Is Thom Hartmann the best progressive radio talk show host?

My home state is dominated by conservative talk radio. We have no progressive viewpoint on any radio stations. This has always upset me because I wish the masses could hear another point of view. I was real excited when Air America started. I originally bought a Sirius radio just to hear them. This was a while ago now. Al Franken's show was my favorite. And tuning in early I would often catch the end of Rachel Maddow's show. Soon I was listening in the morning for Rachel Maddow's show (with an occasional appearance by Chuck D!) and then Franken's show. (Maddow's "burying the lead" radio segment was always outstanding!)




Overtime, Air America Radio, (now just Air America) has had it's ups and downs. And over the last 4 or 5 years new progressive radio shows have sprouted up. (Although still, not where I live) Through the internet and satellite radio, I latched on to "The Ed Show" and "The Randi Show" and "The Bill Press Show." Now with Green 960 streaming out of San Fransisco, I can hear first rate progressive talk radio in my home 24/7.




I bring a lot of talk radio experience to the table! LOL!




With that background, I must say right now, Thom Hartmann has the best progressive talk show on the planet. He has really upped his game in recent months. I download his show through itunes and listen to it while falling asleep every night. I think he is tremendous. On Friday he mentioned that he is now in the Dallas, TX market. I hope his show continuous to grow. I think this is interesting because here at DU, I have noticed an increase in "thread activity" based on his show.




I think the Thom Hartmann show has moved past Randi, ED etc. as the #1 show for true progressives. (of course by audience size I believe Ed Schultz is #1 but you get the point.)





What do you think? Is it time to give Thom his due?






What are your favorite progressive talk radio shows. And where/how do you listen to them.



For me, the best progressive talk radio show is "The Thom Hartmann Show" and I listen to it with itunes for free.

talks with the opposition, something that makes me un-comfortable quite a bit of the time, but I do think we should do this; Thom has real historical credentials on the issues; you never hear him insult anyone and he won't even talk about his guests when they aren't with him; and last but not least TH is an activist and he makes our responsibilities for what is going to happen very clear.

I find the information in his shows so comprehensive that I put him on my ipod, so I can listen to the same show multiple times.

Thomm Hartmann is one of my favorite. Ron Reagan is good but LA needs a PM drivetime loud-mouth progressive host to take on the John and Ken machine. In our area, the same company that runs KTLK also runs KFI. Therefore, we will never John and Ken challenged (Personally, I am a fan of the John and Ken show even though I have very strong disagreements with a lot of their views on the issues). And KPFK is too intellectual for a lot of people to like it.

..... :puke:

Can you imagine Ron Reagan or Thom calling Clinton a whore?

so I can't really judge. However, my mother, who was a right winger & loved Bill O'Reiley, accidentally tuned into one of Thom's shows. A few days later when we were talking she asked if I had heard of him. I told her he was one of our best liberal voices. She replied, "You know I don't like liberals, but I thought he was very reasonable." I damn near fell out of my chair!!

on edit: Everyone should read Thom's book "We the People: A Call to Take Back America." It's written in a comic book fashion & is basically a fifth grade civics refresher course, with a little more. Highly recommended!

You can view excerpts here: http://www.we-the-people-book.com/

I don't think I have ever heard someone make an argument that Thom could not handle very well, he is a master at making his point. He is very outspoken without falling into the trap of thinking you can scream your way out of an argument like some radio talk show hosts do, I think he comes across very well to just about everyone who hears him even if they don't agree and I am sure most right-wingers would be terrified to debate him.

except he has way too many Libertarians / Ayn Rand institute people on for "debates". He routinely destroys these people but is excessively polite about it. Personally, I don't want to hear their bullshit in the first place.

Mike Malloy is a close second, but that is because he feeds my inner rage at the idiot wingnuts.

Ed is a pass. So is alan colmes.

Randi can be good, but she often gets her facts wrong and talks over her callers.

Bill Press is OK, but trades too much on his White House access.

For fun and entertainment, I like Stephanie Miller. Her show is breezy and silly, but that's fine for light listening.

The Young Turks is good, as you can tell from the number of videos posted here.

