Podcast Feed
The link to the Podcast feed on feedburner is located in the column to the right with the podcast icon
November 17, 2009
Live, From New York: It's KSM
On our radio show last Saturday, we interviewed Andy McCarthy on the Obama administration's decision to try five top terrorists, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, in federal court in New York for their "crimes," i.e., making war against the United States. It's a great interview, I think, and as high-level a discussion as you will ever hear of the issues raised by that potentially fateful decision. Not because of my skill as an interviewer, but because Andy is uniquely qualified to speak authoritatively on the subject. In a better world, he, rather than Eric Holder, would be making such decisions. So here it is: the podcast of our interview with Andy McCarthy.
You can go here to listen to or download the interview. Or you can click the play button below to listen to it.
October 18, 2009
Five For Fighting, the Podcast
John Ondrasik of Five For Fighting--it took me a couple of years, at least, to figure out that the reference is to the hockey penalty, not the number of band members--is one of the world's truly great guys. He has just released a terrific new album called Slice. We were lucky enough to catch up with him yesterday on our radio show. My radio partner, Brian "St. Paul" Ward of Fraters Libertas, knows a lot more about music than I do and took the lead in the interview. It's lots of fun, I think.
You can go here to listen to or download the interview. Or you can click the play button below to listen to it.
The new album, Slice, is excellent. I highly recommend it. You can buy it at iTunes, or Amazon, or WalMart, or just about anywhere. Please do. If you listen to the podcast, you'll understand why we are such big fans of John's.
UPDATE: Here is Five For Fighting performing "Superman" at the Concert For New York that we talked about in the podcast:
October 14, 2009
Architects of Ruin, the Podcast
Last Saturday we interviewed Peter Schweizer on our radio show, discussing his new book Architects of Ruin. The book is excellent. It analyzes, in relatively brief and highly accessible fashion, the origins of the current financial crisis. And Peter is a great radio guest; the interview is entertaining and, I think, unusually informative. Click on the graphic to buy the book; I highly recommend it.
You can go here to listen to or download the interview. Or you can click the play button below to listen to it.
June 6, 2009
Ask The Economist
Like most people, I find the world of money and banking to be mostly a mystery. Unlike most people, I'm not afraid to ask questions that make me look stupid. So last week on our radio show, I had my friend King Baniain as a guest for a session of "Ask the Economist." King is the chairman of the Economics Department at St. Cloud State University and is very knowledgeable about banking. So I thought it would be interesting to talk about banking, the Federal Reserve and the money supply, in the context of the Obama administration's unprecedented orgy of debt. What are the implications for the value of your savings and our children's future? Go here to listen or download the conversation, and find out.
September 21, 2008
Andrew Meier Discusses The Lost Spy
The Lost Spy is an excellent new book by Andrew Meier, formerly Time magazine's Russia correspondent. I wrote about the book here. It tells the story of Cy Oggins, an American who attended Columbia, became a Communist and, with his wife Nerma, spied for Josef Stalin.
Oggins' story reprises much of the history of pre-World War II Europe, as he served Stalin in Weimar Berlin, Paris, Spain and the Far East. Meier does a fine job of re-creating these colorful milieus. In the end, Stalin turned on Oggins. He was arrested, sent to Lubyanka prison, and sentenced to eight years in the Siberian gulag. In 1942, the U.S. government learned of Oggins' existence and requested his release. But Oggins knew far too much to be allowed to go free. In 1947, his prison term having been served, Stalin ordered him murdered.
The Lost Spy is a well-written, riveting story that until now has been unknown. Meier spent years researching Oggins, with the cooperation of his son, a retired professor. He traveled around the world to uncover clues to Oggins' activities and his ultimate fate. I recommend the book highly.
Yesterday, I interviewed Andrew Meier on our radio show. You can download or just listen to the interview here. Or you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here. It's a fun interview and an excellent book.
To comment on this post, go here.
August 27, 2008
Bill Clinton goes to bat for Obama
As I noted last night, the one gap in Hillary Clinton's speech from the perspective of the Obama campaign was strong praise for her adversary. Tonight, Bill Clinton filled that gap. The former president praised Obama frequently. At the outset, he said that the Democratic race came down to two great Americans. A few minutes later he pronounced Obama "the man for the job." Clinton cited Obama's ability to rally people to his vision, his intellectual curiosity, and his superior policies. Then, responding to concerns about Obama's security credentials, Clinton (for what it's worth) specifically blessed Obama in this area too. Clinton also cited Obama's heritage, claiming that it will give him a unique ability to lead American in the 21st century. Three times, Clilnton repeated that Obama "is ready."
Clinton went on to offer the highest praise he can bestow -- a comparison to himself. He compared the Obama of 2008 -- said to be too young and too inexperienced -- to the Bill Clinton of 1992. The charge, he noted, didn't work then (although the "too lecherous" claim stuck) and it shouldn't work now.
Clinton concluded by calling Obama the 21st century embodiment of the American dream. "If you beleve America must always be a place called Hope," he intoned, "then join Hillary and me in making Barack Obama the next president of the United States."
The Clintons, it seems to me, have now done their part to propel Obama. The rest is up to Obama and his running mate.
To comment on this post, go here.
June 15, 2008
Come on, you miserable lefties
The Daily Mail invites left-wing readers to take issue with Peter Schweizer's findings in "Right-wingers are really nicer people, latest research shows," summarizing the findings in Peter's new book Makers and Takers.
JOHN adds: We interviewed Peter on our radio show last week, and talked about Makers and Takers. It's a fun interview; just click the button below to play it:
To comment on this post go here.
May 28, 2008
Another Press Secretary Gives A Contrary View
I noted earlier today that Tony Snow, who succeeded Scott McClellan as White House press secretary and did a far better job, came away deeply impressed by President Bush. As an antidote to today's frenzy over McClellan's hatchet job, here is an interview that I did with Snow in October 2006. He talks about President Bush beginning at around the six minute mark. Just click to play.
Kathryn Lopez notes that Tony appears to be very ill. Please pray for him.
To comment on this post go here.
May 27, 2008
In Case You Missed It
Here is the audio clip of my appearance on Bill Bennett's radio show this morning, talking about our post, Are We Safer?. The clip is courtesy of Bill's great producer, Seth Leibsohn. Click to play:
To comment on this post go here.
May 10, 2008
Our Interview of Doug Feith
We've written several times about Doug Feith's important new book, War and Decision. Last Saturday, I interviewed Feith on our Northern Alliance radio show. It was a fascinating conversation, I think. Doug Feith was in on most of the key decisions about the Iraq war, and his book, which includes a number of declassified documents, is an invaluable resource.
You can download or just listen to the interview here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here. I think that still works; I haven't been podcasting much lately, and we've gotten mixed reports on iTunes.
The usual suspects in the media have ignored Feith's book, since it explodes many myths about the Iraq war and generally fails to support the preferred narrative. To find out for yourself, click on the image below to order War and Decision from Amazon:
UPDATE: The link doesn't seem to be working, and I can't figure out why. I'll try to fix it.
FURTHER UPDATE: I fixed it. As usual, the problem was operator error.
February 27, 2008
Mark Steyn on World War IV
We've written a number of times about the gala evening in New York when we awarded Norman Podhoretz the Power Line Book of the Year award for 2007, for World War IV.
One of the highlights of the evening was Mark Steyn's speech, in which he highlighted a basic difference between the current war and its predecessors: in World War IV, if that really is what we are fighting, the U.S. has few if any serious allies.
If you haven't ever listened to Mark, you shouldn't miss this; he talks pretty much as he writes, with a great deal of humor and a unique ability to harness that humor in service of a very serious argument.
You can download or just listen to Mark's talk here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here. Here is a short clip from Mark's speech:
To comment on this post, go here.
February 24, 2008
Kissinger on Islamic Terrorism
One of the highlights of our Book of the Year award ceremony in New York was the speech by Henry Kissinger, founder of the "realist" school of foreign policy. It was instructive to see how far his thinking diverges from that of most of those who today call themselves "realists." Here is a brief excerpt from his talk:
Terrorism, what we call terrorism, refers to a method. What terrorism represents is an assault by radical Islam on the political structure of the Islamic world, but in a deeper sense on the secular structure and international structure of anything, any society, within reach of Islam, which means almost every part of the world. That is a fundamental challenge. Therefore, to talk about withdrawal from any battlefield is to describe defeat. There is no way to escape the conflict with Islam by leaving Afghanistan or leaving Iraq. Now that is not only delusion and it is not something that will have long term consequences, it is something that would have almost immediate consequences. That is the fundamental problem of our period. That this is a war against radical Islam that has to be won.
I've podcasted Kissinger's speech. You can download or just listen to it here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
To comment on this post, go here.
January 19, 2008
Hour One
Brian "St. Paul" Ward and I braved the frigid weather--it was 18 degrees below zero this morning--and made our way to the Patriot bunker for today's radio show. In the first hour, we talked about the weather, the Nevada caucuses and the South Carolina primary, the state of the Republican race, and Fred Thompson. We finished up by awarding our Loon of the Week prize; the finalists were two Democratic Congresspeople. It was a fun hour.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
January 5, 2008
Michael Barone on Election 2008
Today we had Michael Barone as a guest on our radio show. We spent the first segment talking about the results in Iowa and the current state of the 2008 race. In the second segment, we talked about the new edition of Michael's Almanac of American Politics and his views on the broader currents in American politics. This is a great opportunity to hear from America's foremost political analyst.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
To comment on the interview, go here.
