Are there any talk radio show hosts that you actually like?
The only ones I find tolerable are Larry Elder, Bill O’Reilly, Michael Medved, and Hugh Hewitt although the first is the only one I listen to fairly often.
I both liked and hated Art Bell on Coast To Coast AM, I liked him because he really was a great interviewer and would let people prattle on and on about the most insane shit.
I hated him because he let people make the most contradictory and outlandish claims and would never challenge them or confront them, someone could claim Bill Clinton came every 6 hours and raped them personally without fail and Art would just accept it. He wouldn’t point out how impossible it was, nor how improbable.
This puzzles me. Elaborate? 
It seems to me like you are saying you like the same thing that you hate in the man.
That was the charm of his show. Staying up late as a kid listening to him on the radio run off about tin foil hat shit anyone over the age of 10 should know to laugh at! And he would sit and (I assume) nod through the length of it, legitimizing it for my young, impressionable ears. Thoroughly entertaining stuff!
Howard Stern. Not as much as I used to. But still the only one I can stand.
What is there to elaborate on? Like I said I both loved and hated his style, too many hosts are horrible interviewers interrupting those they are interviewing or steering the interview. But I also hate an interviewer who never challenges a guest.
Love him or hate Him Michelangelo Signorile keeps things lively.
Back before our local NPR affiliate went to all day news and talk I used to listen to conservative talk radio. Oddly, the only show I really enjoyed was G. Gordon Liddy.
I disagreed with him politically but he talked a lot about motorcycles, muscle cars and guns…subjects I am interested in.
Is he still alive? Still on the air?
Neal Boortz is a blast, but he’s retiring soon so I don’t want to invest too much more of my time/emotional energy into his show. Herman Cain is replacing him, and I haven’t yet decided how I feel about that. Could be a train wreck.
I listen to Rush from time to time IF he’s talking about a topic that interests me (rarely).
For some somewhat-radical (or maybe really radical, depending on your point of view) libertarian talk, I listen to these guys on their podcast, and sometimes live.
I liked Art Bell too. I always thought of him more as a conduit than an interviewer–he was there to provide a platform for the guest and the audience could put whatever spin on it they wanted. I imagine that he rolled his eyes as much as any of his listeners, but he was willing to let the guests have their say. His monologue about his wife’s death was truly touching. I hope he’s doing okay these days.
I like Wayne Resnick on KFI, but his show has been cut to just two hours a week now. I also like the 5AM slot of Bill Handel’s show when the whole gang gets to chime in.
I also like Julie Mason’s show on POTUS (XM/Sirus).
Talk radio was more interesting when it was a back-and-forth between callers and hosts. Many of the AM radio talk programs today are just 3 hour monologues with an occasional call or two thrown in to change things up.
Alive, yes. He retired from broadcasting exactly a week ago, though.
I was going to say Jimmy Fallon, but I guess you must have meant radio show hosts? Maybe it would be helpful to get a mod to change the thread title. Then again, everyone else seems to have gotten your meaning so maybe I’ll just sit in the mush pot . . .
I began listening to talk radio BR (before Rush) and enjoyed the variety. The local hosts in Dallas/Fort Worth were a pretty decent mix. I really enjoyed these shows. In a day you could hear an interview with a musician, about an exhibit at a local museum, about the local wrestling scene, discussion of things that annoy you, etc. There also was a bit more variety in hosts, not all (mostly) were white, male, rich, fundamentalist christians.
The political hosts would often talk about other things besides politics such as local news, entertainment, interview people etc. AR (after Rush) the majority of shows became essentially cones of Rush’s show. A very conservative Christian who would blab on and on and occasionally take callers.
They got boring after awhile and seemed to get worse and worse. The final straw for me was when Mark Levin (I think that’s his name) got a call from a self described liberal. Levin couldn’t address his points and began repeating “why do you hate America?” and wouldn’t let the other guy talk.
I now listen exclusively to podcasts. None of which are political.
So, to answer the question, no. The only talk show I could see myself listening to again would be Howard Stern, but I can only take him in doses. And Art Bell (or his successor) who can be somewhat entertaining as well, if I’m in the right mood.
First- my two hates- Mike Savage & Marc Levine- yet I listened to MS when he was on the local talk station & I now listen to ML for about 30-40 minutes as I go to work because I usually find something out that I didn’t know. But I never listened to either when I was off & had time to kill.
Likes- Louisville’s Joe Elliot, Michael Medved, Hugh Hewitt,
btw, Qui- no love for my favorite, Dennis Prager?
I really miss Art Bell. George Noory is OK. But just OK. He has more of a breathless believer quality whatever a guest’s line of BS is.
Dick Cavett
<sigh>
Would Terri Gross and Ira Levin count as “talk radio show hosts”? Or are you just talking about the guys who talk politics and take callers?
That’s kind of what I love about Noory. You know he doesn’t believe any of his guests, unlike Bell, who is a genuine whackjob, but he repeats all their claims as if they were GNP calculations or something. It’s pretty brilliant.
I listen to a lot of sports talk radio. Jim Rome is the worst person in the world, and should be shot at dawn*, but I love Mike & Mike and some others.
*Apologies for my use of “gay” as a slur in that thread. I’ve moved on.
I was going to say Craig Ferguson as he’s a lot of fun and does great interviews. There’s really no script; he makes a point of ripping up his notes when each guest comes out and just lets the conversation flow.
But, sticking to radio, I would say Terry Gross, Dr. Joy Brown and Stephen Sackur (I listen to him on BBC World Service).
They have to be on commercial stations. Talk radio is commercial and based on giving the host a voice, not callers. Callers are there to “ditto” the host, or for the host to attack.
Public radio talk is not talk radio. Besides being too uncommercial, it’s too respectful of the listener and the caller.
Actually, my assessment would be the reverse.