94-568: Howard Louis Carr Jr. (born January 17, 1952) is an American conservative radio talk-show host, political author, news reporter and award-winning writer. He hosts The Howie Carr Show originating from his studios in Wellesley, Massachusetts , and broadcast on weekdays on WRKO in Boston as well as to an audience based in New England , in addition to writing three columns a week for
188-410: A DEA detention warrant." "I was always looking over my shoulder," Carr explained four years after Whitey's arrest. "The day he went missing, I was driving down the street, and on the radio, they said he had disappeared. For the first time in ten years, I didn't have to look over my shoulder." Carr's book Kennedy Babylon: A Century of Scandal and Depravity, Volume I , was released in 2015 and Volume II
282-666: A country music format was also reportedly briefly considered. In 1980, WRKO began running talk programming during evening hours. On September 27, 1981, the station switched to an all-talk format; at 6:00 p.m. on that date, Justin Clark played the last song, " American Pie " by Don McLean . After switching to the talk radio format, Norm Nathan was retained as morning host; the initial lineup also included Dick Syatt in late mornings, Dr. Harry Sobel in middays, Jerry Williams in afternoon drive, and Guy Mainella and David Brudnoy in evenings. As it moved to more issue-oriented talk, some of
376-673: A federal republic under the rule of law . Conservative philosophy also derives in part from the classical liberal tradition of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, which advocated laissez-faire economics (i.e. economic freedom and deregulation ). Louis Hartz argues that socialism has failed to become established in the United States because of Americans' widespread acceptance of an enduring, underlying Lockean consensus. While historians such as Patrick Allitt (born 1956) and political theorists such as Russell Kirk (1918–1994) assert that conservative principles have played
470-432: A Conservative Party. They soon merged it into the state Democratic Parties. All of the major American political parties support republicanism and the basic classical liberal ideals on which the country was founded in 1776, emphasizing liberty, the rule of law, the consent of the governed , and that all men were created equal. Political divisions inside the United States often seemed minor or trivial to Europeans, where
564-582: A Native American "war whoop" when referring to Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts . Carr had candidate Trump on his radio show more than a dozen times, including election night. In 2017, Carr and his wife Kathy became members of The Mar-a-Lago Club , a Trump-owned resort and hotel for dues-paying members. Previously living in Somerville and Acton , Carr has lived in Wellesley, Massachusetts , since 1993 with his second wife, Kathy Stimpson (whom he refers to as his " mailroom manager"),
658-556: A Wellesley realtor , and their three daughters. Carr also has two daughters from a previous marriage. In March 2007, Carr had a melanoma removed from his forehead. In 2009, Carr crashed his car into a telephone pole on Wellesley Avenue in Wellesley. He was not injured but was cited for a marked-lanes violation. In November 2014, Carr was injured in another car crash, this time on the Massachusetts Turnpike . He
752-612: A balance between federal government and states' rights . Apart from some right-libertarians , American conservatives tend to favor strong action in areas they believe to be within government's legitimate jurisdiction, particularly national defense and law enforcement while opposing government intervention in social issues such as healthcare and the environment . Social conservatives —many of them religious—often oppose abortion and same-sex marriage . They often favor prayer in public schools and government funding for private religious schools . Like most political ideologies in
846-657: A balanced budget. They argue that low taxes produce more jobs and wealth for everyone, and, as President Grover Cleveland said, "unnecessary taxation is unjust taxation". A recent movement against the inheritance tax labels such a tax as a " death tax ." Fiscal conservatives often argue that competition in the free market is more effective than the regulation of industry and is the most efficient way to promote economic growth . The Republican Party has taken widely varying views on protectionism and free trade throughout its history. Others, such as some libertarians and followers of Ludwig von Mises , believe all government intervention in
940-547: A boarding school in Deerfield, Massachusetts , Carr received a scholarship to the school. After four years at the school, Carr was accepted into Brown University , but could not attend due to a lack of funds, so he attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). At UNC, Carr was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and wrote at student newspaper The Daily Tar Heel and graduated in 1973. Carr began his career as
1034-532: A book author with the publication of The New York Times -rated best-seller The Brothers Bulger , about brothers Billy and Whitey Bulger . Whitey was the third boss of the Winter Hill Gang . Carr's second book, Hitman , was released in April 2011, two months before Whitey Bulger (then under the name Charlie Gasko) was arrested after sixteen years on the run . A book about Johnny Martorano , Hitman