October 26, 2007
Smash the Nanny State!
My radical days are far behind me, but it still feels good to say "smash the state" now and then, especially when we're talking about the nanny state. As we did a couple of Saturdays ago with David Harsanyi, author of Nanny State: How Food Fascists, Teetotaling Do-Gooders, Priggish Moralists, and other Boneheaded Bureaucrats are Turning America into a Nation of Children.
Harsanyi was a terrific guest, and it was a fun interview. Not only that, Harsanyi later paid us this tribute on his web site:
The guys on the First Team of the Northern Alliance Radio Network are officially my favorite radio hosts. Sure, they're smart and funny, but that's not it. They use Replacements bumper music.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
To comment on this podcast, go here.
October 12, 2007
First Hour Commentary
I'm traveling this week and won't be in the studio tomorrow morning for our weekly radio show. Here, instead, is the first hour of last week's show, which was a fun hour of commentary on the events of the day, plus our Loon of the Week award.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
September 28, 2007
Second Hour
In the second hour of last Saturday's show, we interviewed Lt. Col. John Nagl, one of the Army's top experts on counterinsurgency. He is the author of Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam and, with General David Petraeus, The U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual. Col. Nagl is a great American and a terrific interview. Among other things, it was a candid assessment of where we've been in Iraq, and where we're going.
And, of course, we presented our Gatekeeper of the Week award and had some fun at Dan Rather's expense.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
Tomorrow, we'll be on the air as usual from 11 to 1 central time, 12 to 2 eastern. You can listen online here.
Tomorrow we'll kick off the show by interviewing Laura Ingraham; we'll talk about her hot new best-seller, Power to the People, currently number 14 on Amazon's list. It's sure to be fun.
Podcasting Resumes
Things have been very busy lately, and I've had to forgo some activities (e.g., podcasting) in favor of others that confer more tangible rewards (i.e., pay the mortgage). Besides, if I don't get around to podcasting a show, you can always get them at Townhall. But the radio show has been humming along, and I want to get back in the podcasting habit.
So let's start with last Saturday's show, first hour. Chad and I were in the studio; it was a fun hour. We talked about foreign affairs, including Israel's raid on what was apparently a Syrian nuclear facility and awarded our Loon of the Week prize. Jenna Jameson even figured in it.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
August 3, 2007
Cheney: The Inside Story
In the second hour of last Saturday's radio show, we talked with Steve Hayes about his new book, Cheney. It was a great conversation about an excellent biography. For me, the most interesting chapters were about Cheney's youth in Nebraska and Wyoming and his early career in Washington. Dick Cheney has participated in most of the interesting events in Washington from the Gerry Ford administration to the present, and Steve's book is a great way to recap that history.
Cheney covers his term as Vice President too, of course, but those events are more familiar, and if you already know that Joe Wilson is a liar, you can probably skim over some of the more recent events. In our interview, we asked about Cheney's views of the present conflict in Iraq, and Steve related the conversations he's had with the Vice-President on that subject. It's a great three segments, followed by our Gatekeeper of the Week award. Unquestionably, though, the highlight was our conversation with Steve Hayes about Dick Cheney's career, and the light it sheds on modern American history.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
I enthusiastically recommend that you buy the book. Clicking on the graphic below will take you to Amazon, where you can place your order.
July 20, 2007
Hour Two
The second hour of our radio show on Saturday began with a phone call from Lt. Pete Hegseth, talking about his visit to Washington with Vets For Freedom. We continued talking about the war in Iraq, the pro-defeat movement in Congress, took some calls, discussed the media coverage of the recent benchmark report and President Bush's press conference on the report, and awarded our This Week in Gatekeeping prize. It's another fun hour.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
July 15, 2007
Michael Barone and More
The highlight of the first hour of our radio show yesterday was a half-hour interview with Michael Barone. Barone is more knowledgeable than anyone else about the nuts and bolts of American politics, but for his latest book he chose to look backward to England's "Glorious Revolution" of 1688-89. His book is Our First Revolution: The Remarkable British Upheaval That Inspired America's Founding Fathers. It is exceptionally good. We booked Michael at the last minute, so I had planned to just skim through Our First Revolution enough to ask intelligent questions. But the book defies skimming; it is just too interesting. The people and events are colorful, and the issues are not only momentous, but resonant with significance in our time. Clicking on the graphic below will take you to the Amazon page where you can learn more about Our First Revolution.
In addition to the Barone interview, we also discussed the situation in Iraq and the most recent votes in Congress, and recognized the Loon of the Week. Remarkably, a former Nobel Peace Prize winner was only the runner-up.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
July 13, 2007
A Lone Survivor's Story
During the second hour of our radio show on Saturday, we interviewed Navy Seal Marcus Luttrell, author of Lone Survivor. Luttrell was a member of a Seal mission in Afghanistan intended to take out a high-value Taliban target. The mission went awry, and he and his three comrades came under fire from a large contingent of Taliban fighters. The story of how Luttrell survived, although badly wounded, is little short of miraculous. He was kind enough to spend three segments with us. It's a riveting story.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
After you've listened to the podcast, you'll want to buy the book.
July 9, 2007
Giving Live Earth the Respect It Deserves
We devoted most of the first hour of our radio show on Saturday to ridiculing Al Gore's Live Earth festival. Among other things, we played clips of musicians who played in the various concerts, discussing global warming on the event's web site. They are highly entertaining. In the last segment, we awarded our Loon of the Week prize to the looniest of them all. It's an entertaining and informative hour.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
July 6, 2007
The "Fairness" Doctrine, Naked Shakespeare, and More
The second hour of last Saturday's radio show was a fun one. We talked about the left's effort to destroy talk radio by re-instituting the "fairness" doctrine. That prompted some calls. We discussed one of the least edifying of recent cultural developments, naked Shakespeare, and awarded our Gatekeeper of the Week prize.
Because of a technical snafu at the Patriot, I had to get the podcast from Townhall and reproduce it here. So it has a slightly different introduction; after that, it should be the same.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
We'll be on from 11 to one tomorrow, and at noon central time we'll be talking with Navy Seal Marcus Luttrell, author of Lone Survivor. Don't miss it!
July 4, 2007
A Podcast for Independence Day
Actually, last Saturday's show didn't have anything directly to do with Independence Day. But the defeat of the comprehensive immigration bill by an uprising of concerned citizens epitomizes what democracy is all about; that was the subject of most of our first hour. We also awarded the Loon of the Week prize to a certain former actor whose hysterical fund-raising screed on behalf of the Democratic Party is a long way from the cooler days of his youth.
Podcasting has been rather hit or miss lately; the reason is technical snafus at the Patriot. The system that logs and records live broadcasts has been working about half the time. It wasn't functioning last weekend, so I took this .mp3 file from Townhall, where you can also hear our show, along with the rest of the Northern Alliance.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
Here's a sample. If you haven't been listening to our podcasts, you should consider giving them a try.
June 22, 2007
Movies and More
We spent most of the second hour of Saturday's show talking with Stephen Hunter, Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic for the Washington Post. If you want to know what movies to avoid this summer, and which ones to see--a smaller group, no doubt--check it out. Stephen was so entertaining that we held him over for three segments, leaving time at the end for our This Week in Gatekeeping award.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
June 18, 2007
Saturday's Show, First Hour
We spent most of the first hour of Saturday's radio show talking about the return of the "comprehensive immigration reform" bill. That stimulated lots of calls, naturally. We finished up by awarding our coveted Loon of the Week prize to a local politician on the national scene.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
June 15, 2007
Counterinsurgency and More
Last Saturday, our Northern Alliance radio show was broadcast live from the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul, where dedication of a new memorial to Minnesotans who fought in World War II was underway. It was a great event and a fun show. In our second hour, along with the usual commentary and laughs, we interviewed Lt. Col. John Nagl, counterinsurgency expert and author or Learning to Eat Soup With a Knife. It's a very interesting interview, with Col. Nagl's assessment of how the "surge" is going and what signs of progress we should be looking for between now and the fall.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
June 12, 2007
Podcasting the World War II Memorial
I wrote here about the fact that on Saturday, the Northern Alliance broadcast live from the Minnesota State Capitol, where a memorial to Minnesotans who served in World War II was being dedicated. It turned out to be a wonderful event. The crowd was estimated at over 20,000, including a great many veterans and their families. The atmosphere was festive and there was lots to do, with World War II equipment on display, from tanks to pup tents. We got to talk with a lot of veterans and were pleased that many of them came up to our booth and told us that they listen to our show. In this photo, you can see our booth just in front of the Capitol steps. The main events took place down the hill from where we were sitting, behind the point where the picture was taken; click to enlarge:
The show was lots of fun. There was a slight technical glitch at the beginning due to trouble with a microphone, but after that everything went smoothly. (Remotes are always a challenge.) You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
June 3, 2007
Podcasting the Immigration Debate
The Patriot is a great radio station, but every once in a while there are technical challenges. Like yesterday, for example. Chad the Elder and I were in the studio, and we were yammering away in our first segment when calls started coming in, saying that we were not on the air. For reasons that never became clear--to me, anyway--instead of our Northern Alliance show, the Patriot was broadcasting, alternately, news, silence, and a global warming screed. Which must have come as a shock to our listeners.
