We salute The Nation for saluting Marc Steiner: Lustily, we salute The Nation for saluting our friend, Marc Steiner.
In The Nation’s current edition, John Nichols presents a feature called “The Progressive Honor Roll of 2013.” Along the way, he wisely cites Steiner’s radio program:
MOST VALUABLE RADIO PROGRAM: The Marc Steiner ShowWe’ve been doing Steiner’s program for the past twenty years. We’ve known him (gasp) for forty years, dating to the days when we watched Colts games in our mutual friend Eric’s basement.
No one who has listened to veteran activist Marc Steiner’s morning show on Morgan State University’s WEAA can figure out why this guy hasn’t gone national. Yet Steiner is so into his hometown of Baltimore that it’s hard to imagine him anywhere else. This is what public affairs radio should be: informed, nuanced, interested in a range of opinions, yet clear and unequivocal in its passion for democracy and social justice. Steiner is exceptionally well prepared for every interview, determined to foster dialogue and so respected that state and national political figures are frequent guests. What makes his show remarkable, however, is Steiner’s respect for his listeners. He knows they will engage with discussions about poverty in Baltimore and poverty in Palestine, about the American Legislative Exchange Council and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. And the Peabody Award–winning broadcaster’s “Day in History” review explores the cultural and political landscape with thrilling depth and reach.
That’s right—the Baltimore Colts. That’s how old Steiner is!
Having seen the sausage being made, we aren’t sure we can go along with Nichols’ remarks about preparation. Might we supply our alternate praise for this program?
In our view, Steiner does an unusually good job creating a forum in which race can be discussed. He presents a wide array of guests from a wide array of backgrounds with a wide array of viewpoints. By whatever alchemy, this creates a freedom in the discussion of race which we see in few other forums.
We’ll stand with the rest of what Nichols said. We’re glad the gentleman said it.
For the Steiner show web site, click here.
Deep in the heart of C-Span: From 2011, Steiner hosts a discussion on the life and work of Manning Marable.
The discussion comes live and direct from the downtown Pratt. Why not just click here?
You are only old if you can remember Johnny U. Of course, about the first game I remember seeing is when I was a wee lad of nine and the Colts beat my Cowboys off a bounce pass - thrown by Johnny U. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgFaUquznoU Hinton-Renfro-Mackey. But certainly even people as young as my baby sister can remember the later Baltimore Colts, like Bert Jones and Brian Sipe. Er, I guess Sipe was with the Ravens, or something. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqXz1F5Pm1w
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