Hillsdale professors are hitting the airwaves at National Review to bring about dialogue centered on literature and music, sans the trend of modern politics.
John J. Miller, director of the Dow Journalism Program, and Scot Bertram, general manager of WRFH 101.7 FM Radio Free Hillsdale, have recently launched a free podcast series through National Review.
Although the National Review typically provides a forum for political discussions, in this case it encourages artistic and cultural discussions.
Miller’s podcast, “The Great Books,” is a weekly, 30-minute conversation with a scholarly guest about a classic work of literature. Thus far, Miller has covered classic literature such as William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” and “Beowulf.”
“National Review is interested in culture and traditions and having great conversations about these topics,” Miller said. “I think a lot of National Review readers will have an interest.”
Miller also describes “The Great Books” as having a sense of “timelessness” and said he hopes the podcast series will not only be relevant for current readers but may also remain relevant for future readers.
Although “The Great Books” is a fresh project, Miller has been on staff for the National Review magazine for over 20 years and hosted a podcast series called Bookmonger since 2007, taking on a part-time role in recent years.
Likewise, Bertram has sought, through his first ever podcast series, “Political Beats,” to remove the aspect of politics (in spite of the podcast’s name) and to focus on subjects everyone can relate to and enjoy: music.
Through analysis of both old and contemporary music, Bertram, along with co-host, Jeff Blehar, invites political guests on the show for a discussion about that particular political guest’s favorite artist or band.
“With ‘Political Beats,’ we want to talk to people whom listeners and readers of National Review are familiar with, whether it’s National Review writers, or the Weekly Standard, or people in politics,” Bertram said. “We don’t talk a second about politics on the podcast. The only time we talk about politics is we ask what they do in politics.”
At the end of each segment, Bertram, Blehar, and the selected guest recommend two albums and five specific songs from the artist or band discussed.
The show is being promoted by Fred Hadra ‘09, a sales director with Ricochet Advertiser, who represents 35 different shows for advertising sponsorship. He hopes to find new sponsors for early 2018. Since sponsors look at the number of subscriptions per podcast, listeners are not only wanted, but needed in order to sustain these projects.
“Sponsors and advertising are making the production of this content possible,” Hadra said. “There’s a cost to John Miller’s time to make this show, so it’s important that—although we would rather not have ads—we need to consider where it is possible to support advertisers and sponsors of the podcast.”
To find out more about Miller and Bertram’s new podcast series, and to subscribe for free, go to: http://www.nationalreview.com/media/audio.