Fortunately, the ship was soon righted. Our first hour was devoted to the immigration debate in general and the Wall Street Journal--National Review feud in particular. We took calls--I forgot to mention, there was a technical problem there, too--and finished the hour with our Loon of the Week segment, a lifetime achievement award to honor Cindy Sheehan on her retirement from public life. It's a fun hour.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
May 19, 2007
Sgt. Thul Reports From Anbar
The first hour of our radio show today, after a brief discussion of the second Republican Presidential debate, was devoted to an interview of Sgt. David Thul of the Minnesota National Guard, live from Anbar province. We had a remarkably good phone connection, and Sgt. Thul is an informed and articulate observer of events in Iraq. We talked about his role in the Appeal for Courage, which was delivered to Congress last week, and the current state of affairs in Iraq. The interview is well worth your attention.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
April 29, 2007
Podcasting Resumes
I haven't done a podcast for a while; two weeks ago the station gave me defective files, and last weekend I was out of town and didn't do the show. Yesterday Brian "St. Paul" Ward and I were back in the studio. The first hour was lively, with discussion of recent events in Congress and abroad, a number of calls, and, not just a Loon of the Week, but a Flock of Loons. If you think about it, you can probably figure out where we found the Flock. (And yes, I know, loons don't travel in flocks.)
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
April 1, 2007
Podcasting the Crisis in Iran
The first hour of our radio show yesterday was pretty well devoted to the implications of Iran's kidnapping of fifteen British service personnel. The phone lines lit up, and our Loon of the Week kept up the Iran theme. It's a very interesting hour, I think.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
March 30, 2007
Unstoppable Global Warming
During the second hour of Saturday's radio show, we interviewed Dennis Avery, co-author of Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1500 Years. It was a good conversation, with up to the minute data along with some of the basics, for those who are new to the controversy--or who didn't know there is a controversy. Click on the graphic below to order the book from Amazon.
In the third segment we talked about Chad's brush with celebrity in a local television report, also on the subject of global warming; in the final segment, we presented our This Week In Gatekeeping award to the Los Angeles Times.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
March 25, 2007
Yesterday's Radio Show
In the first hour of yesterday's Northern Alliance radio show, we talked about the House's narrow passage of the Democrats' "pork and defeat" bill. We discussed the latest developments in the flying imams litigation and related local controversies. And we awarded our coveted Loon of the Week prize to a newly-elected Minnesota politician. Funny thing, I never realized penguins could drown!
It's another fun and informative show. You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
March 22, 2007
A St. Patrick's Day Podcast
I'm a little late on the podcasts this week, but no matter. St. Patrick's Day didn't have much to do with it, except for the Irish bumper music and my occasional observations on the relative merits of Norwegian and Irish culture. The first hour, which is excerpted here, was a fun one, with talk about the latest Democratic antiwar resolution--this one by Harry Reid--that went down to defeat, the faux scandal of the U.S. Attorneys, and a Loon of the Week that is really a very sad story, set to music by the Patriot's Nick Novak, of a global warming expedition that fell victim to frostbite. Don't miss it!
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
March 16, 2007
Father Neuhaus on the Northern Allliance
In the second hour of last Saturday's show, we spent three segments with Father Richard John Neuhaus, talking about his book Catholic Matters and much else.
Father Neuhaus is also the founder of First Things. He is a brilliant guy, and it was a lively conversation. It's not just for Catholics; anyone interested in the subject of religion in the public square--and who isn't, these days?--will find it worthwhile.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
If you haven't checked out our podcasts, there's no time like the present to give them a try. Don't be put off by the idea that there is some "techno" aspect to podcasting. There isn't. If you go here, you can just click the play button and listen.
Don't miss tomorrow's show; we'll be on from 11 to 1 central, 12 to 2 eastern, as usual. At noon central, we'll be talking to Dennis Avery, co-author of Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years. It should be fun.
March 11, 2007
Yesterday's Show, First Hour
We started our show yesterday talking about a variety of things: Lent, Easter, beer, the premature change in daylight savings time, the weather, climate change. Before long we got on to the Scooter Libby verdict, and the significance thereof. We talked about whether President Bush should pardon Libby. And we wrapped up the hour with our Loon of the Week; the prize went to a certain politician who not only pandered, but pandered badly.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
If you haven't checked out our podcasts, there's no time like the present to give them a try. Don't be put off by the idea that there is some "techno" aspect to podcasting. There isn't. If you go here, you can just click the play button and listen.
March 8, 2007
Podcasting the Candidates
We started the second hour of Saturday's show with a discussion of the Scooter Libby prosecution and a reprise of the shameful Joe Wilson/Valerie Plame episode. If you're vague on the facts relating to this disreputable pair, this would be a good place to catch up. We moved on to CPAC, which led to an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the Republican Presidential candidates, including a discussion of why John McCain's campaign seems to be sinking like a stone. Along the way, I offered my opinion of the latest Ann Coulter brouhaha. We finished a very fast-paced hour by awarding our coveted This Week in Gatekeeping award to a newspaper that got the honor for the first time.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
March 3, 2007
Global Warming in Duluth
If you've been spooked by the non-stop publicity given to global warming hysteria over the last few weeks, you may find it refreshing to learn that here in Minnesota, we've been hit by one snowstorm after another. It was Duluth that endured the really epic blast: 20 inches of snow, accompanied by 60 mph winds off Lake Superior that created fifteen-foot snow drifts. This was the kind of blizzard some of us remember from childhood. The Duluth News Tribune had this photo of drifts that just about obscured two-story houses; click to enlarge:
And I love this shot from the Minneapolis Star Tribune of a Duluth guy trying to dig out his girlfriend's car:
Must be true love. Here in Minneapolis, we got a foot or two of snow. After three days of snow and cloudy skies, this morning dawned sunny and beautiful. Sometimes I think winter is the best season of all. I took this photo off my deck; click to enlarge:
For the first hour of this morning's radio show, we talked about the weather. We started out talking about what a beautiful day it was, and how much fun it was go get a lot of snow. That naturally led to a conversation about global warming and liberal hypocrisy, which led to lots of calls. Before we knew it, the hour was nearly over. We had just enough time to present our Loon of the Week award to a television personality who narrowly beat out another television personality for the honor.
It was a very fun hour. You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
Here is a clip from the show:
To comment on this post, or on the radio show, go here.
February 28, 2007
Saturday's Radio Show
Last Saturday, we had Washington Post movie critic Stephen Hunter as a guest, and got his predictions and commentary on the Oscars. I put that interview up as a podcast right away, since the Oscars were the next night. Now I've done the first hour of the show, which was fun but not as news-intensive as some.
I missed the first two segments, as I was filming an appearance on Fox News. Chad was AWOL, so Brian would have been by himself, but for our lovely producer, Irina, who took a microphone and kept Brian company very ably. They talked about the rumor that the University of Minnesota will award Al Gore an honorary PhD in environmental studies, or something, and Brian pointed out that the list of such U of M honorees is a virtual rogues' gallery.
When I joined the crew in progress, we talked about the David Geffen/Maureen Dowd/Barack Obama/Hillary Clinton intramural spat. We wrapped up the hour by awarding our Loon of the Week prize to a certain mad Congressman.
It is, as I said, a fun hour. You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
I also made this excerpt, which is me talking about the Obama/Hillary dust-up. Just hit the play button; it is around three minutes long. If you find it interesting, you should start listening to our podcasts!
February 24, 2007
Oscar Preview
During the second hour of our radio show today, we interviewed Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Stephen Hunter of the Washington Post. It was a great three segments; we talked about the film industry today; about movies that should have been nominated but weren't; about the studio politics that drive the award of many Oscars; took some fun calls; and much more. Stephen gave us his predictions for tomorrow night's program as well as his own favorites.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
Tomorrow night, we'll be at the Patriot's Oscar party with Michael Medved. It should be a lot of fun, even though I haven't seen a single nominated film.
February 23, 2007
Nick of Time
In the second hour of our radio show last Saturday, we continued to rip the Democrats' "slow bleed" strategy for defeat in Iraq. We took a number of calls, and had to defend the Democrats against listeners whose opinion of them is lower than ours. We finished the hour by awarding our Gatekeeper of the Week prize to a gatekeeper in training who was fortunate enough to report on his own heroism aboard an airplane. With, however, a few key details missing.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
February 18, 2007
Yesterday's Radio Show, First Hour
In the first hour of our show yesterday, we talked almost exclusively about the Democrats' effort to "undermine"--their word, not ours--American foreign policy, and their "slow bleed" strategy to starve Gen. Petraeus and his troops of the resources they need to succeed, then reap political benefit from their failure. We're not fans of the Democrats' "slow bleed" strategy, to put it mildly, but we actually wound up defending the Democrats against some callers whose opinion of them is even lower.
We found time in the last segment to award our Loon of the Week prize to a new entrant into Minnesota's Senate race.
