Our department of transportation gives updates over AM radio and it’s easier to do while driving vs going into the 511 app to see what’s up. And since it’s statewide it’s pretty useful. That’s the only thing I use AM for. They’ve got signs in major corridors that flash to tell you there’s a new message. Old school, but reliable.

AM is cool because you can get stuff from the other side of the world if the weather is right. I never use it though.

As to RW talk on there, I didn't know that, but we just need to make our own talk shows. We don't have bankrollers like they do though, and are constantly stabbing each other in the back on the whispers of the RW pretending to be us, so it's harder.

This is the correct reply. AM is trash, but we even have highway signs that mention AM stations for certain road condition alerts and stuff. Most places don't rely on it, but when you're in the mountains it's useful.

Hell, even here in CA we only barely started getting cell signals in places like Malibu pass and the like. I can usually get cell service and FM on the 5 or PCH but the moment you leave those, all bets are off.

It's got good stuff mixed in with the religious snake oil sales pitch right wing wackos. It's got local sports and usually someone playing continuous music, not always good music but not interrupted very often. But it's mostly shit. I imagine that you could have fun with a large antenna and a fine tuner receiver. Get stuff from far away. I have a good portable radio receiver that picks up some good range. I take it camping and scan about. Soft hits of the 60s 70s and 80s stations are great

I wonder what it would cost to balance that out by broadcasting secular and left-wing media. Wouldn't it be rad if AM was transformed into something great? Of course even as I'm typing this I can just see the future where some startup sees a monetization strategy in AM and does something shitty with it, like filling it up with LLM generated talk shows, especially if it's low cost.

AM radios are also dead simple to implement compared to FM radios too, which is great if you're the prepper kind.

How do we listen to am radio on our phones?