By David Bender, Chuck D, Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, Thom Hartmann, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Rachel Maddow, Mike Malloy, Mike Papantonio, Randi Rhodes, Mark Riley, Sam Seder, Introduction by Al Franken
Here's what the loudest and funniest voices in talk radio have to say about taking back your country. Air America stars Al Franken, Randi Rhodes, Sam Seder, Rachel Maddow, and the rest of the network's lineup have created a simple, bracing referendum on stopping the madness and getting maximum mileage out of your citizenship. Air America: The Playbook shows the failures in policy, ethics, initiative, and imagination that have, sadly, characterized the United States in the new millennium. The book offers farsighted and easy-to-follow principles that will put power back where it belongs -- in the hands of the people.
Published by Rodale
September2006;$26.95US/$36.95CAN; 1-59486-514-0
Purchase
Have you ever secretly felt that you would do a better job of running the country than the people in charge now? Well, the truth is, you're right.
And you're not alone in that feeling. Air America: The Playbook --What a Bunch of Left-Wing Media Types Have to Say about a World Gone Right offers a rowdy and incisive challenge to the astoundingly stupid ideas and actions of the Bush administration.
Here's what the loudest and funniest voices in talk radio have to say about taking back your country. Air America stars Al Franken, Randi Rhodes, Sam Seder, Rachel Maddow, and the rest of the network's lineup have created a simple, bracing referendum on stopping the madness and getting maximum mileage out of your citizenship.
This book is a call to make the United States of America work for you, not vice versa. Twelve in-depth, thought-provoking original essays by the heavy guns at Air America map out the deep-rooted problems that confront this great country and point the way to a better future. Fascinating conversations with high-octane visitors such as Vice President Al Gore and President Jimmy Carter, as well as rising stars such as Senator Russ Feingold and Governor Mark Warner, illustrate how Air America, every day, showcases the fact that progressives do have a plan for making America great again. Their lively interviews are included alongside riveting exchanges that testify to why live radio remains such a powerful medium, even in the age of 500 TV channels. Here is Randi Rhodes confronting Ralph Nader over his controversial third-party presidential bid in 2004. Here are Al Franken and Joe Conason taking author Ed Klein to task over the shoddy journalism in his attack-biography of Hillary Clinton. Memorable appearances by progressive activists such as Whoopi Goldberg, Robert Redford, and Michael Stipe round out the collection, making Air America: The Playbook the one truly complete picture of what progressive thinkers have to offer the United States today.
Critics predicted that Air America would be a fly-by-night adventure in liberal folly: the radio network that wouldn't last the week. Instead, in twenty-four dynamic months, it has risen to become the most charged and entertaining forum for citizens committed to change. In this entertaining and informative volume, the collective expertise of Air America's extended family has been distilled to show readers what went wrong after George W. Bush took office, why, and how to fix it. It all begins with understanding who is pulling the strings -- how deliberate campaigns of misinformation on everything from Iraq's so-called weapons of mass destruction to global warming have obscured the truth about the country's real problems. In a time when short-term profits of corporations and the narrow-minded values of the religious right have trumped every other concern, the regular citizen is looking for a way to fight back.
Air America: The Playbook shows the failures in policy, ethics, initiative, and imagination that have, sadly, characterized the United States in the new millennium. The book offers farsighted and easy-to-follow principles that will put power back where it belongs -- in the hands of the people.
It's called a democracy. Now make it one!
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Comments: from Powells Books:
What the Loudest Voices on Liberal Talk Radio Have to Say About How Our Country Really Works—And How to Take It Back
Synopses & Reviews
Incisive political commentary delivered with a healthy dose of humor—and a decidedly left-of-center twist—captures the essence of Air America Radio
For frustrated voters who like their politicians left of center, the era of George W. Bush has been a time of exasperation, eye-rolling, hand-wringing, and even despair. Since Bush’s "election" in 2000, millions of blue-tinted Americans have fled in droves from their TVs and radios, no longer able to bear the "Swiftboat-ization" of the mainstream media or the haranguing voices of such "villains" as Bill O’Reilly, Michael Savage, and Rush Limbaugh. Where can these displaced persons go for political asylum?
Enter, in 2004, Air America Radio, a talk radio network exclusively devoted to liberal, progressive talk. With stars like Al Franken, Janeane Garafalo, Chuck D, Robert Kennedy Jr., Randi Rhodes, Rachel Maddow, and many more, Air America has become an oasis in a time of complete domination by a conservative Republican majority. With close to four million listeners on 89 stations around the country, Air America gives all of those voters who still feel Al Gore and John Kerry should have and perhaps even did win the last two presidential elections a place to vent their opinions and talking heads who share their righteous indignation.
However, for readers who don’t know what to do when their favorite radio show is over and they’re still wide awake, for those who loved Jon Stewart’s America, Bill Maher’s New Rules, Thomas Frank’s The Trouble With Kansas, and books by Al Franken, a new balm in book form awaits.
Air America offers a roadmap to the landmine that is American politics today, through an array of eyes and voices unabashedly left of center. Combining new original material with radio transcripts, useful sidebars and statistics, and interviews, all offered in an irresistibly unexpected mix of humor, outrage, sarcasm, and thoughtfulness, this essential guide to how our government works, who are the best hopes and the biggest offenders, and most importantly how liberals can take back their country from the ruling right wing is a must-read.
Synopsis:
Air America Radio, a talk radio network exclusively devoted to liberal, progressive talk, offers a roadmap to the landmine that is American politics today, through an array of eyes and voices unabashedly left of center.
About the Author
With hosts like the relentless Al Franken, actress and comedienne Janeane Garofalo, activist Rachel Maddow, progressive radio pioneer Randi Rhodes, environmental champion Robert Kennedy Jr., Public Enemy co-founder Chuck D, author Laura Flanders, and singer/songwriter Steve Earle along for the ride, Air America Radio has become compulsive listening fare for liberal news junkies who will eagerly devour Air America.
Product Details
ISBN:1594865140
Subtitle:The Playbook
Author:Air America Radio Ho
Author:Air America Radio Hosts
Publisher:Rodale Press
Subject:General Humor
Subject:General
Subject:Political Ideologies - Conservatism & Liberalism
Subject:Radio - General
Subject:Topic - Political
Subject:Liberalism
Subject:Right and left (political science)
Publication Date:September 2006
Binding:Hardcover
Language:English
Pages:352
Dimensions:930x758x88 135