It was a fun and provocative hour. You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
UPDATE: To comment on the podcast, go here.
February 9, 2007
Max Boot and More
It's been a busy week, so I'm late in posting the second hour podcast from last Saturday's show. Fortunately, there isn't much of a "sell by" date on this part of the program, since we spent the first half hour interviewing Max Boot, author of War Made New: Technology, Warfare, and the Course of History: 1500 to Today. It's fun stuff if you are a military history buff; almost equally so if you aren't, since Max wrote the book largely to put our current military issues into a broad historical context. And I sincerely recommend that you buy the book.
The third segment was a free-wheeling conversation about local politics, focusing on the nationally important 2008 Senate race in which Norm Coleman will run for re-election against a Democratic nominee, likely Al Franken. I told, not for the first time, the story of the time I appeared as a guest on Franken's Air America radio show. It was the worst 15 minutes of radio I've ever been personally involved in.
We concluded the hour with our Gatekeeper of the Week award; we gave it, in absentia, so to speak, to the gatekeepers at the Washington Post who gave William Arkin a newspaper "blog" and failed to edit what he wrote. We weren't solely responsible for the outrage over Arkin's attacks on our soldiers in Iraq, needless to say, but we certainly played a role. So it gives me some satisfaction to see Bill O'Reilly relentlessly on Arkin's case.
It was a fun and informative hour. You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
February 3, 2007
Global Warming: Let's Have More!
When I drove to the Patriot this morning to do our radio show, the temperature was thirteen degrees below zero. Which made today an ideal day to discuss global warming. We haven't written yet, on this site, about the U.N. report that came out yesterday, trumpeting the claim that human-caused global warming has now been more or less proved. But Brian "St. Paul" Ward and I spent almost the entire first hour of our radio show talking about the "climate change" issue. There was plenty of science and, as always when Brian is present, no shortage of humor.
Just for fun, I created this three-minute clip to give our readers a sense of the conversation:
In the last segment, we awarded our coveted Loon of the Week to a superloon who, so to speak, came out retirement to lend her looniness to the public debate one more time. You can probably guess her identity, but still shouldn't miss the award ceremony.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
UPDATE: Chad the Elder writes from the Philippines:
I caught the last half hour of the show. Nice work. It's 2:50am on Sunday morning here in Manila. And it's a little chilly too. Highs barely reached the mid-eighties today.
January 31, 2007
Northern Alliance, Hour Two
Chad and I began the second hour of Saturday's show by interviewing Kay Hymowitz of the Manhattan Institute on her new book, Marriage and Caste In America. It was an excellent interview, and I highly recommend the book; clicking on the graphic below will take you straight to Amazon.
During the third segment, we talked about the Scooter Libby trial, which remains in several respects a mystery to me. We closed out the program by awarding our coveted "This Week In Gatekeeping" award to the New York Times, which someday may retire the trophy, for its game effort--not its first game effort, either--to stand by its man, John Kerry, and his "botched joke."
So it was another fun week. You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
January 29, 2007
Northern Alliance, First Hour
In the first hour of our radio show on Saturday, we talked about the State of the Union; the various resolutions rattling around the Senate; the Democrats' strategy (or lack thereof) in Iraq; and the antiwar demonstration in Washington. We took a lot of calls, mostly from listeners whose view of the Democrats is not as charitable as ours, and awarded our coveted Loon of the Week prize. It's a fun hour, even though we were talking about very serious subjects.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
January 25, 2007
Northern Alliance, Hour Two
The second hour of last Saturday's radio show was really excellent, I think. We discussed and contrasted two stories, one of which is in the news, the other of which isn't: Scooter Libby and Sandy Berger. We played, for those who haven't heard it, the hilarious "Sandy Berger Can," winner of Bill Bennett's Sandy Berger song contest.
We moved on to the story that Scott broke several years ago and has recently returned to, the murder of two American diplomats at the order of Yasser Arafat, and the coverup of that murder for more than 30 years by the State Department.
We played the latest single by the Right Brothers, "The List," and urged our listeners to participate in the Brothers' plan to create an all-amateur video for the song. And we concluded by awarding our Gatekeeper of the Week award to a certain local newspaper that made a false accusation against a certain local web site.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
January 20, 2007
A Busy Week In Review
It was Brian "St. Paul" Ward and I in the studio today. In our first hour, we reviewed the Democrats' "100 hours" in the House of Representatives and assessed the significance of their accomplishments. We moved on to the more serious issue of Iraq, and the bad day the Democrats had yesterday. We talked about the handful of Republicans who are siding with them, took some calls, and concluded by awarding the Loon of the Week to a Massachusetts congressman. It was, I think, a very good show.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
January 7, 2007
The Democrats Move In
That was the theme of the first hour of our radio show yesterday: the Democrats' first euphoric days of power after twelve years in the wilderness. We had some fun at the expense of the Dems' vow to do everything for "the children," reviewed Cindy Sheehan's rout of the Dems' leadership and considered its implications for that party's future prospects, talked about Keith Ellison and his historic taking of the oath of office on Thomas Jefferson's copy of the Koran, and named our first Loon of the Week of 2007.
It is, to say the least, a lively hour. You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
December 31, 2006
A Look Back on 2006
We began the first hour of our radio show yesterday by talking about the last noteworthy event of 2006--the execution of Saddam Hussein. We then moved on to a retrospective of the last 12 months, as reflected in a series of audio clips from our show. From the political--November's election--to some of our favorite commentary on current afairs--Mark Steyn--to some of the more bizarre outposts of 2006 culture--Pink and Neil Young--it's all there. The first hour ends with an inspiring rendition of the Paul Wellstone tribute, "Be the Change," as performed by J.B. Doubtless. It was that kind of year.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
December 18, 2006
You Think You Know About Vietnam? Think Again
I never expected, ten years ago, that Vietnam would once again play an important role in the news. But it does, and that makes the interview that we did with Mark Moyar on our radio show intensely topical. Mark is one of those people who actually knows what he's talking about: a summa cum laude Harvard graduate, a PhD in history from Cambridge University, and currently a professor at the Marine Corps Universtity, Moyar has spent seven years working on the first half of his history of the Vietnam War: Triumph Forsaken, which covers the war from 1954 to 1965.
We interviewed Mark Moyar on our radio show, and to say that his account of Vietnam is revisionist would be putting it mildly. You thought David Halberstam was a hero? Forget about it!
The first half of the hour was spent interviewing Moyar; after that, we talked about the Six Traveling Imams and the news coverage thereof, and concluded by awarding our coveted This Week In Gatekeeping award.
A great hour; as always, you can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
December 10, 2006
Northern Alliance Radio Network, First Hour
The first hour of our radio show yesterday was lots of fun. We talked about the ISG report, and the "realist" fantasy that Iran will change its murderous policies if the world says "Bad Mullahs!" We discussed the attitude of the media in general, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune in particular, toward Christianity, especially the Catholic church, in the context of a play that is about to open in Minneapolis called "The Pope and the Witch." We contrasted the Strib's enthusiasm for this anti-Catholic satire with its attitude toward satire, in cartoon form, that has been directed toward a somewhat less forgiving religion. James Lileks called in with a less than full-throated defense of his employer. In the last segment, we played several contenders for "Loon of the Week" honors before awarding the palm to an anchorman who's counting on a washed-up Democratic politician to save the world.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
If you'd like to comment on the podcast after you've had an opportunity to listen to it, go here.
December 2, 2006
Mark Steyn on America, Europe and Islam
Today we interviewed Mark Steyn on our radio show. We talked about his background in radio and journalism and about the role that Minnesota has somewhat weirdly come to play in the global jihad. Mostly though, we talked about Mark's new book, America Alone, which you can--and should--buy here. That is to say, we talked about demography; about the aggressive, world-wide expansion of Islam; about the loss of cultural confidence in much of the developed world; and the ways in which America--excluding Vermont, of course--continues to chart a different and more optimistic course.
This was one of our best interviews ever, maybe the best, no thanks to Chad and me. Mark is both informative and funny; if you have never heard him expound his views at length, you are in for a treat. Mark Steyn is not just the world's most provocative intellectual; he's the most fun.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
Just for fun, here is a brief excerpt in which Mark talks about the profession of journalism:
How is America different from Europe? Here is just one example:
The interview really is a treat; don't miss it!
UPDATE: Oops, I put it in the wrong folder. It should work now.
November 25, 2006
More Politics, All the Time
We drove to the Mall of America a little before lunch time today, and I turned on the radio, as I often do, to the Patriot. The program came on and my ten-year-old daughter, startled, said: "Dad, that sounds like you!" It was me, of course; we took the Thanksgiving weekend off, and the station replayed last week's show. Not a bad idea, as it was a good one; and it was fun to listen to St. Paul Ward and me as we drove down the highway.
In our second hour last Saturday, we continued talking about the election results. Don't worry, though; the conversation isn't dated. We started by discussing the House and Senate rules and how much the Democrats will actually be able to do without Republican cooperation. We reviewed the history of Senate responses to judicial nominations, in the light of Chuck Schumer's assurance that he will not permit any more conservatives to be appointed to the federal appellate courts.
