Rudin
The demise of NPR’s Talk of the Nation ended Ken Rudin’s regular appearances on many public radio stations, but the “Political Junkie” is aiming to reengage his devoted audience with a weekly radio segment that launched yesterday.
The 8-minute Political Junkie segments, distributed by Public Radio Exchange, reprise many of the features Rudin wove into his TOTN appearances. The first installment features Rudin and NPR Senior Political Editor Ron Elving discussing the aftermath of the government shutdown. Rudin also plans to offer Political Junkie in extended form as a podcast.
Since TOTN wound down in June and Rudin departed from NPR, thousands of listeners emailed the commentator to ask for his return to the Web and to radio. “I’m very encouraged by the response I’ve received,” he told Current in an email.
So far, about a dozen stations have expressed interest in carrying the new radio segment, but programmers wanted to hear a sample first before committing to it. “Hopefully, they will be pleased with what they hear,” he wrote.
Rudin has continued to appear on public radio in recent months by offering regular political analysis on “eight or nine” stations, he wrote. To support those gigs, he’ll soon install a high-quality ISDN line at his Maryland home.
His new website, also launched this week, will soon feature the return of his weekly Political Junkie column, daily blog posts and ScuttleButton, his puzzles based on vintage campaign buttons.