Since he went on the air, I've been listening to Al Franken's radio show. It isn't back on the air in Los Angeles but one can hear it streaming via the Air America website or, even better, this website archives the old shows for download. I had not expected to like the show since I've generally found "talk radio" to be less an intelligent discussion of issues and more like wrestling but with even cheaper theatrics. Very few radio talkers have ever convinced me they're doing much more than an "act" that they've found attracts listeners, and if Al was just going to be the Bizarro-Rush, saying Liberals were right about everything and Conservatives were wrong…well, even if I thought that was true, I had and still have no interest in listening to that. I think it's a sign of weakness to avoid other viewpoints. It's like an insecure business tycoon surrounding himself with "Yes Men" who tell him what he wants to hear. I also think it's more a sign of stubbornness than principle to operate off the assumption that The Other Side is evil, misinformed, treacherous, stupid, etc.
But I like Al Franken. I didn't always like the old, smug Al Franken of Saturday Night Live, but I like what he's become. I liked his books and I liked him when I heard him speak last October. I was also intrigued by the fact that unlike most who get into Talk Radio, Franken was not a nobody looking to make his fame and fortune in the arena. So I gave him a try and I've generally enjoyed what I've heard. One thing that I appreciate is that Franken has friends and guests who don't just endorse everything he says. He occasionally has on people like G. Gordon Liddy and Grover Norquist…not often, granted, but the fact that he has them on at all is indicative of a somewhat healthier attitude than the kind of show that you tune in just to hear that your side is doing God's work and the other side is the Spawn of Satan. (I tried listening to Air America's Randi Rhodes and gave her up because she seemed to be just that.) There are moments when Franken veers into Michael Savage Land and we get a festival of Bush-bashing and Rush-roasting…but you also get moments like, for example the other day, when Franken and Bob Barr found a lot of common ground on the Patriot Act.
My biggest problem with Franken's show has been that I simply can't spend the fifteen hours a week to listen to him. Fortunately, they've now begun videotaping the proceedings, editing it down to an hour of highlights and airing it on The Sundance Channel each night. Much better. If you haven't checked it out, you might give it a try…that is, assuming you get The Sundance Channel. Someone must.