Sunday, July 8, 2012

Intelligent Radio Still Exists; Wattenburg Show on NewsTalk 910 is a Good Listen


Now more than ever, I enjoy listening to Bill Wattenburg.

What with all the guhhenim taking place at KGO on the weekend, (with the exception of Christine Craft and Pat Thurston), Wattenburg's Sunday night radio show is a good listen and quality content. It's even more enjoyable if you like to hear intelligent conversation, again, foreign territory for the Cumulus scrubs who insist on polluting the air with unfunny nitwits and mindless chatter.

Wattenburg's Sunday extravaganza, (Newstalk 910 AM, 8-11 PM) and nationally syndicated by TRN, centers, of course, on science and the environment. He makes no bones of his distaste for the Sierra Club and other "eco-frauds", as Wattenburg calls them. He also has little use for CARB, (Calif. Air Resources Board) and even sponsors a web site calling for their demise.

Wattenburg also dishes out occasional politics, tells folks how to fix their toilets and cars, and even touches issues like education and nuclear bombs. He should know. He taught physics at Berkeley and had an advisory role with the government at the Lawrence Research lab in Livermore. He's also a good buddy with Clint Eastwood and has appeared in cameos in a few of his movies.

Wattenburg is not for everyone...he can be, well, sort of cranky at times, especially with callers--I even told him, kiddingly, that I used to scream at my radio at times when he did his KGO show. "Gees, can this guy be such a mean bastard!" But I listened. And I also grew to appreciate his finer points, even when he altered into the angry mode. He was and still is highly entertaining; again, an anathema to the carnival act taking place down the dial.

Wattenburg was one of the old KGOers that was let go late last year. His ratings were good and the show was lively, but it didn't matter. And there's no need to discuss the reasons why because if we all knew, we'd be geniuses and live in Utopia.

If you like to listen to the good doctor during the day, he opines on KSCO Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from Noon-2 PM. It's essentially the same program he does in the evening with a few more local issues on the menu.

Either way, give a listen. Intelligent radio is still to be had and lord knows we could use a good dose of that in this neck of the woods.

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24 comments:

  1. I said this before and I will say it again. Dr. Bill was more enjoyable to listen IMHO before the Iraq war. Although I did enjoy the instant classic All Star debate when Dr. Bill and Ray Taliafero were close to getting into a tussle. I'll give Dr. Bill a listen today. I am not sure I can take more Craft doing Mirkarimi defense shows....

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  2. Always enjoyed it when Dr. Bill spoke with kids - always treated them intelligently and of course, asking what books they were reading and encouraging them to ask questions...

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    1. I agree. He was at his best with kids. Always appreciated his encouraging them. The rest of the time, tooooo much arrogance and yes, sexism.

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  3. I'm sorry, but Dr. Bill is way too rude to callers for me to stomach. I've heard him accuse a caller of being a 'Sierra Club cook" before the guy could even finish his first sentence. Guys call with perfectly innocent questions, and in no time flat he goes off -"NOW LOOK. I'M TRYING TO TELL YOU". Everyone in Sacramento is an idiot, and all ecologists are "eco-frauds". Just way beyond the pale.

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    1. I just love Sierra Club cooks!

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  4. The old gang got fired because of Ray Taliafero.his law suit would make Ralph razors look like childs play. (The Race CARD)They did not want to renew Taliafero.

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    1. 2:57am post. Ray Taliafero lawsuit? Please elborate.

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    2. If they fired Taliafero. without the other old guys. law suit

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    3. Humm, weren't most of the people let go, older white men? If there were a lawsuit, wouldn't it be for age discrimination?

      I also heard that how Ray T. got his job was a lawsuit he filed decades ago, as he was the only black broadcaster in the bay area, and they were going to let him go. Racism, racism, and the Free Lunch... his show was tired 20 years ago!

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  5. If you like a rude, assaultive and sneering attitude towards callers, then Wattenburg is your guy! He is a nasty, nasty person.

