Shows / Archer's Line Podcast
Archer's Line Podcast
Talking about what's happening to broadcast news, radio, and the people who make them matter.
www.therobarcher.com
Episodes
Archer's Line PodcastIt's Called Winter. Get Over It.
We're turning the clocks back again, and the complaints about early sunsets are about to begin. But we've tried year-round daylight saving time before, and…
Archer's Line PodcastNow, There Are Only Two
Walter Koenig’s passing brings back memories of discovering Star Trek in afternoon reruns, imagining its hopeful future, and meeting William Shatner at an L.A…
Archer's Line PodcastWhere's Musk?
Why has “Musk” become so hard to find? I look at the film’s reported theater losses, Bleecker Street’s ownership change, and social media advertising…
Archer's Line PodcastAfter Soylent Green
Charlton Heston, Edward G. Robinson, human crackers, and the end of civilization. More than fifty years after Soylent Green arrived in theaters, I'm still…
Archer's Line PodcastThe Population Bomb That Never Went Off
In 1960, three scientists predicted that human population growth would reach a mathematical breaking point on Friday, November 13, 2026. We're almost there…
Archer's Line PodcastThe Short-Timers
Katie Zacharia's first White House press briefing drew harsh reviews, even from reported insiders in the Trump administration. But history shows that press…
Archer's Line PodcastPhysics and Impermanence
The move from Los Angeles to Atlanta is complete. The unpacking is another matter. Ronnie and I are settling into temporary quarters, discovering the mysteries…
Archer's Line PodcastA Brief History of Public Executions
Sources and further reading Associated Press — Legal questions surrounding the Pentagon's proposed livestream. Reuters — Federal and military execution rules…
Archer's Line PodcastRussia Says It Wasn’t Plague. So What Was It?
A researcher at a Russian anti-plague laboratory is dead. Russian officials say thousands of tests have found no dangerous pathogen, and there is no evidence…
Archer's Line PodcastAnnie Jacobsen’s Crystal Ball: Possible Plague Leak in Siberia
A researcher at a Russian anti-plague laboratory in Siberia is dead. Hospitals have imposed quarantine measures. Hundreds of contacts have reportedly been…
Archer's Line PodcastA Brief History of Botched Executions
Show notes / further reading: Christa Pike’s failed execution — Associated Press — Reporting on her condition and the investigation. Thomas Cromwell — Historic…
Archer's Line PodcastHow to Use AI So It Doesn’t Make You Stupid
A new MIT study found lower measured brain engagement among people who used AI to write essays. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports that some heavy AI…
Archer's Line PodcastWhat We Lose When They Don’t Visit
Foreign tourism to the United States is down sharply, and Atlanta felt it during the World Cup. But the loss goes beyond hotel rooms and visitor spending. In…
Archer's Line PodcastBy All That’s Holy
What’s holy? Man on the Moon? Hell yes. America landed a man on the Moon and returned him safely to Earth. I think that’s holy. And we did it within the decade…
Archer's Line PodcastExplainer: Presidents Fighting with the Press
Presidents and reporters have been fighting for generations. But how far have presidents actually gone? This edition of Archer’s Line looks at White House…
Archer's Line PodcastSo AI Is Going to Kill Us All. How, Exactly?
