BC Radio Live: The Schwaggin' Wagon, Redblueamerica, Author Aram Roston, and Singer Rosey

BC Radio Live is the flagship program of the BC Magazine station on BlogTalkRadio. It's hosted by Phillip Winn, Eric Olsen, and Lisa McKay and airs weekly on Wednesday evenings at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Shows are archived and available for streaming or download after the live broadcast. Our guests on April 23 were Marjorie Kase, political bloggers Ben and Joel of Redblueamerica.com, author Aram Roston, and singer/songwriter Rosey.

We've all been to conferences and come back with a suitcase full of t-shirts, toys, and other goodies that usually end up cluttering our offices or our living spaces. Marjorie Kase, CEO of Blogger Reps and Sociable Agency, has come up with a great idea to turn one person's conference swag into another person's useful stuff, and she stopped by BC Radio this week to share. The Schwaggin' Wagon's mission is to take all that swag and donate it to charity. The Schwaggin' Wagon made its debut this week at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco, collecting lots of stuff that will be donated or recycled. In addition to its primary mission, the tricked-out Schwaggin' Wagon will also provide safe transportation to event after-parties. Stop by the Schwaggin' Wagon's website to learn more about this innovative idea.

Political blogs can be an echo chamber much of the time. Regardless of whether you lean right, left, or center, you likely have your favorite blogs that represent a point of view with which you agree. Joel Mathis (the liberal guy) and Ben Boychuk (the conservative guy) decided that the world would be a better place if people had a place to go where they could read all points of view and have — wait for it — civil disagreements. While the notion might seem strangely out of place in today's arena of discourse, Joel and Ben have provided just such an oasis in Redblueamerica.com. Ben and Joel stopped by BC Radio to chat about this novel concept and express their idea that people really are ready to find common ground and listen to each other. The two, who are ideologically at opposite poles, set a good example by staking out their positions in a flame-free atmosphere. They told us how bloggers can sign up and participate, and explained how they derive the topics of conversation for the site and find a spectrum of opinions on virtually all of them. If political arguments that don't devolve into food fights are your cup of tea, check out Redblueamerica.

Article Author: Lisa McKay

Formerly the executive editor at Blogcritics, Lisa McKay can now be found at The Morton Report, where she is a contributor as well as the executive editor.

In her spare time, she watches movies, listens to music, and reads. …

Visit Lisa McKay's author page — Lisa McKay's Blog