Returning to AM talk radio after wasting my time at paid SiriusXM

I was pushed into subscribing to SiriusXM when I purchased my car. But after many years, I realized I was wasting my money listening to only one or two stations and never getting enough info

Ray Hanania

Radio, Politics, SiriusXM ripoffs, AM Radio/Thursday, March 13, 2025

Award-winning columnist Ray Hanania.

When I first was pushed into subscribing to SiriusXM Radio after buying a new car, I thought it would be great.

But after many years I found I was only listening to two stations, one that broadcast “Forensic Files” and another that offered news.

However, it was clear that most of the programs that were costing me around $200 a year were very liberal and offered only one perspective. So I cancelled the subscription last month on two of my cars and will cancel on a third soon, too.

SiriusXM was a real waste of money. Thinking about how much of the profit from my subscription went to part-owner Howard Stern, the shock jock who built his reputation on hate, made me even more disgusted at my radio choice and pushed me to unsubscribe.

Hate radio host Mark Levin. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

I feel relieved. I don’t like paying for something that should be free. The news industry, which has been struggling because of its own missteps and bad decisions, has been migrating to a paid system. I always felt that was unfair because both radio, TV, and newspapers had the opportunity to profit through advertising, which has gotten to be very expensive.

Despite those huge costs in Ad revenues, the mainstream media continues to stumble, reducing reportage and moving more and more to cater to specific partisan political views, most driven by even more hate.

I subscribe to two newspapers out of habit only. The Chicago Tribune and The New York Times. Every time I search on Google, I get a list of stories displayed of which more than half require annual paid subscriptions. I wish I could tell Google News to identify which require subscriptions from those that don’t because I end up wasting a lot of time clicking the source, discovering I have to subscribe, and then going back to find another “free” source.

And those other “free” sources are not really free. They profit through advertising and delivery subscriptions, not online subscriptions.

As a journalist and columnist for nearly half a century, I know that “a good story” is what drives traffic, following, and attention.

Now driving in my car, I listen mainly to the AM Radio, in Chicago. Occasionally, I tune in to the higher quality FM band for music or catch the top-of-the-hour news on WBBM Radio 105.9 FM.

Here is what I discovered about AM Radio.

Most of it is dominated by far right-wing hate speech. I mean truly vicious rhetoric and bullying. The attacks are mainly against minorities, Blacks and Hispanics, but even more so against Arabs and Muslims, who are a much smaller and less organized community with little public support structures.

Arabs and Muslims are very vulnerable to attack, as we can see by the recent effort to expel Green Card holder and Columbia University Grad student Mahmoud Khalil because of his criticism of Israel’s government.

You don’t have to wonder why the media is dying in this country when you see Free Speech shackled, brutalized, and decimated by the country’s partisan Centurians.

One of the worst is a radio station where I once proudly hosted a lengthy weekend slot at WLS 890 AM Radio. I used to do a show on Saturday and Sunday mornings from 5 AM until 9 AM. Four hours of talking with listeners on a wide range of topics.

I always had an opinion, of course, about every topic we discussed, but I was respectful to the callers and the listeners. Sure I wanted you to understand my opinion, but I was more interested in engaging in a substantive discussion. I learned from the listeners and occasionally I changed my opinion based on what callers said about a topic.

An opinion isn’t a “fact.” It’s a reflection of something you believe at the moment based on the information and facts you are able to glean from the world around you. I try to base my opinions on trusted sources.

I listened to one syndicated late afternoon host, Mark Levin, and I was shocked at his deep level of vicious hatred and unsubstantiated accusations vilifying Arabs and Muslims. Apparently, anyone who criticizes Israel’s government is an “anti-Semite” and is unAmerican. He calls them Nazis and he conflates today's socialism with the Nazi socialists of the 1930s and 1940s. Levijn is often wrong about his facts, but he doesn't care. I think he is senile, suffering from Bidenitis.

His program is so vile he actually screams into the microphone and you can feel the spray of his spittle from his deranged logic coming out of the speakers.

Sometimes I listen because watching hate can be entertaining, like watching a movie about a serial killer who slices and dices people. Violence and sex are among the most popular programs on American TV. Social media like Facebook censors political speech but they are inundated with pornographic video reels and posts. So much hypocrisy.

Levin can’t get his facts right and acts like a bully who shouts down anyone who dares to challenge his insanity. It’s comical. And I spend most of my time wondering when he is going to get so excited and go over the deep end and have a heart attack.

Levin is the most extreme on WLS 890 AM radio, once a haven for information that attracted open-minded members of the public who understand the fine art of talk, discussion, and how these attributes contribute to knowledge.

I enjoy Dan Bongino, but he was scooped up by President Trump’s administration. Although he has a very conservative view, he always seems to balance his opinions. Who knows what will happen when he is gone, if he goes.

Another person I do enjoy at WLS AM Radio is Ray Stevens, the morning show host. He’s conservative but in a smart way. He relies on good arguments, not hate, to make his points. He is also a great comedian and uses humor a lot. You don’t have to be angry with Ray Stevens' conservative views to engage in a good issue. He is definitely worth listening to.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

Sadly Chris Plante, who seems very smart, also leans too far beyond the extreme conservative views towards open hatred. Plante promotes hatred almost as bad as Levin, which I am sure he will take as a compliment. It’s like Plante and Levin are in competition to see who can produce the most vile hate speech. Plante is a Levin clone, selling hate to boost his ratings. Nazi propagandist Minister Joseph Goebbels built a career doing the same, though it didn't end well for him.

WGN 720 AM is a little less extreme, although very conservative, too. The morning show with Bob Sirott is fun but the program starts to slide into conservatism. Actually, WGN 720 AM radio comes the closest to being the most fair.

Progressive Radio at WCPT 820 AM is weak. But one host you should always listen to there is Thom Hartmann. He makes good arguments. Between Hartmann on WCPT and Stevens on WLS you can usually find a more precise Centrist view to understand the real issues we face as a nation.

The only Liberal-based radio station on AM is WVON 1390 AM Radio, which caters to African American and minority audiences. I enjoy their program so much that I find myself listening often. I don’t always agree with them and sometimes they tend to lean very far to the extreme Left, especially on hardcore issues of racism against African Americans. But overall, you can get more balance from WVON than you can get from WLS. And WGN isn’t bad but it’s less offensive and less compelling, too.

I host my own radio show on Middle East issues. Every month on the US Arab Radio Network on the 2nd Friday of each month at 8 AM EST in Detroit, Michigan on WNZK 690 AM. The hour-long show focuses on aspects of the Middle East and Arab American community, a topic that rarely gets balanced attention.

Seasonally, I host a weekly radio show on Thursday evenings on WNZK 690 AM radio in Detroit, sponsored by Arab News newspaper, the leading English-language newspaper of the Gulf region based in Saudi Arabia and Dubai. The hour-long show features guests who discuss Middle East issues, controversies, and events that I turn into news stories after the interviews.

I always try to be balanced and fair. You can check out my past shows by visiting my YouTube Channel (CLICK HERE) or the radio show podcast page at Arab News (CLICK HERE).

On my YouTube channel, I also post my podcasts, “Ray Hanania on Politics,” and “Two Guys on Politics” which I cohost with former Congressman Bill Lipinski offering a centrist Reagan Democrat perspective.

Journalism is facing a very tough period these days, mostly because of their own doing. They have abandoned reasoned analysis and favor catering to extreme audiences believing that moderates, who have nowhere to go, will gravitate either towards the Left or the Right.