As many people know, I have become an old man. How could this have happened to such a young vibrant young man? I don’t know but it happened.

One of the ways I know I am old is that my hearing has slipped along with many other bodily functions. The humiliation of decline. That’s me. So I have been relegated to needing hearing aids.  As my audiologist told me, “Both of your ears would benefit from hearing aids.”  The message was clear and unpalatable.

Since I got hearing aids there is one blessing.  I can listen to podcasts with a phone or iPod. This is one of the wonders of modern civilization.  So as I walked through town I listened to podcasts.  One I enjoyed a lot was a series of podcasts on CBC radio called Flamethrowers. It was the history of right-wing talk radio. It is a fascinating history. It has taken me far beyond talk radio.

The series was hosted by Justin Ling and as CBC said in flogging it:  “The Flamethrowers” captures the punch-you-in-the-mouth energy and sound of right-wing talk radio. Host Justin Ling takes us from the fringe preachers and conspiracy pedlars  of the 1920s to the political firestorm that rages today.” So I want to explore the whacky world of the extreme right that culminated in the election of Donald Trump and the riot on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. in 2021. It is quite a ride. I want to explore that world with you.

This is a story that fits into so many important contemporary issues of American politics: the war on truth, the decay of democracy, the rise of polarization and extremism, distrust of government, and hate.  All these issues are considered in relation to the topic. And what is the topic? This is what the host Justin Ling said,

“This is the story of a fire started more than 100 years ago that threatens to engulf America. It is the story of a battle for the minds of America. A fight that started on the outer fringes of American politics but swerves straight to the center of American power. It is a story about radio broadcasters who poured the fuel and threw the matches and the government that tried to shut them down.”

A major character in the story is Rush Limbaugh the failed DJ who revived and energized the radical conservative movement. As Ling said, “this is the story of how right-wing radio radicalized America. Of course, the ride is not over. This is a continuing story. No one knows where it will end. The current hot issue in America and Canada is the culture war launched by the right.

Before that it was Covid-19 and how it was seen as a smokescreen for a takeover by the deep state. Many in the right-wing movement believe that people have been coerced into getting vaccinated or at least attempted to coerce people, and at the same time, many believe, facts, often sinister facts, have been intentionally withheld from the people.

This podcast tells the story of how right-wing radio radicalized America and in the process super-charged hate.

I remember years ago when a person I knew  told me seriously that President Barack Obama was a Muslim.  I was shocked. How could he possibly believe that? He explained to me that he learned a lot from talk radio in the US. He was a truck driver and spent a lot of time listening to talk radio as he drove through  Canada and the US . I put two and two together.  That is where he got his “information.” He called himself a Christian, but I came to the conclusion his real saviour was Rush Limbaugh. His real religion was right-wing ideology.  And he was not alone.