Political Nexus: Wherein thereisnospoon and I become pundits

To be fair, right up front, there wasn’t enough room in the title to also include theKK and hekebolos as well as some of the good folks at ePluribus Media but they are all an integral part of this project.

With the problems that Air America has been through, and the general devolving of “mainstream” punditry into shouting, talking points, lies and misstatements, it is long past time for the progressive left to start getting the truth out there in as many ways as possible. This obviously includes blogs and citizen journalism but also includes the “message machine” – but very much unlike what we are used to seeing over the past decade.

With that, we are launching Political Nexus, which we plan to be an interactive, multimedia center focusing on progressive political issues.

From our site:

Taking new media to the next level, Political Nexus launches a new line of online radio and video programming. A roll out of new shows featuring some of the blogosphere's most intriguing bloggers and personalities will debut starting in mid-April with programming expanding into Summer of 2007.

Tune in for an exciting line-up of interviews, rollicking in-depth discussions and LIVE! call in shows. Be sure to check back frequently as we will be rapidly expanding our offerings and updating content.

I touched on some of this programming in a diary I did last week (although much of the discussion was about some snarky comments I made about firing “everyone” when the real intent was about the content of Political Nexus). There are two shows that we are doing on a regular basis – one called FrameWork and one called Don’t Hijack My Thread!.

We will also be doing a series of interviews called “10 Minutes With....” and will feature many of the “famous” names around the progressive political left netroots.

FrameWork is a series of 15-20 minute discussions, moderated by theKK and hosted by yours truly and thereisnospoon. Obviously (from the name), these discussions focus on the framing of debate for today’s hot political issues. A brief description from our site:

Tune in to FrameWork for a discussion of the week’s biggest political issues and examine the framing behind them. Featuring prominent guest bloggers focusing on framing issues, we’ll look at the arguments being used by both Progressives and the Right and explore their strengths and weaknesses. Plus, direct advice on utilizing the most advantageous arguments going into the week ahead. Whether you are a blogger, a lurker, a candidate or a politician, you won’t want to miss this insightful and actionable recap of the issues at hand and the arguments behind them.

The first one (recorded last week) deals with the Iraq “war vs. occupation” meme, and you can listen here. The second one (recorded yesterday) deals with the Iraq supplemental bill and you can listen here.

There will also be transcripts available for those who have trouble with the streaming or the blogtalkradio site.

Don’t Hijack My Thread! is an interactive live radio show that is a “rapid fire” discussion about a number of today’s hot political topics. Guests are invited to call in and debate or offer their opinion, and there is also an AIM chat room available under “epluribusradio”. This too is hosted by theKK, with thereisnospoon and I handling the topics. We hope to expand this to have guest hosts as well.

Last week was our first show (you can hear it here), and I must say that we had excellent participation from the likes of our very own dday, major danby, cskendrick, avahome of epluribus media and kestrel9000.

Our next show will be tomorrow, April 18th at 6:00PM Eastern/3:00 Pacific, and we encourage (ok, implore) that you listen by going here. If you would like to call in, the call in number is 718-508-9410. A list of topics will be provided at the beginning of the show. If you do call in, any of the topics we have discussed are “on the table”, but if you want to discuss another topic, that would be “hijacking the thread”, and we all know how welcome that is....

Some call in information from our site:

Don't Hijack My Thread! will be recording another live show this week and we need callers. Think you have what it takes to sit on hold for upwards of five minutes for a few moments of radio obscurity and acute political observation?

The show is scheduled to tape Wednesday, 6:00 PM (EST), though times are subject to change and update, of course! We are still in BETA testing, after all...

For those interested in calling in, the number is: (718) 508-9410

Don't Hijack My Thread is produced with ePluribus Radio, and the site is http://www.blogtalkradio.com/epradio

You can stream the show live as it airs or download it an hour after air time.

TIPS FOR CALLERS:

• Please turn the radio off in the background when you go on air


• We can't screen callers or talk to you off-air, so be ready to state your name or blogger handle when we suddenly throw you live, on air with clammyc and the gang!


• Speak LOUD and CLEAR. We are severely limited in terms of our ability to control sound volume and even audio quality. We are looking into ways of increasing production values


• Familiarize yourself with our format and foibles by taking a listen to last week's show, linked in a previous Don't Hijack My Thread! post. Just click the media player embedded for your convenience--you don't have to download ANYTHING.

Shows are available for listening and downloading approximately one hour after they are completed.

We are all very excited about this – not only because we are doing something new and somewhat fresh (albeit a twist on what we blog about), but also because of the technology and means for distribution available nowadays. We encourage participation – ideas, comments, suggestions, feedback and hope to make this something that not only we are proud of, but also the netroots are proud of and can help grow into our own message machine – just with the truth as opposed to lies, talking points and smears.