Monday, July 10, 2006
Congratulations to Hugh Hewitt
Today was the sixth anniversary of the Hugh Hewitt Show, one of the Salem Radio Network shows heard around the country, generally on the Salem owned stations. Hugh is center-right, which is where I am as well as on the political spectrum. But as a theologian, I have appreciated the broad spectrum of issues and of voices (left, center, and right) that Hugh has exposed me to these past year.
However, there are a few things about Hugh’s show that I love more than all the rest.
Wednesday’s with Christopher Hitchens - my favourite atheist human rights journalist. Hitchens is brilliant rhetorically, and Hugh interviews him about as well as anyone I know.
Monday’s with John McIntyre, the editor of Real Clear Politics, the best website on politics on the web.
Friday’s with the Beltway Boys (Fred (the Beattle) Barnes and Morton Kondracke. Those wto are great, especially together (there show on Saturday’s at 4pm Mountain time is a must-see). And of course, the third hour on Friday is Emmett of the Unblinking Eye - the best hour of movie talk anywhere in the country...although I always think they get their humerous and creative top-10 lists totally wrong.
But the real highlight of the week is Thursdays!!! It starts with Mark Steyn, who is one of the journalists who goes all over the world, and tries to actually understand the issues he writes about. But it is his writing style that makes him so fantastic. He uses just the right amount of sarcasm to bring home his point without becoming snarky. His columns are keepers, but his sessions with Hugh are the amazing.
And then in the second hour of Thursday’s is the one and only James Lileks. My wife says I act like a Hugh clone, but write (or at least when I am at my best) like Lileks. His humour is amazing (you have to podcast the Diner), and his writing is fantastic. Since Dave Berry retired, Lileks columns are the funniest thing out there.
So, how do I love the Hugh Hewitt show...I think I have just counted the ways. Here’s praying Hugh is interviewing guests when my kids are old enough to begin thinking critically about the world.