We talked about two of our newly-elected Minnesota representatives, Michele Bachmann and Keith Ellison, and contrasted their respective reactions to a Presidential invitation. We had fun at the expense of John Edwards and his Wal-Mart snafu--we pundits can only hope that Edwards stays alive on the national scene--and finished out the hour by awarding our coveted Gatekeeper of the Week award to a newspaper that not only committed plagiarism, but plagiarized an unusually dumb source. And, who knows? There may soon be a sequel to that story.
So, it was a fun hour, and the fun hasn't dimmed in the ensuing week. You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
November 19, 2006
Podcasting Pelosi, and More
In the first hour of our radio show yesterday, we surveyed the new Congressional landscape, and had a lot of fun at the expense of Democrats like Nancy Pelosi, who has stumbled so far as Speaker-elect, Jack "Unindicted Co-Conspirator" Murtha, Steny Hoyer, and more. We also analyzed the leadership situation among the Republicans.
If you're still depressed about the election results, the show may cheer you up. It's time to go on the attack.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
November 11, 2006
Barone on Election 2006
Michael Barone knows more about the nuts and bolts of American politics than anyone, so it was great to have him on our radio show this morning for an analysis of the 2006 off-year elections. One of Michael's more sobering conclusions is that Republicans need to stop trying to recreate the glory days of the Reagan years and 1994, and think creatively about approaches to today's issues that will persuade today's voters.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
November 5, 2006
Northern Alliance, Second Hour
Normally I like to wait a few days between podcasts, since many people's iPods or computers or something are set to download only the most recent podcast episode. However, yesterday's show was our last before the election, and there won't be much point in listening to it after Tuesday. So here it is. We interviewed Senate candidate Mark Kennedy, took some phone calls, awarded our coveted Loon of the Week prize to a certain Senator, and talked non-stop election politics.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
November 4, 2006
Hot Off the Presses
Today was our last radio show before the election, so the conversation was all about the local and national races that will determine control of Congress. Highlights of the first hour included conversations with Michele Bachmann, Republican candidate in Minnesota's 6th District, who is well on her way to holding that seat for the party, and Congressman John Kline of my own 2nd District. If all Republican candidates were as hardworking and principled as these two, the party would be much better off going into Tuesday's election.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
October 26, 2006
Podcasting Hour Two: More Politics
In the second hour of Saturday's radio show, we talked about some key Congressional races, including Keith Ellison vs. Alan Fine. We critiqued media coverage of the current election season, and talked with Senate candidate Mark Kennedy about his new national security ad. We took some calls and awarded our coveted This Week in Gatekeeping prize. All in all, a fun hour, which I've edited for maximum enjoyment.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
October 24, 2006
Podcasting the Election, and Making News. Sort of.
During the first half hour of our show on Saturday, we talked about the shift in momentum toward the Republicans in recent days. We discussed several races, including the Minnesota 6th, an open seat where Republican Michele Bachmann is running against Democrat Patty Wetterling. No sooner had we gotten into a discussion of that race than we got a call from "Michele from Stillwater," who made a typically high-energy contribution to the show.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
In a related development, our podcast of our interview with White House Press Secretary Tony Snow during the same radio show has made news, sort of. Left-wing columnist Dan Froomkin of the Washington Post, citing some lefty blogger who actually listened to the podcast--that must have been painful for him!--evidently thinks it's news that Tony said CNN was being "manipulated" by terrorists when it played the terrorists' video of them sniping at American soldiers.
Wow, what a news flash! Of course, in his press briefing, Tony had already said:
Well, your network has shown pictures of snipers hitting Americans, which was used as a propaganda tool, so the fact is that -- it shows real sophistication on the part of these guys, because it creates the impression that Americans are sitting ducks, and that these guys are capable, when, in fact, while you have a capable enemy, they're dying in much greater numbers and suffering much greater damage.[A]ll we're doing is making it clear what's going on. I think, perhaps -- I'm sure the editors are savvy enough to know that when they get a video like this, it's designed less to give you a full and complete view of what's going on in the country than to create a sense of triumphalism for the killers of Americans. That's the intention of that. I think that's hard to dispute.
So, given that CNN was "used as a propaganda tool," it's not a great stretch to add that they were "manipulated" by the terrorists. Actually, it's a little hard to see a theory on which a news network that shows terrorists' propaganda films as news is not being manipulated.
Whatever. We're glad, in any event, that lefties are listening to our podcasts. Maybe they'll learn something.
UPDATE: AFP also quotes from our Tony Snow interview. The AFP story doesn't have any particular point, which I guess is a step up for AFP.
PAUL adds: Is there anyone associated with the MSM who's as clueless as Froomkin? No one comes to mind. Consider this sentence: "What's particularly fascinating about Dionne's piece is that it posits the Democrats as a moderate -- not equally extreme -- option to radical Bushism." Consider that another news flash from Froomkin -- E.J. Dionne thinks the Democrats are more reasonable than President Bush.
October 21, 2006
Tony Snow: The View From Inside the White House
Our radio show today was one of the best ever. With the political season reaching a crescendo, we discussed the issues of the day and the Republicans' resurgence, talked to Senatorial candidate Mark Kennedy, and fielded some great calls, including one from one of our favorite listeners, Michele from Stillwater.
One of the show's highlights was our interview of White House Press Secretary Tony Snow. Tony gave our listeners a priceless glimpse inside the White House, and explained why he greatly admires President Bush. He talked about the White House press corps, with a generosity and good humor that, frankly, I would never be able to match. And he described how he goes about his job as Press Secretary, keeping up to date on a mind-numbing range of issues.
Talking to Tony Snow, you can't help but be struck by what a person of genuine good will and good humor he is. He actually likes Helen Thomas and David Gregory; not only that, but he explains why in terms that we can all understand and relate to.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
I want to say a special "thank you" to Nick Novak of Salem Broadcasting. Salem sent Nick to the Patriot as program director, a post for which he is plainly qualified as he appears old enough to be a high school graduate. But Nick is one of the most capable people I've encountered in the radio industry, and when we told him that our podcasts have had chronic audio quality problems originating in the file we get from the Patriot, he quickly tracked down the problem and fixed it. So from now on, our podcasts will have the audio quality you would expect, given that they come from a radio station.
October 17, 2006
All Politics, All the Time
Better late than never, I always say. So, later than usual, I've done the podcast for hour one of our October 7 show. It's all politics and, don't worry, nothing has changed and nothing is out of date. We had several great calls--one from Finland--and concluded by presenting our coveted Loon of the Week award to the very deserving Bill Moyers.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
October 6, 2006
Podcasting, In the Nick of Time
There are several ways you can tell when I'm really busy in the office and otherwise. One is that my hair gets long because I can't take time for a haircut. Another is that I don't get podcasts done. We'll be on the air at 11:00 central tomorrow morning, and I had a free night at home, so I edited the second hour of last Saturday's show, and here it is.
The first half of the hour was a terrific interview with Jim Geraghty of National Review, talking about his new book, Voting to Kill. Jim thinks that whenever national security is at the forefront of the nation's awareness, Republicans benefit. Consequently, September 11 heralded an era of Republican dominance. Jim, like me, is reasonably optimistic about next month's elections, but is hedging his bets. Go here to buy the book.
Our interview was marred by some technical difficulties, which, I'm bound to say, were not Stillwater Ward's fault. A highlight was a call from "James from Minneapolis," one of our, and Jim Geraghty's, favorite journalists.
The rest of the hour was spent talking about the Mark Foley matter, which was then in its infancy, and presenting our coveted Loon of the Week and Gatekeeper of the Week awards.
It was, if I do say so myself, a great show. You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
October 3, 2006
All Politics Is Local
In the first hour of our radio show on Saturday, we concentrated on local political races--Mark Kennedy vs. Amy Klobuchhar and Keith Ellison vs. Alan Fine, mostly. Of course, these are races with national implications. The only "reporter" who has done competent work on Ellison is Scott, and, notwithstanding that all they have to do is read Power Line--which they do--local media have not picked up on the fact that Ellison has consistently misrepresented his own history, and those misrepresentations have been reported as facts in the local newspapers.
We talked about lawn sign battles, took a couple of calls, and played a really hard-hitting ad by a North Carolina candidate.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
September 25, 2006
Podcasting the World's Miscreants
Not all of them, of course. But it did seem that in Saturday's radio show we were able to tee off on some pretty disreputable characters. Osama bin Laden, first of all: dead or alive? Next, Bill Clinton, whose Fox News appearance hadn't yet aired, with the exception of a few clips on YouTube, by the time we were on the radio. So we had some lively conversation about Clinton's legacy as it relates to the terrorist threat. And finally, it was on to the U.N., where Hugo Chavez had just set liberal hearts a-flutter with his attack on President Bush as "the Devil."
Liberals don't actually believe in the Devil, of course--but still, it did their hearts good to hear the antiChrist--President Bush, that is--described as such. For his efforts, we gave Chavez our Loon of the Week award. Interspersed with all of this sharp commentary were lots of phone calls, some from radio listeners in the Twin Cities and others from internet listeners around the country.
