About
Broadcast without the virtue of money or the vice of political agenda.
This is Hell! is a longform political interview program broadcast across Chicago on WNUR since 1996.
Every morning, Monday to Wednesday 10am central time, Chuck Mertz works off his news hangover by talking to the journalists, authors and activists working to make this world a slightly less hellish place. Expect in-depth conversations about the forces that drive politics, and gallows humor about a world with more questions than answers.
This is Hell! broadcasts live during the week, 10am-11.30am central on Mixlr, usually Monday-Wednesday. If you miss the live show, we publish the podcast shortly after.
Tune in Thursday for our Patreon podcast, with a new, live monologue from Chuck, and a selected interview from the This is Hell! archives that has not been available to the public before!
We broadcast the week's shows Saturday, 9AM-1PM US Central on WNUR 89.3FM Chicago.
A special, one-hour version of the show airs Sundays at 11AM Central on WLPN: Lumpen Radio and Sundays at 11AM Pacific on KRFP: Radio Free Moscow.
Want This Is Hell! on your local radio? Get in touch, it's free.
You can also find us on YouTube where we post selected back-catalog entries.
CHUCK
Chuck Mertz has hosted This is Hell! since 1996. Before that he worked selling Christmas decorations, counting and etching bushings, delivering newspapers, stocking shelves and mopping floors, making gyros, dismantling schools, working concert security, cleaning vegetables, canvassing homes, washing dishes, cleaning apartments, attending to a parking lot, conducting telemarket research, making sandwiches, selling books, working the door, working a loading dock and warehouse, counting people, counting shoes, freelance writing, production assistanting, field producing and assignment editing.
PRAISE
"Particularly glad to hear that there is a voice of sanity on talk radio. I don't hear talk radio much, but when I do, it's pretty appalling."
- Noam Chomsky
"He is unabashedly partisan on matters of peace and justice, and gives his interviewees the opportunity to express themselves as boldly as they like. He upholds the best standards of independent media - honesty, courage, refusal to play the game."
- Howard Zinn
"Our actions under communicative capitalism reinforce these global communication networks, and capitalism itself... This radio show, unfortunately, does that. Our actions are uterly absorbed in communicative capitalism."
- Jodi Dean
"This is Hell is the perfect radio environment for those who want to make sense of the world. The show is chock-a-block with intelligence, sincere commitment and humor, a rare combination in a dumbed-down media universe."
- Glen Ford
"I applaud Chuck's professionalism, his incisive wit, his keen sense of the moment. He is one of the most important social commentators on the American scene."
- Matt Taibbi
"A little paranoid"
- The Daily Northwestern
CONTACT
Send guest suggestions, story ideas, and feedback to: chuck@thisishell.com, seb@thisishell.com or alex@thisishell.com
Write us at:
This is Hell!
2251 W. Devon, 2nd Floor
Chicago IL, 60659
This Is Hell! logo designed by Adam Medley - adammedley.com