Air America

But the MAGA base is shrinking daily as gas prices go up and the war drags on and all this kind of stuff.

Meanwhile, Al Franken, remember Al? Al and I were both on Air America Radio.

at different times in the noon to three slot.

He has come out.

got.

He would have almost certainly won in...

the states that mattered such as michigan pennsylvania and wisconsin for sure and if if i could do one brief other topic you've probably done the post-mortem on this multiple times over the years but in your opinion what happened with air america radio And how might it be resurrected? Because I think progressive radio really needs a wider audience in this day and age.

Yeah, I was right there in the middle of that.

Yes.

Air America Radio?

Yes.

Taking me back, yeah.

And she was, you know, harassed and all this.

And, you know, she was part of this circle of Air America radio.

Yes.

Hey, I'm Mark Maron.

It's six past the hour on Air America radio.

And this is Morning Sedition.

Which included Marc Maron, which I think will play a part later on.

Like, they, MSNBC had t- It was, like, a real place for a while, but they made their decision, uh, uh, shortly after 9/11 into the Iraq War that they were gonna go far left progressive, just nuts.

Remember, th- these people are literally, uh, they got a bunch of people from the failed Air America.

That's where Rachel Maddow's from If you don't remember Air America, then you're not in an exclusive club.

But I used to listen to it sometimes, 'cause I was, you know, I, I wanted to see what the other side was talking about.

And it was all conspira- crazy conspiracy stuff, and Bush having an affair with Condoleezza Rice, and also whatever ugly stuff they could think of.

I wonder if there might be another dimension to this.

In the early 2000s, Louise and I moved from Vermont here to Portland because we had started Air America Radio and the local radio station here wanted me to do a local morning show in addition to my national show.

And at that time, I think it was 2005, Enron had collapsed.

And Enron owned the local utility here in Oregon.

We're just going to retire and retire.

And instead, we started the radio show and it and it just has turned into this thing.

You know, it was just it was supposed to be a proof of concept because I I started, you know, I helped start Air America.

And, you know, we started the radio show about six months before Air America went live, just as a way of showing that it is possible to have a successful progressive talk radio program.

I feel like you interviewed me.

It was the old Air America days where you were on Air America.

And I think you might have even been filling in for some, maybe filling in for Randy or doing your own show.

I can't remember.

I think it was before then, because before I went to Air America, I was hosting mornings on WINZ in Miami.

And I read a piece that you wrote dealing with election integrity.

You know, like really not the opposite world version of, you know, because this has been one of your ongoing stories as a journalist, as an independent muckraker.

And, you know, there have been not the kind of problems that Trump and company are claiming, like illegals coming in and voting when they're not registered.

As the host of the Majority Report, Sater has become one of the leading voices in progressive media.

An alumnus of the ill-fated but much beloved Air America Radio Network, his show has lived on with a dedicated fan base for the past 16 years, most recently as part of the Young Turks Media Network.

His current format airs daily on YouTube, where he's amassed over a million subscribers.

Or viewers can stream a 60-minute version of Sater's show on NBC's Peacock.

I think they should do it with the Republican party too, frankly.

But the Democrats of this generation in particular are, They they are very, very timid.

I mean, I, you know, I mentioned earlier I've been doing radio since 2004 when I was on Air America in 2000 as late as 2005.

I had conservative callers who call up talking about Bill Clinton.

All right.

And then he was nationally syndicated with Air America Radio, so-

Cool beans

... and that's-

November, it'll be 16 years of this, uh, iteration of the show.

But there was a show before this show called The Majority Report on Air America Radio.

[laughs]

Uh, and you'll be able to, uh, search those archives too.