US Fascism Has Arrived Thanks to 30 Years of Right-Wing Talk Radio Dominance | Common Dreams
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The GOP hold on most of American radio seems pretty unshakable, but Democrats must get into the talk-radio game before ever more damage is done.

The GOP hold on most of American radio seems pretty unshakable, but Democrats must get into the talk-radio game before ever more damage is done.

    • frezik@midwest.social
      21·
      6 days ago

      The writer of the article, Thom Hartmann, was deeply involved in that. Sounds like he can’t let go of a bad idea.

    • MutilationWave@lemmy.world
      1·
      5 days ago

      We’ve tried this for a long time, to varying degrees of success, with public radio. I don’t mean NPR although that will usually be a decent portion of local public radio.

      I travel all the time. All over the US, although lately it’s been limited to the middle/north east coast and Midwest. It’s pretty fun to tune into the local public radio if you’re close enough to get a signal. They can be really insightful like WAMU in DC about local stories.

      They can be terrible like my local station that can only afford to run 1A (which is a good show) and a few localish music shows. The rest of the time is literally filled with fucking classical music. It’s painful to listen to. Sorry to all the Bacchists and Mozartists out there but this shit sucks.

      Anyway, check out the low end of the FM dial when you’re traveling, you might collect some stations you like that you can stream later.

      • WoahWoah@lemmy.world
        2·
        4 days ago

        I’ve listened to public radio quite a bit. Right wing talk radio is fundamentally different. Hannity, Limbaugh, Alex Jones and their ilk are actively radicalizing listeners and intentional ideologues. Public radio is news, informational/educational content, and political debate. They’re different in almost every other respect except that you use your ears for both.

  • Nougat@fedia.io
    21·
    6 days ago

    “Has arrived,” as though it hasn’t been churning just beneath the surface since the beginning, and succeeding in lifting its filthy maw above the water line many, many times.

  • Pantsofmagic@lemmy.world
    91·
    6 days ago

    They tried with air America and it was ok but not really all that compelling. Truth and facts just don’t sell like toxic divisive fantasies.

    • Supervisor194@lemmy.world
      4·
      6 days ago

      It needed better talent. Thom Hartmann was the sole survivor because he’s actually listenable. Randi Rhodes and Ron Reagan were just shit. But progressive talk can be done well. Stephanie Miller is hilarious when she has the right crew, but she has a penchant for self-owning. She gave us John Fugelsang, who is just brilliant.

      • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        6 days ago

        Love Thom Hartmann; listen to his podcast these days. I remember trying to listen to Randi Rhodes way back when, and…I just remember it being kind of headache-inducing. I also listen to Fugelsang’s podcast now too…

  • Veneroso@lemmy.worldEnglish
    123·
    6 days ago

    Honestly radio is dying much like television.

    Podcasting is the better space to get going.

    Also tictoc.

    We need to get the young folks of the incel pipeline .

    • vividspecter@lemm.ee
      12·
      6 days ago

      Podcasting is the better space to get going.

      Joe Rogan and other right-wing cranks.

      Also tictoc.

      A significant part of the rise of fascism in Europe among young people.

      Anyway I do like podcasts, and it’s full of good content (and so is tiktok presumably) but neither are lacking right-wing content.

      • Veneroso@lemmy.worldEnglish
        5·
        6 days ago

        It’s better in my opinion to meet people where they’re at. Radio isn’t where they’re at. That was my point.

        The Majority Report on YouTube is fantastic.

        The Daily Beans.

        Beau of the Fifth Column.

        I’ve Had it Podcast.

        Vaush.

        Pod Save America.

        Bad Hasbara.

        There are many more, but it’s a matter of putting ears and eyes on where they need to be.

    • Crashumbc@lemmy.worldEnglish
      61·
      6 days ago

      Getting young folks off the incel pipeline is going to be really tough in today’s environment.

      Incel is the new fat. Most of society immediately treats them like scum that did it to themselves. In a lot of cases both fat people and incels are at fault, but trashing them isn’t going to fix the issues.

