After a couple weeks, let me say a bit more about the new liberal talk radio network, Air America. I have not really listened to the morning hosts at all given my schedule, but the little bit I heard had a "morning drive" type tone to it -- low calorie stuff. Still, the 9-12pm (EST) show has an interesting bunch, including a Brit with a doctorate, who appears to be the resistant adult of sorts.

Apparently, like the rest of the time slots, there is often some interesting guests (Paul Krugman, liberal bloggists such as Atrios and The Daily Kos, Bob Kerrey, John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Tim Robbins, Al Gore, Slate writer Fred Kaplan, John Dean, and others suggest the "big names" the network attracted so far) -- often the major draw for listeners. I don't know about the morning and late afternoon, but the early afternoon and evening shows so far aren't dominated by calls ... perhaps in time more time will be spent on them.

I have heard the 12-3pm (repeated 11-2am; the network as a whole can be streamed through the website for those who cannot access the station through local radio) "O'Franken Factor" the most. Radio veteran Katherine Lanpher co-hosts with Al Franken, but somewhat ironically -- given that Franken ridicules Alan Colmes for being dominated by Sean Hannity -- she is rarely heard from. I wish she would talk more -- it would balance Franken some. From what I heard, she is a fairly low key liberal sort, who is probably there to serve as Franken's driving instructor of sorts.

Franken is an intelligent true believer (progressive, Bush hater, fair, but to be taken with a grain of salt) who is a bit of a smart ass (as suggested by the title, an "up yours" to Bill O'Reilly), which shows up in some of the comedy bits. The highlight of the two weeks was a reunion of sorts with three others he toured with to entertain the troops -- Franken might be a bit full of himself at times, but the guy is to be respected for caring and putting in the effort. His latest book might be a political tract, but it is well researched, and comes from his heart.

The midday show (3-7pm; repeated 2-6am) is Randi Rhodes, and from what I heard, "kneejerk liberal" with a voice like The Nanny is the best way to envision her. The network on the whole has an unfortunate "speak to the choir" bias (I also wonder how it will do if Bush actually loses ... he is surely their white whale, though "The Right" is a core target as well), but Rhodes is just too much. Her voice alone is annoying. Marty Kaplan has an hour and happily he tones things down to reasonable levels for a show entitled "So What Else Is News?"

The evening show (8-11pm) is known as "The Majority Report" and is hosted by "hosted by actress and activist Janeane Garofalo and actor-director Sam Seder." This suggests the tone of the show -- liberal true believers (and amateur journalists) who have done their research, but are not likely to waver from the usual line. It's valuable to have a counterpoint that is often not provided in the mainstream press, but you need some balance. The show is playful and the two have good chemistry, which makes it nice and easy going, though at times they have some stupid bits. These two have something to say and some of guests are good, but this lack of balance is troubling. It's typical for talk radio, but on the whole, the network would do good to remember a bit of dissent from the strict liberal line shakes things up now and again.

Laura Flanders, author of a biting book on the "Bush Women" and "activist, journalist and author" has a weekend show: Saturdays 7pm-10pm; Sundays 6pm-9pm. Her experience gives the show some more polish and is a good addition to the network. The rest of the weekend is filled with repeats; often local networks fill late hours with other programming, as does satellite radio in various cases. For instance, it puts Alan Colmes on at 10pm weeknights.

Preliminary thoughts: Though the network has a "speak to the choir" bias, there is enough talent and good guests to make it worth listening. I'm ready to give it a chance.