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#17327650159901128-548: A day. With this move, the Yankee Network , of which WNAC and predecessor WNAC (1260 AM) had been the flagship station of since 1929, ceased operations. The move to a Top 40 format in March 1967 was an enormous success. For the next decade, WRKO was one of Boston's top-rated radio stations, and absolutely dominant among its target audience of listeners in the 18-34 demographic . Known to its listeners as "The Big 68", WRKO
1222-610: A dig at market leader WBZ, a Westinghouse Broadcasting station that played popular music. In advance of WRKO's format change to Top 40, WBZ tried to get in front of WRKO by adopting the slogan "Boss Radio" (used on famous RKO General top 40 station KHJ in Los Angeles). WRKO, in response, was rumored to have had their DJs reading a liner that said "WRKO, putting the Boss in the Restinghouse." WRKO did ultimately drive WBZ out of
1316-560: A former mayor of Boston. He lived in Southie , and patronized the Liquor Mart. One night the clerk struck up a conversation with him. "How come Howie never comes in here?" he asked. My friend shrugged. "You tell him," the clerk said, "that if he comes in, we got a fresh dumpster waitin' for him out back." Carr began taking whatever precautions he could to keep Whitey and Weeks off his tail. "The key to staying alive, I quickly figured out,
1410-407: A fourteen-year-old rape victim: "She can't go through life as a victim. She's 14. She got raped. Tell her to get over it." He was also alleged to have said of a 79-year-old robbery victim: "I don't care if she's 109." Carr, in a front-page column on February 20, 2002, criticized Murphy for setting low cash bails in rape cases and included references to his daughters, wondering what Murphy would do if it
1504-588: A magazine story quoting the then-mayor of Boston, Kevin White . During cutaways after a TV interview, a reporter asked White about the source of Billy Bulger's almost absolute power at the State House . "If my brother threatened to kill you", the four-term mayor replied in footage that never aired, "you'd be nothing but nice to me". When I printed the exchange, the Bulgers were enraged. But I had it on videotape. It
1598-499: A major role in U.S. politics and culture since 1776, they also argue that an organized conservative movement with beliefs that differ from those of other American political parties did not emerge in the U.S. at least until the 1950s. The recent movement conservatism has its base in the Republican Party , which has adopted conservative policies since the 1950s; Southern Democrats also became important early figures in
1692-614: A monarchy, an established church, or a hereditary aristocracy. American conservatism is best characterized as a reaction against utopian ideas of progress and European political philosophy from before the end of World War II . Russell Kirk saw the American Revolution itself as "a conservative reaction, in the English political tradition, against royal innovation". In the 2022 book The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism , Matthew Continetti noted that
1786-756: A more militaristic , interventionist foreign policy aimed at promoting democracy abroad, which stands in stark contrast to Paleoconservatisms more isolationist foreign policy. Neoconservatives often name communism and Islamism as the biggest threats to the free world. They often oppose the United Nations for interfering with American unilateralism. National conservatism focuses on upholding national and cultural identity . National conservatives strongly identify with American nationalism , patriotism , and American exceptionalism , while opposing internationalism , globalism , and multiculturalism . The movement seeks to promote national interests through
1880-461: A professor of history at Mount Holyoke College , wrote: Here was no lover of government by plutocracy, no dreamer of an America filled with factions and hard-packed cities. Here was a man who loved America as it was and had been, one whose life was a doughty testament to the trials and glories of ordered liberty. Here ... was the model of the American conservative. WRKO WRKO (680 AM )
1974-753: A reporter for the Winston-Salem Journal , before returning to New England in 1979 as assistant city editor for the Boston Herald American (now the Boston Herald ). From 1980 to 1981, he was the Boston City Hall bureau chief of the Herald American , and he later worked as the paper's State House bureau chief. As a political reporter for WNEV (now WHDH ) in 1982, his coverage of then-mayor Kevin White
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#17327650159902068-614: A smaller government is known as starve the beast . Activist Grover Norquist is a well-known proponent of the strategy and has famously said, "My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub." The argument in favor of balanced budgets is often coupled with a belief that government welfare programs should be narrowly tailored and that tax rates should be low, which implies relatively small government institutions. Neoconservatism emphasizes foreign policy over domestic policy. Its supporters, mainly war hawks , advocate
2162-446: A steady flow of "prescription and prejudice". Kirk's use of the word "prejudice" here is not intended to carry its contemporary pejorative connotation: a conservative himself, he believed that the inherited wisdom of the ages may be a better guide than apparently rational individual judgment. Through much of the 20th century, a primary force uniting the varied strands of conservatism, and uniting conservatives with liberals and socialists,
