I've been a listener of talk radio for a long time. Currently, there are three radio talk radio shows for which I listen via their paid subscription podcast of the shows. These are supposed to be their regular daily (weekday) shows, minus the breaks.
All of these shows air Monday through Friday. This time, I'm reviewing the Dr. Laura Schlessinger Show podcast.
Overview
The show runs live on SiriusXM 111 from 11am-2pm Pacific Time. It's a call-in talk show, although Dr. Laura will often read letters on the air. Less frequently, she will monologue, and when she does, it is usually to start the show and won't last more than 20 minutes, usually a lot less. It might be about the news or a movie she watched or competitive sailing or her dog, or a list of tips or just about anything. The bulk and core of the show, however, are the calls.
With very few exceptions, the calls are about morals, values, ethics, dealing with anxiety or other unwanted feelings, and behaving better and more effectively when it comes to dating, relationships, marriage, parenting, work, family, neighbors, staying healthy, etc. Dr. Laura's priority is what's best for children. The calls are NOT about politics or the news, other than "How do I deal with anxiety over what's happening in the news?" or "My brother hates me because of my politics." Callers are also not allow to address or reference another caller other than to say "Their call prompted me to call in." Dr. Laura WILL NOT debate or argue - about anything. The show is there for her to get her messages out, and as she admits, sometimes she can't help the caller at all, but rather the caller serves as a warning to listeners about what NOT to do.
Pros
The podcast of the show is almost always posted by late afternoon (Pacific Time). With the breaks removed, each hour is 48-49 minutes, although Dr. Laura does read a few advertisements during those minutes. If the show is a repeat/compilation, it is almost always clearly labeled as such. Dr. Laura usually tips off listeners when she's going to take time off. (She never has a guest host. The format of the show doesn't allow for that.)
Dr. Laura and her staff will interact with listeners on the show's Facebook page.
Since the show is on SiriusXM, where it has been ever since Dr. Laura left terrestrial radio, she and the callers can be explicit and talk more like normal people, including the occasional Anglo-Saxon word the FCC doesn't allow on terrestrial broadcasts.
Dr. Laura is usually right, as much as some people might hate what she says. This show has improved my life and made things better for my wife and children as a result.
Cons
She's not right all of the time, of course. I've pointed that out here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and other times as well.
She addresses callers as though every man can have a 9-to-5 Monday-Friday job that doesn't spill over to later or earlier hours or weekends and pays enough to support a wife and children (each with their own room), and will pay for private, boarding, or military schooling, elderly/disability care, lawyers, an accountant, a private investigator, and probably a bunch of other things I'm forgetting.
She slips in some (sometimes snarky) political comments on rare occasions, but she will not take calls on those topics.
Because she won't debate or argue about anything, and she will no longer do media appearances other than her show, your best best if you have a question about, or disagreement with something she said, is call in for a "clarification" or to carefully bring it up in the comments on the show's Facebook page. Not only does she NOT use Twitter, but she's now told her staff to stop tweeting on the show's Twitter account. To be fair, clueless Twitter users constantly confuse her with Laura Ingraham and Twitter wasn't really doing much for her show. You can also send her an email at drlaura at drlaura dot com and she will read it, although it might not be on the air and you might not get a response at all.
Sometimes she mishears or cuts off the caller, and, as a result, she later says the caller has changed their story or "dropped the bomb at the end" or she cuts off the call. To be clear, sometimes she's right that the caller did that. But occasionally it's her own fault, not the caller.
There have been times it seems past calls have been dropped in during some live shows as though they were new live calls, apparently either due to a lack of calls, technical issues, or needing to fill up time taken up by prank/troll calls.
There are many things that needlessly poison calls. Here are a few:
1. "I don't care about your feelings!" -Dr. Laura. Again, Dr. Laura is frequently right to get the caller to focus on FACTS, ACTIONS, and THINKING rather than feelings. At other times, the caller has said "I feel..." when they mean "I think..." or "I know..." and Dr. Laura should just let it go. The caller knows what they mean, we know what the caller means, and Dr. Laura knows what the caller means.
2. "I know you don't like feelings." -Caller. This is a direct result of number 1. Dr. Laura will often focus on correcting that statement, which is a misrepresentation.
3. "I know what you're going to say." -Caller. Like so many other things, this is mostly the caller getting their nerves under control, but Dr. Laura finds it incredibly off-putting.
4. "Don't diagnose!!!" -Dr. Laura. Dr. Laura is right to ask the caller to describe the behavior of the person or people they're dealing with, but when callers say someone is "narcissistic" or something else like that, they're not claiming to make a diagnosis. They are using the terms as people use them in everyday layman conversations. "Sperm donor" is a legal/medical term, but Dr. Laura uses it all of the time for an absent biological father who is NOT, medically nor legally, a sperm donor.
5. "Stop using psychobabble!" -Dr. Laura. Many of the callers who have used what Dr. Laura terms "psychobabble" have no idea she considers it psychobabble. These are terms used by lay people in everyday conversations. "Boundaries" is one of these words. Dr. Laura also stops the call to tell the caller not to use "toxic" unless they are talking about a waste dump. Again, yes, the caller needs to describe specifically what happens, but it seems to be more trouble than it is worth to derail the call to admonish against using these terms. "What do you mean by that?" could be used effectively instead.
