Smart Talk Radio Network CoronaLert Now Broadcasting On 300+ Stations

Sun Broadcast Group and The SmartTalk Radio Network recently launched CoronaLert, which reached over 300 stations in its first month of broadcast (see list). Veteran broadcaster Cary Harrison presents slickly-produced 60-second rapid-response features that draw from the top scientific and medical minds available today.  CoronaLert is the first of its kind with both volume of daily segments and a custom fleet of professionally produced companion videos for stations’ websites.

“Facts not fear is the basis for CoronaLerts and provides listeners on all platforms and devices with a daily topic or development that is covered in a solution-oriented, easy takeaway format,” said SmartTalk CEO Chuck Duncan. “Smart Talk Radio Network presents a forum for discussion, info and entertainment covering myriad life topics, including COVID-19 and its lasting effects on our world.”

Cary Harrison is recipient of numerous awards, including the Sigma Delta Chi Award－the highest honor bestowed for public service by the Society of Professional Journalists and first place honors for "Best Commentary" from the Associated Press.

For more information, go to CoronaLert.org, or contact Chuck Duncan.

April 14, 2020

THE SMART TALK RADIO NETWORK INTRODUCES “THE HARD QUESTION WITH BLANQUITA CULLUM”

“It's not about right and left.  It's about right and wrong.”

Listen live Monday through Friday from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. Eastern

On “The Hard Question” — now available to stations across the country via the SmartTalk Radio Network — host Blanquita Cullum (BQ) asks probing questions on today's key issues, including public health, immigration, border security, political battles, and election strategies. 

BQ says what “The Hard Question” is all about is “trying to help the audience to be empowered, to be able to hear a deeper level of a conversation on an issue that may impact them and change their life.” Recent episodes have covered Bernie Sanders’ suspension of his bid for the Democratic presidential nominee and subsequent endorsement of Democrat Joe Biden; financial scams in the age of coronavirus; the disappearance of Ai Fen, a Chinese doctor who claimed her bosses tried to silence her early warnings about coronavirus; fundamentals of the Second Amendment; and the efficacy of the coronavirus emergency relief bill.

With decades of experience in broadcasting and government service, Cullum knows the decision makers, and her guest list routinely includes the names you hear in the headlines: governors, senators, ambassadors, foreign heads of state state, as well as regular citizens. Recent guests include former commissioner of the New York Police Department Bernard Kerik, President of Americans for Tax Reform Grover Norquist, Republican House candidate Lt. Sgt. Sargis Sangari, Talkers magazine publisher Michael Harrison, political provocateurs Diamond & Silk, former governor of Missouri Eric Greitens, Texas Congressman Pete Olson, and Republican political strategist Michael Caputo.

“When someone listens to my show,” BQ says, “I’m going to have people that you’re not normally going to hear in other places. For example, if something’s breaking anywhere in the world, there is going to be a good chance, because of my connections with those journalists, I’m able to get our audience plugged in faster than anyone. From the right and left they trust me because they know that I’m not reckless. I’m not irresponsible. I’ve proven to all sides that I just want to be a good presenter of the truth and the truth stands more than any political point of view.”

Cullum, who worked in both the George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush administrations, concedes that she leans “more to the right. ‘The Hard Question, on the other hand, is not my opinion,” she says. “It’s my ability to ask tough questions to people who are knowledgeable, make a difference, decision-makers who have information that the public needs to have good, tough questions asked.

“And the thing of it is, I’ve lived like a lot of people: I was a Democrat. I’ve been a Republican. But I’ve also been, like a lot of people right now, an Independent. I learned that politics is not a spectator sport. I like to empower my audience to know how to be able to communicate with the people that are making decisions about their lives. And sometimes people are not going to agree with me, but the fact of the matter is, that doesn’t matter. It’s not about me. It’s about getting to the core of the topic.”

Chuck Duncan, general manager of The SmartTalk Radio Network, says he is delighted to offer radio audiences across the county the opportunity to be informed, entertained, engaged, and enlightened by “The Hard Question.” “Occasionally in network radio, a diamond emerges from the clutter of ho-hum,” he says.  “Blanquita Cullum is a woman of worldly experiences and a deep participant of the inside rail, allowing her to ask and offer sensible solutions to the hard questions.  With unique clarity and above-the-fold guests, BQ covers the critical issues with a compassion, intellect, and understanding that evidences her emergence onto the national scene.  She's got a voice that must be heard.”  

Cullum says that as a broadcaster, times like this fortify her resolve to get information and good ideas out to the public. “I’ve been in precarious moments,” she says. “I was in front of the Pentagon on 9/11. And here I am at this crazy time during this pandemic, and I’m in D.C. again. And I know that it is significant to have a fearless attitude to know that we will overcome it, but we must know the truth. It’s not as if we want to blame this one or that one. We want to know the truth to be able to empower ourselves to be strong to do better, and when we come out of it, we’ll fix what we can and then we just get on with it. And I feel blessed — I’m very grateful to have the opportunity to be on the SmartTalk network. I’m very grateful for that.”

Visit the “The Hard Question with Blanquita Cullum” show page to learn more about the show and its host. Listen to BQ tell her story in this recently recorded Q&A.

For stations interested in adding “The Hard Question” to their weekday lineup, please email Chuck Duncan at cduncan@smarttalkradionetwork.com.

April 7, 2020

“THE MIKE NOWAK SHOW WITH PEGGY MALECKI” WANTS YOU TO KEEP EATING HEALTHY

Having trouble getting good, healthy food during the COVID-19 crisis?