2256-406: A strong national defense , gun rights , capital punishment , and a defense of Western culture from perceived threats posed by communism , Islamism and moral relativism . American conservatives may question epidemiology , climate change , and evolution more frequently than moderates or liberals . In the United States, " conservative " is often used very differently from the way it
2350-543: A study of human experience. On this point we are, without reservations, on the conservative side. According to Peter Viereck , American conservatism is distinctive because it was not tied to a monarchy, landed aristocracy, established church, or military elite. Instead American conservatives were firmly rooted in American republicanism , which European conservatives opposed. They are committed, says Seymour Martin Lipset , to
2444-460: Is a commercial news/talk radio station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts , serving Greater Boston and much of surrounding New England . Owned by iHeartMedia , WRKO is a Class B AM station that provides secondary coverage to portions of Massachusetts, Connecticut , Rhode Island , New Hampshire and Maine during the day, but is highly directional at night to protect a number of clear-channel stations on adjacent frequencies. WRKO serves as
2538-536: Is a form of democratized Whig constitutionalism plus the free market . The point of difference comes with the influence of social liberalism ". American conservatives tend to support Christian values , moral absolutism , and American exceptionalism , while opposing abortion , euthanasia , and some LGBT rights (depending on the politicians). They tend to favor economic liberalism , and are generally pro- business and pro- capitalism , while opposing communism and labor unions . They often advocate for
2632-419: Is a large and mainstream ideology in the Republican Party and nation. As of 2021, 36 percent of Americans consider themselves conservative, according to polling by Gallup, Inc. Conservatism in the United States is not a single school of thought. According to American philosopher Ian Adams, all major American parties are " liberal and always have been. Essentially they espouse classical liberalism , that
2726-567: Is not killing me"), due to his finger-pointing at Billy Bulger, he disputes Kevin Weeks' claim that they were close to killing him by either blowing him up with explosives placed inside a basketball, or by shooting him from a cemetery across the street from Carr's former home at 91 Concord Road in Acton, Massachusetts . Whitey and Weeks had knowledge of Carr's residence because Carr was a neighbor of one of Weeks' brothers. My problems started when I wrote
2820-537: Is used in Europe. Following the American Revolution , Americans rejected the then core ideals of European conservatism, which were based on landed nobility , hereditary monarchy , established churches , and powerful armies. Conservatives in the United States historically view individual liberty within the bounds of conservative values as the fundamental trait of democracy . They typically believe in
2914-474: The Boston Herald . Carr was born in Portland, Maine , to Frances Stokes Sutton and Howard Louis Carr Sr. (1905–2008). His early childhood was split between Palm Beach, Florida , where his father worked at The Breakers Palm Beach and Greensboro, North Carolina , where his mother worked as a secretary to a local CEO. After Carr's mother took a job as the assistant to the headmaster at Deerfield Academy ,
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3008-533: The HD2 subchannel of sister station WZLX , and streams online via iHeartRadio . WRKO is one of three AM stations owned by iHeartMedia in the Boston market that features a spoken word format; WBZ is all news during the day and overnight, with local talk in the evening, while WXKS carries a nationally syndicated conservative talk line up. The station first went on the air as WLAW on December 19, 1937, at 680 on
3102-452: The nuclear family . There are two overlapping subgroups of social conservatives: the traditional and the religious. Traditional conservatives strongly support traditional codes of conduct, especially those they feel are threatened by social change and modernization. Religious conservatives focus on conducting society based on the morals prescribed by fundamentalist religious authorities, rejecting secularism and moral relativism . In
3196-495: The pay television channel Newsmax TV began simulcasting The Howie Carr Show . Carr has filled in for several nationally syndicated talk show hosts, including Mark Levin and Dennis Miller . He has also worked as a reporter and commentator for Boston television stations WGBH-TV and WLVI . Carr has written non-fiction books about Boston gangsters, and the Kennedy family; and also two novels . In early 2006, Carr became
3290-485: The 1980s on WRKO (AM 680). The Howie Carr Show has since become syndicated on more than twenty-five radio stations throughout northern and central New England , and can be heard elsewhere via live streaming on HowieCarrShow.com . In November 2014, Carr left syndicator Entercom Communications and formed his own Howie Carr Radio Network. WRKO had announced it would not carry the show but on March 9, 2015, it became an affiliate as of March 16, 2015. In September 2016,