One that I hope finds a way back is Peter Collins. Similar to Thom but without (on Peters old show) the annoying debates with idiots. Off the air right now, though there is a rumored comeback in pure digital streaming mode.

and that is why he wasn't on the radio currently. Maybe they cancelled his show. Not sure

affiliates and revenue. He tried for a while to do the Malloy thing ( Malloy is currently selling podcasts and looking for subscribers since he doesn't have a network behind him anymore ). Peter couldn't get enough donations / subscribers quickly enough so he canceled the show. Just got this email from him:

Date: Sun, 7 Jun 2009 22:22:55 -0700 (PDT)
From: Peter B. Collins <peter@peterbcollins.com>
To: pbc <peterbsf@yahoo.com>
Subject: Peter B. Collins Podcast Launches Soon!


June 7, 2009

Dear Friend,

I'm pleased to report that the launch of my new online radio show is
near. The next time you hear from me, it will be an alert that the first
program is posted online. You are part of the Peter B. Collins base of
supporters, and the first to know of our plans.

Many of you have already been listening on the internet, so it will be
easier for you to connect to our series of Podcasts at
www.peterbcollins.com, at iTunes, or at www.RootsUpRadio.com.

Is progressive radio on in your market?


Do you use satellite radio?


Do you rely on the Internet?

I have XM satellite radio but found that downloading the podcasts to be better. Podcasts don't have the commercials in them. And because of downloading the podcasts, I do rely on the Internet.

With the podcasts there are no commercials. No breaks. You can hear a whole show in just over half the time.


Where I live, without the Internet there would be no liberal talk radio.

Here's a page from his site with streaming info: http://www.thomhartmann.com/listenlive.php

I recently ended my relationship with cable TV; I'm sick of networks' propaganda.

I download podcasts of his show because it's not carried on the radio stations near my home. I like the podcasts anyway because they cut the commercials out.

I also like The Stephanie Miller Show. Love Jim Ward's voice impersonations. The trio of Stephanie, Jim and Chris Lavoie works very well.

I noticed that Hartmann left Air America a few months ago and joined the Jones Network, which also produces Stephanie's show. Thom said that radio wasn't as important to Air America as it had been in the past and he wanted his radio show expanded in more markets.

I still listen to some Air America shows, like the Ron Reagan show and some of the weekend shows.

Air America Radio has lost a lot of talent over the last few years.

and to Air America, but if AAR keeps losing talent, I may drop them.

I thought about getting a subscription to Stephanie's show, but the few times I have heard it, it has been more comedy than issue oriented. Of course, for morning drive that format probably works better for her.

as well as the team chemistry among the trio. Steph does have Congresspeople and Senators on her show as guests, so she does discuss the issues. In fact most of their comedy revolves around the issues. I find that Steph's show helps produce the sarcastic remarks we need to counter the Right Wingnuts.

"Ring of Fire". He always as something knowledgeable and intelligent to comment on. Right now he's doing a piece on child slavery in developing countries. Too bad he's only on once a week.

but it has not updated in itunes in over a month? Have there been new episodes since 5/15?

Doesn't love the sound of his own voice as much as Randi. Her constantly talking over her guests and callers just to repeat the same thing she said five minutes ago is irritating to the point of distraction to me.

Loved Rachael's show but alas, TeeVee is a better gig for her personally.

Alan Colmes, I didn't know you could get beige out of a radio...

Franken was great but will more good in the Senate (if there's anything left to do by the time they let him in)

Ring of Fire (Mike P. & RFK Jr.) are usually very good, but once a week isn't enough.

Sam Sedar was enjoyable

Mike Malloy has some great moments

Like you I live in a city with no talk radio except the reich-wing and it sucks.

I can't imagine it would be good.



Alan Colmes is the male version of Mika Brzezinski from MSNBC

He's just nothing.
:shrug:

Lucid, informed, and articulate, he provides a wealth of information in a way nearly everyone can grasp.

Mike Malloy too. Thank goodness they are both available on XM Satellite which I had to subscribe to to hear M.M. I like Ron Reagan too. R.R. is not as hard-hitting as Thom or M.M., but R.R. Jr. keeps focusing on the important liberal issues at a good time, 6 pm to 9 pm, but at 8 I tune it to K.O. on MSNBC.

I hope their show are available online for free.

at http://whiterosesociety.org/ along with a myriad of other progressive shows.

I also enjoy This Is America with Jon Eliot, altho I can only find him on one San Diego station. There are more and more excellent progressives grabbing the mike nowadays making it almost difficult to choose the *best* anymore. Jack Rice, a fed-up ex-CIA agent subbed for a while on Air America and he was fantastic as well as Nicole Sandler who's on there now, not sure for how long.

