This Is Hell!

Last updated
This is Hell!
GenreNews, interview
Running time240 min
Country of originUSA
Language(s) English
Home station WNUR-FM
Hosted byChuck Mertz
Original release1996 
present
Website thisishell.com
Podcast podcast feed

This is Hell! is a weekly Saturday morning four hour radio show hosted by Chuck Mertz on WNUR-FM in Evanston, Illinois. It has been broadcasting regularly since 1996. In addition to the live broadcast the show provides a podcast with archives going back to 2001.

Contents

Format

Each show consists of four or five long interviews with academics, authors, or activists. Each interview ends with the question from hell; "a question we hate to ask, you may hate to answer, or our audience may hate the response".

Other features include pieces by a range of irregular correspondents from around the world, the most frequent being playwright and screenwriter Jeff Dorchen, whose Moment of Truth [1] closes the show, and less frequently Kevan Harris The Radical Pessimist, and Elvis deMorrow from the Konspiracy Korner. URL Labs' LaddieO.com regularly delivers a Website of the Week. The guests and irregular correspondents are interspersed with local, national and international information and news stories, as well as informed commentary on a range of subjects.

The show also typically includes a segment about hangover cures, both dubious and credible, and an ad for National Beer which culminates in the host deciphering a rebus puzzle.

Guests

Notable guests have included Dan Ellsberg, G. Flint Taylor, Sami Al-Arian, Scott Ritter, Noam Chomsky, Greg Palast, Juan Cole, Naomi Klein, Christopher Hitchens, Ray McGovern, Alexander Cockburn, Thomas Frank, Dean Baker, Glenn Greenwald, Bill McKibben, Stephen Walt, Rami Khouri, James Galbraith, Barbara Ehrenreich, Immanuel Wallerstein, Dahr Jamail, Paul Craig Roberts, Andrew Bacevich, Chris Hedges, John Mearsheimer, Deepak Tripathi and Seymour Hersh, many of whom have been on the show multiple times.

Related Research Articles

<i>This Hour Has 22 Minutes</i> Canadian TV comedy series

This Hour Has 22 Minutes is a weekly Canadian television comedy that airs on CBC Television. Launched in 1993 during Canada's 35th general election, the show focuses on Canadian politics with a combination of news parody, sketch comedy, and satirical editorials. Originally featuring Cathy Jones, Rick Mercer, Greg Thomey, and Mary Walsh, the series featured satirical sketches of the weekly news and Canadian political events. The show's format is a mock news program, intercut with comic sketches, parody commercials, and humorous interviews of public figures.

<i>The Daily Show</i> American late-night satirical news television program

The Daily Show (TDS) is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+ of extended episodes. The Daily Show draws its comedy and satire from recent news stories as well as political figures, media organizations, and often uses self-referential humor.

To Tell the Truth is an American television panel show in which four celebrity panelists are presented with three contestants and must identify which is the "central character" whose unusual occupation or experience has been read aloud by the show's moderator/host. When the panelists question the contestants, the two impostors may lie whereas the "central character" must tell the truth. The setup adds the impostor element to the format of What's My Line? and I've Got a Secret.

The Al Franken Show was the flagship talk show of the former talk radio network, Air America Radio. Hosted by Al Franken, it featured commentary and interviews arguing for liberal positions on the issues of the day, and comically poking fun at the George W. Bush Administration. Franken had been a comedian, satirist, and the author of several books, including the 2003 Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them. He was a writer and performer on Saturday Night Live, where he usually teamed with fellow writer/performer Tom Davis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Wallace</span> American journalist (1918–2012)

Myron Leon Wallace was an American journalist, game show host, actor, and media personality. Known for his investigative journalism, he interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers during his seven-decade career. He was one of the original correspondents featured on CBS news program 60 Minutes, which debuted in 1968. Wallace retired as a regular full-time correspondent in 2006, but still appeared occasionally on the series until 2008. He is the father of Chris Wallace.

The Panel was an Australian television talk show that was broadcast by Network Ten and its affiliates; it was also simulcast on the Triple M radio network. The show was produced by Working Dog Productions and included several members of the former D-Generation and The Late Show casts.