3384-692: The 1980s preached traditional moral and religious social values. The history of American conservatism has been marked by tensions and competing ideologies. During the era of Ronald Reagan , a coalition of ideologies was formed that was known as "the Three Leg Stool " — the three legs being social conservatives (consisting of the Christian right and paleo-conservatives ), war hawks (consisting of interventionists and neoconservatives ), and fiscal conservatives (consisting of right-libertarians and free-market capitalists ), with overlap between
3478-619: The AM dial. The station was licensed to Lawrence, Massachusetts , some 25 miles north of Boston; its transmitter was in nearby Andover . It was owned and operated by Hildreth and Rogers, publishers of the Lawrence Daily Eagle and Evening Tribune . Initially a 1,000-watt daytime-only station , WLAW would boost its power to 5,000 watts in 1940; the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) also granted
3572-600: The American conservative movement has been fractured for a century. Political conservatives have emphasized an identification with the Founding Fathers of the United States and the U.S. Constitution . Scholars of conservative political thought "generally label John Adams as the intellectual father of American conservatism". Russell Kirk points to Adams as the key Founding Father for conservatives, saying that "some writers regard him as America's most important conservative public man". In 1955, Clinton Rossiter ,
3666-489: The Boston affiliate for ABC News Radio , Coast to Coast AM and This Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal ; syndicated personalities Joe Pags , John Batchelor and Bill Cunningham ; the flagship station of The Howie Carr Show , and the home of radio personality Jeff Kuhner . The WRKO studios are located in the Boston suburb of Medford , while the station transmitter resides in nearby Burlington . Besides its main analog transmission , WRKO simulcasts over
3760-519: The Press reported that the news and traffic reporters were informed individually and received severance pay. WRKO contracted with Metro Networks (now the Total Traffic and Weather Network ) to provide hourly news updates, including traffic and weather, during the day. In announcing the decision, WRKO said that the station's local news and issues would be driven by the talk show hosts, instead of
3854-470: The RKO-NBC transaction never materialized. On October 12, 1966, WRKO-FM dropped its simulcast of WNAC outside of overnights and morning drive, and introduced an automated top 40 format. Owing to WRKO-FM's relative success with that format, RKO General changed WNAC's call sign to WRKO on March 3, 1967, and the format also switched to Top 40 ; both stations would still simulcast each other for 11 hours
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3948-489: The Southern " Bible Belt " and in recent years played a major role in the political coalitions of George W. Bush and Donald Trump . Fiscal conservatism has ideological roots in capitalism , limited government , free enterprise , and laissez-faire economics. Fiscal conservatives typically support tax cuts , reduced government spending , free markets , deregulation , privatization , minimal government debt , and
4042-475: The United States is based on a belief in individualism , traditionalism , republicanism , and limited federal governmental power in relation to U.S. states . Conservatism is one of two major political ideologies of the United States with the other being liberalism . Conservative and Christian media organizations and American conservative figures are influential, and American conservatism
4136-474: The United States , conservatism originates from republicanism , which rejects aristocratic and monarchical government and upholds the principles of the 1776 U.S. Declaration of Independence ("that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness") and of the U.S. Constitution , which established
4230-491: The United States, this translates into hard-line stances on moral issues, such as opposition to abortion , LGBT rights , feminism , pornography , comprehensive sex education , and recreational drug use . Religious conservatives often assert that America is a Christian nation , calling for laws that enforce Christian morality . They often support school prayer , vouchers for parochial schools , and restricting or outlawing abortion . Social conservatives are strongest in
4324-745: The belief in America's "superiority against the cold reactionary monarchical and more rigidly status-bound system of European society". In terms of governmental economic policies, American conservatives have been heavily influenced by the classical liberal or libertarian tradition as expressed by Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman , and a major source of influence has been the Chicago school of economics . They have been strongly opposed to Keynesian economics . Traditional ( Burkean ) conservatives tend to be anti-ideological, and some would even say anti-philosophical, promoting, as Russell Kirk explained,
4418-617: The combined company would then purchase the intellectual property of WEEI (590 AM) from Back Bay Broadcasters on August 15, 1994. As part of the deal, WHDH would change its call letters to WEEI , and change format to sports radio; The Rush Limbaugh Show , Howie Carr and the "Skyway Patrol" traffic report branding were all moved from WHDH to WRKO in the transaction, which was consummated on August 29. Westinghouse Electric Corporation , then-parent company of CBS Radio , announced its acquisition of American Radio Systems in September 1997;
