Media for Purple Folk?

By Anonymous -
In my previous post, I did a quick and shallow review of conservative talk radio as I left Chicago for the holidays. As an update to that post, I should probably concede that I was harder on Michael Medved than I should have been. I caught another show before turning in the rental car and enjoyed it immensely. He was discussing Iraq with an intellectual who was calling for the United States to withdraw from the Middle East and provide massive reparations to the Iraqi people for "breaking their country". Despite the wide ideological gulf between Medved and the professor, he was civil and asked some good pointed questions. The professor was a much better guest than the guest on the previous show I complained about and was able (IMHO) to explain and defend his position relatively well. I was enjoying the show immensely and I was disappointed that I had to have the car back to Hertz before the show was finished.

For purple staters, I'd recommend Medved on this basis. I felt like I received a good look at both sides of the issues without all the snark or insults. Does anyone have any similar recommendations for talk show hosts (radio and otherwise) that would appeal to people interested in the merits of the debate and not who can scream louder?

Comments

Aziz P. said…
Actually, I admit to greatly enjoying Michael Savage. I know he can be a total buffoon at times, but at others he is a fascinating and even stimulating host. And truth be told, despite his hyper-conservative take on it, his main point about "borders, language, culture" is an important one. I interpret it as advice to an immigrant communityt in preserving their culture while remaining fully engaged and assimilated into their host nation rather than as a defensive nationalistic posture the way he does, but it certainly is touching on something universal with respect to how we humans define our communities.

If youre willing to overlook his fits and bouts of insanity, Savage can be a very enjoyable listen.
10:28 PM
Aziz P. said…
agreed, that would fit into the "insanity" I mentioned. I am NOT defending Savage, Im just saying he sometimes can be articulate in between fits of raving lunacy. And those articulate moments are quite compelling at times.
8:46 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Conservatism's shari'a, liberalism's ijtihad

By Aziz P. -
An interesting meta-debate by intellectual conservatives over conservatism's future is playing out. It started with David Frum's Waterloo essay, which led to his political excommunication. Julian Sanchez observed that this represented an epistemic closing of the conservative mind , a thesis that was validated by the retribution visited upon Jim Manzi for daring to suggest that conservatives will achieve more persuasion by using honest, strong arguments instead of weak, emotional ones. All of this has led John Quiggin at Crooked Timber to argue most wisely that as conservatism implodes, liberalism needs to find its own rationale that is more than just "not conservatism". Quiggin has a list of priorities for the liberal movement to address, and closes with the general plea, ...the left has to stand for something more than keeping the existing order afloat with incremental improvements. We need to offer the hope of a better world as an alternative to the angry tribali...
Read more

A fair solution to Jerusalem

By Aziz P. -
I remember reading one of the books by Tom Clancy in which Jack Ryan was credited with coming up with a solution for Middle East peace which was pointedly never actually detailed in the novel. It was just a way to give his character some foreign policy cred, but ended up like that mysterious suitcase in Pulp Fiction. I couldn't help but be reminded of that, though, when I read former New York mayor Ed Koch's innovative solution to resolving the status of Jerusalem . Instead of putting the hot-button issue of Jerusalem last on the agenda, the issue should be addressed first. If the Jerusalem question is solved, everything else should fall into place more easily. I believe there is a way to keep Jerusalem unified. I am talking not only of the old walled city, which is a very small part of the city of Jerusalem, but the whole city, east, west, north and south. [...] My suggestion is to situate the new Palestinian capital in that part of East Jerusalem that is occupied overwhelming...
Read more