Co-hosts Bob Schlehuber and Jamarl Thomas will bring to listeners between 12 and 2 p.m. local time “news, politics and culture from the belly of Washington, DC - without the red and blue treatment,” according to a Tuesday press release, which notes the duo will “escape traditional two-party politics, breaking down the day’s pressing economic, social and political stories from perspectives often ignored.”
Seasoned Radio Sputnik listeners will recognize both hosts: Schlehuber was formerly a producer of By Any Means Necessary, and Thomas was often featured as a guest on the broadcast. Thomas also hosts the popular YouTube news show “The Progressive Soapbox,” earning him the praise of comedian and talk show host Jimmy Dore, who described him as having “a keen eye for truth, which he deftly uses to inform and entertain while exposing all the corruption and contradictions Establishment news outlets ignore or often condone.” Dore further noted in statement that Thomas is “a progressive powerhouse who gives voice to the 99% while holding power accountable.”
The Progressive Soapbox will also serve as the show’s livestreaming platform, offering viewers the chance to both watch the show as it’s being recorded as well as submit questions or comments to the show. Like all other Radio Sputnik shows, segments of the day’s broadcast will be made available on the station’s Spreaker account.
In addition to producing Radio Sputnik’s By Any Means Necessary for three years, Schlehuber brings to the show a long history of activism across multiple issues in Washington, DC, from homelessnes and housing to public safety, health and education, Sputnik US Editor-in-Chief Mindia Gavasheli noted.
“Centrist politics is relative … it’s just what people have called ‘normal’ for the past 20 or 30 years,” Thomas told Sputnik Tuesday.
“We are overtly political,” he said, noting the duo aims at “a full contextual understanding of the various events that are taking place in our political sphere.”
That means Thomas and Schlehuber won’t be shying away from their subjective perspectives on the world: in fact, they celebrate them.
“I don’t necessarily think objectivity exists…. It’s not like everyone is just floating in the emptiness of space. There is a stake that’s somewhere that people rotate around with regards to some kind of ideological point of view,” Thomas said. “I don’t see the point of feigning that … We’re just giving you the details. It’s not just us saying, ‘This is what you need to believe’ - we’re giving you the reasons as to why.”
“We’re trying to break out of the DC bubble, even though we’re in the middle of the bubble, and to think beyond just these tired Democratic politics, Republican politics, and everything that happens in politics is ‘Us vs. Them,’ Democrat vs. Republican, and anything collaborative in nature is reaching across the aisles, as if there’s a singular aisle between two groups that needs to be bridged,” Schlehuber told Sputnik.
“Our show wants to understand the complexities of different viewpoints, and especially highlight viewpoints that are often not fitted into the discourse here in Washington, DC. And then also just taking a look at things beyond the simple politics: understanding how politics really impacts people’s material well-being, understand how it impacts their culture, their society, the people around them, their families - so really trying to break out of the norm of what mainstream media delivers in this simple horseshoe, give a larger context to it,” he said.
The hosts said one of their aims is to hold both political parties accountable for ignoring their own past complacency in present-day politics, noting as examples how Democrats conveniently ignore Barack Obama’s legacy of deportations and warmaking now that Donald Trump is president of the US.
“I look at this as a platform to be antagonistic to the media and the political class, especially when you get the opportunity to explain the larger point of view of the stuff beyond the narrow framing the media gives. That’s where we shine,” Thomas said.
