Tim Corrimal posing with a D.C. Democrat
The Tim Corrimal Show is a unique progressive political podcast that airs every Sunday evening at timcorrimal.com, as well as at other outlets listed below. Tim’s show distinguishes itself by (a) using plenty of humor; (b) shifting from topic to topic often at breakneck speed; and (c) inviting a stream of guests from social media. We caught up with Tim to ask him about his show, progressive media, the 2016 elections and more:
When did you first become politically active, and in particular, “a Liberal American Citizen” as your Twitter profile states? Was there a particular event or series of events that caused this?
My parents were members of the Democratic Party when I was growing up, and as I needed to be different from them when I became an adult, I joined “Young Republicans” and quickly realized that I had nothing in common with them. I switched my party affiliation back to the Democratic Party when I moved to DC in 1989. I have been registered as a voter in the Democratic Party ever since.
What made you decide to start the Tim Corrimal Show, rather than just participating in political discussions on social networks or in other informal ways?
I started listening to podcasts in 2005 and decided I wanted to add my voice to the discussion. I started my first podcast in 2006 called “GoRainbowRadio” and it morphed into a dance music podcast where I interviewed dance music artists and played their music on the show. I started another podcast in 2009 originally called “There Are Some Who Call Me Tim” (hat tip to Monty Python and the Holy Grail), which was started as a personal journal podcast and featured many other gay podcasters at the time. In 2010, I decided to end the “GoRainbowRadio” podcast and focused my efforts on my personal journal podcast. I met a lot of wonderful liberal folks on Twitter that share similar political views and started inviting them to join me on my personal journal podcast. After it became a pattern, I decided to change the name of the podcast from “There Are Some Who Call Me Tim” to “The Tim Corrimal Show” and switch the topic to progressive politics.
You call your show “the alternative to Cable News.” This is a loaded question, but what’s wrong with cable television news today that made you to want to create an alternative?
I get so frustrated watching cable news as well as the Sunday shows, and I refuse to watch them anymore other than “The Rachel Maddow Show”. The Television and Radio media has become so controlled by those in the Republican Party that there are very few Progressive outlets left and it’s up to Social Media to get the progressive message out to the public. The Stephanie Miller Show and many others are dealing with the same issue.
You also describe your show as “a round table discussion with friends on Twitter,” and each week, everyone on the show mentions their “Twitter follow of the week.” What draws you to Twitter in particular as a social network that ties in well with your show?
I decided to change the format of the show to a “Meet The Press” style show and invite people on Twitter to discuss political issues and let them share their feedback. I frequently invite people I follow on Twitter to join us on the show to discuss the issues of the week. I created the “Twitter Friend of the Week” segment as a way for all of us joining on the show each week to give their followers a mention and hopefully listen to the show.
I understand that, in contrast to Twitter, you don’t use Facebook. Given that Facebook is such a popular social network for both personal and political discussions, why do you choose to stay away, if that is indeed still the case?
I joined Facebook back in the day when it became popular, but my family members in the Tea Party quickly found me and started filling my Facebook stream full of anti-Obama bull crap. I put up with it until 2010 and when the media about Facebook revealed all of the privacy issues at that time, I cancelled my Facebook account and never went back. I rely on Twitter for my social media contacts.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that the Tim Corrimal Show is very funny! There’s even a “Clown Car Update” segment regarding the Republican presidential campaign. Why did you decide to keep the tone of the show largely humorous, rather than the more typical serious political discussions we see, hear and read in most of the media?
I love comedy and wanted my podcast to be funny from a political prospective. I listen to the Stephanie Miller Show every day and they are the best progressive radio show on the air in my opinion. While I would never compare our show to the quality of the Stephanie Miller show, Joe (@Marnus3 on Twitter and my co-host) and I came up with the Clown Car segment of the show and it’s one of my favorite parts of the show each week. Joe writes his GOP clown car segment each week and surprises me with his topic most weeks while we are recording. When we are recording, my reactions are actually me being surprised by what Joe has to say and it always makes me laugh.
Besides being an alternative to Cable News, what role do you think home-based Internet radio, or podcasts, such as the Tim Corrimal Show, can play? Can they compete or even overtake the so-called Mainstream corporate media?
Since the companies controlling the Mainstream Media have shut out most liberal voices in radio and television programming, it’s up to folks like us in Social Media to get the message out. The 21st century has changed the media landscape allowing audio and video podcasts and other ways for those with a progressive message to reach the public, and it’s up to us to keep up the fight.
Speaking of Clown Cars, what do you think about the way the 2016 Presidential candidates and campaigns on both sides are communicating at this early stage? Are there any that stick out in your mind as doing a particularly good job, or a particularly bad one?
I think Hillary Clinton and her campaign are doing a great job of getting the message out and meeting with small groups of individuals this early in the campaign and avoiding getting pulled into the GOP Clown Car debacle with 20+ candidates and avoiding the press. Hillary is so far ahead of any of them in the polls and we are a year away from when the run for President gets serious. The Media and the GOP are really trying hard to drag her into a fight, but she is apparently smart enough to avoid that and wait for the fight after the GOP decides on a nominee.
Other than the entertainment value of the 2016 elections, do you believe that there is a strong value in voting next year, or are you one who believes that there is no real difference between the candidates or parties?
I vote in every election, whether it’s for a primary or the general election. We as Americans are given that right and I find it so sad that many Americans do not register to vote or take the opportunity to vote even if they are registered. We always encourage everyone to vote before an election on the podcast.
What would you like to see happen with the Tim Corrimal Show in the future?
After many years, I continue to produce “The Tim Corrimal Show” as a labor of love because I believe in the topics we discuss. We do not ask our listeners for donations and we record the show most Sundays with volunteers who join us because they believe in the issues we are discussing as well. While we discuss sponsors on the show, I do not accept income from the sponsors and I pay for the hosting services and associated expenses of the show out of my own pocket. I consider the Tim Corrimal Show my way of pushing forward the progressive agenda in America as well as a way for those involved to have fun producing a great show that makes people laugh and adding their voices to our end goal.
Now, to answer your question, I would love to see the show grow and get more listeners. Our collaboration with NetrootsRadio.com and IndieMediaWeekly.com has been awesome and I hope the show continues to grow with both listeners and contributors. The contributors I like to have on the show are Twitter friends from the general public, as opposed to famous people, who can join us and share their voices as well as offer their opinions on the political discussion topics each week.
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Taking to the Internet to produce a political podcast that entertains while giving voice to progressives online. That sounds like a blueprint for 21st Century media, courtesy of Tim Corrimal. You can catch Tim’s show at timcorrimal.com on Sunday evenings; at Indie Media Weekly on Mondays and Wednesdays at 8:30 a.m. Eastern and Thursdays at 7 p.m. Eastern (disclosure: Messaging Matters is also featured at IMW); at Netrootsradio.com on Mondays at 8 p.m. Eastern; at Stitcher.com and on iTunes. With all of these outlets, there’s no excuse for you not to tune into Tim!
