This column was published October 18-19, 2024 in the Manhattan Mercury.
It was like riding a bicycle.
The last time I spoke daily on the radio was 1990, when I managed a statewide radio news network. After that, I did four years of TV news with sporadic radio appearances, but then the career progressed beyond broadcasting.
When I found myself back behind a microphone in a radio studio every morning this week, adlibbing in and out of spot sets, and wrapping it up at exactly 59 minutes and 50 seconds after the hour, it felt like someone had rebooted me.
The on-air promos say, “he’s been a broadcast journalist, political operative, lobbyist, author, and columnist. Now, he’s a radio talk show host.” I’ll cop to all those descriptions and tack on another. A lifetime in Kansas with a career’s worth of journalistic instincts.
The two-word title of the show – Within Reason – was very purposefully and carefully chosen. We seek dialogue, discussion, opinions, pros and cons, problems and their solutions found in the broad middle, where despite loud noise from either extreme, I remain convinced the overwhelming majority of people in our region – and our state – live.
Governor Laura Kelly was gracious enough to make a special trip to Manhattan to appear as my debut guest. Please forgive the chest-beating, but she accepted the invitation because she respects my professional reputation and believes in our goals. She didn’t have to do that, but I’m grateful she did.
State Senate candidate Usha Reddi lamented the gusher of outside money flowing to her opponent’s campaign, while her opponent, Brad Starnes, seemed ready, willing, and eager to pitch in with the supermajority.
We also made some news. After a couple of days battling charges that she presented herself as a K-State graduate when she was proven not to be, GOP Kansas House candidate Angel Roeser came on the show, did the right thing, fessed up and apologized. At 23, she’s a political novice and learning lessons the hard way, which is sometimes the only way they stick.
We also learned that Roeser’s Democratic opponent, Kim Zito, considers Kamala Harris her spirit animal. I looked it up (spiritanimal.info) and discovered mugshots of bats, birds, bunnies, various and sundry ethereal, nonsecular fauna, but no pics of the Veep.
Ned Seaton came on and spoke eloquently about the need to preserve local journalism in this region. The Seaton family also owns KMAN, and in the face of newspapers like this one failing at an alarming pace, Ned’s combining print and broadcast cultures is a bold step to ensure that Manhattan retains vehicles to deliver independent, professional journalism.
With just over two weeks before the election, next week we’ll have more candidates, including a pair running for Congress. We’ll also take a crack at getting to the bottom of the Scorpius foot dragging.
I strongly believe there’s nothing wrong with our world, country, state, and communities that won’t be aided by people who think longer, deeper, and more critically. Journalism is the one constant to allow that, and I remain convinced this new talk show can move toward that goal in our community.
It’s also kinda nice to boogie out of the radio station at 10:15 a.m., knowing, for the first time since I was a kid that the rest of the day is mine. I have a bicycle in the garage. Two flat tires. With all this semi-retirement free time, maybe I should air them up and see if riding a bicycle is like riding a bicycle.
And one of these days, we’ll find a way to speak about the heretofore unspoken undercurrent baked into my choice of bumper music.
‘Within Reason with Mike Matson’ airs weekdays at 9 a.m. on NewsRadio KMAN, also livestreamed on YouTube and posted as a podcast on the KMAN website.