frank, I think Medved is actually at his best when dealing with someone with whom he disagrees. But I only catch him occasionally. Beck is funny, but he goes way too overboard on his pet issues and he often glosses over inconvenient facts to the point of being propagandistic. Other than that, he's OK, I guess.
Oh, and Hewitt is pretty good. He's much more cerebral and analytical than the likes of Rush or Hannity, but hey, he's a law professor, so that's what you'd expect. He has some good guests. He sometimes has good debates and sometimes asks very good questions. Unfortunately, the station that used to broadcast him in my area dropped him, so I don't get to hear him any more.
ReplyDeleteKoda,
ReplyDeleteI actually have a premiere account with Glenn Beck. I think he's got just enough good stuff (including a lot of the humor) to make it worth it to be able to listen on demand.
Anonymous,
I completely agree. My worldview is much more informed since I started listening to Greg. And the other thing I like about listening to the show is how I am intrigued and encouraged by listening to do my own research and find out even more.
Reach,
It's locally on KHQN 1480 Spanish Fork from 8-10 AM and 8-10 PM. KHQN reaches all of Utah County fairly well, and I think it makes it into Salt Lake as well.
I know Greg Allen personally. I met him when he was doing the local radio show here in Fort Walton Beach FL. I watched him grow from that to where he is now. I can assure your audience and those who are think of or have decided to tune in that you will love his show. He does not bother the guests with callers who ask stupid questions. His show was intended to be educational, with guests that are esperts in their fields. The Right Ballance is the vanguard of this concept of talk radio. YOU GO GREGO!!!!
ReplyDeleteIf the terrestrial radio stations around the U.S. would take the $4 million invested in an NAB project to stop the merger of Sirius and XM at the FTC, and instead invest it in preventing the exodus of listeners from terrestrial radio by giving them radio talk show hosts like Greg Allen, then terrestrial radio as we know it would be saved.
ReplyDeleteGreg Allen can fend off the alien invaders of neo-con talk radio with only a teaspoon and an open mind. This planet needs more like him!
- Joey Donovan
I can't listen to Hannity, Beck, Savage, or Rush. I do like Hewitt enough that I listen to him a day late when his podcast comes out. I haven't found him on the radio locally since last year when 1430 replaced him with Michael Savage.
ReplyDeleteIn fact I wrote an email to the radio station warning them that I would stop listening if they got rid of Hewitt.
I like the people that Hewitt lines up, and his logic. He's great at parsing down to the fundamentals quickly.
I rarely (if ever) agree with the conclusions Greg Allen reaches, but I have to agree with Frank on this one.
ReplyDeleteI've always found it odd that those leaning right would be so quick to allow their politics to be dumbed down by the implied cohesion with the likes of Hannity, Limbaugh, Fox News, et al. Even that which I do agree with is presented in such a juvenile knee-jerk fashion I find my self embarrassed for them even as they plunder the discourse in this country.
Allen however, always presents himself rationally and has (in my experience) never uttered a single syllable that he himself has not researched.
Like I say, I rarely agree, but he is a fresh voice in a the pool of sludge talk radio has become in recent years.
Glad to read that others are noticing him for this trait as well.
Perhaps a better description of why I stopped listening to Hannity and Rush should be that it was when I realized they were no longer objective.
ReplyDeleteFor Rush it came in 99 I think when I heard him interview Pat Buchanan and his side of an issue was just "That's not how a conservative should be thinking" I forget the issue, and who I thought was right or wrong, but I just didn't like that as a position.
For Hannity, it was show when he and someone else (Ann Coulter) perhaps started going off about something to do with "The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" I'm consider myself predominantly a christian, but when you start making "Law of Moses" references to respond to statements made by followers of Islam, it makes it hard to determine which set of religeous extremists you want to follow.
I'm a big believer in freedom, whether that be freedom of speech, of religeon or the right to bear arms. I'm not sure if Hannity or Rush do though... But they have a right to believe what they believe!
I agree. They're free to believe what they want. And I'm glad that we're free to choose (particularly as regards Hannity and Limbaugh) not to listen to their drivel.
ReplyDelete