Communications Booknotes Quarterly - Tyler M. Wilson
In his 2016 presidential run, Donald Trump utilized styles of rhetoric similar to those of talk radio hosts in order to garner a strong base of loyal followers and rile up political activism amongst his supporters…This book could prove useful for those interested how media—both the form factor and the communicative aspects—affect political standing.
Michael Smerconish
At long last, Brian Rosenwald has filled a scholarly vacuum by offering a cogent, well-researched, and entertaining explanation of how Donald Trump was elected president. The conventional wisdom that Trump won by swinging 80,000 voters in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan might be factually accurate, but is too simplistic. Instead, Rosenwald proves that the outcome of the 2016 election was three decades in the making, made possible by the emergence of a candidate perfectly suited to capitalize on an environment created by the titans of talk radio. This is the book that provides proper context for the greatest election upset in modern American history.
John Dickerson
The rise of conservative talk radio has changed American politics and American life, and Brian Rosenwald tells a careful and comprehensive story of its rise and its mushrooming influence. From Rush Limbaugh’s humble beginnings to the election of Donald Trump, Talk Radio’s America shows through careful research and subtle argument how talk radio moved well beyond entertainment and grievance to change the role and makeup of mainstream media, the kinds of stories Americans consume, and the pliable nature of truth. A superb guide to one of the most potent forces in modern political history.
Bruce J. Schulman
Upending conventional wisdom, Brian Rosenwald’s deeply researched book offers an incisive account of how conservative talk radio transformed American politics, altering the relationships between Congressional leaders and rank-and-file members, between activists and the party establishment, and between the demands of entertainment and the process of policymaking.
The Nation - Eric Alterman
[Rosenwald] argues that the profit motive radicalized talk radio and with it the Republican Party…Because conflict and scaremongering drove ratings and ratings drove profits, the more extreme the hosts became, the more listeners they gained, and the more money they made. As they amassed power and influence, the hosts could demand fealty from the politicians they were discussing every day.
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Vincent Mosco
Documents Limbaugh’s formative role in turning an old technology into an instrument of power that transformed the Republican Party and political discourse in the United States…An important book…Goes a long way to documenting how an old medium helped create a new politics in the United States and paved the way for Donald Trump’s presidency.
New Republic
Demonstrate[s] that broadcasters like…Rush Limbaugh were just as important to building the Republican Party as deified political figures like George Wallace, William Buckley, or Pat Buchanan. Indeed, far from being a mere tool of the Republican Party, talk radio is revealed…as the dominant explanation for that party’s continued existence, an essential precondition of the far right’s cultural dominance today.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Glenn C. Altshuler
An informative account of talk radio and its impact on politics and policymaking.
Financial Times
Rejecting claims that the medium acted as a Republican puppet, [Rosenwald] describes a curious relationship between the Grand Old Party and talk radio hosts, one that has had seriously deleterious consequences for American political life.
Joseph Crespino
Moving the discussion of contemporary conservative media out of the realm of shadowy conspiracy theory and into the sunlight of deeply researched historical investigation, Brian Rosenwald shows how right-wing talk radio moved from the margins to the mainstream and warped American politics in the process. This book will be of vital interest to anyone concerned about restoring the quality of American democratic debate.
European Legacy - John M. Bublic
Rosenwald takes a look at the rise of conservative radio from a variety of perspectives and offers a clear study of how policies, market forces, personalities, and timing played a role in creating a movement…The book is interesting from beginning to end.
Washington Examiner
Important and groundbreaking…Expertly shows how disparate strands in the American political landscape converged in the late 1980s to help make talk radio the potent political force it would become…A must-read for anybody hoping to understand how Trump captured the Republican presidential nomination.
David Greenberg
Before there were social media echo chambers, before there was Fox News, there was Rush Limbaugh and his kin. Brian Rosenwald has told the definitive story of how a squad of outrageous, rule-breaking right-wing radio hosts set the Republican Party agenda and then overtook the party itself. Scholarly and yet eminently readable, this book is indispensable for understanding the world conservative media wrought.
Financial Times
Rejecting claims that the medium acted as a Republican puppet, [Rosenwald] describes a curious relationship between the Grand Old Party and talk radio hosts, one that has had seriously deleterious consequences for American political life.
Kirkus Reviews
2019-06-09
How talk radio evolved from informative discussions of local issues to a forum for outrage.
Rosenwald (Senior Fellow/Robert A. Fox Leadership Program, Univ. of Pennsylvania), the co-editor-in-chief of "Made by History," the Washington Post's daily history section, makes his book debut with a brisk, well-researched history of the rise and transformation of talk radio. Because FM radio, with its stereo signal, carried more music, beginning in the 1960s, AM's share of the listener audience plummeted—and with it, ad revenue. Station owners, in financial straits, saw in the news talk format a way to build popularity. Advice shows, interviews, and caller-driven discussions of topics relevant to local listeners appealed to Americans yearning for connection and community. In talk shows, listeners found "a virtual replacement for the front stoop, through which they could discuss current affairs with people like themselves." Although now identified with conservative political views, as recently as the 1980s, talk radio "was diverse in topics and political orientations." The debut of Rush Limbaugh, in 1988, changed the tenor of talk shows dramatically. Like his listeners, Limbaugh was dissatisfied with the liberal stance of mainstream media. "I validate what millions of Americans already think," he claimed. Outspoken and hard-hitting, Limbaugh, along with other hosts, "flaunted opposition to political correctness and sneered at the new norms promoted by the rights movements that inflamed conservative sensibilities." While the hosts did not limit their guests strictly to Republicans, Democrats—Bill Clinton excepted—found talk radio "an awkward fit." Able to simplify "even complicated, highly technical matters into something understandable and ominous," talk radio hosts influenced voters. In the 1994 election, Republican leaders credited Limbaugh with the party's victory. With the advent of Fox News, the "content, style, and verve of talk radio" moved to cable, creating a forum for "pugnacious," right-wing personalities who "pushed for unfiltered, ideologically extreme candidates and a party shaped in their image."
A vigorous analysis of contemporary politics.
