A little over a year ago I started listening to talk radio. Mostly because of the presidential election, I wanted to be informed about politics and I wanted my opinions and perspectives to be reinforced. I started with Rush because, of course, he’s the best. Then I started listening to Hannity mostly because his show followed Rush’s. I loved Rush because of his genius and his humor, but I liked Hannity because of his attorney-like fact finding and quote hunting. During the election, Sean Hannity became a master of revealing the flip-flopping and liberal record of John Kerry.

Then I wanted more. I looked for someone to listen to in the late morning slot. I found Mark Davis of WBAP. I liked him because he was local and he seemed like a “really good guy”. He was also passionate about what he believed and he could really get on some great soapboxes. He seemed like someone you could know personally, like he went to your church or something. I like that.

But my talk radio addiction wasn’t satisfied yet. I started catching the evening slot on WBAP, hosted by Gary McNamara. His voice was pretty obnoxious at first, but I got over it and realized how smart he was. He really was quick on his feet and made some really unique points.

But looking back, I’ve noticed that my listening preferences have changed. Now, my talk radio lineup is a bit different. Rush, of course, is still the best, and my favorite show in my lineup. I don’t really listen to Hannity anymore. He kind of got repetitive and annoying to me. His fact finding is still impressive, but he can get redundant with his points. He also has a lot of guests on and he doesn’t really ask good questions. He just asks his guests to agree with him. And they’re almost always people who are conservatives, so he tends to really softball those interviews.

I also don’t listen to Mark Davis as much. I still listen, but I usually juggle between him, Laura Ingraham, and Dennis Prager on KSKY. Laura is pretty funny for a girl, and she’s great to listen to for all the supreme court stuff, cause that’s her background. Dennis Prager is stinkin’ great. He’s not hilarious or anything, but his combination of conservative and religious values, balanced thought, strong arguments, and positive, polite, and respectful attitude is amazing. It’s unbelievable to hear him talk. He’s a philosopher, a theologian, and a political thinker. I think it would be impossible to disagree with him even if I wanted to, just because of how well-rounded, thought through, and balanced his arguments are. I’m disappointed because KSKY recently adjusted their schedule and they put him on during Rush. I’m having to switch back and forth quite a bit.

With the new schedule at KSKY, they now have Mike Gallagher on from 6-9am. I love this guy. I listened to him a bit when he was on late at night on WBAP, but now I get to hear him every morning. He’s great because he isn’t afraid to bring his personal life into the show, so it adds some integrity and personality to everything.

And man, have you heard Mike Savage? That guy has some screws loose, but he’s pretty entertaining. He could be characterized as the “black sheep” of the conservative talk radio movement. He’s just bad to the bone, but he’s actually right a lot of the time.

There’s also Mark Levin, who took Gary McNamara’s slot in the evening. Levin’s a genius, but most of the time he’s just flat out mean. He’s just a grumpy guy. His voice is a little annoying, but sometimes the genius supercedes things like that. The combination of his voice and his attitude makes him sound like a grumpy muppet—-like Oscar the Grouch. I don’t catch him that much due to his time slot, but even if I could, I think I would get tired of him. I just tend to gravitate towards more positive shows like Rush.

I don’t know why I wrote this post. Maybe it’s some sort of confession that I’m addicted to talk radio. I don’t think I’m addicted. I think it’s just because of my circumstances of working at home, in front of a computer, that allows me to listen to this stuff all day. I mean, what else am I supposed to listen to? Adult Contempo? Smooth Jazz? Oldies? I’d rather be more entertained and informed by Gallagher from 6-9am, Ingraham and Davis from 9-12pm, and Limbaugh from 12-3pm. From then on it’s my iPod and me.