4512-699: The divide between the left and the right led to violent polarization, starting with the French Revolution . In 2009, Emory University history professor Patrick Allitt wrote that attitude, not policy, are at the core of differences between liberals and conservatives: Certain continuities can be traced through American history. The conservative 'attitude' ... was one of trusting to the past, to long-established patterns of thought and conduct, and of assuming that novelties were more likely to be dangerous than advantageous. No American party has ever advocated traditional European ideals of "conservatism" such as
4606-416: The economy is wasteful, corrupt, and immoral. Fiscal conservatism advocates restraint of progressive taxation and expenditure. Fiscal conservatives since the 19th century have argued that debt is a device to corrupt politics; they argue that big spending ruins the morals of the people, and that a national debt creates a dangerous class of speculators. A political strategy employed by conservatives to achieve
4700-464: The end of the 1970s, however, rock and Top 40 radio had begun to migrate from AM to FM. In a three-year period from 1978 to 1981, WRKO lost a chunk of its audience. The station tried to compete with the surge in FM listening, first with a short-lived focus on album cuts and later by switching to more of an adult contemporary music format, featuring a morning program with market legend Norm Nathan. A switch to
4794-501: The era, we are, without reservations, on the libertarian side. The profound crisis of our era is, in essence, the conflict between the Social Engineers, who seek to adjust mankind to scientific utopias, and the disciples of Truth, who defend the organic moral order. We believe that truth is neither arrived at nor illuminated by monitoring election results, binding though these are for other purposes, but by other means, including
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#17327650159904888-471: The expenses for running Limbaugh had risen too steeply; Kuhner was moved to the midday time slot; the replacement morning show, co-hosted by Kim Carrigan and Doug "VB" Goudie, featured material from Boston.com as part of a content partnership with The Boston Globe . On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge with Entercom; that October 10, CBS and Entercom placed WRKO, along with WKAF , WBZ, WBZ-FM, and WZLX , up for divestiture as part of
4982-639: The first time came in March 2010 when Clear Channel Communications (now iHeartMedia , current owners of WRKO) launched a talk station of its own on WXKS (1200 AM) , and picked up the affiliation rights to it and other programs syndicated by Premiere Networks ; this also included Coast to Coast AM , which WRKO aired in overnights. After WXKS changed formats from talk radio to all-comedy in August 2012, both Rush Limbaugh and Coast to Coast AM returned to WRKO's lineup. WRKO dropped Rush Limbaugh again in May 2015, citing
5076-516: The flagship station role. Howie Carr took over for Jerry Williams in the afternoon drive time slot in 1994; Williams would move first to late mornings, then to weekend afternoons in January 1997, before leaving WRKO altogether in October 1998. The Howie Carr Show eventually was picked up by other talk stations around New England and briefly syndicated by ABC Radio Networks before syndication
5170-481: The late 1970s meant he was perfectly placed to do just that, for Somerville's Marshall Motors garage (at 12 Marshall Street; now a church) was an early base of the Winter Hill Gang. In 1978, the second leader of the Winter Hill Gang, Howie Winter , who lived one street away from Carr, on Montrose Street, was jailed on federal "horse race fixing" charges. Bulger succeeded him, and remained the boss until 1995,
5264-821: The loss of its license, then was divested to MCA Inc. nine months prior to the ruling. Gencorp initially appealed the ruling, but was advised by the FCC that any appeal would be denied, and that their stations should be divested instead so as to avoid the indignity of additional license stripping without compensation. As part of the settlements worked out in Boston, New York, Memphis, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale , Los Angeles and San Francisco, WRKO and its FM sister station, WROR (the former WNAC-FM and WRKO-FM; now WBZ-FM ), were sold to Atlantic Ventures Corp., operated by cable television executive Steve Dodge , for $ 28 million in November 1988; Gencorp only received $ 17.5 million, with
5358-541: The main talk studio is shared with WBZ. In late November 2018, WRKO moved Jeff Kuhner back to morning drive and Doug Goudie to middays, with Kim Carrigan exiting the station. Two years later, iHeart laid off Goudie, and announced a new show to be hosted by Grace Curley and produced by the Howie Carr Radio Network, which was launched on January 4, 2021. WRKO has local conservative talk shows on its weekday schedule, including Jeff Kuhner , who hosts
5452-567: The merger was completed in 1998. As the combined company would have controlled 59 percent of advertising revenues in the Boston market, as well as three of the top five radio stations, in April 1998 the Department of Justice ordered CBS to divest WRKO, WEEI, WAAF (now WKVB ), and WEGQ (now WEEI-FM), as well as KSD and KLOU in St. Louis and WOCT in Baltimore, as a condition of its approval of
