ABOUT

About Thinkwing Radio

Updated September 28, 2022

My name is Mike Honig. I’m the producer and host of “ThinkWing Radio with Mike Honig,” which currently airs on KPFT 90.1-HD2 (Houston, TX, USA) on Wednesdays from 11AM Wednesday and re-airs Thursdays at 6PM (CT).

“Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig” was conceived first and foremost as a listener call-in show. Since March of 2020, Covid forced us to be a prerecorded show, but we have ambitions to become a call-in show again in our new building at some point in the future.

Tell me what’s on your mind! The show also streams on-line both live and on-demand at KPFT.org. You can participate in to the show from anywhere in the world when it’s live by calling 713-526-5738. (Long distance or other charges may apply.) Any topics I may bring up are meant to provoke thoughts and ideas for callers to discuss, but callers are not typically limited to those topics.

 QUESTION: Why “Thinkwing”, and why do we consider the show to be neither “Leftwing” nor “Rightwing?

ANSWER: Most people’s political and social views are mixed rather than “pure”. I came up with the name “Thinkwing” for people of any political persuasion who are willing to discuss their ideas and perhaps defend them, thus more deeply considering them in the process. Some folks may consider themselves to be on the Left or Right, but are willing to consider modifying their views on specific topics in light of new information or a different perspective. Either way, IMHO, this ‘give-and-take’ is the essence of finding common ground between the legitimate wants and needs of various parts of the social and political spectrum.

 QUESTION: What is the show about?

ANSWER: We talk about anything and everything. My interests are many and varied, and the show reflects that. Topics include domestic and international politics, public policy, society and culture.

 QUESTION: What is your policy when handling phone calls?

ANSWER: As a matter of courtesy and policy, I try to give all callers a chance to get on the air. If you take the trouble and time to call, hold and wait your turn; I don’t want to disappoint you. As a practical matter, earlier callers usually get more airtime. As the lines fill, I may abbreviate calls in order to give everyone a chance to speak their piece. (A minimum of 1-2 minutes per caller is my goal.)  The last callers may get as little as 15 seconds, but get their ‘shot’ at commenting on-air. Some may interpret this as abruptness and rudeness on my part, but the intent is fairness and openness. I apologize in advance to anyone who feels unfairly interrupted.

 QUESTION: What is the “Guest Exception”?

ANSWER: If I have a guest, I usually request that callers stay ‘on-topic’. This is both as a courtesy to the guest, and with the hope that callers will help to clarify and deepen the topical discussion.

 My goals for the show are 2-fold:

    1. To inform and discuss. I try to bring up little-discussed topics and ideas from a wide range of news, information, ‘ideas’, and the arts. I figure that if other media are obsessed with a topic, it’s probably one I don’t need to cover.
    2. To ‘de-simplify’ issues which seem cut-n-dry, and to expose the true complexity of issues for the listeners’ consideration and discussion. It’s easy to form opinions about things we know only superficially. More in-depth knowledge leads to more nuanced opinions. Nuanced opinions based on deeper thought and knowledge are often the basis for political, ideological and social compromise which enables human society to move forward in a positive way.

 “Thinkwing Radio is for people who may or may not have a point of view, and that view may lean Right or Left. If you have a point of view (and I definitely do), Thinkwing Radio is for people open to discussion, information and challenge of that point of view. I may challenge your ideas (likewise, you may challenge mine) even if I substantially agree with them, because an idea is only a starting point. How that idea can fit into real-world circumstances (politics, finance, geography, people’s entrenched ideas, etc.) is the difference between idle thought (which is creatively useful) and practical implementation (in which the devil is in the details).

So far, I’ve been honored to have some great guests on the show including:

 

6 thoughts on “ABOUT”

  1. Manolo Garibay

    Mike, I took the time to look around and I liked what I saw once I caught on. Sometimes it seemed a little too heady but it establishes your intellect which is more favorable than not. This will interest people because it gives viewers a sense of your ability to tell a story with a twist from different levels. Good luck.

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  2. Alice

    Hello,

    I was wondering if you have any sponsored posts options available on your site.
    If yes, can you please get back to me with the prices and the details for the same.

    Do let me know

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  3. Becky Morris

    Just heard the end of your radio show for the first time. I wanted to scream when I heard you say that people are slaves to their bosses and that work should suck less. Well, that is not the way real life works. Most jobs are not fun. Such is life. When someone pays a person then your job is to make them happy. If you do not work then you do not get paid. That makes sense. Right? I raised my sons to be hard workers. It does not take them long to move up in the company and get paid more. See how that works? No work, no pay. Good work, better pay. Get the job done that you are getting paid to accomplish. If a person is lazy then it does not matter how much you pay them, they will still be lazy.

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    1. Thinkwing Radio Post author

      Becky,

      You are technically responding to the show that was first broadcast on 6/1/2020, but re-broadcast on 6/8.

      I’m changing my reply, so you may see the first one. The last few minutes of the show were extemporaneous, and I’d forgotten that part of the discussion.

      I’ve been a boss, a manager, a worker, and a union worker. My parents were all self-employed for most of their lives, as were my grandparents.

      Loyalty should be a 2-way street. That means that the worker should do their best job for the boss, and the boss should pay a fair wage (at least a living wage for a full-time job, imho) for that work. A job should also not be unnecessarily threatening to life and limb or health. Job sites should be safe and sanitary.

      Middle management *IS* one of the last slave classes in America. Dividing their hours into their flat salary often (usually) pays them less per hour than the people they supervise. They’re usually required to work a 50 *minimum* hour week (52.5 including lunch). They can be “asked” (i.e., ordered) to work extra hours — even 7 days per week — with no extra compensation.

      In the meantime, during the 1950s, top executive compensation was about 50 times the average worker. Today at many businesses, the top executives make hundreds of times the compensation of the average worker. This denies the people who actually create value for the company a living (or better) wage. That is the definition of exploitation.

      So executive overcompensation is not a victimless “crime”.

      Note also that when workers are paid more, they almost always spend most of it; so, that money flows upward to the moneyed classes anyway. It just takes a different route, and benefits more people while it works its way up there.

      Also, FWIW, Dwight Eisenhower would have agreed with me.

      Thanks for listening and for writing,
      Mike

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