6. "I'm like you." -Caller. Dr. Laura looks for differences. When a caller starts things off with "I'm like you..." it never goes well.
7. Crosstalk. That's when both the caller and the host are speaking at the same time. Crosstalk drives Dr. Laura up the wall. It's normal in phone conversations, including in call-in talk radio shows, and every other host simply deals with it by repeating themselves or asking the caller to repeat themselves, but Dr. Laura will say "DON'T TALK OVER ME!!!", often shouting it. This includes when she asks the caller a question, they start to answer, and they don't immediately hear when she quickly cuts them off (with mobile phones, it is easy to miss if someone else starts talking when you're talking).
8. "I can't help you." -Dr. Laura. Often, it's true. She can't help the person because they're not ready and willing to be helped, or they need a medical doctor, or a lawyer, or accountant, or a private investigator, or someone other than a talk show host with experience as a psychotherapist. But there are times when she really means "I don't WANT to help you, even though I can, so I won't." This happens when someone hasn't followed the Dr. Laura Plan and is asking how to make a mess a little less messy.
The Bottom Line
Dr. Laura is usually right and she helps a lot of people who are listening, and many of the people who call.
There's usually a method to her "madness" that works. She's going to rub some people the wrong way no matter what, but, overall, she's a positive influence.
Subscribing to the podcast allows you to listen at your leisure, pause, come back to the hour later, listen to something again, and keep the hour in your personal files. Staff consistently gets the show online in a short amount of time, including the whole show that aired, and it is correctly labeled.
This show will mostly help parents of minor children and people who want to be, married people and people who want to marry (don't do it guys!), people with difficult family or in-laws, and people who enjoy hearing about the problems of strangers.
* * * * * *
UPDATE June 30, 2021: A good example of a problem with the podcast is that while there was apparently a live show on Monday, June 28, little to none of it is reflected in the podcast.
During the first podcast hour, the ending segment is repeated twice. Since the length of the hour is the same as usual, that means a middle segment was replaced by the ending segment.
Then, the second and third hours of of the podcast are repeats from just a week before; Monday, June 21.
Nothing in how the podcast hours are labeled explains or notes that they are repeats. Instead, the second and third hours are labeled referring to calls we never hear.
Almost two days after a message (many, probably) was sent to the show to note this, there has been no reply and no correction. The posted podcast hours still are repeats/have the repeating segment.
UPDATE July 7, 2021: The missing two hours were restored. The repeat segment in the first hour was not fixed.
Originally posted June 8, 2021
All of these shows air Monday through Friday. This time, I'm reviewing the Dr. Laura Schlessinger Show podcast.
Overview
The show runs live on SiriusXM 111 from 11am-2pm Pacific Time. It's a call-in talk show, although Dr. Laura will often read letters on the air. Less frequently, she will monologue, and when she does, it is usually to start the show and won't last more than 20 minutes, usually a lot less. It might be about the news or a movie she watched or competitive sailing or her dog, or a list of tips or just about anything. The bulk and core of the show, however, are the calls.
With very few exceptions, the calls are about morals, values, ethics, dealing with anxiety or other unwanted feelings, and behaving better and more effectively when it comes to dating, relationships, marriage, parenting, work, family, neighbors, staying healthy, etc. Dr. Laura's priority is what's best for children. The calls are NOT about politics or the news, other than "How do I deal with anxiety over what's happening in the news?" or "My brother hates me because of my politics." Callers are also not allow to address or reference another caller other than to say "Their call prompted me to call in." Dr. Laura WILL NOT debate or argue - about anything. The show is there for her to get her messages out, and as she admits, sometimes she can't help the caller at all, but rather the caller serves as a warning to listeners about what NOT to do.
Pros
The podcast of the show is almost always posted by late afternoon (Pacific Time). With the breaks removed, each hour is 48-49 minutes, although Dr. Laura does read a few advertisements during those minutes. If the show is a repeat/compilation, it is almost always clearly labeled as such. Dr. Laura usually tips off listeners when she's going to take time off. (She never has a guest host. The format of the show doesn't allow for that.)
Dr. Laura and her staff will interact with listeners on the show's Facebook page.
Since the show is on SiriusXM, where it has been ever since Dr. Laura left terrestrial radio, she and the callers can be explicit and talk more like normal people, including the occasional Anglo-Saxon word the FCC doesn't allow on terrestrial broadcasts.
Dr. Laura is usually right, as much as some people might hate what she says. This show has improved my life and made things better for my wife and children as a result.
Cons
She's not right all of the time, of course. I've pointed that out here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and other times as well.
She addresses callers as though every man can have a 9-to-5 Monday-Friday job that doesn't spill over to later or earlier hours or weekends and pays enough to support a wife and children (each with their own room), and will pay for private, boarding, or military schooling, elderly/disability care, lawyers, an accountant, a private investigator, and probably a bunch of other things I'm forgetting.
She slips in some (sometimes snarky) political comments on rare occasions, but she will not take calls on those topics.