AI leaders are warning that artificial intelligence could someday wipe out humanity. Fine. But how, exactly? Software still has to reach into the physical…
Archer's Line PodcastThe First Person to Die in an Airplane
Five years after the Wright brothers first flew at Kitty Hawk, Army Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge climbed aboard an airplane with Orville Wright. He never came…
Archer's Line PodcastA Brief History of Measles
Measles has been part of human history for thousands of years. This is the story of how we learned what it was, how scientists developed the MMR vaccine, how…
Archer's Line PodcastThe Useless Eaters: A Warning from History
In Nazi Germany, human worth became a calculation. People deemed unproductive, disabled, homeless, or socially undesirable could find themselves classified as…
Archer's Line Podcast9:03 am
At 9:03 a.m. on September 11, 2001, the second plane struck the World Trade Center. In that instant, the questions ended. This Archer’s Line looks back at the…
Archer's Line PodcastUpdate: Atlanta, I Am In You Now
Rob has made it to Atlanta. After driving across the country with Ronnie and Misty, he’s settling into a temporary home, learning the geography and language of…
Archer's Line PodcastRoad Trips, Bruised Ribs, and What I’m Learning From Highway Signs
A few days into our move from Los Angeles to Atlanta, I-40 East has taught me some things: the left lane is for passing, bridges ice before roads, bruised ribs…
Archer's Line PodcastThe Future of TV News is Faceless
For generations, local television news came with a familiar face behind an anchor desk. That may be changing. The E.W. Scripps Company is eliminating hundreds…
Archer's Line PodcastI’ve Been in Radio 46 Years... Part 2
Rob Archer continues the story of his 46 years in radio. In 1999, he arrived in Los Angeles with no job, very little money, and only the possibility that…
Archer's Line PodcastA Brief History of All-Christmas Radio
All-Christmas radio wasn’t invented at KOST, but KOST helped turn it into a massive major-market ratings winner after 9/11. Rob traces the format from its…
Archer's Line PodcastPermanent DST? I’ve Got a Better Idea
Americans may hate changing their clocks, but making daylight saving time permanent could create even bigger problems—from dark winter school mornings to lost…
Archer's Line PodcastI’m Thinking Too Much
Ronnie and I have a home to sell, boxes to pack, two cars to drive from Los Angeles to Atlanta, temporary housing to find—and, somewhere in there, I’m starting…
Archer's Line PodcastI’m Joining WSB Radio in Atlanta
I thought my on-air radio career was over. After being caught in staff reductions at KNX in June 2025, I stayed busy with Archer’s Line, podcasts, voiceover…
Archer's Line PodcastYouTubers Are About to Become Much More Popular
YouTube is changing what counts as a view. Starting August 24, a video will register a view from the moment it begins playing — even if the viewer leaves…
Archer's Line PodcastI Made Music With AI. I Don’t Feel Guilty About It.
AI-generated music is getting plenty of pushback — and some of it is deserved. But musicians have always used technology to create sounds they couldn’t make on…
Archer's Line PodcastThe River of Constant Change
Change is always coming. Sometimes it’s good. Sometimes it’s bad. And sometimes we desperately want everything to just stay put for a while. In this Archer’s…
Archer's Line PodcastWhat Losing FM Is Costing KNX News
KNX News has lost nearly 41% of its cume in a year, with another decline in July after the station left 97.1 FM and returned solely to AM 1070. Meanwhile, the…
Archer's Line PodcastYour Car Has a Radio. Now Try to Find It.
Your Car Has a Radio. Now Try to Find It. The fight to keep AM radio in new cars matters, especially when broadcast radio may be the last source of emergency…
Archer's Line PodcastThe Big One: A Scenario
What happens when the Big One strikes Los Angeles after America has lost its news media? In this hypothetical scenario, broadcast and cable news are gone…
Archer's Line PodcastBREAKING: FCC Scraps National TV Ownership Cap
The FCC has voted to eliminate the rule that kept any one company from owning television stations reaching more than 39 percent of U.S. households.In this…
Archer's Line PodcastRadio Licenses Used to Be Worth Millions. Cumulus Just Gave One Back.
Radio licenses were once considered too valuable to surrender. Now Cumulus has handed the FCC license for 560 KZAC in San Francisco back to the government…
Archer's Line PodcastI’ve Been in Radio for 46 Years. I May Never Get to Retire From It.
KCBS traffic reporter Kim Vestal got something increasingly rare in radio: the chance to retire on her own terms after nearly 50 years behind a microphone. Rob…
Archer's Line PodcastWhat If CBS News Disappeared?
