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They broadcast Stephanie Miller instead of Springer here in Madison, and she's been on vacation, too. And after a week of Johnny Wendell filling in for Stephanie Miller, I'm starting to tire a bit of him.
He's very professional, and has the 'angry guy' thing down. Appropriately 'leftist' (but no Pacifica).
The thing is, I'm starting to see that every show he has a 'gripe topic of the day' thing. He doesn't title a segment that way or anything, like Miller or Franken might, but just has some mildly controversial topic every day that he wants to gripe abou throughout the show. It's the sort of stuff that's meant to stir up discussion (and callers). It's not current events stuff, but things like "I hate the homogenization of our culture...how bout you?" Not really something you're ever going to find an answer for on talk radio, but you can argue about it forever. And it's usually what most of his callers talk about.
What he ends up with is a show that sounds angry and liberal, but ultimately signifies nothing to me. It sounds very practiced (and I'm sure it is -- he's very good at it), but it doesn't feel very authentic.
In some ways, it reminds me of a local talk jock here in Madison -- 'Sly'-- who does the same sort of thing, but with local topics (though Sly is occasionally relevant).
Stephanie Miller 'goofs around' more, but is more current and topical overall. She manages to get a lot of good phone interviews with public figures, too.
I liked Johnny Wendell more Monday than after listening to him all week. I'm looking forward to Stephanie and crew returning next week, and I'm kind of surprised about it.
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