Who is your favorite left-of-the-dial radio talk show host?

[Zodiak]

I am curious as to which hosts get the most attention from my fellow DUers.

For me, it is Randi Rhodes, followed by Mike Malloy, Stephanie Miller, and finally, Thom Hartman.

Oh, and if you care to post, please let me know whether you listen on-air, on-line, or through satellite. And yes, you can lodge a complaint or compliment any of these hosts on this thread, as well.

[Ioo]

1. I love Rachael Maddow - Best 2 hours on Radio...

I find that Rachal is the best thing on in the AM till Randi.

What's his name before Rachel, worst thing ever broadcast, I fear that Aliens will run accross him, and come to kick our asses for allowing his show to get out...

Jerry - Out of touch on many issues, but honest

Al - Just NOT Funny, and never "current"

[bdamomma]

2. Randi is very good, all of them have their good points

at least they are getting the truth out there. They each bring their own style. Mike Malloy is one of my favorites

[LSK]

3. Randi

Funny how the poll last week had Malloy way out in front.

[Zodiak]

29. Missed that poll last week

sorry for the redundancy

[flyarm]

4. mike mike mike!! n/t

[Flubadubya]

13. What flyarm said...

:thumbsup:

[porphyrian]

5. Who listens to radio?

I know, everyone who replies angrily to this post. But, really, and I'm not trying to diminish support for the few hosts we do have on our side, who cares what happens on that sinking ship?

[blues90]

7. from your reply you say "we "

If you are a progressive then what are you refering to as a sinking ship, radio or AAR ?

[porphyrian]

12. My "we" referred to this community here...

...I am a progressive, just not in lockstep with everyone's conception of what that means, and I was referring to radio in general, but that would include AAR I suppose.

[jayfish]

9. Live Radio Shows Have Much...

more informational content than TV. There is also a direct connection to the public via call-in. When was the last time you got to call Lou Dobbs and challenge any of his assertions live and on the air? I will give you the point that for the last 13-14 years radio has been a wasteland but things are starting to look up.

[porphyrian]

15. Oh, I don't deny that some people make good with what it is...

...I'm saying that radio in general is on its way to extinction. Apparently you and others disagree, and I'm cool with that.

[Armstead]

6. Others

Rachel Maddow, Enid Goldstein....and Colin McEnroe (WTIC Hartford).

[quiet.american]

8. No Rachael Maddow? I enjoy her morning show.

Although admittedly, sometimes her constantly-strident tones are a bit much, but she does a good show.

Randi, I have to take in small doses -- sometimes the personality wears a bit.

Nobody does righteous anger better than Mike Malloy, and he can be absolutely hilarious, too.

I like Thom Hartman on Sunday mornings, sometimes he gets slightly pretentious for my taste, but nobody's perfect.

Sam Seder is probably my favorite; he's taken the radio-host role and honed it to a fine art.

Al Franken, I've been a big fan of his since the original SNL, and still am, despite being frustrated with his very DLC-like approach at times -- although that seems to receding a bit in his most recent shows.

I don't particularly vibe to Stephanie Miller's show, but I will always be grateful to her for her perfect nickname for Scott "ongoing investigation" McClellan -- "Puffy McMoonface." Too funny.

[yurbud]

10. Amy Goodman, DemocracyNow! on Pacifica. It's a news essential

No bullshit, happy talk, or spin just straight up news and interviews, and she does the toughest interviews ever, not because she personally attacks people but actually reminds them of things they said or did in the past that were pretty major. She asked Bill Clinton about supporting the death penalty in spite of errors and racist use, and said something that made Howard Dean run away. Recently, she had Tom Friedman on, and though he is now a critic of the Iraq War, she asked him if he still backed some of his fairly openly fascist statements from right after 9/11. He fumbled, hemmed and hawed, but didn't answer.

If every reporter was like Amy Goodman, there would be no Bush presidency, and most republicans and a lot of democrats would be run out of office.

If you don't have Pacifica in your town, you can hear her streaming on the web at democracynow.org.

It is the one hour of radio you can't afford to miss everyday it's on.

[CuteNFuzzy]

26. absolutely

Best daily news show I know of

[onethatcares]

27. agreed, the war and peace report

she is on target.

[Zodiak]

30. I will try to check into that, thanks n/t

[yurbud]

35. Before Air America, listening to her was like the BBC in occupied France

the only voice of sanity I heard as everyone else had gone nuts or gutless.

