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Welcome to Left Jab, XM's newest, most irreverent and informative original talk show! Join hosts Mark Walsh and Dave Goodfriend as they talk politics, beer, business and sports with a wide variety of guests from across the country. You'll get the low-down on life in Washington from some of its best-known insiders, including Dale Bumpers, Howard Dean, Joe Trippi and Russ Feingold. Featuring regular visits from Itee Ghuy, Charles Edward Ostrich III (A.K.A. CEO), Vice President Aaron Burr, Bill Clinton and Rupert Murdoch. Top it off with a tap from one of our featured local brews, take a swing at sports with resident expert Dave Zirin, and get the latest inside look at the business and tech world from Mark's business world buddies. David Goodfriend (Host) "Left Jab" marks Dave's final attempt to legitimize his presence in the radio world. He was first drawn to the medium as a student at Beloit College, where the manager of the school's radio station grudgingly put him in charge of the station's Classical music show because nobody else wanted to host it. Dave quickly showed his proclivity for speaking confidently of things he knows nothing about, often drawing the ire of listeners when mispronouncing names of famous composers and musicians. After college, Dave moved to Washington D.C., where he made great strides in little time, graduating with a degree in Law from Georgetown University and landing a job at a conservative law firm that immediately encouraged him to "move on" to places where he'd be of "more use" like Capitol Hill. On the Hill, Dave worked for Senators, Congressmen and eventually the Head Honcho of Smooth Talkers, President Clinton. Sensing his flair for the art of miscommunication, the FCC hired Dave to spin media mergers and acquisitions to unwitting Americans. This led to his being hired by Echostar Communications (Dish Network). Unable to shake his passion for radio, Dave became a co-founder of the liberal talk radio network Air America Radio. He remained with the company long enough to be a guest on every show the network carried and has now returned to his job at Echostar, where he enjoys the rarefied comforts of Corporate America. "Left Jab" combines all of Dave's passions: Networking with successful businessmen, hobnobbing with politicians who might help him get another job at the White House if a Democrat is ever elected again, and pontificating on the ways of life "inside the beltway" to an audience numbering in the tens of... tens. Mark Walsh (Host) "Left Jab" is Mark's way of getting back at David Goodfriend for dragging him into the nearly suicidal blunder of helming the liberal talk radio network, Air America Radio. Since that debacle, he has been fighting for relevance in the business world, where in happier times he was President of America Online's Business-to-Business division. Having incurred the wrath of millions of Americans who blamed him personally for filling their mailboxes with disks aimed at hoodwinking them into subscribing to AOL, Mark thought it might be a good idea to leave the company and take a job as CEO of Verticalnet, a Business-to-Business website. Mark's success as a Capitalist Tool (President of GEnie, the online service owned by GE, President of Information Kinetics, Inc., a venture capital-backed interactive information company) made him enormously popular with milquetoast Democrats seeking money for their futile campaigns. "Left Jab" gives Mark the opportunity to sound like he really knows what he's talking about. Moreover, because he graduated from Harvard Business School, worked as an anchorman at CBS when he was still good looking, and spent four years at HBO, he runs circles around his hapless "Left Jab" co-host, who he affectionately calls his "lil' bitch". Michael Goodfriend (Producer) Michael calls himself an actor because he has made two commercials that aired on national television, appeared on five network television shows for a combined total of four and a half minutes, is a member of the Irondale Ensemble Project, and has an MFA from the Yale School of Drama, arguably his only viable professional credential. He got his start as a radio producer in an act of shameless nepotism facilitated by his brother, David, who helped create Air America Radio. Accepting the job required that he quit bartending in Los Angeles, which was a near deal-breaker for the thirty-something thespian. Upon arriving at Air America, Michael earned a reputation for being oblivious to the dagger-like stares he got from people who were actually qualified to be there. He enjoyed a brief stint as a producer on Janeane Garofalo's show, "The Majority Report," lasting long enough to develop an insufferable crush on Ms. Garofalo, who promptly fired him. Michael soon decided it might be a good idea to cash in on the small notoriety he gained when he claimed responsibility for "The Majority Report's" success, and accepted the job of producing "Left Jab" with the resentment of knowing it was the only way he could continue to afford to pay rent on his apartment in Harlem. Jeremiah Tittle (Producer/Board Op) Jeremiah is the only true radio professional in the "Jab Room." He prides himself on appearing to be a bright, sunny person, though he often wonders how his career tanked to such a low level. He's used to working with real radio personalities who have a legitimate axe to grind, like G.Gordon Liddy. He enjoys pulling fast tricks on "Left Jab's" hapless co-hosts and is eagerly counting the days to freedom. Until then, he's doing his best to pretend he likes these guys because he knows they have contacts who might be good references on his next job application. Eric Model ("Hidden America Correspondent") Billed as an "On the Road" Correspondent, Eric's role is to show that some wackiness can occur beyond the Beltway too. In reality, these days his travels don't take him much beyond the Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway. Instead Eric's journey is one that leads the hosts of the show into subject matter he describes as "Hidden America" - topics so obscure, offbeat and off the beaten path that few normal folks ever thought they were worth thinking about. When not trying to convince Mark, David & Michael to broadcast segments about folks who have never seen a Starbucks, he is at it trying to promote this "unique stuff" (Americana & Canadiana) to others through a website (hiddenamerica.com), a blog (ericontheroad.com) and podcast (conversationsontheroad.com). |