5546-663: The merger. In August 1998, Entercom announced plans to acquire the four Boston-area stations, along with WWTM (now WVEI ), from CBS for $ 140 million. WRKO was, from 1986 to 1994, the flagship station for the Boston Red Sox . In 2006, Entercom inked a 10-year deal to make WRKO the co-flagship station for the Red Sox Radio Network along with WEEI; WEEI once again became the sole flagship station on August 26, 2009. WRKO also carried Boston Celtics basketball broadcasts from 2005 to 2007, when WEEI assumed
5640-506: The midst of the investigation into its parent company's problems, RKO General found itself under investigation for reciprocal trade practices involving several of its properties, and later for double billing by a radio network it organized, the RKO Radio Network . The FCC license hearings culminated in the loss of the company's license to operate WNAC-TV; RKO General sold the station assets to New England Television Corporation, who
5734-490: The morning drive time program, and The Howie Carr Show , hosted by Howie Carr , airs in late afternoons; Carr's show is regionally syndicated to a number of other talk stations in New England, and an hour of Carr's show is simulcast on the cable network Newsmax TV . Conservative talk shows hosted by Jesse Kelly (syndicated via Premiere Networks ); and Joe Pags (syndicated via Compass Media Networks ) air during
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#17327650159905828-405: The morning team with Dale Dorman and Bill Rossi. The Red Baron was both the pilot and traffic reporter, flying at 1000 feet over Boston, in a fixed wing aircraft. 1975 and 1976 were the only years that WRKO had an aircraft in the sky. WRKO was propelled in its success by the introduction of the so-called Drake format originated by radio programmer Bill Drake . In contrast to other Top 40 formats at
5922-427: The most prominent talk radio hosts in the country broadcast on WRKO, such as Gene Burns , the aforementioned Williams, Ted O'Brien, and Paul Parent. But throughout the 1980s, WRKO's parent company, General Tire and Rubber, later renamed Gencorp , was under multiple federal investigations and ultimately under an FCC investigation due to its "lack of candor" for failing to disclose unlawful operations by General Tire. In
6016-481: The movement's history. In 1937, Southern Democrats formed the congressional conservative coalition , which played an influential role in Congress from the late 1930s to the mid-1960s. In recent decades, Southern conservatives voted heavily Republican. Conservatism in the United States is not a single school of thought. Barry Goldwater in the 1960s spoke for a " free enterprise " conservatism. Jerry Falwell in
6110-597: The network, of which General Tire (by then doing business as RKO Teleradio Pictures) was a part-owner, was sold in July 1957. WNAC also lost the NBC Radio affiliation to WEZE (1260 AM) (the former WVDA) in 1957. By December 1959, RKO Teleradio adopted the RKO General banner. WNAC-FM changed call letters to WRKO-FM on May 10, 1957, but retained its simulcast of WNAC's programming until 1963, when separate programming
6204-617: The new WNAC was, for all intents and purposes, a Boston station, its city of license remained in Lawrence until July 25, 1957; at least until 1962, the legal station identification was "WNAC Boston-Lawrence". For a brief time in 1956 and 1957, WNAC was affiliated with both the Mutual Broadcasting System and the NBC Radio Network after WBZ dropped NBC programming. WNAC remained a Mutual affiliate until
6298-432: The news anchors. The station itself made news in early November 2006, when late morning host John DePetro was fired following his on-air description of gubernatorial candidate Grace Ross as a "fat lesbian". Former Massachusetts House Speaker Tom Finneran was then hired as WRKO's morning-drive host in January 2007, replacing Scott Allen Miller ; WRKO host Todd Feinburg was added as a co-host in January 2009. Finneran
6392-415: The pre-dawn hours. Slowly the noose began to tighten around Whitey's neck and I relaxed somewhat. Whitey vanished in late 1994, but Weeks was still lurking about. At a tanning salon, he bragged to a Herald photographer that he knew that I had lived next to a graveyard. He mentioned nothing about any C-4 or high-powered rifles, but when he was arrested in 1999 his indirect threats against me were included in
6486-528: The preservation of traditional cultural values , restrictions on illegal immigration , and strict law and order policies. In the United States, there has never been a national political party called the Conservative Party. Since 1962, there has been a small Conservative Party of New York State . During Reconstruction in several states in the South in the late 1860s, the former Whigs formed
6580-482: The process of obtaining regulatory approval of the merger. iHeartMedia acquired WRKO, WBZ, WZLX and WKAF as part of a multi-market station and asset swap between it and Entercom; to meet ownership limits set by the FCC, WKOX was designated to be divested. The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and consummated on November 17. Until WKOX's spinoff into the Ocean Stations Trust was completed, WRKO
6674-473: The rest being awarded to past applicants that had competed for the licenses. On December 1, 1992, Atlantic Ventures acquired WHDH (850 AM) from New England Television Corporation, which had put the station up for sale to help pay down debt; the sale put the two talk stations under the same ownership. Atlantic Ventures merged with two other radio groups, Stoner Broadcasting Systems and Multi Market Communications, on June 5, 1993, to form American Radio Systems ;
