Democracy Has Prevailed.

April 24, 2007

"Left Out" on WRCT

The radio show was quite interesting. We chatted about politics, some local (Mayor Luke's various incompetences) and national (US Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan).

I suspect that the station's signal didn't reach much past the CMU campus (such is the nature of college radio) but I hope that it was heard by some people over the web. The OPJ tells me she had to hear it on-line as the signal couldn't make it over the Mon river to the South Side. I've had trouble picking up 88.3 FM in Shadyside.

Dan and Robert are very interesting guys - here's Dan:

And here's Robert:

As you can see they sat across from each other tapping away on their laptops (both APPLES, btw) chatting on line with people listening in via the web.

My introduction to the guys began something like this: Before the show, I was talking with Robert about his appearance this past friday on OffQ. He said a few choice things about Mike Pintek (whom he called "Mike Pinhead") and Mike's defense of gun ownership. Dan then mentioned the three issues he'd like Democrats to drop; gun control, abortion and the death penalty. Robert overheard and interjected a healthy "To hell with you then!" They then began their pre-show discussion. It was all very interesting, but as I'm not a member of the Democratic party, I didn't really feel obliged to take sides.

And a few minutes later, the mikes were live and we started.

The rest, as they say, is radio history.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The radio signal is tricky - but it does broadcast pretty far. I usually get it to come in well in Bethel Park in the South Hills. The national show 'Democracy Now' is on 88.3 every weekday morning at 8.

Anonymous said...

Funny about WRCT's signal. It's more powerful and reliable than it's ever been. That said, way back in the early 1980s when I was a deejay there my grandmother managed to pick me up in West Deer, close to Butler Co. Like most things in Pittsburgh, it depends on the weather.

BTW, Danny is a great guy and a damn hard worker.

Danny Sleator said...

Thanks for posting that blog entry, along with the photos! And thanks for being on the show.

My experience with receiving WRCT is that a standard modern car radio can get it perfectly anywhere in the city. And I've done it hundreds of times. We had a billboard for Democracy Now up on Banksville road. It was suggested (and largely funded) by one of our listeners who sits in traffic there every morning listening to DN.

That said, car radios are a lot better than clock radios -- they're built to pull in weak signals.