Progressive talk radio is a talk radio format devoted to expressing leftist, liberal or progressive viewpoints of news and issues, as opposed to conservative talk radio. In the United States, the format includes syndicated and independent personalities such as Thom Hartmann, Stephanie Miller, Norman Goldman, Randi Rhodes, Mike Malloy, Bill Press, Alan Colmes, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Mike Papantonio, Sam Seder, Leslie Marshall, John Fugelsang, Hal Sparks, Brad Friedman, Arnie Arnesen, and Ed Schultz.
In contrast to conservative talk, progressive talk has historically been far less popular on commercial terrestrial radio; it briefly had some modest mainstream success for a period from the mid-2000s (decade) to the early 2010s. The format has been more popular on emerging technologies such as podcasting and Internet radio.
Pregressive talk radio programs in markets across the U.S. have existed for many decades. In the 1960s, freeform rock stations featured outspoken air personalities who mixed progressive rock with controversial commentary and news reports on current events such as the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement. A few talk stations, such as WMCA in New York and WERE in Cleveland carried controversial counterculture talk programming. Politically oriented talk radio stations often featured liberal hosts such as Alan Berg and Alex Bennett sharing the schedule with more conservative personalities. The Fairness Doctrine and equal-time rules effectively required that stations broadcasting controversial political content also provide airtime for the opposing viewpoint; progressive stations such as WMCA would thus usually have a "house conservative" (in WMCA's case, Bob Grant) to maintain balance. One of the most notable liberal talk-show hosts was Michael Jackson, who had a show for 35 years at KABC in Los Angeles, often commenting on both political and national issues.