Substantive Conservative Talk?

June 25, 2009 11:10 AM

What are the most substantive conservative talk radio/podcasts?

I've been podcasting Laura Ingraham for a good while now, but I've grown tired of the hysterical ranting and I now I want more substance. I switched to listening to Bill Bennett's show and am really enjoying the calm, substantive discussion. I'm wondering if there are any conservative talk radio/podcast hosts that parse the issues in an agreeable and intelligent manner--while actually referring to the conservative ideas articulated by greats like Burke, Kirk, Lincoln, Chesterton, Chambers, Buckley, Reagan, etc.?

posted by keith0718 to media & arts (11 comments total)

Long answer: It's hard to know what's "substantive" given the increasingly politicized and ideological tone on either side of the aisle, however, I would think that the best way to figure this out would be to read conservative blogs that you consider "substantive" and figure out if they, or blogs to which they link, have podcasts.

Short answer: I don't know of any substantive political podcasts.
posted by dfriedman at 11:30 AM on June 25

EconTalk is not an explicitly conservative podcast, but the host is a libertarian economist at George Mason University and frequently has guests on the show that would be considered "conservative" in mainstream American political discourse (ironic given the fact that liberalism is actually the guiding philosophy).

The figures that you list as greats actually encompass a wide swath of political philosophy, so it may be hard to find exactly what you want.
posted by proj at 11:41 AM on June 25

If you can overlook the pro-capitalism bias, NPR's Marketplace is pretty okay.
posted by box at 11:48 AM on June 25

John Batchelor (JohnBatchelorShow.com) is a very thoughtful and fairly conservative talk radio host - focusing particularly on international affairs - he doesn't take callers, just interviews. I miss the days when he was on 5 days a week in NYC, but the three hour podcasts are a nice substitute.

Here is a NY Times profile where his show is described as "NPR on drugs" or "the BBC without the british accent."
posted by L'homme armé at 11:48 AM on June 25

I've been listening to a local guy here (Tampa bay area) for years. well thought out but with some well done hysteria so maybe not what you're looking for.
http://www.themorningmagazine.com/
posted by Redhush at 12:05 PM on June 25

Try Ron Smith: http://www.wbal.com/shows/smith/
posted by fourmajor at 12:33 PM on June 25

The Dennis Prager Show. A thoughtful, intelligent conservative viewpoint presented in an engaging way, without the hysteria and maniacal ranting that has come to define the genre.
posted by The Gooch at 12:41 PM on June 25 [2 favorites]

i am a fan of brian and the judge (yes, its fox news, but its actually pretty good) -- they release the first hour, which is actually 40something min, free daily on itunes
posted by knockoutking at 1:37 PM on June 25

I would tend to agree with fourmajor about WBAL's Ron Smith. I'm not a conservative (by a long stretch) but his show is advertised as "the voice of reason" and he's different from the usual right wing amen chorus of ranting morons.
posted by imjustsaying at 5:55 PM on June 25

Here's a Walter Williams podcast that might be interesting to you. I grew up seeing Walter Williams every Sunday on a local tv news roundtable and always thought he was grounded and kind of fascinating.

NRO has an audio series called "Uncommon Knowledge" and I think this might be exactly the sort of thing you're looking for.

If you're coming from listening to Laura Ingraham, then it sounds like you might like something with a similar radio show bent but without the hysterics, stupid mocking, and nonsense topics that plagues so much of talk radio. Then I have to second the recommendation of the Dennis Prager show podcast. Still radio, so still a lot about the current events of the day, but he is very reasonable with left-leaning guests and has a lot of topics that concern broader themes.
posted by Danila at 1:30 AM on June 26

Thanks everybody for taking the time to make recommendations. I enjoyed John Batchelor's show as well as the first hour of Brian and the Judge. (I may subscribe to the full B&J show.) I can't seem to find any download-able audio for Ron Smith (the RSS feeds are apparently dead). I may subscribe and give Prager a try. I'm set to download Uncommon Knowledge. (But why can't I find that show on the NRO website???) Thanks everybody and feel free to recommend more stuff.
posted by keith0718 at 4:50 AM on June 26