      Your need to understand them and how they got there to try and change them or at least reduce new ones from being created. Not just hate them.

      • Veneroso@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        6 days ago

        Most of the podcasts I listed represent counter arguments that may help. There’s no simple way to change thought, but exposure to counter messaging, might bring about change.

  • Bamboodpanda@lemmy.world
    10·
    5 days ago

    Talk radio is essentially a person telling you what to think and feel. It can’t even be classified as learning because it’s being done to you when you listen. It’s a confirmation bias circle jerk. Democrats tend to be educated and educated people usually are repelled by the format.

    • SoleInvictus@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      51·
      5 days ago

      I think NPR does a good job providing talk radio type material that isn’t repellant to people with critical thinking skills.

      Do you consider their offerings substantially different than talk radio?

      • andros_rex@lemmy.world
        4·
        4 days ago

        NPR usually has a diversity of views and the dialogue isn’t as 24/7 emotional.

        I think the big thing with conservative talk radio is that it’s the verbal equivalent of Micheal Bay - 24/7 PAY ATTENTION RIGHT NOW. Think Alex Jones’s incoherent screaming rants as he plays air raid sirens. He does have guests/callers, but any views that he doesn’t agree with will get shouted down. (He has the illusion of disagreement with more explicitly racist guests - he won’t boot you off if you start talking about the Jews, but will pretend he’s a little uncomfortable). But it’s lots of yelling, and THEY ARE TRYING TO CUT YOUR SONS PENIS OFF! Pretty sure that format goes back through Rush to Hicks.

        NPR doesn’t really tell you what to think. It comes across as left leaning because the Overton window in the US has been pushed so far to the right that our Democrats have the positions that Republicans did 20 years ago, while our Republican Party is fantasizing about purges. But NPR has calm, reasoned discussions between folks of all political persuasions. You can even hear it in the voices - it’s a common punchline how calm the reporters are.

        It’s not the talk format - it’s the content and presentation.

      • IMongoose@lemmy.world
        3·
        5 days ago

        I was forced to endure Rush Limbaugh (I think) while riding with my Dad. That show was just Rush ranting to himself, constructing straw men, then tearing them down over and over again. No real facts, sources, or guests. Just Rush yelling into the mic the entire time spewing garbage.

        So ya, it can be a lot different.

        • SoleInvictus@lemmy.blahaj.zone
          3·
          5 days ago

          Same, and I’m sorry. It was Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage for me. I remember realizing my father was an idiot at an earlier age than I might have otherwise because the arguments those two morons made were obviously so, so bad yet he just ate it all up.

  • Tikiporch@lemmy.world
    17·
    6 days ago

    No one who wants to hear what the left-of-right has to say listens to talk radio, but everyone who needs to hear it listens to talk radio.

    • MutilationWave@lemmy.world
      2·
      5 days ago

      Is an NPR program like 1A talk radio? I listen to that and many people who are traveling often do. It’s not leftist, but it’s decidedly anti-fascist simply by reporting the truth and bringing on experts to explain things. Two co-workers of mine have told me that they used to listen to NPR before “it got all political”- meaning they heard things they didn’t want to be true. That’s a bit of a tangent but these two people wouldn’t listen to Rush Limbaugh or whoever took his toilet throne.

      I assume since podcasts aren’t on the radio they don’t count as talk radio right? But discussion podcasts have blown talk radio away and there are so many flavors to choose from.

  • arin@lemmy.worldEnglish
    67·
    6 days ago

    How a little bit of Russian money can shape the retards in the south

  • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.worldEnglish
    41·
    5 days ago

    I live in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. Everything is really spread out here and it’s one of the places in the US where you just need a car. Lots of people here commute and a lot of them get their news from radio while driving. People who have the radio on at work will often have it on a talk station.

    We had an NPR affiliate, but that went away in 2019. The only people on terrestrial radio in this area talking about current events now are right wing grievance screaming. I’ve watched this region become more conservative during that time.

  • rf_@lemmy.world
    25·
    6 days ago

    Go to the top podcast lists and you’ll see that one is also dominated by right-wing personalities too.