Bring back Air America

[Capperdan]

How about one of the Left's billionaires put up some capitol to take on the nut jobs on the Right who brainwash their audience with hate and lies. Remember Tom Hartman and the rest. Seems like the best way to get through to the voters who are starting to wonder why they voted for Dump.

[hlthe2b]

1. I still have a dvd copy of "Left of the Dial" (the documentary about the making of AAR)

Seems like a lifetime ago. It is as inexplicable today as the day they folded that we can not manage to support liberal/progressive radio.

[NightWatcher]

2. Hartmann was on RT's payroll for a while prior to the last election.

I dont trust him anymore.

Hartmann on RT and Bernie's campaign guy connections to Manafort seem very suspicious.

We don't need a roster of Hartmann, Young Turks, and others dividing the left this year or in 2020.

[Capperdan]

3. Okay who is R T?

We need someone to counter the Right on those long lonely highways is all I'm saying.

[Afromania]

4. RT Russia Today

[Blue_true]

19. Whoa. RT is the propaganda arm for Putin, disguised as a news organization.

It's Putin's Fox News.

[Scoopster]

35. Hartmann apparently quit RT & denounced them recently.

Several of my friends still listened to his radio show & apparently he wasn't too happy with the network or their demands of him.

[Afromania]

5. I miss Air America as well. I'm not big on top 40 radio, right wing wackadoos or non stop sports.

I can stream everything sure, but it's nice sometimes to just turn on something that more, or less, works and listen. Also get the added benefit that somebody out there is learning something new that otherwise wouldn't have.

[MontanaMama]

6. Rachel Maddow and

Al Franken were my favs back in the Air America days. I would tune in whenever and however I could.

[KCDebbie]

29. Sam Sedar was good to listen to as well...

[MontanaMama]

31. Yes!

I remember AA being the first place I heard Sam Seder. What a good group.

[MontanaMama]

7. Rachel Maddow and

Al Franken were my favs back in the Air America days. I would tune in whenever and however I could.

[dhol82]

8. Also liked Randi Rhodes

I will never forget her screaming that we had to get out as big a vote as possible so the bastards couldn’t play with the vote tallies.
Also, she would say not to trust what she said but to read everything and make up your own mind.
Never understood why she didn’t make it to a higher level.

[womanofthehills]

12. M-F - Randi is live on you tube

Here in NM, she is on 2 to 4pm. To support Randi, I subscribe to her podcast so I can listen to her anytime on my phone.

I loved Air America too but we still have most of the people still speaking out. Rachel Maddow's podcasts are also free. I choose not to have a tv, so I podcast Rachel.

One of our local NM stations carries Stephanie Miller and Tom Hartman mornings.

[dhol82]

14. Good to know.

I’ll try to find her and listen in.

[Capperdan]

21. Yes Randi Rhodes!

I had forgotten about her, glad she's still going. Will try to find her.

[Loki Liesmith]

9. Radio is a dying medium

Don’t waste capital on it.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

22. This

Here's the good news - you don't need billionaires. You can podcast right now with nothing more than a phone. Want to rant on camera - phone or webcam - then post to YouTube.

[pstokely]

24. geezers still listen

nt

[LanternWaste]

37. Books, too.

Well, that's what the prophets have been saying for 25 years, anyways.

[Lifelong Protester]

10. There should be a spot for them

on Sirius. When we are in the car, that is what we listen to.

[MichMan]

13. They do have a Progressive station

[oberliner]

17. Sirius XM Left

[Snotcicles]

20. XM 127

[dameatball]

26. I used to catch Mark Thompson on my morning commute and Michaelangelo in the afternoon.

For some reason it seems easier to watch Stephanie Miller's video version than listen to the radio broadcast. So many people talking at the same time makes it hard to follow.

Thom Hartmann has always seemed excellent to me. Never knew anything about RT, but he is lucid and well informed.

Several years ago I always listed to Randi in the afternoon drive. First time I ever heard Bernie Sanders. Then she disappeared. I did not know she was still around until reading the posts above.

[Snotcicles]

28. I like Michaelangelo, Dean Obeidallah and Thom Hartmann. Randi Rhodes has a podcast now. nt

[oberliner]

11. MSNBC has filled the void

Especially the 8PM - 10PM weeknight shows.

[dhol82]

15. I think it starts at 4pm

The only person I often find tedious is Tweety.

[dhol82]

16. Hell, I even like Ali Velshi at 3pm!

[IADEMO2004]

27. For Facts Sake segments popping GOP lies are wonderful.

[CAG]

18. Get the Progressive Voices app: basically

A version of air America with Stephanie Miller, Hartman, several others

[JI7]

23. no thanks, the Trump voters already have access to non right wing media

[BumRushDaShow]

25. As noted in above posts, Sirius XM's "Progress" channel 127 BUT

some liberal wealthy need to take that lineup, buy up terrestrial stations, and run Progress on "free" radio. And they should be prepared to run the programming "at a loss" but should consider it a "donation" that keeps on giving beyond paying for a TV ad just before an election. The programming can be streamed as well from those stations for the youngsters who do streaming only.

We keep making the same fucking mistake over and over and over of dismissing radio as a source of info and when we keep doing that, we only end up whining about all the hundreds and thousands of RW talk stations pumping out RW propaganda.

