Ever wonder what it sounds like when people with opposing viewpoints on an issue of gravity have a civil, intellectual conversation about the subject, moderated by someone who actually lives up to the title?

KCRW’s “Which Way, L.A.?” has long been my favorite radio talk show. The host, Warren Olney (who also does “To The Point” in the afternoons), is hands-down the greatest moderator working today. Knowledgeable, doesn’t linger on his own voice, keeps everyone involved.

Sadly, he is absent for the below show, but Lawrence O’Donnell does an amirable job filling in, both in timbre and stoking the flames of debate.

What you’ll hear is a program where true experts engage in a half-an-hour dialgoue on an issue du jour.  No punditry, no aggression, and no regurgitation of hackneyed talking points. I learned more about the The Surge in this half an hour than 18 months of listening to politicians and talking heads.

[audio:http://www.popandpolitics.com/wp-content/audio/ww_2008-09-10-201005-0.mp3]