If you are a regular watcher of CNN’s Reliable Sources, then last weekend you saw the first part of a remarkable interview with the equally remarkable Glenn Beck.
Always a great talent and once a polarizing lightning rod for controversy, Glenn reveals new layers of thoughtful complexity and a humanity that will surprise those who know him best from his Fox News days. I thought it was quite striking. Watch for yourself and see if you don’t agree.
One of the great challenges of commercial spoken word radio is that audiences and broadcasters alike are pigeonholing the format as the home of rabid political ranting from cranky old white men with a demographic circle of influence orbiting retirement age.
But that is definitely not the tune Glenn is singing in these interview segments.
On politics, for example: “I hate it more than I ever have.”
Could this refreshing tone signal a new direction for the voices on the air we love to listen to in the world of spoken word?
Could it open up new opportunities for new voices and new points of view?
And would that be good for radio and and its audiences?
Watch Part 1:
(Can’t see the video? Click here)
Watch Part 2:
(Can’t see the video? Click here)
In my opinion, commercial radio spoken word would be bigger, better, more influential, and more widely listened to if more talent could speak from the heart rather than simply the gut, the head, or the wallet.