I'll forever credit Randi Rhodes for my early liberal indoctrination but her antics kinda wear on me after all this time. She's still at the top of her game when it comes to in-depth knowledge of a subject and I'm glad she still has a voice.

Thom is indeed brilliant and speaks with such confidence and authority that I don't even question him, but I probably should occasionally. I'm sure he would agree. The way he handles wingnuts is masterful.

But if you *really* want the fire-in-your-belly liberal perspective, then Mike's the one. Please try to listen to him a couple of times. His stances tend to change frequently and rapidly, but mine do, too, so I can relate.

www.whiterosesociety.org They'll be a week old.

Definitely.

Best "host"? Don't know about that.

Some may be better interviewers and questioners than he is, and they definitely give callers more time to talk than he does, but he's a talker who focuses on "positions and issues" instead of "personalities and individuals", so I can always tolerate him, unlike some others who refuse to honestly critique Obama, cough, cough, like Stephanie Miller.

My opinion of Ed Schultz has gone up after he said that if Obama caves on the public option, he will lose his support.

More people need to be saying it. As long as they feel like you'll always be there because, "**laughs** where else are you going to go," they will continue playing you for fools.

like Mike Malloy, but he is on at a bad time for me right now.

Are you in Dallas? I'm in south Texas red state hell. I live in a hugely republican limited thinking area of the state.

Here in Indiana we have nothing but sports talk radio and Rush!


Here's the way I categorize Indiana politically. Imagine Alabama, but with the black vote being 8% of the electorate instead of 30%! That's Indiana! Once you travel 35 miles south of Indianapolis there are probably more Confederate flags per capita than any place else in the country. I still haven't figured out how this state fought for the Union instead of the confederacy during the civil war.



One of the biggest joys of my life was seeing this state turn blue on election night. There were tons of volunteers that worked long and hard to make it happen. (It was like having a second job for 3 months!) I honestly didn't think it was possible but it happened!



Anyway this state is very conservative. The National folks who rip Evan Bayh, don't understand his constituency. It's a miracle as a Dem he's elected at all. In this state he has to be conservative.



I wish progressives had a radio presence here. I need to give MM a try. I have heard good things about him. I believe I can hear him at night on Green 960 out of San Francisco.

anger and true righteousness. He sometimes sounds as if he is going to pop a cerebral artery, but I think it's good for us to have someone who speaks for our inner outrage. He doesn't pull any punches. But, he is mellowing a little bit in his later years.

I live in deep south texas, and yes, I completely understand the concept of having an elected conservative democrat like Bayh. My representative is "republican" Ron Paul, who was always a Libertarian until 1994. He is so weird that I don't bother to write him anymore.

however I have heard an "undercurrent" that he draws support from Nazi's and other racists groups. I have never seen anything to verify this officially, but there is always that background buzz that he is a KKK white supremacist.


Any truth to this stuff?

Protectionist & non-interventionist.

I think that's the future. I hope so, anyway.

heart.

One is an educator and the other is a shaman.

sorry, but i just can't stand his show, or the way he comes across. :shrug:

thom hartman just rubs me the wrong way.

Thom comes to the mic with the largest base of knowledge. He does the most research prep. He's great at getting right to the nitty-gritty of an issue.

I like the lighter sides to his show too---Berlasconi, Higgins and, "You can keep your hat on" alerts, etc.

Listening to Thom's show gives me hope because I think his target is the truth. He really ought to have his own show on MSNBC or at least be a regular guest of KO or Rachel. It's befuddling why MSNBC hosts aren't speaking out about the Don Siegelman case on a regular basis!? Thom hits that story hard.

The only hour I skip is Brunch with Bernie. Same old questions, same old answers. I like Senator Sanders a lot but he seems to hold back.

I am in sales, and I am REALLY HAPPY
if I happen to be in my car between
the hours of 12 and 3 because that's
when Thom is carried on my local AM
station.

I really miss Cenk, though. He'd be a tie with Thom
for my favorite progressive... I used
to hear him in the mornings on my way
into the office, and now I have to listen
to Bill Press.

Press is OK, but he is a former DLC schmoozer,
and I frequently call in just because I disagree
with him. He's a know-it-all who never admits
that he's wrong.

:kick:

(Except he has too much head-room today on his live streaming camera!)

:evilgrin:

Randi is good also, but I just love Ed Schultz entertaining good ole boy/working joe's kind of format. Even though she's not on radio anymore, I MUST give a shout-out to Rachel Maddow. Her tv program is great.

