|  Talk
show host Brian Wilson, who has been in the radio business since 1965,
makes no secret about his libertarian beliefs. When he went to work
for San Francisco's KSFO radio in 2000, a press release from the station
announced that Wilson "is as droll as he is libertarian."
Spreading what he calls "the Libertarian word around the country,"
Wilson has hosted on-air interviews with libertarian author and columnist
Dr. Walter E. Williams, scholars from the Cato Institute, libertarian
science fiction writer L. Neil Smith, Free State Project founder Jason
Sorens, and 2000 Libertarian Party presidential candidate Harry Browne,
among others.
Wilson's website (www.brianwilson.net) even offers listeners a list
of libertarian books they should read -- including such classics as
Libertarianism in One Lesson by David Bergland ("the best
brief introduction to Libertarianism available"), The Law
by Frederic Bastiat ("a masterpiece of style, brevity, and common
sense"), and The Vision of the Anointed by Thomas Sowell
("a sweeping attack on conventional wisdom and the elite intelligentsia").
Libertarians have praised Wilson as a "full-blooded Bill of Rights
libertarian," while radio industry insiders lauded him for his
"irreverent wit and cutting-edge commentary."
Wilson began his radio career in Baton Rouge while attending Louisiana
State University. He went on to work in Houston; at WIBR in Baton
Rouge; at Top 40 station WZGC in Atlanta; and at WABC in New York City.
Later, he worked with Don O'Brien at WBSB in Baltimore (where the "Brian
& O'Brien" show remains the highest-rated morning show
in city history); at WHTZ in New York; at WGST in Atlanta; at WRC in
Washington; at WCBM in Baltimore; and at KSFO in San Francisco.
In 1996, Wilson published The Little Black Book on Whitewater,
an A-Z compendium of the who, what, when, and where of the long-running
Bill Clinton scandal.
In 1998, Wilson started VRINK (Vacation Relief, Inc.) a groundbreaking company
offering fill-in services for talk radio stations. Broadcasting
from a home studio located outside what he called the "logic-free
zone" of Washington, DC, he subbed for several nationally syndicated
talk hosts including (fellow libertarian) Art Bell and Jim Bohannon.
He also filled in for hosts in New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore,
Atlanta, Dallas, and others.
In 2004, Wilson teamed up again with Don O'Brien for an afternoon show
on WQSR in Baltimore. In 2005, he hosted "Live From 125,"
an ABC Radio Networks satellite channel heard on both XM and Sirius.
He continues his VRINK service.
--
Bill Winter
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