Wave On

Another shortwave veteran is Hal Turner, a New Jersey-based "Christian" who believes police brutality doesn't happen often enough. In an interview with www.skinheadz.com, he explained the merits of the shortwave medium. "I have restored freedom of speech on my Hal Turner Show. I do not shut callers off, regardless of the topic they wish to discuss. I do not screen out callers. Want to talk about blacks, Jews, Hispanics, fags, Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians? Fine. No topic is taboo. That is something you will no longer find anywhere in the media today."

Indeed, shortwave almost rivals the Internet for diversity and absurdity of outlooks. The biggest service it provides for American political junkies is access to critical international media. Many countries deliver news and commentary in English, and the questions that were asked about the war in Iraq were a thousand-fold more substantive than those in the U.S. media. You can even catch anti-Castro guerrilla groups in Florida sending instructions for Cubans to sabotage their government.

So get a shortwave unit, find a station and sink your teeth into some very extreme audio material. Your bland-ass standard radio tuner will never forgive you for it.