6768-614: The sides . In the 21st century United States, types of conservatism include: In February 1955, in the first issue of National Review , William F. Buckley Jr. explained the standards of his magazine and articulate the beliefs of American conservatives: Among our convictions: It is the job of centralized government (in peacetime) to protect its citizens' lives, liberty and property. All other activities of government tend to diminish freedom and hamper progress. The growth of government (the dominant social feature of this century) must be fought relentlessly. In this great social conflict of
6862-527: The station authority to operate at night, using a directional antenna to protect the signals of KPO in San Francisco, which had been the dominant station on the clear channel of 680 kHz, and WPTF in Raleigh, North Carolina , which had also been granted nighttime service on the channel. In 1945, WLAW applied to boost its power to 50,000 watts, and relocate its transmitter to Burlington ;
6956-759: The station would make this upgrade in 1947. In conjunction with the move, WLAW opened a Boston studio on Tremont Street in the theater district; it also maintained a third studio in Lowell . The owners also acquired an FM station: WLAW-FM (93.7 FM) was officially dedicated on November 10, 1947. In mid-1951, WLAW and WLAW-FM moved to new studios at the Hotel Bradford in Boston. In May 1953, General Teleradio, General Tire 's broadcasting division and owner of WNAC (1260 AM), bought WLAW and WLAW-FM from Hildreth and Rogers for $ 475,000; and concurrently sold WNAC to Vic Diehm and Associates for $ 125,000. WLAW's availability
7050-487: The successor to WNAC (1260 AM) licensed to Boston. For this reason, this transaction is seen as WNAC "moving" from 1260 AM to 680 AM. Vic Diehm and Associates subsequently changed 1260 AM's calls to WVDA and launched a new format on that station using WLAW's former studios. WLAW-FM had its license surrendered, as WNAC-FM (98.5 FM) was retained by General Teleradio; a separate station on 93.7 FM also licensed to Lawrence signed on in 1960 as WGHJ; now known as WEEI-FM . While
7144-629: The time, it featured a limited playlist of only the top hits, with strict minimal talk and a more music approach presented in a straightforward manner. This format was adopted by other stations across the country, including RKO General stations KHJ in Los Angeles, WHBQ in Memphis and WOR-FM in New York (now WEPN-FM ). Virtually any station using the Drake sound rose to the top of its market. By
7238-528: The top 40 format. WRKO's other main competitor was WMEX , which was Boston's original Top 40 station, starting the format in 1957. Even though WMEX's city ratings were good, it had a highly directional signal and did not effectively reach many of the suburbs, especially at night. WRKO (and the growing popularity of FM rock stations) eventually drove WMEX to a format change in 1975, with WRKO remaining Boston's sole AM Top 40 station. In May 1975, WRKO's airborne traffic reporter, "The Red Baron" (Rick Blumberg), joined
7332-617: The year after he fled Boston due to a pending federal indictment. Whitey was on the FBI 's Ten Most Wanted list from 1999 until his arrest in Santa Monica, California , on June 22, 2011. He had a $ 2 million bounty on his head. Kevin Weeks replaced Bulger but was arrested and imprisoned in 2000. He was released in 2005 after having served as a cooperating witness for the FBI. While Carr believes Whitey Bulger wanted him dead ("his greatest regret
7426-507: Was also rated a best-seller by The New York Times . In 2013, Rifleman: The Untold Story of Stevie Flemmi was published. It was followed a year later by Ratman: The Trial and Conviction of Whitey Bulger . Billy Bulger's power as President of the Massachusetts Senate intrigued Carr. He began to research both the politician and his gangster brother. Indeed, Carr's arrival on Madison Street in Somerville, Massachusetts , in
7520-495: Was awarded a license for a replacement station. WNAC-TV signed off permanently on May 21, 1982, with WNEV-TV (now WHDH-TV ) taking its place the next morning. After a long and protracted battle, FCC administrative law judge Edward Kuhlmann ruled on August 11, 1987, that all of RKO General's broadcast licenses, including WRKO's license, be denied renewal; this excluded WOR-TV , which had its city of license changed from New York to Secaucus, New Jersey , in an attempt to avoid
7614-448: Was dropped from the lineup at the end of May 2012; his replacement, Michele McPhee , was paired with Fineburg until October 31, when Jeff Kuhner was moved into the time slot. Massachusetts state trooper Grant Moulison was WRKO's lead traffic reporter from 1985 until retiring from the force in April 2006, with 32 years of service behind him. WRKO has notably dropped The Rush Limbaugh Show from its schedule two different times:
7708-540: Was having an affair with boxer Riddick Bowe . Mrs. Carr retained Alan Dershowitz as her lawyer. The parties reached an undisclosed settlement. In a 2007 column, Carr alleged that Imus' statements were incited by Barnicle. According to Carr, Barnicle told Imus that Carr had said Imus "would die before his kid got out of high school". In 2002, the Herald and Carr were the subjects of a lawsuit by Superior Court Judge Ernest Murphy. The newspaper reported that Murphy had said of