What if CBS News simply... disappeared? Not in one dramatic announcement, but piece by piece. Foreign bureaus close. Investigative teams shrink. The evening…
Archer's Line Podcast145,000 Voices vs. the FCC
More than 145,000 people weighed in, and most had the same message: leave ABC's local stations alone.In this edition of Archer's Line, Rob Archer looks at the…
Archer's Line PodcastThe Message of The Odyssey
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is a monumental cinematic achievement—but its central message is one of humanity’s oldest: Be kind to strangers, because they…
Archer's Line PodcastCome In, Patmos
Come In, Patmos A revelation from the wrong end of the radio dial. A short story. A broke, flu-ridden radio DJ is abducted after a routine blood test suggests…
Archer's Line PodcastRadio Stops Making Sense
Why are some radio companies asking the FCC to let them own more stations while others are giving stations back? In this episode, I look at the contradiction…
Archer's Line PodcastSun Day
Sun Day is a narrated science fiction short story. A mysterious flash changes everything. Within days, the Sun begins to fade. Temperatures plunge…
Archer's Line PodcastThe Clock is Running on Paramount's Biggest Deal
A temporary restraining order has slowed Paramount's proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, but the real story isn't the delay itself. It's the…
Archer's Line PodcastFriday's Court Hearing Could Shape CNN's Future
A federal judge is expected to hear arguments Friday morning on whether to temporarily halt Paramount's proposed takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. The…
Archer's Line PodcastThe Lawsuits Have Begun
The fight over Paramount's proposed takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery has officially moved into the courtroom. A coalition of 12 state attorneys general, led…
Archer's Line PodcastWhat If Death Is Something That Only Happens to Other People?
What If Death Is Something That Only Happens to Other People? Quantum immortality is one of the strangest ideas to come out of modern physics—not because…
Archer's Line PodcastAgents at the Door
Federal agents delivered subpoenas to the homes of four New York Times reporters after their reporting on security concerns involving the Qatari-donated…
Archer's Line PodcastWhat Happened at CBS News Is About to Happen at CNN
What Happened to CBS News Is About to Happen at CNNIs CNN about to follow the same path as CBS News?In this episode of Archer's Line, Rob Archer examines the…
Archer's Line PodcastThe View Blinks
In this episode of Archer's Line, Rob Archer looks at new reporting suggesting that The View has quietly changed its political booking strategy while under…
Archer's Line PodcastMy Radio Anniversary
How do you accidentally spend 46 years in radio? In this personal episode of Archer's Line, Rob Archer looks back at the summer of 1980, when a reluctant high…
Archer's Line PodcastMore Political Ads Are Coming to Radio
The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a ruling that could send even more political advertising dollars to broadcast radio and television. For broadcasters, that…
Archer's Line PodcastIs This the Biggest Radio Layoff Ever?
Is iHeartMedia carrying out the biggest layoff in radio history? The latest round of cuts has eliminated local personalities and programmers across dozens of…
Archer's Line PodcastThe Price of Experience
Experience Is Becoming a Liability Experience used to be something employers sought out. Increasingly, it seems to be treated as something to eliminate. In…
Archer's Line Podcast"Maybe We Got Out Just in Time"
iHeartMedia has begun another round of layoffs, and for many broadcasters, it feels painfully familiar. In this edition of Archer's Line, Rob Archer reflects…
Archer's Line PodcastLocal TV Pushes Back
For months, major media companies have seemed determined to avoid conflict with President Trump and his allies. Lawsuits were settled. Executives made visits…
Archer's Line PodcastGunfight at the AM Corral
There’s a bill moving through Congress that could determine whether AM radio survives the next decade. And there’s a station in Los Angeles whose numbers may…
Archer's Line PodcastA Post-News World
People say they want impartial news. They say they value facts, accuracy, and reporting that isn't driven by ideology. Then they get their news from social…
Archer's Line PodcastABC’s Fight Could Redefine Press Freedom
ABC’s legal battle with the FCC may become one of the most important press freedom cases in decades. Because the outcome could determine whether government…
Archer's Line PodcastA Bipartisan Effort to Stop Government Bullying of the Media
Sens. Ted Cruz and Ron Wyden don’t agree on much. But they do agree that government officials shouldn’t be able to pressure private companies into suppressing…