[NYCGirl]

11. I love Al Franken and Rachel Maddow. NT

[prairie populist]

39. I'm with you nt

[calmblueocean]

14. Marc Maron, but he's gone now, so...

I picked Sam Seder as my second choice. He's does a great job of combining the fury of Malloy with the wonkiness of Franken. I think he's the best host they have.

(Isn't Rachel Maddow missing from your list, btw?)

I listen in the car, and I'm also an AAR Premium member, so I d/l the podcasts at night and listen to them before I go to sleep. I think it's great.

[Armstead]

16. Isn't Marc Masron still on locally and in syndication?

If you have AA Premium I think you can still get his show online.

[Nabia2004]

18. They pulled the plug on him

Here is the latest emailing from him.

NEW NEWS
Tue, Jul 18, 2006 04:16 PM

Hey, Folks-

Maron here. For those of you who didn't know or I have lost touch with. Air America Radio has pulled the plug on The Marc Maron Show before it was even syndicated. The wanted me to return to NYC but we couldn't agree on terms. So, no NYC, no syndicated show.

That said, I am hitting the road a bit in preparation for a Comedy Central Presents special taping in NYC in August. I'll give you details as I find them out.

I am in talks with some radio syndicators and streaming outlets. I'll let you know where those lead.

While I have a new website designed you can find me at:

http://www.myspace.com/marcmaron

If you're into the myspace thing send me a friend request and we'll get
connected that way. My dates are listed there.

My wife Mishna is doing her show "My Life With Black People" here in
Los Angeles at the UCB theater ( http://www.ucbtheatre.com/la/ ) July 28th and Aug. 4th at 8:00. If you come on Aug 4th I'm doing the show after here so you could do a double header.

Thanks you all for your support and patience,

Love,
Maron

The LA show was excellent, almost as good as his old morning show with Mark. However, the time slot sucked, it was a 2-hour show from 10-midnight and his first hour was often preempted by local sports.

[Zodiak]

31. Sorry about that

I was bound to forget someone. I'm glad I added "other"

[laruemtt]

17. Guy James -

he actually listens when people call in. it's not about him and his voice all the time like with some others..............

[Poiuyt]

25. Guy James or Thom Hartmann

[no_hypocrisy]

19. Sam Greenfield of 1600 AM, WWRL in NYC.

Next, Amy Goodman of Democracy Now.

Next, Mike Malloy of Air America.

Next, Lionel.

Honorable mention: The late "Grandpa" Al Lewis of the NY affiliate of Pacifica Radio (95.5 FM). He could really kick butt!

[Syncronaut Seven]

20. I don't listen to any of these folks

I can read ten times faster than I can get info from them, and I chose what I read.

I'm not saying they're not all great, just that when I get news off talk radio, for me, it's (comparatively) old news.

[w8liftinglady]

21. Mike Malloy is my social life,too...thanks to DU

that's pathetic,isn't it?

[Swamp Rat]

22. Mike Malloy AND Stephanie Miller

I love Mama! :loveya:

[clbuck]

23. Malloy. No contest.

His old promo said it all: "I know I have a reputation of being passionate, hard-edged, fiery, and sometimes explosive. And that reputation is well-deserved, because I'm a liberal with a microphone, and that makes me dangerous". What other host has a huge GD thread every single day?

If I had a second choice, I'd pick Thom Hartmann for his wisdom and his knowledge of history.

[butterfly77]

28. Same thoughts here...

[sueragingroz]

32. Right on...

I'm playing Mike's last night show right now!!!

Also... best bumper music in radio!

[mitchtv]

24. Bernie Ward 10p-1a pdt

http://www.kgoam810.com/listenlive/listenlive.asp

[Zodiak]

33. Thanks for the comments

If anyone cares, keep 'em coming.

ON EDIT: Weird how this poll is coming out in exactly the order of the host I listen to. I guess I am a "typical" DU liberal radio listener.

[Greyhound]

34. Had to go with Thom because Randi is so irritatingly in love with

her own voice. She even talks over in-studio guests, which I find, not only incredibly rude, but irritating as the guest is usually someone with something important to say.

[Iniquitous Bunny]

36. I'd go with a local one- Colin McEnroe.

http://blogs.courant.com/colin_mcenroe_to_wit/

[sakabatou]

37. I have three:

Malloy
Rhodes
and Sedar

[CatholicEdHead]

38. Big Redhead and Team Fargo

[Make7]

40. Randi. ( n/t )

105 votes

[CTyankee]

41. Steph is the best!

I love her and Jim and Chris!

I feel bad for her this week, with the ME war and all. She was beset by hardliners on both sides and she was courageous in answering them all.

But she and Jim are so funny I have nearly had driving accidents while laughing at their routines! What a great show!