When AAR started 4 years ago they had the most remarkable lineup in commercial radio. Liz Winstead, Marc Maron, Rachel Maddow, Sam Seder,Janeane Garofalo, Randi, Al Franken, and the most wonderful Mike Malloy. I found myself listening to them all the time. All the radios in my house were tuned to AAR as was my car radio.. I tried to support their sponsors when I could. I even stopped listening to WFMU. It was so refreshing to hear the comical yet sharp insights into politics from the left point of view. It was great that we finally had our own media outlet. And it was great radio!
But in four short years they've managed to get rid of almost all the talent that made them so great. Of course Franken left to run for the Senate, but all the rest are gone and most under biter circumstances.
Everytime they fired someone I loved, it meant another angry phone call or email to their management. Of course there was no response. Compare that to WFMU. When Audio Kitchen ended I wrote a nasty letter to Ken Friendman threatening to cancel my mouse pledge. He wrote me right back and explained that the Professor wanted to quit and that he didn't want the show to end either. He also asked me to please not cancel my pledge.
What a difference.
Today AAR is a shell of what it once was. Randi and Rachel are the last great talents there. And they fired Maddow's brilliant comic partner Kent Jones recently leaving a gapping void in her show. And now they silence Randi. She was never my fav over there but I liked her show. She was fun to listen to and I agreed with most of her politics.
AAR seems to be intent on it's own destruction.Too bad because the idea of a left wing radio network is a great idea. For Shame.
So I'm back to WFMU and I ain't never going away again. I'm podcasting and pledging and most grateful for this island of free form radio in a sea of mediocrity.
What did Tom say during the pledge drive? By rights WFMU shouldn't even exist in today's corporate environment. (something to that effect)
