Free Talk Live

Free Talk Live

Genre	Talk radio, Liberty
Running time	119 min
Languages	English language
Syndicates	Genesis Communications Network
Hosts	Ian Freeman Mark Edge Dale Everett Stephanie Murphy
Starring	J.J. Meg McLain Sean Murphy Wayne Quin Michelle Seven
Creators	Ian Freeman
Producers	various[1]
Recording studio	Keene, New Hampshire
Air dates	since November 3, 2002
Audio format	stereophonic
Website	www.freetalklive.com
Podcast	freetalklive.com/netcast.xml

Free Talk Live is an American call-in radio talk show heard seven nights a week. The program is hosted by Ian Freeman and Mark Edge on Tuesday through Saturday, Mark Edge and Stephanie Murphy on Sunday, and Ian Freeman and Dale Everett on Monday. It is a chiefly libertarian political talk show and topics range from current events to philosophy, from politics to personal issues.^[2] Free Talk Live engages in only a very basic form of call screening.  The show is broadcast from Keene, New Hampshire. Before moving to New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project, the show was broadcast from Sarasota, Florida.^[3]

The program airs on 109 radio and 4 television stations across the United States. The nightly shows are alternatively available on the Free Talk Live website through podcast. Archives of more than a year's past shows are also available for download in MP3 format from the website.

History

The first broadcast was broadcast on November 3, 2002 from 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM in Sarasota, Florida.^{[citation needed]} Free Talk Live became a weeknight show from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM. After the radio station changed format in June 2003,^{[citation needed]} the show was available only on Internet radio^{[citation needed]} until it was picked up by WTMY, an AM radio station in Sarasota. The show began syndication program in September 2004. Free Talk Live currently airs Monday through Saturday from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM Eastern time on over 100 radio and five television affiliates carrying audio simulcasts. In addition to over-the-air radio/TV, the show broadcasts on several internet radio affiliates and XM Satellite Radio channels 166 and 165, on weekdays and weekends respectively.^[4]

Free Talk Live won the Podcast Awards’ Best Cultural/Political Podcast Award in 2005 and won the Best Political Podcast Award in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010.^[5] The program has been featured in Talkers Magazine's 100 most important radio talk show hosts in America.^[6]

On June 13, 2011, Ian and Mark announced on air that Free Talk Live would be adding a live Sunday show to replace its rotating internet only show, with plans to syndicate the show to radio stations. The show debuted on the internet on June 19th. The new Sunday Free Talk Live is hosted by Mark Edge and Stephanie Murphy, and sometimes features a rotating third co-host. The show will remain internet only until Genesis Communication Network adds it to its satellites.

Hosts and regular contributors

• Ian Freeman (aka “Ian Bernard”) – Having identified himself as a libertarian, an anarcho-capitalist, a free marketeer, and other labels over the course of the show's history, Freeman has settled on voluntaryist in recent years. Likewise, Freeman's spiritual/religious evolution has brought him from self-proclaimed atheist to his current panentheist beliefs. He hosts the show from his home studio in Keene, New Hampshire.
• Mark Edge (aka “Mark Edgington”) – Has identified himself as a voluntaryist while expressing support for panarchy. His spiritual/religious evolution over the course of the show has lead him to settle on Quakerism with a panentheist bent. He is the ad salesman for Free Talk Live. Mark also hosts the Edgington Post, a short interview show often tacked onto the end of podcasted versions of FTL.
• Dale Everett – Cartoonist and blogger for Anarchy in Your Head.
• J.J.
• Meg McLain – An Oregonian who moved to New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project.
• Sean Murphy
• Wayne Quin
• Michelle Seven – Anti-tax activist and avowed Christian who moved to New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project.
• "Zeus Legion" – Voice actor for many of the show's current liners – including FTL spin-off, the Liberty Radio Network (LRN) – and various advertisements aired on the show. Occasional contributing producer.
• Luther
• Julia
• Nemi
• Stephanie
• Derek J
• 280
• Jason Talley
• Ademo

The show

The hosts repeatedly state that Free Talk Live is your show and that you take control of the air waves. Listeners who call in will only be asked for a name, location, the topic(s) they wish to speak about, and how they listen to the show. It is stated policy that anyone who calls in will get on the air but each listener may only call the show once a day.^{[citation needed]} The hosts also purport that all women who call into the show are moved to the front of the queue; this is done to make the female listenership more visible to station affiliates, and to encourage female participation overall (because it is widely believed that talk radio has a dominantly male demographic, and the existence of many female listeners is positive for ad sales. Free Talk Live also features a Shrine of Female Listeners^[7] on their website, where female listeners' photos are displayed. Between listener phone calls, the hosts fall back to topics they are interested in. They also discuss topics from listener e-mails.

