You're a radio talk show host. Whose interests do you represent?

It used to be easy. You represent the listeners. Their best interests are your best interests. And when you interview a politician or celebrity or newsmaker, you have access that the listeners don't, so you ask questions on their behalf, and you don't shy away from tough questions.

That's not how it goes anymore, and it's not entirely the hosts' fault. Politicians have learned that, as it turns out, they don't HAVE to go on shows where the hosts ask tough questions. That's how they handle cable news, and it works for talk radio, too. You go on shows that won't challenge you, you get nothing but favorable sound bites, the end. No challenges, no gotchas, just another campaign stop.

There are listeners who want that. It's an older group, it's a shrinking group, but it's your core audience, especially on AM. Conventional wisdom is that you will not keep those listeners or grow your audience by being hostile to the politicians they revere, nor will you attract the "other side" by playing the both-sides game.

The drive between where I live and where I was going is long and boring, and on that Saturday morning, I was idly poking around the radio dial looking for something different when I landed on honest-to-goodness college radio. It was the University of Miami's WVUM, popping ...

So. Congress is taking a shot at a bill to ensure AM radio access in all vehicles, huh? The "AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act"? Catchy name there. Good luck to them. I have another idea. How about a bill that DOESN'T require car makers to provide an outmoded broadcast ...

How prepared are you for something bad to happen? I'm not talking about natural disasters or emergencies. I've told you enough about the need for that. No, I'm talking about what can happen when someone in your audience takes things to extremes. That's happened from time ...

Okay, then. Exactly how replaceable ARE you? We've established that most people in radio have to be at least a little concerned about being replaced by AI. The best we can say is that "AI will never have that connection with listeners that humans have," which is not ...

If what I heard at the All Access Audio Summit is any indication, the talk around radio is about artificial intelligence when it isn't about where and how to find new talent. The two are, of course, related -- AI voices could conceivably replace talent, though most ...

The NAB Show, for radio people, was all about artificial intelligence, and data, and streaming, and more artificial intelligence, and wondering whether certain companies might be filing Chapter 11 soon, and more artificial intelligence and more data. You know what there ...

How can people know to depend on you if they don't even know you're there? This wasn't a problem back in the day. Everybody used radio, and everybody knew which stations in town were the "news stations." If your city didn't have an all-news station, there was always a ...

Anyone can do your job. Except that they can't. But they can. You know the conversation. You're talking to someone and, knowing what you do for a living, the other person says, "you know, I could host a talk show." And you know that it isn't, as they think, just a matter ...

Things change. Nothing lasts forever. Insert whatever cliché about cultural evolution suits you best. The world isn't the same today as it was 30, 40, 50 years ago. We know that. Yet... Okay, so, I was walking in our neighborhood and I noticed a flyer tacked up in ...