We recently connected with Leonard Assante and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Leonard, thanks for joining us today. Has your work ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized?
In some ways, that’s the story of my life! I, and many others get put in little boxes by virtue of our profession or other defining characteristic. He’s a college professor, he must be a liberal. He’s a Democrat, he must be for increased taxes. He has a political radio show, he must be an extremist. All those have been applied to me. But, I’m fairly moderate in some aspects, I’ve opposed tax increases, and I strongly belief in effective, representative government more than any strident ideology.
Of course, those misperceptions do help the ratings. People are attracted to interesting stories. A little extremism certainly makes for interesting radio. But in real life, I think I’m pretty boring. I just choose to use my voice and not stay silent.
Many cultures value the power of silence. But, in the case of advocacy, silence never works. For better or worse, loud voices get heard. Mine is amplified by the power of radio.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’m a teacher by trade. Born in New York City and raised in the suburbs, I migrated first west, then south for work as a college professor. I’ve been in the Nashville region for 30 years now, and for much of that time I’ve been involved in local politics, mostly on the losing end. One day the owner of WQKR radio called me and said he was frustrated by local politics and the lack of coverage in the press. He offered me a show and I took it. That was over 2 years ago. We went live on the air in July, 2022 and have been going ever since.
My show is called The Loyal Opposition and is based on the ideas that voices of dissent play a role in how our government works and that those voices are not necessarily un-patriotic or unconstitutional. We may be opposed to the supermajority’s ideas and policies, but we are loyal to the TN and US constitutions. We are a weekly community affairs program featuring under-represented voices in our community. We focus on issues in Sumner County, but also discuss state and national affairs. We are live every Wednesday at 5pm on the air on WQKR AM FM, live on WQKR.com and anytime via podcast.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Absolutely. Political change in Sumner County and Tennessee. We need to break the conservative Republican stronghold in local and state politics to ensure that all voices are heard and the entire community is best served. This means a diversity of voices in government. This means one party can’t control everything unfettered by a lack of opposition.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Easy question. Personal growth, tied with social change. I’ve learned that sharing your voice is a great way to learn and grow as a person. I love that! I consider myself a life-long learner and have found The Loyal Opposition has helped me learn and grow as a person. I’ve realized that partisanship is not crucial, but working together to solve problems, get things done, and make our community better is the real winning scenario. Good government is better than partisan government.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.theloyalopposition.online
- Instagram: @theloyalopposition
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/loyaloppo
- Other: Threads: @theloyalopposition