Your local farmers are ready to help. And you’ll be helping them by ordering fresh produce, meat, eggs, and dairy. Some farms are offering CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shares. Some are offering custom orders. All offer pickup locations within the city, often right in your neighborhood. It’s time to pull together and keep eating healthy.

These farms are supporting the Keep Healthy Campaign and The Mike Nowak Show with Peggy Malecki (Sundays from 10:00 a.m. to noon on the SmartTalk Radio Network). We hope you will support them by ordering their high-quality, sustainable products.

Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery is owned by Wes Jarrell and Leslie Cooperband. In 2003, they moved from an urban and academic life in Madison, Wisconsin to rural Champaign-Urbana Illinois. That first season, they began to transform their land from cash grain agriculture to perennial production with a lush cover crop of buckwheat. In 2004, they planted over 350 fruit trees and 600 berry plants AND purchased their first four Nubian goats (three does and one buck).  Learn More …

In 2000, Beth and Jody Osmund, now owners of Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm, were comfortably ensconced in successful professional careers and living in the Chicago suburbs. By spring of 2002, that had changed. They had moved to his parents’ farm in Ottawa, Illinois and begun a new life. A parting gift from friends, Eliot Coleman’s The New Organic Grower, became their primer on market farming and his description of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) resonated deeply with them. Learn More …

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS

If you’re a consumer, simply click on one of the listed farms and place an order. You’ve just done your part!

If you’re a food provider, sign up for the campaign.
Here’s what you will get:
- Two 60-second ads per show, with up to 3 farms/CSAs featured per ad
- 300×250 campaign banner ad on TMNS website, with link to special Keep Eating Healthy web page that features your farm, CSA, co-op, or other food provider
- Logo on Facebook Live (in rotation approx. 100 times per show for about 5 seconds)

Help us help you provide healthy food for Chicagoland. Email Mike or call him at 773-960-1139. We look forward to working with you.

Go to the Keep Eating Healthy campaign page >>

March 27, 2020

SMART TALK’S ELYSABETH ALFANO LAUNCHES “THE PLANTBASED BUSINESS HOUR”

Plant-based journalist, news expert, radio host, and TV chef/producer Elysabeth Alfano — SmartTalk’s very own! — has launched a new digital show:  “The Plantbased Business Hour.”  Airing at 1:00 p.m. Pacific on the Jane UnChained News Network and archived on ElysabethAlfano.com and her Awesome Vegans Podcast, Elysabeth talks to the plant-based business leaders who are working on a safer food supply for our future: plant-based meats.  Speaking with venture capitalists, CEOs, innovators, analysts, entrepreneurs, start-ups, and more, the conversations cover a myriad of topics from impact investing to the newest plant-based and cellular agriculture innovations. 

Plant-based business represents big money.  Plant-based business also represents the big solution for a healthier food supply. Meat-borne pathogens are an expensive threat to our physical, financial, and mental health, as we are currently experiencing with the Coronavirus. Ebola, Mad Cow Disease, Asian Bird Flu, Swine Fever are all examples of illnesses that exist, spread, and begin with eating meat. 
 
“During this time of incredible stress and worry,” Elysabeth says, “many people want news and insight as to how things will be different in the future so that we don’t find ourselves right back in this same position. Investors and consumers are interested in the plant-based arena as they search for healthier options and a safer food supply. On the show, I share hopeful business news about how many are working to create a better future for us through their business models. Up until now, and with the exception of Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, plant-based business hasn’t been covered by the media."
 
To keep your finger on the pulse of the dynamic, money-making, plant-based business world, tune in weekdays at 1:00 p.m. Pacific on the Jane UnChained News Network for “The Plantbased Business Hour” with Elysabeth Alfano and find archived episodes on ElysabethAlfano.com and the Awesome Vegans Podcast. 

2020 has been a busy year for Alfano, who debuted the nation's first plant-based radio show, “The Elysabeth Alfano Show,” in January of this year.  She is also one of the executive producers and a featured chef on the new Amazon Prime cooking series New Day New Chef, which debuted in February. 

February 20, 2020

NEW VEGAN COOKING SHOW “NEW DAY NEW CHEF” FEATURES SMART TALK’S ELYSABETH ALFANO

“New Day New Chef” is an entertaining, fast-paced cooking show set to air on public television stations throughout the nation and is now available to watch on Amazon Prime Video. From Olympic medalists to movie stars, muscular body builders to sinewy yoga masters, “New Day New Chef” entertains Americans while helping them reinvent their diets, boost their energy, lower their carbon footprints, and transform their lives with a simple switch to plant-based foods. 

Special guests include some of America’s best-known vegans, including:

• NBA legend John Salley

• Olympic medalist and “Game Changers” star Dotsie Bausch

• Marco Antonio Regil, host of Spanish-language versions of “The Price Is Right” and “The Wall”

• “Vanderpump Rules” star and trans-activist Billie Lee

• “SpongeBob” and “Family Guy” voice actress Lori Alan, and more 

• TV chef, syndicated radio host and producer Elysabeth Alfano (pictured center)

"Food is what unites us," notes Elysabeth Alfano, who hosts The Elysabeth Alfano Show on the SmartTalk Radio Network every Sunday from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. Eastern.  "There is no better connection than the connection we experience over cooking together and sharing a meal.  If that meal is healthy for us, the planet and animals, it's a triple win!"  Alfano cooks her recipe of spicy stuffed Italian peppers for Velez-Mitchell and episode co-host Marco Antonio Regil in Episode 5.

Read the press release.