The show does not usually feature guests but has had them on the show in the past. Previous guests have included Marc Emery; Michael Badnarik; Drew Curtis; Cindy Sheehan; Aubrey de Grey; Gene Ray; Jim Babka; Jack Thompson (attorney); Daniele Ledonne; Doug Stanhope; Bill Westmiller, chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus; Glen "Kane" Jacobs; and Ron Paul, US Congressman and Presidential Candidate.

Funding

Funding for Free Talk Live comes from a combination of standard on-the-show advertising, and a donation-by-subscription service known as AMP (an acronym for Advertise, Market, and Promote). An AMP subscriber, or AMPlifier, donates a choice from pre-established amounts of money to the show every month. Any amount can be given with a minimum of three dollars. The show has also been known to accept Silver, Gold, and Liberty Dollars in lieu of Federal Reserve Notes. The hosts indicate that all funds from the AMP program go to advertising and promoting the show, as well as contributing to the cost of production.^{[citation needed]} Although the hosts earn income through advertising and merchandise sales,^{[citation needed]} all AMP proceeds are used to augment the listener base of the program by increasing the number of markets.^{[clarification needed]}

As of December 12, 2009, 533 listeners contribute to the show via the AMP program.^[8]

Host’s name change

Ian Freeman changed his last name on-air from “Bernard” to “Freeman”. On the September 17, 2008 airing of the New Hampshire-based talk radio show Against The Grain with Gardner Goldsmith, Ian, who was a guest on the show, asked Gardner to refer to him as “Ian Freeman”, not “Ian Bernard”.^[9]

Politics

The hosts assert that they try to apply the ideals of freedom to their show.^{[citation needed]} The hosts have stated they oppose FCC regulations but still seek to avoid FCC-prohibited speech on their broadcast as it may negatively impact the radio stations that later air recorded episodes and affront some listeners or trigger the imposition of fines by the FCC against those broadcasters.) The hosts, claiming to adhere to their principles of respecting contract and voluntary agreement, state that adherence to the FCC rules come not at the demands of government agencies but the requests of/or demands by their syndicates.^{[citation needed]} As of March 2009, Free Talk Live has implemented the use of a dump box.^{[citation needed]}

A major sponsor of Free Talk Live and a common topic of discussion is the Free State Project, an organization committed to recruiting 20,000 like minded people to move to the state of New Hampshire in search of liberty. Once there, the participants pledge to exert the fullest practical effort toward the creation of a society in which the maximum role of government is the protection of life, liberty, and property.^{[citation needed]} Freeman and Edge moved to New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project in September 2006.

Spin-Offs

• Liberty Radio Network – A 24/7 streaming audio station featuring other shows in the libertarian vein.
• Edgington Post – Mark Edge's interview series tacked onto the end of podcasted episodes of Free Talk Live.
• She Talk Live – An all-female hosted show airing Sundays on The Liberty Radio Network. Featuring hosts Stephanie Murphy, Carla Gericke, and a rotating third co-host.

See also

• Voluntaryism
• Minarchism
• Free marketeer
• Anarcho-capitalism
• Free State Project

References

1. ^ Anyone who listens to the show can self-identify as a producer.
2. ^ "Genesis Communications Network: Free Talk Live". http://www.gcnlive.com/programs/freeTalk/. Retrieved February 20, 2010. 
3. ^ Philip, Bantz (October 28, 2007). "Long Crazy Journey for TV host" (jpg). Keene Sentinel (Keene, New Hampshire): p. A4. http://freekeene.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/sentinel2007-10-28b.jpg. Retrieved December 24, 2009. 
4. ^ "Free Talk Live : Affiliate Information". http://freetalklive.com/affiliates. Retrieved February 20, 2010. 
5. ^ "5th Annual Podcast Awards Ceremony". Podcast Connect. http://www.podcastconnect.com/. Retrieved 4 March 2010. 
6. ^ "2009 Talkers 250". Talkers Magazine. http://talkers.com/online/?p=267. Retrieved 4 March 2010. 
7. ^ "Shrine of Female Listeners". Free Talk Live. http://freetalklive.com/shrine. 
8. ^ "AMP Program". Free Talk Live. http://www.freetalklive.com/AMP. 
9. ^ ""Against the Grain", September 17, 2008". Free Talk Live. http://www.freetalklive.com/files/ATG2008-09-17.mp3. 

External links

• Official web site