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Milt Rosenberg, 4/15/25-1/9/18, RIP
With the press of work this week, I missed making a post marking a year since the death of Milt Rosenberg, a radio legend and Ricochet contributor. From 1973-2012 he hosted a wonderful program, “Extension 720,” on WGN radio in Chicago. I met Milt in 2000; my wife, then my girlfriend, was a good friend of Milt and his wife Marjorie. For many years after that, we’d meet for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner (and other occasions).
The Rosenbergs became more conservative during Clinton’s first term. It was interesting hearing leftists call and berate Milt for his conservatism. They control almost all of the MSM, but are unhappy that conservatives have any presence in the media. In 2008, Milt was glum about the possibility that he’d die during Obama’s presidency. I kidded him that Obama would be president for life so he might last for a long time. He obviously outlasted Obama but we are poorer for his absence from the radio. RIP, Milt.
Here’s Mark Steyn’s affectionate obituary.
Published in Politics
A nice tribute! Wow you know everybody
I don’t know anything about Milt Rosenberg, but anyone who merits this kind of attention from Richard Easton is clearly somebody I should have known about.
I never would have met him but for my wife’s friendship with them. Here I am with Milt and Bill Mellberg when we appeared on his later radio program on WCGO in 2015.
I do remember Milt Rosenberg. Because of the WGN Chicago connection.
Milton Rosenberg’s podcast was one of the best podcasts ever. It was actually a radio show but the guy knew how to to talk, how to argue and to be polite. I really wish he lived longer to make his own niche podcast.
Thank you for calling this fine man to our attention. I read the linked eulogy by Mark Steyn. Rosenberg was truly rare among radio, or television, interviewers.
Milton Rosenberg was a smart guy. But better than that, he was a guy that never stopped studying and learning and improving. A darn good line in that Mark Steyn obituary was, “There’s certain shows you do for your publisher or the distributer or for obscure reasons of corporate synergy, but Milt’s was for the author. I think many of us would have happily done the program even if it only had three listeners.” Milt had many listeners but people loved talking to him.
I really loved this guy and his podcast. You could be to the left-wing of Stalin and show up on his podcast and he would be nice to you and listen you and let you talk about what you wanted to talk about. He was an interviewer at the level of Peter Robinson.
I guess I was not paying attention. I did not realize he had passed. I really enjoyed listening to his podcast. He was a fine, gentlemenly interviewer. He is definitely missed.
I enjoyed his podcast greatly—it seemed so out of time. His exchanges with authors reminded me of what I thought, before college, being a smart, intellectual adult was like, and what I thought smart radio would be like.
Milt Rosenberg was about the only one who actually dug in and found out about the real Obama. His membership in the New Party (Socialists), his close ties to Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, Reverend Wright and the Trinity United Church.
Too bad no one would listen.
The Obama campaign tried to shut down Milt’s program twice when he had on critics of O in 2008. The later scandals at the FIB, CIA, etc. didn’t surprise conservatives from Chicago. His moderate act was just an act. He was and is a smooth far leftie; he was raised politically in the Crook County machine and fit in perfectly.
https://www.weeklystandard.com/mary-katharine-ham/team-barry-sends-out-action-alert-to-shut-up-criticsagain
I still miss Milt’s show.
Loved Milt. Miss him.
Thank you for reminding us about this dear and brilliant man. I used to listen to him all the time and have wondered what happened to him.
I listened to Milt when I was a kid. He seemed to be pretty liberal back then, but so was I.
I started listening again when I moved back to the Chicago area and by golly, Mitt had moved in the same direction I had.
I miss his show.
Everyone has said it so well already. If you wanted to learn something and be intellectually stimulated, he was the best. It was really comforting to have such a reasonable and smart person to listen to everyday, too. It’s like there’s no order in the world without people like Milt Rosenberg.
I am really sorry to hear about Milt’s passing. I really enjoyed his podcast when it was available and have missed it since it went off the air. He was a fine gentleman and real intellect. He lived a full and valuable life leaving a great legacy behind. Vaya con Dios Milt.
I listened to Extension 720 over the years and always listened to The Milt Rosenberg Show here on Ricochet(I don’t see the Show archived here on Ricochet, so I’m guessing it has been taken off Ricochet and put on the Milt Rosenberg website where one can have access for a fee) It appears you can access the Archive of WGN’s Extension 720 shows for no fee.
WGN inexplicably axed Milt’s Extension 720 in 2012. Inexplicably, because WGN certainly had nothing better to replace the irreplaceable Milt Rosenberg. WGN must have thought Milt was too far up in years to keep the show going, little did the knumbskull suits at WGN know, Milt would do a superb job doing his Milt Rosenberg Show on his own for the next eight years until he passed last January 9, 2018 at the age of 92 (and 8 months).
Milt Rosenberg was a bona fide intellectual genius, but as a listener I had the sense Milt was also a humble wise gentleman and we can all be thankful Milt came to (he would have been in his late 60’s) represent the Conservative point of view.
I believe that they replaced it with a sports talk show. Like Chicago had any shortage of those.
Thanks for your comment. Milt’s post WGN career is a bit more complicated. After losing his program at WGN, Milt started a podcast in the Spring of 2013. Initially, he was recording it at the Heartland Institute but later WGN allowed him to use their facilities. That’s where I did my first program with him in May 2014. Then he started a program on WCGO which ran from April to November 2015. The funding for it stopped then and, as far as I can tell, he did no further podcasts. My second program with him was on June 30, 2015. Bill Mellberg and Paul Spudis were the other two guests. It’s sobering that less four years later, I’m the only one of the four participants who is alive.
When Milt’s program was cancelled in November 2015, he was fully capable of doing the program even though he had COPD. When I last met him in September 2017, that was no longer the case. But he gave us many programs in his 40+ years which stand up well to the test of time. His programs on WCGO are still available for free. The podcasts and WGN programs can be accessed for a nominal fee. Three of his programs were recorded by C-SPAN.
This line from Mark Steyn’s article is perfect:
“Milt was like the best of the chaps on the old BBC wireless (before they wrecked it): you never knew you were interested in a particular topic until he started talking about it.”
Thanks Richard for unraveling my (unintentional) misinformation.
As with most things in life the actual story is a bit more complex, but you have to admit my vilification of the Worlds Greatest Newspaper made for a more interesting story.
Your basic story was correct. WGN post sale of the Tribune was a revolving door in management, and they wrecked the station. Milt’s arbitrons when he was cancelled were excellent. He had about 800K downloads on his program for the first presidential debate in 2012. A bunch of sports guys took over WGN and they canceled Milt’s show to save a few pennies and help put their stamp on the station. His replacement lasted only seven months.
By the way, Mr. Easton, thank you for linking to the obit by Mark Steyn, a most enjoyable read. And a depressing one, too.
He had interesting questions and good guests, but I always thought he interrupted too much.
May our memories of Milt Rosenberg be a blessing.