iHeartMedia laid people off again, and every round of cuts makes local radio a little less local. This one traces how we got here: the Telecommunications Act that opened the floodgates, the private equity money that followed, and the consolidation that turned hundreds of local stations into one playlist with different call letters.

I also get into where the live human voices went. Some left for podcasting and YouTube. Most just got cut. Radio's whole advantage was a real person in your town talking to you, and the industry keeps treating that like a cost center instead of the product.

All opinions and views expressed in this episode are my own and do not represent my employer or any affiliated organizations.