It was a fun week to be back in the studio. You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
September 21, 2006
September 16, Second Hour
The second hour of Saturday's radio show, like the first, was fast-paced and lots of fun. We awarded, for the first time ever, a runner-up Loon of the Week trophy to a certain large television talk show hostess. We talked about the Pope and the military commissions bill. We took some fun phone calls. And we awarded the coveted Gatekeeper of the Week prize, this time on a completely nonpolitical story.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
September 16, 2006
Back in the Studio
The last few weeks have been tough for podcasting, as we've been broadcasting from the Minnesota State Fair, and then I was gone last weekend. But today we were all back in the studio, and we should now be getting back to a more normal schedule. Our first hour, after some introductory pleasantries, focused on Keith Ellison's victory in the Democratic Party's primary in Minneapolis. But don't worry, the conversation is lively, the callers are entertaining, and the implications are national. This is, most emphatically, not just a local story. Finally, we awarded our coveted Loon of the Week award to a truly awful human being who has deserved it for a long time.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
September 3, 2006
Podcasting From the Minnesota State Fair
This afternoon, we did our last stint at the Minnesota State Fair. It was a lot of fun, and we were proud to have our appearance at the Fair sponsored by the United States Marine Corps. Last Saturday, we did our first show from the Fair. Brian Ward couldn't make it, but Hugh Hewitt filled in admirably as a guest host. It was a fun show. We talked politics; Generalissimo Duane Patterson, Hugh's producer, milked a cow; Alan Fine, Republican Congressional candidate in the 5th District, who is running against former Nation of Islam spokesman Keith Ellison, also known by such aliases as Keith Ellison-Muhammad, Keith Hakim, and Keith X Ellison, joined us for a segment.
I thought about cutting out some of the fun--cow-milking, for example--that might not appeal to those looking strictly for political commentary. But I decided to podcast the show in its entirety, and those not in the mood for State Fair frivolity can fast-forward.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
More podcasts from the Fair to follow soon!
August 17, 2006
Podcasting from the Great North Woods
As we do most years, we are vacationing on an island in a big lake in the far north. The place features lots of loons, bald eagles, northerns, walleyes and muskies, and wireless internet access. This year we're even more low-key than usual, not yet having attempted to catch a fish, which tends to require getting up early.
Last Saturday, we did our radio show as usual--my last act before going on vacation. Unfortunately, due to a technical glitch at the studio, the first hour of the show wasn't preserved on CD. So I've put up as a podcast the main bit we did during the hour--a 3 1/2 minute tribute to Cynthia McKinney, whom we won't have to kick around any more. One hopes. It was put together by Nick Novak of the Patriot and is pretty entertaining. We played it in connection with our award of a Lifetime Achievement Award in Lunacy to McKinney.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
I don't have any wildlife photos this year, so this shot of me waiting to dock a pontoon boat as one of the kids navigates back to civilization will have to do:
August 10, 2006
Gatekeepers, Then and Now
We spent most of the second hour of our radio show last Saturday interviewing Eric Burns, author of Infamous Scribblers, a history of journalism--so to speak--in the Revolutionary War era. Eric was a delightful guest, and the book sounds terrific. It covers the highlights (Benjamin Franklin, for example) and the lowlights (Sam Adams, indisputably) of early American journalism. And the impression I came away with is, if we could survive that, we can probably survive anything. I'd highly recommend Burns's book; click on the image below to go to Amazon, where you can buy it.
In our last segment, the rusty gate swung shut on a perennial contender for This Week In Gatekeeping honors--the New York Times. Someday, we might have to go to New York to permanently retire the trophy and present it to Pinch Sulzburger, a worthy heir to the worst traditions in American journalism.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
August 6, 2006
Podcasting Media Coverage of Lebanon
That's not all we talked about in our first hour yesterday, but it was probably the main theme. We had some good callers, and concluded by awarding our coveted Loon of the Week prize to a Democratic Congressman.
Yesterday's show also featured the return of Brian "Stillwater" Ward, who was off last week, moving to his new home in the far-eastern suburbs.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
August 2, 2006
Podcasting the Middle East and TWIG
In the second hour of Saturday's radio show, we discussed the role being played by the Democratic Party in the war against Islamic terror. Our assessment was not positive. We fielded phone calls from listeners, most of whose views on the current crisis in the Middle East were not as moderate as ours. And we wrapped up the show by presenting our coveted This Week In Gatekeeping award to NPR, in recognition of its producers' inability to keep straight which war came first.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
July 30, 2006
Podcasting Events in Lebanon
Yesterday's radio show began with commentary on the weather--hot here in the midwest--and the absent Brian "Stillwater" Ward, but the rest of the hour was devoted to various aspects of the crisis in the Middle East. In the last segment, we talked about the role the liberals are playing--the views expressed were negative--and, speaking of liberals, awarded our coveted Loon of the Week prize to Chris Matthews.
You can download or just listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
July 26, 2006
Podcasting Embryonic Stem Cells
In our first hour last Saturday, we focused mainly on President Bush's veto of the bill to expand federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. It was an interesting discussion that covered the scientific, ethical and political dimensions of the issue--which, as I said on the show, I think is almost entirely symbolic. We also had some terrific callers.
I podcasted our second hour over the weekend because it was more time-sensitive. You can listen to the first-hour podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
UPDATE: The link is fixed.
July 23, 2006
Podcasting Lebanon
In the second hour of our radio yesterday, we interviewed Austin Bay for two segments on Lebanon. As always, Austin's knowledge of military strategy, tactics and history makes for a fascinating conversation. We also awarded our coveted Loon of the Week prize--"Give Peace A Chance"--and wrapped up the hour, following more conversation about the Middle East, by honoring dual Gatekeepers of the Week. You may be tempted to hum one of my favorite Christmas carols, "O Little Town of Nazareth."
You can listen to the podcast here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
July 13, 2006
Better Late Than Never
The law business has been keeping me busy--though not as busy as Deacon, who has been trying a case--so I've just now gotten around to preparing the second hour of Saturday's Northern Alliance Radio show for podcasting. It's a good hour, and, fortunately, there is nothing that has gone stale in the few days that have passed. We talk about the New York tunnel plot and news coverage thereof; we indulge in a fair amount of media criticism; we review some of the gatekeeping follies of the past week and award our Gatekeeper of the Week prize, for the first time, to amateurs--gatekeepers in training; we talk to some callers. And we finish with a Keith Ellison coda.
It's good stuff; go here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
July 8, 2006
Northern Alliance, Hour One
It was Brian Ward and me on the radio today; Chad the Elder was on a "business trip" to the remote wilds of Russia, somewhere near one of the "Stans." Some of us are starting to wonder whether Chad is really working for the Company. In the meantime, though, Brian and I held the fort. We started out talking about the Keith Ellison story, which started out local but is rapidly going national. We moved on to North Korea and other national issues, along with the Loon of the Week, which, for the first time ever, was awarded to a Republican.
Hey, I'm not giving it away. To listen, go here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
June 28, 2006
Hour Two: Gatekeeper and Loon
The second hour of Saturday's Northern Alliance Radio show is here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here.
In our second hour on Saturday, we awarded Dan Rather a Lifetime Achievement Gatekeeper award in commemoration of his retirement from CBS. Continuing with the retirement theme, Connie Chung was our Loon of the Week for her farewell serenade, which, if you haven't heard it, we played in its entirety.
A word of explanation: a number of readers have asked what happened to our second hour podcasts. Last week, I was busy enough at work that I never had time to edit our second hour. Generally, though, what's going on is that we noticed that if we posted the two hours close to simultaneously, a lot of people didn't get the first one. I think that must be due to an iTunes setting or something. So we decided to post one hour right away--usually the first hour, which is likely to be more time-sensitive--and wait a few days before putting up the second one. That way just about everyone gets them both. Beyond that, it mainly depends on when I have time to get them edited and uploaded.
June 24, 2006
Return of the Northern Alliance
In our first hour today, we talked about the big stories of the day: the media's tipoff to al Qaeda of yet another anti-terror program, the arrest of seven would-be Jihadis in Florida, and the crashing and burning of Democrat anti-war ambitions in the Senate. It was a lively hour, made even more interesting by technical problems that apparently resulted from a lightning strike last night. I edited out of the podcast a pretty funny minute or two in which radio listeners could hear callers, but we couldn't. But on the whole, the tone was serious and the commentary sharp.
You can download and listen to the show here. Most of our podcasts are now being downloaded as automatic updates on iTunes, which you can subscribe to, if you haven't already done it, here.
In a couple of days, I'll podcast our less time-sensitive second hour, in which we awarded a Lifetime Achievement Gatekeeper award to a certain recently-retired anchorman, and the highly-prized Loon of the Week to a previously under-appreciated warbler.
June 18, 2006
Podcasting a New Direction for America
In the first hour of our radio show yesterday, we talked about the fallout from the downfall of Zarqawi: the raids and collection of intelligence in Iraq; the resolutions in the House and the Senate; and the Democratic Party's abdication of responsibility. We finished by ridiculing the Democrats' clarion call for November: "A New Direction for America," probably the least bold, least honest, least imaginative, least serious manifesto ever put out by an American political organization.
You can download and listen to the show here. Most of our podcasts are now being downloaded as automatic updates on iTunes, which you can subscribe to, if you haven't already done it, here.
