My Top 5 Radio Talk Shows

I'm a huge fan of talk radio. On any given day I will listen to 5-6 hours of it usually downloaded or streamed from my computer. Because bloggging requires that I assume people care about my opinion, these are my top 4 talk radio hosts or teams:

1. Adam Carolla and Dr. Drew- Together the duo used to host the hilarious "Loveline", a show which served as a forum for Adam's hilarious theories and ideas. One of my ideas was when Adam suggested that every can of Mountain Dew and Grape Soda should contain enough birth control, so that anyone who drank more than a liter in one month would be left sterile for a year. When Howard Stern left FM, Adam took over and is no longer on Loveline. Now both shows suck. A lot. Here's hoping he goes back soon. http://www.ehansen.us/Loveline/

2. Ira Glass- This American Life is an amazingly well-produced show that I find is best in small-doses. I think everyone that reads this blog is already a fan so I will say no more. www.thislife.org

3. Phil Hendrie- So talented at what he does that a lot of people don't actually believe that he could be doing it. Phil conducts interviews with outrageous guests, like Ted Bell, the restauranteur who claimed to have served an autistic kid a large serving of alcohol in order to "calm him down". The twist is that there is no Ted Bell, Hendrie does all the voices for his show, in essence talking to himself for three hours. According to Hendrie the show is a parody of talk radio, and serves mainly to mock the irate callers who will call in to yell at the guests. I think it's more than that--the characters that Phil has created are amazing comic acheivements on their own. www.philhendrieshow.com

4. Dunham and Miller (and the Great Gordo)- My favorite show from my favorite Radio station, 1310 The Ticket, in Dallas, Texas. Dunham and Miller are good as hosts, and they know a lot about sports, but the real reason to listen is Gordon Keith, who is second only to Phil Hendrie in his ability to do voices. http://www.gordonkeith.com/

5. Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, and Karl Pilkington- This is one of the funniest radio shows I've ever heard. It's nothing like "The Office", with Ricky and Steve relying mainly on the idiocy of their producer, Karl, for laughs. It definitely works. Some of Karl's beliefs:

• You'll never see an old person eating a Twix, but they always buy ornaments.
• Some bacteria have better lives than Intuits.
• A group of monkeys were able to learn the value of money and go shopping, one of them even managing to pick out particular deals to save cash, showing a preference for slightly older veg.

I personally think that Karl is playing a bit of a part, but that doesn't take away from the humor. The podcast of these three is popular, but the real classic shows are from the London radio station, XFM. www.xfm.co.uk/ricky



I'm actually pretty excited for my own radio show this next semester. A friend from middle school, Bill Foran, who is also a huge fan of The Ticket is claiming that he is gonna do a show with me. I hope he follows through, because I'm bored to tears with my current format. If Bill comes on though, get ready for a great show. Maybe I'll crack my own top 5.