New Online Radio Talk Show Features Three Nolan Chart Columnists
Jake Towne, Melinda Pillsbury-Foster and I will be co-hosting a new radio show on the Progressive Radio Network by Walt Thiessen
(libertarian)
Sunday, January 17, 2010
If you're not doing anything particular this Thursday, January 21, 2010 from 6-7 p.m., you might visit the Progressive Radio Network's website and tune in to a new online radio talk show hosted by Jake Towne, Melinda Pillsbury-Foster, and myself. The name of our new show is the Freedom News Hour — Surviving Meltdown.
The whole thing started when I received an email message via another site I operate, Libertarian TV. That site has actually lain dormant and largely unattended for a number of years, but it still gets a fair number of visitors to watch some of the video interviews available on the site. Kara Lee, program director for PRN, found the site and contacted me about doing a show about the Libertarian Party. I informed her that I was no longer a party member, but I expressed interest in doing a show if it could be expanded to include the entire freedom movement and not just the LP. She loved the idea, as did the founder of PRN, Gary Null. I asked if I could invite co-hosts to join me, and they loved that idea too, since talk radio is much more interesting when an actual conversation takes place during a broadcast.
I gave a lot of thought to the people I know in the movement. There are so many good options available! The first person I ended up selecting was Jake Towne. Jake is a leading columnist here at the 'Chart, as well as an independent candidate for Congress in Pennsylvania. A young and energetic guy, he also has a good, level head on his shoulders. His knowledge of the issues of freedom is extensive and growing daily. I approached him about it, and he agreed quickly to become my co-host.
He and I then brainstormed regarding who to approach about becoming our third co-host. I wanted three of us, because if one of us can't make it for a particular show, there will still be two others to do the show that week. It gives the show flexibility. I also wanted to bring in a female voice. Women actually represent a sizable percentage of the freedom movement, yet the number of prominent female voices is relatively smaller, proportionately speaking. Again, we had a lot of candidates to pick from. We finally picked Melinda Pillsbury-Foster, an occasional columnist here at the 'Chart, but also a long-time activist in the freedom movement (including within the LP).
Some readers may wonder why we have agreed to do this show on a progressive network. After all, some will argue, isn't freedom a right-wing issue? Aren't the liberals responsible for the lack of liberty in the world today? Both of these notions are quite misleading and, in many cases, patently false. Liberty and freedom are an issue for everyone, and they appeal to everyone. One could easily make the argument that conservatives, moderates, and liberals all have a hand in attacking liberty; the differences are in the issues on which members of each group attack. PRN claims an audience of over 100,000 listeners. That's a substantial population, and all three of us believe that it's a population that is well worth attempting to reach. Further, all three of us hope to expand that audience considerably. The movement for liberty needs to be inclusive, not exclusive.
Some might also wonder why a liberal radio network chose to include a libertarian or freedom-oriented voice on their network. The answer is very simple. As their program director told me, they felt that the freedom movement, that third parties in general, have little or no voice in the media these days, and they felt it was important to include that voice in their programming. I salute their positive, constructive attitude on this point. They already realize that they won't necessarily agree with everything we say on their network, but they think highly enough of the idea of tolerance for differing views that they are willing to provide a platform for those views, just as this website, the Nolan Chart, similarly offers such a platform. I applaud them for their demonstration of respect for freedom of speech and press.
Each show will begin with about 15 minutes or so of a "round robin" on the most recent headlines, with each of us focusing on three leading news issues, with commentary. Then we will either interview a guest or focus on an issue with call-ins for about a half hour. The last 10 minutes or so will focus on projects that the three of us are involved in on a regular basis outside of the show. This is our initial program plan for each show. It will probably evolve in some ways over time.
Our first show will simply be a chance for the three of us to get to know each other better, as well as to make first contact with the listening audience. We will touch on a number of issues that will become ongoing themes of the show, including the banking crisis, terrorism, and various grassroots activities both within and bordering on the freedom movement. We already have guests scheduled for the following weeks. On January 28th, we will feature Donna Conroy, Executive Director and lobbyist for brightfuturejobs.com, who will discuss her views regarding what she sees as the threat to American jobs from the H1-B visa program. On February 4th, our guest will be Corey Kealiher, who recently released a DVD about the Ron Paul campaign of 2008 entitled, "For Liberty, How the Ron Paul Revolution Watered the Withered Tree of Liberty".
You can check our website at www.freedomnewshour.com in future weeks to see what other guests will appear on the show.
So join us each Thursday evening from 6-7 Eastern Time on the Progressive Radio Network. You'll find it quite entertaining and informative.
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in this article are those of Walt Thiessen only and
do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates.
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Wow! Congratulations, Walt (and Jake and Melinda).
I believe that 2010 is a different sort of year; an ideal time to "mix and match" dissident politics. Last week as a Practical Idealist, I was the guest of a progressive host. We got along fine, and we even gave a shout out to the tea partiers, as I'll explain. Usually, I come in from the angle of boosting freedom, democracy, and human rights for mainland China -- progressives are fine with those issues. We taped two episodes (our hour long talk will be cut into two half hours) for his show, Progressive Soup.
The thing is this:
(1) Tea Partiers are planning a direct economic action coming up soon this year. (I only heard about it when Rachel Maddow was using it to ridicule tea partiers. I forget exactly what their plan is, maybe a day of general strike, or shoppers strike?)
(2) The left (as at Huffington Post) is pushing MoveYourMoney.info, where the idea is to have, en masse, customers of big banks (ala Citibank, BofA, Chase, etc.) move their money to smaller community banks and credit unions.
(3) The progressive host and I were talking up Boycott Made In China sentiments.
So from the left; from the right; and from practical idealism, we are all talking up direct economic actions for political activism that goes beyond appeals and waving signs -- these are actions to directly impact the bottom line. It's push back time for corporatist neo-fascism!
As I observed on the show, American politics are taking on a different tenor in 2010, if this is what the activism is like. The activists aren't waiting for a Wall Street stamp of approval. What's in the air now is direct economic / financial actions.
Posted By: Walt Thiessen
Date: 2010-01-22 16:06:06
Cross-promotion, actually, George. We spent a few minutes during the radio show promoting the Nolan Chart website to the PRN listening audience. Click here to listen to the podcast.
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