June 14, 2006
Summer Movies, Loon of the Week, and More
In the second hour of our radio show on Saturday, we had a great interview with Stephen Hunter, film critic for the Washington Post. Stephen is one of our favorite guests; he is funny, opinionated, iconoclastic, and more or less conservative. In a terrific interview, we asked Stephen about the summer's movies: the blockbusters and alleged blockbusters, and his recommendations. A tip: Al Gore's global warming horror show is not on Stephen's list. This is as good as talk radio (our talk radio, anyway) gets.
That's the first half of the show. In the second half, we awarded our Loon of the Week and This Week In Gatekeeping prizes. Fun as always. You can download and listen to the show here. Most of our podcasts are now being downloaded as automatic updates on iTunes, which you can subscribe to, if you haven't already done it, here.
Don't miss this episode, it's lots of fun.
June 10, 2006
The Northern Alliance with Michael Yon
During the first hour of our radio show today, we focused mainly on Iraq, especially the death of Zarqawi. Michael Yon, former Green Beret and internet journalist, was our guest. We listened to audio from General William Caldwell's press conference and also had a couple of humor bits. Download it here. Or, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts through iTunes, here. Over half of our podcast downloads come through iTunes.
In our second hour, we had a great interview with Stephen Hunter, film critic for the Washington Post, and also awarded our Loon of the Week and This Week In Gatekeeping awards. I'll get that one up in a day or two.
June 3, 2006
From the Minnesota Republican Convention
Our Northern Alliance radio show broadcast from the Minneapolis Convention Center today, as we observed the end of the Minnesota Republican Party's convention. We broadcast from a skybox overlooking the convention floor. I took a couple of photos with my cell phone; this one shows the stage and part of the floor:
The show before us is Patriot Insider; here, the Insiders interview Senate candidate Mark Kennedy:
The convention was highly successful, I think, The party is unified with a slate of excellent candidates for the fall. I'm optimistic about prospects in Minnesota, which will be one of the pivotal states in November.
Because we were broadcasting remotely, I didn't get auido files of the program and won't be podcasting it. Instead, I'm repeating one of my favorite interviews, with baseball guru Bill James. You can download and listen to it here. Most of our podcasts are now being downloaded as automatic updates on iTunes, which you can subscribe to, if you haven't already done it, here.
May 30, 2006
Of Loons and Gatekeepers
During the first hour of Saturday's radio show, we discussed the issues of the day and handed out our weekly Loon of the Week and The Week in Gatekeeping awards. ABC won the prized gatekeeper award with its Dennis Hastert "scoop." I don't want to give away the identity of the Loon, but we played the trailer for a certain horror movie.
We also interviewed Michele Bachmann, the dynamic Republican candidate in Minnesota's pivotal 6th District. The task of retaining control of the House in November will fall, in large part, to Michele and a handful of other key candidates. If you're not familiar with her, check out the interview. And get out your checkbook!
You can download and listen to the podcast here or, as always, go here to subscribe to our podcasts via iTunes.
A few enterprising people, by the way, apparently didn't want to wait for me to put up this link; they figured out my highly-predictable file-naming protocol and pulled the first-hour podcast off our server.
May 29, 2006
Memorial Day Podcast
The second hour of our radio show on Saturday was devoted to Memorial Day. We interviewed three current and former servicemen: Major Steven Givler, author of Notes of Joy and Sadness; Lt. Col. Bob Stephenson of Families United for our Troops and Their Mission, and Joe Carter of The Evangelical Outpost.
You can download and listen to the podcast here or, as always, go here to subscribe to our podcasts via iTunes.
UPDATE: LInk fixed. Sorry about that.
May 20, 2006
Northern Alliance, Second Hour
In our second hour today, we led off with a hilarious edition of This Week In Gatekeeping--the BBC's interview with a "computer expert" who turns out to be a taxi driver. Don't miss it. We also discussed the latest news and speculation from Iran, Libya's remarkable agreement to give up its WMD programs--which, it has just been reported, were much closer to producing a nuclear weapon than we had believed--and wrapped up with our Loon of the Week, which went this time to a singularly inept, part-time liberal talk radio host.
Go here to listen to or download the MP3 file. Or go here to subscribe to our podcasts via iTunes.
UPDATE: Several readers have noted that the BBC imposter turns out not to be a taxi driver, as first reported, but someone who was at the studio to apply for an IT job.
Notrthern Alliance, First Hour
In the first hour of our radio show today, we focused on two stories: immigration (the fallout from President Bush's speech and the battles over amendments to the Senate bill) and Gen. Michael Hayden's confirmation hearing. There's lots of fun stuff.
Tune in here to listen to or download the MP3 file. Or go here to subscribe to our podcasts via iTunes.
May 13, 2006
NARN Advises the President
In the second hour of our radio show today, we talked about the President's speech Monday night, and what he should say to the American people about immigration and perhaps other issues. We threw the phone lines open to callers who want to advise the President, as we did earlier this week. The results are entertaining; we even had a couple of liberal callers. At the end of the hour, we awarded our "This Week In Gatekeeping" trophy to a newspaper that, shall we say, is a perennial contender.
Go here to listen to, or download, the MP3 file. Or go here to subscribe to our podcasts via iTunes.
NARN Does NSA
The first hour of our radio show today was devoted to the National Security Agency story. It includes our Loon of the Week segment; the honor went to a "newsman" who descended even farther into lunacy than his colleagues over the idea that the NSA would have the temerity to look for terrorists. There are some good calls, from as far away as France. And--a personal highlight--Scott sat in with us for a segment.
Most of what you read in the press about the NSA's data collection program is ill-informed. This show is a good antidote. Tune in here to listen to or download the MP3 file. Or go here to subscribe to our podcasts via iTunes.
May 6, 2006
The Northern Alliance, Second Hour
For the first half of our second hour today we interviewed Ramesh Ponnuru of National Review, discussing his new book The Party of Death. It's a fascinating conversation with a brilliant guy. This was followed by our regular feature, "This Week in Gatekeeping," in which we skewer mainstream media follies. Today, once again, our target was the New York Times, an organization that seems destined to retire the trophy. It's pretty funny; don't miss it. The hour concluded with another astonishing media story: the Times defends Zarqawi against unjust ridicule by the U.S. Army! We couldn't make this stuff up.
Hear it all by going here, or, as always, subscribe at iTunes, and never miss a Power Line podcast, by going here.
The Northern Alliance, First Hour
In the first hour of our radio show today, we discussed the issues of the day, including Porter Goss' resignation as CIA director. We awarded the Loon of the Week prize to another musician, older than last week's winner Pink, but equally clueless. We played audio of a moonbat's challenge to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and discussed some of the reasons why the "Bush lied" (or, here, "Rumsfeld lied") theme is so mind-numbingly stupid. And we took calls from listeners. You can hear it all by going here, or, as always, you can subscribe to all of our podcasts by going here.
Second hour will be up soon.
April 29, 2006
Second Hour Podcast
In our second hour today, we talked about the hot-button issues of the day: gasoline prices and illegal immigration. Then we presented our weekly "This Week in Gatekeeping" award to a seemingly mathematics-challenged newspaper. We finished with a few thoughts on video on the web. Listen to (or download) the podcast by going here, or subscribe to all of our podcasts at iTunes by going here.
Podcasting Resumes!
After a two-week hiatus, I was back on the Northern Alliance Radio Network today, and the first hour of our show is ready for download. We talked about the Pulitzer Prizes and the NSA and "secret prisons" leaks. We had some good callers, including a liberal who did his best to uphold the left wing's position on terrorist surveillance. We finished the hour with our weekly "Loon of the Week" segment; this week the prize went to Pink for her hopelessly pretentious anti-Bush song--which, for better or worse, you get to hear.
Listen to the podcast here, or go here to subscribe to all of our podcasts on iTunes.
April 8, 2006
Podcast: Media Hoax of the Year, Plus More!
The first hour of our radio show was very fun today. We talked about--ridiculed, actually--the "leak" story, and awarded our "Loon of the Week" and "This Week in Gatekeeping" honors. We finished up with a funny reprise of the "Dateline" NASCAR story. It was a good day's work; you can listen to it here. Or you can subscribe at iTunes here.
Podcast: Bill James on Baseball!
We interviewed baseball guru and sabermetrician Bill James on our radio show today. It was a very fun conversation, with talk about the sac bunt, the proper role of the closer, why most free agents are over the hill, whether a four-man or five-man rotation is better, and much more, including a great question raised by a caller: Is the universal practice of having the catcher back up first base a good idea?
Listen to it here. And, if you want to make sure you never miss a Power Line/Northern Alliance podcast, you can subscribe at iTunes by going here.
April 1, 2006
Podcasting Lunacy and Media Bias
In our second hour today, we focused mainly on our two weekly awards: the Loon of the Week and--introduced today--The Week in Gatekeeping. (We're quite proud of the sound clips we use to introduce these bits.) I'll spoil the suspense by saying that the appalling Cynthia McKinney was the Loon of the Week, with a powerful assist from her lawyer.
I won't give away the Gatekeeper; suffice it to say that it's a big paper in New York that never publishes anything by Ralph Peters or Deborah Orin.
