Aside from this programming flaw (choosing me as a guest), the NARN show is an inspiring sucess. While the program is currently only broadcast in Minnesota, there are plans for it to be accessible by Internet streaming in June. Once the show comes to the web I believe it will not only gain a larger audience but it could spark a minor revolution as well. Saturday talk radio is a veritable wasteland of unlistenable drivel. The content generally consists of reruns of earlier broadcasts or live programs with titles such as “The Home Mortgage Show" or “Here’s to Your Health.", shows so dull it makes you wonder how their hosts even manage to stay awake through them.

NARN, on the other hand, provides a model for what the weekend format could become. Since the program is a labor of love (none of the hosts, to my knowledge, are paid), the costs of the broadcast is kept to a minimum. The hosts themselves are also popular, established bloggers who bring their own loyal audiences to the format. When the show is streamed over the Internet, advertisers will have the ability to reach a national audience at bargain-basement weekend radio rates.

What it truly radical, though, is the unique qualifications and perspectives of the hosts and guests. In the last hour of Saturday’s show, the show featured Vox Day. Vox, who is a syndicated columnist as well as a popular blogger, is a “Christian libertarian", a inimitable viewpoint you’re unlikely to find espoused in the mainstream media. While I don’t always agree with his views, it's obvious that he puts a great deal of thought into his opinions. Unlike some talking heads on the Sunday news shows, Vox doesn’t just scan the headlines and base his take on a cookie-cutter ideological stance. By adding him to the lineup, NARN shows that they are interested in airing unique voices.

The choice of adding me to the show was also rather radical. When discussing the Abu Ghraib scandal, most media have either talked to other journalists or interviewed high-ranking military officers. Since the atrocities were committed by enlisted reservists, the NA took what should be the common sense choice and talked to someone who was both enlisted and familiar with reservists. (While I wasn’t profound or eloquent, I at least met that criteria). I’ve been a Marine for over fifteen years and yet I can’t recall the last time an active-duty enlisted service member was given a full thirty minutes of air time to present their views on military issues.

The reason, of course, is because the mainstream media is obsessed with authority and credentials. Imagine that a radio host is given the choice of discussing an issue with either an impressively credentialed guest who has a ridiculously ill-informed opinion or an average-Joe, Everyman-type who has no qualifications but has a brilliant argument. Who do you think they will choose?** (This is also why the blogosphere has changed the way the media game is played. While an illustrious resume may help you get your foot in the door, your blog will only succeed if you have something worth saying.)

The NARN model is based on a simple premise: take people with interesting viewpoints, something to say, and an ability to communicate and give them airtime. Though this model is often left untried, it isn’t exactly new. In fact, it’s the same way the greatest talk radio host in the business, a profoundly unqualified former DJ from the heart of the Midwest, got his start. And, who knows, if it worked for Rush, maybe it can work for the boys of the Northern Alliance.

*And, unlike some radio personalities that also blog, these guys got the job because of their success as bloggers.

**It should be noted that Hugh Hewitt has been a pioneer in this regard. No radio personality in the country has as many bloggers as guests as Hugh does.