7802-489: Was home to such well-known personalities as longtime morning man Dale Dorman , Chuck Knapp, Joel Cash, Johnny Dark, J. J. Wright , J. J. Jeffrey , Harry Nelson (afternoon drive and later PD of WRKO in 1978), Shadoe Stevens , Frank Kingston Smith (who was known as "Bobby Mitchell"), Steve Anthony and many others. Mel Phillips , who replaced Bob Henabery as program director, served in that position from 1967 to 1972 before being replaced by Scotty Brink. WRKO in 1967 even took
7896-531: Was inaugurated for half of the broadcast day. WNAC, along with WRKO-FM and WNAC-TV (channel 7) , were nearly sold by RKO General to NBC as part of a multi-city transaction and station trade between the two companies announced in March 1960. This arrangement wound up under review at both the FCC and the U.S. Department of Justice due to issues involving NBC's previous exchange of assets with Westinghouse Broadcasting in Cleveland and Philadelphia. Ultimately,
7990-525: Was one of his offspring that had been the victim. Murphy denied all of the allegations and claimed the newspaper libeled him, ruining his physical and emotional health and damaging his career and reputation as a good man. Ultimately, Murphy won the suit and was awarded a $ 2.09 million payment. During the trial, when asked what his reaction was to the Carr column, Murphy had said he "wanted to kill him". Carr has hosted local Boston weekday radio talk-shows since
8084-596: Was operated by the Entercom Divestiture Trust, while the sister stations began being operated by iHeart once the merger closed. iHeart began operating WRKO on December 19, 2017; on that date, it completed its acquisition of WRKO, WZLX, WKAF, and WBZ. With the ownership change, WRKO added a simulcast on the HD-2 signal of WZLX. WRKO's studios moved to iHeartMedia's facilities in Medford in July 2018;
8178-697: Was opposition to communism, which was seen not only as an enemy of the traditional order but also the enemy of Western freedom and democracy. Between 1945 and 1947, it was the Labour government in the United Kingdom, which embraced socialism, that pushed the Truman administration to take a strong stand against Soviet Communism . Social conservatism in the United States is the defense of traditional family values rooted in Judeo-Christian ethics and
8272-464: Was released in 2018. In 2012, Carr moved into fictional writing with his third book, Hard Knocks , which was followed three years later by Killers , his sixth and most recent release. During Donald Trump 's 2016 presidential campaign , Carr hosted rallies and he had lunch with the candidate on his private jet. On June 29, 2016, Carr, as an opening speaker at a rally for Trump in Bangor, Maine , made
8366-419: Was seen as a way to "upgrade" the signal for WNAC; in 1947, the FCC denied a request to allow WNAC (1260 AM) to move to 1200 kHz and boost its power, using a directional 50,000-watt transmitter. On June 17, 1953, General Teleradio changed WLAW's call letters to WNAC, moved the old 1260 AM format to 680 AM, and reassigned on- and off-air personnel. In effect, this new WNAC (680 AM) licensed to Lawrence became
8460-782: Was so relentless that after the mayor announced he was not running again, he told The Boston Globe that one of the things he enjoyed most about his impending retirement was not having Carr chase him around the city. For years Carr has criticized former Globe and Herald guest columnist Mike Barnicle . In 1998, Barnicle resigned from the Globe over allegations of plagiarism and fabrication of stories. A Globe column by Steve Bailey stated that Carr gave out Barnicle's home phone number, an allegation Carr denies. Barnicle called Carr "a pathetic figure", and asked "Can you imagine being as consumed with envy and jealousy toward me for as long as it has consumed him?" In 1998, Don Imus claimed Carr's wife
8554-502: Was taken over by Entercom, and ultimately, by Carr himself. After a lengthy labor dispute between Carr and Entercom in 2007, WRKO dropped the program in November 2014, with Carr signing WMEX as a replacement affiliate for the Boston market. WRKO and Howie Carr reached an agreement to carry the show again on March 16, 2015, but with the station as an affiliate instead of acting as his employer. On November 16, 2006, all on-air news anchors and traffic reporters were fired. WGBH-TV 's Beat
8648-538: Was taken to hospital after the accident, which occurred around 1:00 pm, but was released that evening. Conservatism in the United States Defunct Newspapers Journals TV channels Websites Other Economics Gun rights Identity politics Nativist Religion Watchdog groups Youth/student groups Miscellaneous Other [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Conservatism in
8742-527: Was to avoid becoming a creature of habit. Wiseguys (or anyone else) who don't mix up their routines are the ones who inevitably get caught 'flat-footed,' to use the old expression. I drove home a different way every evening. If possible, when I parked, I backed into the space so that, if I had to, I could flee more quickly. I stopped meeting face-to-face with anyone I didn't know. I stayed out of bars, especially in Southie . Occasionally I'd sleep somewhere other than my house. The local cops kept an eye on my house in
8836-408: Was undeniable. Whitey knew what Carr looked like, from Carr's job on television. "Plus, I was in his neighborhood every day. But I never ventured into Whitey's package store." The store in question was South Boston Liquor Mart (also known as Stippo ' s ; now Rotary Liquors), at 295 Old Colony Avenue, which Whitey had extorted from its legitimate owner. The anchor at my TV station was the son of
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