Go here to listen to, and download, the podcast. Or, as always, you can go here to subscribe to receive our podcasts automatically on iTunes.
Podcasting Immigration
The first hour of our radio show this morning is available here. The hour was almost all about immigration; as you can imagine, the phone lines lit up. The first few minutes, however, were devoted to an even more interesting topic: beer.
Yesterday's Minneapolis Star Tribune had an interesting article that described conservatives and liberals who gather at local watering holes, and contrasted their drinking habits. The interesting thing was that liberals apparently have socialized beer drinking, while conservatives remain ruggedly individualistic:
When a group of diehard liberals gathers on Wednesday nights at the 331 Club, they all throw money into a kitty and share pitchers of beer. They talk about social issues, local political races, or if all else fails, football.When a group of diehard conservatives gathers at Keegan's on Thursdays, they pay their own tabs. And they drink Guinness or an expensive import. Rather than blather on about politics, they turn their attention to a game of trivia.
The "conservative" bar featured in the Strib's article is Keegan's Irish Pub, where the Fraters Libertas gang perennially reigns over Thursday night trivia contests. Brian "St. Paul" Ward, with whom I do the radio show along with fellow Fraters Chad the Elder, is quoted--accurately, he says.
Anyway, that's what leads the show; from then on it's all immigration. Check it out.
And remember that you can subscribe to our podcasts and receive them automatically via iTunes by going here.
March 25, 2006
Podcast of Michael Barone on the Northern Alliance
We had a terrific conversation with Michael Barone on our radio show today. It was followed by a series of great calls from people around the country who had been listening on our web stream. To keep it short and simple, however, I limited the podcast to our interview with Barone. You can listen to it here. Check it out, and get Michael's predictions for November's election.
Podcast of Today's Radio Show
For a podcast of the first hour of our show today, go here. The topic of the hour was the long-overdue reaction against the media's one-sided coverage of Iraq that erupted last week, and the media's response. We had some interesting audio clips, including President Bush's appearance in West Virginia and Keith Olbermann and Dana Milbank on the ABC "puke" email. And for the first time, we awarded our "Loon of the Week" award. I think you'll agree that the recipient was worthy.
March 19, 2006
New Podcasts Available
On our radio show yesterday, we spent the first hour talking mostly about Russ Feingold's censure resolution and the newly-released documents from Iraq and Afghanistan. On the latter topic, we interviewed Michael Tanji, who was in charge of one of the groups that carried out the Iraqi document exploitation project. Michael has his own site dealing with intelligence-related issues here. You can listen to an edited podcast of our first hour here.
During our second hour, we talked about a local scandal with potential national implications. The Majority Leader of the Minnesota Senate, Democrat Dean Johnson, has bottled up a proposed marriage-related constitutional amendment, refusing to let it come to a vote in the Senate, for the past two years. (It has already passed the House.) One of the arguments against the amendment is that Minnesota already has a Defense of Marriage Act, so opponents of the constitutional amendment say it is redundant and unnecessary. Proponents of the amendment say that, in view of what happened in Massachusetts, only an amendment to the state's Constitution will be secure. This is similar, of course, to what is happening in a number of other states.
Recently, Johnson tried to reassure a group of ministers who asked him about the proposed amendment by assuring them that he had discussed the issue with every member of the Minnesota Supreme Court, and the justices had unanimously told him that they would not overturn the Defense of Marriage Act. He quoted the outgoing Chief Justice as saying, "We have to stand for election too."
Unfortunately for Johnson, one of the ministers taped his comments. We played the tape on our show. What Johnson told the ministers was untrue; he now admits that he did not have such a conversation with any of the justices, let alone all of them--which would, of course, be unethical on the Justices' part, and also, i would think, on Johnson's.
Johnson is in full retreat, and the episode has exposed the DFL Party's desperation to keep the marriage amendment off the ballot in November. Why is this incident potentially important outside of Minnesota? Because we have two key races coming up in the fall. The Republicans' best hope for a takeaway in the Senate is Mark Kennedy's race for the open seat being vacated by Mark Dayton. And Mark's old House seat, the 6th District, is one the Democrats almost have to win if they intend to recapture control of the House. Both of these races could tip into the Republican column if the marriage amendment is on the ballot. That's what the Democrats think, anyway, and that explains why Dean Johnson went to the extraordinary length of falsely impugning the integrity of the entire Minnesota Supreme Court.
To listen to an edited podcast of our second hour, go here.
And, as always, you can subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes by going here. Be forewarned, though; it takes a few days for podcasts to show up on iTunes.
March 11, 2006
Listen to Glenn and Helen on the Northern Alliance Radio Network
Today we interviewed Glenn Reynolds and Helen Smith on the Northern Alliance Radio Network. We talked mostly about Glenn's excellent new book, An Army of Davids; click the image below to go straight to Amazon:
We also talked about the current state of the web and our respective podcasting ventures, and gave Glenn a little grief about his role as the ringmaster of the blogosphere. It was a lively discussion, and we took a few calls, too. Go here to listen.
And, once again, you can download our podcasts to your iPod or other MP3 player by subscribing to the RSS feed on our sidebar, or by going here to subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes.
March 4, 2006
Stephen Hunter on the Northern Alliance Radio Network
Listen to our radio interview with Stephen Hunter, author of American Gunfight: The Plot to Assassinate Harry Truman and film critic for the Washington Post, by going here. We had a fun conversation about Stephen's book and tomorrow night's Oscars.
If you want to subscribe to Power Line Podcasts so that they download automatically from iTunes, go here.
February 25, 2006
Why Mommy Squirrel Is a Democrat
On our radio show today, we interviewed Jeremy Zilber, author of the children's book Why Mommy Is A Democrat. It was highly entertaining, and the phone lines lit up. My favorite part of the book is when a rampaging elephant crushes the homeless man's bench--his only possession!
The elephant isn't necessarily supposed to be a Republican, however.
I think the short explanation of why the Mommy squirrel is a Democrat is that there isn't any Daddy squirrel. You can listen to the commercial-free podcast of the interview, and hear the Northern Alliance listeners who were lining up to take on Prof. Zilber, by going here.
Also, if you go to iTunes and search for "Power Line," you can subscribe to Power Line Podcasts. For free!
Thanks again to Joe Malchow, who did a fantastic job of setting this up for us.
UPDATE: Technofiend Glenn Reynolds points out that if you click here, you will, amazingly enough, be taken straight to the iTunes page where you can subscribe to Power Line podcasts. And, if by chance you should be so benighted as not to have downloaded iTunes onto your computer(s), clicking on the link will allow you to download iTunes, from whence you can sign up for future Power Line podcasts.
UPDATE: Dr. Helen pans Zilber's radio appearance and the book.
February 19, 2006
Listen to Col. Stephenson and Judge for Yourself
Yesterday, we interviewed Lt. Col. Bob Stephenson on the Northern Alliance Radio Network. You can listen to the interview here.
The Democratic Party has undertaken an organized campaign to drive Col. Stephenson, two fellow servicemen and the families of servicemen who were killed in Iraq off the airways. The Democratic Party has officially pronounced that Col. Stephenson and his ads are "un-American." That such a thing could happen is almost beyond belief--a Marine officer with more than ten years of active duty labeled "un-American" for supporting America's foreign policy--but it is nevertheless true.
Listen to Col. Stephenson and the two ads and judge for yourself whether they are "un-American."
February 12, 2006
New Podcast: Yesterday's Northern Alliance Radio Network
Having more or less gotten the hang of it, the podcasts are coming quicker now. I've done yesterday's show; in the first hour, Chad, Brian and I talked (irreverently) about the opening of the Winter Olympics and discussed current issues like the cartoon controversy and the extension of the Patriot Act. Part 1 is here; part 2 is here. In the second hour, we interviewed Professor John McWhorter, author of Winning the Race.
February 11, 2006
Now Podcasting: The Northern Alliance Radio Network!
I've wanted to start podcasting for a while, and finally had some time today to figure it out. As most readers know, I participate in a weekly radio show called the Northern Alliance Radio Network from 11 to 3 every Saturday (central time) on AM 1280 the Patriot. We've split the show into two segments, Volume I, from 11 to 1, which I do with Chad the Elder and Brian "St. Paul" Ward from Fraters Libertas, and Volume II, from 1 to 3, with Mitch Berg, Ed Morrissey and King Banaian.
For no particular reason, I started with the show we did on January 21. In the first hour, we talked about the Alito nomination and other news stories, and critiqued Al Gore's over-the-top speech to the NeverMoveOn faithful. It includes the most entertaining discussion of stare decisis you're likely to hear. The second hour features a terrific interview with Peter Schweizer, author of Do As I Say, a wonderful expose of hypocrisy on the left.
You can listen to the first hour (only around 34 minutes with commercials and the last part of the hour omitted by going here. I'll link to the second hour, which I divided into two files, shortly. CAUTION: That first file is big, around 38 MB. The second two are much smaller.
OK, for the first part of the second hour with Peter Schweizer, go here; for the conclusion of the second hour, go here.
UPDATE: I've got all the bugs out, I think. Over the next week or two I'll try to archive the last few weeks of shows (Volume I, that is); I'll start with today's, which I'll put up tomorrow.
