Real Radio: The Philips Phile
Posted by R. Neal
If you like talk radio but dive for a different channel button whenever you hear Rush or O'Reilly, and you live in Central Florida or have XM Radio, I highly recommend you check out Jim Phillips and the Philips Phile (FM 104.1 3:00 PM weekdays, or XM 152 4:00 PM weekdays).
We got hooked when we lived in Florida, and sure missed his show when we moved back to East Tennessee (where it's all conservative, all the time*). When we were shopping for satellite radio (mainly to get Air America), XM Radio was the clear winner because they also carried the Philips Phile. (As it turns out, that was a lucky choice because Sirius no longer carries Air America due to their exclusive deal with XM.)
Anyway, Jim Philips is a lucky breed of progressive talk radio guy. He's so popular and has such great ratings that he can say just about anything he wants and hammer just about any elected official, local or otherwise, and the corporate suits have to just sit on their hands and bite their tongue. (He frequently taunts them about this, which someday might be his downfall.)
Yesterday he had Bill Maher on for an interview to promote an upcoming appearance in Orlando and to tee off on the Bush administration. But usually it's just good clean or mostly clean fun with a progressive/moderate slant on politics and national affairs, and off-beat discussion of other topics ranging from food to fashion to dating to etiquette to just about anything. His crew (be sure to check out their bios) appeals to a wide audience, but my favorite is his producer Moira. She's liberal, Jewish, and hilarious. (Jana Banana does a killer Rita Cosby impersonation, too.)
Anyway, check it out. It's like a sophisticated Southern version of Seinfeld for the radio, except more dysfunctional and occasionally more serious. (XM listeners beware: XM preempts the first hour of the Philips Phile with the last hour of G. Gordon Liddy, so don't tune in before 4:00 PM. You are forewarned.)
(*Note: Mark Harmon reminds me in comments that his show, Left Turn, airs 2-3 pm Saturdays on WNOX, 100.3 FM here in Knoxville, except during football season. My apologies to Mark for the oversight. Actually, I should have remembered that. The Mrs. was one of the first callers on their first show.)
If you like talk radio but dive for a different channel button whenever you hear Rush or O'Reilly, and you live in Central Florida or have XM Radio, I highly recommend you check out Jim Phillips and the Philips Phile (FM 104.1 3:00 PM weekdays, or XM 152 4:00 PM weekdays).
We got hooked when we lived in Florida, and sure missed his show when we moved back to East Tennessee (where it's all conservative, all the time*). When we were shopping for satellite radio (mainly to get Air America), XM Radio was the clear winner because they also carried the Philips Phile. (As it turns out, that was a lucky choice because Sirius no longer carries Air America due to their exclusive deal with XM.)
Anyway, Jim Philips is a lucky breed of progressive talk radio guy. He's so popular and has such great ratings that he can say just about anything he wants and hammer just about any elected official, local or otherwise, and the corporate suits have to just sit on their hands and bite their tongue. (He frequently taunts them about this, which someday might be his downfall.)
Yesterday he had Bill Maher on for an interview to promote an upcoming appearance in Orlando and to tee off on the Bush administration. But usually it's just good clean or mostly clean fun with a progressive/moderate slant on politics and national affairs, and off-beat discussion of other topics ranging from food to fashion to dating to etiquette to just about anything. His crew (be sure to check out their bios) appeals to a wide audience, but my favorite is his producer Moira. She's liberal, Jewish, and hilarious. (Jana Banana does a killer Rita Cosby impersonation, too.)
Anyway, check it out. It's like a sophisticated Southern version of Seinfeld for the radio, except more dysfunctional and occasionally more serious. (XM listeners beware: XM preempts the first hour of the Philips Phile with the last hour of G. Gordon Liddy, so don't tune in before 4:00 PM. You are forewarned.)
(*Note: Mark Harmon reminds me in comments that his show, Left Turn, airs 2-3 pm Saturdays on WNOX, 100.3 FM here in Knoxville, except during football season. My apologies to Mark for the oversight. Actually, I should have remembered that. The Mrs. was one of the first callers on their first show.)
5 Comments:
Good advice, but take note there is liberal radio in East Tennessee. My program, Left Turn, airs 2-3 pm Saturdays on WNOX, 100.3 FM. The bad news is that it is pre-empted for football pre-games until December (when it may move to 3-4 pm). Until then, you can download clips and check out highlights via markharmon.blogspot.com
Mark Harmon
Hey, Mark: You are of course correct. Sorry for the oversight. (Football preempts everything, right? Go Vols!)
Thanks for the tip. With so many channels on XM it's easy to miss a lot of good stuff. And, not meaning to pile on too much, but WDOD-AM (1370 I believe) in Chattanooga is an Air America affiliate. It's a brand new format for them so Chattanooga area lefties need to show support for the station and their advertisers.
What does it take to get Air America on the radio in Knoxville? I have to stream it on the computer and it really ties me down.
Right now I'm sitting here punishing myself by listening to Tammy Bruce (AM 850 in Knoxville). She just finished a tirade about how people who are trying to support a family on minimum wage have "screwed up their lives by making bad choices and not working hard enough". She flatly stated that the minimum wage is not meant for that anyway--it's meant "for college students".
Prior to that, she attacked Hillary Clinton as a "pear-shaped loser" who wants to throw away our tax dollars this winter on energy assistance for people who have failed to take responsibility for their own heating needs.
She cited her own solution for the problem when a couple of days ago, in Los Angeles, it got a little cool in the evening. She tossed a log on the fireplace and lit it. Everybody has a fireplace, with logs, right?
Although I have watched the talking head shows on TV for a long time, I recently discovered talk radio, and have tried to get a feel for what is being discussed across the political spectrum. Much of it is not good, either from the so-called left or the so-called right, since there seems to be a lot of fruitless flailing around and the people who listen to them are not likely to be swayed much in their thinking.
One talker I like so far is Lionel (whatever his last name is). He goes nuts sometimes, but generally stays on course with piercing, logical arguments.
I'll check out Left Turn.
Post a Comment
Return to Facing South's main page