<i>Anderson Cooper 360°</i> American television news show on CNN and CNN International

Anderson Cooper 360° is an American television news show on CNN and CNN International, hosted by CNN journalist and news anchor Anderson Cooper. The show currently airs weeknights live from 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm ET.

<i>Rove</i> (TV series) Australian TV series or program

Rove, also titled Rove Live, is an Australian television variety show that featured live music performances and interviews with local and international celebrity guests. The program premiered on the Nine Network on 22 September 1999, before moving to Network Ten which aired the program from 2000 until November 2009. The show was hosted by comedian Rove McManus through his production company Roving Enterprises, and featured an ensemble cast who presented various segments throughout the course of the show. The show won the Logie Award for "Most Popular Light Entertainment Program" five times.

<i>Real Time with Bill Maher</i> American television talk show

Real Time with Bill Maher is an American television talk show that airs weekly on HBO, hosted by comedian and political satirist Bill Maher. Much like his previous series Politically Incorrect on Comedy Central and later on ABC, Real Time features a panel of guests who discuss current events in politics and the media. Unlike the previous show, guests are usually better versed in the subject matter; more experts such as journalists, professors, and politicians participate in the panel, and fewer actors and celebrities are included.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jake Tapper</span> American journalist, author, and cartoonist (born 1969)

Jacob Paul Tapper is an American journalist, author, and cartoonist. He is the lead Washington anchor for CNN, hosts the weekday television news show The Lead with Jake Tapper, and co-hosts the Sunday morning public affairs program State of the Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Almond</span> American short-story writer, essayist, and author

Steve Almond is an American short-story writer, essayist and author of ten books, three of which are self-published.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fox News Radio</span> American radio network

Fox News Radio is an American radio network owned by Fox News. It is syndicated to over 500 AM and FM radio stations across the United States. It also supplies programming for three channels on Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

The David Pakman Show(TDPS), originally Midweek Politics with David Pakman, is a progressive news talk show currently airing on television, radio, and the Internet, hosted by David Pakman.

<i>Sidewalks Entertainment</i> American TV series or program

Sidewalks Entertainment (1988–present) is a weekly American television series that is a combination of a talk show, magazine show and variety show featuring celebrity interviews, music, artistic and novelty acts, and rising performers. The 30-minute program is primarily produced in the San Francisco Bay Area with segments from other parts of the country, including Los Angeles and New York.

Colin Lewis McAllister and Justin Patrick Ryan are Scottish interior decorators and television presenters, often billed as Colin and Justin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ross Mathews</span> American television personality

Ross Mathews is an American television host and personality. He first rose to fame as an intern and a correspondent for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno; he was known as "Ross the Intern" on air.

Fxguide, trademarked as fxguide, is a visual effects and post-production community website founded by three visual effects artists, Jeff Heusser, John Montgomery, and Mike Seymour.

Late Night Live is a radio program broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio National and podcast and streamed over the World Wide Web.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Major Garrett</span> American journalist

Major Elliott Garrett is an American journalist who is chief Washington correspondent for CBS News. Garrett is the host of The Takeout podcast and was a correspondent for National Journal. Prior to joining National Journal, he was the senior White House correspondent for Fox News. He covered the 2004 presidential election, the War on terror, and the 2008 presidential election, and he is also a fill-in and substitute anchor for CBS Evening News, And Face The Nation.

<i>Hot Ones</i> Internet web series

Hot Ones is an American YouTube talk show, created by Chris Schonberger, hosted by Sean Evans and produced by First We Feast and Complex Media. Its basic premise involves celebrities being interviewed by Evans over a platter of increasingly spicy chicken wings. Several spin-offs have been produced, including the game show Hot Ones: The Game Show on the cable television network TruTV, and Truth or Dab, a truth or dare style competition that also airs on the First We Feast YouTube channel.

References

  1. Dorchen, Jeff. "Moments of Truth". Jeff Dorchen's acerbic essays and enchanting almanac. Retrieved 10 December 2016.