[Capperdan]

30. Agreed

That radio in my truck is the easiest button to hit while driving. When I scan for channels I'll always get two or three programs spewing Hannity, Rush, Savage, even in liberal California. You know it's more than that across the mid-west. How many commuters and truckers listen to podcasts?

[BumRushDaShow]

36. Exactly

And the irony is that someone like Savage Wiener broadcasts out of San Francisco, the heart of liberal California.

You make a great point - the car... Unless you're sitting in the car as a passenger, you sure as hell ain't "watching" Joy or Rachel on MSNBC. When I bought my car not long ago, it came with a free 6-month subscription and since I already had a SiriusXM sub at home, I have been renewing the car one with the home one. But that programming should be on "free" radio too and it used to be... until the RW bought up those stations and removed almost every last bit of "liberal" programming they could find - and that includes in big "liberal" cities like mine. The only place I can get "local" progressive talk radio is on the local black-owned AM station that is barely trying to hang on.

[TalenaGor]

32. I hear them all here...

https://tunein.com/radio/Progressive-Voices-s189055/

Stephanie Miller, Tom Hartmann, Randi Rhodes etc

[Sneederbunk]

33. No progressive radio available in my area so I stream.

In the car it's Sirius XM.

[crazycatlady]

34. I think the reason that it wasn't too successful

Is that people on the Left don't need media to reinforce their opinion 24/7. LW radio would not only compete with Rush, Hannity, etc but also with sports radio, music, and the aux cable (I haven't listened to the radio in about 5 years thanks to this magical $5 investment).

Just as Democrats don't have MSNBC on 24/7 like Republican have Faux on 24/7, this is the same.

People can only take so much 24/7 news.

[BumRushDaShow]

38. Thing is

what about people who are not "on the left"? I.e., they are "in the middle" or are apolitical/disinterested who might be able stumble upon something other than the hate-filled Dennis Pragers or Hugh Hewetts??

I know my argument has usually been that anger and hate was never really been something that motivates liberals and progressives. But on the other side of that coin, we end up whining when none of the RW outlets reports on what Democrats are doing and saying, to the point where it ends up that far too many on DU claim Democratic leadership is doing nothing and not "speaking out" yet they are, but it's not being covered.

My mother always used to say - "Bless the child that has his own".

[Capperdan]

39. Those in the Middle are many

I'll admit that I like to drive in silence mostly, just to escape the constant noise, but sometimes on longer road trips, I flip it on and search. Usually I'll get the Right Wing Liberal Haters and I'll wait for a commercial break, make note of the local advertisers, then give them a call when I'm settled and ask them to redirect their advertising money. One local bar said, "see us on Facebook". So I posted a comment on their page that I would gladly visit if they quit supporting Hannity.

[BumRushDaShow]

42. Kudos!!

I expect some of those businesses have no idea what programming is on those stations and they get sold an advertising package so they can at least get their business name out there. But if the stations are nothing but RW propaganda stations and they are the only stations in town, they are stuck (outside of maybe getting in the local print newspaper - many of which are actually still hanging on despite the larger city papers going belly up). It's like the purported Henry Ford quip - "Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black." You really only have the one choice in those places.

[crazycatlady]

40. Maybe my own age and bias is showing

But I personally have not listened to the radio in years. In the rare instances that I do, it is always FM and music. I've long ago decided that listening to anything political while driving makes my stress level rise. The times I've been in the car when someone else is driving (and has radio on) I've noticed 50% programming and 50% commercials. Many of the commercials were either annoying or startling for drivers (involving a horn or siren). Overall I realized I didn't miss it one bit (especially when Google maps on my phone alerts me to traffic).

I can probably speak for many under 40 when I say this about the radio. The rise of first MP3 players and later streaming services paired with a $5 aux cord have all but killed radio for many.

[BumRushDaShow]

41. If I'm driving for vacation/touring

particularly with passengers, I usually have local station music on and my car can use bluetooth to connect my phone that has my mp3s (plus the system has a CD player) - this is in addition to all the SiriusXM music content.

But on short haul trips or when I was commuting to work, I usually had the local news on - particularly as I got older before retiring.

One of the issues with the party is not just focusing on capturing the millenials and younger Xgens but also appealing to older Xgens and all boomers, who are still very much alive and kicking, and who tend to be the more reliable voters when you look at the voting demographic stats. Continually whining about why "older" people become "more conservative" and summarily dismissing where they get their info from, has been detrimental. And this is particularly relevant now... because even when many of those older demographics have utilized social media (mostly Facebook), their use of it exposes them to almost unending RW interfering nonsense, which is often difficult to discern from actual factual info... Whereas specific radio programming by liberals and progressives can reach them without that muddying and interference.

I.e., when you are young, you tend to naturally "live for the now". But as you get older, you try to "live for the future" and to do that, you often need to plan much more carefully, meaning getting more informational content versus entertainment content. And what has happened is the small stations used to (although many still do) offer "money management", "car management", "health management", or "home management" type programming that was sprinkled in between the RW loon talk programs. So we miss out on getting our voices heard on those stations that have a regular listenership of subject matter that older adults may gravitate to ...much of which relates well to our party platform.