My favorite radio programs are:

1. Ed Schultz

2. Thom Hartmann

3. Randi Rhodes

4. Bill Press

on Air America Radio was the best thing she ever did. That show was great. Very informative. Her Iraq reporting was outstanding.

I loved "Burying the lead!"

I do think he balances out his show with a lot of good information, and doesn't compromise on topics that others would let stay "censored" as much as possible, especially where they confront corporate power over our system now. As long as does his show from KPOJ here in Portland, I think that KPOJ is probably the least likely to be shut down by Clear Channel. Up to now, I think Clear Channel's censoring efforts is one of the few issues that I think Hartmann lays off more than he should (I recall seeing KLSD going downhill in San Diego and I'd hoped for a little more ranting from him on that, but I do recall some shows where he I think did a show with some from KLSD on live, etc.0. But if Clear Channel went after KPOJ, I believe the gloves would come off and he'd find a way to get them really on the fence more than they are now (with all of their layoffs, etc. recently).

I think Rachel Maddow also does a fine job with depth of content too. She either does a great job herself or gets a lot of good researchers helping her out in producing her show, and I think appeals to the younger generation coming up where Hartmann may appeal more to the older folk like me.

I like Mike Malloy as an evening host, since even though he perhaps doesn't pack as much in his show as Hartmann does, he does hit the big issues HARD, and does so also in an uncompromising way, and helps provide more emotional relief for folks that are driving home from work over a day's worth of crap they might hear. He was the first to aptly coin the term "the Bush crime family" when he originally was on Sirius Left and I listened to him for many hours long before Air America even existed. He was the rallying cry for many that's been needed over the last 8 years.

Though I think Ed Schultz isn't as deep in his understanding on issues as the above are, and tends to voice conservative viewpoints more at times, I have to give him credit for really raising the bar of visibility of certain issues when he puts his mind and resources to it. His work in going after Max Baucus in those "fake" health care meetings really shows that his heart is in the right place at times, and I think is more than someone that can just be bought off to spew the corporate line (even if its for corporate Democrats) that I think perhaps other left talk show hosts are guilty of.

I do like Mark Thompson (Matsimela Mapfumo) of "Make it Plain" on Sirius Left. He was a good person to hear up through the election to get many African American perspectives on the issues and candidates then, especially Obama.

I also liked Mike Papantonio and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr's show too. RFK Jr. has done a lot of very good and deep research on things like the coal industry and election issues that were good to hear straight from the source.

Laura Flanders has also been excellent in both her radio show and building a more alternative TV show (GRITtv) on Free Speech TV. She covers the topics that even Olbermann and Maddow won't touch on MSNBC...

Randi Rhodes for me is a mixed bag. Sometimes I love her passion, etc. and her working on issues that are needing attention. But other times, I think she does get a little bit of smugness too much and I think that her shows suffer some in those instances.

Some more that I have a mixed bag feeling about are:
1) Alex Bennett - I used to really like him when he was on the morning show of Live-105 back in the days of Modern Rock in the bay area... But on Sirius Left, some of his anti-Obama attitudes went a bit too far. I've not listened to him much now as he's on too early for me, but when I have, there doesn't seem to be really in depth discussion of political issues.
2) Bill Press - I think he has some good shows at times, and his presentation is very good, but sometimes I think he's giving us too much the "party line" of what he talks about and doesn't critique the Democratic Party as much as should when they deserve it.

Some "left talk show hosts" that I really can't stand are:

1) Lionel - as others indicate, he sounds awful, and his shows are typically on pretty trivial and meaningless topics.
2) Lynn Samuels - her very almost racist anti-Obama diatribes were pretty lame through the election. She was too much of a Clinton cheerleader without much thought in her talk on her for my tastes. She also spends so much time just talking about her own personal habits and crap like shopping, when she's the last person I'd want to hear talk about that sort of crap instead of more meaningful topics. Sirius Left REALLY should drop her and let Thom Hartmann have the full three hours live in their morning hours instead of her show at 10:00 AM PST.

During the campaign, there was more loony, conspiracy, racist stuff on her show than there was on Hannitys.


I will say it again.... How was she on Sirius Left???????



On top of that, her show often wasn't even politically based. I listened for an hour once, and at the conclusion couldn't even figure out what the topic was. (Variety shows maybe?)

And her voice is terrible.



BTW... good summary on the talk shows! You really know your stuff!

I don't agree with him completely on matters of faith/religion, but no host inspires me like Malloy does. He just tells it like it is, and without abandon. I listen to him on XM 167.