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    1. Have to agree. Dr. Bill may be brilliant but he is also extremely rude to people who do not agree with his views. One of the reasons I stopped listening to him was because of a very misogynistic remark I heard him make.

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  6. I used to listen to him but his politics really got in the way. I think his broad (albeit shallow) scientific and technical knowledge is what I used to seek. I don't need to hear about eco-terrorists and slimeballs and I wished he would cool his right-wing-nut comments but he kept it up and tuned him out long ago. I especially liked the way he talked to children when they called. He obviously has a kind heart in that regard.

    It's such a waste of knowledge and talent for him to go off on the politics, though. A true radio tragedy.

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    1. Shallow science knowledge??

      ROTFLMAO!

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  7. I always found Wattenburg to be a one-trick pony: anti-environmentlist. This made his show a bore for me. He is clearly a talented man (more of an engineer than a scientist). However, he gets in way over his head on topics other than nuclear energy. Some of his advice on automotive repair, for example, is naive at best, and truly lousy advice at worst.

    Also, there have been times when I would listen to the uncensored internet stream and his comments to and about callers were extremely rude.

    All that aside, I would listen to him over any of the current Atlanta-selected hacks and amateurs.

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  8. I love Dr. Bill. He was appt listening on the weekends. He drew a crowd all up and down the west coast. He was rude to fake callers with agendas and it never took him long to identify them. I'm so glad TRN picked him up, but wish he was on both Saturday and Sunday.

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  9. KGO messed up big time when they released Dr. Bill. KGO management
    should say to Dr. Bill; we made an error in letting you, please come back.

    That would be a good start in moving the ratings upwards again.

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  10. Condescension does not make good radio.

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    1. What do you know about radio?

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  11. I remember calling Wattenburg up back in the 1980s because he was going off on some riff about a mountain lion who had attacked a hiker,
    and he said we should be killing all the mountain lions because they were a menace.

    I disagreed with him strongly, and pointed out that the reason that mountain lions attacks were more frequent was that development of open space was eliminating more and more of the mountain lion habitat. It made sense then, that humans would have more encounters with them as we were moving into their territory.

    Dr Bill called me a 'super environmentalist,' said mountain lions had no rights, and then continued to self-righteously peddle his drivel. Eventually I hung up because I couldn't continue a rational conversation with the man; he merely wanted to argue like a angry child. What a nit-wit and a rude SOB to boot!

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    1. He would kill "all of the mountain lions"? Really? Sounds like you have an axe to grind.

      In fact, I recall Dr. Bill telling a story about his older friend "Dagger", when someone was going to kill a sitting snack for no reason. Dagger said, "He isns't bothering you; don't bother him." That was a lesson he learned from that old cowboy.

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  12. On many occasions I've heard him viciously berate callers who wanted nothing more than a simple explanation of something. I've never heard such unprovoked rage and venom. As if that wasn't enough, I'm often shocked at his meager understanding of topics. "Doctor" Bill is being very kind to this guy. The only reason I can imagine for KGO keeping him so long is that his slap down act sucks in listeners, just the way "Dr." Laura's judging and abusing did, like people watching someone get beat up in a bar fight.

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  13. Bill is mildly entertaining when he discusses technical issues if you can ignore his poor interpersonal skills. When he wanders off into politics you can just hear the propeller on his beanie spinning.

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  14. I've found three subsets of folks who don't like Dr. Bill.

    One is the Far Leftie or anti-nuclear person (who has no idea that coal power plants kill 500,000 people per year).

    The second is a woman in her 50s or 60s who knows that he married a woman over 30 years younger.

    The third is a person who simply doesn't like - generally speaking - the nature of talk radio, and/ or a conservative / pro-military viewpoint.

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  15. I have found one major category of people who like Bill Wattenburg all of the time. Those who are idiots and make up categories of people who never like Wattenburg. Guilt by association: I guess Wattenburg is a Far Right reactionary pro-nuke, trophy-wife hunting, right wing radio zealot. Only I think Wattenburg deserves much better than the mindless allegiance of one "true believer" fan. Hurl...

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