Because she won't debate or argue about anything, and she will no longer do media appearances other than her show, your best best if you have a question about, or disagreement with something she said, is call in for a "clarification" or to carefully bring it up in the comments on the show's Facebook page. Not only does she NOT use Twitter, but she's now told her staff to stop tweeting on the show's Twitter account. To be fair, clueless Twitter users constantly confuse her with Laura Ingraham and Twitter wasn't really doing much for her show. You can also send her an email at drlaura at drlaura dot com and she will read it, although it might not be on the air and you might not get a response at all.
Sometimes she mishears or cuts off the caller, and, as a result, she later says the caller has changed their story or "dropped the bomb at the end" or she cuts off the call. To be clear, sometimes she's right that the caller did that. But occasionally it's her own fault, not the caller.
There have been times it seems past calls have been dropped in during some live shows as though they were new live calls, apparently either due to a lack of calls, technical issues, or needing to fill up time taken up by prank/troll calls.
There are many things that needlessly poison calls. Here are a few:
1. "I don't care about your feelings!" -Dr. Laura. Again, Dr. Laura is frequently right to get the caller to focus on FACTS, ACTIONS, and THINKING rather than feelings. At other times, the caller has said "I feel..." when they mean "I think..." or "I know..." and Dr. Laura should just let it go. The caller knows what they mean, we know what the caller means, and Dr. Laura knows what the caller means.
2. "I know you don't like feelings." -Caller. This is a direct result of number 1. Dr. Laura will often focus on correcting that statement, which is a misrepresentation.
3. "I know what you're going to say." -Caller. Like so many other things, this is mostly the caller getting their nerves under control, but Dr. Laura finds it incredibly off-putting.
4. "Don't diagnose!!!" -Dr. Laura. Dr. Laura is right to ask the caller to describe the behavior of the person or people they're dealing with, but when callers say someone is "narcissistic" or something else like that, they're not claiming to make a diagnosis. They are using the terms as people use them in everyday layman conversations. "Sperm donor" is a legal/medical term, but Dr. Laura uses it all of the time for an absent biological father who is NOT, medically nor legally, a sperm donor.
5. "Stop using psychobabble!" -Dr. Laura. Many of the callers who have used what Dr. Laura terms "psychobabble" have no idea she considers it psychobabble. These are terms used by lay people in everyday conversations. "Boundaries" is one of these words. Dr. Laura also stops the call to tell the caller not to use "toxic" unless they are talking about a waste dump. Again, yes, the caller needs to describe specifically what happens, but it seems to be more trouble than it is worth to derail the call to admonish against using these terms. "What do you mean by that?" could be used effectively instead.
6. "I'm like you." -Caller. Dr. Laura looks for differences. When a caller starts things off with "I'm like you..." it never goes well.
7. Crosstalk. That's when both the caller and the host are speaking at the same time. Crosstalk drives Dr. Laura up the wall. It's normal in phone conversations, including in call-in talk radio shows, and every other host simply deals with it by repeating themselves or asking the caller to repeat themselves, but Dr. Laura will say "DON'T TALK OVER ME!!!", often shouting it. This includes when she asks the caller a question, they start to answer, and they don't immediately hear when she quickly cuts them off (with mobile phones, it is easy to miss if someone else starts talking when you're talking).
8. "I can't help you." -Dr. Laura. Often, it's true. She can't help the person because they're not ready and willing to be helped, or they need a medical doctor, or a lawyer, or accountant, or a private investigator, or someone other than a talk show host with experience as a psychotherapist. But there are times when she really means "I don't WANT to help you, even though I can, so I won't." This happens when someone hasn't followed the Dr. Laura Plan and is asking how to make a mess a little less messy.
The Bottom Line
Dr. Laura is usually right and she helps a lot of people who are listening, and many of the people who call.
There's usually a method to her "madness" that works. She's going to rub some people the wrong way no matter what, but, overall, she's a positive influence.
Subscribing to the podcast allows you to listen at your leisure, pause, come back to the hour later, listen to something again, and keep the hour in your personal files. Staff consistently gets the show online in a short amount of time, including the whole show that aired, and it is correctly labeled.
This show will mostly help parents of minor children and people who want to be, married people and people who want to marry (don't do it guys!), people with difficult family or in-laws, and people who enjoy hearing about the problems of strangers.
* * * * * *
UPDATE June 30, 2021: A good example of a problem with the podcast is that while there was apparently a live show on Monday, June 28, little to none of it is reflected in the podcast.
During the first podcast hour, the ending segment is repeated twice. Since the length of the hour is the same as usual, that means a middle segment was replaced by the ending segment.
Then, the second and third hours of of the podcast are repeats from just a week before; Monday, June 21.
Nothing in how the podcast hours are labeled explains or notes that they are repeats. Instead, the second and third hours are labeled referring to calls we never hear.
Almost two days after a message (many, probably) was sent to the show to note this, there has been no reply and no correction. The posted podcast hours still are repeats/have the repeating segment.
UPDATE July 7, 2021: The missing two hours were restored. The repeat segment in the first hour was not fixed.
Originally posted June 8, 2021
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